Chapter 410 - Red and Green Petals
(1)
"Toya-san, what will you do today? ...Kyaa!"
For now, I cling to Airi.
"Geez, you can't do this in the morning."
"It's fine once in a while, right?"
"...You are a difficult person."
After enjoying Airi's warmth, I get up.
"Now, shall we have breakfast? Airi?"
Airi looks lonely.
"Airi, I'm off until evening today."
"Again?"
"Yeah. I'll pay lots of attention to you later."
"Thank you very much, I will prepare the meal right away."
Airi leaves the bedroom with light steps.
Going to the dining room, I converse with Airi as she makes breakfast.
After eating breakfast, Airi cleans up.
During that time, I keep Airi company in conversation.
Since I usually can't listen to her properly, I cherish times like this.
When I am alone with Airi, we usually spend it in the bedroom.
When Airi is fidgeting next to me, I just have to put my arm around her shoulder.
She happily clings to me.
Having lunch in between, I enjoy my time with Airi until evening.
While I am keeping Airi company, Airi does not do housework.
She is completely absorbed in me.
When the time comes, I rub her back and say, "It's about time, you know?"
She still seems unsatisfied, but I whisper to her, "I won't be drinking today, so I can keep you company tonight too."
"But don't you have work starting tomorrow?"
"Let me immerse myself in my hobby at least on my day off."
"A hobby?"
"Let me immerse myself in my hobby called Airi."
"I understand. But please keep it to a level that doesn't interfere with your work."
"I know."
After kissing Airi, she says, "Well then, I'll get ready," and begins to change.
I change too.
I wait for Airi to get ready while watching TV.
Once Airi is finished getting ready, we head to the office by car.
The office is near the fireworks venue, and we can use the parking lot.
That's why we decided to all go see the fireworks together.
Everyone was gathered.
Kamiki-san didn't come, saying, "I don't do overtime work."
I introduce Airi to everyone.
"Whoa, she's super beautiful. An idol really is something else!"
Tatsuhiko-senpai is surprised.
"Nice to meet you, I am Tosaka Airi. Thank you for always taking care of Toya-san."
"No, the pleasure is ours. Most guys quit during their trial period. Besides, Toya is ready to work from day one, so he's been a big help."
"It is just as Uehara says. Katagiri's evaluation from the clients in charge is also good."
Tatsuhiko-senpai and the President say.
"Shall we head out soon? Securing a spot is going to be tough."
Saying so, everyone moves to the venue.
It seems Airi quickly warmed up to the female employees.
She is talking happily.
Once we arrive at the venue, we sit down and talk.
Going to buy drinks is my job as the low man on the totem pole.
"Toya-san, I will come with you too."
"I'm fine on my own, so please take it easy."
"I'm sorry."
When I finish shopping and return, everyone is grinning.
"Toya, I heard you're going to propose within the year?"
Tatsuhiko-senpai said.
Ah, she talked about it.
"Yes, because that's the promise."
"I heard you've even decided on the number of children?"
"We just talked about that sort of thing."
"You've got to work harder and harder, Katagiri-kun."
The President says so and laughs.
After that, they continued to get excited with talk like, "If it's Katagiri-kun's child, I'm sure they'll be extremely talented."
(2)
"Then, I'll wait in front of the Department Store."
"Understood."
After seeing Kanna off, I return home.
There are many things to do.
The washing machine, which I had started before leaving the house, has finished drying and stopped.
I iron, fold, and put them away.
Once that is finished, I go out for practice.
After finishing practice, I return home.
Which should I do first?
After thinking it over, I decided to start with cleaning.
Once I finish cleaning, I change and throw the clothes I took off into the washing machine.
When the series of tasks is finished, I intend to watch TV... but I was asleep.
The phone rings and I wake up.
It's from Eita.
"We're probably taking the same train anyway, right? Let's go together."
"Ah, got it."
Leaving the house, I walk toward the station.
At the station were the Hiyama couple, Eita, Sasaki-kun, and Kobayashi-san.
"About how many people are coming today?"
"Let's see..."
Eita starts counting.
Me and Kanna, the Kiritani couple, the Hiyama couple. The Nakajima couple, the Kimoto couple, the Ishihara couple, the Sakai couple, the Nishimatsu couple, the Mizushima couple, Haruto, Shiratori-san, Kamenashi-kun, Morizono-san, Misawa-kun, Kishitani-san, the Kisaragi couple, Chii, Sho, Misato, Kuribayashi-kun, Umemoto-kun, Sakuragi-san, Wakamiya-san, Suzumiya-kun, Sasaki-kun, Kobayashi-san, Tsukimisato-kun, Takanashi-san.
The Watanabe couple seems to be going with their colleagues.
It seems Manabe-kun and the others are the same.
Toya and his group too.
The high schooler group is also acting separately.
It seems Urabe-san and Kanda-san are spending it just the two of them.
Their days off rarely align. It makes sense.
Even so, it doesn't change the fact that it's an incredible number of people.
When the train arrives, everyone gets on.
Once we reach our local station, we meet up with Shiratori-san and Haruto.
It seems the two of them had arrived earlier and watched a movie.
Then, we wait for everyone and go to the Department Store.
Kanna was waiting.
The town was bustling.
"With this many people at this time, maybe a family restaurant?"
When I say so, everyone seems to agree.
As expected, we can't sit together, so everyone sits separately.
At my table were Kanna, the Nakajima couple, and the Kiritani couple.
"Nakajima-kun, how is work going after that?"
"As usual, dealing with complaints is the main thing. It's unbearable. Even though it's not our fault, I have to bow my head."
It seems to be as painful as ever.
"...But when I think about how there's someone waiting for me when I go home, I feel at ease. Like I actually have a place where I belong."
Hearing that, Honoka-san looks relieved.
After eating, we walk to the riverbed of the venue.
A crowd of people had formed.
We somehow secure a spot and wait until the time.
Everyone is talking amongst themselves.
Kanna is quietly waiting for the fireworks to go up, looking up at the sky.
Kanna hates crowds.
It seems they make her irritated.
"Kanna, are you okay?"
I asked Kanna.
"Yeah, it's gotten a bit better since I started my current job."
"I see..."
"It must be tough for you, having to play in front of a large audience."
"Well, yeah. But strangely, during a match, I don't mind it."
There are times when I can't even hear the cheers.
"Are you inside the match too?"
"...Maybe so."
"You're amazing too."
Before long, the fireworks begin to go up.
Red and green petals burst into bloom and quietly vanish.
Our world is probably something similar. Bursting into bloom and quietly vanishing.
Maybe everyone is inside their own world.
An existence that is nothing more than a single piece in that world.
Just how much value do we have?
In this world where I am living now.
It feels like everything is meaningless.
Am I a little tired?
The numerous brilliances that were cut away in exchange for what was obtained.
It is not such a peaceful world that I can afford to grieve over each and every one.
Just what kind of ideal should I draw?
What kind of hope should I hold as I move forward?
Those unanswerable questions are buried in daily life.
I wonder what Kanna would say?
Would she tease me, saying "How gloomy," and laugh?
If only I could touch that soft smile and have my melancholy blown away. (T/N: possible typo in source — original reads 振れて, likely meaning 触れて (touching).)
Even if it were a light like fireworks that can never be caught.
Once more, I want to reach out this hand.
Everyone holds sadness, yet they wish for a wonderful tomorrow.
How much can we love a world where waves have been stirred up by the wind of losing one's nerve?
Whether we spend it laughing or crying, time flows equally.
The future is calling us.
Is that voice reaching Kanna now?
Everyone has problems.
But they wish for a wonderful tomorrow.
When the fireworks end, everyone begins to head home.
Those who came by car head to their cars, those by bus to the bus, and those by train toward the station.
How many more times will there be when we all gather like this?
I was thinking about such things.
In the train on the way back, Ai-san, Kanna, Sakura-san, and Kobayashi-san were talking happily.
And when we arrive at the station, we return to our respective homes.
When I return home with Kanna, I tell Kanna to take a bath first.
After Kanna gets in, I get in.
When I come out of the bath, Kanna is there, watching TV and playing with her smartphone.
I take two cans of beer from the refrigerator and hand one to Kanna.
"Thank you."
Saying so, Kanna takes the beer and begins to drink.
I am sitting next to Kanna now as she plays with her smartphone while drinking beer.
Sitting there as if it's the most natural thing.
I hadn't even imagined that just that could make the world look so beautiful.
Would Kanna laugh at that, calling it simple?
But right now, I say thank you to Kanna from the bottom of my heart.
"Well, time to sleep soon."
Kanna says as she drinks it down to the last drop.
"Yeah."
I drink my beer too and get into bed.
For all the times I will want to see her, for all the times I will feel lonely, I will imprint Kanna strongly in my mind over and over again.
Everyone has problems.
But they wish for a wonderful tomorrow.
How much can we love this world where waves have been stirred up by the wind of losing one's nerve?
The fireworks we used to watch every year as if it were natural were starting to no longer be taken for granted.
(3)
The fireworks go up.
I was watching the fireworks that burst into light and bloomed.
The fireworks burst into bloom in the night.
Blooming in the night and quietly vanishing.
"It's surprisingly visible from here, isn't it?"
"It's a hidden gem, right?"
When I said so, Hasebe-senpai answered.
"Watching fireworks while drinking is the best!"
Mika said so.
We have come to a beer garden at a certain hotel.
The fireworks visible from the rooftop.
"How are things with Yuki-senpai after that?"
I was asking Hasebe-senpai.
"Yeah, we're dating normally."
Hasebe-senpai answered.
It was unexpected. Because he didn't show any sign of it at the workplace at all.
It didn't particularly feel like they were going home together either.
"Workplace romance for civil servants is quite high-risk, you know."
Yuki-senpai says.
"There's a reason I invited you guys today, after all. If you guys are with us, even if we're found out, it won't be a problem, right?"
"Is it a problem if you're found out?"
Mika was asking.
"When it was found out that some of my peers were having a workplace romance, they got an immediate personnel transfer."
Yuki-senpai says so and laughs.
I had heard rumors, but was it true?
"So, the only one in our department who knows about this is Watanabe-kun. Got it?"
Yuki-senpai makes sure.
"Then, what about your usual dates?"
"Home dates. I'm staying over at his place."
Isn't that high-risk?
"It's actually harder to get caught than wandering around date spots."
She says she asks Watanabe-kun when they want to go on a date.
"If we just want to be alone together, home is no problem at all."
"That sounds tough."
The fireworks ended, and it was closing time for the beer garden.
"Well, we'll be off now."
Saying so, the two of them headed toward the bus terminal.
"Being a civil servant is tough too, huh."
Mika says.
"Yeah..."
"What do you want to do, Mika? Go home?"
"I'll leave it to Masashi. Drinking at home seems more relaxing and better."
"That's unusual."
"Can't be causing trouble for Masashi, after all."
I appreciate that.
We bought alcohol at a Convenience Store, went home, and drank.
(4)
The fireworks go up.
The fireworks burst into bloom in the night and quietly vanished.
Manabe-kun is going to Harada Comprehensive Design.
I am going to Eguchi Trading Company.
Yuma is going to a local builder's office.
Me and all of my peers had our jobs decided.
It seems Sakurako and Sakura are going to be full-time housewives.
Since Nishimatsu-kun is a medical student, he will spend another two years in student life.
Me and Yuma had come to watch the fireworks with the people from Harada Comprehensive Design, where Manabe-kun got a job.
"Is it okay, just us?"
"Aren't we supposed to watch together with Watanabe's group?"
Tange-san and Shiina-san ask.
"Even that Watanabe-senpai said he's watching with people from his workplace, so it should be fine."
Manabe-kun says.
Everyone will no longer be able to devote themselves to the activities of Watanabe's group.
"Well, I guess it means those guys have grown up too."
Tange-san says.
I wonder what it means to grow up?
Does it mean bonds fading away?
Does it mean the bonds we spent years building are unraveling?
"What does it mean to grow up?"
Yuma was asking Tange-san.
"It means leaving the nest."
Flying away from the nest called Watanabe's group.
Tange-san calls that graduation.
The things we thought were eternal were not eternal.
An end will surely come someday.
Like the fireworks that burst into bloom and quietly vanish.
The summer when everyone was here is inside a distant dream.
Like the launch fireworks disappearing into the sky.
We finally understood the meaning of what our seniors entrusted to us.
And now it is our turn to entrust it to the next generation.
Like that night, there is nothing more that Toya-kun and the others can do for us.
We too have no choice but to stand on our own feet.
Just like eventually leaving one's parents.
From the moment we realized there is no such thing as eternity, the days we laughed together and the days we sang together are deeply engraved in our hearts.
That is precisely why we raise a voice that belongs to no one else, saying "I will live my life," and each choose a single path.
Goodbye is not a sad word; it is what connects us to our respective dreams.
Holding the days we spent together in our hearts, let's fly away alone. To the next sky.
There are words that we share.
Connecting words from heart to heart.
Until the time we meet again someday, we will not forget, to the sky with pride.
What we can do.
That is to stand on our own feet without relying on our seniors, and then pass the baton to the next generation just as our seniors did.
We can change again, we can become stronger.
Even if we fly away to a different sky, the feelings that will never cease continue to be engraved in our hearts even now.
I was engraving in my heart the night sky where red and green petals burst into bloom and quietly vanished.
Because the same thing will never happen twice.
(5)
"Kosei, the fireworks have already started!"
I came to watch the fireworks with Naru, Hitomi, Kazu, the four of us.
It seems we took a bit too much time with dinner.
It can't be helped, right? I never would have thought the fast food restaurant would be that crowded.
Sitting down seems impossible. Let's stand.
We position ourselves as far forward as possible.
"Naru, can you see?"
"I'm fine!"
Why do people come to watch fireworks so much?
For something that just bursts into bloom and quietly vanishes.
Naru was captivated by that art in the night sky.
The launch fireworks disappearing into the sky one after another.
I was captivated by my beloved you, who was captivated by them.
When the fireworks end, everyone heads home all at once.
I'm glad we came by bicycle after all.
The bicycles are parked near the station.
We begin to walk too.
"Naru, don't separate from me."
When I say so and look back, I am captivated by the face of Naru, who says "Yes" and takes my hand.
The launch fireworks are still going up.
Is something wrong with my eyes?
Her cheeks looked as if they were dyed a faint pink.
Walking to the bicycle parking lot, we head home on our bicycles.
A light that seems like it would disappear if I gasped in surprise was surely still living in my chest.
The warm future that I could touch if I reached out my hand was secretly watching the two of us.
I will call you in words over and over again.
Choosing the space between the waves, once more
So that we will never have to be sad again.
Surely the summer that is not yet over melted and connected our vague hearts.
I wanted this night to continue.
But the end will surely come.
However, that is the beginning of a new morning.
The morning that is born and the night that dies.
The meaning of being born, the meaning of dying. The now in which Naru is living.
"Be happy."
While crying, we come embracing the same suffering.
While laughing, we go far beyond the horizon.
Let us light my poem on your lips that meet.
The story where we connect someday.
It will probably light a poem on every turning horizon.
The flame wandering in the gap between morning and night.
The beautiful illusion where angels laugh.
Is there longing there?
This is the longing to live through the present of me and Naru.
(6)
I was watching the fireworks that burst into light and bloomed.
I wanted this night to continue.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
Haruma-san says.
"...Yes, it is."
I wonder if Haruma-san noticed that I am nervous.
"Sorry, there was only a place like this."
The hotel that was across the river went bankrupt and has been demolished. (T/N: possible typo in source — original reads 川向うに会った, likely meaning 川向こうにあった (across the river).)
Where we are is a love hotel on the opposite side.
It seems there was no other place where we could watch the fireworks slowly.
They say he also had a hard time reserving this room for this day.
It's not like today is the first time either.
I was just bewildered by the space I was experiencing for the first time.
A spacious double bed, and two plastic bags placed on top of the bed.
For now, I decided to pretend not to see them and watch the fireworks.
"I wonder how many more times I can watch the same fireworks with you?"
Haruma-san says so and laughs.
"Never again."
I tried to be a little mean.
"Eh?"
Haruma-san is bewildered.
"It's not necessarily the same fireworks next year, is it?"
"A-Ah, that's what you meant."
Haruma-san pats his chest in relief.
These fireworks are inside a distant dream.
The launch fireworks disappearing into the sky.
The fireworks end.
"Well, they're over, so what should we do? If you'd like, Manami..."
"I have a day shift tomorrow, so..."
"I-I see. Then shall we go home?"
I giggle.
"I properly prepared a change of clothes."
Haruma-san desperately tries to hide his joy.
"I'll take a shower first."
"Ah..."
Why is this shower room so needlessly spacious?
The shape of the chair is also kind of strange.
Without worrying about it, I wash my body and exit the shower.
"You can go, Haruma-san, go take a shower too."
"Yeah."
Saying so, he heads to the bathroom.
I've started to get nervous.
To distract myself for now, I turned on the TV.
I regretted it immediately after turning it on.
I turned it off instantly.
Haruma-san comes out of the bathroom.
We spend time sitting on the provided sofa.
Then, he stands up.
He takes out two beers from inside the refrigerator.
He probably did it to ease my tension.
I drink the beer.
The atmosphere of the hotel, and the intoxication from the beer, made me proactive.
I entrust my body to him.
Sensing this, Haruma-san says, "Shall we go to the bed?"
I silently get into bed.
He dims the lighting.
I wonder if that is his own way of showing consideration?
Morning comes.
I change and get ready.
Haruma-san wakes up too and begins to change.
"Shall we check out early and have some breakfast?"
When Haruma-san says so, I nod.
We leave the hotel and have breakfast at a coffee shop.
He suddenly grabs both of my hands and says.
"Isn't it about time?"
?
"Shouldn't we also think about the future, at least enough to make Manami happy?"
I was happy, but I ended up shaking my head.
Haruma-san looks disappointed.
"I'm happy about what you said. I want you to understand that."
"Then why?"
"It hasn't been that long since I started working. I want to properly know the job and then make a decision."
"...If you want to be a dual-income couple, I will cooperate too."
"...I can't say it well, but... I have my hands full just learning the job... Could you wait a little longer?"
"...If you say so, I will do that. I don't want to force anything on you. I want to support your life."
"Thank you."
After eating breakfast, we head to the Hospital.
"Um... after saying such a selfish thing, I shouldn't be saying something so self-centered, but..."
"What's wrong?"
"When I have a day shift, may I go stay over?"
"Eh?"
"You always eat out, don't you? I want to help out even a little."
"Thank you."
"No problem."
Arriving at the Hospital, we went to our respective departments.
At the time of the handover, Honoka and Ai were exhausted.
"Even though it's a late-night shift right after a day shift, it's tough because I was playing around."
Saying so, Ai laughs.
I tell the two of them what Haruma-san told me.
"Why did you turn him down! It was such a great chance!"
Ai says.
"I think there is worth in any job. I want to at least find that worth before making a decision."
Whether to go full-time housewife or dual-income.
"I see..."
Honoka agrees.
After that, the two of them go home.
I went about my duties as usual.
(7)
"Toya-san, it's morning. Please wake up."
I am woken up by Airi.
Seeing that I have woken up, Airi goes to the kitchen.
After changing and eating breakfast, I watch Airi clean up and relax in the living room.
"Toya-san, is your work going to be okay?"
"Eh?"
It seems Airi heard last night.
That my responsibilities will increase.
"It's been easy up until now. It'll be fine."
"I hope so."
"If I get tired, Airi will heal me, right?"
"You really are a difficult husband."
Airi says so and smiles.
The time to go to work has come.
"Well then, please take care. Have a good day."
"I'm off."
Saying so to Airi, I head to the company, seen off by Airi.
When I arrive at the office, Kamiki-san is already there.
As usual, he is doing some strange exercises.
I begin preparing for work. I have two client visits today.
The morning assembly begins.
Once the morning assembly is over, work begins.
I gather the documents and other materials and head out.
Another hot week has begun.