Chapter 45 - Reason
(1)
"Is it no good..."
The third round of the prefectural tournament.
The result was a 2-0 loss.
In the end, Makoto barely got any playing time.
At this point, Makoto's middle school soccer had come to an end.
"Good work."
On the way back, I send a message to Makoto.
"Thank you. Now I can enjoy the summer with Kanna."
"I have entrance exams, so I wonder about that."
Well, at Airi's pace, she'll probably play plenty.
But is Makoto pushing himself too hard?
Timing it for when Makoto should be arriving home, I stand up.
"Sorry, I'm going outside for a bit."
"What's up?"
Toya is as dense as ever.
It's a far cry from when he's playing soccer.
"You're calling Makoto-kun, right~? Go ahead~"
Airi says this and smiles.
"Ah, I see."
"Toya-kun is so dense~"
Listening to that conversation, I leave Toya's house and call Makoto.
Makoto answers the phone immediately.
"Ah, Kanna. What's up? Is it time to go home already?"
"No, I was just a little worried."
"About what?"
"Don't dwell on it too much... soccer isn't something you do alone, right?"
"...Even so, I can't exactly blame my teammates."
"Well, that's true, but..."
I want to encourage Makoto somehow.
Is there anything?
The call continued while I was thinking.
"I'll come pick you up later. Want to talk then?"
"Eh? Ah, yeah..."
"Thanks for worrying about me. Well, good luck with your studying."
"Makoto... do you want to study together?"
"Eh, at Toya's house?"
"Yeah, even if you're a scholarship student, you still have exams, right? It's better to start now."
"True, and it'll give me time to be with Kanna."
Makoto laughs as he says this.
"Well, see you later then."
With that, Makoto hangs up.
I return to Toya's house and speak.
"Actually, about Makoto, is it okay if he studies with us starting tomorrow?"
"I'm fine with it! More than welcome!"
"I don't mind, but what does Makoto say?"
"He says it's fine."
"Then it's okay."
"Wait, Toya-kun!"
Saying that, Airi whispers something into Toya's ear.
She's surely talking about me and Makoto.
It's a little embarrassing.
I look down.
"Ah, I see."
"Shh, your voice is too loud."
Airi is enjoying that exchange.
I wonder if I can become like Airi?
Ding-dong.
While we are studying, the doorbell rings.
It's Makoto.
I clean up the study materials.
Unusually, Toya had also come downstairs today.
"Makoto, about tomorrow..."
"Ah, did you hear from Kanna? I'm counting on you."
"I know. Today was... a shame."
"I really should have relied on you."
"That's not true. The other side was just one step ahead."
"Hmm, it's frustrating."
They are having that conversation.
I wonder if it's okay to interrupt?
"Ah, Kanna. Shall we go home?"
Makoto says this when he finds me.
"Ah, yeah. Toya, see you later."
On the way home.
What should I say?
Clumsy consolation will only irritate Makoto.
"It's no good. I relied on Toya too much. I couldn't move on my own."
"I don't know much about soccer, but... Toya said so too, so don't blame yourself too much."
"I know... but today is just so frustrating... Kanna, can I ask a small favor?"
Saying that, Makoto stops walking.
"If it's something I can do."
Then Makoto hugs me.
My heart is pounding.
That didn't happen before.
Is he crying? Makoto.
I gently hug Makoto back.
"Hey, Kanna. Want to go out tomorrow?"
Makoto suddenly suggests.
"Is the weekend no good?"
"It's fine, but... I want to go just the two of us."
"...Okay."
"Thank you. Then, next Sunday!"
Makoto's expression brightened.
If Makoto is happy... then it's fine.
(2)
For a while after Kanna left, we continued studying.
While talking about Makoto and Kanna.
Mostly Airi was the one talking, and I studied while listening to that conversation.
"Toya! It's about time."
It's Mother's voice.
Before I could call out to her, Airi had already started cleaning up.
I walk Airi to her house.
"Well, see you tomorrow."
Saying that, I make sure Airi enters her house and then I return home.
"Toya, sit there for a moment."
When I return home, Father is sitting on the living room sofa with a stern expression.
Without saying anything, I sit opposite Father as told.
"You were talking with Ako."
About Ako.
"Well, a little..."
"Did you hear anything?"
"What?"
For now, I'll keep the interaction with Airi hidden.
"You didn't hear anything..."
Father lets out a sigh.
"What happened?"
When I ask in return, Mother answers instead.
"Ako-chan, apparently she moved back to her parents' house alone, saying 'I feel sorry for Grandma'..."
...?
"Is there some problem with that?"
"Alone! Right before these entrance exams, I wonder what she's thinking..."
Certainly, I don't understand Ako's actions.
"I haven't heard anything about that."
"By 'anything about that,' does that mean you've heard other things?"
Damn it!
"It's nothing major. Just things about Airi, like how she doesn't have a boyfriend, that kind of talk."
I'm not lying.
"I see, sorry. It's already late today. Go rest."
"Yeah, goodnight."
Saying that, I return to my room.
Ako, what are you thinking?
What made you do that?
I worried alone, but no answer came.
I'll sleep.
Thinking so, I turned off the light and fell asleep.
(3)
The weekend.
The city pool.
People of all ages and genders visit to seek coolness.
"The swimsuit suits you."
Makoto, who says that, also had a well-toned body with a moderate amount of muscle.
"Thank you."
"Well, shall we swim?"
"...Is there anyone who comes to a pool to seriously swim?"
I mean, it's overflowing with people, so we can't swim, right?
"Ah, right. I thought I'd swim my heart out to blow off some steam."
Makoto looks disappointed.
"If you want to blow off steam, shall we go somewhere else?"
"It's fine, I got to see Kanna in a swimsuit like this. Let's just relax for a bit."
The way he says things like that so smoothly is where he differs from Toya...
Makoto takes my hand.
This might be the first time for this kind of thing.
Splashing water and flirting like the couples around us?
While slightly bewildered, I act along with Makoto.
...I'm a little tired.
Looking at the clock, it's past 12.
"Shall we go soon?"
Saying that, Makoto hurries to the changing room.
He's a busy guy.
I also go to the changing room.
When I leave the changing room, Makoto is waiting.
"I'm hungry, let's go eat something."
Saying that, Makoto pulls my hand.
We stop by a burger shop on the way back.
Makoto also eats a lot, just like Toya.
He ordered about three hamburgers with fries and cola and ate them all up.
"Now then... Kanna, you still have time, right?"
"I do, but?"
"Want to stop by karaoke?"
"I don't mind."
He has more energy than I thought.
When we left karaoke, the time was past 18:00.
"Well, shall we head home soon?"
"Yeah."
Makoto walked me to the front of my house.
"Well, I'm counting on you starting tomorrow."
That's right, Makoto is studying with us starting tomorrow.
"Yeah."
Saying that, Makoto gets on his bicycle.
"Wait!"
I called out to stop Makoto.
There was no particular reason.
Makoto looks back at me.
"What's up?"
"Since we're here, why don't you stop by my place? At least stay for dinner."
"But aren't your parents not home, Kanna?"
"I can at least cook dinner myself!"
Makoto is thinking about something.
Then he takes his smartphone out of his pocket.
"Hello, Mother? It's me..."
He seems to be talking to his mother.
"Yeah, I understand."
The call ended.
"She says it's fine. Though she warned me not to be too late."
Makoto says this while laughing.
I lead Makoto into the house.
"Now then, what do you want to eat?"
I ask Makoto while checking the contents of the refrigerator.
It seems I can make most things.
"Curry rice."
Eh?
It was an immediate answer.
"When you think of girls' cooking, curry rice, nikujaga, and hamburger steaks are the classics, right?"
Well, is that how it is among boys?
"Well, I guess..."
"Alright! I'll help too. What should I do?"
He's proactive, unlike Toya.
...Again. I decided to stop bringing up Toya.
"Hey, Kanna. What should I do?"
"Ah, uh, then could you wash the rice...?"
"Leave it to me."
This is the first time making a meal while chatting and having fun like this.
...For now, I'll stop Makoto from holding the kitchen knife.
I thought that while watching Makoto cut potatoes with precarious movements.
...Now all that's left is to simmer.
"The rest is fine, I can do it by myse—!?"
Suddenly, Makoto hugs me.
"As I thought, this distance is crazy..."
That's true, a normal boy would feel that way, right?
And then I am suddenly released.
"Sorry, Kanna, I just..."
"It's fine."
"Kanna?"
"It's fine anytime. I'm all yours. Hug me when you want, and when you want..."
"Kanna..."
"A-Anyway, let's eat. You're hungry, right?"
"Yeah..."
After eating curry, he also helped with the dishes. After that, we played games, watched TV... time passed in the blink of an eye.
When we stopped watching TV and stared intently at each other's faces, and a certain mood developed.
The ringtone of Makoto's smartphone.
Startled, we pull apart from each other.
"Hello... Mother? ...Yeah, I understand."
Saying that, he hangs up and Makoto says.
"Mother says I should come home soon. Was it a mistake to say I was at my girlfriend's house?"
The time was past 21:00.
"I guess so..."
The feeling of being let down is incredible.
"Damn it... I was just a little more away from a chance to use that."
Is he joking?
Does he always carry it around?
"Next opportunity then."
"If there is an opportunity... is that okay?"
"That depends on Makoto's effort."
"Alright!"
Makoto is really proactive.
If he were this proactive, he would have made a girlfriend long ago.
"Hey, why didn't you have a girlfriend? Even after I dumped you, you could have made one, right?"
It would be possible for Makoto, right?
"True... it's not that I didn't have a girlfriend, but it didn't last. I think the reason is probably the same as Kanna's?"
"...I see."
They only pay attention to appearance and things like that and don't look at the essence.
Is that it?
"Why was it me?"
Makoto gently kissed me and said.
"Do you need a reason to fall in love with someone?"
My heart skipped a beat.
No, you do, right? There is one, right?
But I couldn't say anything.
"Just kidding..."
Makoto acts playful.
"I have a reason..."
"Eh?"
"Maybe it's Makoto's kindness."
"That's wrong, Kanna. My kindness is filthy compared to Toya's. If it's Kanna-san, heartbroken after being dumped, I can win her over with one push. I had that kind of calculation."
"Don't say Toya's name!"
"Kanna?"
"Stop bringing up Toya already. I've truly fallen in love with Makoto just now. I don't care if it's calculated or whatever! Makoto was just there. That alone is reason enough!"
"Kanna..."
"Well, see you tomorrow then! I'm counting on you!"
Saying that, I return home.
I was in a daze for a while.
Before I knew it, my smartphone was ringing.
It's from Makoto.
"Makoto?"
"I just got home, thank you for today. Thanks to you, I feel refreshed. And... about what we talked about earlier."
"Ah, I was also bad earlier, sorry. It's not Makoto's fault. I was just taking it out on you."
"I was looking for a reason too... but there really isn't one. Watching Kanna worry about the two of us, I felt a tightening in my chest... before I knew it, I had fallen in love."
"So that's where 'Do you need a reason to fall in love with someone?' came from..."
"You might think it's a stupid reason. I might have just been attracted to Kanna's looks. But..."
"It's fine..."
"And so you fell in love with me, and I fell in love with Makoto. That's fine, isn't it?"
"Kanna..."
"Once again, I'm counting on you."
"Yeah, I'm counting on you too."
And so the call ended.
After that, a message arrives.
"I love you!!"
Straightforward words, typical of Makoto.
I'll reply too.
"I love Makoto too!"
I can finally forget about Toya.
This is fine.
And so, the story of my new love begins.