After School, at a Family Restaurant at Night, With That Girl From My Class

Chapter 19: The Goddess Sleeps and Laughs

Translated by Dawn

 

Chapter 19: The Goddess Sleeps and Laughs

“…I got it.
The answer is daydreaming.”

I told my mother, who had just lost her concentration, that Kazemiya was here and returned to my room on the second floor as if to go back and forth, and concluded that the scene my eyes had caught was such.

Otherwise, Kazemiya Kohaku would not be sleeping comfortably on the bed.

“Nn….”

It wasn’t a dream.
It was too high resolution for a dream.

“God……do something about this.”

I was stunned and involuntarily looked up to the heavens.
The reason why I looked up to the heavens was that the skirt of her school uniform was gradually becoming more and more revealing.
Before I could see the fabric through the gap, which I was not supposed to see, I looked up to the heavens, a devout believer at this very moment.

I could not choose to close my eyes because I am a man, a fragile creature.

However, I could not stay like this forever.
Little by little, I returned my gaze to Kazemiya again, cautiously watching for any unwanted reflections.

“….you look so beautiful in your sleep.”

Sleeping, Kazemiya looked like a goddess from a fairy tale, but also somewhat childlike.
All I knew was that even if I gathered all the beautiful things in the world, they could never compare to the beauty of the girl sleeping in front of me.

She just happened to be right in front of me right now, and normally I would not even be able to touch her.

“You sleep defenseless in a place like this……”

I get greedy.
I wanted to touch her, even if it was impertinent.
I had a shallow desire to touch this Kazemiya Kohaku, the most beautiful shine in the world, even if it was just with a fingertip.

“………”

It was quite natural.

I am a boy, and Kazemiya Kohaku, the goddess who was sleeping in front of……me right now, is a girl.
We were opposite sexes.

It wasn’t that I didn’t know about it until now.
I had not even forgotten about it.
But now I became very conscious of it.

Forcing down that awareness that was stagnant in my chest, adjusting my breathing, and calming down.

…Now.
I would have loved to let her sleep, but I couldn’t leave her like this.

The reason Kazemiya visited my house this time was to apologize.
It would be an unwillingness on my part to let time pass just to let her sleep, and it would not be a satisfactory apology for Kazemiya.

“Kazemiya.”

“……”

“Wake up, Kazemiya.”

“……”

It was no good.
No response.
She wasn’t going to wake up at this rate.

“….My bad.
I’ll apologize again later.”

While apologizing, I fearfully touch and shake Kazemiya’s shoulder.

“Wake up, Kazemiya.”

“Nnnn…”

There was more reaction than before.
Okay, let’s keep going.

“Kazemiya, Ka-ze-mi-ya.”

“……nn…”

Finally, Kazemiya’s consciousness began to gradually awaken, and her eyelids opened.

…I was thinking vaguely about how long her eyelashes were, and then our—eyes met.

“……”

“Good morning.
Did you enjoy your nap?”

“….eh? Naru, mi…?”

“Who else could it be?”

“Huh…? I…”

“You were sleeping.
On my bed.
…I was really surprised.
When I came back, I found you sleeping peacefully and looking very comfortable…”

“~~~~~……!”

I was not sure if she was listening to my words or not, but Kazemiya’s face turned bright red in no time.
It was like watching a fast-forward movie of a green apple turning red.

“S-sorry… I…aaah, ugh! Impossible! Sleeping in someone else’s room…!”

Kazemiya, who was red up to the edges of her ears, began to writhe in agony while holding her face with her hands.

“Really…this is terrible…! Uuuuu….!”

It then took some time for Kazemiya to calm down.

***

“Um…I’m so sorry.
For everything.”

After settling down, Kazemiya went down to the living room and stupidly told my mom that she had fallen asleep in my room.

“It’s okaay.
Don’t worry about it.
You’re so cute.”

“I’m glad to hear you say so…….”

I thought that the word “irresistible” was exactly for this moment.

“…Oh.
And this.
It’s not much but.”

“You don’t have to.
…Oh my, is this a “Griand” cake? And even the cream puffs! At this time of the day, you have to make a reservation to get it…….thank you so much for this! I’m so happy!”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

Griand was the name of a pastry store.

I remembered it because my mother used to buy it from time to time.
The cream puffs were so popular that they were sold out by the time we left for school.
So she must have made a reservation on the web in advance.

Mom, who had a sweet tooth, seemed to be about to burst into a fit of excitement as she hurriedly put the cake in the refrigerator.

“Let’s eat this cake together.
I’ll brew some tea.”

“Ah, it’s fine.”

“Please don’t worry about it.
He rarely brings any friends home other than Natsuki-kun…Kazemiya-san what do you like? Coffee? Tea?”

“Tea.”

I answered Mom’s question on her behalf.

“You know that, huh?”

“…because we’re friends.”

“Friends, is it?”

“What.”

“It’s nothing.
Tea right, yes, yes.”

……I hadn’t seen my mom this lively in quite a while, I think.

Of course, her remarriage had made her brighter than before.
Even taking that into account, she was quite happy today.

“Here you go, tea.
Be careful, it’s hot.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome…so, what’s the matter about today? Kouta said you had something to do.”

“….yes.”

While Kazemiya’s body stiffened at the main subject, she began to explain why I had left home on the day of that class-gathering party between just the two of us.

That she was not getting along with my mother.
That she was depressed because of that.

And that I had come because I cared about Kazemiya.

“I am sorry.
Narumi was just worried about me that day.
At that time it was……really, really hard for me.
I was hurt.
I was about to cry……Narumi noticed that and even came running……”

“You don’t have to tell her that I came running……”

“I have to.”

“It’s embarrassing.”

“It’s fine.
I just had an embarrassing moment myself.”

“That’s self-destructive.”

“That’s not true.
You know what? What is there to be embarrassed about? I was happy there.”

“What?”

“I said…I was happy.
I was so happy that you came…! I was so happy that I almost cried! That’s why it’s okay if you’re a little embarrassed!”

“What’s making you so angry…”

“Nothing.
I’m not angry.”

“You’re angry, no matter how you look at it.”

“Shut up, you blockhead.”

“Blockhead?”

“…..I was really happy……Even though I was embarrassed……I didn’t have to say that…”

Kazemiya muttered something in a mumbled whisper.

…or rather, what is that about the “blockhead” thing? Is my head blocked? Am I missing something……? No, I can’t help but notice that she looks like she’s angry at me…….

“You guys are so close.”

“”……..!””

We stopped this sterile argument for the time being when we noticed my mother’s sly grin, and Kazemiya, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment, forced the conversation back to the point, saying, “A-anyway.”

“Narumi had left home for me that day.
If I hadn’t been like that……Narumi would have stayed at home.
It’s true.
So…”

“It’s fine.”

Mom stopped Kazemiya, who was desperately trying to repeat her words, with a wry smile.

“Yeah.
Thank you.
I understood you well enough.”

“…I’m really, really sorry.”

“I’m sure Kazemiya isn’t the one to apologize, right? …..No.
It’s the same for Kouta.
There is no need to apologize, at all.
You guys are high school students, right? It’s normal to hang out with friends.
Rather, it’s me who needs to apologize…”

Mom turned over and squeezed out a few words.

“It’s my fault for making it hard for you to stay at home…….”

“It’s not Mom’s fault.”

It was Tsujikawa who entered the living room.

“It is normal for families to help and care for each other.
It is natural for them to be together.
Even if it is uncomfortable to stay…….it is normal to put family before friends.
That is what a normal family is.”

Tsujikawa’s point was correct.

“That day, it was senpai who chose to leave home.
And then you just wanted to run away from us, your family, because of ……Kazemiya-senpai, didn’t you?”

And I had nothing to deny that correctness.

Of course.
Because I kept running away.
I was still in the process of running away.

“….I agree.”

So all I could do was nod in agreement with Tsujikawa’s correct words.

“…isn’t that unfair? That’s right.”

Tsujikawa turned her back on us and walked out of the living room.

***

“I’m sorry about today.
And about everything.”

“Not at all.
I’m the one who wanted to apologize.”

Kazemiya had fulfilled her original purpose of apologizing and was going home early.

Today was Friday.
I could stop by the restaurant like I usually do.

“….cunning, huh?”

“You’re so right, it’s funny.”

Tsujikawa’s words were right to the end.
Everything was right.

That was why I have nothing to say back.

“…Hey, Narumi.
We are so alike, don’t we?”

“I guess so.”

“If that’s the case—you’ve already noticed that, haven’t you, Narumi?”

Kazemiya’s words stopped me in my tracks.

I get it.
What your little sister wants to say.”

I stopped and saw Kazemiya’s back in front of me.

“If I understood, you must have understood by now, too.”

“….No mercy, huh? Even though I was trying to escape from it.”

“I know that too.”

I could not see Kazemiya’s face.
I could only see her back as she stood still before me.

“We were supposed to stay out of other people’s houses, and not get involved in other people’s affairs.
And yet we were…”

“Yes.
That hasn’t changed, we still do.
But….”

Kazemiya turned around and our eyes met.

““You (you) have me wanting to step in.””

It wasn’t as if we were trying to coordinate our words.

Our words naturally matched each other.

“I knew it….”

“We’re so alike, huh.”

“Indeed.”

Someone I would be willing to step in with even if it meant breaking my own principles.

I felt an inexpressible warmth fill my heart at the thought of having such a person in front of me.

“You said before, Kazemiya, ‘Running away doesn’t solve anything, it only postpones the problem.’ Do you remember what I said back then?”

“I remember.
I remember what you said to me.
‘If there was something good that came out of running away, it wouldn’t have been a waste.’ ……right?”

“That’s what I said.
In the end, we are just running away, aren’t we? I’m not dealing with the problems that waved in front of me……but now, I feel like I can say it.
A proper answer.”

“Yeah.
I understand.
I understand what Narumi is trying to say and what you have realized.
I know what it is.
…….That’s why.
You should tell that to your sister.”

And Kazemiya overstepped the boundaries we had previously set.

“After hearing from……Narumi and actually talking to Narumi’s mom, I thought.
……Oh, this is what a ‘mother’ is.
My family is already—over.”

Kazemiya’s face was smiling as she said this.

I had never seen such a sad and tearful face.

It was painful just to look at it.
I wanted to look away.
But I knew I couldn’t look away.
Only here.
Just for now.

“My family is long broken, just waiting to be shattered.
……But, you know it’s not too late for Narumi’s family.
Because everyone is looking out for Narumi.”

“….This is what I mean when I say there’s nowhere to run.
There’s nowhere to run now that you put it that way.”

The niceties of those who did not understand the feelings of those who wanted to escape would have no effect on them.

However, Kazemiya was a different story.
Words spoken by someone who understands the same feelings would pierce one’s heart like nothing else.

“Don’t worry.
If you fail, I’ll run away with you.”

“By “fail,” you sound as if you know what I’m about to do…….”

“I know.
It’s Narumi.
I know exactly what you’re going to do.”

“It’s a tricky thing being on the same page.”

“You’re going to do it.
You’re fighting a losing battle.”

“Yeah.
…I’m sorry.
Will you help me?”

“Sure.
We’re allies.”

I move forward with each step I take, and I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Kazemiya.

“Let’s just have a strategy meeting.”

“At the usual place.”

And so we turned off on a slightly longer-than-usual walk home and headed for our usual seats at our usual restaurant.