Chapter 96 – Once Again, Asanagi’s Family (3)
The moment I realized that I was crying, everything became clear to me.
I had unresolved feelings about my family.
Accept everything that happened? Of course I couldn’t do that.
‘I don’t want you two to get divorced. I want the three of us to be together forever…’
I couldn’t say those words out loud. Not in reality, nor in my dreams.
For dad’s sake. For mom’s sake. For the sake of living a peaceful life. I had been making excuses and lying to myself.
I wasn’t envious of Umi’s family.
What I felt was regret. The regret of not being able to see this kind of scene with my family ever again…
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
But still, my timing was bad. I tried to wipe the tears away with my sleeve, but that action was counterproductive. My tears didn’t stop, instead they flowed even faster.
Daichi-san, Sora-san and Riku-san seemed perplexed. The three of them didn’t understand what was happening to me. After all, we had been having a good time and suddenly this happened.
Umi understood what was going on, but she seemed to be at a loss.
“Maki, take this first, and–”
“T-Thank you, Umi… But, sorry, I think I need to get some air and cool off my head first…”
“Maki!”
I took the tissues that Umi gave me before shaking her off and ran out of the room. I put on my shoes and left Umi’s house.
What the hell am I doing, even? I just ran aimlessly, not even heading home. I knew that people would be troubled by my actions, but I did it anyway.
“Seriously, what the hell am I doing? …They were treating me nicely but I went ahead and did all this…”
I wanted to become Umi’s lover, yet I showed her family my unsightly side like this.
It was embarrassing, shameful, lame and disgusting.
I’m so childish. I’m already at this age, but I still act like a spoiled brat.
“Maki, wait!”
“…Umi…”
I turned around to see Umi, dressed in her thin roomwear and a pair of sandals while chasing after me. She probably ran straight out of her house, ignoring her family to come after me.
“What are you doing? You’re going to catch a cold wearing those clothes! Go back to your home, I’ll be back in a few minutes!”
“Maki, you idiot! How could I leave you alone after seeing you like this?”
“…J-Just go. Don’t worry about me, I just need some time alone!”
“Shut up! Come here and follow me!”
Our age and height were the same, but Umi was much more athletic than me.
Based on our physical capabilities, it was obvious what was going to happen.
“Hah! Got you!”
“Ugh…”
She chased me up until the railway. After she caught up to me, she immediately grabbed my wrist.
She pulled me toward her side and our gazes met.
“…Idiot, your face is a mess…”
“…Sorry…”
“Don’t be… Come here…”
“Wa–”
She embraced me and pulled my face toward her chest.
Maybe it was because she was wearing a thin shirt, I could feel the warmth of her chest and because of that my heart beat even quicker.
“…This is embarrassing… I’m not a child, you know?”
“We’re high school students, we can’t drink, we can’t smoke, we’re pretty much children, so it’s fine if I spoil you like a child… Maybe…”
My face probably looked terrible because of my tears and runny nose, but Umi held me and refused to let me go even though her clothes might be stained because of me.
I could smell a sweet scent coming from her. It managed to calm me down.
“No one is around, so you don’t need to hold back. Don’t think of anything and let me spoil you, okay?”
“…Sorry…”
“The appropriate response in this situation is a ‘thank you’.”
“…Thank you, Umi…”
“Mhm.”
I decided to lean on her.
I buried my face on her chest and cried my heart out until I calmed down and sorted out my thoughts.
* * *
After I regained my composure, we decided to return to Umi’s house because I didn’t want Umi to catch a cold for staying outside for too long.
I then apologized to the three other members of the Asanagi Family who showed their concerns and went up to Umi’s room.
“Come here, Maki. My room’s a little messy, but we can talk alone here.”
“…E-Excuse me…”
She said that her room was messy, but it was much better than my room.
And of course it smelled much better too.
“Here, Maki.”
“…Mm…”
Once again, I buried my face in Umi’s chest.
She told me to not hold back for today so I obeyed her for now. I still had to apologize once again to Daichi-san and the others though.
I couldn’t remember the last time someone tried to spoil me like this.
“…Maki, are you still troubled about the matters with your parents?”
“Mm… I thought I’d gotten over it, but apparently not…”
I apologized to mom in my heart because I had to break my promise here. I decided to tell Umi about everything. The divorce, my exchange with dad and the time when I ran into Nitta-san.
Umi looked surprised when Nitta-san’s name came up, but other than that, she didn’t give out any response. She listened to everything while occasionally patting my head.
“…I see. You did great, Maki. Come to think of it, you’ve been busy since the start of December, haven’t you? Planning out the Christmas gathering, Seki’s idiocy, the final exam, the upcoming Christmas party, Minato-san and your parents quarrels… You have to deal with a lot of things, huh?…”
“Half of those are the things I started though.”
“Right, but you’ve been pushing yourself, so it’s fine for you to stop enduring everything by yourself. I mean, if this didn’t happen, you would probably keep everything bottled up, right?”
“…Maybe…”
I would probably spend the rest of my life lying to myself, hiding my true feelings and pretending not to notice them.
Luckily that didn’t happen thanks to this girl in front of me. And thanks to her, now I’m being pampered like a child…
…Honestly, I don’t know which one is worse, living in misery or embarrassing myself in front of the person I love…
“Anyway, don’t think too much for now. Relax, get a good night’s sleep and eat your fill after you wake up, you’ll feel a lot better after that. You haven’t been sleeping much lately, have you?”
“Mhm… But I think I can have a good night’s sleep tonight…”
“Is that so? Then, go to sleep. Leave the rest to Mom and I.”
If she said so, then I wouldn’t hold back.
I still had to apologize to her whole family tomorrow, but that could wait until after I regained my composure.
I guess the dogeza practice I did with Nozomu could come in handy later.
“Then, good night… Thank you, Umi…”
“Mm. Good night…”
Maki, I’ll always be by your side…
Umi whispered something in my ear as I fell into a deep sleep in her arms.