It had been raining since last night, and the continuous rain had created a gloomy atmosphere. It would be rare for anyone to want to go to work or school on such a day.
[Ugh! My hair is all messed up!] (EDN: MCās sister)
The Kirishima Family also raised their voices in protest against such an atmosphere in the morning.
I was making lunch with Himekoās voice as the BGM. She was saying [Ahhā¦ Itās always like thisā¦]
The lunch consisted of frozen karaage (the microwavable type), leftover burdock root, and carrot kinpira from last nightās dinner, and small tomatoes.
[I hate rainy days! It made my hair get all puffy and floppy.] (EDN: MCās sister)
[I like it a lot, actually. I donāt have to worry about being sent to help out.]
[Onii, there are no fields here.]
[Yeah, youāre right.]
[More importantly, according to the app, itās supposed to stop raining in the afternoon. I wonder if I should take a folded umbrella.]
[From your phone?]
[Yeah, itās pretty handy.]
[I see, well it is convenient.]
[Iām surprised that Onii is interested.]
[ā¦ Well, Haruki asked me why I didnāt have one.]
[Ah, Haru-chanā¦]
Himeko nodded her head and crossed her arms as if she was convinced of something. At the same time, her eyes were staring at me with a hint of criticism and dismay in her eyes.
[Can I have a word with you, Onii? A phone is now a necessity in todayās world. Just as every family has a refrigerator and every farmer has a tractor, it is natural for everyone to have one. The ones who donāt have them are abnormal nowadays.]
[Seriouslyā¦ Is it really that bad?]
[Tsukinose only has one radio wave, But itās still convenient to have it. I call Saki-chan everyday, you knowā¦]
[Oh, with Murao-san.]
Saki Murao. Something thatās quite rare in Tsukinose, a girl in the same age as Himeko, and is a classmate and a friend of hers.
She is a quiet girl and has been playing with Himeko for a long time. However, when I approached her, she always hid behind Himeko, so she is perceived as a friend of my sister whoās really shy. Yet, she is a really important friend of Himeko.
(I seeā¦)
Himeko and Saki Murao were separated by our move. The distance between Tsukinose and this town is several hours by car. Itās not a distance where they can easily meet.
For me and Himeko, who donāt have a driver license nor a car, thereās a gap that would require a whole day to visit them. For a young child like Himeko, it would be an eternal separation.
However, Himeko is still actively keeping in touch with her. It may be a faint connection from a palm-sized device. However, I felt that they were deeply connected and still communicating with each other.
[I seeā¦ Murao-san, how is she?]
[Hmmā¦ The usual? Ah, but it seems that sheās a bit concerned about you, Oniiā¦ What did you do?]
[Ha? Me? Well, I mean, Murao-san was rather uncomfortable with me, right?]
[Right? Hmmmā¦ Sheās always been weird when sheās in front of you, Oniiā¦ I wonder if itās psychological?]
[Stop it, Himeko. That hurts, you know.]
[Ahaha, Iāll say something nice about your appeal to her.]
[Iāll count on you for that.]
Then Himeko started typing a message to her.
I saw this and thought that if I had stayed connected to Haruki when I was a child, I might have had a different future than I have now.
Himeko said something to me while typing a message.
[I think Haru-chan was happy to see you again after such a long time. Youāre still friends, right? Iām sure you have tons of things to talk about, and I think you want to talk more.]
[I donāt knowā¦ But that might be true.]
To be honest, Hayato doesnāt know why Haruki yelled at him like that yesterday.
When I think about it, there are many things I donāt know nor understand about Haruki.
Thereāre a lot of things I didnāt know about Haruki, like the fact that sheās a girl, or that she was building a diorama. There might be misunderstandings and miscommunication between us. Even so, Haruki is a special and important childhood friend.
(If we had a smartphone, weād be able to understand each other.)