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Chapter 36 - You Know, I--
A heavy downpour of rain was rumbling outside.
However, in this well-soundproofed apartment, all they could hear was just the sound of the dryer.
The heavy bass sound could be heard well into the adjoining bathroom.
“What the hell am I doing?”
This murmur was drowned out by the sound.
As Hayato sat in the bathtub, he was filled with self-loathing.
Remembering what he had just done, He blushed and sank into the bathtub.
The sighs that he exhaled turned into bubbles, floating in and out of the air.
(Damnit!)
Just remembering what had just happened, he was aware that his face was getting hotter and hotter.
It was quite a bold move.
“Ahahahaha! That’s a very bold thing to say, wanting me to stay over. Is that the kind of thing that makes you do erotic things?”
“Wait! No, no. I mean
 It’s raining cats and dogs, and I just don’t want you to catch a cold. That’s all!”
“What’s that? Does that mean you wanted to be with me? ”
“That’s right, damn it! So stay for tonight, WE’RE GOING BACK!”
“What? Are you serious? I don’t think we ever have that kind of relationship already. It’s too early, my heart is still not ready yet, and Hime-chan is here too.”
“Oh, Himeko will be happy. Wait
 I mean that’s–”
Naturally, if someone else notices it, it will be a big deal for both of them.
He hurriedly tried to put out the fire by making a joke out of it, but Hayato still had something he couldn’t give up.
“–Haruki. I really don’t want you to go back to that awful house for today.”
“
Oh, o-okay
 f-fine
”
It was just Hayato’s selfishness. It’s just that he can’t help but be reminded of the lonely look on Haruki’s face that he saw this afternoon.
When you think about it calmly like this, It’s a very strange statement.
When he returned back home with Haruki, Himeko was quite surprised, but fortunately she was happy to hear, “It’s a sleepover!”, though it was still a good thing that she was happy.
“The water’s too hot. It’s enough.”
Hayato had been thinking about it for a long time, so he took a rather very long bath. Haruki and Himeko had already finished, so there was no one to complain.
Hayato took a cold shower to cool down his overheated head. He took a quick light shower and left the bath.
He quickly wipes off all the water from his body, leaving his hair damp, and hangs the hand towel around his neck.
He went back to his room, wondering what to do about Haruki’s bed, in which she had suddenly decided to stay in because of the sudden events that had occured on this rainy night.
“Oh, welcome back. I’ll be borrowing some things.”
“

”
What was there was the usual Haruki, in every way.
Despite being in a boy’s room in the middle of the night, she was slumped over Hayato’s bed with a pillow in her arms, pacing and moving her legs in small movements while reading a manga.
She was wearing only the T-shirt, which was too big for her, and she had covered her bottom with a towel to keep it from showing. She also did her hair in pigtails, perhaps because she had just finished bathing and was about to go to bed, which looked fresh to Hayato’s eyes.
Hayato felt strangely embarrassed, thinking that he was being overly self-conscious when he was shown such a relaxed appearance. He let out a sigh as he wiped his crispy wet head with a hand towel.
“I searched any erotic book that you’re hiding, but it wasn’t here. Maybe it’s on the computer?”
“Stupid
 More importantly, is that my shirt? Didn’t you borrow it from Himeko?”
“Uh
”
At Hayato’s words, Haruki suddenly turned a straight face and turned around to sit upright on the bed. By the way, she had covered her lower body tightly with only a towel.
“Well, me and Hime-chan’s had almost the same body size, except that Hime-chan is a little bit taller than me!”
“Yeah? So there’s no problem borrowing her clothes, right?”
“Well, I borrowed it, and I told her that the chest area was too tight, and she just silently threw your shirt at me
”
“

”
“

 Pfft! Ha-Haruki it’s just
Sorry, I mean, Himeko cares about that kind of thing, too
 Hahahaha!”
“What should I do? Hime-chan is really sulking right now. What should I say to her
? Damn it, Hayato! Don’t laugh, you’re the big brother, so give me some advice for Hime-chan!”
“Ouch, ouch, don’t hit me on the back! Go give her something sweet to put her in a better mood!”
“Wow, what a jerk!”
Even though Haruki was very serious in discussing the matter, Hayato blew up in laughter as soon as he heard the story.
Haruki, whose cheeks are puffed out, slams Hayato’s back with the intention of protesting.
Apparently, Haruki unknowingly had stepped on Himeko’s landmine with a flat foot.
Hayato knew very well that Himeko had a complex feeling about it, as she struggled with drinking milk on a daily basis.
Indeed. No wonder Himeko is sulking.
“
Hime-chan has also started to worry about the size of her breasts, she’s really becoming a girl.”
“Haruki?”
Suddenly, she let out a sobbing sound and squeezed the shirt on her back, which she had been tapping. She then began to rub her back as if she was trying to find out what was going on.
“She’s already gotten big now. I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to keep up with her. Hime-chan is taller than me, and Hayato is amazing at cooking
 You two are not the same as you were back then
”
“
Well, I’ve been through a lot myself.”
“I see
”
Haruki muttered helplessly. She seemed to be pretending to be normal, but she was probably still reeling from the incident earlier.
–I’m just glad that I didn’t leave you alone.
Hayato thinks so, but he doesn’t have any more words to talk to her because he doesn’t know the situation. There are too many things that they don’t know about each other to go any further, and they hesitate to do so. There is a wall of reticence between Hayato and Haruki that was created by the seven-year gap.
A lot of other things have changed as well.
Their voices are at different heights, Hayato’s broad shoulders are stocky and Haruki’s shoulders are round and caressing, and they both have acquired different habits and special skills, and also, the environment that’s been surrounding both of them for the past years are also no exceptions to the change. And no matter how much they wished for it, they can never go back to the time when they were just laughing and playing without knowing anything.
However, Hayato still had the same feelings in his heart that he had back then.
“I had fun today.”
“
Huh?”
“I know you’ve been going through a lot right now, but today when I was playing or rather, having a date with you and, well, it was fun.”
“
Ah.”
Hayato’s face had turned bright red. It was a reproduction of the redness in the bathroom earlier.
(I’m sure that I’m just saying these things right in the heat of the moment, and I know I’ll be writhing in embarrassment when I wake up tomorrow morning
!)
Still, he couldn’t help but say this to Haruki now.
“I’ve been lonely ever since you disappeared. I didn’t have any other friends of my age. Not only today, but every day since I ever came here has been fun, just like the old days
 So I was very happy to see you again.”
“Haya
 to
”
It may not be something that they need to say out loud. It’s probably something they both knew somehow.
However, Hayato had a sense of conviction and a sense of mission that it was meaningful to say it out loud now, and that he needed to convey it in words.
“You know, I don’t really know what happened to you, and there’s probably not much I can do about it. But even so, I can at least be there for you. Unlike in the past, I have a smartphone, so I can at least run and talk to you
 Haruki?
“
Huh?”
It was when he raised his head, which had been turned down and scratched it in embarrassment.
In Hayato’s eyes, he sees Haruki shedding large, tearful tears.
Perhaps she didn’t realize it, but only after seeing Hayato’s surprised face, she realized that she was crying.
“I, why
 am I, why
 Haha
 that’s strange
”
She could no longer control her emotions, and no matter how much she wiped away her tears, they showed no sign of subsiding, her face a complete mess.
Neither of them knows how or why this is happening.
However, Hayato gently turned his back to her, as he didn’t want her to see his current face.
“Here, I’ll lend you this.”
“Mhm.. Than-”
He could feel Haruki’s forehead being pressed against his back with a thud. Eventually, a sob escaped from Hayato’s back.
He doesn’t know which word was the trigger of her breakdown.
However, once Haruki’s tears broke through the dam and started flowing, she didn’t know how to stop them.
This was also an outburst of what she had been holding back for the past seven years.
If she had eventually held on to this too long, she might have broken down.
–You can cry to your heart’s content now.
Although he really didn’t want to make such a face, Hayato clutched his hands painfully as he felt something hot spreading across his back. What was in his chest was just a feeling of helplessness and anger towards himself.
(I
)
The memories of the past came back to me, the times when I could do nothing. It’s–!
“Are you there, Onii? What’s wrong with me for acting like a jerk to Haru-chan?”
“It’s
”
“
Hime-chan?”
Without waiting for an answer, the door was opened and Himeko came into the room with a somewhat sullen expression.
However, when she saw Hayato and Haruki — her brother with wrinkles between his eyebrows and a difficult look on his face, and their childhood friend in tears – her expression instantly turns red.
“Hey, hey, what did you do now?”
“Wait Himeko, I didn’t do anything!”
“Then why is Haru-chan crying?”
“Hayato made me cry
.”
“Hey, Haruki!”
“Onii!”
From her side, Himeko’s misunderstanding was inevitable.
Himeko wondered if her brother had done something rude, so she threw the remote control and magazines at his feet.
“Hahaha!”
“Haruki, stop laughing and appease Himeko!”
Haruki shows the tip of her pink tongue when she sees Hayato’s troubled face as the excited Himeko blames him.
The quick change of atmosphere makes him wonder what was going on earlier.
But she’s in her usual self, a sign that she was ready to go.
“(Thank you.)”
Haruki’s lips were moving like that towards Hayato, who sighed.