Chapter 345: Childhood Friends |
"You... you... you...!"
Shimizu Yu stared at Hoshino Gen, who was looking at her with a faint smile on his lips. Pointing at the large dog, Shiro, in the courtyard, she stammered incoherently, "W-What... what in the world is going on here?!"
Hoshino Gen casually pushed open the courtyard gate and stepped inside, answering her question with his actions.
Following him inside almost subconsciously, Shimizu Yu asked in sheer disbelief, "You moved here?"
Hoshino Gen cast a sidelong glance at her. Nudging away the large dog, Shiro, who was trying to jump on his legs, he threw back a casual reply, "What do you think?"
As he spoke, he led her across the courtyard to the main entrance of the villa. He scanned his fingerprint, and the heavy door unlocked.
Seeing this, Shimizu Yu finally accepted the unbelievable truth. Even though his new home wasn't strictly next door to hers in the same row, it was still in the exact same residential area. It was just a short walk and a quick turn around the corner from her own front door. Calling them neighbors wasn't a stretch by any means.
In fact, given the distance and position, she could look out the window of her own room and see this very courtyard and this exact villa!
It just felt... incredibly surreal.
There was no one else at home. The smart home system only turned on the interior lights after Hoshino Gen walked in.
Shimizu Yu glanced around. She knew nothing about design or renovations, but she could instantly tell that the house was absolutely beautiful. Walking in gave her the illusion of instantly traveling from the height of summer in Tokyo to a refined and romantic Northern Europe.
She loved the cozy-looking sofa in the living room, the neat color block decorations on the walls, the glass handrails of the spiral staircase, and the massive semi-open kitchen!
Hoshino Gen walked further inside, and Shimizu Yu trailed behind him, taking the grand tour. It wasn't until he reached the second floor and stopped in front of a room door that he suddenly turned around. He stared at her with a strange expression. "I have no idea what your intention is in following me into my house, but I am about to go into my room and use the bathroom inside to take a shower. Are you sure you want to follow me in?"
"..." Shimizu Yu froze, suddenly realizing that this guy had never actually invited her in to tour his new home. She had just unconsciously followed him inside for some inexplicable reason, tailing him all the way to his bedroom door like a total idiot...
Her small face instantly turned beet red, and she just wanted to turn around, dig a hole, and suffocate. But before she could make a move, the mobile phone in her pocket suddenly rang. The life-saving ringtone sounded like heavenly music. Shimizu Yu hastily pulled out her phone, and seeing "Mom" on the caller ID, she immediately realized her mother was worried about why she wasn't home yet.
"My mom is calling me home!" Tossing that flustered excuse at Hoshino Gen, she answered the call, turned on her heel, and fled down the stairs, sprinting out the front doors of the villa.
Hoshino Gen watched her back disappear out the door, rolled his eyes, and pushed open his bedroom door to go take a shower.
...
The sight of the sun sinking below the horizon was always magnificent.
This was especially true when viewed from above the clouds, over thirty thousand feet in the air.
The crimson clouds filled the sky like a red silk ribbon fluttering across thousands of miles, decorating the entire world into a sea of festivity.
Some people considered the setting sun to be desolate, lonely, and melancholy. But to Shirayanagi Ayaha, at least in this moment, the setting sun outside the airplane window framed a romantic and magnificent joy.
"Sister Koda, how much longer until we arrive?"
"Within thirty minutes, Miss."
"It should be dark by then, right?"
"Yes, Miss. In early September, the sun completely sets around seven o'clock in Tokyo."
"What a pity. I originally wanted to stage a grand reunion under the setting sun, especially since he loves sunsets so much..."
"..." No one responded to her this time.
Shirayanagi Ayaha leaned her delicate frame gently against the soft backrest. She pulled out her mobile phone and lit up the screen.
Her phone's wallpaper was an image unlikely to be used by a girl her age. Or, strictly speaking, it wasn't just a picture, but a photograph.
The background of the photo featured a temple lightly dusted with falling snow yet decorated with a jubilant atmosphere. Many people in winter clothes were visiting the temple, all serving as the backdrop and undertone of the picture. Their very existence was merely to accentuate the two figures closest to the lens: a boy and a girl who looked to be seven or eight years old at most.
The girl had a pale, pitiable little face, yet she flashed a radiant, cute smile at the camera. One hand flashed a peace sign in front of her, while her other hand gripped the wrist of a little boy who seemed to be walking in the opposite direction.
The boy's features were as exquisite as porcelain. Yet, even across time and space, one could keenly feel the profound indifference resting within his striking heterochromatic eyes.
Shirayanagi Ayaha's pale pink, thin lips curled upward. "It's been a year, and you actually haven't contacted your seriously ill childhood friend even once. You really are as heartless as ever."
...
When was their first conversation?
Was it when they were five? Or six? The memories from over a decade ago were too distant. Even when she recalled those scenes in her mind, they felt a bit distorted.
Anyway, it was around the time she had just returned to Japan and started primary school.
The neighbor was her father's business partner, and the two families were very close. Her first dinner back in Japan was shared with her parents, the neighbor, and the neighbor's child.
The neighbor's child was incredibly beautiful, far better looking than anyone she had ever seen in the few short years of her life.
"Your eyes are so beautiful! Why is one blue and the other black?"
"You're so pretty! You look better than any boy I've ever seen!"
"What's your name? I'm Shirayanagi Ayaha. When I was in America, everyone called me Iroha!"
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
"Is my Japanese too bad for you to understand?"
"Hello!"
During their first meeting, it was entirely a one-woman show. That boy—whom she only later found out from her father was named Hoshino Gen—didn't even look her in the eye.
Under her father's arrangement, she enrolled in the same primary school as the neighbor's child, and they were even placed in the same class.
On her first day of school, the teacher told the class that their new classmate was in poor health and asked everyone to take good care of her.
As a result, her classmates gladly accepted her. Especially after they learned that her poor health was due to congenital heart disease, even the most mischievous boys didn't dare bully her. She practically became the center of the class. No matter what she did, everyone would revolve around her, deliberately going out of their way to look after her.
Except for that one boy, who always sat alone in his corner seat, resting his chin on his hand and staring out the window at the sky.