The Love of My Childhood Friend, Who Has Overcome a Terminally Ill Diagnosis, Is Overwhelming
“Atsushi, it’s time to go.”
It was the Saturday after exams had ended.
I was studying hard in my room as usual when my mom called out to me in a loud voice from the living room downstairs.
“Okay.”
I closed my textbook and let out a sigh.
I really wanted to study a little longer, but since it was time to go, there was nothing I could do.
“You’re late.”
“Sorry, sorry.”
When I went downstairs, my mom, who had already finished getting ready, scolded me.
Apologizing, we left the house and headed toward the car where my dad was waiting.
The car was already running, and my dad was tapping away on his smartphone.
“Well then, honey. Take care of us.”
“Yeah. Got it.”
“I’m sorry even though you always have to work late.”
“Don’t worry about it. After all, I’m your father.”
Sitting in the back seat of the car as it pulled away, I silently thanked my father once more for his warm smile and gazed blankly out the window at the passing scenery.
“Man, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
My father said, sounding somewhat amused as he drove.
“Getting invited over to the Ichinose family’s house like this. We used to do that quite a bit when Atsushi was little.”
“That’s true. We were neighbors back then, after all.”
The place the Hagiwara family was heading to today was the Ichinose household, which I had visited the other day.
The other day, I spent a whole day taking care of Kanade, who had caught a cold… After Kanade’s mother came home, she thanked me for looking after her and said, “Please come visit us as a family sometime,” and that’s how this plan came about.
However, when I got home and explained the situation to my parents… they didn’t immediately agree to Kanade’s mother’s invitation.
“You… skipped school to take care of Kanade…?”
The first reaction my parents showed was confusion.
After that, I explained how things had unfolded and told them it was all to extend my study period for the test.
“Isn’t that a little too sneaky…?”
As a result, my parents became even more confused.
Why on earth…?
Well, anyway, after my parents had spent a while puzzling over my actions on the day of the test, I decided to ask them again about visiting the Ichinose family.
“Of course we’ll go.”
“Why didn’t you just say so from the start?” I thought to myself, for once with all my heart.
“…When you guys were little, we used to do this almost every week, you know?”
My father said.
“Really?”
To be honest, I don’t really remember it.
“Ever since you guys were little, both we and they were so busy with work. Luckily, since we were neighbors, we’d take turns watching each other’s kids. …In this day and age, some people might make a fuss and call it child abuse.”
My father gave a wry smile.
“I guess you could call it give and take. …Things were tougher back then than they are now, but I think we managed in part because there were people in similar situations nearby who helped each other out.”
“…I see.”
“Yeah. …So I never imagined that our relationship would end up severed like that.”
The car fell silent… only the sound of the engine echoed.
“Do you remember, Atsushi?”
“What?”
“…The conversation we had in the car after you went to visit Kanade for the first time after she was hospitalized.”
…The conversation on the way home that day, after I’d seen Kanade—emaciated, her beautiful black hair gone.
“…Come to think of it, the situation was just like it is now. Without a second thought, we sat in the back seat and spoke in voices loud enough for you to hear, pitying Kanade’s condition.”
…There’s no way I could forget that.
“‘Poor thing.’ You were angry at Mom for saying that, weren’t you?”
“I’m sorry…”
Even now, looking back on it… it was nothing more than me taking my frustration out on you.
“No, no. I’m not angry. …It’s just that, ever since then, you’ve been…”
He started to say something, then laughed.
“Sorry. I got a little sentimental there.”
“You really did. And here we’re about to see Ichinose san for the first time in ages.”
Mom was annoyed.
“Speaking of which, Atsushi, ever since you went to take care of Kanade at her house, she hasn’t come over here even once. Did something happen?”
I was laughing at my parents’ conversation when my mother turned around and suddenly asked me that.
Just as my mother said, Kanade hadn’t actually stopped by our house for the past few days.
“She used to come almost every day before that. …Did you two have a fight or something?”
“A fight? When they were getting along so well?”
“Give me a break. Like I am be fighting with the girl from the house we’re about to visit? That’d just make the atmosphere even more awkward.”
“…How rude.”
Me and Kanade, fighting?
What a stupid question to ask.
“We didn’t fight. Not even a little bit.”
I snorted derisively.
“Then why did Kanade stop coming over?”
“…Hmm. It’s simple.”
I smiled defiantly.
“Actually, we were competing in the final exams.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
I nodded…
“And I crushed Kanade completely.”
I grinned.
Thanks to a special exception for sick students, we took the test the next day and received our scores from our homeroom teacher in the faculty room a week later than the rest of the class.
…The look on Kanade’s face at that moment—she was practically in tears—was pretty thrilling, if I do say so myself.
“…Haa. And you’re calling that a fight?”
My mother was holding her head in her hands.
Maiasa