A Mob, Desperate After Being Ntrโd by a Coworker, Attends His High School Reunion for the First Time in 10 Years, and for Some Reason Is Approached by Four Beautiful Girls
It was Akamura-san who approached me.
โโฆ Eh? Ahโฆ Wellโฆ Yes.”
I am ashamed of myself that I can’t help but speak respectfully.
Behind her were several men and women.
โNatsuki? Was there a guy called Natsuki?”
“I don’t remember him at all.โ
โI can’t remember even if I see his face.โ
Such voices enter my ears.
I can’t help but feel a twitch in my face.
This part has not changed since the old days.
โฆ I mean, maybe they have good intentions, but I knew this was going to happenโฆ
“.. I’m leaving,โ I say, backing up and hitting my foot on the table.
“Wait a minute. Here,โ she said, handing me a letter.
“Eh? What’s this?” She smiled a little and said, โI’ll be waiting to hear from you anytime,โ and left.
The small letter had her phone number and address written on it.
โฆ What’s this all about? As I was thinking this, Anzen-san came to me as if she were replacing her
“โฆ Uesugi, right?โ She asks me a question.
Then, she started talking with her face very close to mine
“Y-yeah”
“โฆ It’s been a while.
“L-Long time no seeโฆ”
“How have you been?”
“Y-you knowโฆ How are you?”
“โฆ. So-so.”
I meanโฆ The distance is close.
To begin with, her voice was so low that I couldn’t hear her unless I got closer, but she moved from directly in front of me to right beside me, and stood so close together that our shoulders were right next to each other.
Come to think of it, it might have been like this for a long timeโฆ
“โฆ I’ve been looking for you for a long time. I thought you had moved far away and wouldn’t be coming to the reunion anymore.โ
โโฆ Well, things happenedโฆ I wasn’t really planning on coming today.”
“I see. But now that I’ve seen you, I’m happy.”
โ..y-yeah”
Her direct words made my heart pound.
Then, as if following her, Shirota comes over and says, “Ara~? Uesugi-kun?~ It’s been a while.”
“boob ghosts,โ mutters Anzen, disgusted.
“Shirota sanโฆ
i-it’s been a whileโฆโ
I mean, even Shirota-san remembers me? When we were in high school, we almost didn’t even talk to each other
โHow have you been~? I mean, you used to live here?~”
โOh, yesโฆ Wellโฆโ I smiled bitterly.
As if remembering, she said, โOh, that’s right. You were walking with someone who looked like your girlfriend at the station a while ago~ Look, a girl with semi-long hair,โ Shirota-san laughed.
โฆ My ex-girlfriend definitely had semi-long hair.
โNo, Uesugi doesn’t have a girlfriendโฆ you don’t have one, do you?โ Anzen-san asked me with a slightly concerned look.
“โฆ No, maybe it’sโฆ I think it’s me.”
โโฆ I see.”
“I told you~. We’re already 28 years old. It’s normal to be in love at least once or twice.~”
โButโฆ But we’ve already broken up.”
When I said that, Anzen san’s face turned a little happy. I wonder what makes her happy. Is it that even a simple guy like me is finding happiness?
“Why did you break up?โ
The question was, in a sense, inevitable and natural.
“Wellโฆ We had a bad quarrel”
I lied.
I no longer knew what it was a lie for, or whom it was protecting.
โI seeโฆ.
So that’s how it was.”
โThat can’t be helped~. Oh, that’s right. Let’s take a picture with the three of us,โ she suddenly suggested, and without waiting for our response, she started up the camera on her own.
“Eh? Ahโฆโ I was puzzled, but the three of us took a picture together.
“Can I give this to Insta~?”
โAh, no, that’sโฆโ
โEven if you say no, I’ll still do it. I mean, Uesugi-kun, do you play Insta?~”
“No, I don’tโฆ.”
“I se~e. I’ll send you a picture, so you can give me your contact information?~”
And so, I exchanged contact information with both of them.
I had no idea that I would be talking to three of the fourโฆ
I stare at the last one, Kanano Nina.
As usual, she is drinking alone and lonely.
Well, the only one who takes a joke like that seriously is meโฆ She probably doesn’t even remember it in the first place.
Butโฆ It’s a good opportunity.
And so, I talk to Kanano-san.
โโฆ Kanano san.โ
She looks at me with a dubious look in her eyes when she hears my voice.
But the moment she sees my face, she opens her eyes so wide that her pupils dilate, as if a little startled.
“Uesugiโฆ.
You’re alive.โ
Then, she looks at me and speaks something in a whisper.
“..?โ
“So? What do you want from me?” She replied coldly.
โโฆ Hereโฆโ I take out a certain necklace from my pocket.
When she sees it, she looks more surprised than before.
“โฆ..Are you stupid lolโ she says. She begins to laugh a little foolishly, as if she is enjoying herself.
“No, I forgot about it too until recentlyโฆ
I meanโฆ Just in caseโฆโ
โโฆ Haaa I laughed. Uesugi, nothing has changed. Well, I get it. I’ll ask you to return this. Can I borrow your cell phone?” I did as she said and handed her the necklace and cell phone.
She fiddled with my cell phone and immediately gave it back to me.
“Here’s my contact information. If you want to do it, you can call me anytime. I’ll do it once for free as a thank you for talking to me.”
“Eh? What do you want to do?โฆ.”
“โฆ.I see. You just didn’t know anything about it? You’ve always been a clever idiot, haven’t you?”
I tilted my head and she told me to go away with her hand, as if she was trying to get rid of a bug.
Then I left the venue alone.
In the end, I never found out who sent the letter.
When I attended the reunion this time, I opened my graduation album for the first time in a while.
The school festival, the school excursion, the field trip, and so onโฆ I felt a little nostalgic and wondered if I had ever seen such a person. I was a bit nostalgic, but I kept going through the pages, tilting my head and wondering if there were any of them.
Then, when I opened the last page, a letter fell out.
What is it? I opened the letter and read the following words.
[I have always loved you. If you don’t find someone you like or are in a relationship with the next time we meet, I want you to go out with me. I will wait for you, even if it takes 5 or 10 years.]
There was such a letter in the mail.
Well, I had never opened my graduation album in the past 10 years.
Perhaps it was a prank by a boy?
But I can’t think of anyone who would play such a prank.
People change after five or ten years.
It is a matter of course.
I’m the only one who hasn’t changed at all since then.
I was really crazy to take such a letter seriously.
“.. Ahโฆ I’m tired today,โ I muttered to myself as I headed home.