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Chapter 37

 

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Translator: mii

Editor: Ryunakama

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Morning. In the middle of my dream, I could hear the smartphone in my bedside was ringing.

First, once. After that, it rang continuously for several times.

After five minutes, the alarm I had set up rang, and I woke up. I could hear how loud the wind outside is. Oh, it must be the typhoon.

There was an email, the school mass mailing. The time stamp is right at 6 AM. My heart pounded. I read it.

The title is,「【Emergency】The handling of today’s class」. Will we go to school? Or will it be a break?

I proceed to read the email.

Skimming the content, it was about「Since there will be a typhoon at 6 AM, we’ll close the school until 9 AM for nowー If at 9 AM it still hasn’t weakened, we will contact you again later to tell you whether it will be a holiday or notー Well then, you guys be careful too okayー」

Speaking of which, something like this happened last year, and it ended up as a let-down.

Until 9 AM, there are still three hours left. I’ll just sleep again.

＊　＊　＊

Maharun♪：Good morning!

Maharun♪：They close the school until noon, senpai

Maharun♪：Congratulations

I’m also a little happy that I don’t have to go to school when I thought I need to this morning.

More than that, I feel lonely when I think how I won’t talk with senpai on the morning train today.

Ten minutes after I sent the LINE message, he still hasn’t read the message. Senpai should’ve checked the e-mail from school, but maybe, he had fallen asleep again?

Really, senpai is seriously…

Maharun♪：Have a good rest

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Hearing the wake-up alarm, I wake up again. It was ten minutes before 9 AM.

I decided to look at the weather information for now until 9 AM. Checking the weather immediately after getting up, what the heck have I become? The wind is making a strong noise outside my window, as if trying to blow my boring joke. Maybe the typhoon is still out… OK. There’s still a red「Storm Alert」warning in the Kanto Area.

Yosh. if it’s like this then…

Returning to my home screen, I noticed that I had some LINE notifications. When I opened it, all of it was from Kouhai-chan. The time stamp was around 6 AM. It seems like she sent it when she received the email from the school. Is it okay if I reply to her now…

I open the curtain a little and peek outside the window. The rain has weakened with the normal strength as how rain usually is, but the wind is still going wild. In another ten, no, five minutes, please stay like this. Please read the atmosphere too, Japan Meteorological Agency. If you want to cancel the typhoon alarm, please do it at 09:01. Since the lesson should already start at 9 AM, that kind of timing should count, right? It would be nice if the time stamp is one minute later from 9 AM. Please, I beg you.

To the Japan Meteorological Agency headquarters in Tokyo… where? Chiyoda Ward? Anyway, I’ll send my deepest heart to Tokyo. I beg you, the person in charge.

I update the weather information every minute while prostrating towards Tokyo direction. Finally, the time of judgement, 9 AM, came. My fingers which were tapping my smartphone screen trembled.

Yeah, it should be okay, right? Here it comes.

A s t o r m w a r n i n g i s b e i n g i s s u e d

C o n f i r m e d s c h o o l b r e a k

C o m p l e t e v i c t o r y

Yosh. Let’s sleep now.

Iguchi Keita　：Good night

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After 9 AM, I received another email from the school. The storm warning wasn’t canceled at 9 AM, so the school would be closed today. They also told everyone to stay safe.

I see. So it’s a holiday.

What should I do? I didn’t think of doing anything because I thought I will end up going to school anyway.

Anyway, let’s send a LINE message to senpai.

Or so I thought as I opened the app, but it seemed like senpai was sleeping again. Rather, he even declared that he was sleeping. Senpai really likes to sleep, eh. Is your blanket your lover already? Seriously.

You don’t know what I will do when you are sleeping, you know?

I close my chat log with senpai, and open a chat log with another person.

Maharun♪：Good morning.

Maharun♪：Is it alright for me to visit today?

Maharun♪：It seems like the school is in a break because of the typhoon

Immediately after the other person read my message, I received a reply.

Iguchi Keiko　：Oh my, Maharu-chan

Iguchi Keiko　：Haven’t I told you that I will welcome you no matter when?

Maharun♪：Thank you very much

Right. The other person is senpai’s mother. Last week, when I came to visit him, we exchanged our LINE contact for some reason.

Since then, we often had a light chat.

Iguchi Keiko　：Nonetheless. There is still a typhoon going, so please be careful, alright?

Maharun♪：Yes

Iguchi Keiko　：Should I wake Keita up?

Iguchi Keiko　：That kid won’t wake up until noon

Maharun♪：Ah, please make it a secret from senpai

Senpai will definitely say something like「This is a school break for our safety!」, and he surely won’t go out together with me today.

Then, I will be the one going to his place. It can’t be helped anyway.

Iguchi Keiko　：I understand

Iguchi Keiko　：Then, please contact me again when you have arrived

Iguchi Keiko　：I will open the door secretly for you

At this moment, I really think that this person is senpai’s mother after all.

Maharun♪：Thank you very much…！

Maharun♪：I will probably arrive in around one hour

Iguchi Keiko　：Alright

At that time, the wind would be somewhat weakened. According to the news, the typhoon had already passed, so the weather might be good in the afternoon.

Now then. Let’s get ready, and go.

I stopped at the supermarket, and arrived at senpai’s home without any incident. The rain or wind wasn’t really a big deal.

Maharun♪：I have arrived

Iguchi Keiko　：I will go out now

「Good afternoon. Thank you for agreeing to my sudden intrusion.」

「It’s alright. I’m happy Maharu-chan came to visit.」

I shook my apron I took out from my bag, and asked this senpai’s mother.

「By the way, can I borrow the kitchen?」

＃　＃　＃

I woke up to the sound of the door opening.

Hearing it closely, the footsteps sounded a little different from my mother’s.

「Senpai!!」

How strange.

I heard someone’s voice who shouldn’t be here. A dream? This should be a dream, right?

「Senpai, it’s morning! No, it’s noon already!」

She shook my shoulders, and I couldn’t help but to open my eyes.

In my naked eyes blurred vision, her face was even bigger than what I expected.

「You’re too close.」

「Senpai, as I thought, I think you look better without glasses.」

I grabbed my glasses from my usual fixed position, and put them on.

「Good morning.」

「Why apron?」

She was wearing a deep blue apron. Of course, she didn’t hold any ladle.

「What do you mean with what? Of course it’s for senpai’s breakfast.」

「You just used my kitchen just like that?」

「I already exchanged LINE contacts with mother, so it’s okay.」

When did she do such a thing!?

「Now, come on」

After saying that, Kouhai-chan grabbed my hand and pulled me to the dining room.

Is this what they called that? Catching someone through their stomach?

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「By the way, this is my『today’s question』.」

Kouhai-chan who sits at the table opposite to me in the dining room said.

「Senpai, what do you usually eat for breakfast?」

「Coffee.」

「That’s a drink.」

「Rice.」

「Just that?」

「Furikake」 [1. Furikake is a dry Japanese seasoning meant to be sprinkled on top of cooked rice, vegetables, and fish. It typically consists of a mixture of dried fish, sesame seeds, chopped seaweed, sugar, salt, and monosodium glutamate.]

「Isn’t that attached to the rice…」

「And miso soup, if there are any.」

At the moment I said that, Kouhai-chan relaxed her face plainly.

「Ah, I’m gladー I made miso soup for senpai.」

「Then I’ll look forward to it.」

My mother is grinning next to me. Go somewhere already, mother.

「Kouhai-chan too, here’s my『today’s question』. What is your usual breakfast?」

「It’s banana.」

「Ha?」

「I like sweet things, so it’s banana.」

「That’s nothing someone can make, huh.」

「Senpai, do you want to make it for me?」

I don’t know about it myself.

The words spilling out of her mouth came so naturally.

「If it’s senpai’s cooking, I’ll welcome it, no matter what it is.」

「Haa…」

Kouhai-chan stood up from her chair, leaving those words in my mind. When she returned, she poured the miso soup into my bowl.

This time, she was holding a ladle in her right hand. Wouldn’t the miso soup drip to the floor? Well, whatever.

「Right, have a taste, senpai.」

「This feels uncomfortable, but thank you for the food.」

There’s no sin in the food itself.

「What’s with that?」

Now then. I look at the miso soup in front of me.

The bowl is the same as the one I usually use. This is the miso soup bowl from my house. The color of the content itself is not really different, and I can see seaweed and tofu inside. It’s like they are saying how this is the authentic Japanese miso soup.

Looking closely at the miso color, it is a little lighter than usual. An error is still an error.

I put it in my mouth.

Kouhai-chan who sits in front of me takes a breath. I take a sip of the miso soup.

Yup. I feel relieved.

The taste is a little different from usual, but the broth is firm, the seaweed is smooth, to say it simply, this is a miso soup.

I close my eyes, and nod silently. Yes, this is a miso soup.

「Uhm, senpai?」

Kouhai-chan stares at me who immersed myself in a happy atmosphere.

「How is it?」

Her eyes are swaying in anxiety. Is she asking for my feedback?

Then, I’ll answer frankly.

「Uhn. It’s delicious. A relieving taste.」

After I said that, Kouhai-chan casted her eyes down.

「I don’t know whether senpai is just complimenting me for politeness at this kind of time. So, I don’t know what senpai really thinks for exact. It might not be delicious, or maybe it’s just a mere consolation, or maybe senpai just said that for the sake of it. But――」

Kouhai-chan paused her words, and moved her gaze towards me.

「But even so. I am very happy that senpai said that to me. Thank you very much.」

I felt like I could see her eyes glittering for a moment.

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The things I knew about my senpai㊲

He said that my miso soup was delicious. I’m glad.

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