V3C2 Part 4

Chapter 2 – The Appearance of A Beautiful Women

Volume 3

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Sunday…

I was waiting for Ichiya.

The meeting place is two stations away from my house, in front of the station that Ichiya uses every day. The reason why I chose this place was because of what I was going to do later. Today, I was going to meet up with him, have some fun, eat lunch, and then head to his house.

[Here is okay I suppose…]

I mumbled to myself as I waited in the rotary in front of the station.

The area around the station was unexpectedly deserted. Compared to my nearest station, which was lined with supermarkets and shopping malls, or the neighboring station, which was designed three-dimensionally, including a department store and a children’s center, it was a bit dreary. In addition to a large supermarket, there are only public facilities such as cultural centers and libraries.

I’ve heard that cultural facilities are concentrated around this station. Entertainment and amusement facilities are located in other stations. That seems to be the division of roles. It may have something to do with the fact that the area around this station is a high-class residential area.

In case you’re wondering, the only other people I know who use this station besides Ichiya are Himesaki-san, who is a genuine, yet fake, young lady, and Asukai-senpai, whose family is an old family with a long history.

I know I’ve been talking about how deserted it is, but it’s a residential area, and it’s Sunday. There are a lot of people coming and going, and a lot of people using the train.

I looked at the rotaries for some reason.

There was a red Beetle parked in a place where it wouldn’t interfere with buses and cabs. However, the owner of such a cute car was a good-looking woman. She was tall, had long hair, and looked intelligent and strong-willed. If I may use my own image, she looked like a researcher or a scholar and would look good in a white coat.

The woman was standing next to the car, talking on her cell phone. Of course, I couldn’t hear her voice.

She looked so cool.

As I was looking at her, she seemed to have noticed my gaze and looked at me just once. Oh no, I hadn’t realized that I had been rudely looking at her.

As I was feeling apologetic, the woman seemed to have finished her call. She folded up the device, and then…

She smiled at me and gave me a wink.

[…….]

Eventually, the red rhinoceros beetle ran off past me, leaving me stunned and dumbfounded.

…….

…….

…….

No, that was just too much. It’s so destructive when such an attractive person does that to you. Or am I just weak against older girls?

[Oops…]

But that’s not the point.

The time was eleven o’clock five minutes ago. The time is 11:05 a.m. The appointment with Ichiya was at 11:00 a.m. He was not going to be early like me, but he’s not going to be late either.

So, let’s implement a simple way to find Ichiya here.

First, pick up the voices of the people around you. Especially women in their teens and twenties. I saw a couple of them walking towards me.

[Hey, did you see that?　Did you see that boy just now? He’s really cool.]

[I saw it, I saw it. He looks a little scary, but I adore it.]

Next, I looked in the direction the women were walking.

There he was.

Ichiya was leaning against a pillar just outside the ticket gate. From here, it’s slightly in the shadows. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t find him until now.

Today, Ichiya was wearing glasses with pale blue lenses. He was dressed in a white printed T-shirt and black pants with a pleated wrap-around waistcoat. Leaning against a pillar, he looked like he was on the page of a fashion magazine, but the sullen expression on his face ruined everything. It was hard to get close to him.

[Ichiya]

But I know that’s his default, so I don’t hesitate to call out to him. The other side responded by raising his hand lightly.

[It’s late for usual Nachi.]

[No, I was already here. I couldn’t find you]

[I see. Well, it’s still early. It’s okay.]

Ichiya is not too fussy about details. Even if I were five or ten minutes late, he would probably just say, [It’s okay, you’re here now.]

[You’ve got a great sense of fashion, by the way.]

I looked at him again. I just found out that he’s wearing boots.

[Did you pick them out yourself?]

[I have a meddler at home who finds and buys these things.]

He looked faintly disgusted.

[Meddler?]

[One of my sisters.]

[Oh.]

Oh, I’ve heard that before. I heard that he has three stepsisters.

[I see. You’re quite loved, aren’t you Ichiya?]

[Maybe.]

The reply was short and bland.

I think he knows he is loved. Half of him thinks it’s annoying, and the other half thinks it’s not so bad.

[Maybe, if I go to your house today, I can meet your sister?]

It suddenly occurred to me. I’d like to see what kind of person his sister is.

[The two of them said they were going out. Maybe one of them will be there.]

[Oh!!!]

I couldn’t help but exclaim in anticipation, but Ichiya looked at me coldly.

[Why are you shouting with joy? Come on, let’s get a move on. You’re wasting your time standing here talking.]

[Oh, yeah, what are we going to do ……?　There’s nothing here. It is even less than I expected.]

If we go into a big supermarket, we might find a food court.

[There’s a suburban shopping mall a little further down the road. Let’s go there.]

[Sounds good. I’ll get my bicycle.]

I told him and went to the supermarket to get my bike.

[What, you brought a bicycle?]

Ichiya asked me as I came back on my mountain bicycle.

[I can ride two stops without a hitch. I even go to church with it. Come on, let’s go.]

Since I heard that he had walked all the way here, I decided to get off my bike and push it along.

The two of us walked side by side to the shopping mall.

We talked about trivial things along the way.

As usual, Ichiya spoke without holding back and with a minimum number of words. I don’t dislike the way he talks. He may look casual, but he is surprisingly rich in emotion. Well, the amplitude is small.

Eventually, the shopping mall came into view.

A memory suddenly flashed through my mind.

[Oh, I’ve been here before.]

[I bet.]

–I’ve been here before.

That’s right, I’ve met Ichiya here before. The first time we met was at Seirei’s exam room. We were seated next to each other. The next day was the day the results were announced. I had just received my acceptance letter and was so excited that I had ridden my bicycle here. And then, at a bookstore I strolled into, I met Ichiya again. That was the first time he told me his name.

[I didn’t think anyone would forget to bring an eraser to an exam.]

Ichiya was being a bit mean and brought back the memory of the past. …… Do you still have to say it, you son of a gun?

[It was my bad. I was so nervous the day before.]

In addition, I was able to pass the exam thanks to Ichiya who gave me the eraser.

[Okay, Ichiya. I’ll park my bicycle.]

As we entered the shopping mall, I decided to park my bicycle for the moment.

I pedaled my bike away from Ichiya. There was a large parking lot in front of a large shopping mall building, with a bicycle parking space at one end of the lot.  I parked my mountain bike there and headed towards the building, where I knew that Ichiya would be waiting at the entrance.

That’s when it happened. As if blocking my way, a bicycle came to a sudden stop in front of me.

On it was a girl who had probably graduated from high school. Her hair was short and brown, and she looked like she could have been featured in a magazine as a trendy outdoor fashionista. She was carrying a small backpack and was riding a folding bicycle in front of me.

[Hey, you. Why don’t you let this big sister pick out your clothes for you?]

[Wha?]

I was taken aback by the unexpected words and let out a silly squeal. And then I felt a slight deja vu.

[I’m going to make you more coordinated than you’ve ever been…, please. Can’t I?]

[You see, I got it covered already.]

Well then, I slipped past the big sister.

[Feel free to tell me if you’ve changed your mind the next time we meet.]

A voice from behind me said that. Rather than being persistent, I guess she’s calling out to anyone and everyone with a bad aim. I don’t think I’ll ever see her again, though.

After encountering a strange lady, I rejoined Ichiya. We decided to have lunch a little early.

Since it was a holiday, there were many families, and I expected the restaurant area and food court to be crowded as lunchtime approached.

[I’m fine with the hamburger store there.]

[You like junk food, huh?]

He said, not in displeasure, but simply as an observation.

[I’ve never eaten anything like that before you know.]

I’m in the midst of a food craze, having been exposed to an unknown food.

But…

[…… I see.]

–The reply from Ichiya was short and somewhat awkward.

Maybe he misunderstood. He thought I “couldn’t eat” junk food.

[No, you’re wrong. I just never got around to it. You see, my parents are rather old, right?　They just didn’t understand this kind of thing.]

That’s why I couldn’t say that I wanted to eat it. When I was in elementary and junior high school, I rarely had a chance to eat out with my friends, and it wasn’t until high school that I started buying food more often.

[So don’t worry about it.]

I patted him on the shoulder and started walking towards the fast-food restaurant.

I sat across from Ichiya and ate a hamburger.

[Oh, by the way, wasn’t Ichiya taking the regular class exam at that time?]

My memory went back to the day of the exam in February.

[Seven hours of class a day was too much for me.]

[But you’ve been admitted to the Advanced Course because of the promotion, haven’t you?]

According to him, Ichiya’s score on the entrance exam was very good. So the school offered to waive the entrance fee if he joined the Advanced Class, and he accepted. Naturally, the school thought that Ichiya would be accepted to a famous university in three years. But I am not so pure as to think that this is dirty. It’s a normal part of the school business.

[You do the strangest things.]

[What do you mean?]

When I expressed my thoughts, Ichiya asked me back.

[You had the academic ability to pass the entrance exam for the advanced class, but you took the regular class exam. But in the end, you moved anyway. — Isn’t that inconsistent?]

[……]

Ichiya ate his hamburger in silence. He seemed to be thinking of an answer, or simply unable to respond because he was in the middle of eating. In short, an indecipherable attitude.

[…… I simply changed my mind.]

But the answer that finally came out after a long wait was such a lame one.

[You’re going to be there for three years, so take it more seriously…]

[Leave me be.]

After saying that, Ichiya picked up one of the fries in front of me and threw it in his mouth.

[Oi, you’ve got your own fries, why are you taking someone else’s?]

As usual, this guy has a bad habit. I’m tempted to knock him down with the entire set of six law codebooks. (TN: Japanese law has Six codes)

As I stared at Ichiya with grudging, half-lidded eyes, he swallowed a chunk of potato and said.

[I don’t think it was the wrong choice, though.]

[……]

Is that so.. Then it’s fine.

After lunch, we stopped by the nostalgic(?) bookstore.

I was hoping that the personality of Ichiya would change after being confronted with so many books, but it was the same as usual, just a casual look around. Too bad.

After doing so, we headed for the main event of the day in a way, the house of Ichiya. It was not too far from here, as Ichiya had just walked there.

[So, is it about time?]

Sure enough, I asked as we passed through a quiet, high-class residential area.

[If you look at the map, we’re already in front of the house.]

[Huh?]

I looked around again at the place where I was walking.

It was a famous high-class residential area.

The houses that lined the street were a size or two bigger than the ones in my neighborhood. The garages were all built to hold multiple cars from the start.

If you look closely, you can see an endless line of fences with tiles on top on the right-hand side, as if they were copied and pasted. Of course, there was no end in sight. A little further on, I could see what looked like a gate.

I timidly asked.

[Could this be ……?]

[Well, yeah.]

I received a frightening answer.

[Wow.]

What the… I was at a loss for words.

Soon we were in front of the gate. It was pure Japanese style. It was wide enough for two cars to pass through, but it would be a waste of energy to open and close it every time anyone went in and out. We went through a small door next to it and went inside.

What appeared in front of us was a Japanese-style mansion. It was too big for me to see and I couldn’t grasp the whole picture.

[……]

This time, I was truly speechless. I just looked at the mansion as if I were dumbfounded.

The next thing I knew, Ichiya had gone ahead of me and was about to open the front door, so I rushed after him.

I hurriedly followed him as he opened the sliding door.

[Oh, it’s wide!]

The entrance was large and magnificent in proportion to the size of the mansion. I think I saw something like this on a TV show about visiting a rich person’s mansion.

[And there was no one there!　 ……I expected the servants to line up and say, ‘Welcome home,’ or something.]

[Idiot. We do have people to help around, though. They don’t have time for that kind of nonsense.]

As expected, Ichiya was taken aback by this. I’m sorry for being such a plebeian.

We walked across the spacious, beautiful, and magnificent but somewhat cold entrance. Ichiya didn’t even offer me slippers. Well, we’re both men, so we don’t care about that, nor do we expect it.

I walked down the cool hallway in my socks.

The hallway overlooked a well-kept garden, but there was no sign of anyone. I guess the larger the house, the lower the population density, and the lower the encounter rate.

We passed through more corridors, and the destination we arrived at was…

[Detached house?]

Yes, it was a detached house built in a corner of the garden.

[Well, yeah.]

He smiled bitterly, which was unusual for Ichiya.

The inside was like a studio apartment. It seemed to have a simple kitchen and bathroom. The furniture consisted of a bookshelf, a study desk, a table, and a chair on the floor. There was no bed, but there seemed to be another room in the back, which I guessed was the bedroom.

[Just sit there.]

He pulled out a chair from his study desk and sat down.

[Wow, your room is amazing.]

I sat down in the same chair that he usually used. I leaned my body against the backrest and looked up at Ichiya.

[My father’s main wife doesn’t like the idea of his mistress’s child living in the same house. She just doesn’t want me to go to the main house often.]

[……]

That’s right. I heard that Ichiya was the mistress’s child and that he was taken in here after her mother died.

[But that doesn’t mean I’m a docile person to accept it just like that, you know. There are a lot of books in my grandfather’s study, and I often go there to borrow them.]

That’s pretty nerve-wracking.

[So don’t worry about it.]

Ichiya got up from his chair and patted me on the shoulder.

He walked toward the entrance. I wondered if he was leaving.

[Are you going somewhere?]

[I remembered that my sister told me to call out to her when I came back. … I’ll be right back]

He raised his hand lightly over his shoulder. It’s not so much that the tone of voice is uncomfortable, but it’s almost as if he’s about to sigh because he has no choice.

I was left alone in the room as he left.

I looked around the room again.

There are only the bare necessities inside. It’s typical for Ichiya to be like this. The bookshelves were lined with books of various genres. At a quick glance, there were mysteries, science fiction, pure literature, non-fiction, and books written by politicians as a hobby. I guess he’s a voracious reader. Why don’t he use this reading experience and try writing a novel? I’ll recommend it to him next time.

I wonder if he sits on this chair to read books. It’s quite comfortable, even with armrests. Hmm? Does it even spin? I couldn’t help spinning around.

[Are you a child?]

I was seen spinning when Ichiya came back.

[Leave me be. You went to your sister’s place?]

[Yeah. She said she’d bring something to eat and drink.]

He sat down in his study chair again.

[Oh, does that mean I can meet your sister?]

[I guess so.]

I don’t know why he had such a complicated look on his face, but he answered.

For now, I’ll get to meet one of the three sisters. I’d like to meet the other two at some point. Even though they are half-siblings, they share half the same blood, so they must look alike.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

[Ichiya-san?]

The voice that struck my earlobe had a cool and a hard sound, similar to that of Ichiya.

[It’s open.]

[My hands are full. Can you open it for me?]

The next moment, Ichiya clicked his tongue slightly. You don’t have that kind of behavior, right?

When he reluctantly opened the door, we found a woman holding a tray in her hands.

[Welcome, Chiaki-kun.]

[Pardon my intrusio….]

I greeted her, but as soon as I saw her face, my words trailed off.

Immediately afterward, I shouted out in surprise, but I dare not write about what happened here.

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TN: Well, it’s been a while. I’m really out of my element for this novel as I lost the touch. I might have made some stupid mistakes. Let me know if any. I’ll try to post more often from now.

IMPATIENT MTL READER

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