C19 – Summer Rendezvous ◇ Hiria

It was by chance that I came up with the idea.

I happened to find a park at a small station where I got off for a holiday adventure. One of the playground equipment in the park was in the shape of a very large ladybug.

As I got closer, I saw that the polka-dot pattern had been hollowed out into several circles. From there, you could enter the hollow space. And when I entered, I found that the inside was partitioned in the center.

This is perfect.

It’s the same structure as the second library. The fact that there are entrances on both sides makes it an advanced system. It’s wonderful. I decided to use it as a place to meet with Nekura-kun.

It’s great to meet outside during summer vacation. I emailed him and he agreed.

Excitedly, I got there before the meeting time and went inside. I told him I would be five minutes late so that we wouldn’t have to meet face to face.

[I entered from the one near the clock, so please enter from the other side]

I texted him and waited nervously for his reply.

[I’m already inside.]

“What, since when?”

I raised my voice. Why didn’t he just call me if he was already there? It would be a disaster if I entered through the same entrance. No, but if he’s not here, then he’s on the other side.

“Nekura-kun?　Are you there?”

A voice from the other side said, “Uh, yeah. I’m here,” came a voice from the other side. I was worried that my voice wouldn’t carry, but I was glad. I could have a conversation with him.

“Long time no see.”

“Yeah, how have you been?”

“Yeah good!　I thought we could talk here, you know, without showing each other our faces!”

“Yeah, th, that’s right”

“Ha-ha-ha. Your voice is echoing.”

Voices reverberated against the low ceiling, creating a strange feeling. I mean, it was really hot. Today’s temperature was on the low side, but even so, the inside of the playground equipment was stuffy and hot.

“Hiria-chan, on summer vacation…Wah!”

I heard a child’s voice saying, “Who are you?”. Apparently, another user had come in from the other end.

“Whoa, stop it, don’t pull me.”

“Who are you?　Gyahahaha!”

There was no way he can be rough with a child. However, I felt that something terrible was happening to him. Nekura-kun!　Do your best!　Somehow!

Nekura-kun was the toy of the children for a good five minutes.

The sound of their laughter reverberated so loudly that I couldn’t hear them clearly, but they were also hitting him with some kind of kick or other rider-type special moves.

All the while, I could hear the amusing sounds, but eventually, I heard a voice say, “Yutoku-kun, it’s time to eat!” and saw about three children running towards the outside of the park.

“Ar…are you okay?　You got beat up a lot.”

“Uh, yeah, …I’m fine. It wasn’t much of a beating.”

“I’m sorry. I thought it was a nice place. …”

“No, I think it’s a great place!　You’re the best, Hiria-chan!　You’re a genius!”

“Ehehe… thanks… But it’s hot right”

“It’s steamy.”

We talked for a while about the heat in the playground equipment in the summer, but then I suddenly felt hungry.

It’s lunchtime. I was starving. I was so excited that I hadn’t eaten in the morning. Thinking about it, I should have packed something to eat even though I couldn’t go out to eat with him. I was so excited about the structure of the playground that I was negligent about everything else.

“I’m so hungry…”

I spilled out and heard a zipper open on the other side.

“I have something, do you want some?”

“Eh, what?”

“……”

“Could it be yakisoba bread?”

The first time I met him, he was carrying a yakisoba bun for some reason.

“… Onigiri.”

Nekura-kun said in an awkward voice for some reason.

“Did you buy it at a convenience store or something?”

“… no, I made it in the morning to eat later….. or so I planned, but… you don’t like it, right?”

“Eh, ehh~!　I’ll eat it!　I want to eat, I want to eat!”

“Re, really?　Then wait a minute.”

Shuta, gongin, gongin, peso. Goin. Jari.

After a few sounds, a voice called out, “I put it on the roof.”

As I stepped outside with a pounding heart, I realized I was drenched in sweat. My clothes were soaked and it was soothing to be exposed to the outside air.

When I looked at the top of the ladybug, I saw that there was a rice ball wrapped in plastic wrap.

I hooked my feet on the uneven surface of the wall and climbed up four times like...gong… gong, gong. The treasure was almost there. I was surprised again when I saw the onigiri up close.

“This is amazing, Nekura-kun!　Did you really make this?　You can sell these beautiful, well-formed rice balls!”

The rice was glossy, very well shaped, and beautifully triangular. The nori (seaweed) was wrapped only around the bottom part of the rice. I wondered if the rice had been cooled down a bit by the use of a refrigerator.

I took the onigiri and went down, and then went back inside the ladybug.

As I took a bite of the rice ball, I wondered what was inside, and the saltiness was exquisite. The rice was soft and fluffy, and not too watery. I’ve never had such a delicious rice ball before. No, when I think about it, I’ve seldom eaten an onigiri in my life, so could it be that onigiri is such delicious food?　Well, I should buy some onigiri from the convenience store on my way home.

The filling was meita tuna mayonnaise.

The proportions of the meita and tuna-mayo, and the balance with the rice were wonderful.

“Delicious… Delish”

The words leaked out as I swallowed each bite.

I was like a traveler who hadn’t had a decent meal in half a month.

“I used an onigiri mold and plastic wrap… I haven’t touched it that much!”

I was not sure why Nekura-kun was telling me something unrelated. I’m sorry, but I didn’t hear you correctly at this moment.

“Ah, that was delicious. …I want some more…”

“Oh, really?　I have one more.”

“I want it!”

After saying it with desire, it occurred to me that it was for Nekura-kun. But when I realized it, I heard the sounds: goin goin, peso, goin goin, jari.

I had imagined him to be a bit of a dullard, but Nekura-kun seems to be surprisingly athletic. At least I can’t climb with this rhythm.

I heard, ” Okay,” and went outside.

The recovery item had been restored to the item point again. It was time for me to go to the top, grab it, and get off.

What a beautiful shape, just looking at it whets my appetite. It was too artistic. I feel like he would be very popular just by being able to make something like this.

I felt like I was going to drool just holding it in my hands, but I calmed down and took a deep breath.

“Um, Isn’t this Nekura-kun’s portion…?”

“I’m not hungry! Not hungry at  all!”

The suspicious words flew at me like he was in a panic.

What should I do? Should I return the onigiri? I never thought I’d have to worry about returning an onigiri in my life.

What should I do?

But that was Nekura-kun’s share… as expected.

…As expected. It’s delicious.

I should have been struggling, but when I realized that my mouth was smiling full of happiness, I turned pale.

Oops.

It’s the fault of this rice ball being too delicious. But once I put it in my mouth, I can’t give it back, can I? So I can eat it, right? It’s delicious.

“It was a feast, Thank you. It was really delicious.”

“Eh, you ate it already?”

“It was so delicious… I gobbled it up.”

Nekura-kun is…. the prince of the country of Rice. I fell in love with him all over again.

“I wasn’t thinking about lunch at all. I’m sorry I invited you at this time.”

What’s more, unable to resist the desire, I munched on Nekura-kun’s portion as well. It’s rather the worst thing I’ve ever done.

“Don’t worry about it at all!”

“I’m really sorry… It was delicious.”

“I’ll make it any time if you want.”

“Oh, really?”

I’ll order hundreds of them. I am looking forward to it.

“How was your summer vacation, Nekura-kun?”

“I’ve been working all summer.”

“…Do you have any girls at your job place?”

“Huh?”

Uwa, I asked a weird question out of jealousy. I’m so embarrassed. A long time passed as I writhed in agony.

When I started to think that he might be sleeping over there, a simple reply came back.

“…There aren’t any”

I was so embarrassed that I could only answer, “Un”.

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TN: It’s not too far away for nekura to meet hiria… 😛 but still far…

IMPATIENT MTL READER

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