I, or rather, we, are still cycling wrapped in the warm spring breeze.
I can tell that Yamagiyama is balancing skillfully to keep me from wobbling. He sits behind me.
But because I’m facing forward, I have no way of knowing what expression he had at that moment or what he was thinking…
Still, behind me is Yamagiyama, who finally turned around to look at me… Just that fact alone made me so happy that a smile naturally spread across my face.
After cycling a little further, Yamagiyama suddenly spoke up behind me.
“…Ah…”
“Yamagiyama-kun, what’s wrong?”
“Do we still have time?”
“Yeah, I don’t have any plans after this, so it’s okay?”
“Then… could we stop by that riverside over there?”
Yamagiyama-kun asked if we could stop by the nearby riverside, which I could see from my field of vision.
There’s no reason to refuse, and we might be able to have a conversation together, so this could be a chance…!
I decided to grant Yamagiyama-kun’s request with that in mind and without any hesitation.
* * *
We parked our bicycles upon reaching the riverside and gently sat down on the grass.
The spring breeze enveloped my body, and the fresh green scent of the grass made my senses blissfully happy.
Beside me, Yamagiyama-kun was not turning away anymore, as he was just gazing at the river…
But, but… What should I talk about?
Even though I’ve been so persistent in initiating conversations until now…
Should I go back to square one?
We’ve never really had a proper conversation, so maybe it’s best to introduce myself again??
I gently called out to Yamagiyama-kun, hoping to spark a conversation.
“Yamagiyama-kun?”
“…What?”
“I’m Yamashita Yuto! Well, considering how persistently I’ve been trying to talk to you, I assume you know already!”
“…Yeah, I knew even without you saying it.”
Oh no… That was awkward…
Seriously…! The conversation just won’t flow at all!
As I was struggling with the conversation and feeling frustrated on my own, this time, Yamagiyama-kun spoke up without breaking the pace at all.
“Hey, Yamashita? Why are you trying so hard to involve yourself with me?”
It was a sharp question that hit right to the point, but there’s no need to hide… because I’ve come this far with a clear intention of wanting to turn his back around…
I need to articulate my words properly…
I want to know your feelings…
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
And I want to become proper friends with you…
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“Yeah, I wanted to be free… I wanted to move around freely like the clouds floating in the sky… I used to think about that…”
“…”
“But when I entered high school, started living alone, and got a part-time job… before I knew it, Shun, who sits beside me, became my best friend… I’m not alone anymore… Someone is by my side… That alone makes me happier than anything…”
“And now, it’s the last year of high school… at such a time, seeing you, just like me, looking up at the sky and being all sulky… I couldn’t just leave you alone for some reason…”
“…”
Yamagiyama-kun seemed to silently listen to my story while gazing at the flow of the river…
“…I-I’m sorry!! I talked about this without even knowing how you feel, assuming I understood everything…”
“…No, you’re not wrong…”
Huh… Yamagiyama-kun, you’re not wrong…
You’re just like me after all…
As if responding to my feelings, this time, Yamagiyama-kun opened up and began to weave his thoughts into me…
“I’ve been alone all this time too… It’s okay to be alone like this. As you can see, it’s also my fault for not trying to attract others…”
“And, just like you, I want to be as free as the clouds floating in the sky, as free as the river flowing before my eyes, without being bound by anything… And I just want to spend time quietly…”
“Even though I thought I’d quietly spend my time after transferring, thinking it’s okay to be alone again… contrary to those feelings, you, who were behind me, persistently tried to involve me… I’m sorry; honestly, at first, I found it annoying…”
“I-I’m sorry…”
“Hah… the conversation is still ongoing, so listen until the end…”
“Y-yeah…”
“I know full well that I, who didn’t want to attract attention, was being looked at by everyone as some weirdo right after transferring.”
“I didn’t care about those voices or feelings around me, but you kept trying to engage with me over and over again… But because of that, I got scared…”
“…This person… Even though they’re doing so much for me, what if we become friends, and then they disappear from my life…”
“…In the end… will I be alone again…? I kept telling myself that it’s okay to be alone…”
Yamagiyama-kun’s true feelings were pouring out more and more…
I see… I understand because I’ve been through the same… The painful feeling when someone you believed in leaves…
The conversation seems like it’s not over yet… and I might get scolded if I interrupt, and he’s conveying such deeply hidden feelings… I want to listen carefully to his voice that I’ve finally heard… I continued to lend my ear.
“That time, yeah, it’s today… the strawberry milk you gave me… You must have gone through quite a hassle to buy it, right?”
What did he know about the purchasing battle… Or rather, maybe we just weren’t really paying attention to him…
“And then, desperately buying it and offering it to me, saying it’s my favorite! I thought at that moment…”
“I want to be friends with this guy… No, I… I want to be friends with him…”
Yamagiyama-kun seemed somewhat lonely while conveying his growing feelings, yet embarrassed as he ruffled his hedgehog-like hair…
In response to his true feelings… For some reason, I felt a rush of joy, and my face flushed…
Because, finally, the person who turned around for me this time now said he wanted to be friends… My desire to be friends had come so close to reaching him…!
“Yamagiyama-kun…”
“…What…”
“I… I…!!”
Yes… I’ve been waiting for this moment… the time when I can finally say the words I wanted to tell you…
“I want to be friends with you!”
I finally managed to deliver the one thing I wanted to tell him.
I don’t want you to be alone…
I want to be your friend…
I want us to graduate together with smiles…
That’s why I’ve come this far with these feelings!
But I wonder what kind of response Yamagiyama-kun will give to my feelings…
While feeling that anxiety, Yamagiyama-kun gave me a condition… with cheeks slightly flushed…
“…I understand your feelings well… I also want to be friends with you… but if you want to be friends with me, there’s one condition…”
“…Y-yes…? A condition…?”
“Yeah… from today on, what’s yours is mine… Got it? That’s the condition for becoming friends with me.”
…Huh…?! What…?
What are you saying…?
I wanted to be friends… That’s what I thought, but I had no idea what Yamagiyama-kun intended or why he conveyed such a thing to me.
“H-hey… wh-what do you mean…”
“If you don’t like it, we don’t have to be friends.”
Haa… What’s with that condition…
But I didn’t want to back down at this point… Alright, if that’s the condition… then let’s do it…!
Then, you won’t be alone anymore, right…?
I perceived Yamagiyama-kun’s request as a challenge from him, and I decided to accept it.
“A-alright! Come on, bring it on!”
“Heh… you’re a good guy after all… Well, then, let’s get started…”
Gulp…
E-even if I accepted the condition, I had no idea what kind of request would come, and honestly, I was scared…
But… Even so, I couldn’t help but be thrilled that Yamagiyama-kun was having so much fun talking with me…
“…Give me those black-rimmed glasses you’re wearing.”
…Huh?
Eh… wha… these?
Somehow, I was expecting a more severe request… H-he wants… my… glasses…?
I still didn’t understand what Yamagiyama-kun was asking for…
Still, I gently reached for my glasses and showed them to him.
And then he just took the glasses from me…
“…Even without the glasses, can you see my face?”
“…Yeah, I can see it just fine.”
He seemed relieved with a smile, even though he had taken my glasses. He blushed a bit, though…
What on earth… is going on…
Then, Yamagiyama-kun put the glasses he took from me on his own face and grinned.
“Hey, how about trying on my glasses in return? Can you see properly?”
“…Yeah, your face looks really clear and beautiful.”
“…Y-Yamagiyama-kun…!!”
“Heh…! You can call me Yamato.”
W-what’s with me…? Why am I feeling so nervous…?
A-and… c-can I really call him Yamato…?
Everything suddenly… and beautifully fell into place, and maybe my feelings needed a little organization…
But being told I could call him Yamato was the happiest thing of all, that’s for sure.
“Y-Yamato-kun…?”
“We’re the same age, so you don’t need the ‘kun’.”
“…Y-Yamato?”
“Hm? What is it?”
“C-can you… call me Yuto…?”
Right, if I’m going to call him by name, I want him to call me by name too… He quickly granted my wish.
“Of course… Yuto…? Let’s continue to get along well from now on, okay?”
Yamato blushed a little, as did I…
But despite that, I was just so happy… I had finally become friends with him…!
At the same time, I felt like we had finally reached the starting line together…
I replied to Yamato’s request with a smile, “Yeah, of course!” and for the first time, we were able to show each other our smiles.
Aaaw ☺️ I was afraid it would get all angsty, but so far, it has been quite sweet. But I’m still anxious about Yuto being exposed..