Episode 7 –  [Ayado Saara] Reunion after 10 years and uncontrollable excitement

After dinner was over, I returned from Sora kun’s room to my room because I had to get ready for tomorrow.
I dawdled in the aftermath for a while, then sank onto the bed …… and wriggled my arms and legs.

“Waaa, Waaa~!”

I plunged my face into the soft pillow and screamed in a muffled voice.
I couldn’t sit still any longer with a sense of accomplishment overflowing from inside my body.

The events of the day were so intense!

Lessons in the seat next to me.
Lunchtime alone.
Sitting opposite each other at the dinner table.
Cooking together.

As I recalled each one, my cheeks were so loose that I couldn’t show my mouth to anyone.

I always remembered Sora kun.
I was sad when we parted, and even after we parted, things were …… difficult, so Sora kun has always been an absolute part of me for a reason.

When I heard that my father was moving back to this area, Sora kun was the first thing I told him.
I found out that his mother remembered me well and had not moved yet when I contacted her.
The fathers were also in contact with each other, so they were very proactive.

“Well, well, well, Saara chan! You remember our boy? I’m so happy!”

Sora kun’s mom remembered us eating onigiri together.
I was thinking as I was calling …… what if Sora kun comes out of nowhere!
I thought.

“Sora lives alone now.”

To my surprise, she told me that he went to the school from his lodgings by himself.
Hearing this story, I made a plan.

First, I had to transfer to the school.
I showed all of my grades to the school and was accepted. It was a good thing I had studied so hard.
There were a good number of rooms available in the apartment, and the room next to Sora kun’s was also vacant.
I asked my parents to let me rent the room.

But …… what if I’ve completely forgotten?

Because it’s been ten years.
For me, Sora kun may be just one person, but for Sora kun, I may be one of his many friends.
It is impossible for me to match the names and faces of all my classmates in elementary school.

My fears were blown away yesterday.

“You……perhaps, Ayato?”

Of course, Sora kun, whom I had not seen for a long time, had changed a lot, his voice was lower and his body was bigger.
But when I saw his face, which had been somewhat hidden by his bangs, memories of the old days came back to me at once.

Above all, I was so happy that he remembered my name right away because of my prank!

I’m having a hard time coming up with something that connects me and Sora kun from that time.
Playing house, seesaw, and playing in the garden …… are all hard to recreate and have weak hooks as personalities of memories.
So I brought that wasabi pickle with the hope that this would surely be the one.
I devised a lot of pranks, but the truth is that my heart was racing ……. So when he remembered me with one bite, I was so happy that I almost hugged him. Watch out, watch out.

I didn’t get a chance to talk to him at school today, but I really enjoyed our lunch on the roof.
I was just looking forward to tomorrow when I saw …… I never thought I’d run into him at the supermarket ……!
I feel like it’s fate or something!

So.

“If I cook it, will you eat half?”

I even went out on a limb and suggested cooking.
I was actually aiming to cook from the beginning, but I couldn’t muster up the courage to cook at all, so all I had in my cart was canned goods. Ugh, I’m a bad girl. ……

But if I met Sora kun here, then it was fate!
My mother had taught me how to cook, saying, “You have to catch a man’s stomach!” and she taught me to cook, and I wanted him to eat my food too.

But …… what if it’s not to his liking?

Cooking is inevitably a matter of likes and dislikes.
There are many people who dislike wasabi pickles, takuan (pickled radish), and natto (fermented soybeans), all of which I love.
I was quite shocked when my friends looked at me with ‘eh’ when I made their lunch boxes.
Sora kun used to eat a lot of onigiri with those ingredients with me, but he is not necessarily the same as he was back then.

Today, that anxiety has been blown away.

Hon Mirin, obviously, was a good one. The soy sauce was definitely a gem as well.
I wondered if it was because Sora’s mom chose it, but it was that seasoning cabinet that came out of …….
Furthermore, a wide variety of cereal rice.

I knew from the conversation that Sora kun had chosen it himself.
And I know that can of shichimi.
As I recall, it is a well-known brand. I saw the price tag when I went to the store ……, but that’s more expensive than all my groceries I bought today combined.
Maybe Sora kun is not keeping them as a rare item, he knows them and chooses good quality ones.
Maybe he is going in the same direction as I am, but one step further.

A variety of special seasonings.
The cereal rice that had already been cooked.
Looking at them, I clearly understood.

–My Sora kun is still the same Sora kun of those days!

I had changed only in appearance, but inside I was the same as before.
So I was a little afraid that Sora kun might have become something completely different inside.

Not at all.
It was a worry that I didn’t need at all anymore.
It was such an unnecessary worry that it made people look up at the sky and feel uneasy.

Because …… Sora kun is my …….

“Mufu, Mufufufufu…..”

Burying my face in the pillow again, I let out a full-throated voice of sloppiness that I could not possibly see.
Yesterday I had trouble sleeping because of all the fantasies, but today I may be even more delusional.

I went to the restaurant with a feeling of “I’ll take care of you if you’re inadequate!” …… Sora kun’s selections around the table were clearly right up my alley, so it was rather bonus time for me.

Most of all, …… I can’t believe we’ll be having dinner together every day from now on!
That’s already that!
Geez! I wonder if I’m happy like this!?

As I flail about on the bed again – I suddenly have a question.

Come to think of it, …… Sora kun hardly talked to anyone in class all day today.