oregairu-vac3

a3. Quietly and Carefully, Kaori Orimoto Asks a Question
By the time we exited the cafe the sun had already set. We stayed there way longer than we planned, and the cafe switched to evening mode. The sea breeze became even colder after dark. We were slowly waking to the station, passing by various people. Yuigahama looked at them and said:
“The year’s over soon...”
Walking alongside, Yuikinoshita remembered something and muttered:
“Indeed. Time for a big cleanup.”
“I’ll help today!” Yuigahama eagerly offered. Yikinoshita smiled:
“Oh? Good then. We need to clean the clubroom too.”
“That’s right.” I noted. We were very busy during the Christmas and hadn’t cleaned the room ever since. Not to mention a pile of stuff left there by Isshiki. Currently the club was in the state of the hugest disorder in its history.
“Then let’s clean it when the classes start.”
“Yeah.”
Yuigahama apparently is eager to start cleaning at this very moment; Yukinoshita on the other hand is cold as usual. By the way, I can’t really remember me and Yuigahama cleaning up in the clubroom. That means Yukinoshita had always done it alone. Sorry and thanks, namu namu, I silently said my prayer.
We approached the crossing near the park. To the left is the station entrance; to the right is the road to Yukinoshita’s condo. She pointed her finger to the right.
“Farewell, Hikigaya-kun. We’re heading that way.”
“Sure, by. Getting some ramen and heading home too.”
The girls left for Yukinoshita’s home.
I started walking when Yuigahama called me. Turning back, I saw her wave at me.
“Hikki! Happy New Year!”
“Yup, see you next year.” I replied quietly and started walking to the station. Cold wind chilled my cheeks. Because of that I felt my ears burn. Gotta tie the muffler tighter.
x x x
I like to say I have a separate stomach for ramen, so now, even after all the sweets earlier, I ate the ordered ramen without leaving a single bit of food. I went to the bus stop to return home. There’s not many buses that commute from Kaihin Makuhari to my neighborhood; I miss one, the wait will be rather long. Of course I could simply walk on foot, but seeing a bus pass by when you’re out in the cold(lol) would be too sad.
Even with the New Year approaching, many corporate slaves Japan is famous for are still working. Even now, at night, silhouettes of those slaves were all over the place. That included the bus stop too.
The waves of people around me were an awesome windstopper, so I could stand among them and not feel cold. Suddely the bike bell rang. Of all the places at night I hear it here! I frowned, silently ordering it to stop. Heeey, Belly-Belly, you’re annoying! I angrily looked at the source of the sound only to see a familiar figure waving at me.
“I’m being ignored! Hilarious!”
“No, it’s not.”
Kaori Orimoto was slowly moving to me, standing on her bike and kicking the ground with one leg. Seemed like her shift was over and she was heading home. I just happened to be standing by, so she called me.
“Hikigaya, you coming home?”
“Yeah,” I shortly replied. Orimoto tapped on her baggage rack.
“Sit donwn.”
“No way, it’s a bike. Besides, it’s cold.”
Orimoto calmly replied:
“Step on the pedals then, you’ll warm up faster.”
What? She wants me to step on the pedals? Jerk! And saying it like it’s the most natural thing to boo! I considered getting angry and shoo her when I heard someone shooing her nearby. I glanced in that direction and saw some fellow (28, single) look at us with a “stop that lovey-dovey stuff or I’ll kill you” look. Corporate slaves sure are scary. Feeling that pressure, I decided to leave the crowd. Yeah, you should be a nuisance to others.
A approached Orimoto. She clapped with her glove-clad hands and pointed to the seat.
“Here,” She said, passing me the handle bar.
“I told you I’m not riding on a bike with you.”
Disappointed, Orimoto said:
“Oh… Whatever. Let’s come home then.”
She started walking holding her bike.
That was fast!  No need for my reply, eh? I didn’t bother with that and followed her. Didn’t have a choice anyway. So rude, her. I wouldn’t call it a good quality. On the other hand, when people talk to you like that it’s not that bad. I might even fall in love with you that way! Stop it, I’ll die!
No, I don’t like that friendly treatment after all.
Orimoto meanwhile remember something and reached into her pocket.
“Oh, yeah. Did your mail address change?”
“Aaah,” I replied without thinking. That wasn’t a precise answer, not a “yes” and not a “no”. In fact it was “YES!”. The first thing you do to reboot the relationships is clear the contacts and other electronic communication. By the way, that’s not the first time I changed the email. Not the second either. Though I don’t think I have to do it anymore: people constantly forget them anyway. But changing the email helps commit the sacrifice of that “weak hope for relationship” concept and thus call a level six mailer daemon. It’s too strong, its card should be prohibited!
What’s with all the email talk, by the way? Curly-haired girl walking in front of me apparently didn’t notice my surprise and said:
“We’re planning a class reunion after Christmas, so we decided to gather somewhere to eat. Wanted to contact you too.”
“Ah, right. But I wouldn’t go anyway.”
“Knee it.” Orimoto said and laughed to herself.
And thus we talked like that all the way to our block. Explosive silence occurred twice or thrice.  I can’t even call that a conversation: I mostly just nodded. Orimoto didn’t seem to mind at all. Her mood reading skills hadn’t changed since junior high.
Near the large viaduct over the national highway Orimoto turned to me and asked an unexpected question.
“By the way, you going out with any of those two?” She asked in her usual manner, her face expressing curiosity. Yeah, she had asked something like that before.
“No one.” I tiredly replied.
“Hm...” She humpfed and turned forward, as if the question had lost the meaning..
We both fell silent, the only sound was our foosteps and bike tires. She asked once again, in a quiet voice and not turning.
“And do you love any of those two?”
The question was similar to the previous one, but somehow I couldn’t answer it. I couldn’t even deny it; words simply stuck in my throat. The silence was even more sudden that the question. Orimoto, expecting the reply, turned to me in surprise. She saw my face, then smiled uneasily, as if apologizing.
“Oh, forget it.”
Maybe I should have replied her. But, really… Why didn’t I? I should know the answer to that question.
The rest of our walk was simply me nodding to her phrases, not saying anything meaningful.