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44. A visitor in the next Golden Week
Mom came home at night. As always.
I understood that she had a difficult job, but I would like her to come back a little earlier for her health.
“Aki-chan, Take-chan, could you both spare me time?”
Unusually, Mom called me.
Usually, unless there was something very special, we communicated with each other through messages.
This was because it took less time and putting words in messages was easier for both. So, it had been a long time since Mom called me like this.
“What is it, Mom?”
“It’s about the next GW. I got a message from your Grandma, that she would come over here.”
“Eh? Grandmother?”
As I searched the memory, one person came to mind. In short, Grandma was an old lady with a pretty wild vibe.
“Oh, how rare. I wonder how long since I last saw her…”
“I’m sure it’s been five years. The last time she came was when Take-chan was ten years old.”
Mom and Sis were having fun.
On the other hand, I forcibly corrected my frowning face into a smile.
“Take-chan, you don’t have to be so cautious.”
Mom noticed my forced smile and said so.
Anyway, that wasn’t what bugged me.
What a wild person…
The image of Grandma in my memory was unlike any other woman I had seen in this world.
It seemed that I actually had met her in person when I was ten years old. And her appearance was firmly imprinted in my memory.
Then, Mom showed me some pictures of Grandma.
“Grandma… by any chance, is she doing a long-distance delivery?”
A tanned face with a gigantic truck in the background. The truck behind was the so-called “Decoration Truck”. [TN: Also called, “Dekotora”]
“That’s right. It looks like there will be a delivery nearby. Besides, the company is closed in Golden Week, so it looks like there won’t be any plans for a while. That’s why she contacted me saying that she would stop by. Well, it’s Golden Week after all.”
Mom said so carefreely.
“I see…”
This… what an ordeal…
I held my chest.
Memory… after all, could be said as a tricky thing.
This body had been planted with a sense of dislike towards Grandma, and naturally, my breathing became shallow and my heart beat faster.
Grandma, called “Satoko Souya”, lived in a rural area in Nagano Prefecture, and her job was truck driver, transporting goods all over Japan.
Mom started living in Special Ward Tokyo not long after she gave birth to me.
In short, only Sis had some memories of living in Nagano.
When a male baby was born, there would be a high risk of kidnapping. And if the child got taken abroad, it would be hard to track.
Therefore, the best option was to do everything to live in a Special Ward as soon as possible.
Also, rumors about the birth of a boy spread quickly in rural areas, so it would be hard to raise him secretly.
For safety reasons, I had never visited Grandma’s house in Nagano.
Sis went to visit there a few times during the summer vacation of elementary school, but I had always stayed at home during any holiday. Well, considering the rarity of boys, it just couldn’t be helped.
Then Mom brought her younger sister, Minayo Souya, to live together after she established a footing in the Special Ward Tokyo.
Since they would live together, it seemed that Mom and Aunt Minayo shared the rent of this house.
Yes, this mansion was still a rented house. This family would fall apart after I became an adult after all. There was no point in buying a house.
That aside, I was thinking about what to do…
“Mom, Take-kun is frightened… as expected.”
“I wonder if it’s a trauma from the last time.”
The owner of this body had an introverted personality. Even if this body had no problem with the motor nerves, it had no exercise experience.
On the other hand, Grandma was the type that put her hands before her mouth. Even her legs would move faster than her mouth. In short, the personalities just didn’t match.
Grandma began to train her ten-year-old grandson saying that it was a parent’s duty to make her child presentable in public.
So, while Grandma was training her grandson, the real “Taketo Souya”, while saying “This level should be easy for you”, he thought that “Hell is better than this!”, and thus it became a trauma.
According to my memory, even though Mom understood the situation, she didn’t say anything.
Did Mom do it on purpose?
Anyway, I was trying to come up with some excuses for now.
“Ah! That’s right! I’ve plans to go out with my friends for GW!”
“When Grandma arrives, let’s all go out somewhere together.”
Mom saw through my lies.
Damn it.
◇
The next day, when I arrived at school, Toono-san and Hashigami-san were already in class.
Since there was still time, I stood by the window. As expected, both of them naturally came to my left and right.
Maybe the date last time was the reason, but in the past few days, their guard had also been refined.
“Souya-kun, have you done the homework?”
“The math…? Well, yeah, but I’m not all.”
I left the difficult question without an answer. So, I couldn’t say that I did all.
“Would you like me to show you mine?”
Hashigami-san suggested that, but I shook my head.
“No. Showing more than what your real ability is to the teacher, will only make your life difficult.”
I mean, I don’t want to be expected to be good at studying…
“Is that so? Anyway, if there’s anything you don’t understand, I don’t mind teaching you.”
“Thank you. I’ll be in your care when such a crisis comes.”
Yep, I’m glad that we went out together.
I can feel that we’re getting along pretty well since then.
“By the way, you can ask me too.”
I didn’t mean to be rude but Toono-san, who looked like a gyaru, was surprisingly good at studying.
“Then, what about studying together next time?”
“Good idea. Whose place will it be?”
When the two were excited, I heard something.
COUGH!! COUGH!!
“…… What? Have a problem?”
Said Toono-san while raising her eyebrows.
Recently, even though the distance between me and the members of the group had narrowed, the atmosphere between them and the other girls in the class wasn’t good.
Especially the eyes of girls who came from Special Ward were painfully sharp. And Toono-san sensed it sensitively.
Well, I understood Toono-san’s feelings. Even if they didn’t say it was malicious, but the gaze was directed at her with negative emotions.
“Toono-san”
“Yeah, I know.”
Everyone in the class knew that we got along so well that we joked with each other.
Raising that many negative emotions at this time of year, wasn’t my intention.
In particular, I didn’t mean to create a rift between students living in the Special Ward and students living outside the Special Ward.
Well, I understood that some distance might be created, but for it to be this big already and happened at a fast pace, was unexpected.
I thought it would be better to do it after I get used to school a little more but, seems like it’s better to advance the plan…
“Everyone, listen!”
I raised my voice.