V5C1 Part2

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

The rest of the day's work was

a busy one, and the customers kept coming, so the "continuation of the talk"

was postponed.

"Uu, I'm so tired... So, Kyouya,

I’ll leave first ~"

Nanako seemed to be pretty worn

out, so she got on her scooter and left right after her part-time job was over.

I saw Nanako off and rode my

bike home in the sunrise.

The path from the station in

Tondabayashi to the share house was a personal favorite of mine. After passing

through the old town known as Terauchi-machi, the view of the mountains and the

university spread out widely.

"Finally one year, huh?"

It was the second summer since

I jumped through time and came to the University of the Art. The heat and

humidity was as uncomfortable as ever, but I now felt that even that was

precious.

After all, it's been

"finally a year". In fact, I flew to the future about ten years

later and spent more than half a year there before arriving here. This strange

time travel is calculated to be almost two years.

However, our environment was

slowly changing. Tsurayuki left, and there were now three of us in the share

house. Nanako has regained her passion for singing, but Shinoaki is now in

the midst of burnout.

"I'll do something about

it... Absolutely"

Even if it means entering her

life.

Turn right from the road at the

river's edge and follow the road between the fields. On the way to the

residential area, turn right and I will come out in front of Share House

Kitayama.

"I'm home"

I opened the door with my

duplicate key and went inside,

"Welcome back ~ You were

taking it a little slow"

In the living room, Shinoaki

was sitting on a cushion, waving her hands at me.

"Yeah, where's Nanako?"

"She' s already fallen

asleep~. She must be really tired."

"I see"

Sit in front of Shinoaki and

look at her face.

"What's wrong?"

"N-No... Nothing"

Suddenly embarrassed, I look

away.

In the future world I was in

the other day, she and I had become a couple. There, we were kissing more

passionately than the couple at the convenience store.

Ten years is surprisingly not

that much of an impact in terms of physical changes. Especially for girls,

there are many girls who hardly change their appearance.

In fact, Shinoaki in front of

me was just like that. Although her gentle and soft atmosphere had increased

with age, her appearance was almost exactly the same.

So, you know.

(Ah, no good, even if I

understand it, I'm still conscious of it...)

Even after a month of being

back in the past again, I couldn't help but feel embarrassed in front of her.

"You're strange, Kyouya-kun.

Why are you so embarrassed?"

Shinoaki is looking at me with

a wry smile.

Well, for her, the past ten

years and the half a year she spent there with me are completely non-existent

at this stage. And yet, if the classmate in front of her suddenly became

embarrassed every time they saw each other, it would be natural to be

suspicious.

For now, I decided to cover it

up by talking about the topic.

"S-Shinoaki, what were you

doing today?"

She has applied for a

scholarship, so she basically doesn't have a part-time job. Moreover, she has a

small amount of money from doujin games, so most of her day is free time.

If she was her usual, she would

definitely be drawing.

"Hmm, nothing in

particular. I read a book, looked at a photo album, and then I looked at the

sky."

"……I see"

She didn't act that way now.

I guess it can be said that it

was a period of absorbing things, but for that, her reaction to various things

was too weak. There was a lack of excitement, or perhaps a lack of stimulation.

As a result, the game

production that had pushed Tsurayuki into a corner also had a negative effect

on Shinoaki. What she created out of habit and flow was evaluated without

criticism and led to the approval that this was okay.

Moreover, instead of searching

for it on her own, the "stage" jumped in from the other side on its

own, and in a sense, it became a place of ease. She was in a state of

searching for the meaning of doing something, having paid the price without

taking any risks or challenges herself.

But now, there is no proper

meaning to it. So she spends her days in emptiness, looking at the books and

photo albums she bought long ago, and the sky that she can see whenever she

goes out on the balcony.

"I'm sorry, Kyouya-kun.

That... I'm sure you're worried that I don't do drawings, right?"

"H~Hm, that's what

Shinoaki decides."

I said and stood up.

"Today I'm in class from

the 3rd period, so I'm going to sleep a little."

"Yeah, I'm going to campus

soon."

We said goodbye to each other,

and I went back upstairs to my room.

As I walked up the stairs, I

kept thinking.

(As I thought I should move

fast, right)

The change in Shinoaki was

evident as soon as I came back here. There was no way I could not do something

after being shown the cruel results.

I interfere with her. But it's

not about grabbing her by the neck and ordering her to draw. It's about

creating a situation around her where she can draw naturally.

And I've seen what could be the

trigger for that in the future.

"To make things..."

I clenched my teeth and made

them grit.

I'm not a "good guy"

anymore. I do what I believe.