V5C1 Part7

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Part 7

After

dinner, it was getting late as we were watching TV, and I had to drive

Kawasegawa home after the last train.

"Oh,

well, then, drive safely!"

Hikawa,

who had bought a 400g motorcycle right after getting his mid-size license, rode

off into the night.

"Well,

let's go"

Put the

lever in D range and step on the gas pedal.

This was

the third time I drove Kawasegawa home. She was commuting from her parents'

house, and because of that, we didn't hang out late at night when we were

first-year. At first I thought it was because she wasn't interested, but when I

told her that, she looked embarrassed and said, "There are times when I

want to play and hang out with everyone normally too," so after that I

started to actively invite her.

However,

she was still a diligent student, and even in her second year, she spent most

of her free time watching movies and reading, rarely accepting invitations to

play.

And today

was just the third of those rare occasions,

"The

wind is refreshing. It's been hot for a while, so that helps."

"……Right"

She said

it in the meeting, but she didn't attempt to get to the point today. Normally,

the talk would have started as soon as the car left the lot, without any

preamble.

Don't tell

me, she minded that I prioritized sesame sauce and meat, but it seemed like I

should be the one to talk to her today.

"Can

we start the talk?"

"Okay,

so?"

I felt a

little disappointed that she agreed so easily.

"There's

one thing that's been bothering me, as you could see in the meeting. If we

don't move forward with this, we won't be able to move forward with the other

things――"

I was

going to say it, but she suppressed the words,

"So,

it's about Shinoaki, right?"

She easily

revealed my problem.

"How

did you know that?"

"I

can understand that. You've been watching Shinoaki's every move, even as you

explained today, and you've been trying to create a topic that would interest

her in some way."

"My

defeat"

Is she a

good guesser, or am I just too obvious?

Anyway, if

Kawasegawa had any grasp of the situation, it would be easier to talk about. I

had talked to her a little before about the problems that Shinoaki was having.

It was Kawasegawa's opinion that she might be suffering from burnout.

"Therefore,

as for me, I think we should make a vocaloid video."

I don't

have any concrete ideas yet, but I'm trying to figure out if it's possible for

Nanako to write the music and Shinoaki to illustrate it ―― Right, I told

Kawasegawa.

As usual,

she listened to my talk in silence until the end,

"As

it is now, I don't think it's a good idea for Shinoaki to draw."

She said

something that I had also been somewhat aware of.

"In

my opinion, she loves drawing, and that's what drives her to draw good things.

So if her motivation is low, it will naturally come back to her quality."

"As I

thought, it's like that, huh."

"Yes,

I think that's why Hashiba hasn't taken the initiative yet."

She was

right. We could have decided on everything at once, from the planning to the

seating arrangement, right there. However, as long as Shinoaki is not willing

to do it, I'm sure we won't be able to make anything good out of it if we push

her. Even though we know that, stepping in is the most dangerous thing.

"I

wish I could show... that in some inspiring project, but it's risky to rely on

the unknown."

As

Kawasegawa said, getting people interested in the content of the project is

quite a fumbling process.

"I'm

sure you have some ideas about that, too, and you're working on them,

anyway."

She

continued and looked at me with a frown.

"...Well,

for the time being"

"You

can't tell me yet, at most"

"...Well,

for the time being"

By the

way, at this stage, far from being remarkable, only negative results have been

obtained.

"I

bet. You wouldn't tell a woman who lost to sesame sauce and meat, anyway."

As I

thought you were concerned about it!!

"Eh,

so you want me to tell you?"

"It's

fine. If you won't tell me, then you must have a good reason."

Haa, mou.

Kawasegawa is usually calm and dependable, but sometimes she can be really

troublesome...

(...Ah, I

see)

I realized

that I didn't have to think too much. Ten years in the future, she was

expressing her obvious affection for me. I assumed, on my own, that the feeling

was an acquired one, because of the way I handled it right after I came back to

this side of the time.

(Perhaps,

if there were a few signs from this time...!)

No, there

was no point in being conscious of that now, and besides, she didn't have any

direct appeal like Shinoaki and Nanako, so that would be overthinking it.

Right now,

she' s probably just enjoying watching me react to everything. With that in

mind, I closed the door tightly and locked it.

"Then,

let me know when you get the results of your efforts. And I'll cooperate."

Kawasegawa

pursed his lips in a slightly dissatisfied manner and let out a breath.

(Well, I'm

thinking about it...)

So far,

the only result has been that I've been treated like a strange senior. There's

no way I can keep this up, though, so I have to come up with another reason to

get positive feedback.

Tomorrow,

I'll talk to sensei and try to figure out how to handle it again.

***

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