Episode 52: Fancy some sushi?

The silence that had frozen us as we gazed at each other was shattered by a voice I knew well.

“Aosawa-san, you mustn’t run in the corridor. It’s dangerous, isn’t it?”

Startled, I turned my gaze towards the direction I hadn’t noticed, hidden by Yui-san’s shadow. The man in the navy suit was the president of this company where I worked.

“I-I’m terribly sorry…”

I apologised reflexively, struggling to regain my balance after nearly falling and leaning my weight onto Yui-san.
I’d been in a state of utter confusion since earlier. Why was Yui-san at my company, and with the president? What was going on?

“President Ichinose, are you alright? Our employee… I’m terribly sorry.”

“Eh… President…!?”

What did he just say? President Ichinose…!? I couldn’t help but cry out. Yui looked down at me and chuckled softly.
Just like back then. Those same dark eyes, that same lustrous long hair. But she seemed to have matured slightly since then, her beauty polished even further.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Are you alright, Kanata? No injuries?”

Hearing that gentle voice, unchanged from back then, I found myself nodding. Then the director’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Eh? President Ichinose, you know Aosawa-san?”

“We were senior and junior at university. I never imagined we’d meet here like this.”

Saying that, Yui-san touched my hand, which was still frozen in shock. My heart leapt in surprise. As I stood there dumbfounded, Yui-san smoothly snatched the smartphone I was holding.

“Ah!”

“Kanata, I’m glad you’re not hurt, but walking while using your phone is dangerous. You really must look where you’re going.”

As she spoke, Yui’s thumb swiftly swiped across the screen of my confiscated phone.

“Eh? Wait, hold on, Yui, what are you doing…”

I remembered I’d been trying to send a message to Mitsuya-san earlier, leaving the screen unlocked.
　After Yui-san did something on my phone, a ringtone immediately sounded from the breast pocket of her jacket, cutting off almost instantly.
It dawned on me a moment later that she must have made a call from my phone.

Right, my phone number — I’d changed it since then. As ever, Yui-san really is thorough in that sort of thing.

“Hello?”

Saying that, Yui-san returned my smartphone to me, gazed into my flustered eyes, and smiled warmly.

“…Well then, see you later.”

She patted my head once as I stood there dazed, clutching the phone tightly to my chest. Then, turning back to the president, she said, “Shall we go?”

　Later? What does that even mean? Without giving me a moment to question the meaning of her words, she simply left me behind. Watching their backs disappear, my heart pounded relentlessly, as if it were about to break.

　Then, as if suddenly remembering, I hurried towards the entrance, apologised to Mitsuya-san for being late, and headed to our usual set-meal restaurant.

Because of that sudden incident, I couldn’t taste the fried horse mackerel set meal I’d gone to the trouble of ordering at all. Honestly, I hardly remember what I talked about with Mitsuya-san during lunch either.

　That’s how shaken I was by the sudden reunion. Even after returning to my desk in the afternoon, I couldn’t focus on work at all, my mind constantly on Yui-san.

And then, President? Yui-san is only twenty-five. I never imagined she’d become president so early, no matter what.

I wanted to know. What Yui-san was doing right now. Once I started wondering, I couldn’t stop.

　Mitsuya-san was away in a meeting this afternoon, so I was the only one around the desks now. After glancing around nervously, I quietly opened my computer browser.

Until now, I’d deliberately avoided looking up what Yui-san was doing. So I wouldn’t want to see her. So I wouldn’t feel lonely. It was the only self-defence mechanism I had.

But now, having encountered her again like this, my fingers couldn’t stop searching.

　Ichinose Yui. I typed that into the search engine and hit enter. Almost immediately, the answer I sought came back.

“Ichinose Grand Hotel Co., Ltd… Representative Director, Ichinose Yui…”

The moment I saw that company name, a memory I’d been forgetting suddenly flashed back. That hotel where we watched the fireworks together that summer. It was definitely written there. At the entrance, it said “Ichinose Grand Hotel”.

The Ichinose Group originally comprised numerous companies. The current president of Ichinose Holdings, a pure holding company, is Yui-san’s father.
And so, Yui-san became president of one of the subsidiaries operating under that umbrella.

But even so, why on earth was she meeting with our president…? I don’t think it was for business negotiations. If it were, it would have been proper for us to send someone over. There’s no reason Yui-san would need to make a special trip to our company.

We’re an IT firm, and we’ve never done any business with the Ichinose Group before. I can’t see any connection whatsoever to the hotel business Yui-san manages.

Sighing in utter confusion about what was happening, I suddenly felt my phone vibrate and straightened up in alarm. A message appeared on the screen.

‘I’ll be waiting at the entrance at six.’

The instant I saw that message, my heart began racing again, beating wildly and refusing to slow.

Not a single day in these past four years has passed without me thinking of Yui-san. I’ve wanted to see her all this time. I’ve wanted to see her so badly I couldn’t stand it. But now, part of me just wants to run away.

Because what if she’s married? What then?

　I regretted not having the presence of mind earlier to check if she was wearing a ring.

What did Yui intend to talk about when she met me? My emotions were in such turmoil that I couldn’t reply to the message she’d sent — yet time passed relentlessly, and before I knew it, it was quitting time.

＊＊＊

“Good work today…”

I greeted her in a barely audible voice, scanned my ID at the attendance terminal, then left the office. My heart pounded relentlessly the whole time – in the lift, all the way from the entrance to the exit. I couldn’t calm down.

She said she’d be waiting, but would Yui really be there?

　Stepping outside, her nerves making her grip her bag’s handle tightly, she felt her heart clench.

It wasn’t a dream after all. There she was, in her suit, apparently waiting for me. She raised her hand and smiled at me. Against her chest, the single-diamond necklace shone, unchanged from that day.

“Kanata, good work today.”

What am I to do? I can’t help but stare. We lived together for a year, and I should have built up some immunity to her extraordinary beauty… but that immunity seems to have vanished somewhere over the past four years.

Yui really is beautiful, incredibly so. I don’t know anyone else as beautiful as her.

My heart was pounding, I could feel my face growing hot, and not wanting her to notice, I instinctively turned my face away. Then, I started walking as if to escape.

“Hey, Kanata, where are you off to? Don’t ignore me.”

She called after me, catching up from behind. I didn’t want her to see my flushed face. To avoid that, I had no choice but to keep moving forward.

“Where? I’m heading home. My nearest station is this way…”

“Don’t say that. How about dinner together? It’s been ages since we last saw each other.”

She walked up beside me, peering at my face with perfect composure. If I went to have dinner with her, I’d absolutely have to catch up on everything.

I want to talk more. But I’m scared. If I heard Yui say she’d got married, I’d probably cry. I’m scared.

Would Yui laugh if she knew I still liked her, even after four years?

Not knowing how to respond, I let my gaze wander. Then, as if to seal the deal, Yui grabbed my hand.

“Fancy some sushi? Actually, I’ve already booked a place.”

Eh, sushi? My feet stopped dead. Oh no, I’d done it. Yui smiled gently at my simple-mindedness, lured by food, and pulled me along softly.

“You can eat whatever you like until you’re full. So let’s go. Shall we?”

　It wasn’t just my gluttony that made me silently let myself be led along by Yui-san’s hand.

It was because there was no hard ring on that left hand that was holding mine.

So I felt a deep sense of relief – and without thinking, I accepted that hand pulling mine along.