Episode 37: Because Sora-san and I Are Partners
Sora-san’s home was, to put it kindly, an apartment that couldn’t exactly be called clean-looking from the outside.
“E-excuse the intrusion…”
“My parents aren’t coming home anyway, so just put your stuff wherever.”
Once we stepped through the door, the inside was completely different from the exterior — everything was neatly kept.
Sure, the walls and ceiling showed their age if you looked closely, but the place was thoroughly clean, and it was obvious someone was actually living here properly.
I sat down on a cushion and waited for Sora-san. She brought out two glasses of barley tea for us.
Dinner was gyudon we’d picked up near the station.
“Let’s eat.”
We put our hands together and started in. Come to think of it, this might be the first time I’ve ever had gyudon.
“It’s actually really good…”
“Glad to hear it.”
Sora-san seemed… not quite her usual self. A little nervous. Somehow, that put me at ease.
Different from Maria, from Möbius-san, from Miyuki-san.
How should I put it…
More like… a kind of kinship, maybe.
“Ruri.”
“Y-yes?”
“…Sorry, about earlier. I said some weird stuff.”
“Eh!? Ah, no, um, that’s not…”
Awkward. This is just plain awkward.
What kind of face am I even supposed to make right now?
“I guess, thinking it all through too much just made me say it like that.”
“Sora-san…”
“I’ll keep what happened earlier a secret.”
“Earlier…?”
“The fact that we kissed.”
“…Ah, y-yes.”
It’s not like I have some other partner waiting, and it’s not like the kiss was one-sided either.
So it’s not something that would trouble me if it got out… maybe. But it’s not exactly something to go around announcing either.
Above all, “we kissed” isn’t really a sentence you can say when the relationship itself is still this undefined.
“I won’t say anything either. It’ll stay a secret.”
“Okay. …But don’t you forget it.”
“Got it. Well, I mean, honestly, I don’t think I could forget it even if I tried…”
At my answer, Sora-san smiled, looking relieved. Maybe she really had felt lonely earlier, just like I’d thought.
After we finished eating, she showed me to her room. Small, but just as neatly organized as the rest of the apartment — a big monitor sat on the desk.
“Sora-san, is this where you usually draw?”
“Yeah. Honestly, I’d like a better chair someday, though.”
Once I sat down, Sora-san stared at me intently.
“Hey, Ruri. Mind if I draw you?”
“Eh? Y-yes, go ahead!”
“You don’t need to make some weird posed face.”
“S-sorry, and, um, thank you.”
“Why are you thanking me?”
“B-because, um, you complimented me before, saying I’m cutest when I’m being natural…”
“I didn’t say it quite like that.”
Following her instructions, I sat down on the bed. What Sora-san picked up wasn’t a sketchbook, but a large drawing tablet.
The moment she started drawing, Sora-san went quiet. Every so often she’d lift her head and stare intently at me.
That gaze — observing, almost peering straight through me — was different from how other people usually look at me.
Sora-san has a dream of becoming an illustrator. Miyuki-san has a dream of becoming a fashion designer.
Möbius-san already achieved her dream of owning her own shop by opening Sweet Stella. And Maria’s had her own long-standing goal of inheriting the family hospital.
…Maybe I don’t have anything like that.
But ever since I started working at Sweet Stella, for the first time, I’ve actually wanted to try harder.
I’m probably still somewhere in the middle of finding whatever it is.
“…Um, Sora-san.”
“What?”
“What kind of life do you think would suit me?”
Her hand paused for a moment, and a clearly troubled expression crossed her face.
“…Honestly, I don’t know.”
“Y-yeah, figured…”
“But whatever path you end up choosing, I think I’d want to support it.”
“S-Sora-san…!”
Overcome, I started to get up, but she told me not to move.
“I mean, I don’t even know what kind of life suits me, either.”
“Really?”
“I’ve got something I want to do, but I don’t know if I’m actually suited for it. It’s nothing but anxiety, wondering if I can actually pull it off… but if I don’t try, I’ll end up hating myself. So I do it anyway.”
Her voice was strong, full of resolve, but at the same time, it carried real anxiety too.
—Maybe it’s presumptuous of me to think I want to support her.
But we’re friends. And more than that, we’re partners.
“I want to support you too, Sora-san, whatever path you end up choosing…!”
Compared to me, Sora-san’s amazing.
She’s got a dream, a goal, and she’s actually taking real, practical steps toward it. She can even live entirely on her own.
But even so — I want to grow alongside her.
Sora-san’s the first person I’ve ever felt this way about.
“…Thanks, Ruri.”
Smiling with her face bright red, Sora-san looked cuter than I’d ever seen her look before.