Kapitel 80: Watching Over Your Friends’ Romance Is Also Difficult
Chitose, who prided herself on being Mahiru's best friend, was extremely
impatient about the fact that her best friend's romance was taking so long to
bloom.
That was likely because both parties involved were trying to avoid
overstepping. This was unavoidable, since both Mahiru and Amane were
cautious by nature, but since they were clearly in love with each other, it
was irritating to watch from the sidelines and see them going nowhere.
"…This one, or this one; I wonder which he would like better?"
Mahiru debated, holding two sets of clothes up to her body in an apparel
shop, while Chitose gave her a half-hearted smile.
They had gone out shopping for new summer clothes that day, and after
picking up a few items that caught her eye, Mahiru had started hemming
and hawing over them.
From Chitose's perspective, either one would suit Mahiru, who looked
stylish in most clothes, and she could practically see Mahiru getting a lot of
compliments if she walked around town in either outfit.
And yet, she was hesitating, probably because she was considering how
the person she liked would see her.
"If you're worried about Amane, I think he'd say either one is cute, you
know."
Amane was extremely thoughtful when it came to Mahiru. He was the
kind of guy who could be smooth about complimenting a girl's appearance.
He had even complimented Chitose once or twice, always giving his honest
impressions. It seemed that when it came to Mahiru, he would think either
outfit was cute, no matter which one she chose.
At Chitose's words, Mahiru made a strained expression and looked back
and forth at the clothes she was holding.
"You're probably right, but since I'm making the effort, well, I'd like to
get one that he'll like. I think that if I put on something he likes, I'll look
more desirable… I want him to think I look even cuter than usual. But it's
not like I want to buy something just for Amane; this is for my own selfsatisfaction."
The two outfits were reflected in Mahiru's eyes, but she seemed to be
looking not at the clothes but through the clothes to Amane.
"…Amane always compliments me and says I look cute when I dress
up, but…well, he doesn't really tell me what he likes. He says it's best for
me to wear what I like. That may be true, but still, I would be happy if he
liked the same things I do, and it would make me happy if he really thought
I looked cute. So I thought I'd dress up in something Amane would like, for
me."
She smiled, a lovely, joyful, sweet smile. Her flawless smile was so
beautiful that even Chitose, who was also a girl, was stunned and
enchanted.
Her smile was so extremely pretty that even the shop clerk was gaping at
Mahiru, so a flustered Chitose tried to put an end to it, but Mahiru didn't
seem to notice Chitose's frustration and kept on smiling bashfully.
"Of course, I don't mean all the time! But, like, on days when we go out
together, I want to make him think I look cuter than usual, you know?"
Mahiru looked embarrassed but puffed up her chest slightly and looked
up at the ceiling as if she was recalling Amane, who was not there. She
looked cuter and more charming than any other girl Chitose knew.
"…Trying so hard to get him to think that I look cute and compliment
me sounds awfully shameful, doesn't it?"
"I think that any guy out there who would judge you for that would get a
beating from the majority of girls."
Chitose wouldn't tolerate any complaint leveled at a girl searching for
clothes that her beloved would like in such a charming, adorable manner.
Amane was the type who would recognize, respect, and value the effort
the girl made, so that gave Chitose peace of mind. But she was also in
disbelief that Amane didn't realize the extent to which Mahiru cared for
him.
I know that I can't say anything, but this, this is…!
If Amane saw Mahiru fretting over choosing an outfit like this, with a
lovelorn expression on her face, he would instantly understand how she felt.
But Mahiru didn't want to show him these secret efforts of hers.
Amane only got to see the end result of Mahiru's efforts to devise the
perfect outfit.
…But getting to see dear Mahiru putting in the effort like this is my
special privilege, I guess.
Chitose knew a side of Mahiru that Amane had never seen. The thought
inspired a sort of tickle of happiness and a slight sense of superiority.
"…Okay, I've decided on this one."
Apparently, while Chitose had been inwardly boasting that the absent
Amane must be jealous of her, Mahiru had decided which outfit to buy. She
carefully returned the clothing she wasn't purchasing to the rack and carried
the dress she had chosen to the register.
Watching Mahiru go, Chitose muttered quietly to herself, "Amane's
pretty lucky, too, huh?"
Another day, on her way over to Mahiru's place, Chitose spotted a familiar
black-haired young man standing in the park with his hands on his knees.
His shoulders were heaving up and down, and he was trying to catch his
breath. He was dressed in sportswear and looked like he had just been
jogging.
Thinking about it, Chitose did recall hearing a while back that he was
going to start training his body and that he had asked Yuuta for advice.
Yuuta and Chitose were sort of old childhood friends. Chitose could not
help but find Amane's efforts charming.
"Wow, funny seeing you here!" She had spotted him as she happened to
pass by, so she called out to Amane and waved as she approached him with
a smile.
"Gah, Chitose!" came the extremely rude response from Amane. He
seemed to be in the middle of exercising.
"Why would you react like you just ran into someone awful?"
"Whenever you show up, I'm worried that you're just here to make fun
of me. Actually, why are you here? Your house isn't even nearby."
"I'm here because I was invited by sweet Mahiru."
As a general rule, whenever she and Mahiru hung out at someone's
home, they were usually at Mahiru's.
Mahiru's apartment was bigger than Chitose's room, and at Chitose's
house, if it was a weekend or a school break, her older brothers were there,
and they were annoying, always coming up with some kind of plan to
bother the girls. Because of that, Mahiru's place was ideal.
Chitose's older brothers were college students, so they led quite carefree
lifestyles. But neither of them showed any signs of having a girlfriend yet,
so their little sister's beautiful friend must have looked very appealing.
But from the little sister's perspective, it made her want to shout at them
that her friend was already spoken for and not to go anywhere near her, and
she'd had to literally kick them out more than once.
Chitose, who had been secretly protecting Mahiru from her brothers'
clutches, grinned at Amane, who naturally knew nothing about any of that.
"Jealous?" She smiled, trying to rile him up a little.
Amane frowned slightly, perhaps somewhat offended by Chitose's tone
of voice, but he didn't twist his face into any further expressions.
"I see. Well, go on, then, don't make her wait."
"Oh, that's not nice. I made sure to get here earlier than promised!"
She was sometimes late getting to school but tried her best not to be late
when she was going to hang out with friends, and she had never been late to
Mahiru's.
She had gotten there that day with enough time to spare to stand around
talking to Amane, and she wasn't going to be late just because of a brief
conversation.
When she confidently asserted that she was keeping a close eye on the
time, Amane looked a little fed up. He unnecessarily remarked, "And yet
you just barely make it to school."
Chitose ignored his comment for the moment.
"Anyway, enough about me. Were you exercising, Amane?"
"Yeah. I do it every day."
"Every day? Good for you. That's a big change from before."
"Shaddup."
Amane had never seemed to like exercise much, but he had changed
since that spring. Chitose was just guessing, but the change had probably
taken place after he admitted that he liked Mahiru.
Frankly, before then, Amane hadn't exactly been melancholy, but he had
seemed like a cheerless and quiet person who didn't want to have much to
do with other people, the type of person who, until Itsuki introduced them,
Chitose would never have considered trying to befriend.
That all changed the moment Amane started liking someone.
As someone who had been watching close at hand as this guy, who had
had a tendency to hang his head, rapidly became more forward-facing,
Chitose was impressed by the magnificent power of love.
I guess people really can change.
Looking at Amane, who was trying to change himself with a positive
attitude, she saw a big difference between him and the way she used to be.
In my case, if I had to say, I changed in a positive way, but for negative
reasons.
Though Chitose felt somewhat sour recalling her middle school days,
she didn't say a word about it and instead smiled at Amane, who had turned
away to hide his embarrassment.
"Guys and girls both change when they fall in love, huh?"
"Are you by any chance smiling because you're making fun of me?"
"No way, I'm not that twisted! I'm impressed that the ever-indifferent
Amane has started remodeling his body."
"…Is that so bad?"
"Uh-uh, no, but, like, I guess you're the type who can put in the work, if
it's for Mahiru's sake. The power of love, and all that."
Amane suddenly froze. She waited to see if she had indeed said too
much, and just when she thought his embarrassment had shifted to anger, he
shook his head with a calm look in his eyes.
"…It's not exactly for Mahiru's sake. I just can't stand it when I'm there
beside her and someone points out that I'm not a good match for her,
because it makes her feel bad. I just want to get to a place where I can be
proud of myself."
Chitose didn't feel like forcing him to admit that he was doing it for
Mahiru. Amane was so straightforward when he spoke that Chitose felt
somewhat relieved and laughed in spite of herself.
Wowza, they sure are two of a kind.
Amane and Mahiru would probably be judged to be complete opposites
by someone who didn't know the two of them, but Chitose, who knew them
both well, could see that they were two peas in a pod.
They were both hard workers who improved themselves for their own
sake and not for anyone else and who never pushed responsibility off onto
other people. Amane's desire to stand proudly beside Mahiru seemed like a
worthy one.
From Chitose's point of view, she thought it was a wonderful thing that
Amane had such determination, but on the other hand, she worried that it
might become a bit of an encumbrance…but since he was voluntarily
devoting himself to his own improvement, that was probably a groundless
fear.
Though it's also true that things are all the more frustrating because of
all that.
Chitose also knew that Amane, who was trying to improve himself,
didn't want to confess his feelings to Mahiru just yet. Chitose didn't know
whether she ought to sympathize with Mahiru, who was trying to charm
Amane, or with Amane, who was head over heels for Mahiru and yet was
convinced that his rational mind was being shaken apart by her efforts to
appeal to him.
In either case, the two of them didn't seem as if they were going to come
clean with each other any time soon, so it was frustrating to watch them
steadfastly continue to not get together.
For the time being, Chitose slapped Amane firmly on the back in a show
of support.
He glared at her, his eyes asking why she did that, and Chitose answered
with a cackling laugh.
"You got some kind of problem?" he asked.
"Nah, just thinking that you sure are awfully serious and earnest,
Amane. By the way, what do you like best about dear Mahiru?"
"Huh?!"
When she took the opportunity to ask something that she had been
curious about, Amane opened his eyes wide and flapped his mouth open
and closed in an expression of shock.
He was more surprised than she had expected. She had previously tried
to avoid asking such things directly, but now that Amane had properly
recognized his feelings and was working on making positive changes, she
figured it was all right to ask.
Chitose could see that Amane had never expected to be asked that so
suddenly, and she cackled again and waved her hand.
"I'm not going to tell Mahiru or anything. I wouldn't do anything that
crazy. I just thought you were pretty straitlaced and kind of a misanthrope…
I mean, a highly wary person, so I was wondering what it was you liked
about her."
"…Any reason I need to tell you that?"
"Well, not really, but I'm just curious. Everyone likes Mahiru, but I
figured you probably don't have the same reasons as the rest of them. I
guess you could say I'm curious because I'm friends with both of you."
Mahiru was cute. She was popular with the boys, and even from the
perspective of a member of the same sex like Chitose, her mannerisms,
appearance, and personality were all obviously appealing.
If Chitose had asked the other students at school what they liked about
Mahiru, most of them would have answered, as expected, that they liked her
because she was a picture-perfect girl, an angel who was good at school and
sports, who was gentle and kind toward everyone, and who treated
everyone equally.
Chitose knew Mahiru quite well, and the picture she had of her was
rather different from the boys who did not really know her.
And since Amane knew Mahiru even better than Chitose, his ideas of
what kind of girl Mahiru was and what he liked about her ought to have
been different than hers.
This time, she looked at Amane without any teasing. He frowned and
looked as if he was thinking hard, then lowered his gaze, with a troubled
expression.
"…It's hard to answer…exactly what it is I like about her. I think I like
everything, all together."
In a sense, his answer, given after some thought, was just what she had
expected.
"…Mahiru's not as perfect as everybody thinks. She seems reserved, but
she can be really stubborn, and sometimes she's got a sharp tongue. She
judges things ruthlessly, without hesitation or compromise. She pouts and
sulks at weird times, then headbutts me or punches me repeatedly. She
totally lets her guard down and falls asleep wherever she is, then gets
frightened when she has a nightmare… It's obvious if you take a close look
at her, but she's an ordinary girl."
Amane's expression as he quietly listed off trait after trait was utterly
affectionate. Chitose was certain he was calling an image of Mahiru to mind
as he spoke.
"…I don't know how much you've heard about her past, Chitose. She
always hides it with a smile, but she's a lonely person at heart, and because
of that, I think she's timid about reaching out to others. I told her she can
rely on me, but she's the type who's not sure how to rely on anyone, or how
much she can rely on them, so she retreats into herself and endures the
stress alone. You could say she puts on a show of courage."
Chitose also understood that, more or less.
Mahiru wouldn't lean on Chitose when she was having a really hard
time. She had seen her try to swallow unpleasant feelings without letting
them show on the surface.
"When she first started taking care of me, I felt like I wanted to cherish
her and be by her side. Which I think is probably different than wanting to
protect her. I mean, I want to protect her from unnecessary and
unreasonable suffering, but…how can I put this? …I felt like I wanted to
snuggle up close beside Mahiru, who always puts on a strong face and is
bad at relying on others and is easily frightened and tends to get lonely."
Amane spoke in a quiet tone of voice and lowered his gaze as he spoke
at length about treasuring a certain girl who was not present.
"…I want her to smile; I want to support her by her side. I want to be
there for her even when things are tough. I want us to overcome difficulties
together. Whenever Mahiru wants to cry, I want to stop her and help bear
her suffering."
Then he lifted his face, and even Chitose had to stare straight at Amane,
whose eyes clearly housed a gentle yet certain sense of purpose.
"To answer your question of what I like about her, I like everything.
Everything, her strong points and weak points; it's all wonderful… And
that's my reason. What's wrong with that?"
Amane turned away, his cheeks faintly flushed, perhaps from
embarrassment at spelling it all out. Chitose's lips naturally arched up in a
gentle smile.
Wow, even Mahiru would be charmed by that, huh?
He was a guy who respected and valued her to that degree. Mahiru
probably fell for him as hard as she did precisely because she picked up on
that.
Chitose felt that the two of them were bound to fall in love with each
other. She followed Amane as he moved over to the park fountain to try to
do something about his increasingly red cheeks.
"Hey, Amane?"
She spoke to Amane, who was cooling his bright-red face, rinsing the
sweat off with rough movements. He glared back at her, perhaps because he
hadn't been able to shake all the embarrassment yet.
"What? Don't you dare tell me I stink."
"Of course not, I would never say something so rude! I just, well, I'm
glad I'm friends with you, Amane."
"…Why would you say that all of a sudden? It's embarrassing."
"Heh-heh, I just thought it!"
Just thought I would let you know.
Chitose herself was different. She had gotten to know lots of people and
made all sorts of friends, but even among all the different personalities she
had seen so far, she genuinely felt glad to have met Amane. He would never
bump Itsuki out of first place, but she thought she might rank Amane close
behind.
Seriously, if he would just be up-front with Mahiru about what he just
told me, they'd be together in a split second.
Even Chitose felt her cheeks grow warm after hearing about his
passionate feelings of love. Amane had such earnest, unwavering feelings
for Mahiru that Chitose suspected her friend would turn bright red and
collapse on the spot if she ever heard about them.
Chitose reached the conclusion that it was ultimately going to be an
irritating waiting game, and she laughed to herself. Amane gave her a
puzzled look, but Chitose didn't pay it any mind as she happily chuckled
and lightly smacked Amane's back.
The slap meant both good luck and tell her soon.
"All right, time for me to get going. Oh, that's right. You'd better not eat
too much at dinner. There's gonna be dessert."
Chitose was on her way to Mahiru's house to make sweets, and she was
sure they would be offered to Amane after dinner.
Chitose was already feeling a tiny bit of heartburn even though she
hadn't even arrived at Mahiru's place yet, much less made the sweets. She
laughed once more at Amane, who didn't seem to know what to make of
her, and dashed off.
"Ah, so this is why the two of them are…"
Musing that it was truly a difficult thing to watch over her friends'
romance without saying things she shouldn't, Chitose headed for Mahiru's
apartment in high spirits.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein