Even so, we are living in the present

Chapter 7 – Secret Conversation

The following morning.

Kyosuke’s eyelids were aroused by the sunlight streaming in through the gaps in the blackout curtain.

His body, which was supposed to be sitting on the bed, was somehow lying down, and when he attempted to raise his upper body, he felt slightly sluggish as if he hadn’t gotten enough sleep.

However, there was no time to sleep.

Forcing himself up, he got out of bed and opened the curtain with great force. The dazzling sunshine caused him to lower his eyelids.

What time is it now?

He opened the blackout curtain all the way and headed for the living room with heavy steps. When he looked at the analogue clock on the wall, it was past 8:30. This was a day off for a student living alone. It was not such a late hour. Nevertheless, Kyosuke had no time to rest. After washing his face with cold water and awakening thoroughly, he quickly changed into denim, a short-sleeved T-shirt, and a jacket, before leaving the house without even consuming breakfast.

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Kyosuke walked over to the dance school where Yuu was attending. He had learned from Saiki that the teacher had been the one who had saved Yuu while he was waiting for the surgery to be successful, thus he arrived there to find out what had happened.

Of course, there was no appointment made at this time. If she said it was not a good time, he figured he would visit her again later.

Although the curtains were drawn, preventing anyone from viewing what was taking place within, there was a sign at the entrance indicating the lesson times.

On weekends, the lessons were held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“… From 9.00 a.m. huh.”

He checked his watch. It would be 9 o’clock in another ten minutes, yet no sign of anyone was in sight. Just as he decided to wait, the door opened and a woman appeared. She had bandages on her cheeks and chin.

“What’s wrong…? Oh, Ichinose.”

At first she wondered who it was, but once she realized it was Kyosuke, she gave a relieved smile. This was the teacher who had saved Yuu’s life. After bowing his head lightly, Kyosuke expressed the reason for his visit.

“Excuse me for stopping by unannounced. Thank you very much for yesterday. Um, so I came to… to ask you about the situation at that time…”

“Yes, I understand. I also was hoping to learn about Sonohara’s condition.”

Unexpectedly, she readily agreed. While feeling a bit out of sorts, he asked her if she was really okay with it.

“What about today’s lesson?”

“I took the day off. It’s only today, though… We were all so shocked.”

The teacher’s smile seemed to have faded slightly into a melancholic expression. Even though they were strangers, some people could feel their pain in this manner. Kyosuke was faintly startled by this inwardly.

“I see… I understand.”

After that, Kyosuke was led into the guest room, where they sat on folding chairs facing each other across a small table and carried on a conversation in which they shared information with one another.

The teacher told him in detail that “Yuu had been trying to rescue his family from the car without paying attention to himself until right before the car burst into flames,” and that “right after she rescued him, the car was engulfed in flames and the flying debris from the subsequent explosion struck Yuu’s left eye”; Kyosuke informed her in detail that “his left eye was operated on and inevitably had to be removed due to the severity of the damage,” and that “he regained consciousness about two hours later and had no problem speaking”.

“──And…”

In the middle of his explanation, Kyosuke’s words were lost. His gaze, which had been staring straight into the eyes of the other party, abruptly landed on the floor.

“… What’s wrong?”

The reserved question sent a mild shiver through Kyosuke’s eardrums.

“No, it’s… my fault that Yuu is…”

“…?”

“I broke the news of the accident to Yuu… and he ended up getting hurt… and then…”

“…”

The teacher listened silently without uttering a word.

“I’ve taken away his will to live, or rather, his…”

He was slurring his words and failed to produce any follow-up words. After staring at Kyosuke for a while, the teacher quietly spoke up.

“… I know what you mean.”

“…”

“For Sonohara, the reality was too grave.”

“… Yes.”

The teacher’s confronting words forced Kyosuke to droop helplessly.

“… But it’s something he has to know sooner or later. For me, I’m even more glad that it was you who passed on the news rather than anyone else, Ichinose.”

“Eh…?”

He wondered what she meant by the fact that she was glad that he was the one to relay the message to Yuu. With that question mark, he directed his gaze to the teacher.

“If someone else had told him, I don’t think Sonohara would have accepted it. That boy doesn’t trust others very much, even though he seems to listen to them.” The teacher smiled sorrowfully as she said this. The contents that were put together reminded Kyosuke of what he had been taught earlier.

If I recall correctly, Yuu didn’t separate himself from the body of the car until right before the fire broke out, and he even resisted the teacher’s warning… Even when he was warned that the smell of gasoline was in the air, he uttered the word “but” and refused to believe it…

“Sonohara trusts you more than anyone else. Whenever a dance performance goes well, he always mentions your name before his family’s, saying, ‘Someday I’m going to show Kyosuke that I became famous for dancing,’ or ‘If Kyosuke sees me, he’ll definitely fall in love with me’. That’s the only time he smiles with such joy, and it brings me such delight.”

“…”

Kyosuke’s eyes widened, unable to disguise his astonishment. He had never been told such a thing before. Not even the faintest hint of it had ever occurred to him. 　He had only heard of him saying, “I’m going to be a model who can sing and dance”.

“Yuu…”

The next thing he knew, his vision was distorted. At the same time, droplets of tears fell on his pants.

“Uh, um, ah…”

The teacher noticed that Kyosuke was in tears and hastily offered him a box of tissues. Although he didn’t break out into sobs, the tears he had been holding back for so long were now pouring out. Whether they were from relief that he trusted him, or grief that Yuu’s dream would be hazy, Kyosuke himself did not know.

“Was I wrong to say that? Don’t tell Sonohara about what I said, because he’ll get upset.”

While nodding to the teacher, who was trying to ease the situation and secretly requested that he suppress his voice despite them being in a private conversation, he picked up a tissue and placed it over his eyes.

“I’m sorry, it’s not supposed to be like this… I won’t say anything, so please don’t tell Yuu that I cried. I’m sure he’ll make fun of me later.” Kyousuke responded, covering his face with one of his hands, undeniably embarrassed by the tearfulness that accompanied his voice regardless of how he struggled to control it.

“I’m not going to tell him, so rest assured.”

He thanked her for her words and exhaled deeply to compose himself.

“Oh, maybe we should have something to drink. Do you mind drinking café au lait? I’ll go make some.”

Then the teacher rose to her feet.

“… Please.”

In the neighborhood, there were a few people here and there who attended the same high school. Coupled with the fact that he didn’t want to be seen, it seemed improbable that he would be able to exit this place for the time being with his teary face. Kyosuke decided to stay in the guest room of the dance school for a while longer.