Tenth Anniversary Of A First Love

At breakfast, with countless dishes spread across the table, Fuzuki-san announced how the work would be divided up. We had already been told most of it beforehand, but apparently this was just to confirm everything.

“Roku-chan, I’d like you to help out at the guesthouse again, just like before. We have some foreign guests staying with us this year, so I’ll leave dealing with them to you.”

“…That’s all?”

“Hehehe. That’s all from me.”

“I see.”

I gave a wry smile at the suggestive way Fuzuki-san had phrased it.

In reality, there wasn’t all that much work to do at the guesthouse itself.

But plenty of Fuzuki-san’s acquaintances would come by asking things like, “Help me ship these vegetables,” or, “Drive me to the hospital,” and eventually even, “I want to video-call my grandchild, but I don’t know how. Teach me.” Taking care of all those miscellaneous errands was my job as labor brought in from outside the village.

“Yū-chan, I’d like you to work at the restaurant. It’s recently become famous as a hidden gem deep in the mountains that serves excellent pizza.”

“Yes! I’ll do my best!”

“Misuzu works there too, so the two of you can do your best together.”

“…………”

Kagari, happily stuffing her cheeks with food, gestured enthusiastically as if to say, “Leave it to me.” She looked like a cheeky squirrel, which was kind of amusing.

For some reason, Yūha also silently bowed to her as though saying, “I’ll be in your care.” She was oddly conscientious about it.

Still, a pizza restaurant all the way out in a countryside place like this, huh…

“—Hey, Kagari. Don’t tell me that restaurant belongs to Riichi-san?”

Kagari nodded so violently that she practically looked like she was having a seizure. As always, her ponytail whipped back and forth. She clenched both fists, snorted proudly through her nose, and rattled everything off in one impassioned breath.

“That’s right! Riichi-san finally opened his own restaurant! And it’s already incredibly popular! Their signature dishes are original Japanese-style pizzas made with local mountain vegetables, and their authentic Margherita, which he learned to make in Italy, is absolutely amazing too! Everyone, please come visit us at least once!”

“I was going to go even without the advertisement.”

Yūha tilted her head in confusion, so I filled her in.

“The manager’s a guy named Riichi Ōtaka. He’s an insanely nice person. Good for you.”

“Exactly. Riichi-san is really kind and really cool! Completely different from Roku-kun.”

“That stray shot hit way too hard.”

She had accidentally blown a hole straight through my stomach. That was practically a fatal wound.

Yūha covered her mouth with one hand and thought for a moment before slowly asking,

“Um, I might be wrong, but Misuzu-san, are you…”

“Yeah. I’m in love with Riichi-san.”

Before Yūha could even finish, Kagari confirmed it. Her bright smile contained not the slightest trace of hesitation or doubt.

Beside her, Fuzuki-san shook her head with a resigned smile.

“You see, even when I tell Misuzu to help at the guesthouse, she insists on going over there instead… So I’m glad Roku-kun and the two of you came.”

“Sorry, Grandma. This is the one thing I won’t compromise on.”

“Yes, yes. You’ve always been like that. Once you decide on something, nothing can make you give it up. Honestly, I wonder who you got that from.”

Watching grandmother and granddaughter laugh together so warmly was soothing even for me.

Kagari was loud, but deep down she was straightforward and impossible to truly hate. That was exactly why I could never bring myself to dislike her, and also why I found her difficult to deal with.

Apparently, she had fallen in love with Riichi-san when she was ten, despite their eight-year age gap, which made this year the tenth anniversary of her unrequited first love.

The reason someone as energetic as her still hadn’t confessed was surprisingly endearing: she didn’t want to get in the way until Riichi-san achieved his dream.

Even someone like me, who subsisted on other people’s misery and found other people’s happiness lethally poisonous, wanted to root for her. Fine, just go ahead and be happy already. I could decide whether to curse you afterward.

Watching her, Yūha apparently thought of something and murmured,

“That’s kind of nice.”

IQ: 3.

After seeing Rokurō off as he headed to the guesthouse, Yūha left the house together with Misuzu.

Since it was too far to walk, they used the bicycles sitting in the yard. The two girls rode side by side along a peaceful farm road with very little traffic.

“Hey, Yūha-chi—oh, can I call you Yūha-chi?”

“Sure.”

“Great. So, is this your first part-time job?”

“Yes. My school generally prohibits them, so I’ve never worked one before.”

“Oh. Then this should be exciting.”

“Yes.”

Misuzu pedaled along cheerfully without touching on Yūha’s family circumstances. She seemed to have poor compatibility with Rokurō, but Yūha had taken a liking to her.

A girl being this loud wasn’t particularly unusual among other girls. If the other person was energetic, Yūha simply matched their energy.

“Misuzu-san, what do you normally do?”

“I’m a university student. I’m back home now because it’s summer vacation.”

“Rokurō told me you’re the leader of the village revitalization project.”

“Oh! Are you interested too, Yūha-chi? We’re always recruiting new members!”

“It’s not exactly that… Rokurō used to be part of it too, right? I wanted to hear about that.”

“Ahaha! So you’re curious about Roku-kun.”

At the casually spoken words, Yūha’s mind went completely blank for an instant.

Curious, curious, curi-ous, curious, curious?

“I-It’s not like that! Not at all! I’m not curious about someone like him in the slightest!”

“Really? I think wanting to know more about your big brother is pretty normal.”

“Ah—”

That was when she realized she had completely misunderstood what Misuzu meant.

She had been strange lately. Especially today. Maybe hearing Misuzu speak so openly about her love life earlier had affected her, because something felt off. Her thoughts kept drifting in that direction.

(What direction even is that?)

Yūha let out a small sigh. There was no “this direction” or “that direction.” Rokurō was simply Rokurō—a brother who just didn’t want to be called her brother. Nothing more than that.

“It’s nothing. Please tell me.”

“Okay. Then once we’re done with everything, let’s have some girl talk, just the two of us. The restaurant’s closed today, so all I have to do is teach you the job. We’ve got plenty of time.”

“Thank you.”

It had been a long time since Yūha had heard the phrase “girl talk.” Her classmates were currently right in the middle of studying for entrance exams and had no time for things like that. Since Yūha had also stopped attending school, it was a phrase she hadn’t heard in half a year.

“Here we are. That’s where we work.”

Misuzu proudly pointed toward a stylish brick building with a chimney, an unmarked signboard, and a gravel parking lot.

A slender man stood by the entrance. His dark-brown hair was tied behind his head, unusually long for a man. When he noticed the two of them, he raised a hand and waved.

“Riichi-saaaan! Good morning!”

Misuzu immediately shifted into a higher gear, accelerated, and charged straight toward him.

Watching her from behind, Yūha murmured once again,

“That’s kind of nice.”