The Adult Approach

I wanted to apologize to the entire world for ever thinking, while looking after those brats, that farm work would be easier.

Normally, harvesting and shipping were finished in the morning, so I’d assumed there wouldn’t be much to do in the afternoon.

I had underestimated it.

Apparently, the vegetables had grown especially well this year, and there was simply too much to harvest in the mornings alone. I got called in and ended up doing physical labor under the blazing sun. I had to harvest crops by hand in the fields, drive a small truck, pack produce… I was running all over the place.

By the time I got home, my soul had practically left my body, and I nearly passed out several times in the bath. I couldn’t eat as much dinner as usual either, and once I reached my room, my brain completely froze.

Even so, I wanted to study at least a little English, so I set my textbook on the desk. I worked my mechanical pencil across the page, and after writing about five lines, I started hearing things.

Not long after, all the strength left my head, and I closed my eyes without even being able to resist.

“Roku-chan looked exhausted.”

Fuzuki said that while drinking tea in the kitchen. As Yūha poured barley tea from the pitcher, she asked,

“Was today’s work different from usual?”

“He helped out in the fields today. Apparently, Nishihama-san’s father hurt his back. This year’s harvest has been especially good, so there was more work than usual. I suppose he pushed himself too hard.”

“So that’s why.”

“Roku-chan has pretty good stamina, but I imagine even he found it difficult.”

Yūha had never seen Rokurō look so completely worn out. Even when he’d been delivering newspapers in both the mornings and evenings, he’d still been full of energy.

Yūha tilted her glass of barley tea and sighed worriedly.

“I hope he doesn’t push himself too hard.”

“Yes. That’s what worries me about him.”

That man understood the absolute limits of what he could handle better than most people did. He was good at managing his health, and it was difficult to imagine him getting overwhelmed because he’d taken on too much work.

But that was exactly what made it seem so precarious.

From Rokurō’s perspective, everything might be going according to plan, but to Yūha it looked like he was walking a tightrope. A professional acrobat might not fall, but Rokurō was just an ordinary person.

She worried that one day, he might end up regretting it.

“That’s why you need to tell him properly not to overdo it.”

“Okay.”

“Roku-chan will listen to anything you say.”

“Anything… might be a bit much.”

“He’ll listen to anything. Go ahead and try.”

Fuzuki waved a hand cheerfully, looking unusually pleased, while Yūha gave her a doubtful look.

There was no way it was anything.

After all, even if Yūha told Rokurō to let her pat his head, he refused.

Then again, if he really did listen to absolutely anything she asked, Yūha would be the one in trouble. She’d feel far too guilty.

“Of course, he’s not honest with himself, so he might not do it right away. But I’m sure he’ll eventually do whatever you ask.”

“Do you really think so?”

“I do.”

Fuzuki always wore a gentle smile, but right now she seemed unusually full of energy.

It was almost like Misuzu when she talked about Riichi—

A bottomless brightness that made their blood relation unmistakable.

Fuzuki narrowed her eyes and tilted her head.

“Is there something you’d like to ask him to do?”

“…N-no, there isn’t.”

Yūha felt as though those soft eyes had seen straight through her, and the barley tea nearly caught in her throat. She hurriedly denied it, but that only made her look more suspicious.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure! Really, really sure.”

Yūha insisted desperately, but Fuzuki merely smiled kindly.

Realizing she’d only made herself look even more suspicious, Yūha regretted it.

Perhaps girl talk was like this regardless of age. In broad terms, it wasn’t all that different from the conversations she had with her friends in class.

Unable to bear it any longer, the girl stood up.

“I-I have work again tomorrow, so… I’m going back to my room soon. Good night.”

“All right. Good night.”

Fuzuki watched her leave with a satisfied expression, then laughed softly to herself one more time in the now-empty kitchen.

Mentally exhausted, Yūha slumped onto the cushion in her room.

She took out her phone and replied to messages from her classmates. Her friends, who were right in the middle of studying for entrance exams, seemed incredibly jealous that Yūha was out in the countryside. Every day, she got messages like, “Send pics~” and “I’d study so much better if I were somewhere like that.”

Yūha replied with things like, “Yeah, yeah,” while sending photos, and sometimes talked with them on the phone.

She thought it was a blessing to have people who didn’t treat her like something fragile just because she’d stopped attending school.

She exchanged a few messages with a friend who happened to be free, then put her phone down when the conversation ended.

She had brought her textbooks just in case, but Yūha wasn’t preparing for entrance exams herself. She reviewed things so her grades wouldn’t drop, but without any real goal, it was hard to feel motivated.

For now, it would be enough if she didn’t get terrible scores on the tests after the break.

She had never liked studying enough to work hard for such a vague reason.

It would be nice if she could study something that connected to work, like Rokurō did… but she had no idea what that might be.

Even if she asked him, he would probably say, “For now, just focus on school.”

And since that was perfectly reasonable, there wasn’t much she could say against it.

That was why she often spent her evenings doing nothing in particular. Sometimes she talked with Misuzu, and sometimes she read books from around the house. But most of the time, she simply waited for Rokurō to call her or for a chance to go over to his room.

(Maybe not tonight.)

There wasn’t a single sound coming from the room next door. He must have been extremely tired.

If she called out to him, Rokurō would pretend he was fine. He would probably keep her company for an hour or so anyway.

So this time, Yūha had to hold herself back.

He wouldn’t do absolutely anything she asked, but within reason, he usually granted most of her wishes.

She decided to listen to music and put in her earphones. She killed time looking at trendy desserts and things like that. The shops she wanted to visit were always far away, which made her think the world was inconvenient.

She was interested in clothes too, but since she had a school uniform now, she didn’t really need anything new. So she’d stopped going out of her way to look them up.

(I used to try so hard because I wanted a boyfriend…)

The thought crossed her mind.

When Nene had started standing beside Rokurō, their relationship had seemed so ideal to her.

It had made Yūha want to fall in love like that too, to have someone she could be together with.

That ideal had eventually fallen apart, Rokurō had disappeared, and now—

She found herself wanting to be the one beside Rokurō instead.

Lately, she often wondered whether she’d simply been jealous of Nene all along.

Maybe she’d been jealous and, without realizing it, tried to fall in love herself so she wouldn’t have to acknowledge that feeling.

But of course, it hadn’t been that simple.

Even when she’d stopped going to school, she’d wanted someone to support her.

But she had been too afraid to rely on anyone except Rokurō.

And before she knew it, she’d ended up here.

Sometimes she even wondered if, deep down, she’d been happy when Rokurō and Nene broke up.

(But I love Nene-san too.)

Yūha might indeed have been jealous.

But not once had she ever hated Nene.

If she were ever going to have a sister-in-law someday, she couldn’t imagine anyone she’d like more than her.

Even now, when she thought of someone who could support Rokurō, Nene’s face was the first one that came to mind.

No matter what she did, Yūha could never become Nene Komaki.

That fact slowly seeped into her heart like a delayed poison.

Then Yūha suddenly lifted her head.

The music playing in her ears had been nothing but breakup songs for a while now.

Deciding that was why she’d become so negative, she picked something cheerful from her playlist.

She emptied her mind and surrendered herself to the music for a while.

Once her mood had improved, she opened her eyes and removed her earphones.

“I’m probably tired too.”

That had to be it.

With that thought, she started getting ready for bed.

When she dimmed the room to the small night-light, she noticed that the room next door was still brightly lit.

Was Rokurō still awake?

Or had he fallen asleep with the light on?

She tried knocking.

There was no response.

“Rokurō?”

Even when she called his name, there was no answer.

She peeked through the gap in the sliding door, but couldn’t make anything out.

Carefully, she opened it and checked inside.

A man was slumped over his desk, completely motionless.

His back rose and fell steadily, and he looked perfectly comfortable.

A mechanical pencil lay nearby, along with an open textbook.

Apparently, he’d fallen asleep while studying.

She quietly approached and shook his shoulder.

“If you don’t sleep on your futon, you’ll catch a cold.”

He showed no sign of waking up.

Even when she shook him more firmly, his expression didn’t change at all.

“Seriously. If you’re this tired, of course you can’t study.”

Complaining under her breath, she moved the textbook and mechanical pencil to the side.

On a whim, she poked Rokurō’s cheek with one finger.

“Squishy… no, not really. I guess it wouldn’t be.”

The skin of a man who had no interest in skincare wasn’t rough, but it wasn’t especially pleasant to touch either.

It was just normal skin.

His hands were tucked beneath his face, so she couldn’t touch those.

That left only his head within easy reach, so by process of elimination, Yūha decided to practice patting his head.

Since he was asleep, she could practice as much as she wanted.

Maybe it didn’t count as spoiling him, but there was no harm in getting better at it.

She touched his hair.

It felt stiff.

Rokurō’s hair was naturally like that to some extent, but it also had the stiffness of hair that wasn’t properly cared for.

In that respect too, he was completely different from Yūha.

“I bet you’ve got quite a few split ends.”

Curious, she leaned closer.

Narrowing her eyes from point-blank range, she searched using the sensation in her fingertips.

And then she found one.

For some reason, it made her happy, like finding a four-leaf clover.

She found a second, then a third, and became completely absorbed in the game.

But when she found the fourth one, Rokurō stirred.

“…Mm.”

He slowly lifted his face and looked at Yūha through half-open eyes.

For a moment, she worried that he’d noticed what she’d been doing, but the utterly dazed expression on his face reassured her.

“…………Yū…ha?”

“Ah, um. You fell asleep with the light on.”

“’Kay… sorry…………pickles.”

“Pickles?”

Apparently, he’d been having a strange dream, because the name of a pickled food slipped out of Rokurō’s mouth.

But he didn’t seem aware that he’d said it.

He tilted his head and swayed back and forth, looking as though he might fall asleep again at any moment.

“Go sleep on your futon.”

“Okay.”

“Come on. Move.”

“…Mm.”

He agreed verbally, but Rokurō didn’t move even a single step.

Still caught halfway between dreaming and waking, he looked like sitting upright was already the most he could manage.

Maybe it was because she’d seen him like that.

Maybe it was because she’d been feeling a little negative earlier.

She didn’t know the reason, but suddenly, a mischievous impulse entered Yūha’s mind.

“If you can’t move, do you want to sleep with your head in my lap?”

“…………”

She sat properly on her knees and patted her lap as if to say, Right here.

And then Rokurō, without saying a word, simply toppled over as though someone had switched off his power.

“Huh?”

Yūha’s thoughts stopped.

She hadn’t actually expected him to do it.

Rokurō was asleep on her lap, his face completely relaxed and trusting.

“A-ah, ahhh…”

Her entire body grew hot.

She frantically looked around, but her brain had stopped working properly.

She wanted to call for help, but she had no idea how she could possibly explain this situation if anyone saw them.

“I-I’m not mentally prepared for this yet…!”

She cried out in a tiny voice.

Naturally, Rokurō didn’t wake up.

Though it would have been a problem if he did wake up.

But having him stay asleep was also a problem.

Yūha experienced firsthand what it truly meant to be completely stuck.

In any case, a lap pillow was still far too advanced for her.

She panicked all by herself, and it took her a full twenty minutes to somehow pull over a pillow and swap herself out.

Convinced that Rokurō absolutely could not find out what had happened tonight, she quickly crawled into her own futon as well.

Of course, there was no way she could fall asleep.