Chapter 190: The Confession 10 Years Ago
She said that she could talk while working since all she needed to do was to clean up the perimeter. Since I didn’t have anything else to do, I volunteered to help her and sweep the parking lot and other areas.
Before we started, I apologized to her since Umi and I were eavesdropping on her conversation with Riku-san. Apparently, she didn’t realize that we were nearby. She forgave me easily since it was by pure coincidence that we were there, but she still gave me a light warning to not do it again.
“It was ten years ago, I think… I confessed my feelings to him… He returned to Granny’s house for the first time in a while for a visit, so I took the chance to have a talk with him.”
The Asanagis, including Riku-san, moved to their current house when Umi was born. Which meant the two childhood friends were separated in grade school. Shizuku-san said that they still called and texted each other from time to time until high school, though.
They would exchange texts about their studies, school life, what they did to have fun and other trivial matters. Sometimes, during long vacations, Riku-san would return to Mizore-san’s house and they would hang out together like how they used to.
“When I was little, I was a clumsy and frail girl, so he always had to take care of me. Even back then, he was tall and even though he was bad at sports, he was really smart and more importantly, he was always kind to me.”
“So, was he your childhood crush?”
“Something like that. I don’t know when I realized that I had feelings for him, but I remembered that when I heard that he was going to move away, I was really depressed… I even cried in front of Granny’s house and begged him to not leave me…”
Shizuku-san answered while putting leaves and dead weeds into a garbage bag. Her voice was filled with a sense of longing and nostalgia.