131 123 Dreams and troubles





 Kaz Hayakawa's life is quite ordinary.

 He was born to parents who ran a rice farm in a town that was not so rural, not so much a city as a city.
 Although he is the son of a farmer, his parents do not want him to be their heir apparent.
 They don't want to limit his potential at a young age, not if he wants to take over voluntarily.

 For these reasons, he had a comfortable childhood and became a primary school student.
 Attending classes at school, playing with friends after school, and spending time with his family at home... It was a really normal life.

 A turning point in his life came when his mother gave birth to Kuroone-when he was ten years old.
 Wa, who has an older brotherly attitude towards his newborn sister, actively helped his parents in raising their child.
 The good care aspect was formed at this time.

 While taking care of Kurone in this way, she became estranged from her friends.

 It's a good thing that the parents, being farmers, work together, and while they are not at home, he, the older brother, is the one who takes care of his sister.
 He doesn't go out to play with his parents, but simply leaves them to their own devices so that they can go about their work without a care in the world.

 It is inevitable that if he takes time with his sister, he will have less time for his friends.
 However, it doesn't mean that she was isolated and bullied, and she herself had a certain level of rapport with them, partly because of her personality.
 He participated in school events and enjoyed the athletic and cultural festivals in any way he could.

 But no matter how many times he was invited to hang out with them after school, he went home to find his sister waiting for him without shaking his head.
 He finally responds when Kurone becomes an elementary school student, but he doesn't ask his friends out.

 This is the reason for his behavior, which he calls shallow association.

 In particular, she does not hold a grudge against Kuro-on for doing so.
 He even thinks it's wrong to put his family first.

 However, when she was in her second year of high school, she vaguely mentioned that she wanted to take over the family business when she was considering her future.
 Hearing this, his parents feel that he shouldn't go on like this and urge him to get a job and experience society.
 They couldn't admit that they didn't really want to, or worse, that they chose to do so out of inertia.
 After much persuasion, more for the sake of his son himself than anything else, Wa was able to get a job at Umineko Transport.

 There, he becomes friends with Miya and Mao, and spends his days working without changing anything in essence.
 The sheer volume of work keeps her so busy that she has nothing to do at home but sleep, and she doesn't even have a name for taking care of Kuroone-something she had in her school days.

 Eight years have passed since I graduated from high school....






''Onii-san!

 The second turning point in my life, I met a girl who was younger than anyone else.


 = = = = = =.

Hmm....

 I should have been sleeping comfortably, but I woke up unexpectedly.
 It wasn't a day off yet, but I felt like I had done a sober thing.
 I rolled over and looked at my alarm clock to see that it was 2am. 

 It's too early to do anything.
 It's too early to do anything, but it's kind of hard to sleep.

 I don't know why I woke up at this hour... but it's more than that.

'I feel like I had a dream when I was at home...'

 It was a time when I was putting my family before my friends.
 I wasn't particularly unhappy, and I wasn't bullied for it.
 I just didn't have the kind of adolescence that others mention.

 To put it simply, it would be like tasting odorless, tasteless gum.

 It may sound like someone else's business, but I do feel very lonely.
 That said, I don't have any desire to grieve.

 It's not that I'm not happy about it, but it's the result of my own volition and the fact that I'm not inconvenienced.

I'm going to be able to say that you heard Amana-chan's voice just before she woke up, right?

 That's the only thing that caught my attention in the dream.
 

 What the hell was that implication?
 Since it was a dream, it might not be of much use if I thought about it deeply, but I can't help but wonder about it.

 The fact that Amana appears in my dream...........

"──There's no way I was a pedophile........

 If that's the case, I'm not going to be able to trust myself for the rest of my life.
 The shock is much bigger than the fact that I've spent my school days without color.

 However, it's clear that since meeting Amana-chan, I've been spending a much more intimate time with her than ever before.
 Of course, she's not the only one.
 In addition to Amari and Hasumi, Miya and Mao, who until then had only known each other as colleagues, have also joined in.

 That's all there is to it, but there's a huge difference between them and when they were students.
 I'm sure that the moment I was healed by Amana-chan was the reason I thought so.

''........I have to thank her again for something.

 I know I'm not looking for anything in return, but I still want to express my gratitude for the fact that I continue to be healed in some way.
 Then she smiles brightly and seems to return my "thank you" again, and I can't help but smile. 

 It's no wonder people call me a pedophile.
 Just when I thought I couldn't help but be amazed, I felt a strange sensation.

What is this........burnt smell?

 Yes, it smells burnt.
 It's not like I cooked and burnt it before bed.
 Yesterday, I had a drink with Sanya and then went home...so what is the source of the smell?

 If it was just this, I would have used deodorant or just used my imagination....

'It's so hot, I didn't even use the stove.

 It's already early November.
 Normally, it would be cold, not hot.
 However, my skin is strangely hot and sweaty.

 It's strange.
 I can't get rid of my doubts at last, so I get out of bed and open the window to look at the outside.

''Ah...?''

 The answer was right there.
 I guess it's the same reason I woke up at nine out of ten.

 I shudder to think that I would have woken up a little later.
 Anyway...........








 A fire had broken out in the apartment where I was renting a room.