Chapter 7 Friend?

Friend?

The next morning.

I woke up at the same time as usual. Aoi-senpai woke up soon after.

We both got cleaned up and checked out in time for school. She called the school to inform them of her absence, and I called a little later to inform them of my absence as well.

Looking up at the sky, it was a clear day for sightseeing.

“Since we went to the beach yesterday, let’s go somewhere else.”

“Understood.”

Accompanying her, we went to different places. Since we went to bed without eating yesterday, we decided to go to a nearby seafood restaurant to fill our stomachs first.

The way Aoi-senpai stared at the menu, she didn’t look like the senpai at school, but more age-appropriate… and a bit younger in spirit.

The food she ordered was brought to her, and I’m sure the people at the school would be surprised to see her mouth open in delight as she put it to her mouth.

Afterwards, she took me on a tour of famous places.

I wonder if she’s enjoying herself, forgetting all about school, and gaining a bit of freedom.

Am I helping her? Am I being useful? I don’t know. I have no idea.

By the time we had visited most of the tourist spots, it was 17:00.

“It’s over, Hiiragi-kun.”

“Yes, it is.”

She looked sadly out to sea.

“I know I said somewhere far away, but I guess this is the limit for us high school students. Besides, I’m worried about my parents after what all I’ve tried to do. In the future, I will be more …”

Then she stops and looks at me.

“Hiiragi-kun…Hiiragi-kun, did you have fun?”

“… I don’t know…”

I wonder if I had fun?

I’ve never been sightseeing before. I don’t even know how to enjoy sightseeing. I just went along with what Aoi-senpai wanted to do and watched her smile.

“I see.”

“Sorry.”

If you ask me if I answered the question correctly, I can tell you that it was probably wrong, even if only vaguely. I really am a bad person.

“No, it’s okay. So…”

“…yes?”

I’m unintentionally giving a pathetic question to an answer I never thought I’d get.

“Hiiragi Shuu-kun, it’s okay. I’m sure you’ll be able to find something fun or sad in the future. Of course, I’ll help you.”

“It’s … But…”

I don’t want to cause people any more trouble because of me. I also thought that it would be impossible to find something that I didn’t know if I could find, that I didn’t know when I lost it, or that it might never have been there in the first place.

“It’s okay, take your time. Besides, aren’t we friends?”

“… friends?”

“Ah, yes. At least to me, Hiiragi-kun is irreplaceable. You’re my first friend.”

Friend?

There may have been people I could have called that in my early elementary school days. But before I knew it, they were gone.

“… Are you okay with me?”

“It’s okay, I want Hiiragi-kun.”

“I understand, so we’re friends?”

I don’t even know what that means, friends are a relationship. But if Aoi-senpai wants me, then fine.

“Then let’s go home.”

“Understood.”

On the train home, I tried my best to think about what a friend was, but I couldn’t find any answer.