Chapter 4 A Letter Arrived

A Letter Arrived

“Chika! Wake up already!”

“Nnn… Let me sleep a little more….”

“No! Stop sleeping! College is about to start! You’re going to college with Taichi-kun, right? You’ll make trouble again!”

Noisy.

It’s still spring break. Leave me alone.

“If you don’t want to eat, I’ll clean up, okay? Also, there was a letter addressed to Chika, so I’ll leave it on your desk.”

“Nnn….”

Ever since I passed the private university entrance exam that I took in December with the designated school recommendation, I have been living a carefree and lazy life.

It was after midnight when I got home yesterday, and even after I got home I talked to my friend, so I didn’t go to bed until around 3 in the morning.

I tried to be as quiet as possible until Taichi, who took the general entrance exam for the same university, was accepted, and I ended my relationship with Satoshi (サトシ) after the winter break. We haven’t seen each other alone since then.

We were just having fun, which is only natural considering our future university lives.

Taichi is my number one, and he kept his promise to me and successfully passed the entrance exam for the same university.

My high school life ended smoothly as planned, and thanks to that, since the day after the graduation ceremony, I have been playing around with my friends as if I regretted the few remaining days of my high school life.

I really wanted to see Taichi, who I hadn’t been able to spend time with lately because of his exams and his poor health, but he seemed to be busy with things at home, so we didn’t get to see each other.

But after the exams were over, we started messaging each other more often, and I’m sure we’ll be able to spend every day together again once we become university students, so, for now, I’ve decided to prioritize time with my friends that I’ll be leaving in the spring.

I wake up, my head still heavy with sleep, and pick up my smartphone, my hair still messy.

It’s after 11, just before noon.

I have a few messages from friends, but none from Taichi.

Come to think of it, I haven’t exchanged any messages with Taichi in the past few days.

It’s still a few days until the entrance ceremony, so I’m sure he’ll contact me when things settle down. Anyway, I have to get ready to go out today.

I get out of bed, answer messages from my friends with my smartphone in one hand, go downstairs, go straight to the bathroom, get out of my pajamas, and take a shower.

While I’m in the shower, I hear my smartphone ringing from the laundry room, so I open the door, pick up my smartphone with wet hands, tap the call icon to answer, and it’s Mari (マリ), who I was supposed to hang out with today, calling to cancel at the last minute because she wasn’t feeling well.

I’ve known Mari since we were in the same class in our second year of high school. We hung out almost every day after graduation and spring break, and we were together until late yesterday.

Mari was probably down from lack of sleep too.

Maybe she had a hangover.

I remembered that she got pretty drunk yesterday and had a hard time getting home.

I didn’t have to go out anymore, so I took a nice relaxing shower and got out of the tub when my head was clear.

My dad was at work at the time, so I dried off, toweled my hair, and walked n🬀🬀ed out of the dressing room and into the living room.

My mom was watching TV in the living room, so I asked her if there was any breakfast left, and she got mad at me and said, “I already put it away! If you want to eat, make it yourself.”

I answered “Yes, yes” and went into the kitchen. I opened the fridge and found a pudding, so I took one, ate it with a spoon, and went back upstairs to my room.

It was chilly on the way back to my room while still n🬀🬀ed, so when I entered, I put my smartphone and pudding on the desk and immediately took my underwear and a top out of the closet and put them on, then turned on the air conditioning and put on my loungewear.

As warm air began to blow from the air conditioner, I sat down on the desk chair, opened the pudding, and ate it while playing with my smartphone in one hand.

When I finished the pudding, I noticed a white envelope on the desk.

My address and the name “Koda Chika-sama” (幸田チカ様) were written on it in neat handwriting.

I turned it over, and there was no return address.

I looked at the front again and saw that the postmark on the top was from about two days ago.

I don’t usually pay much attention to mail, but anyway, I opened it with scissors and took out the letter inside.

Koda Chika-sama

Dear you.

I hope you are living a happy life in this shallow spring with a lingering chill in the wind.

Please forgive me for sending you this letter so suddenly.

We had promised to enter a private university together this spring, but that is no longer possible. I have been accepted into a national university, which has always been my first choice, so I will go there.

So this is the end of our relationship.

By the time this letter reaches you, I will have left this place and started a new life in a new place.

I enjoyed every day I spent with you.

I still remember when you confessed to me at the school gate in our second year of junior high school.

When I confirmed that we were both accepted to high school, when we promised to go to the same university on the way home from the high school graduation ceremony, when we kissed for the first time in my room during the summer vacation of our junior year of high school, those were all happy days and precious memories.

But those days became hellish the day I found out about your betrayal.

It was nothing but despair that made me realize that I was no longer necessary to you.

But now I have overcome that despair.

I will work hard for my dreams in my new university life.

Do your best, too.

I will cheer for you from afar.

Thank you for everything.

And I wish you luck.

Goodbye.

Sincerely.

Sakamoto Taichi