Kagerou Daze, Vol. 6: Over the Dimension by Jin (Shizen no Teki-P)

Author:Jin (Shizen no Teki-P),
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Yen Press
Published: 2017-01-31T05:00:00+00:00

…So, um, wait a minute. What did Kousuke just say?

“Mom’s dead.” …Meaning, Mr. Tateyama’s wife? That was crazy. My teacher never mentioned a word of that to us. And ever since I joined this school—forever, really, as long as I’d known him—I’d never seen him demonstrate even a twinge of sadness. Even as we entered the second semester, he was the same as always.

“…She passed away? Mr. Tateyama’s wife?”

Kousuke looked startled at the question.

“Dad never told you?”

I nodded silently. Kousuke sighed, as if he saw this coming well in advance.

“Yeah, I guess he doesn’t like people seeing him act all sad and stuff…He never even cried about it in front of us. I’m sure he just didn’t want you guys to worry about him, Kokonose.”

Was that all there was to it? Was he smiling and laughing every day simply as some kind of bluff? Was he actually crying where nobody could see him?

An image of my smiling teacher burst into my mind. The thought depressed me.

“…I guess we’re putting our teacher through a lot, aren’t we?”

Kousuke shook his head.

“Nah, I don’t think so. Dad talks about you a lot, Kokonose. He said you were his ‘pride and joy’ and stuff.”

Hearing that just about made me want to cry, but I held back on that for Kousuke’s sake.

“Well…Wow. Geez. It’d be nice if he told me sometime.”

“He was pretty drunk at the time,” Kousuke added with a chuckle.

Drunk, huh? I didn’t have much trouble picturing that scene.

Then Kousuke clapped his hands in realization. “Oh! Right. Boy, Dad was really going at it that evening. He kept getting drunker and drunker, and he told Ayano, like, ‘I’ll bring him over sometime so you can be his girlfriend’ and stuff. Even though Dad said he’d die if she ever ran off with someone.”

Kousuke smiled at the memory, but it was a major shock to me. The events of day one at the Tateyama house flashed back into my memory again.

“Ha-ha-ha! That’s, uh…pretty nuts, yeah. Heh…”

“Yeah, isn’t it? And everyone else took him seriously, too, like, ‘We’ll protect you from that guy, Ayano!’ and…um, Kokonose?”

Ouch. Kousuke wasn’t in the room at that time, I suppose, but that mission to “protect” Ayano from me…I think they actually carried it out. In a really physical form, too. Well, rest assured, Shuuya and whoever else it was. I’m never going to think improper thoughts about Ayano again. Probably.

Unable to withstand the awkwardness, I decided to steer our little custard conference toward its end.

“W-well, Kousuke, it’s getting pretty late. How about we grab some sleep?”

“Huh? Oh, you’re right. It’s two already. Sorry if I kept you up.”

He picked up his pudding container and stood. Hanao flexibly adjusted himself to this sudden movement, remaining firmly on his shoulder. Huh. They really were good friends.

I stood up to see him out. “Oh, you’re fine,” he said.

“No worries,” I replied as I sidled up behind him and walked him to the door. “Good luck at the job interview.”

Kousuke forced a smile. “Good luck at the…,” he responded.

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