I want to see you once. Michiko Wakase said something to me that I couldn't ignore.
"Ah, you're still in my house," he said.
Without running out of doubt, I stepped down to the station at the designated meeting point.
The location is outside Yokohama City in Kanagawa Prefecture. It was near Miwako Wakase's home, and probably also Mio's local town.
After a while, a woman appeared in a blouse with a shadow of the graduation album. On the bus to my parents' house, Michiko Wakase talked about her past with Mio before I heard about it.
"Originally, Mio had a bad policy. I was the only one who was close to her."
"Ha."
Michiko Wakase, who holds the leather next to me, cut it out.
"That's why it seemed like it was in such bullying. Whether it was a school or a soba class, it was everyday tea eating when things were hidden or tainted."
The slightly quicker talk is consistent with the contents of the diary.
"In the meantime, you're the only one who said you weren't?
"Yeah, until we're on our way."
Face like a bitter bug chewed up.
"I was blackmailed. If you want to cover Mio, you're a target, too. It's a long way off."
"So, what's going on?
"I had no choice. I wasn't in a strong position either, and there was a limit to just protecting the kid who wouldn't help me. I resisted as much as I could, but I couldn't help it."
Take the bus down and walk the residential area where the July sun falls. A very ordinary red-roof house that looks poking around says it's her home.
"So?"
"I stole that kid's stuffed animal and hid it to make sure I cut the edge with him. 'Cause we're in fourth grade, right? It was a good time to graduate with a stuffed animal, and I thought she'd understand."
"So, what do you mean by 'Ah Chan'?"
"Name of that stuffed animal. I'm not human."
Michiko Wakase, who spoke faster and faster, headed to the garden when she returned home.
I thought you kept it in your room, too. It seems to be an outdoor storage.
"In this... uh, that?
"I understand how you took Ah-chan from Mr. Mio. But why did you have that stuffed animal all the time?
"I wanted to apologize. Even though I had no choice, I did something wrong with her."
"Ha."
"Even that kid was crying then, but I'm sure he'll understand.... I wonder where he went."
I find myself strangely uncomfortable with Miwako Wakase reaching behind the crap and storage.
I keep regretting the beatings I did to my friends at a young age, and I keep having what I stole to apologize for.
Something doesn't make sense.
"Oh, there it is. There was! Ah......"
Miko Wakase took it out. Seeing that, I found out who my discomfort was.
"... this is' Ah Chan '?
"Looks like the rain leaked a little. Well, it's not exactly what you put in bed..."
There is no prototype.
Torn, dirty, even visible to the mechanical part inside. They told me beforehand that it was a stuffed animal and it was in a state of preservation that I could finally tell it was so.
If you take it, it conveys a moist, damp feel to your hands. I heard it was a plush talking on batteries, but now the electrical system must be flooded to death as well.
"Can I keep this?
"Yeah, take it with you. I'm sure I'll pass it on. Oh, my shoulder's kind of loaded."
Somewhere with a sunny face, Miwa Wakase pressed 'it' against me.
I transferred what was going to collapse into a paper bag I brought with me.
Now we've got business. I know more or less what I want to know.
Then you should go home soon, but my legs still don't move.
"... aren't you the only one unloaded"
"Yes?"
After I put it in my mouth, I realize this may not be what I'm supposed to say.
Still. I can't help but tell the woman in front of me.
"Somehow I kept holding on to the bad aftertaste of betraying Mr. Mio with Moya, and when I forgot, he called me. So I pressed my body well and tried to refresh myself. Am I right?
"Hey, suddenly."
"No. Just how much Mr. Mio suffered for being betrayed by you. I just thought if I could imagine, I wouldn't be able to say that."
"Ah, honey, where. Micah, why '?
This pile of thin dirty cloth, cotton and machinery is a symbol of betrayal from your best friend, while at the same time being a torn friend to Mr. Mio. It's so traumatic to dream of on a night floated by fever, on a night that bites loneliness.
There are people who just keep holding it in shape and stick it back and look sunny.
He wasn't a grown-up I could be enough to have a loving laugh at someone like that.
"Oh, you don't have the guts to say that."
"Yeah, that's right"
"Hired, what did he say, could it be a detective or something? If you came to Mio for a background check on me, I'm sorry, but there's nothing nasty about that."
"No, I'm just an employee with a direct employment contract with Mr. Mio. Shall I show you the writing?
I'm glad I brought it once for identification. Stopping me from trying to retrieve the paperwork, Miwa Wakase laughs invincibly with a face like she figured something out.
"Oh, okay. You're really Mio's boyfriend."
"Is it your boyfriend?"
"Didn't you come here to listen to the old stories and try to make them look good? Love is deep and cool."
Oh, really, this guy.
Mr. Mio couldn't believe people because he tried to believe them. But this guy probably didn't believe anything about Mio either.
"Let me tell you something."
If you let Mr. Mio tell you.
"I don't think you have that right to a human being who just says what you like with his mouth and hasn't made any kind of contract."
"Nah...... So you have it? With what contract?
"I'm not here because I have a right. But I think I'm responsible."
"Responsibility...?
"I am, Mr. Wakase.
I'm not getting cheap money to ask Mio to laugh and say, "I'm home."
I received the stuffed animal.
I also took the word that I could take it out. Then there's no point in being here anymore.
"And then Mr. Mio won't come to the reunion. You can take this in person, right?
I pushed Miwako Wakase, who said I didn't understand, to guide her to the "absenteeism" reunion, and I followed her home.
Angry and irritating emotions upset my chest, but there is more to be done than that.
"Well, and"
As a matter of fact, I was assuming to the point where the preservation state was not good.
I can begin to give it directly to Mr. Mio. I have a plan for when he was in such a state.
"I didn't think I'd get this far on a boulder, but it doesn't change what I do."
The time is 12: 30 PM. If it's usually open, it's just lunch break time.
I took out my smartphone, picked a familiar name from my incoming call history and tapped it.
"Ooh, whoa, whoa."
"I see you're in a mess. Sorry, Earthhouse."
"Yeah, I'm at work eating mesh."
"At work?
I thought you said "I'm flat and I have nothing to do the other way" the other day.
"Work, did you make a move?
"Oops. Sounds like someone from the adjuster did a good job, and I got a little bit of a burn going around. I can bring it back from where I gave it to you, or someone I can work for. '
Coordinators. Marketers who bridge the companies of the earthhouses with the major companies they deal with.
It must be about Mr. Mio.
"Well...... good for you"
Tsuchiya and I honestly said that to Mio, who I guess is somewhere in Tokyo now.
"What can I do for you? It's unusual to call me from Matsu."
"No, if you're busy, I can handle it alone."
"I'm out, that's what bothers me. Look, say it. '
"Well, that's sweet of you to say. You said that before, didn't you? They crushed my smartphone into a tofu shop car and asked a godforsaken vendor to restore my data."
'Oh, and you blew it up and fell into a puddle, but you can almost completely restore it. That vendor is a bee.'
"There, tell me. I had to drag out 20 years old data for Mio."
"Ho ho, Early Maiden's?
"And if there's Murasaki nearby, I'd like him to take his place..."
"Well, wait, let me hear more about it. Let us bite a piece of anything. Murasaki, come here.
"... I thought you'd say that. Sorry, but time is limited. When Murasaki gets here, it's scheduling!
The next few days passed like arrows.
Mr. Mio returns late day by day, even as he attends work Saturday and Sunday for a perfect job.
I'm in touch with Tsuchiya and Murasaki, and I'm working on it.
Monday at the beginning of the week when I welcomed you. Nine o'clock at night, on Promise Day.
An elevator aboard Maiden Mio opened the door on the sixth floor of the apartment.