Love Times Chapter 2

Love Times < 2 >

[Hirose-san is a nice person, but]

Arita unconsciously paid closer attention when he heard the name "Hirose". The source of the conversation was a newbie who had just joined the office workers this year. He was a easy-going man who only knew how to talk well and think quickly to get out of his problems. Arita didn't dislike him, but he avoided his type.

Hirose's profile looked wane as he sighed over the keyboard. He seemed really tired.

[This is the hardest part of your career. There's nothing you can do.]

As he comforted the crest-fallen newbie and taught him work, Arita sympathized deep in his heart. This was the hardest period for a newly accepted workers. Arita had that experience, too. In Arita's case, he had been so stressed out that he developed ulceers in addition, but...

Hirose sighed while drinking the coffee that Arita handed to him.

[I became sick and tired of just going back and forth between work and home every single day. I'd like to drive my car to relieve my stress, but I have absolutely no time to do so. It's June right now, so Kurono's mums should be a sight by now.]

[Kurono should be pretty far away. Doesn't it take four hours by car?]

When Arita asked that, Hirose tilted his head.

[That's true, but if there is no traffic, you can get there by three. Last year I went to see them with my college friends, but it was raining that day so I had so much trouble making sure my camera stayed dry.]

[Camera?]

[I was in the Photography Club back in college.]

[Oh... So you take nude pictures and stuff?]

Hirose laughed at Arita's question.

[Depending on the person, their subject is different. There WAS one who specialized in female nudes, but I liked scenary photographs. Usually I went to the mountains or rivers and took pictures of only those.]

[...I used to camp out a lot, too, but recently I haven't been to anywhere at all.]

[Why don't we go somewhere together when we have some time off? Mihirodake or something.]

Hirose gently smiled at Arita. 

[Sounds great. We should go.]

He lightly said 『Let's go』, but it wasn't like he specifically thought about where to go with Hirose. He just answered 『Let's go』 because that seemed like the right thing to answer in that atmosphere.

Arita bitterly smiled, thinking that Hirose's plans did bring some effect. Arita definitely started to pay more attention to Hirose than before.

It was only for a brief period that they could relax because the event ended. Not even a week passed before they became busy with end-of-the month summaries, so November passed by in a chaos. Recently the Sun started to set quickly, so as soon as 5 PM passed when all works were due, outside started to darken. After six it became completely dark. Arita realized this one day when he returned to the office. He noticed show windows on the streets that were decorated with red and green all of a sudden. 

Arita was avoiding Hirose as much as he could without making things awkward, and Hirose didn't approach or talk to Arita needlessly. Calling him up and talking to him had quite an effect, as he didn't bother him with burdensome gazes, either.

The streets were faintly lit with street lights. The leaves of the trees lining the streets widely shook. Passing woman's long hair wildly blew in the wind. He thought about having to walk to the station in this fierce wind and taking the crowded train, tossed here and there. Just thinking about it made him sick.

Hirose was inputting data in front of his keyboard until the moment Arita was leaving the office.

As the weather forecast predicted, Saturday that got buried in the valley between chilly airs succumbed to rain showers. Pretty newscaster smiled at Arita, saying that some places might become sunny again towards the afternoon, but it didn't help him. It was still depressing.

He rushed washing up and wore a thin black sweater and brown pants. He checked the train schedule that he had brought home yesterday once again. Already all the morning trains were gone, so he decided to hurry a little and eat at the restaurants near the station, and then take the first afternoon train.

He gathered himself into a bundle and walked, carefully avoiding the water puddles. But that worked only for few minutes. He hadn't walked even twenty meters before bottom half of his pants were so wet that they wouldn't pull away from his legs.

The road to the station was buy with traffic, and inside of the car became warm. Arita had no intention of doing so, but he closed his eyes briefly. 

It should've been only to the station, but the scenary that the car was running in was unfamiliar. Only when he looked up at the road sign, he realized that they had passed the station a long time ago and they were travelling across the south road, off to the right towards the sea.

[Hey.]

[Oh, did you open your eyes?]

The light changed to green, and the car started to move again. Hirose was facing in front of him, sounding nonchalant.

[Did I not tell you that I just wanted to get to the station?]

As if noticing the anger imbedded in his tone, Hirose's profile tightly closed his mouth. Arita tsked and rested his cheek against his right hand.

[It was also my bad for falling asleep, but why didn't you wake me up at the station, sheesh... I guess there's no use complaining at this point. Let me off at the station nearest here. I'll take the train from there.]

[It takes 2 hours to get to Hikago by express. Not to mention, this area only has small stations, so express won't stop by, so no matter what you'd have to take local. That'll take about three hours. I have nothing else to do, so can't I take you there? I'll just think of it as a relaxing drive.]

He had been refused in a roundabout way. He told him, you don't have to drive me, so he should've just obeyed him and brought him to the station... Arita started to become really angry with his opponent who refused to do as he was told.

[I told you, I don't want to!]

Arita started to feel irritated. It felt like the fact that he had been picked up and he had been brought all the way out here were all planned. He really wanted to go to the station. That was it. He didn't want to do something like driving around with Hirose. From now on, for over one hour they'll be alone. Just thinking about what Hirose would talk about during that period made chills run up his spine.

[Stop the car. I don't care how long it takes. I'm going to take the train.]

He was the one insisting that he'd take him, so he could just let him be and ignore something like Hirose. But Arita was scared. If Hirose said one word about liking him or loving him or whatever, he felt like he would beat him up to death. In the rain, like a stubborn child, Arita kept repeating, 『Stop the car』.

[...You hate it that much?]

Hirose suddenly muttered. It's not even the problem of hating or whatever. Then... Just what made him so disgusted? Arita couldn't describe his feelings fluently, so he closed his mouth.

The word 『Worst Sunday』 crossed his mind. Or was it 『Saturday』? Starting from this morning, he had a bad feeling. He had a really crappy dream, too. The nightmare that he hadn't had for few years now suddenly popped up today. Thinking about what his dream was about, Arita's feelings became even more down.

They liked the same books. They liked the same music. Just that was enough for them to have endless conversations. For hours and hours, they would be in their own world. Classroom after school, park next to the station, it didn't matter where it was as long as they could talk together.

At Arita's words she lowered her troubled face and fidgeted with hem of her sailor uniform's white scarf. At the end of autumn, edge of river was filled with golden blanket of pampas grass that wavered gracefully in the wind.

The confession created a small distance between the two of them. A small but definite distance, like the space between two desks. It became awkward and he became frightened of the silence that he never felt before, so they started to talk less and less, and in the end they just stopped talking to each other. But conversely he started to want her more and more as the distance between two of them increased, so Arita thought he couldn't bear it.

Meanwhile, she became someone else's. Did she feel the love to him, that she couldn't feel towards Arita? Glaring at her being all excited and caring about her appearances, Arita thought she was being idiotic.

The dream usually ended at the scene where he started to cry. The fact that he was still having that dream might mean that he was still not free of 『that love』. Definitely, that was the first and last time that he felt so strongly, so close to tears. After that he dated several people, but he had already became somewhat smarter, so even when they broke up Arita wouldn't do something like hugging his pillow and crying his eyes out.

「May I stop the car?」 

Hirose suddenly asked. Arita was sure that he brought him to the station, so he nodded. But Hirose stopped his car in the empty lot attached to the huge storage center along the shorelines.

Arita kept telling him that he just had to take him to the Hikago station, but Hirose kept asking Arita the hospital's name, and he stubbornly ignored Arita's words by saying 「But still…」, and brought him all the way to the hospital entrance. To Hirose who parked his car near the entrance, Arita had no choice but to thank him.

「Sorry about that.」 

It was an uncomfortable debt that Arita didn't want. Even if it was the worst drive in his life, Hirose ended up driving the car for over two hours just for Arita.

「I'm the one who's sorry about being stubborn.」 

It was a weird conversation. Just hearing it, you wouldn't know who drove whom.

「How are you going to return?」 

Hirose asked when Arita touched the door lock to get off the car.

「I'm going to return by the train.」 

「I shall wait here.」 

「I'm fine.」 

He was starting to be really annoyed, so that's what he said, but Hirose still clung to him tenaciously.

「I have to go back anyway, so that's why I'm offering to do that.」 

Arita pulled away from the door lock and hunched up.

「…I don't know when I'm going to be returning. It'll be boring for you to wait hours and hours, and I don't want you to do that.」 

「That doesn't matter at all; I shall wait. If... you... hate me that much, then you don't have to talk to me, and you may just sleep on our way back.」 

If you know I hate you that much, then why don't you just go back by yourself already! Arita was already beyond being angry at clinging Hirose; at this point he started to feel amused.

「So... what's that. You're going to take good advantage of me sleeping and do naughty things to me or something?」

Arita mutterd, condescending smirk on his lips. Hirose's expression suddenly froze.

「I'd never do something like that to you.」 

A strong denial. Arita also realized right away that 『his words were too much』. He didn't really think that Hirose would do something like that. He was so persistant that he put his foot in his mouth accidentally.

「Anyway, go ahead alone. Thanks for today.」 

Saying that, Arita got off the car, as if running away. The rain had eased off somewhat compared to this morning, but it was still strong. He didn't want to waste even the time to open his umbrella, so he ran to the hospital entrance. In his hurry he nearly crashed into the hunched, elderly lady who was on her way out, so Arita hurriedly moved away to the right.

It did concern him though, after all, so he turned back just once to look at him. He saw a white car standing all by itself in the parking lot right in front of the building. But he couldn't see Hirose's face all the way from here.

< To Be Continued >

And now I'm off to read Maruma 3rd book! 'A')/ <- ..........

Chapter end