Tenkosaki - Chapter 59 English

Chapter 59 - I will do my best

 (These cheeks are so soft...)

 That's what came to Hayato's mind now.

 When he tried to relieve Haruki's tension by pinching her cheek, he felt smooth skin with a supple mochi-like texture that could easily be deformed. He was mesmerized by the sensation.

 When Haruki screamed "Mya!" With an expression of protest, Hayato couldn't help feeling the urge to tease her even more.

 "Hahaha, it's so elastic."

 “Hey, hya-ho! (Hey, Hayato!)”

 He didn't care about the views of the people around him.

 Hayato continued to play with Haruki's cheeks non-stop.

 It's like the scene where an elementary school kid teases a friend he likes. This was not behavior appropriate for a high school student.

 Finally, Himeko felt compassion and tried to stop them.

 “Uh, wait a minute! What are you doing to a girl's face—”

 “Honoo!!”

 "What?!"

 “Haru-chan?!”

 However, Haruki wasn't the type of person who could just accept that kind of treatment forever.

 “Gugigi”

 “Gununu”

 Haruki replied by pinching Hayato's cheeks and shaking him left and right to provoke his anger. Meanwhile, Hayato countered by grabbing Haruki's cheek and pressing it.

 It was a very childish game.

 Both Hayato and Haruki continued to play happily, although both of them were being a bit stubborn.

 Himeko, who was trying to break them up, felt defeated and finally could only sigh heavily.

 With nothing to stop them, Hayato and Haruki continued playing their own way, until it ended in an unexpected way.

 “Mwahaha, hahahahaha!!”

 “Dat? (Dad?)”

 “Uenclas? (Uncle?)”

 "Dad?"

 Hayato and Hineko's father burst out laughing.

 He held his stomach and took turns looking at Hayato and Haruki.

 Although the three people were amazed, they could feel the warmth in his eyes and realized that he was welcoming this state of affairs with joy.

 “Ah, sorry. Looks like you two are still friends like before."

 “N-No, that's not it!”

 “Uh, that, that, that!”

 "Onii, Haru-chan..."

 After being commented like that, without preamble, Hayato and Haruki hastily let go of each other's hands, their faces red and protesting, while Himeko couldn't help but sigh.

 “...I'll be back cooking dinner,”

 “Ah, here! Yogurt you asked for!”

 Then, Himeko secretly took a photo of the two who ran into the kitchen with her cell phone.

 +×+×+×+

 That night, the four of them had an unusual dinner together.

 The previous tense atmosphere had disappeared and was replaced by a very peaceful one. Haruki's demeanor had also returned to normal.

 "Then, just now who kept staring at girls breasts, huh?"

 "Ahaha, who else if not Hayato,"

 “Hey, Haru-chan, tell me more about that!”

 “….please give me a break,”

 The center of the conversation was Haruki and the main topic was about Hayato at school.

 Even Himeko and his father were very interested in stories about Hayato that they didn't know before. However, for Hayato himself, it made him feel uncomfortable.

 Apart from that, they also talked about how Hayato's delicious cooking made Himeko and Haruki fat, and about how they were always dissatisfied with his food and complained about not being able to stick to a diet because it was too delicious.

 However, all of that is part of the trust and strong bond between the two, which is even visible to other people.

 And then, time flew by quickly. It didn't feel like the night was really dark.

 Himeko and his father also said, "Make sure you deliver her properly."

 However, from the start, that had been Hayato's intention.

 The sound of his footsteps tapping on the asphalt at night in the settlements.

 Lately, Hayato was getting used to the night sky where he couldn't see any star.

 “...”

 “...”

 Before they talked a lot, now both of them said nothing.

 However, not because of the awkward atmosphere.

 On the contrary, it was seen that Haruki's mood lightened slightly.

 Because of that, it seemed like saying something there would be awkward.

  “…I feel that I am quite a bother, you know?”

 "Hmm?"

 It was a sudden mutter from Haruki.

 In contrast to the previous atmosphere, his self-reproachful expression of feeling caught Hayato by surprise.

 He subconsciously looked at Haruki's face which suddenly looked serious and seemed to be thinking about something.

 “Why does Hayato never ask anything about me? Why ...?"

 "Why...?"

 Indeed, it had been quite a while since they had met again.

 There is a period of time lost between them and many changes have occurred. There was no way Hayato wouldn't notice that. In fact, Hayato couldn't deny that he was worried about Haruki, considering his reaction in front of his father earlier.

 Hence, he thought about it.

 While thinking things through, he put his feelings into words, stringing his thoughts together with his heart.

 “In the past… or should I say from the past until now. At that time I didn't know anything about your family and why your parents didn't come to school”

 “Yes, that's how it is”

 “But even so, I'm glad I got to play along with you and not think about it too much… Ah, maybe it was just a small thing and I'm still like that now. Well, it's that kind of thing… maybe?”

 “.... What the hell is that?”

 "What is wrong?"

 “Hmm, it's really like Hayato.”

 With that said, a smile returned to Haruki's face.

 It was a face that Hayato was used to seeing.

 Today many things have happened.

 But as soon as he saw Haruki's smile, Hayato felt that everything was fine and unconsciously words came out of his mouth.

 "Haruki really has to smile like that."

 “……………………Eh?”

 Those were words from Hayato's heart.

 Standing side by side, playing each other like fools, and laughing together.

 Hayato was sure his face now must be smiling like Haruki's.

 Even though there are street lights, tonight is a new moon. Too dark to see each other's faces.

 “...”

 “...”

 A moment of silence passed.

 Not an unpleasant silence.

 “Hey Hayate”

 "Hmm?"

 “I may be a bit selfish and greedy”

 “Huh, too late for that”

 "Hahaha, too late huh"

 Haruki suddenly muttered that.

 For Hayato, who had been pulled around by Haruki so many times, that was a certain thing and there was no need to confirm it anymore.

 And suddenly Haruki stopped abruptly and grabbed Hayato's sleeve.

 When Hayato turned around, a blushing Haruki pleaded in a trembling voice.

 "Hand, can I hold your hand now?"

 "......Hand?"

 "I can’t?"

 “No, there is no reason to refuse...”

 “Then excuse me”

 “Huh?!”

 Without any hesitation, Haruki took Hayato's right hand and intertwined the soft and smooth fingers. It was a way they had never done before.

 Though this wasn't the first time they held each other's hand.

 They had held hands once when they were in Tsukinose or even when they met again after a long time.

 However, the way they clasped hands tightly like this was the first time.

 The sensation of soft and slightly cold fingers made him feel anxious and clearly noticed that Haruki was a member of the opposite sex.

 (What are you doing…?!!)

 As he looked at Haruki's face in surprise, he couldn't see clearly because it was dark.

 But—

 "I will do my best."

 With a passionate voice, holding hands tightly, Hayato couldn't say anything else.

 "… Oh, I see."

 "Yes."

 Don't know what Haruki meant.

 But she must be trying to change again.

 And without noticing it, they started walking slowly, at a tortoise pace, towards Haruki's house as if they were reluctant to part.

 Translator: Janaka