My Parasitic Daily Life Episode 12: Confrontation
The last week of February. Yu, having finished all his secondary entrance exams, contacted me to say he would be returning on the first flight on the morning of February 28th. |Coincidentally, that day was Yu's birthday.
<The exams are finally over! I'm flying back the morning after next, so why don't we meet at the cafe where we had lunch on Christmas?>
<Great job! You worked so hard! Got it! I'll make a reservation for 12:30!>
February 28th (Sat)
Yu, now 27, woke up before the eastern sky had even begun to pale, stood in the kitchen, and made chocolate chip cupcakes. It was a simple recipe using pancake mix, but for Yu, it was her first attempt at baking. She successfully baked two types: one with melted chocolate mixed into the batter and one plain.
"Wow! See, I can do it if I try!"
She decorated them cutely with wrapping materials she had bought at a 100-yen shop. Before her mother woke up, she returned the kitchen to its original state. Leaving only the sweet scent behind—.
Thanks to the work dinners, her wardrobe had expanded. From among them, she selected the outfit that had received the best reviews from her colleagues. |Checking herself thoroughly in the full-length mirror. She boarded the 10:40 train and arrived at the shop a little early. Yu had messaged that if his flight arrived on time, he had one stop to make, and then he would be at the shop by 12:15. Yu looked for the restroom and carefully reapplied her lucky lipstick. |Everything was ready. Yu felt so giddy she could almost |dance for joy.
"I hope he comes soon..."
But— Yu never showed up at the promised place that day.
***
<I can't make it>
The curt LIME message reached Yu's smartphone more than 30 minutes after the promised time. Before and after that, neither calls nor LIME messages would |connect, so she had no choice but to bow her head to the shop staff and leave. It made no sense. She felt hopelessly |miserable.
She boarded the train in a daze and got off at the usual Tagawa Station. After standing still for a while, Yu began walking in the opposite direction of her home. "Something must have happened." As she thought that, her feet naturally headed toward Yu's house. She knew the location roughly. She might not be able to see him even if she went. But she felt that if she could just catch a glimpse of Yu, she would feel relieved. On the other hand, something sensitive inside Yu was |pleading, "Don't go, don't go."
She |spotted Yu's back from a distance.
"Yu..."
She felt relieved to see him and started to run toward him... then her feet stopped. It looked like he was struggling with someone. |Instantly, she hid in the |shadows and squinted to look.
The other person was Kana.
She couldn't hear their voices, but she could sense the tense atmosphere and couldn't bring herself to approach.
The next moment, Kana hugged Yu.
Yu just stood still.
It felt like time had stopped.
At the same time her heart began to thud, Yu backed away, and before she knew it, she was running all the way home. She collapsed onto her bed just like that. The scene she had just witnessed was |burned into her mind. Even if she tried to erase it, it wouldn't go away.
An image of the two of them laughing at her was added.
"Who would ever be interested in a gloomy person like you?"
"What's with this plain girl trying to act |alluring?"
Such lines echoed one after another.
"Shut up! Shut up!"
Even when she |covered her ears, the negative voices kept coming—.
—After crying for a while, the usual room was as quiet as always. The silence |sharpened Yu's delicate heart.
There shouldn't have needed to be a name for her relationship with Yu.
She thought that no matter what kind of "love" it was, it would be enough if she could just be by his side and support him.
But what exactly was the nature of that emotion that had just gouged her heart?
And what exactly was the nature of this |emptiness she felt now?
"I'm really, truly exhausted..."
There was no way she, who wasn't even used to normal social interactions or the extraordinary event of a date, could stand on the advanced stage of "romance." Let alone a "relationship that wasn't quite romance or platonic love."
She was utterly exhausted from trying to keep up with her own volatile emotions, which she had never experienced before, and from trying to |fathom the other person's feelings. Yu stopped caring about everything and just slept as hard as she could.
It was the worst birthday ever—.
***
The next morning. She noticed a LIME message from Yosuke sent at 22:22 last night.
<HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
If you'd like, let me |treat you to a meal sometime♪>
Another message followed.
<Oh, did you see the time I sent that LIME?
Repeating numbers! |A good omen!>
A smile suddenly returned to Yu's face. When she was with Yosuke, she could |maintain a modest sense of confidence and a peaceful self.
She gently pressed her swollen eyelids with both hands and looked up. Yu picked up her smartphone and called Yosuke.
"I'm sorry for calling so early in the morning. Were you sleeping? Um... would it be okay if you treated me to that meal... today...?"
Yu ran to Yosuke.
Since that birthday promise, Yu and Yu had not contacted each other. And Yu and Yosuke had started calling each other by their first names. Dating was only a matter of time. She felt safe with Yosuke. She could affirm herself as she was. She could have confidence in herself. Yu could honestly lean on Yosuke.
***
March 13th (Fri)
A LIME message from Yu arrived just past noon, and her heart leaped.
< Nice to meet you, Yu-san. I'm Kana Nishikata, who lives next door to Yu. I have something I want to talk to you about regarding Yu. Could we meet and talk? You're working today, right? The place is "Cafe Eternity," where I work part-time, and I'll be waiting from around 18:00. For future contact, use this ID—>
It wasn't a message from Yu. Apparently, having no way to contact Yu, Kana had used Yu's smartphone to send the LIME. "Kana-san wants to talk to me? What will she ask me? Do I have to go? Will she say things like 'Stay away from Yu!'?"
Just imagining it was |bitter. She refused to think about it and threw her smartphone into her bag to focus on work. But Kana's words wouldn't leave her head, and the end of the workday was approaching moment by moment.
The 17:15 signal for the end of the workday rang. Yosuke, at the desk next to her, hadn't |left the office yet.
"Excuse me for leaving early. Good work today."
As Yu |greeted everyone, greetings came back from |all directions.
"Oh, good work."
"Good work!"
She changed quickly and headed to the station.
She thought of a plausible excuse and tried to send a LIME to decline, but she reconsidered, thinking that even if she declined today, she would likely be contacted again, and she also had a lingering desire to hear about Yu, so she decided to go.
She felt she had to hear it to find closure and to move forward. How many times had she sighed? Moving her heavy feet, she got off at "Yamanami High School Front" station, three stops before her usual station.
She arrived at Cafe Eternity. It was just before 19:00. She had told Kana her arrival time in advance. When she entered the shop, Kana noticed her from the booth seat she was sitting in and ran over.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Kana Nishikata. You're Yu-san, right?"
Kana spoke |rapidly.
To that, all she could do was answer with a voice lacking confidence, "Yes..." while keeping her head |bowed and only looking up with her eyes.
"Um, actually, we've met once before. When you and Yu were meeting at this cafe, I was working part-time... Oh, anyway, let's sit down. It's the booth seat in the back."
Feeling |gloomy, she followed Kana as told. It was as if she had returned to her middle school self, the version of herself she hated the most.
As Yu had heard, Kana appeared to be the type who had a strong sense of justice, said exactly what she wanted to say, and briskly moved things forward as she saw fit.
"The type of person who takes the lead in managing the class"
Yu was not good with this type of person.
Yu ordered coffee, and Kana ordered milk tea.
"Thank you for coming. Um... where should I start... I might not be able to explain it well, but I want you to listen until the end. Please."
As she bowed her head, Kana began to speak.
"Yu and I have been |childhood friends since elementary school. I live with my mother, and Yu lived with Akie-san... his |grandmother, so our |circumstances were similar, and I think there were many things we could share.
Akie-san would always invite me to dinner on days when my mother was home late, and I started to spend a lot of time at Yu's house. Yu has always been quiet and doesn't want to interact with people, so I would be the one talking one-sidedly or inviting him to play.
Yu... really doesn't talk to anyone.He doesn't open his heart to anyone. He doesn't laugh, he doesn't get angry, he doesn't cry... It's like he's lost his emotions...
The only person he can talk to is me. That's why I've always stayed |by his side and acted as a mediator with the people around him. Yu can't function without me!"
Gradually, she became excited and her |tone grew stronger, and it looked like Kana herself didn't know what she wanted to say.
Just then, the drinks were brought over. "Excuse me." Kana sat back down, muttered that softly, and while adding sugar to her milk tea, she seemed to be organizing the words she would say next.
Yu, too, while |fearing what Kana might say, mechanically added milk to her coffee.
"When we became middle schoolers, there was a place Yu would always go on days without club activities. When I got curious and followed him, it was a |deserted park near the school."What are you doing here?" Even when I asked, he wouldn't tell me.He would just sit on the park bench and read a book. Until the 17:30 music played. When I tried to sit next to him, he would tell me to 'Go home' and drive me away.
One time, when I told Akie-san about that,"Is that child still going there?" she said. That's when I heard about you, Yu-san. I tried asking Yu about you. At first, he looked surprised, and then he smiled with a sad face."She's a special person," he said. That expressionless Yu had a shy, sad, and complex |look on his face. It was a face even I was seeing for the first time. Since that day, I haven't talked about you. Because I was frustrated that I couldn't |compete. Because I wanted Yu to forget you quickly.
When we became high schoolers, he stopped going to that park, and it seemed he had |given up on you, Yu-san."Finally, I've been freed from your |spell. Yu has me, so he'll be fine," I thought. But Yu remained the same even as a high schooler, no... rather, he |increasingly retreated into his own |shell. His emotions became even more |sparse. Still, I thought that was fine.
But from around the second term, Yu started to change. He would take pictures of scenery with his smartphone, and sometimes he would be grinning. He started talking to his classmates little by little, and he could even tell me jokes... I thought it was strange, but I was happier about it, so I didn't particularly |mention it. When I saw you and Yu together at the cafe in December, I was truly surprised. Yu talking to someone other than me... and even laughing... I couldn't believe it.
...Why? Why does it have to be you...? I was the one who had been by his side for 12 years...!
Having said all that in one breath, Kana looked down and |sobbed. Yu covered her mouth with her hand, |stunned. Since reuniting with Yu, she had initially thought he was just a modern, sparkling high school boy. Even after learning about Yu's painful past, she had |misjudged that the |expression he always showed her was one he showed everyone.
How could I have ever imagined that Yu only opened his heart to me? That Yu's range of emotions was something he only showed to Yuu—.
Unable to find words for Kana, Yuu also looked down in silence. After sipping her milk tea a few times, Kana looked up. Unlike before, her voice was relaxed and soft.
“Ah, geez! ...I came here prepared, too... In the end, I just ended up venting my resentment... I’m sorry. This doesn't make any sense, does it? ... This is where the real issue begins—”
After taking a deep breath to steady herself, she began to speak again, bit by bit, in a calm voice.
“February 28th...
Akie-san passed away suddenly—.
It was a myocardial infarction. That day, Akie-san had invited me over, saying, ‘Let’s have dinner together’ because Yu was coming home. We had promised to cook together, so I rang the doorbell around 11:00 AM. But Akie-san, who should have been home, didn't come out. Even when I called out from outside the door, there was no answer. The curtains on the room's windows remained closed... Thinking something was wrong, I opened the door with the spare key in the mailbox and went inside.
Then, I found Akie-san lying on the bed, cold and still asleep... I... I was scared... and while panicking, I called Yu. Even after Yu returned home, with the police examination and the confirmation of death... none of it felt real—. It was so sudden that I couldn't even bring myself to grieve... Fortunately, we were able to contact Yu’s father quickly, and he came home right away, so we were able to finish the wake and funeral without any hitches, but...”
Upon hearing February 28th, Yuu’s heart skipped a beat, and at the same time, she couldn't believe the words that followed from Kana, and her mind went blank. It took a tremendous amount of time to process and understand the words after hearing about the sudden death. Trying to calm herself down, Yuu picked up her coffee cup with trembling hands and sipped the tasteless coffee several times.
“How is Yu doing now...?”
At that moment, she came to her senses, her eyes widened, and for the first time today, she looked Kana straight in the face.
The weak Yuu she had hated so much was nowhere to be found.
☞☞☞ Episode 13: Breaking Away from My Weak Self ☞☞☞
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