Chapter 14: The possibility of going to school together.
"I'm sorry." Morofushi Sora'aki used this sentence as the opening line of their meeting.
Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji, who were walking to the small park after school as usual (but not really), were both startled.
When I was in elementary school, this abandoned park was on the same route home, but my middle school was in the opposite direction. So, like Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji, we would always take a detour after school to see if Morofushi Sora'aki was there.
They always played together, with Morofushi Sora'aki and another person. If they didn't make plans the day before and didn't see each other at the park after school, it meant that Morofushi Sora'aki wouldn't be coming that day. They wouldn't have to wait anymore and would just go home or go somewhere else to continue playing.
Normally, when they meet, Hagiwara Kenji takes the initiative to greet each other, and then Morofushi Sora'aki nods as their opening line. Morofushi Sora'aki then speaks first and even says "I'm sorry," which is the first time in two years.
Hagiwara Kenji was so frightened he could barely speak: "Sora... Sora'aki-chan? Is that really you? You weren't being controlled? Or is it some kind of truth or dare game? Or are you moving away and never coming back again?"
Matsuda Jinpei slapped Hagiwara Kenji's head down: "Who bullied you? I'll beat them up for you!"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "..."
Morofushi Sora'aki blinked: "Are you guys idiots?"
Matsuda Jinpei, on the contrary, breathed a sigh of relief: "Isn't this perfectly normal?"
Hagiwara Kenji, bursting with witty remarks, found no one to respond: "...So what's normal about it?!"
After the initial chaos subsided, Hagiwara Kenji asked worriedly, "So what happened?"
Morofushi Sora'aki sat on the swing, the rusty iron chains creaking. His feet were slightly off the ground, but his tone was calm enough: "It's nothing, I just almost mistook you for someone else, so I apologized."
Matsuda Jinpei didn't understand the meaning of those words for a moment: "What?"
Morofushi Sora'aki then explained, "I ran into my brother's classmates today and almost mistook them for you."
"After all, you two look very alike, even your names are the same," Morofushi Sora'aki muttered.
Hagiwara Kenji calculated the age difference and said, "I remember your brother is six or seven years older than you? How can you get that wrong!"
Hagiwara Kenji selectively ignored the statement that the names were the same.
"It's seven years old," Morofushi Sora'aki replied. "Isn't it normal for the account character and the person controlling the account to be of different ages?"
Hagiwara Kenji: "..."
Matsuda Jinpei: "..."
In that instant, Kenji Hagiwara immediately recalled their first meeting and the game theory, his drooping eyes looking innocent and pitiful: "So now... does Sora'aki-chan still think this is a game?"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "..."
Morofushi Sora'aki turned his gaze away, not wanting to answer the question.
And this reaction itself is the answer.
If they weren't friends, that would be fine, but after they became friends and knew each other for two years—with Hagiwara Kenji subtly influencing Matsuda Jinpei in their daily lives—if Morofushi Sora'aki still thinks the world is a game, then he's not just stubborn, he's a complete idiot.
Hagiwara Kenji breathed a sigh of relief. He really didn't want to try to change his friend's worldview again; it was exhausting! It was all that chuunibyou brother's fault!
Matsuda Jinpei, always the most direct one, asked, "You just said 'almost admitted my mistake', not 'admitted my mistake', right? Then why did you apologize?"
Where Morofushi Sora'aki couldn't see, Hagiwara Kenji gave Matsuda Jinpei a thumbs up.
Sometimes you need someone with a straightforward personality like Jinpei-chan, and in some situations, I feel that Jinpei-chan is actually better at communicating with Sora'aki-chan than him.
"So you're not apologizing for almost mistaking us for someone else, right?" Matsuda Jinpei emphasized the word "almost".
Morofushi Sora'aki fell silent. Amidst Matsuda Jinpei's almost aggressive attitude, the two figures were finally reflected in his blue eyes.
"I just feel I should apologize." Morofushi Sora'aki's voice remained quite calm: "Although Matsuda is annoying and beat me up as soon as we met, he's surprisingly a good kid. Hagiwara is also a nice person. I like you guys, so I want to apologize."
"As for why I should say sorry, I don't understand either." Morofushi Sora'aki looked at Hagiwara Kenji, trying to get an explanation from his friend who was always good at this kind of thing.
Hagiwara Kenji looked utterly helpless: "...Look at me, it's no use. I can't read minds."
On the contrary, Matsuda Jinpei's focus is always wrong: "So you still remember that incident at the beginning? You were the one who hit me first, okay?!"
"Yes, I started it, but you retaliated." Morofushi Sora'aki blinked. "So I forgave you."
"No, wait, your logic is flawed—you were the one who started it, you should be asking me if I've forgiven you!"
"Then have you forgiven me?" Morofushi Sora'aki asked.
Matsuda Jinpei: "..."
The curly-haired boy clicked his tongue: "It's been two years, how can we be friends if I haven't forgiven you?"
"That means you forgive me, so we're still even." Morofushi Sora'aki said in a slightly monotone tone, "Jinpei-chan is really easy to talk to."
"Hey!" Matsuda Jinpei instantly bristled.
Hagiwara Kenji watched as Matsuda Jinpei was also led astray by Morofushi Sora'aki's logic, and couldn't help but chuckle softly, but he had no intention of reminding him at all, and instead teased, "Jinpei-chan is indeed quite easy to talk to."
Looking at his two friends standing on the same side, Matsuda Jinpei seemed to want to refute, but didn't know where to start.
"Because, if we weren't even, I wouldn't have chosen to forgive so easily." Morofushi Sora'aki stopped swinging on the swing, and the annoying creaking sound disappeared. "But I like you a lot, so I don't mind too much, even though you hit me."
"...No, you're obviously bothered by it! It's been two years!"
"Ah, completely selectively ignoring Sora'aki-chan's confession, Jinpei-chan." Kenji Hagiwara said, enjoying the spectacle.
"Shut up, Hagi!"
Morofushi Sora'aki spoke up, saying, "I read in a book that the word 'forgiveness' is incorrect."
"It's less about 'forgiveness' and more about the passage of time, so we gradually forget and don't care as much as we did back then," Morofushi Sora'aki said, tilting his head. "That's why I think it's amazing."
Hagiwara Kenji was taken aback: "Huh?"
"Jinpei-chan can forgive me for hitting him, so he's really great." Morofushi Sora'aki nods. "If it weren't for Jinpei-chan, I wouldn't have forgiven him so easily."
Because he cannot forget, Morofushi Sora'aki thinks that people who can "forgive" others by forgetting are amazing.
"..." Hagiwara Kenji hesitated for a moment, finally noticing something was wrong through the conversation.
"So, Sora'aki-chan always remembered?"
"Hmm?" Morofushi Sora'aki looked over.
"You mean, what happened back then?"
"Yes, I remember." Morofushi Sora'aki replied.
"No, I don't mean simply remember, I mean…" Hagiwara Kenji frowned, unsure how to express what was in his mind.
"Alright, stop thinking about it." Matsuda Jinpei yawned. "Let's get back to the original topic."
"Didn't you say you almost mistook someone for someone else? The main problem is that you haven't seen us enough, right?" the curly-haired boy suggested. "Why don't you just attend the high school around here?"
This time, both Morofushi Sora'aki and Hagiwara Kenji were stunned. Hagiwara Kenji even forgot his previous thoughts and looked at Matsuda Jinpei in surprise as he said those words: "Eh?"
You didn't mention this to me at all, Jinpei-chan!
Morofushi Sora'aki looked at him curiously: "What?"
"Anyway, your parents won't refuse you, right? And you come here every day anyway. If it's about developing your independence, it doesn't matter which high school you go to, right?"
"If you can mistake someone for someone else, it means you don't know us well enough. Why don't you get to know us better?" The curly-haired boy never expected to say something so surprising. "Hagi and I are only going to high school in a year."
"To be honest, I seriously doubt that if you go to school alone, you can really develop what you call independence, instead of just going to and from school every day to complete tasks and hardly interacting with classmates and teachers."
Hagiwara Kenji: "Are you talking about yourself, Jinpei-chan?"
Completely unable to refute, Morofushi Sora'aki blinked and decided to repeat Hagiwara Kenji's line: "Are you talking about yourself, Jinpei-chan?"
Veins bulged on Matsuda Jinpei's forehead: "You two—don't run away if you dare!!"
In an instant, the once quiet little park became a scene of chaos and disorder.
"If you don't chase us, we can't run away!"
"Jinpei-chan is going to kill someone, help—" Morofushi Sora'aki said in a calm voice with a blank expression.
"You two bastards—!!"