Episode 2: Spring Break Is Almost Over

The long, long spring break was almost over.
University spring breaks vary, but they’re generally about two months long.
Starting in April, I’ll be a third-year university student.
The next spring break will be for job hunting.
The one after that—preparation for entering the workforce.
This is the last spring break where I can just play without thinking.

‘Without thinking? Come on!’
On the phone, Ayaka spoke in an exasperated tone.
‘You need to think a little. Jumping into things without any preparation is going to be tough, you know.’

“What if I said I feel like I’ll change when my surroundings change?”

‘I’d throw you into a temple to crush that baseless confidence.’

“What kind of rehabilitation is that!?”
That said, Ayaka’s opinion was perfectly reasonable.
By the time you’re over twenty—no, even before that—you’re supposed to start thinking about things.
About your future job, or what you want to do with your life.
I know that in my head.

“I want to be a kept man.”
I know, I know I’m supposed to know, but that was the answer that came out of my head. In a way, I want to pat myself on the back for hitting on a kind of truth.
I could hear Ayaka sigh over the phone.

‘A kept man, huh? Well, that’s fine, I guess.’

“You really think so?”

‘I do. But I don’t think you could actually pull it off.’
Her words sparked a bit of defiance in me.
I’ve never seriously thought about being a kept man, but now I wanted to hear her reasons why I couldn’t.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

‘There’s a lot, but is it okay if I say it?’

“Never mind, don’t say it.”

‘Your face.’

“I told you not to say it!?”
I collapsed onto the bed, lamenting. I didn’t want to know that reality.
Ayaka laughed at my reaction, saying, ‘Kidding, kidding.’

‘I’m joking. Like I said before, I actually kinda like your face. It’s not exactly my type, though.’

“Oh, thanks…”
Before, huh? That must’ve been around last Christmas season.
I vaguely recall her saying something like that the day I met Shinohara.
I’m not sure if Ayaka really means it, though.
Switching the phone to speaker mode, I started boiling water in a kettle to make cup yakisoba.

‘Is that the sound of boiling water?’

“Correct! The sad diet of a guy living alone.”

‘Keep eating like that, and you’ll ruin your body someday.’
I could hear the crackling sound of a stove being lit on Ayaka’s end too.

“Come to think of it, I’ve barely ever eaten your home cooking.”

‘I forgot when, but I shared my bento with you once, didn’t I?’

“That’s why I said ‘barely.’ You’ve never cooked for me at home.”

‘What? You’re the one who said you didn’t need it last time.’
…Now that I think about it, on the phone after exams, I turned down Ayaka’s offer when it seemed like she might come over to help with housework.
The reason was that I thought it’d be bad if Ayaka and Shinohara ran into each other.
Shinohara wasn’t scheduled to come over today.

‘Well, I’ve got plans today anyway.’

“You do!?”

‘Oops, got your hopes up, huh? Sorry, sorry.’

“I wasn’t hoping for anything!”
As I pouted, Ayaka laughed like she found it amusing.
It was like she could see my expression through the phone.
As I poured the boiling water into the cup, Ayaka asked another question.

‘How many credits do you have left until graduation?’

“About forty or so.”
If things go well in the first semester, I can take it easy in the second and still meet the graduation requirements.
Thanks to Ayaka, I’m at a pretty good pace.

‘I’ve got, like, twenty left.’

“Wow, so you’ll finish in the first semester?”

‘Yeah. But I’ll still go to lectures even after I’ve got enough credits.’
Hearing those words, I felt a sense of relief.
Same year, same department.
Since we’ve usually taken classes together, it’s hard to imagine university life without Ayaka.
Unlike high school, university life doesn’t mean going to campus every day from morning to evening.
For students like Ayaka, who finish their graduation credits early, many barely show up to campus anymore.
The freedom to choose is one of the great things about university, but it’s a bit lonely when you see your friends less often.
Especially with a relationship like the one I have with Ayaka.

‘Hey.’

“Yeah?”

‘You relieved?’

“…Well, yeah.”
‘Haha, so obvious.’

“Shut up.”
It’s frustrating, but Ayaka’s right.
To me, she’s been a constant presence since high school, a big part of my life.
There’s only two years left of this life with Ayaka. Subtracting job-hunting time, it’s less than two years, really.
Once we start working, we’ll probably go our separate ways.
Going from the same high school to the same university isn’t that rare.
But coordinating job placements isn’t realistic, and Ayaka’s not the type to do that.
Even a relationship as close as ours will eventually end.

‘I think I said this before, but…’

“What?”

‘Let’s keep in touch even as adults.’
I could almost picture the expression on Ayaka’s face as she said that.

“Yeah. I’ll listen to your work complaints.”

‘Work complaints for you to hear? Nah, I don’t have any.’

“Hey, I’m a specialist at listening to your complaints. I know you’re satisfied just by me nodding like a red bobblehead cow.”

‘That’s how you’ve been listening to me!?’
Ayaka sounded incredulous.
I always listened to her vent about stress from her part-time job with that mindset. Those kinds of complaints made Ayaka feel better just by talking, and she’d be fine a few minutes later, so she never noticed.
I also figured she’d find it harder to talk if I took her complaints too seriously.
I can’t deny that sometimes I was just letting it go in one ear and out the other, though.

‘You really treat me so casually.’

“Goes both ways. It’s easy, and that’s nice, right?”

‘Yeah, true.’
Ayaka agreed readily. I’m pretty sure we had a similar exchange during the hot spring trip.
A place where we can both be at ease is precious for both of us.

‘Alright, I’m gonna eat.’

“Cool, see ya. I’m eating my cup noodles too.”
The noodles were starting to get soggy.
I grabbed the chopsticks from the lid and picked up my phone to hang up.

‘Oh, wait, I forgot to ask one thing.’

“Hm?”

‘How was spring break?’
With spring break coming to an end, she asked this question.
This spring break had been full of events.
Drinking parties, regular parties, trips, and more.
There was a lot of idle time too, and I might regret later, thinking, “If only I had that wasted time back.”
But there’s one thing I can say for sure.

“Yeah, it was super fun.”

‘Haha, same. See you at uni!’
With those words, Ayaka hung up.

“What was that about confirming?”
I could feel my lips curling into a smile as I muttered.
I was looking forward to university life starting again tomorrow.