CH. 69 - On a Summer's Day
A different day… Touma walks down the street on this summer's day with his hands in his pockets, looking at the floor. He has a neutral expression on his face before he looks up and squints at the sky, covering his eyes from the bright shine of the sun.
‘It sure is hot today…’ he thinks to himself.
As he walks down the street, a ball rolls in front of him from around the corner. He is surprised a bit and bends down to pick it up as a few kids come running towards him, laughing and smiling at each other. They turn the corner to see Touma holding their ball and suddenly stop. They get scared looks as Touma hesitates for a moment.
“H-here you go…” He stutters a bit as he lowers the ball towards them. One kid slightly pushes the other kid towards Touma. The kid shakily takes the ball with his two hands. As soon as he has it, the three kids turn and run away in fear. Touma stares at them with a neutral expression.
‘As usual, people are afraid of me.’ He thinks as he looks to his left to see a couple staring at him. They are startled when he looks their way, so they rush down the sidewalk in the opposite direction. Touma sighs. ‘Still, it beats being at home.’
He thinks of Emiko at home, slapping him on his back as he sweats, holding up a huge tree log above his head.
“Come on, Touma, you can do it! Just 30 more minutes!” She shouts.
“You’re… not helping…” Touma grunts, trying to focus.
“Later we’re gonna do two logs for an hour, so don’t quit now!” She shouts at him, fired up.
He droops down a bit, thinking of that day. He continues walking as he looks down, opening his right hand and staring at his palm.
‘It’s her fault I have this huge body. If she wasn’t so into training, I’d probably be much smaller than I am. At least I’d be skinnier..’
He looks up, and lets his hand fall gently to his side as he stops by the main road, waiting for the crosswalk signal to change.
‘Then it’s my dad’s fault for giving me such intimidating eyes.’
He thinks of his large, soft father giving him an intense glare after making him upset. Touma shivers a bit from the thought. Once the shiver goes, his expression drops back to a neutral position as he stares at the ground again. The sounds of cars driving by and the crosswalk beeping rhythmically.
‘It’s their fault people are so scared of me, even though I can hardly say a few words without stuttering and I hate conflict. …But that’s alright because…’
As he stands there deep in thought, the walk sign lights up. He looks up gently and begins walking a bit before getting a surprised look as he sees Chizuru approaching the corner of the road, waiting for the crosswalk in the other direction.
‘It’s alright because…’
Chizuru waits for her signal light to change when she looks over slowly and sees Touma approaching her. Suddenly, her face lights up as she begins to wave to him.
“Touma! Hey, what are you doing here?” She calls to him. Touma blushes as he admires how cute she looks dressed up for the hot summer day. Her eyes shining brilliantly, and her smile brightening up his world despite the light beating down on everything around him.
‘Because I have friends who like the way I am.’
The two of them stand on the corner of the street, waiting for their turn to walk. Chizuru smiles at Touma, who notices and blushes in nervousness while looking away.
“Sooo you gonna answer my question?” Chizuru asks. Touma looks nervous, not hearing what she asked.
“W-what did you ask again?..” He asks nervously. Chizuru blushes a bit with a smug smile.
“What are you doing here? Just walking down the road like that.” She says. Touma looks away awkwardly.
“O-oh that… I’m not sure. I-I guess I just wanted to get out of the house…” he says softly. The walk signal activates as a few others around them begin to walk. They cross the street as Chizuru smiles widely at him.
“Great! Then you can join me!” She says excitedly. Touma is surprised.
“J-join you?..” he asks. Chizuru nods.
“Mhm! I need to go to the store, so you’re coming with me!” She says with a giggle. Touma blushes a bit and nods, smiling softly.
They soon enter the store Chizuru wanted to go to, and Touma looks around at the kind of store they’re in.
‘A retail pharmacy store?’ He thinks.
“Hey, I gotta get something over here, but if you want to help me, you can go get me some green tea and a yummy snack too!” She says with a big smile. He smiles back and nods as they part ways.
Touma walks down the aisle and approaches a shelf with many different kinds of tea. He sweats for a moment before reaching out for one specific box.
'I'm glad she told me the kind of tea she wanted… I wonder what brand she'd prefer?' Touma thinks as he grabs a box of green tea. He then walks around to the next aisle and sees individually packaged sweets. He looks at the shelves and sweats a bit, noting the many different sweets there are, from cinnamon rolls to cupcakes and much in between. ‘I’m not sure which one she wants… I should probably go ask her before grabbing one.’ He thinks to himself. He steps out of the aisle and turns in the direction Chizuru went. As he walks, he realizes something.
‘This way is where the pharmacy section is.’ As he makes his way there, he sees Chizuru at the counter grabbing a bag from the clerk.
“Here you go, Chizuru. Tell Henry I said hi.” the pharmacist says with a smile. Chizuru smiles back.
“Thanks, Mr. Gundo, I will!” She turns away and begins to put the paper bag in her bag before stopping when she sees Touma looking at her. She gets a bit embarrassed as she puts the paper bag away and timidly approaches him.
“Y-you got the tea and snacks already?..” she asks awkwardly. Touma shakes his head.
“I wasn’t sure which snack you wanted, so I came to ask.” He says softly. Chizuru nods a bit, understanding. They get their things and check out before leaving the store, heading home.
As they walk, Chizuru is quiet and embarrassed, not saying much, leaving the only noise being the sounds of passing cars and the birds chirping around them. Touma notices and sweats a bit.
‘Why is she so embarrassed? Is it about the medicine?.. How do I comfort her?’ Many questions run through his mind before he inhales deeply and speaks. “Chizuru, the medicine?..” he asks. Chizuru looks at him surprised and blushes a bit, looking back down.
‘I don’t really want him to know… I don’t want him to think of me as weak or broken…’ Chizuru thinks. She doesn’t respond right away, making Touma even more anxious.
“I-I heard you were injured or something in the h-hospital about a year ago… Is it for that?..” he asks gently. She shakes her head softly before closing her eyes and sighing.
“It’s for my heart…” she admits softly. Touma looks surprised as she speaks. “I was born with a condition that affects my heart… It makes it so extreme levels of stress can disrupt my heartbeat, causing it to ultimately fail…” she explains quietly, looking down. She then lifts her head and tries to smile at him. “The medicine helps alleviate the symptoms and keep my heart strong! Heheh…”
She tries to laugh it off to make it sound less dangerous than it is. Touma stares at her with a soft but attentive look. She looks down with a slightly saddened expression.
“That’s also… the reason I try not to fall in love…" Chizuru admits. "I’m afraid that one day I may end up dying from this dumb condition and leave behind the person I love… But that isn’t the worst part. Thinking of how many tears they would shed over me is the worst part…” She says with a deeply saddened expression. Touma stares at her as she lifts her head with a weak smile, trying to shift the conversation elsewhere. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to get all emotional like that! You don’t have to worry about any of that, I was just venting.”
“Chizuru.” Touma says confidently, almost interrupting her. She is surprised and looks at him before blushing a bit. He stares directly in her eyes with a caring look, but one that is confident with no shred of hesitation or anxiousness. “I promise, no matter what happens to you, I will never shed a tear.” Touma claims boldly. Chizuru blushes as her eyes shine upon hearing his words. Feeling his feelings in her chest, she lifts her hand and places it over her heart. She gets a warm smile on her face as she looks at him.
“Okay.” she says with an emotional tone as she smiles at him. They eventually make their way to her home as Touma waves goodbye and Chizuru walks inside. Touma stands there as he slowly lowers his hand, the sun barely beginning to set behind him. The look on his face is a soft one. One almost filled with… love. His eyes shine a bit as he clenches his fist close to his chest and a warm smile spreads across his face, his shyness and timidness nowhere to be seen.
With the end of this day in summer, soon comes the end of another year filled with adventure. This group, almost twice as big as it was last year, filled with superpowered teenagers, shy giants, wannabe superheroes and tech company heirs, finds their second highschool year complete. A year filled with chaos and fun, from the start of a new club to a sports festival and even a school play. Romance and emotions running amok in between. The summer that began with a rocky start ends just as fast as it started. The group all feel the rising emotions around them. Some experience new things and face new feelings they never thought possible, while others carry on and continue doing their best.
With no more challenges to face, another summer vacation comes and goes along with another of Shiori’s birthdays. She’s now 16 years old along with her friends, giving a few months. The lives of this group having seemed so eventful already, and yet they’re only halfway through this highschool life. And soon, a new school year will begin.