“…Kaya-chi? What was that just now…?”
“…T-Tateyama?”
Suddenly, there stood Tateyama behind me.
Onodera and Tokuhara were still nowhere to be seen, maybe enjoying the underwater tunnel.
I have to come up with an excuse quickly.
I’ve come to Korea for this school trip and have studied a bit of Korean.
Why am I so flustered? It’s such a trivial thing.
“Korean, huh? Did you learn it from somewhere…?”
“T-T-That’s…! Uh, heh…”
Don’t panic. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.
The Star’s Flow members already know, and so do the Izutomos. Even Onodera knows, right?
Above all, I like my mom. In my previous life, I was Korean.
So, I’m not ashamed of being half Korean and half Japanese.
“Uh… T-Tateyama…?”
…Aren’t you embarrassed? Then why am I trying to make excuses? Why am I hiding this from Tateyama? Why have I kept my Korean-Japanese heritage a secret all this time?
…Even if I’m not embarrassed, I might face some negative prejudices.
“Uh, um… that….”
“Kaya-chi.”
“Wha… Yes…?”
“First, calm down. Let’s talk somewhere else.”
Tateyama, who had silently hugged me while my mind went blank, said those words.
Her embrace was so warm that I could quietly nod my head, but I was… terrified of what kind of expression she might be making.
★
[Tateyama Haru: I’ll be right back from the restroom with Kaya-chi! ☆ﾐ(o*･ω･)ﾉ]
[Onodera Sachi: Have fun!]
[Tokuhara Chiaki: OK ヾ(‘▽’)]
“I’ve told Satchan and Chi-chan, so… can I tell you now?”
Tateyama and I moved to a cafe inside the aquarium.
From the glimpse I caught of Tateyama’s expression, I couldn’t sense any emotions.
Tateyama was always smiling in my eyes….
“I just thought Kaya-chi studied Korean, but seeing you so flustered makes me think there’s another reason?”
“Uh, um….”
Yeah. I should say it.
After spending two years together, I know how kind Tateyama is.
Even if I tell her I’m half Korean, she’ll smile and say it’s okay.
“Um, so, actually, my mother….”
“Your mother?”
“Is, h-huh, Korean… so, I know how to speak Korean….”
I said it. I blurted it out.
Calming my racing heart, I looked up at Tateyama…
“Hee…? Really?”
“Yes…”
Fortunately, I didn’t sense any bad feelings.
“I see. Then, you must have been to Korea before?”
“Yes. Uh, when I was young, with my mom….”
“…So that’s why Kaya-chi didn’t seem to have any expectations. I thought something was off since yesterday. We finally went on a trip together, yet you seemed to have no expectations at all.”
“Oh… uh, yeah…? Heh…”
Truthfully, the merged memories of my past life and my dislike for the school trip played a part, but….
There’s no need to say that now.
“How well can you speak Korean?”
“Well… I can usually speak it fairly well. At home, I usually converse in Korean with my mom….”
Although my speech might get slightly awkward for some reason, it doesn’t hinder our conversations.
“Then, Kaya-chi! If you’ve come to Korea, do you have any recommendations? The plans we made were based on internet searches, so we might be missing something.”
“…Eh? I think it’s sufficient….”
“Really?! Are the plans I prepared okay enough?”
“Yes… I mean, I don’t really know much about tourist spots either….”
What does Tateyama think I am?
Both in my past and present life, I prefer doing what I like at home rather than wandering around outside!
There’s no way I’d know about places suitable for wandering around.
“Anyway, so you’re half Korean… I thought, you know, the atmosphere was so serious earlier, I thought there was a major issue or something.”
“Hehe…”
Tateyama was smiling brightly, just like usual.
Well, I knew that true social butterflies have great personalities too, so why was I worrying about this? Silly me.
“Honestly, I get why you would want to keep it a secret… so this is our little secret, right?”
“Ah… fortunately, Onodera also knows! So….”
I was about to say there’s no need to worry that much, but…
“…Huh?”
Suddenly, Tateyama’s expression stiffened.
…What in the world?
Even after rejoining Onodera and Tokuhara, Tateyama’s mood didn’t change.
No, to be precise, she was smiling just like usual, but there was an uneasy atmosphere.
But I had no idea what could have upset Tateyama.
…Could it be that she was disappointed to learn I was half Korean?
Even if she doesn’t think much about Korea, there are quite a few people who have negative views about being half Korean and half Japanese.
At first, I hadn’t thought about it at all, but upon reconsideration, those prejudices might be coming up.
The reason I tried to hide my heritage was precisely this.
I didn’t mind if strangers held prejudices against me.
But… it terrified me to think that someone I know might distance themselves from me because of those prejudices.
Especially since I knew how kind Tateyama was, this fear loomed larger in my mind.
Even to someone like me, who is a bit of an outsider, who never speaks and is gloomy, Tateyama always approached me with her bright smile.
So what should I do…
Onodera was fine since she’s a fan of my mom.
The Star’s Flow members had all assured me that it was okay that I was half Korean.
Izutomos were essentially fans who liked me from the beginning.
And by looking at it differently, they were all so kind that they would reassure me even if they found out, which is why there had been no issues thus far.
So do I rely on this kindness again?
Should I wait until Tateyama discards her prejudice and comes back to me?
“…No way.”
Tateyama had always treated me kindly, and now you want me to rely on that kindness again?
She hasn’t done anything wrong!
That can’t happen.
So this time, I’ll approach her first. And I’ll tell her that I’m looking forward to our friendship from now on.
I’m not the same person I was before.
I’ve grown.
“…Oh!”
With a small yet firm spirit, I quietly gazed at Tateyama.
“…?”
“Eep…!”
…Maybe giving up would be best?
If I talk to her first, she might not like it….
★
What am I doing right now?
“Haah…”
Tateyama thought so as she looked in the mirror at the restroom and sighed.
She knew it was childish from the start.
It’s annoying that what she thought was a secret between just them wasn’t a secret at all. Is this some kind of jealousy that even a child wouldn’t have?
Especially when the object of her jealousy was Onodera, one of her closest friends.
From an objective standpoint, Tateyama was fully aware that she was being unreasonable.
“ Ugh…”
Tateyama had a unique bond with Kayanoh.
They met in Akihabara, and she knew Kayanoh had gone to Comiket, and they took sticker photos together on their birthdays….
A secret between just the two of them that no one else knew.
The fact that Kayanoh was a major topic of discussion in class made it even more meaningful for Tateyama.
At such a dream-filled age for a high school girl, that fact generated various thoughts.
“So it’s a secret promise just between us. Hehe….”
Even when they discussed the events from the last Comiket, what Kayanoh said had been enough to solidify Tateyama’s feelings about that bond.
“I’m the closest to Kaya-chi in our class!”
That thought formed in her mind.
Of course, that was objectively correct.
Currently, the person Kayanoh talked to the most in Class 2-A was Tateyama.
However, this bond ended up working against her.
Kayanoh being half Korean was, in a way, the biggest secret she had known so far.
The fact that it wasn’t just their secret shocked Tateyama, who had developed quite a special bond.
Of course, she knew. Tateyama understood well that she wasn’t Kayanoh’s only connection.
In their class alone, there was Miyauchi, and recently, Onodera had also grown close to Kayanoh.
Even during the cultural festival, Kayanoh had brought her friends, who she knew.
Kayanoh wasn’t something that could be exclusively “owned”… she had long understood that.
But even so, jealousy bubbled up in Tateyama’s heart.
“…No. Yeah. This is all Kaya-chi’s fault…”
She rationalized that it was Kayanoh’s fault for making her feel special by saying it was a secret promise.
That she felt uneasy and slightly gloomy because she was watching Kayanoh fidget.
It was Kayanoh’s fault for flinching and making a sad face when she just gave her a side glance.
If she showed such expressions, how could Tateyama avoid being envious? It made her want to tease her even more.
So this was all the fault of that charming Kaya-chi… and with that, Tateyama began to justify her feelings.
“Haah…”
After finishing her self-justification, Tateyama sighed and left the restroom.
“E-Excuse me…”
In front of her stood Kayanoh, who was waiting alone with tears in her eyes.
“…Eh?”
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