Chapter 16: CH 16

Chapter 16: Hiro and Ko-chan

“Huh? Mari-san from Mr. Sakurai’s house? (Saito-san)

“What? Oh! Saito-san!” (Mari-san)

“Sakurai-san? My son told me it was Yoshizumi-san”

“Oh, I remarried after I moved here.”

“I see… That’s good to know…”

“Oh my God! Don’t be so gloomy.  I’d heard of you from Hiroto, but I didn’t think you were the Saito-san I knew.”

“”What’s happening…””

Saito-san and I had no idea what was going on. My father-in-law, Toru, looked even more confused.

“Mom, I’m sorry to interrupt your excitement, but do you know each other?” (Hiroto)

“What are you talking about?” (Mari-san)

She seemed to know my mom, so I asked her, “How do you know each other?” Saito-san’s mother was surprised to see me.

“Hiroto-kun! You’ve really grown up. You used to be so small!”

Saito’s mother seemed to know me.

“Hiroto, it’s Ko-chan!” (Saito)

“Wait what…? Saito-san, you’re Ko-chan?” (Hiroto)

“Hiroto… are you Hiro?” (Saito)

There’s only ever been one person who called me ‘Hiro’. But still, I hadn’t noticed it at all… because I’d moved away from the city I used to live in.

“Did Ko-chan also move?” (Hiroto)

“My address hasn’t changed. I got in on a sports recommendation. Now I live in the baseball team’s dormitory. I heard from the coach that Hiro was scouted as well.” (Saito)

“Yes, I was. But I thought it would be more fun to go to a public school with my friends from middle school. Now I’m glad I chose Saijo.” (Hiroto)

“I see… I wish I could have played baseball with you. But I’m really sorry…for injuring you, I didn’t realize… that it was Hiro of all people.”

“It was an accident, wasn’t it? The situation would have been worse, so there’s nothing to worry about. I was able to reunite with Ko-chan… so I’m glad.”

Toru-san, who had been watching silently, spoke to Saito-san.

“Kou-chan is right. I’m pretty sure that’s what I thought when I saw the condition of his injuries.”

“Thank you… I didn’t notice it either. I was surprised to see that your last name had changed and that Hiro had grown so much!” (Saito-san)

“Ko-chan is bigger and taller than Hiro. He grew taller all of a sudden in middle school. Up until elementary school, he was the smallest, just like back then.” (Saito-san)

The mothers were talking about how they hadn’t seen each other in a long time, so I left them to it.

“It was funny when the coach blurted out during the game, Why didn’t Yoshizumi come to Toko?’” (Saito)

“Well, we decided that it would be more interesting to beat a strong team. Morishita went to Toko, but not us.”

“Oh, that’s him? He was looking forward to playing against you guys.”

“Haha. I’ll tell you what, it’ll be easier for us if we let him get carried away and be bad at it.”

Saito-san was the Ko-chan I knew. We talked lightly to each other, telling each other stories about the past and the present.

“Hiro! Are you there?”

I heard Ko-chan’s voice from the doorway.

“Oh, Ko-chan’s here.”

“Hiroto-kun, are you leaving again?”

Ko-chan gets upset easily when I leave.

Ko-chan is in the third grade and I’m in first. Ko-chan had joined a youth baseball team in the third grade. We would play catch, throwing the ball to each other, but he didn’t have anyone to play with, so he would always come to me.

“I’m always the one they come to because they’re so bad at it. Around here, Hiro is the only one who can do it for me. You’re a little guy, though!” (Ko-chan)

He’s going to grow up. I’m going to grow up too… maybe.

“I have no one to practice with,” was what Ko-chan said to me. It was fun for me to play around, but Haruka-chan didn’t like the rough way Ko-chan talked to her, and when Ko-chan came to call me, she looked sad.

“Haruka-chan. I’m going out for a while. I’ll be back soon, so please wait for me.”

Haruka-chan never comes when I go with Ko-chan. So when I returned home, I played with Haruka a lot.

It was Ko-chan who first taught me how to play baseball. At the time, I was forced to play with him, but now I’m glad I did. After I moved away, I was upset and had no choice but to devote myself to baseball.

After that, we exchanged contact information and parted, happy to have a real reunion.