Even Though I Loved You First

Story Arc 8.5 – Eternal Summer In The Grateful Heart

Ichirou’s POV~

Another month, huh? I couldn’t help but sigh as I read the short message my mom sent me, indicating that the two couldn’t come home and that their trip will be extended by one month…again.

At this point, it didn’t surprise me. I mean, they have been doing this for the past year. Now that I think about it, the last time I saw them was before the entrance ceremony, right?

“Where did they say, again? The cafeteria, was it?” I muttered as I walked down the empty school hallway.

The closing ceremony was already over, and after a short talk from our homeroom teacher, we were free to go as per our early dismissal. However, my friend group decided to meet at the school’s cafeteria… for some reason.

“Am I late~?” I acted the part.

“Shizuka’s still not here, so no. She’s late.” (Kei)

“I see, I see.” (Ichirou)

I proceeded to take a seat near Riku and Sadataka as I placed my bag at the side of the chair. Kei and Hayasaka seemed to be discussing something before I arrived, while Riku and Sadataka seemed to be enjoying each other’s company as they lively chatted.

“By the way, Ichirou.” Suddenly, Kei turned to me.

“Wassup?” (Ichirou)

“Did you bring the thing I asked you for?” Kei asked.

“Hm? Oh, yes!” I turned to my bag and began to search through it. After a little while I took a small paper bag and handed it to Kei.

“Sweet!” Kei said as he opened the paper bag to look at its contents.

“What’s that, Segawa?” Hayasaka asked.

“Oh, nothing much. Just the coffee beans I tend to use for my morning energizer. My uncle gives me bags of them regularly, so at this point, I offered some to Kei.” (Ichirou)

“Heh~ I don’t really like coffee, though…” Sadataka nodded.

“I’m more of an orange juice-type of guy.” Riku said.

“So, Kei.” (Hayato)

“Hm?” (Kei)

“Why are we here?” (Hayato)

“Let’s wait until Shizuka comes, she should be here any minute now.” (Kei)

↤⨳↦

After Sakurajima arrived, she sat in between Hayasaka and Riku; soon after, Kei cleared his throat and addressed all currently present.

“And so! With summer coming around, I wanted to know what will y’all be doing!” He said in an authoritative tone. You know… I can’t help but feel uneasy about this.

“I’ll be away during the first four days of summer vacation, Ret— my older brother, invited me to stay with him and look around the city for a while. So I decided to take his offer.” (Riku)

“…I will probably bury myself in books for a while, there’s some titles I want to read so I figured it’ll be a good opportunity to get started.” (Sachi)

Even if Sadataka said it that way, I bet she came up with it just now knowing that she couldn’t see Riku during the first four days of summer, considering that they just became a couple recently.

“I’ll be practically free during the first month of summer vaca—” Before she could continue, Kei interrupted her.

“Yeah, I know.” He emotionlessly said.

“—Hey!” (Shizuka)

Seconds later, she cleared her throat and continued, “Even then, I’ll be going camping with Hayato’s family during the first half of the second month.” (Shizuka)

“Heh~ Camping, huh? I’ve only been camping twice.” Kei nodded.

“I know, the first time was with both of our families during second grade, right?” (Shizuka)
“Unn.” (Kei)

When it came to summer vacations (and the transition to an upper grade), the school gave us roughly around fifty days (almost two months) off.

With the downside of summer homework that is.

Now that I think about it… Who was the a**hole who thought it would be a good idea to ruin children’s summer with school work?!

“Aside from the camping trip she mentioned, I wanted to work three times a week during summer for extra cash, you know?” (Hayato)

“I see. What about Ichirou?” (Kei)

Eh?

Me?

Ah… right, I forgot I was also part of this group…

Funny.

Still, what am I doing this summer vacation? Even though I will be seeing my parents some time next month (if they don’t extend their trip again, that is) I don’t really have much to do.

Maybe I’ll visit uncle Seiya and help him with his business… Let’s go with that.

“I’ll visit my uncle here and there during summer vacation, I’ll probably help him around for some bucks.” I said as I slumped in my seat.

↤⨳↦

Kei’s POV~

He seemed pale earlier… I thought as we all walked outside the school grounds.

After the entrance ceremony, I gathered my friend group at the school’s empty cafeteria with a single objective.

Arrange something for the summer. 

Summer vacations were considerably long, so there would undoubtedly be one day when we can all gather and hang out together. I started thinking about it after Arisa told me that they were planning their own day to go out as a group.

So I thought that I’ll also gather their schedules to look for a considerably empty day for all of us to go around together to do something fun.

“Essentially, what do we plan on doing?” Sachi asked.

“Hm~ Let’s see~ What about seeing a movie? We could go to a bowling alley before that and after the movie we could go and grab something to eat! I wish I could say we could go to my house and cook something between me and Sachi so we could all eat… but I think my uncle and his wife will be coming somewhere around this time of the year…” (Kei)

“That’s… a surprisingly normal schedule… Huh?! W-where’s the beach at?! All novels have to have a beach episode!” (Riku)

“We’re not in one Riku stop being annoying.” (Kei)

“Hey!” (Riku)

A beach is no good… I-I refuse to go to one and embarrass myself! I swore to myself. Well… if anything, I’d like to avoid the topic but… she’s here, after all.

“Eehh~ Why not? Come on, Kei. Why aren’t we going to the beach?” She said in a teasing tone.

You…!

“I-I figured that you guys will go at least once with your family… W-well… the beach isn’t that original to begin with. S-so…” (Kei)

“Even if it’s not original, isn’t going to the beach a must during summer?” She continued.

“Then why don’t you go yourself, Shizuka?” I glared

“Oh? Why are you mad all of a sudden? I only suggested a fun activity to do between friends, that’s all.” She shook her head and also glared at me.

Don’t you have any pity for me at all, Shizuka?!

My childhood friend Shizuka Sakurajima, who knows most of my weaknesses due to being friends for over ten years. 

She was definitely doing it on purpose just to embarrass me, even during the first summers we spent with Riku and Sachi, I never really told them about why I didn’t like the beach… Well, we never really go to a beach, pool… Heck, even to an amusement park.

“A-anyway! Then, it’s decided we will go out together during summer!” (Kei)

“Huh? Isn’t that a given?” Sachi tilted her head at my words.

“Well… Kei’s always been this overdramatic ever since we were children… Even when we played fighting games…” (Shizuka)

“Shut up!” (Kei)

At the end of the day, everything worked out just fine. If anything, I was looking forward to this summer. It took me a heartbreak and some tears to come this far; of course, it was also thanks to my efforts that not only was I able to keep up with everyone’s expectations, but I was able to become a better version of myself.

As long as I finish my summer homework fast enough, then I have more than plenty of time to spend with my friends, my family, and most importantly…

With my girlfriend.