{Our Way Home 2}

Miyu seems to want to interact with me in a way that maintains the pretense of “I’m just one of the customers.” There aren’t many customers as cheerful as she is—she’s practically a goddess to me—as I ring up the two ice creams.

After the payment, I packed the ice creams into a bag and handed it to her.
“Thank you very much!”
“…Thank you.”
It’s not just her; it feels oddly embarrassing to treat someone I know like a regular customer. It’s a bit like the awkwardness of having your parents show up at a school open house.

While I was feeling a bit uneasy, Miyu put her hand to the side of her mouth and whispered,
“I’ll wait for you in front of the store.”
That’s fine, but I hope the ice cream doesn’t melt.
It would be troublesome if she had to walk alone on this dark road, so it’s better for me if she waits.

As she swirled her coat and exited the store, the manager called out to me as if he had been waiting.
“Yamaguchi-kun, your girlfriend was here, right?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
He flashed a teasing smile at me, and I nodded vaguely.
This kind of exchange also has that open-house feel to it, but fortunately, the next shift worker showed up from the back room.

We quickly finished the register check and shift handover, and I hurriedly changed clothes.
Then, I dashed out to the front of the convenience store, where Miyu was standing next to the umbrella stand. Her profile, gazing at the empty parking lot, looked somewhat lonely, yet when she noticed me, her face broke into a wide smile.
“Atsushi-kun, good work!”
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
I rushed over and took the convenience store bag from her hands.
“It’s okay; I wasn’t waiting at all!”
Miyu said this with a laugh, but in reality, I had kept her waiting for about 20 minutes. The bright light spilling from the store windows illuminated her face, making her unmade-up complexion look almost translucent.

“Weren’t you cold? You just got out of the bath, right?”
“I’m fine because I’m wearing a coat.”
I didn’t doubt her words, but I gently held the tips of her fingers, which were peeking out from the coat’s hem.
They were still a little cold, so I quickly intertwined our fingers to warm them up.
“Then let’s hurry home.”
“Yeah, the ice cream will melt.”
When I said that, Miyu nodded.
Her expression was the same as when she found me in the store—relieved and happy.
Miyu often comes to visit me at my job, but I’ve never seen her working.

Since she became a working adult before I did, I used to feel a sense of urgency about it. Even though it’s not a bad thing for her to become an adult ahead of me, for some reason, I felt “afraid to see” it. She told me where she works, but I haven’t been there yet.
Starting a part-time job soon after entering university was, of course, partly due to wanting money, but I think I also wanted to avoid being left behind by Miyu.
She visits me at work without any hesitation, which makes me feel like I’m still being left behind emotionally. I want to catch up someday. I think about this secretly.

We held hands and walked the same way home.
Miyu’s hair, still a bit damp, swayed gently in the night breeze. The pleasant scent of shampoo wafted over, and I felt the reality that we were heading back to the same place.
We followed the circles of light cast by the scattered streetlights on the road, walking a bit faster toward our apartment, matching our strides with each other. I thought we’d eat the slightly melted ice cream together once we got back.

“Oh!”
Eventually, as the apartment came into view across the street, Miyu called out softly,
“I left the light on…”
To confirm her words, the window of our room on the second floor was lit up, shining through the curtains.
Miyu looked a bit awkward, but I smiled, unconcerned.
“Things like that happen.”
Sometimes, it’s nice to come back to a bright place.
I felt that way today, so it was just right.