After returning home.
After finishing dinner and spacing out in my room, my smartphone vibrated for a long time.
Hm? I looked at the screen and it showed "Amane."
A call? But it says LINE...?
Without my understanding catching up, I left it for now. Phone calls are kind of scary.
Then, the smartphone stopped ringing.
It seems I managed to avoid it. That was scary...
The moment I breathed a sigh of relief, the smartphone vibrated again.
What is it, what is it...?
Amane: "Konuma-kun, I want to talk! Are you on the train or something right now?"
It was a LINE from Ichikawa.
Takuto Konuma: "I'm in my room."
Amane: "Eh, can you talk on the phone?"
Takuto Konuma: "Situationally, I can."
When I replied, the phone vibrated again.
Hiee, a phone call...!
Timidly, I pressed the blue button to answer.
"...Hello?"
"Ah, Konuma-kun. Is now okay?"
I heard Ichikawa's voice. It really was a phone call.
"It's fine. What's up?"
"Why didn't you pick up the first time?"
"Because... it was kind of scary."
"Huh? What was?"
"Uh, the phone call..."
"Why?"
Why? Just because.
"Your LINE is always in super polite language too... oh well."
"Yeah."
It seems it's fine. Thank you.
"Right now, I was practicing singing at home, but I forgot the melody you sang today, Konuma-kun. Or rather, I got confused about which one was correct. I thought it would be great if you could sing it for me."
"Ah, so that's why you called."
What the heck, I've never talked on the phone at night with a guy, a girl, or even family, so my heart was pounding. I'm still nervous, by the way.
"Yeah, exactly."
Wait, eh, that means...
"I, sing, here, now?"
"Am I talking to a caveman who speaks in fragments...?"
I can see Ichikawa's head-tilting pose in my mind. A caveman?
"No, no, I can't sing here."
"Eh, why?"
"What do you mean why..."
If I were to sing in a place like this, she would...
"Takkun-! Can I take a bath... okay...?"
Yuzu opened the door to my room and stood still with her mouth open.
"A-A phone call...?"
See, here she comes...
"Mama-! Takkun made a friend!"
Yuzu said that and ran off to the living room.
Just as I expected.
From the other side of the phone, I could hear a giggling voice.
"Ahaha, your younger sister?"
"Yeah..."
"You have a younger sister? I didn't know. Takkun."
She laughed mischievously.
"Hey."
"Teach me the melody, Takkun."
"Stop it."
"Ahaha."
She seems to be having fun...
But if I'm going to sing, I should do it now while Yuzu isn't here...
"'I left the house chased by the alarm clock, my leather shoes still hanging off my feet,' that's it."
"Ah, I'll record it on my voice recorder, so one more time."
One more time!? I have to hurry...
"Okay, I'm set, go ahead."
"'I left the house chased by the alarm clock'... Hiee!?"
"What's wrong!?"
My eyes met with a girl peeking through the gap in the door. Scaring the life out of me.
"Mama-! Takkun is confessing with an original song!"
"I'm not!"
My face is burning!
Again, laughter reached my ear.
"The original song part is right though, isn't it, Takkun?"
"Seriously, stop it."
"Takkun is mad!"
Sigh...
"I accidentally recorded your sister's voice. Ah, that's funny..."
"Give me a break..."
A sigh escaped me.
"Ahaha, sorry, sorry. But thanks to you, I got the melody. It was a big help, thank you."
"That's good, but..."
Tick, tock, tick, tock... only the hands of the clock echoed in the room.
"...Um, well then."
"Ah, yeah..."
A strange atmosphere flows.
Even though we're not in the same place, an atmosphere can still flow over the phone.
"Ah, um, Konuma-kun."
"Hm?"
What, aren't we hanging up?
"I consider you a friend too, Konuma-kun."
"What's this all of a sudden?"
"...A fairly close one."
"...I see. Thanks."
She's probably worried about what I tried to say about not being close to Azuma.
"That was, for Azuma..."
"I know. You were trying to protect Yuri, right? In your own way, Konuma-kun."
"Rather than protecting, it's more like..."
"Mm, well, it's fine."
"Hm?"
"It gets a little lonely, after all," Ichikawa muttered.
"...Sorry."
I decided to apologize honestly.
"I hope that someday, you'll be able to say that your songs are your own, Konuma-kun."
"Why?"
She's saying "Konuma-kun" a lot.
"Because your songs are good, Konuma-kun."
"O-Oh..."
I'm not sure if that really answers the question, but she seems satisfied with it in her own way, so I left it alone.
"Well, it's my fault since I'm taking your songs. Honestly, I'm so useless..."
She's probably scratching her head with an "ehehe."
"Well then."
"Hm?"
"When I'm able to sing again, it'll be your turn next. It's a promise!"
"...It's fine, you don't have to."
"I'm doing it anyway!"
For some reason, she's firing herself up even though I didn't ask.
"Anyway, amane... Ichikawa's comeback comes first."
"Yeah, you're right."
When Ichikawa replied, another silence followed.
Tick, tock, tick, tock...
"U-Um, well..."
"Ah, yeah..."
Tick, tock, tick, tock...
"Uh, can I hang up? This."
"Ah, yeah. Konuma-kun, you hang up?"
Hang up, she says...
I moved the phone away from my ear and looked at the screen.
Even though I just have to tap this red button, for some reason, hanging up a call is difficult.
Nn...
Tick, tock, tick, tock...
"What's wrong?"
I put the phone back to my ear.
"Hey, Ichikawa, can you hang up?"
"...Um, yeah, okay."
Tick, tock, tick, tock...
Tick, tock, tick, tock...
"I'm hanging up, okay?"
"Yeah."
Tick, tock, tick, tock...
"...It's kind of like we're a couple, isn't it?"
"Excuse me!?"
What is this person saying all of a sudden! And she's starting the conversation again in this situation!?
"Ahaha, just a joke, a joke. I'll get in trouble."
"Huh?"
Get in trouble with who?
"See ya, bye-bye! See you tomorrow! I'm hanging up!"
The call ended abruptly with a click.
Looking at the "Call Ended" text, I waited for my heartbeat to settle down.