2. I'm a hair stylist. Ayano and I met when I worked at a restaurant. We decided to move in together.
1. "I have something I want to tell you."
1. "No. I guess it's something I need to tell you."
2. I still...
3. "It's quite personal. I apologize for that."
4. Have sunday.
5. "But... I've fallen in love with a woman."
1. "I'm going to meet some estate agents with akari-san on sunday."
2. "Morn-ing!"
3. "Morn-ing."
4. "School starts today, hm?"
5. "You're having breakfast?"
6. "Uh-huh."
7. "I'll see you tonight."
8. "Have a good day!"
1. "Is it true you were cheating?"
2. "Senseiiiiiiii!"
3. "Hey! Don't you go talking about this at school!"
4. "Also, you've had quite enough video games for today!"
5. "Hunh. That's what she said! Shocker!"
6. "Actually... Never mind."
7. "Where did you hear--"
8. "Shut up!"
9. "A-arima-kun."
10. "You dodo!"
11. "What I did was rash, but I never thought you'd hear about it. I'm sorry."
1. "Egawa-san."
2. "Or just for talking about it at the parent-teacher meeting?"
3. "Are you sorry about cheating?"
4. "I'd take that to mean you're only sorry because a parent talked about it."
5. "And if it's the parent-teacher meeting..."
6. "Then it sounds like you thought it was okay as long as we didn't find out."
7. "If it's the cheating..."
1. "I'm terribly sorry!"
2. "Right! I misspoke. Oh! No. I didn't mean to be rude!"
3. "R..."
4. Bull's-eye!!
5. The worst.
6. Tch! Hanging my head like this in front of the children...
7. I'm up here trying to be open with them.
8. But I'm coming off as unhappy that people are talking about me.
9. "But..."
10. "It's just gossip we've heard from other people."
1. "Cheer up, sensei."
4. "Okubo-sensei! One of your kids is asking for you."
5. "Oh! Coming!"
6. "The flames haven't spread to my class."
7. "Thanks."
8. "Al-though they might know."
9. "Unnh."
1. "Um."
2. "It's."
3. "So."
4. "Why are you apologizing, nitta-san?"
5. "What? Hm?"
6. "I'm sorry, sensei."
7. "The one who..."
8. "Was spreading your private business around the school..."
9. "It was my mother."
10. "Ohhh."
11. "Other people probably heard, too."
12. "No, no. I was wrong to have a conversation like that without being mindful of where I was."
13. "Oh!"
14. "And I'm not trying to say it's your mother's fault!"
1. You did not want to know this, did you?
2. I'm sorry, everyone.
3. "I feel bad for sensei."
4. "Right?"
1. "So... All things considered."
2. "Please don't apologize to me or blame your mother."
3. "I'm supposed to be the one you can come to with problems, right? I'm so sorry."
1. Siiiiigh...
2. "Sensei sure said sorry a lot today, huh?"
3. "Yeah."
4. Siiiiigh...
1. I feel like a terrible teacher.
2. But...
3. I still have...
4. Sunday.
1. "Eeeeeverything about that was terrible!"
2. "Those nice apartments on their website were just bait. Not a single place she showed us fit our requirements!"
4. "Let's roll the dice somewhere else."
5. "Okay, good idea."
1. "Hello! I'm kawada, the manager."
2. "I'll be helping you today."
3. "The two of us are looking for an apartment together!"
1. "Let's go see if any of them suit your needs."
2. "I've also put together a short list of places that are close to what you're looking for."
3. "I can show you the listings you emailed about right away."
4. "Great!"
1. "I hope we can get to be like that, too."
2. "Even if..."
3. "We some- times take the long way around..."
4. "I hope we'll keep needing each other."
1. "I'm sorry! That came out weird!"
2. "Uhh?!"
3. "Huh?"
4. "It wasn't weird."
5. "In lesbian country, that's a marriage proposal."
6. "But serious-lyyyy. Be careful!"
7. "That's... I feel the same."
8. "I'm so happy right now. I'm afraid of screwing it up somehow. And of getting too used to it."
9. "Right! Sorry."
1. I've made a lot of mistakes.
2. And I can't tell the future.
3. "If some problem arises between us..."
4. "Right."
6. "We'll talk it out."
7. "And if we mess up, we mess up."
8. "But we're about to live together."
1. "Perfect timing."
2. "Oooh!"
3. "I'm here to help unpack!"
4. "Hey hey, hard workers!"
5. "Kaede?"
6. "This is hisato akane-san."
7. "Happy to do it."
8. "Thanks so much."
9. "My little sister also came to lend a hand."
10. "Ah!"
11. "It's nice to meet you. I'm ayano's sister, kaede."
1. "She is, like, one hundred percent my type!"
2. "What? You fall in love there?"
3. "Hisato akane."
4. "That's me."
5. "Nice to meet you!"
6. "Ahh!"
8. One of them wrote a little story instead of a diary entry.
9. And the other one continued it.
10. "It was an exchange diary originally."
11. "Ex-change story?"
12. "It belongs to my students."
14. "What's up?"
15. "I've got to get this book back to the girls."
1. "So like, this character you wrote, yuka?
2. "Why do you have it, though?"
3. "There was a whole... Situation."
4. "Yuppers!"
5. "Is she maybe based on me?"
6. "Yay!"
7. "But you're not!"
8. "I'll be so embarrassed if I'm wrong!"
9. "And the girl you wrote, mana...
10. "That's totally me, right?
1. It creeped yoshizumi-san out, though.
2. "Maybe she wasn't creeped out."
3. "But..."
4. "Maybe she was sad..."
5. Because I...
6. Took yuka away.
1. "Okay. That about does it! We'll leave you be."
2. "Thanks so much! Both of you!"
3. Now then.
4. "We really did."
5. It's our first night alone together.
6. "Great work."
7. "We did it."
2. "Excuse me!"
3. "Everything looks fine."
4. "Which room do these boxes go in?"
5. "You'll be able to use the gas now."
6. "Great!"
7. "In here, please."
8. "You got it!"
1. The bath is ready to go.
7. "You go in first. I want to unpack a bit more."
8. "Okay. Thanks."
9. This room.
10. This is my room.
1. Next to it is ayano-chan's room.
2. And when we open our doors...
3. There's the kitchen and the living room.
1. It's a bit far from the station.
2. But the view's not bad.
3. And it has a huge balcony, which is great.
1. "We forgot to get a laundry basket."
2. "Oh no! Yes, suppose we'll need one."
3. "I'm all done in the bath."
4. "Gah! Yes!"
5. "I can stop and pick one up after work, if it's all the same to you."
6. "I get off early tomorrow."
7. "Okay!"
8. "That home store on the other side of the station's open late, right?"
9. "Let's go pick one out. Together."
1. "What's wrong?"
2. "There are..."
3. "So many little domestic things I want to do with you, akari-san."
4. "Grocery shopping."
5. "Splitting up the chores."
6. "It's all so exciting."
1. "I get so excited that..."
2. "I feel guilty. Bad for him, you know. The man who was my husband."
3. Meanwhile, he who was her husband...
4. "I..."
1. How did this happen?
2. "Okubo-san."
3. "Yes, exactly."
4. "If you wanted to."
5. "You mean like dinner?"
6. "To- night?"
7. "Oh! Hi."
8. "Are you..."
9. "Free tonight?"
10. "Ah!"
1. "I finally got it all sorted. I got my divorce."
2. "I diiiiid!"
3. "That "Marital issue." did you maybe..."
4. "There are still all sorts of fiddly little details to sort out..."
5. "But I'm officially single now."
6. "You don't want to?"
7. "Were you being serious?"
8. "We did!"
9. "We did say we'd grab a drink, didn't we?"
1. "Not that kind of no."
2. "No!"
3. "Oh! That "No" was, of course..."
4. "I'd love to!"
5. That playful smile was a knife to the heart.
1. "I'd like you to think about us dating."
2. "I..."
1. I moved away from home...
2. Got married...
3. And lived alone with my wife for a while.
4. In the end, we split up.
5. But then things happened, and we moved in with my parents.
6. I also have a younger sister. She's a bit of a shut-in.
7. I'll probably stay at my parents' place, though.
8. They're planning to move out at some point.
9. My parents are in good health, and my sister's family's living with us, too.
10. But that's just temporary.
1. Although apparently despite that, she's having an affair.
2. It's complicated for me, as her brother. I worry.
3. I finally realized that...
4. It seemed my mother...
5. And the woman who used to be my wife...
1. Who deserved to fail at marriage.
2. "No fair..."
3. "No matter how many mistakes you made, okubo-san..."
4. "I mean, I just have to take ownership of my own mistakes."
5. "You're not saying a single bad word about your ex-wife!"
6. "Not that!"
7. "I know..."
1. "They don't make cheating on you okay."
2. "I like you."
3. And from there, for some reason...
4. "I want us to start dating for serious."
1. "It's fiiiine!"
2. "I'm sorry for coming by so late."
3. She...
4. The woman who was my wife. What is she doing now? What is she thinking?
1. "I think you're a great person, jinguji-san."
2. "I'm an awful woman."
3. "He's the awful one for making you feel that way."
4. "I wonder..."
5. "Funny how we can be so strong when it's not us."
6. "You're right."
1. "I know."
2. "But, um..."
3. "You can't run from guilt."
4. "You really are an evil woman, hmm?"
5. "I saw a moment when the excitement won."
11. "Ooh."
12. "It's a large place."
13. "Well, it's for the two of us."
14. "I'm fine being your guarantor, but..."
20. "Because it's a ways from the station?"
21. "The rent's pretty reasonable, though."
1. "Sure."
2. "Can it wait till dad gets home?"
3. "Do you need it now?"
4. "No, it's fine."
5. "I just have to sign here, right?"
6. "If you want to leave any- thing here, we'll move it to the storeroom."
7. "Can I use your room?"
8. "Oh! So then."
9. "What? Why?"
10. "She's seeing someone now, too."
11. "Kaede, well, she says she's moving back in."
12. "Yeah, I guess..."
1. "So why does that mean moving back home?"
2. "Wait, huh?"
3. "Really...!"
4. "She might be getting married."
5. "She wants to live here with her partner. Together."
1. "I'm blown away."
2. "We've been together a while now!"
3. "Well, you'll have to introduce us."
4. "I never found the right moment to tell you."
5. "You've had a lot going on lately."
6. "I'm in my thirties!"
7. "My wee little kaede..."
8. "I'm so grateful."
9. "But this isn't because of you."
1. So we got to talking.
2. "Yeah, maybe."
3. "It's a waste of money. Maybe we should live together?"
4. And before long, we were constantly staying over at each other's house.
5. He and I both had our own places.
6. And I moved into his place, since it was a little bigger.
7. But it was still a smidge too small for both of us.
8. We had just started looking for a place...
9. When you...
1. "Move out?"
2. "But...you know that person I mentioned?"
3. "We were talking about moving in together."
4. "Oh... The commute to the new school is tough from here?"
5. "Yeah, there's that."
6. Our family freezes when this topic comes up.
1. "If you want a house so badly, how about we look for a duplex?"
2. "I know."
3. "My sister's living there now."
4. "Wow. Okay..."
5. "That's where we were at."
6. "I'll put up the money without saying a thing."
7. "But I've got you to lean on if anything happens at home."
8. "I get that you're maybe worried."
9. "I can help like that, right?"
1. "Kaede-chan's a good kid."
2. "She really is."
3. We made the leap. We moved in together.
4. With our own room.
5. Each of us...
6. Even so, we said we would put our futons together and sleep together tonight.
1. "I don't have a lot of experience..."
2. She says, when she's the one who kissed me the first time we met.
3. "Hey?"
4. "Can I do more than kiss you?"
1. "How about you..."
2. "Kiss me all over."
1. "Morn-ing!"
2. "Good morning!"
3. There's still the rehearsal for graduation.
4. I'm gonna get through this!
5. "Hnnngh!"
6. Another encouraging note today.
7. More accurately, they're worried about me.
8. It's awkward with some of the students.
10. Or maybe...
1. Yoshizumi-san's not here...
1. "Okay..."
2. "The principal said you can do it in his office."
3. "Mm-hmm. That's right."
4. "I heard it was time for graduation rehearsal..."
5. "A-also..."
6. "I heard you're going to a different school, okubo-sensei?"
7. "Like letters? Sure. I'd love that."
8. "Can I..."
9. "Write you?"
10. "I'll be here until then."
11. "After everyone graduates."
1. Letter...
3. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"
4. My feelings are always one-sided...
6. "Have some tea, sensei!"
7. Why'd I even do that?
8. "Oh! Sorry for the trouble!"
1. "I thought maybe I'd at least get to see her at rehearsal."
2. "Yeah..."
3. "Yoshizumi-san didn't come again, did she?"
4. It's 'cause... I was mean to her before.
5. "Don't talk to me and yuka anymore."
1. "Ikka's?!"
2. "Then I'll come, too."
3. "I'm going to yoshizumi-san's!"
4. "No, you won't! That'll just make things worse!"
5. "No!"
6. "You forget something? I'll come with."
7. "Yuka! You go on ahead."
8. "So mean."
1. "H..."
2. "Here..."
3. "Nitta-san? Wh-why?"
4. "Huh?"
5. "Uh..."
7. "I was going to have some anyway. The kettle was already on."
8. "You made this just for me?"
9. "Hot choco-late."
10. "It's 'cause I was really mean to you, though."
11. "That was really mean. What I said to you."
12. "So, um. I'm sorry."
13. "Thanks..."
14. "It smells great."
1. "You maybe don't like me, yoshizumi-san."
2. "But I really did want to be friends."
3. "I was so happy when you both started talking to me..."
4. "But..."
5. "That was because I thought you and yuka felt like I was in the way."
6. "I did hate you sometimes, nitta-san."
2. "That idiot morita went and broke a bone."
3. "Oh dear. I just hope he's feeling better."
4. "How did he break it, anyhow?"
5. "Probably wasn't paying attention."
6. Sending such a sad message, but I'm still overjoyed that I have a girlfriend to go home to.
7. "Sorry, akari-chan!"
1. "It's fine. I'm happy for the extra clients."
2. "I've gotta save up for the divorce lawyer."
3. "What? You're getting divorced?!"
4. "Apologies to you, too, yukako-chan."
5. "Huh? What?"
6. "For making you so busy all of a sudden."
8. "Oh no. Not right now, anyway."
9. "But just in case."
10. "We're maybe getting one..."
1. "So... Do you ladies..."
2. "But also maybe not."
3. "Oh yeah?"
4. "Gah! Eri-chan?!"
5. "Know any good lawyers?"
6. "L-lawyers?"
7. "Yeah. Feeling it out."
8. "Feeling it out, huh?"
9. "And..."
1. "Take a load off, shigeru-chan."
3. "Have some coffee."
4. "How's sumika doing?"
5. "She's settled down."
6. "Thank you."
7. "Soon she won't be placated with a little souvenir cake, hm?"
8. "Ha ha ha! She did say she's on a diet, too."
1. "And like, how far has she gone with morita, anyhow?!"
2. "Is she gonna get sued?"
3. "I wonder what'll happen to eri-chan."
4. "What's mizuki-chan want to talk about?!"
5. "H-how about we go and talk to her, just us?!"
6. "Eri-chaa-aaaa-aaaa-aaan!"
7. "No, wait! We're not a part of this!"
3. Chapter 39 March of 365 Steps
1. I was born in this town.
2. I've always lived in this same house.
3. Grandma and grandpa live close by, too.
4. So I get jealous when my friends talk about visiting their grandparents in hokkaido.
1. Fortunately, I more or less like it here.
2. "Ahh! You're laughing, sensei!"
3. "Heh heh heh!"
4. "Heh heh! "More or less," hm?"
5. "Sensei! I'm finished!"
6. "Aah, all of your essays are good."
7. "How come? What? Is eri's essay good?"
1. "Come now, mother!"
2. "I'll try not to be too much of a bother."
3. "I'm sorry, yoriko-san."
4. "Anyway, the movers will be here soon."
5. "This is your room, grandma!"
6. "Yup! No one was using this room, anyway."
7. "All this space for just me?"
8. "My goodness!"
1. "Maybe around here."
2. "Hmm, let's see."
3. "Where are you gonna put grandpa's altar?"
4. "I'll let you read it later."
5. "Oh! My teacher liked the essay I wrote today."
6. "Okay. I can't wait."
7. "Really? That's wonderful."
8. When grandpa died a little while ago, grandma was all alone.
1. Her house was too much for just her...
2. So she came to live with us.
3. I was sad that grandpa was gone.
4. But at the same time, happy I got to live with grandma.
1. "I'll take attendance now."
2. And kids who'd stop coming at the start of a new year.
3. There were a few kids like that.
4. Kids who'd stop coming at the start of the term.
5. "Maeda-kun's never here, huh?"
6. "Right?"
1. But I saw maeda out shopping the other day and he seemed fine.
2. "Dunno."
3. "Bully-ing?"
4. I mean, he was the one who said hi to me.
5. "Say hello properly."
6. "Hey!"
7. "'Sup?"
8. He was with his mom.
9. Like every-thing was normal and he'd been at school this whole time.
1. "Hmmm."
2. "Weird, huh?"
3. "I wonder why, then."
4. "I suppose."
5. "Well, you never know what's going on at home."
6. "I'm glad you've..."
7. "Got lots of friends at school, eri. And that you're enjoying it."
1. I'm kinda freaked out that I don't know any of these people.
2. But the sailor uniform is really cute.
1. "Me neither."
2. "Not yet."
3. "Make any friends?"
4. "Morn- ing!"
5. "Morn- ing!"
6. "Bye!"
7. "Yeah!"
8. "Hopefully we'll meet up on the way home, too."
9. "See you!"
1. "Uh!"
2. "Um!"
3. "Walk home together today?"
4. "Would you..."
5. "Maybe want to..."
6. But...
7. "I thought, maybe we'll end up being friends?"
8. "I get that."
9. "I was worried I'd never make any friends."
1. "Actually... I'm going to walk home with them today."
2. "So, um."
3. "Oh. You are?"
4. I mean, it's fine, but...
5. "Ha ha!"
6. "Thanks for hanging out with me till now."
7. Looks like she's found some people she likes.
1. "She was just using you until she made some real friends."
2. "Hilari-ous."
3. "Yeah, looks like, huh?"
4. "Uh?"
5. "If we end up in the same class, do you want to walk home together?"
6. "Totally. She pulled that with me at the entrance exam."
7. "She must really hate being alone, huh?"
8. That's how I got to be friends with chie-chan.
9. "Ha ha ha!"
1. I also got friendly with chie-chan's friends.
2. "I'm glad you've..."
3. "got lots of friends at school, Eri."
4. Well, you know.
1. It's because I don't know him.
2. It's so much easier with a stranger...
3. When you're born and raised in a small town.
1. It wasn't just our group.
2. It was, I dunno...
3. All the groups.
4. Like we all thought the mix in our class was perfect.
1. Well. Maybe not everyone.
2. But I thought so, anyway.
3. Everything changed with the new school year.
4. "Another new class."
1. Even though my friends were there,
2. Class didn't feel the same anymore.
3. "I saw Maeda out shopping the other day..."
4. "and he seemed fine."
5. "How is maeda-kun doing?"
6. "I wonder..."
1. I want to see him.
2. I want to talk to him.
3. "I don't want to do anything."
4. "But..."
1. "It's extremely unfortunate."
3. "So what if, for instance, when they get married..."
4. "You have an older brother and an older sister, yes?"
1. "What the--?! You idiot!"
2. "Why'd you go and drop out?"
3. "Sorry."
4. "I mean, you can't quit, you dope!"
5. I hung out with chie-chan and them sometimes.
6. "Ha ha ha!"
7. "Anyway, let's all hang out."
8. "You've got all the time in the world now!"
1. But...
2. The reality of that got to me.
3. And I wasn't.
4. They were all changing.
5. "Like you're being left behind."
6. "Yeah, I get that feeling, maybe."
7. "So... You faded out."
8. "The truth is, time stopped for me, so..."
1. "Oh!"
2. "You need to get going soon, right?"
3. "Whoa! What..."
4. "Is she doing here?"
1. "Today's graduation, right?"
2. "It is."
3. "We do have them at our school."
4. "When I was a kid, we had a thank-you party. They still do that?"
5. "Or is it a regional thing?"
6. "Just a farewell party."
7. "What about your class, then?"
8. "But it depends on the grade and class."
9. "Hunh."
1. "Why? You look cute."
2. "Isn't this maybe over the top?"
3. "Heyyy?"
4. "Maybe I should just go to the principal's office."
5. "I dunno..."
6. "Mm."
7. "If that's what you want."
1. "Oh!"
2. "Ikka!"
3. "Yeah."
4. "I'm glad you came."
5. "Ohhh!"
6. "Yoshizumi-chan!"
7. "They say I can do the ceremony in the principal's office."
8. "So I was thinking of doing that."
9. "Huh?"
1. "If I could get all the parents to line up over here, please!"
1. "Egawa rumi."
1. "So they're not throwing a thank-you party this year?"
2. "Appar- ently."
3. "Right?"
4. "Honestly, I wish they would stop with the on-again-off- again of it."
5. "But, well, it'd be a no-go for okubo- sensei either way."
6. "Either do it every year or never."
7. "She's hardly speaking to me since all that."
8. "Speaking of awkward, my daughter ..."
9. "It would be awk- ward."
10. "Mm- hmm."
11. "Here!"
12. "Mana- chan?"
1. "Egawa-san..."
2. "What's done is done. And sensei made her decision."
3. "I've got a younger one, too, you know?"
4. "Yes! Exactly!"
5. "It'd be tricky if she was her teacher next."
6. "She was a good teacher, though, all things considered."
7. "Mana-chan will understand one of these days."
1. It's over...
2. "Congrat-ulations!"
3. "Thank you..."
4. "Now's the fare-well party?"
5. "Yes."
6. "Whoa. That's right."
7. "And today's the last day you'll be working as okubo-sensei."
1. It's strange.
2. I haven't been okubo for a while now.
3. But for those kids, I'll always be okubo-sensei.
5. "All of you did a great job today."
1. | Bonus Chapter |
3. Miyake Ayano edition #2
1. They were all so caught up in talking.
2. Thinking about it now, I probably could have snuck out of the classroom without anyone noticing.
3. And all the commotion was a bar too high for me to clear.
4. But I thought I had to raise my hand and tell the teacher...
5. "May I go to the washroom?"
6. "Sensei!"
7. I have to.
8. I have to tell her.
1. I'd reached my limit. My bladder released everything.
2. "I can't!"
3. Fortunately, nobody seemed to notice.
4. I ran home, escaping with the soaked cloth.
5. "Ayano-chaaan! Let's go..."
6. "Huh?"
7. I quietly cleaned up with a cloth.
8. "Okay, let's go together to the nurse's room."
9. "She has some extra underpants there. It'll be fine."
10. "Yua-chan had an accident."
11. "Sensei."
13. That day crosses my mind from time to time now that I teach second grade.
1. | Bonus Chapter |
2. I Want to Be an Adult
1. She'd peed her pants.
2. The puddle at her feet.
3. Okuidera-san's pale face.
4. While I had that thought...
5. She hurriedly took care of herself with a towel from her bag.
6. I would've asked the teacher for her.
7. If she'd said something to me...
8. "You've peed your pants before, right, okuidera-san?"
9. For making it out of such a tight spot all by herself.
10. I wanted to give her a high five or something...
1. Even though we're adults
3. Indecisive days...
4. The artist, completely burned out after a solo show
6. "Okay!"
7. "Just tidy up the magazines and boxes!"
8. "I can't find the energy to draw or do manga either."
9. "Boxes and magazines are piling up. My apartment's a mess and it's killing me."
10. "Mm-hmm."
12. "Basically, I'm a shell of a person. I can't get anything done."
13. I hadn't cleaned my apartment at all, but there was a lot more open space, and I felt better.
16. Anyway, I gathered up the magazines and broke down the boxes mindlessly.
17. "Huh?"
18. "Start with this one little thing!"
19. "Don't think about cleaning the whole place."
20. "Uh. Hmm. Yeah...?"
21. O-kura-san, s-moto-san, ishideden-san, everyone at kohei nawata design office, my editor u-mura-san
22. Thank you to all my readers!
