My Sun and Your Star (GL) - Episode 12

I couldn’t sleep… The clock hand was pointing to one.

Even though I had school tomorrow, I was going to end up unable to get up. That anxiety just made it even harder to fall asleep.

It wasn’t that something bad happened keeping me awake. My heart was just racing so much from today’s events that I couldn’t sleep.

It had been a long time since something like this happened.

Endo-san said she’d make omurice for me as a thank you.

Omurice was my favorite food.

When I was little, my mom often made it for me on days I studied hard. But now, I can no longer remember the taste of my mom’s omurice.

It’s been years since I’ve had my mom’s omurice.

This feeling of not even knowing what I used to like made me anxious, so I decided to go to an omurice restaurant with Mai.

The restaurant’s omurice was delicious, but it made me even less able to remember the taste of the omurice my mom made for me.

My favorite omurice.

Human memory has many vague parts, and the things we forget far outweigh what we remember. My mother’s omurice had simply melted away into one of those forgotten things.

“Hoshizora, you don’t look so good, are you okay?”

Mai was looking at me worriedly, so I felt bad and gave her a smile.

“I was just surprised by how good it was.”

“Getting so surprised your face turns pale is so like you, Hoshizora.”

Mai giggled.

Another thing I liked was gone. I’d probably never remember it again in my life. Thinking that made my chest feel tight.

Yet another reason tethering me to this world had disappeared.

That happened last week, and even though I was utterly sick of omurice, I ended up being pressured by Endo-san into coming over for dinner.

I was brought to a detached house that was far too large for one person to live in.

I had heard from Mai that Endo-san lived alone, so as I stepped inside, I was dismayed, thinking Mai had lied to me. But I soon realized that thought was mistaken.

A photo of a young man and woman was displayed on the Buddhist altar. The man had a gentle face, and the woman had facial features that looked very much like Endo-san.

After I stared at it for a while, Endo-san told me they were her deceased parents. It’s probably not good to pry into people’s family situations, and I don’t like being asked about mine either, so I decided not to ask anything further.

“I’m going to make omurice now, you don’t dislike it, right?”

Of all things, the menu was omurice.
There was no way I could refuse, so I just answered, “Yeah.”

Even though she was going to the trouble of making it for me, remembering the incident from before made my stomach hurt. Being here, all sorts of emotions get mixed up and I feel like I’m becoming a mess. Just like the eggs Endo-san is melting right now.

Because of Endo-san, I remembered the omurice my mom used to make. On the yellow omelet, she would often draw a cute bear picture with ketchup, and I would happily eat it.

I ended up remembering another unpleasant memory.

I should stop thinking about gloomy things. I shook my head vigorously, trying to shake off the bad memories.

There was something else bothering me. The fact that I had to continue teaching Endo-san from now on.

I didn’t mind it, but I thought Endo-san would probably want to thank me every time I taught her. I’m not teaching her expecting anything in return, so I was also worrying about what would be a good way to handle it.

At first, when she asked me to teach her, I thought she was just making fun of me. However, Endo-san focused on studying more than I expected, and her grades, which were below average in school, improved so much that she ranked in the top thirty.

I wondered what reason drove Endo-san so much.

As I was thinking about that, Endo-san finished cooking and walked over.

I couldn’t help but blink at the omurice on the plate Endo-san brought.

It looked just like the omurice you get at restaurants.

Just like you see in videos, Endo-san cut the middle of the omelet, and a fluffy, barely-held-together, runny omelet spilled out.

I gulped and reached my spoon towards the omurice.

The egg part was soft and runny. It was such a perfect shape that it felt almost wasteful to ruin it with my spoon.

When I scooped it with my spoon, the red omurice filling came out from inside.

That exquisite color combination whetted my appetite.

I brought the omurice to my mouth.

The perfectly runny egg and the omurice filling matched superbly, spreading happiness through my mouth.

As if someone was going to take it away, I kept shoveling it into my mouth.

The omurice Endo-san made tasted far more delicious and had a kinder flavor than any omurice in my memory.

If possible, I wanted to eat it forever.

There, I returned to reality, realizing I had been too focused on eating, and looked at Endo-san.

Our eyes met, and I could see her cheeks soften slightly.

“Was the taste okay?”

It was really, really delicious, and I probably should have praised it a lot, but I couldn’t be honest. I ended up giving a bland, unenthusiastic reply like “It was alright,” and I regretted it a little.

Endo-san started to get up, probably to begin washing the dishes.

My thanks…

I have to say it properly…

I regretted once again how I had avoided getting involved with people until now.

At times like these, I wish I could be honest and say things like, “It was delicious,” or “I want to eat it again,” with a smile, but for the current me, it feels more difficult than bungee jumping.

“…Endo-san, thank you for the meal. Thank you.”

That was the best expression of gratitude I could muster right now.

I didn’t know what Endo-san thought of me, and I ended up looking down. Endo-san started washing the dishes without saying anything.

Time passed in the blink of an eye, and the clock hand was approaching ten o’clock.

Even though she lives alone, I thought staying too late would be a bother, so I got ready to leave.

‘It was delicious.’ I at least wanted to tell her that. If I said it right as I left, she probably wouldn’t get a good look at my face.

“—It was delicious.”

Without even looking at Endo-san’s face, I said that and hurried to leave. But, Endo-san stopped me.

She suddenly hugged me from behind, making my heart jump. I was about to shake her off immediately, but I felt like Endo-san’s body was trembling, so I couldn’t.

“Come again to eat.”

Hearing that, my heart leaped at the thought that I might be able to eat it again. But, I didn’t want to make promises about an uncertain future, and I didn’t want to get my hopes up either.

“Maybe, if I feel like it.”

I said that to avoid letting her expect anything, and to avoid expecting anything myself.

Endo-san’s omurice was delicious.

My mom doesn’t make omurice for me anymore, and she probably won’t make it for me in the future either.

But, my favorite food is still omurice, and I found myself thinking that I wanted to eat Endo-san’s omurice again.

As I was thinking back on today’s events, I must have fallen asleep, and it was morning before I knew it.

Endo-san is beautiful, popular at school, good at sports, decent at studying, and good at cooking.

She’s so perfect it almost makes me jealous.

But, in front of her friends, she puts on a smile and hides her true nature. So I thought she must actually be a scheming person.

However, her cooking yesterday was heartwarming.

Thinking that it would be nice if I could eat it again someday, I headed to school again today.