Sumi de ii desu. Kamawanaide kudasai - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The beginning: 2 years worth of months and days 4

On the way back to the room after practice was over, the sunset I saw from Oyaji-sama’s house was a sinister orange-yellow color. Was there going to be rain? Or perhaps even thunder during the night?
I could feel the heavy, humid air on my skin.

At times like this, I head straight for Shuusui. I say head for, but we’re all in the same room, so I’m really just going back to my room, but.

When I reached the room, Nagikaze and Shuusui were laying out the futon before supper.

“Shuuuuusuuuiiii—”
“What”
“Let’s bury ourselves in our blankets today”
“…….”
“With everyone”
“…..—–”

It was in the dead of night, about two months after I had entered Amatsuki Brothel.
A time when the thunder had continued for a few days straight.

Rumble rumble….
Flash!

It was the first thunder I’d heard since I’d come here.

After finishing taking a bath and getting ready for bed, I was laying out the futons in Shuusui and I’s room without paying any particular attention to the thunder.
As I moved my hands, humming, my thoughts drifted more and more towards complaining, starting from ‘wonder which brother I’ll be with tomorrow—’ to ‘when are they finally gonna stop catching me in the bath—’ to finally ‘Jyuugi nii-sama is really persistent.’

Shuusui was beside me, setting out the futons, but since a little while before I haven’t heard the sounds of the futon moving, rubbing across the tatami.
Hm? I turned around to look,

“……..”
“?”

For some reason he isn’t moving.
Holding the comforter, he sat on the tatami, not moving a muscle.

W, what’s wrong?
Did I do something to make him mad?
Ah, maybe that was it…the humming? Was it the humming that was bad….? Maybe it was a noise so unpleasant he couldn’t handle hearing it.

So much that he froze up like that.

“The humming?”
“…………….”
“Heeeeeey,”

It was really really weird. Even though I was talking to him, there was no response at all.
It was kind of like he was dead even though he was living. Even peering at his face, I couldn’t tell where he was looking.
A Noh mask? Kind of like that. 
However, I could see his eyes shake whenever he heard the thunder. So that means he’s scared of thunder, right?

But normally, if you were scared of thunder, you could just cover your ears with your hands, so why didn’t he?

C, could it be he was so afraid that he couldn’t even move his hands?!
Jeez….what a hopeless guy.
Oh, seems like I’m not the hopeless one today. Heheheh.

“You’re a hopeless guy”
“….”
“I’ll cover them for you”

Kneeling in front of Shuusui, who was still holding his comforter, I covered up his ears with my palms.
Either that it wasn’t a bother, or that he was too afraid, Shuusui didn’t get mad at me, so I was relieved.

But Shuusui’s eyes. It seemed like he couldn’t see me right in front of him, like the things in his field of view didn’t exist.
What’s up with that.

…His field of view…Maybe seeing the lightning was bad too.
Ah, then maybe covering him with the blanket would be good. It’s time for bed anyway, and with the effect of blocking out his vision and muffling the sound, it’s three birds one stone!

“A-aall righty”

Whoosh

With that, I covered both Shuusui and myself with the blanket I was holding.
Of course, I didn’t forget to cover his ears even after being covered with the blanket. This was the most important point.

But Shuusui still didn’t move. Even though I’ve been moving around so busily around him. Well, for the time being, there was the futon beneath us, so let’s just sleep today. Still kneeling though.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..ah. my legs… going numb…. uuu….going…numb—-

The next morning.
It seemed that we had been sleeping while using each other as body pillows, just like two koalas hugging each other.
But that’s good. Seemed like he was able to sleep after all.

“What are you doing”
“I thought, that it would be pretty scary…”
“………”

This was the first thing Shuusui said after waking up. You’re making it sound like I attacked you in your sleep, so please stop.
Shuusui’s brow furrowed after I said that he might be afraid of thunder.

“It’s all right now. You don’t have to do this kind of thing from now on,”
“….got it.”

Seems like I made him mad.
But it looks like he understood what I was doing.

But it was thundering again today too.
I wasn’t sure if he was bracing himself, since when he was with the brothers he wouldn’t freeze up; but the moment he went back to the room he came to a standstill.

He had told me that I didn’t have to do anything, so for now I decided to leave the Shuusui who had frozen up without getting his futon ready alone and go to bed.

“………..”
“………..”

But it really gave me the creeps.


Well, if you asked me what was wrong about it, I couldn’t answer. Shuusui who was sitting in the corner of the room was kind of like a zashiki-warashi(rare note at bottom! think of them as lil mischievous spirits for now) which was kind of creepy.
And when I peeked out from under my blanket, once again it was that Noh mask face.

Scary!!Just what had happened to this kid?!!

But, leave him be, leave him be. The person himself told me not to bother so I should just let him do as he wants. I had made him mad just this morning, and even though he’s still small he probably still has that ‘man’s pride’? He’d gone that far to ignore my goodwill, so it’s best not to get involved. ….it’s best to………..

“A-aall righty!”

Whoosh

While covering us with the blanket, I covered Shuusui’s ears with my hands.

“……….”
“Heeeey,”

Once again, it seems like he doesn’t notice me.
Even though I’ve been jostling him around so much, no reaction at all.

But, since he doesn’t notice, even if I do this right now he can’t get mad at me.
In the end, doing this is better for my heart’s ease, and so I’ll take advantage of the fact that Shuusui doesn’t respond to cover his ears and vision and go to sleep.
Though all night is impossible since I’ll fall asleep.

Today there isn’t a futon underneath so it hurts.
Tomorrow I’ll probably be covered in marks from the tatami.

Ouchy ouch–.  …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………ah , ,, nu, numb———

The next morning.
For some reason we had become a T. The horizontal line was me and the vertical line was Shuusui.
I have no idea what happened, but I had come out of the futon and ended up near his head.

“You….”
“Yes!”


“Don’t do it again”
“Yeees!!”

But, ultimately.
____________________________
___________________
_________…………

“It doesn’t seem like the thunder’s going to end any time soon, huh”
“Hey, Ran-chan get over there farther!”
“I’m already half out of the blanket!!”

Tonight, dragging in Nagikaze and Rangiku, we all crawled into one futon. It’s somehow kinda fun.
Incidentally our pajamas all indigo inner kimonos, all matching together.
Heheh, the four siblings.

“Nogiku, you’re over here”
“Wah, hoh,”

While laughing while being yelled at by Rangiku, I was pulled from inside the futon, and a Shuusui?-like person made me into their body pillow.
And then, near my ear, I could hear a sigh, along with laughter.

“…This day has gotten just a grain of sand more fun”
“Grain of sand….”

Meaning just a very very small amount, I guess.
Well, for something that you’re that afraid(?) of, even with two or three years it’d be difficult to conquer it so there’s no helping it.

Since that time, once again the next morning Shuusui threw words of refusal at me, warning me about interfering, but somewhere along the way he had stopped saying that sort of thing. He probably had given up.

But, I’d like for you to imagine a child with a Noh mask face sitting in the corner of the room.
Would you really be able to sleep?

“But, you sleep all over the place.”

My apologies.