The girl of my first love, whom I met again after seven years. I’m falling in love with you for the second time. - CH 11

Chapter 11: Hiroto and Haruka (Part 3)

Haruka and I were both in the second grade of elementary school.

Haruka and I were always together, and when we weren’t, we both had things to learn.

Haruka learned the violin from my mother, Mai Yoshizumi, while I learned the piano from my father, Renji Yoshizumi.

“Watch and follow along carefully.”

My father showed me an example over and over again so I could understand.

“It’s fine if you make mistakes. Play it slowly.”

“Yes.”

I constantly made the same mistakes, but my father never got mad and continued to gently teach me.

My father was handsome and tall. Even our teacher told us, “You have a cool father.” and it made me happy to hear that from so many people.

But, I knew an even cooler side of him.

My father played piano in an orchestra.

He wore a black suit over his white clothes, and parted his hair so it wouldn’t get in the way.

My mother loved him and would smile when I told her, ”I want to be like Dad when I grow up!”.

At the same time, Haruka was practicing violin with my mother.

My mother also played in the same orchestra as my father, as a violinist.

“Haruka, you played well! Did you enjoy it?”

“Yes, I love the violin! It’s so fun!”

When Haruka was with me, she was cute and laughed often.

But when she was playing the violin, she always had a serious expression on her face.

We would practice at the same time, and if one of us finished before the other, we would wait for the other to finish, and then walk home together.

Usually, Haruka had long hair that would cover most of her face. But during violin practice, she would tie it up in a ponytail. I could see her cute face clearly.

I don’t see Haruka’s hair in a ponytail often, so when I told her, “It looks like the tail of a horse.”, she got angry. But even an angry Haruka was adorable.

When I saw Haruka’s serious expression while playing the violin, I felt a strange feeling in my heart. I didn’t know what it was.

But, there was one thing that I know for certain.

I still love you, Haruka.

“Can anyone solve this problem?”

“”…””

We were in math class, the teacher asked if anyone knew the answer to the question on the board. It was a difficult question, so the class remained quiet. I wasn’t sure about the answer to the question either.

The teacher then called on me, “Hiroto-kun, could you write the answer on the board? It doesn’t matter if it’s wrong”.

I walked to the front of the classroom and put my answer on the board.

“Excellent! You got it right, Hiroto. You seem to be studying very hard.”

I went back to my seat and the teacher continued to write questions down on the board.

“Alright, let’s go around in the order of the seats for these questions. Haruka-kun, please come up and write your answer.”

Haruka seemed surprised when she was called, and gave me a troubled look. I smiled at her and nodded.

That seemed to give Haruka confidence, as she went up and wrote her answer on the board.

Haruka got the answer correct, as both me and her were studying hard at home together.

October came, and it was the day of Haruka’s birthday.

I wonder… if Haruka would be happy to see me?

On that day, I used my allowance and bought a gift for her without her knowing.

When I was choosing the gift, I felt uncomfortable because of all the girls around me. But then I thought of Haruka’s smile and I knew I had to pick the right gift.

“Happy birthday, Haruka-chan!”

“Yay! Can I open it?”

“Yes! Go ahead!”

I was nervous, I hoped my gift would make Haruka happy.

Haruka had a serious expression on her face as she opened it closely, trying hard not to tear up the wrapping paper.

“Woah! It’s so cute!”

Her serious expression quickly turned into a smile, which made me relieved and happy.

“Thanks, it’s a light blue hairband~”

Haruka loved the color of light blue, so when I saw the hairband with flower patterns on it, I knew it would fit Haruka perfectly. I was happy that she liked it.

Haruka, who was with me at school

Haruka, who was with me at home.

My favorite girl, Haruka.

At that moment, I never thought that the day would come that I wouldn’t be able to see her…