Tonari no Seki no Satou-San chapter 22

Here is chapter 22. No funny titles this time. Enjoy.

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Title:The candy Satou-san gave me

With a thump, I get a tap on my shoulder from my right side. I know who’s there, so I slowly turn my gaze to her.

Her hair was tied in a knot and she had an innocent smile. Satou-san was there, completely unchanged.

“Hey, Yamaguchi-kun. Do you want some candy?”(S)

She is holding a bag of candy.I caught a glimpse of her handing them out to other kids earlier. I thought maybe she’d want to share them with me, and she really did. Satou-san likes to share, you know.

“It’s strawberry milk flavored, I’ll give it to you if you want.”(S)

The name of the product is written on the front of the bag, but she goes to the trouble of explaining what you would know if you just looked at the wrapper.

“Thank you. I’ll take it”(Y)

Satou-san puts her fingers in the bag of candy, picked one and tried to remove it.

That’s when the bus jolted.

“Ah.”(S)

The candy that Satou-san picked up falls to the floor with a thud. It rolls and stops at my feet.

“I’m sorry, Yamaguchi-kun.”(S)

“It’s okay. I’m fine.”(Y)

She has always been this clumsy. I’m used to it.

I’m glad it’s still individually wrapped candy. I bent over in the shaking and picked up the candy that had fallen to the side of my shoe. And then I told Satou-san again.

“Thank you for this.”(Y)

“Oh, no. I can’t give you the one I dropped.”(S)

Quickly, Satou-san shook her head, but the bag of candy in her hand still had a lot of it in it, and it was dangerous to look at. It would be unbearable if she repeated the process. So it’s okay, I shook my head back.

“It’s okay, it’s all wrapped up.”(Y)

I then peeled off the film of the packaging and threw the candy that appeared into my mouth.

It tasted just as sweet as I expected, strawberry milk.

“Sorry. I’ll be more careful next time.”(S)

Satou-san smiled and leaned back against the backrest as she clasped her hands together. The auxiliary seat she was sitting in didn’t look comfortable, creaking every time the bus rocked.

　We are now in Hokkaido.The 4-day school trip had finally begun. After we overheard the farewell speech, we boarded the plane and landed at the airport, and then we got on the bus. We were surprised by the chilly weather in Hokkaido, but everyone seemed to be enjoying the trip. The same goes for Satou-san. She has been in a good mood for a while now, smiling and jubilant, and giggling with the girl to her right. She seems to be enjoying himself.

I’m not in the mood to frolic. I don’t want to look like a child, so I’m not going to make a fuss like an idiot. The air in Hokkaido, the clear blue sky, a reasonably beautiful bus guide, and the tight schedule of the school trip were all fun, but not something to be excited about. I’m sure Satou-san is a lucky person. She’s more excited than anyone else and tries to enjoy the bus ride to the fullest. Even idle chatter with the girl next to her looks like she’s having a great time. It’s a little annoying when I hear them chattering away, and I almost laugh with them too. Come to think of it, I wonder if she was able to talk to my friend in Hokkaido afterwards. She said something so uncharacteristically negative about how it would be nice if they could meet by chance, but it would be nice if they could make a good visit. I don’t know the details, but it’s too far for a high school student to get to Hokkaido from where we live. I think we rarely see each other except at times like this, and Satou-san wanted to see me so badly.

Suddenly, the microphone turned on, and there was a grating sound. ‘You will soon see the clock tower to your left’. A beautiful bus guide, who looked to be in her early twenties, indicated the left side with a hand loaded with white gloves.

So we looked out the window in unison. Before we knew it, the bus was in the middle of the building district, and we could see the white clock tower that we’d only seen in pictures in the area of hotels and tall buildings.

“Ah, the clock tower,”(S)

Next to me, Satou-san raised her voice softly. Gently glancing to the side, I saw Satou-san in an auxiliary seat right next to me, blinking at the scenery outside the window. With an open-mouthed expression on her face, she’s staring at the scenery as it flows by. How could she be so absorbed in it? I don’t have that much of a care about it. I had been stealing glances at Satou-san’s profile for a long time, half in disgust and half in admiration. ‘Do you all know what year that building over there was built?’ As the bus guide begins to explain the clock tower over the microphone, everyone’s faces and gaze return to the front. Satou-san, turns toward us as well, nodding her head as she listens to the explanation with a serious look on her face.

It is doubtful that she could know what year it was built, or that it is a historical building, when it is explained to her. After all, this is Satou-san. If she could remember with this level of explanation, he would have gotten a better grades. But it’s the same for me. I didn’t even look at the clock tower, and I didn’t listen to the explanation. It’s not that I wasn’t interested, but I was more interested in watching Satou-san’s face. It would be rude to call it interesting. But it’s true. I really don’t get tired of watching her. I see her at school all the time, and she’s not particularly pretty or beautiful, but it’s strange.

Satou-san suddenly turned to me.

“Hey, Yamaguchi-kun.”(S)

We were closer than we were in the classroom. She whispered , not caring that I was startled by her gaze.

“You saw the clock tower, didn’t you?　It was just like I told you, wasn’t it?”(S)

The bus guide was still explaining things. So I nodded vaguely, not saying it aloud.

“It was tiny and really cute.”(S)

Satou-san says sincerely. She may not be able to remember when it was built or what it was for, but she will never forget what the clock tower looked like when it was built. 

All I remember is the expression on Satou-san’s face. All I remember is the detailed data I saw on the school trip bookmarks and the clock tower I saw in the photos. Satou-san’s face was so interesting that I didn’t have time to look at the scenery. I see her face every day, so why is it that I am looking now? The candy is melting in my mouth. The spreading sweet and gentle taste made me find another thing I’m not likely to forget.

The sweetness of the strawberry milk, the clock tower we missed, and then Satou-san’s profile. It was all in one memory.

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