メロウレイン / Futtara Doshaburi Mellow Rain
Words
When Hiiragi returned from his part-time job, he heard someone speaking inside Kazuaki’s room.
The door had been left open, so he quietly peered inside. Kazuaki was on the telephone.
“…As I’ve already told you several times, I’ve turned down your offer.”
His voice sounded unusually irritated. Perhaps not quite angry, but certainly exasperated. Maybe it’s something important.
Hiiragi hurriedly moved to close the door, but Kazuaki noticed him and turned around, gesturing that he could leave it open.
“Why? Because it’s a nuisance. You know perfectly well what I’m like. In any case, I don’t want to do it.”
Having delivered that declaration in one breath, Kazuaki ended the call.
“Welcome home.”
His voice immediately returned to its usual gentle tone.
“I’m home. Is everything all right? That phone call…”
“Sorry. I’d intended to finish the conversation before you got back.”
“That’s fine, but it sounded as though you were dealing with something.”
“It’s nothing particularly important.”
Kazuaki pushed his hair back with a small sigh.
“Someone’s been asking me to hold a solo exhibition. I was just refusing.”
“That sounds incredibly important!”
“It’s not quite what you’re imagining. I’ve accumulated a considerable number of pieces over the years, so they suggested arranging them into a product-design exhibition and selling anything that’s still in stock. Don’t imagine anything grand enough to be held in a museum. It would be more like a reasonably spacious gallery or showroom.”
Either way, it was a world far removed from anything Hiiragi knew.
“But you turned them down?”
“If I’m going to do it, there’ll be all sorts of things to think about, like the interior layout and how the exhibits should be arranged. I’d probably need to spend a fair amount of time at the gallery while it’s running, too. It’s simply too much trouble.”
“But it would be a lovely way to commemorate your work.”
Hiiragi knew perfectly well that Kazuaki wasn’t the sort of person who would be swayed by the idea of commemorating something.
Nevertheless, he continued.
“Besides, once your products sell out, they disappear from the website, don’t they? I’d really like to see the things you made years ago. And Vostok doesn’t have its own shops, so I imagine anyone who wants to see the actual products normally has to visit different independent retailers. I’m sure people would love having everything displayed together.”
Of course, Hiiragi was merely expressing his personal feelings. He hadn’t intended to persuade Kazuaki to change his mind. But Kazuaki nodded seriously.
“I see.”
“If that’s what Hiiragi thinks…”
“Eh?”
Before Hiiragi could say anything else, Kazuaki picked up his mobile and made a call.
“About what we were discussing earlier…”
“I’ve decided to accept after all. …No particular reason. I’ve simply changed my mind. Why should that matter? I’d appreciate it if you’d stop prying into my private affairs… What?”
Kazuaki fell silent.
His expression became noticeably severe.
He looked frustrated, almost resentful.
Hiiragi began to panic, uncertain whether he ought to interrupt and tell him that it was fine, that he didn’t have to force himself.
Then Kazuaki released an enormous sigh, almost like a curse, and pressed his fingers against the space between his eyebrows.
“…Would you please arrange a solo exhibition for me? I’m asking you.”
Whoever was on the other end seemed to burst into loud laughter. Hiiragi could actually hear it through the phone. It didn’t sound mocking. Rather, the person seemed genuinely and helplessly amused, and strangely enough, Hiiragi didn’t find it unpleasant.
Kazuaki, however, lowered his voice by an entire octave.
“Are you satisfied now?”
“Yes, fine. We can discuss the details another day. Goodbye… And that’s none of your business.”
He ended the second call.
“You’ll pay for that,” he muttered.
It was an unusually threatening remark, and not at all like Kazuaki.
“Eh? What happened?”
“Nothing… The person who handles my business arrangements said that after repeatedly suggesting the exhibition and being rejected so coldly every single time, they weren’t prepared to accept I’ve changed my mind as an explanation. They insisted I show a little humility and actually ask them properly.”
“So that’s why you were asking so politely.”
“I was made to.”
“Sorry. It’s because I interfered… But that person wasn’t being serious, were they?”
Even though Kazuaki looked thoroughly displeased, Hiiragi could tell there was no genuine anger or humiliation behind it.
“That person treats practically everything as a joke. They spent quite some time trying to find out what sort of magic had managed to change the mind of a stubborn old mule like me.”
“But you two get along well, don’t you?”
“What makes you think that?”
“Just a feeling.”
“Nothing gets past you, does it, Hiiragi?”
Kazuaki gave a wry smile but didn’t deny it.
Having discovered how easily Kazuaki would grant his wishes with just a few words, Hiiragi reflected that he really ought to be more careful about what he said.
And yet, only a few hours later, he made exactly the same mistake again.
“You’re going to be busy from now on.”
“I suppose I am.”
The reason Kazuaki refused things on the grounds that they were troublesome was because once he accepted a responsibility, he was incapable of doing it half-heartedly.
He would undoubtedly obsess over every detail, eliminate compromises wherever possible, and devote as much time and effort as necessary until he had achieved a result that satisfied him.
While relaxing comfortably in Kazuaki’s arms, Hiiragi found himself wondering whether moments like this might become scarce.
Nothing had even been properly arranged yet, and already he was imagining it.
And so he murmured without thinking,
“I’m going to get lonely…”
“I see. All right.”
Kazuaki reached for his mobile on the bedside table.
“I’ll turn it down after all.”
“Wah! No, no, no! Don’t! I don’t think they’ll forgive you this time even if you get down on your knees and beg!”