Episode 48 –  Mirei san’s Past

(Grandma Natsue POV)
“Hello.”
“Hello.”
When I first met Mirei a long time ago, she was only eight years old, but she looked elegant and mature, not energetic like her age.
“I admire your ability to greet people so well.”
“No.”
I thought all Tokyo children were this mature, but my husband, who was born in Tokyo, said he had never seen a child like her.

“Mirei is my successor.”
Mirei’s grandfather said so at a party of relatives.

I met Mirei again at her grandfather’s funeral after not seeing her for nearly 10 years since then.
Even then, she did not shed tears, and there was something that had not changed since then.

The relatives around me were on the grandfather’s side, but I did not think their ways were very good.

Finally, Takuya said, “I will take over the company, and you guys should stay out of Mirei’s business!”

(Masaya POV)
“Do you know President Takuya?”
She stopped
“Takuya took care of us for a time when we were in Tokyo.”
“I see…”
Seeing the unexpected connection, Grandma Natsue asked, “Can I tell you the rest of the story?” I shook my head.

(Grandma Natsue POV)
I became concerned that Mirei was not there, so I went outside and sure enough, there she was.
I stayed next to her for a while and unexpectedly asked her
“Would you like to come visit me?”
She said.
She was confused for a moment, but I said
“I want to visit you.”
She was happy to hear that.

I asked Takuya and his wife to let me take care of her during summer vacation for a month.
She came over, but…
At first, Sana didn’t seem to be getting along with Mirei, you know, she is the kind of person who wants to be told what to think.
One day, Mirei and Sana came home crying.
I asked them, When I asked them what was wrong, Mirei told Sana everything she had been thinking about, and when she heard it, she got sad and stopped crying, but Sana was still crying…

(Masaya POV)
Grandma Natsue was very lively as she talked like that. The atmosphere was different from when I first met her.
I felt that she was really thinking about Mirei san and Sana san

Then I asked her about her summer vacation at that time. I also learned a bit about another childhood friend of Sana’s, Kaoru-san. But…
“On the last day, the three of them were going around the stalls holding hands, and I thought that they must have become good friends.”
“Is that so?”
………… Eh? You held hands?
Is holding hands a sign of friendship in this part of the world?
Um… Mirei-san and Kaoru-san…?
Well…
I didn’t know what to say.
Even if I saw Mirei san holding hands with the opposite gender in front of me …… no, no, no…
Is this possibly going to be thought of as heavy…?

While I was thinking about that, Grandma Natsue said
“Mirei? You’re there, aren’t you? Come out.”
“Eh….”
Mirei san came out from behind the pillar.
“Well…”
“Mirei, shouldn’t you talk to Masaya-kun properly?”
“Y-yes…”
It was cute to see Mirei san looking dazed. If only I had my phone…