[Comprehensive] Kazuya's happy life

Strange.

Why did my brother react like this?

Is there something wrong with his previous statement?

A big question mark appeared in front of Kazuya.

"elder brother……?"

His puzzled look made Tatsuya's rare dignified expression froze for a moment, and then changed into a slight wry smile.

"I told you..."

He looked at Kazuya helplessly, "I thought you were going to say something, but it turned out to be this reason?"

"You think I'll believe it?"

"What is it 'I had a strange dream and woke up and found that I don't like Xiao Nan anymore'... Should I find a more credible reason?"

"Indeed, since last summer vacation, you have become a little bit wrong, but what is the reason for this? If you don't want to tell, I never ask."

"And... I always feel that this kind of change is not a bad thing for you. Compared with the previous appearance where you smiled at everyone and made it difficult to guess what you were thinking, now it doesn't matter if it's a bad-hearted, dark-hearted side. It's still the frank and gentle side, you show it to me openly, and you seem to be living a happier life."

"However, I can accept many other changes, only Xiaonan..."

"Kazuya, how long ago do you think I noticed that you looked at her differently from when you were a child?"

"What about the feelings that just sprouted not long before I had that dream... Do you think I will believe that?"

"..." Kazuya smiled wryly.

How should I put it?

His brother... is really not easy to fool.

——That's right, He also deliberately downplayed his feelings for Xiaonan.

Not to mention that the previous life was still unforgettable until his death. Just in the summer when he was 14 years old when he was just reborn, he had already noticed his mood early on, and he was no longer just looking at his childhood sweetheart. Eyes, looking at the girl who grew up together.

But no matter how deep the feelings are, they have already been wiped away by time and the various things that happened between the two of them that I saw with my own eyes during the ten years that I followed Tatsuya as a ghost. It has become a treasure that will never fade in memory. Although it is still engraved in my heart, it has not caused any waves.

So Kazuya believed that he hadn't lied to Tatsuya—wasn't he no longer in love with Xiaonan after waking up from that long "dream"?

It's a pity that Tatsuya is too keen, he noticed Kazuya's feelings too early, and Kazuya...can't just tell the bizarre experience of his two lifetimes combined.

So, things became what they are now.

He also raised his hand and rubbed his forehead with some headache.

"Well, even if I have concealed the depth of my feelings for Xiao Nan."

He raised his head, and met Tatsuya's gaze without hesitation:

"But that doesn't mean that what I said later was also a lie."

"My brother also said that if I don't want to say it, you don't ask. I admit that something happened at that time, and many of my thoughts began to change. So my brother said that he felt the change in me, which is indeed true. And The change in my feelings towards Xiao Nan is also one of the effects of that incident—I am not lying about this.”

"Why does my brother have to hold on to it? Does caring cause chaos?"

"I can't believe that I really don't like Xiao Nan anymore? I think I'm just like you, brother, in order to help my brother, so I endured it and chose to retreat without fighting?"

"...Kazuya!"

"really."

Seeing Tatsuya's reaction at this moment, Kazuya sighed deeply as expected.

"Brother, you have been like this since you were a child."

There was a subtle but clearly detectable tremor in Kazuya's voice, which showed how unsettled his mood was at this moment.

"Others say that Tatsuya of the Uesugi family is obviously the elder brother of 'that Kazuya', but he has no willpower and drive, can't do anything, and can't be compared with his outstanding younger brother. He is a boring and accomplished person."

"But I know brother you are not like that!"

"When I was young, no matter what I did, my brother always learned faster than me and Xiaonan. The first to learn to swim, the first to learn to throw... Even my mother said that among the three of us, the first to learn to speak, Also brother."

"I know how great my brother's talent is, and I also know that my brother is a bit lazy by nature, and because of various reasons, he has been unable to get motivated."

"It's not just Xiaonan, I'm also very unhappy to hear others comment on my brother like that."

"But I never criticized my brother's behavior at will. Because I know that my brother doesn't care about the opinions of outsiders at all. You have always lived freely and willfully."

"If my brother thinks this is fine, then what position do I have to speak up and tell you 'this is right' and 'that's not okay'?"

"Even my parents didn't forcefully interfere with my brother's choice of lifestyle."

"However, sometimes I wonder, might my brother give up his favorite things for me?"

"Like... baseball?"

Having said that, Kazuya narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at Tatsuya who became a little stiff and uncomfortable after hearing his own words, his tone gradually became sharper:

"Brother, do you remember? The first time we 'played' pitching at Konan's request."

"My brother threw the ball into the little circle drawn on the wall, but I didn't."

"As a reward, Xiao Nan kissed my brother on the cheek."

Seeing that Tatsuya also remembered this memory because of his own telling, so his face was a little flushed, Kazuya smiled.

"Then it started to rain outside, brother, you all went back to the house. But I stayed in the yard alone and practiced hard in the rain until I could hit the target myself."

"At that time, brother was watching me from behind the window, right?"

"Then, when Xiaonan brought up the topic of baseball again, did my brother stop participating?"

"When I was in elementary school, I occasionally played catch and pitch games with me. Later, I joined the elementary school baseball club, so my brother stopped playing with me, right?"

"Because, from my brother's point of view, I was studying everything about baseball seriously and practicing hard and consciously. At first, it was because I wanted to win Xiaonan's attention from my brother through my excellent performance in baseball, right?"

"Actually... no."

——The moment he said those words, Kazuya let out a long breath.

During the long time spent alone more than ten years after his death, he finally recalled his original intention.

"Not for Xiaonan, not for anyone."

He stared straight at Tatsuya, and for the first time in front of this closest person, he confessed himself so frankly, "It's just because..."

"I... like baseball."

"I've known it since the first time I pitched. I love baseball, I want to play baseball, and if I can, I want to see it as a future career and pursue it for the rest of my life."

"But I was still a child at that time. The resentment after losing to my brother, the grievance and embarrassment when I saw Xiao Nan kissed my brother but not me... It's not just because I like Xiao Nan, but also Because, I don't want to lose to anyone in baseball."

"But I mistakenly thought that it was because I didn't want to lose Xiao Nan's attention. It was the same with Xiao Nan even after making an agreement to take her to Jiashiyuan."

"I always mistakenly thought that the reason I practiced so hard and desperately was because I remembered the promise I made with Xiao Nan when I was young."

"But actually...it's not."

"My favorite, from beginning to end, is baseball."

"—only baseball."

Slowly opening his eyes, he met Tatsuya's eyes again, whose expression had gradually become as calm as water at some point, and the corners of Kazuya's mouth were raised little by little, revealing a complicated and wonderful smile——

"If my brother has to ask, this was the biggest change I made last summer."

"I finally... realized what I really wanted."

"So my brother wonders why I used that kind of bet to draw you into the baseball club?"

"That's because I know that with my brother, Ming Qing has the possibility to compete for the national championship."

"Because I know that my brother is a talented person."

"Because I know that my brother also likes baseball."

"Because I know that if I go alone... no matter how far I go on this road, I will not be truly satisfied."

"So I pulled you along."

"It's fine as a partner, if one day in the future, if my brother is like me, determined to make baseball his life's career, and the two of us enter different teams, and we will go on opposite paths from now on, and become rivals. "

"I...want to play baseball with my brother."

"It's that simple."

And also stopped talking.

He just looked at Tatsuya quietly.

In the dim light of the street lights, the young man who lowered his head slightly could not see the expression on his face clearly.

Ke He also felt extremely relaxed.

Finally... it came out.

He wanted to convey these words to Tatsuya since his previous life.

It's a pity that at that time he didn't speak out until the end.

It would be great if... it would be great if I could say it earlier like this time.

That way, even if he dies, he won't leave such regrets for his brother.

He will never forget the whisper that Tatsuya blurted out when he was standing on the field of Koshien and throwing the last ball——

"I wish... Kazuya was here too."

He said loudly in his ear, I am here!I'm here, brother!

However, Tatsu couldn't see him either.

Can't hear him either.

His clumsy, dishonest, gentle brother.

Obviously won the final, holding the trophy, even if we cried, the tears that fell should be happy tears, but it seemed that the night when he learned of his death, in the room of the two of them, he threw himself on his bed and cried bitterly to the sound of classical music It was the same at that time, crying so hoarsely, it hurt my heart.

——He kept calling Kazuya's name in his mouth.

And also smiled again.

"Trust me, brother?"

He stretched out his right hand to Tatsuya who was still standing there with his head bowed. The expression on his face was calm and peaceful.

In response to him, Tatsuya rushed over and slammed a fist on his shoulder:

"nonsense!"

At this moment, the eyes of the two brothers finally met again. On Tatsuya's face, Kazuya saw what he was looking forward to—relief, touch, and high spirits...

The starlight in the sky and the lights on the ground intertwined in the night, stretching the shadows of the two brothers on the ground indistinctly.

For a moment, the boundary between the two figures seemed to disappear suddenly.

They blend into each other so intimately and seamlessly.

It's like... It should have been the posture at this moment.

"Brother, shall we go home?"

"……Um."

In the wind, there are gentle whispers that are gradually going away. The summer night is short and long.

——The summer belonging to the teenagers is far... not over yet.