Tasty Sticks

"Oh, Grandpa ........."

She was so embarrassed that she turned her head to the side, blushing. Yes, I suppose it's even more so because the other party is the other party.

"Haruka-san, you didn't come all the way to the school to confirm such a thing, did you ......?”

“That's one reason.”

"What else?”

"I think I simply wanted to go for a drive or see Oojirou-kun and Lydia-chan's faces. And then there's work.”

I guess there's always talk about work.

I've been meeting deadlines, but I wonder if there were any inconveniences. Or did I finally get fired ......?

"I see. Well, um, ......, am I going to be cut off?”

"Get cut off? You didn't think you were going to be fired, did you? No, of course not. Oojirou-kun is excellent. I'd like to keep you around.”

..... It looks like I won't lose my job.

"I'm relieved to hear that. I don't want to be on the street yet, you know.”

"I'm sure Oojirou-kun will be fine. You have Lydia, right?"

Lida was confused when she was suddenly talked about. Could it be that the seat was so comfortable that she was half asleep? Her eyelids look a little heavy.

"...... Yes. I'm going to continue to support Oojirou.”

"What's the reason?”

"The reason?"

"I'd like to hear it now.”

"Because I like him. Isn't that enough ......?”

"Hmmm. ...... Seven points.”

Shame!

Haruka's grading of relationships is tough.

Lida's face turned serious, as if she was frustrated. ...... Well, you're not going to tell her, are you?

" It was ten years ago, when I was living in Russia.....”

"Yeah, yeah.”

“There was an ...... 'international mail' from Oojirou.”

"And then what?”

“…I found a letter and 77 Umaibōs in the box. That made me happy. --But I wondered why there were 77 of them. When I checked, I found out that it was Oojirou's birthday, which was funny, and from that point on, I've always been interested in him. ...... At the same time, I fell in love with Japan.”

“So, Oojirou-kun gave you such a wonderful gift.”

A gift. My memory is fuzzy now, but there was a time when I was looking at the world map and longing for Europe. So I was curious to see what the vast country of Russia was like.

So, I asked my father if there were any Russians among my acquaintances. And there he was. A distant relative.

At the time, I was just giving a gift to someone whose face I didn't even know, let alone the gender. I didn't know it was a girl.

But that person was "Lydia".

Such miracles and coincidences have come together to bring us to this point. I didn't think we would end up living together, but we did.

“I was all alone at the time. That's why I was so happy and moved by the gifts from Japan.”

"Yes. So, what was the content of the letter?”

"It's ...... When I was a child, I naturally couldn't read Japanese. But now I can usually understand it. I can't tell you the contents of the letter, because I want to keep it to myself.”

Apparently, Lida wants to keep the contents of the letter I sent her a long time ago to herself. Wait a minute, what did I write back then? Of course I can't remember. It was ten years ago. It's impossible.

"I'm curious. Oojirou-kun, can't you remember?”

"I'm afraid I can't help you."

"That's right. It was when you were a child. I guess the mystery of the letter is a lost cause."

Haruka had given up.

She didn't have a hobby of forcing herself to ask.

She is indeed a mature woman.

"Oh, Bentenjima!"

"We were just talking and it didn't take long. We're almost there.”

The drive was over.

We had a lot of fun talking about old memories.