いとしいこと

Previous   TOC   Next It was past ten at night. Since leaving the coast, they had driven along the shoreline for what felt like forever, then had a late dinner at a family restaurant. After that, Omiya had taken the wheel. They’d stopped a few times along the way, but for a beginner, he had driven alone for quite a while, and he looked tired. That was proof enough that when Omiya offered to switch drivers, Kitazawa nodded without protest. Perhaps it was the full stomach, or perhaps it was the release from the tension of unfamiliar driving, but Kitazawa began nodding off in the passenger seat. They returned to the bookstore after about an hour, yet he showed no sign of waking. Since he always walked to work, his apartment couldn’t be far, though Omiya didn’t know exactly where. He pulled into the far corner of a convenience store parking lot on a back street and waited for him to wake up. He gazed at the sleeping face faintly illuminated by the store’s lights. With his eyes clo...

Previous   TOC   Next Omiya had gotten his driver’s license fifteen years ago. He’d taken it in the summer of his first year at university and bought a used car almost immediately. Since then, he had all but forgotten what a beginner’s driving could be like. Sure, the gear shift in this car was beside the steering wheel, different from the cars at driving school, but it was still an automatic. There was no need for complicated gear changes while driving. So, he hadn’t been particularly worried about the younger man’s driving… at least, not until they actually got in the car. For a beginner, clumsy braking was inevitable, and Omiya could accept that much. But once they pulled out onto the national highway, he found himself clutching the assist handle above the window in the passenger seat, and unable to let go. “K–Kitazawa.” “Mm? What?” Having gotten behind the wheel of the car he’d wanted for so long, his mood was buoyant. “I’ve been wondering for a while now… do you ever look...