Utsukushii Kare/ My Beautiful Man [ENGLISH TRANSLATION]

Chapter-1; PART-10: He is Beautiful

         

                                     Translator: White Lotus

             

                                             ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈

In the third year of high school, Hira was assigned to a different class than Kiyoi and Shirota.

Additionally, Kiyoi and Shirota were put in separate classes, and after school, Hira frequently observed Kiyoi returning home with his new pals. Hira was by himself as usual, but since he'd always been alone, it might be considered that everything was in order.

Although Hira was content that his last year of high school had started off peacefully like a tranquil sea, he still yearned to return to his sophomore year, to the time when he could see Kiyoi every time he went to school.

Naturally, Kiyoi never called or texted Hira. And even if he died, Hira wouldn't dare to contact him. The fact that Kiyoi's class was at the end of the corridor made the possibility of them occasionally running into each other incredibly slim.

Perhaps they wouldn't have any more opportunities to see each other alone. Before he realized it, he once again found himself wishing for a sickeningly sweet couple on the train to explode.

So, on Wednesday, the last week of April, when he bumped into Kiyoi at the entrance after school, Hira was so excited by Kiyoi's fleeting glance towards him that he almost felt as though he had been flying to heaven. Kiyoi placed the shoes he had in his hand back into the shoe box, and Hira, as if in a dream, followed him to the music room.

Hira was able to meet him only once, in April. It also happened only once in May. In June, just as Kiyoi was about to cast a glance his way, a girl from the same grade showed up and wrecked everything, and then their summer vacation got under way.

――I wonder when we'll see each other again.

――I don't know if I'll ever get to see you again.

Being excruciated by undue expectations and melancholy, Hira ran between home and cram school to prepare for the entrance exam while listening to the cacophony of cicadas*. He intended to enroll in a university in Tokyo. Given that it was within commuting distance of his house, Hira didn't think there would be any dramatic changes.

(T/N: *In Japan, cicadas are considered a symbol of summer. They’re often used in Japanese media to indicate the hot, humid Japanese summers, similar to how cherry blossoms represent the beginning of spring. Cicada season in Japan seems to be best from June to September, peaking in August. If you visit Japan during the summer, you will hear the very loud song of the Japanese cicadas everywhere. For Japanese people, this sound is a pleasing symbol for summer, even though they call it the ”cicada drizzle,” meaning that when the cicadas cry all together, it sounds like falling rain. When the cicadas’ voices become fainter, you know that the end of summer is near.)

Hira once again went to the fireworks event where he had been given an order to occupy a spot last year, thinking that he might be able to see Kiyoi; however, other than just experiencing anthropophobia*, it was all for naught. Last year, later on, he was sent to a restaurant to reserve seats shortly after the fireworks event started, and as a result, he was not able to see the fireworks properly, but this year he finally got to see them. The massive, luminous flowers were blooming* in the night sky. Yet Hira wasn't particularly happy; instead, he felt so strongly the absence of Kiyoi that he wished the summer vacation would end soon.