Whispering You a Love Song ch64: Meetings, Farewells, and Regrets.

Dear Momoka,

I'm sorry for this sudden letter.
I just didn't have the courage to tell you in person,
so I've written you a letter instead.

The truth is
once I graduate high school,
I will be going overseas to study violin.

I have no idea
when I'll
be able to return to Japan.

This is something I decided for myself
so I can move towards my dream.

My only lingering regret
is you, Momoka.

The way things are right now,
I'll end up making you sad no matter what I do.

It's because you're so dear to me
that I don't want to lead you on
or tie you down.

...That's why...

...That's why I want to end my relationship as lovers with you here.

This is all
my own selfishness.

I'm sorry.

Those remaining days were bliss.

I'm a big fan of yours!

Eh?

That was
my first meeting with her.

Er...
Um...

You're...
a fan?
Of mine?
Yes!
Your performance today was wonderful!

That's amazing, Nee-san.
You've got yourself a fan at long last.
Hey~
Don't poke fun of me, Hajime!

Erm.
Thanks.
That makes me happy.

A-
Also,
um.
?

...

To Kyou-san

Here!

I-I'll
be sure to come
hear you again next time too!

Pya~

A love letter?

Haajiimee!
I told you not to poke fun!
Haha
Sorry.

So that girl today

from Momoka

was named Momoka, huh.

Hmm.
How was her letter?

How was it...?
Well, uh...

It had
some intense love in it?
The heck?

So it is a love letter after all?
Wrong!
Geez~

Here.
You read it.

p10

That really is some intense love...
Right?

A sixth grader, huh.
That's quite the cute fan you've made,
huh, Nee-san.

Yeah.
It's my first time receiving something like this,
so I'm feeling pretty chipper about it.

I hope we can meet again.

p11

K-
Kyou-san!
Hajime-san!

From then on,
Momoka would show up at every concert and recital Nee-san was taking part in.
She'd come say hi whenever she had time off from performing.

The way Momoka
was so awkward and blushed when she talked was really cute.

p12

It was pretty funny seeing her praise Nee-san from every angle.

As we got used to seeing her, I remember Nee-san's contests
becoming something to look forward to in a different way.

Momoka-chan.
Thank you for coming today.

Was my performance good?
Yes!
Today's performance
was really good!

p13

The song you played today
was my absolute favorite song.
Oh~

I was secretly hoping
that you might play it someday, and you really did...

I'm just
so happy right now.

Now that's
what I call love.
Ahaha...
Hearing that straight to my face is making me blush.

p14

I really
loved it!

...
The truth is...

The truth is...
I want to listen to it forever,
but it's a shame that I can only listen to it when there's a concert close by...

p15

I see...

In that case,
wanna come over to my place?

Eh?

...P-

p16

Pardon the intrusion...!

Come on in~

Since you said so many things today to make me happy,

p17

let me give you an encore
of today's performance.

p18

Th-
Thank you so much~

It's fine.
I'm filled with so much happiness today.

p19

You said
your house was pretty close by, right?

You know,
I do lessons at home after school,
so if you ever want to listen again, come on over.

A-

Are you sure!?
There you go, deciding things on your own again...

Don't blame me if Mom and Dad get mad at you for not taking your lessons seriously.
Don't worry.
I'll make sure to practice properly.

p20

Right,
Momoka-chan?

Yes!

And so,
Momoka, Nee-san
and I
began spending every day together.

True to her word,
Momoka came to listen to Nee-san's lessons every day.

p21

Whenever I got home from club activities,

those two would welcome me back.
At some point, it just felt natural to me.

Some time later, Momoka starting bring over some snacks she made at home.

p22

The three of us would snack on them after school.

Even on days off, we would make sure to find the time to hang out together.

Every day was fun, like we were a trio of sisters.

...No.

p23

In reality, I didn't think of us as sisters.

That girl was so cute and adorable
that I very much
did not think of her as a little sister.

Looking back on it,
it was probably then
that I fell in love with Momoka.

p24

Which made
what would happen a year later
a day I would never forget.

I'm home~

Yep.
Welcome back.

Huh?
No Momoka here today?
She said she had to leave early since her Mom's home today.

Ah.
She left some cookies.
Wanna eat?
I do.

p25

Alright.
These are my favorite.

Keep it in moderation, okay~
Mom's gonna flip again if you eat too much.

You can eat my side dishes, Nee-san.
Geez~
Don't ask the impossible~

Okay.
Let's eat.
Let's eat~

p26

They're good.

Um...
Say,
Hajime.
Hmm?

p27

Um.
Today...
um,
Momoka...
told me
she loves me.

What's this all of a sudden?
She's been saying that from the very start.
No...
Hmm~

She has, but it's not that.
Like I said...

p28

She likes me...
romantically.
...Y'know?

He-
Heh~
Is that so?

That's
a surprise.

p29

So...
what happened next?

Erm...
I haven't really looked at her in that light, but...

Um...

p30

I love Momoka.

I didn't hate the idea.
...So...

...So?

p31

Momoka and I
started dating.

...I see.

p32

Congratulations.
Is that what you're supposed to say
at times like these?

Thanks.

Man, I felt pretty on edge telling you about this, Hajime.

...Ah.
Sorry.
I forgot I had a mountain of homework today.

p33

I'd like to get it done before dinner, so I'll be heading back to my room for now.
Alright.
Okay~
Do your best!

p34

What
the hell?

You've got it so good...
Nee-san.

p35

Was I the only one who thought of us as a trio
when it was actually just a duo plus one?
Now that those two were dating,
I was sure
that our fun relationship would come to an end.

That's what I though.

But...

p36

Things ended up staying mostly the same
making me wonder if they really were dating.

Contrary to my worries,
those two wanted me to be with them.

p37

In fact, they got upset with me,
telling me not to be considerate
just because they were lovers.

As someone who's never had a lover,
it seems the intricacies of romance were somewhat complicated.

That's why,
despite the initial bewilderment,
we went back to our lives as a "trio".

p28

Whether it was after school
or on our days off,
if we had the time spare, we were spending it together.

Even if
we really were just a duo plus one,

p29

as long as the three of us could always have fun together...

p30

It took just one accident to put those days to an end.

Because of Nee-san's passing,
my family,
Momoka,
everything changed.

p31

To be honest,
I don't really remember what happened at the time.

After the funeral,

Amamiya Family

I wonder how long it was before I would reunite with Momoka...

Momoka...

Ah...

p32

Long time no see,
Hajime-chan.

...
Erm.
Um...
Thank you.

We haven't been able to see each other because of bad timing,
but I always knew you would come here.

I guess...
being at home alone...
really does make you think about a lot of things.

p33

I came here
hoping I'd see you...

I see.
...Yeah.

I'm sure Nee-san's happy too.

...
Yeah.
I hope so.

p34

Nee-san must've been really lucky...
to have such a thoughtful girlfriend.

...
Momoka?

Are you
okay with this, Hajime-chan?

p35

Eh?

...Don't you feel sad
that Kyou-chan's gone?

p36

...What's all this
all of a sudden...

Of course I...
It's been on my mind all this time.
When we were at the hospital
and during the funeral.

All that time,
you...
you looked
so calm.

Why!?
Kyou-chan
is dead!
We'll never see her again!

p37

Never
again...
in our lives...

Or could it be...
that you didn't
like Kyou-chan...?

p38

There's no way...
that's true.

p39

Hajime...
chan...

I hated it.

I was scared.

If I think about it,

if I accept it,

then I
really will never see her again.

p40

I don't want to understand...
I don't want to understand.
She was
always by my side...

Would Nee-san be happy
if I cried for her?
Or would that make her sad?

If somebody could tell me,
I...
would do it,
and yet
nobody will tell me...

p41

I'm scared...
I'm scared,
Momoka.

p42

Yeah...
Me too.
I'm
sad too.

p43

I'm sorry
for losing myself there.
It's fine.

Knowing that you're the same as me,
um,
cheered me up a little.

p44

...Hey.
I want
to see you again.

Eh?

Um,
I want
to talk
about Nee-san with you again.

p45

Yes.
You're right.
Me too.

From then on,
we became the duo we are now.

p46

To make sure this duo
wouldn't become one plus one,

we wouldn't meddle with each other.
We'd deceive each other with respectful words
and put a lid on our loves that had no place to go.
That was fine.

p47

That's what I thought this whole time.
And yet...

If only I hadn't found
this stupid letter...

It's the first I learned
about Nee-san's feelings.

She didn't wish for Momoka to become a prisoner
and keep having feelings for her.

p48

Nevertheless,
I went and did that...
What's going to become of your life, Momoka?

Kyou-chan is all I have...

At the very least,
for
the longest time,
I've been...

That wasn't something I can just take back...

p49

I should've...
kept a cool head.

...But
I hated it.

It was like
I didn't exist...

p50

Nee-san.
What
am I supposed to do from now on...?

Dear Momoka,
Kyou

Warning