Uncle Hikigaya is Forever Young [62]

Because the scribbles were made with a thick marker pen, even the original handwriting on the first page was now completely unreadable. Hikigaya Ryōhei saw "his" own name cruelly scratched out.

What the heck is all this about!?

He could already imagine how furious the person who wrote these words must’ve been.

Could it be someone whom the original “Hikigaya Ryōhei” had offended back in high school?

What kind of deep hatred would drive someone to ruin a classmate’s yearbook upon graduation?

Tsk, tsk!

Such precious mementos of youth, and yet utterly defiled like this… Ryōhei wondered how the original had dealt with it.

Oddly enough, Ryōhei himself felt no anger; rather, he was mildly regretful, as he would never know what memories lay behind it.

The original “Hikigaya Ryōhei” had plenty of journals, but none from his high school days.

Back then, normal people wouldn’t be disciplined enough to keep a diary, anyway.

He flipped quickly through the following pages. Every single page was covered in the same crazed scribbling, making them impossible to read.

Originally neat rows of handwriting were now entirely illegible.

Such thick marker stains wouldn't fade much, even after many years.

But on the very last page, perhaps because the perpetrator had finally calmed down, a single, delicate line of handwriting appeared.

Wait—?

She even signed her own name?

How arrogant was this person?!

The handwriting itself was indeed beautiful. As an outsider, Ryōhei found it even pleasing to the eye.

"With Regards, Yukinoshita Saori!"

Yukinoshita Saori?

A girl's name.

From the moment Ryōhei saw this name, his curiosity had been piqued.

Even though this was technically "himself," he genuinely wanted to know more.

He stared at the name for a moment, then took out his phone and searched through his contacts.

As expected—nothing!

Their relationship must’ve been really terrible, huh?

Could it be that this guy, Hikigaya Ryōhei, actually had such complicated relationships with women besides just his ex-wife... Wait, what exactly would this even count as...?

Ah! Right, there was also the graduation photo with everyone's names from his class!

Let's have a look!

"Dad! Whatcha doing? Didn’t you say we'd unpack tomorrow? Komachi can help, you know!"

Komachi, who was desperately pondering her next chess move against Akeno—who was surprisingly good—asked hastily upon seeing her father rise from the reclining chair to search for something.

“It’s nothing. You girls just keep playing.”

Ryōhei pulled out the photo album and comfortably lay back down on the chair, smiling faintly.

“Huh? Did something good happen to Dad?” Komachi whispered curiously into her cousin Akeno's ear.

"Dunno... Uncle rarely smiles like that. Seems like he saw something pretty weird, hehe!"

Ryōhei paid no attention to the two little girls' whispers. He quickly located the high school graduation photo.

Indeed—there she was, Yukinoshita Saori!

They'd been classmates!

Another black-haired beauty with outstanding looks, huh.

Wait—

Why "another"?

Hold on, was this “Hikigaya Ryōhei” actually a closet fan of black-haired beauties?

In Ryōhei's personal judgment, Yukinoshita Saori’s beauty was on par with Tōma Kazusa’s during her younger days.

Both black-haired beauties!

Both with that subtly cold expression!

Both possessed faces that seemed blessed by heaven itself—ethereal, flawless, as lovely as immortal fairies.

Her figure, however, was mostly obscured by classmates standing in front of her, so he couldn't see clearly.

Still, Yukinoshita Saori radiated the elegance and casual refinement that could only be cultivated by someone born into privilege.

Definitely came from money.

Surely there had to be some kind of complicated history between her and Hikigaya Ryōhei?

Ryōhei thought so because, aside from her remarkable beauty, Yukinoshita Saori, standing several people behind and slightly to the side of "Hikigaya Ryōhei," was staring fiercely at him.

Unfortunately, he had no way of knowing exactly what had happened.

Closing the album, Ryōhei shook his head with a helpless smile, having discovered yet another unexplored continent within the original owner’s past.

“Ryōhei! Finished moving already, huh? Well, makes sense. You barely own anything these days anyway!”

At that moment, a familiar voice called out from beyond the tiny yard.

It was Miura Kōzō, leaning over the low wall to peek inside.

"This place ain’t half bad! Pretty close to Sōbu High, huh! Your taste ain’t as terrible as I thought!"

...

Miura Kōzō had been extremely busy lately. He’d just returned from Russia and was leaving again after only two days' rest.

He basically didn’t have regular days off anymore.

At least the company still paid his salary fully, though always late.

Thus, the cash reimbursement he'd get the day after each business trip had become absolutely essential.

In these past two years, nearly all his savings from the past decade had been exhausted for his wife’s medical treatments.

Now, daily expenses, his wife’s cancer treatments, and monthly medications all relied on this paycheck cash flow.

This month, he even had to sell his car.
Just like Ryōhei, he’d begun riding a bicycle to get around.

Today, aside from wanting to chat with his close friend, he also needed to ask for a favor.

Now that they lived close, asking someone else would’ve been too troublesome.

After greeting their father's friend, the kids—including Hachiman—thoughtfully retreated upstairs to tidy their new rooms.

Ryōhei pulled out an old chair left by Nakano-san for Kōzō, and the two of them sat down facing the tiny yard.

“I’m headed to Petropavlovsk tomorrow for work. Something came up at home, so I’ll need you to help me with it,” Kōzō said gloomily as soon as he sat down.

“Huh? Where’s that?”

“Petropavlovsk!” Kōzō repeated smoothly.

He added immediately, “A big city in the Central Asian part of the Lu Empire. A batch of stockings our company exported got detained there. It's all part of this damned tariff war! Ugh, it’s driving me nuts!”

“I've already booked the earliest available airship ticket. After picking up my luggage at home in a bit, I’ll head straight out. Departure is from Narita Airship Port at 2 AM... Ahhh, just thinking about it exhausts me!”

“That sounds rough,” Ryōhei echoed sympathetically. Adult life was indeed like this.

“So, what’s the thing you need me to help with?”

Previously, the two of them would just hang out occasionally, but now Ryōhei had fully settled into this best—and really his first—friendship.

Friendship between grown-ups could be both complicated and simple.

“I need you to help me buy some imported medicine for the house... You know, the stuff I mentioned earlier. It's a bit tricky to get—can't just buy it at pharmacies, gotta get it from an acquaintance who’s kind of a gray-market seller. It’s always a hassle, but...I really can't afford legitimate imported medicine anymore, yet she absolutely needs it,” Kōzō said, somewhat embarrassed.

“No problem, I’ve got nothing but time lately! Just explain carefully what I have to do—I promise I'll take care of it.”

---

A/N: This Yukinoshita Saori is indeed Yukinoshita-matriarch herself! I saw many guesses, but none of you figured out my next move yet!

This is a fan translation of 比企谷大叔永远年轻 by Stargazer All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!