Chapter 10 – Autumn (Part 2)
Autumn, Part 2
Novel Title: ツァイガルニクの恋の沼 (Zeigarnik’s Love Swamp)
Author：月村奎著 (Tsukimura Kei)
Illustrator：志水ゆき (Shimizu Yuki)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists: 市川春音 (Ichikawa Harune -MC) & 二ノ宮航輝 (Ninomiya Kouki -ML)
*Please read at universalnovel.com, the original site of translation. TQ*
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“Next life, huh? Yeah, I’ll definitely forget by then.”
“Ugh,” Harune grumbled, pouting as he reached for the coffee Kouki had brewed in the machine on the table.
“These cups feel really special too. Don’t tell me you made these as well?”
The deep blue mugs, coated in a milky white glaze, beautifully contrasted with the dark coffee inside.
“A friend made them.”
“Wow. Connections between craftsmen.”
Kouki let out a soft smile. “You’re one of them, too.”
“You’re counting me as a craftsman?”
“Of course. If you can make something that amazing, what else would you be?”
Kouki gestured toward Harune’s knit sweater.
“This? It’s pretty simple. There’s no seam, you just increase the stitches from the neckline.”
“I don’t understand a word of what you’re saying, but that colour suits you.”
“Uh… thanks.” Harune mumbled, caught off guard.
It was astonishing how people could grow. The once mischievous Kouki was now saying such things with a straight face. Harune, on the other hand, hadn’t matured enough to handle such compliments with grace. To hide his nervousness, he grabbed a baked good from the box and handed it to Kouki.
“Well, here, have one.”
“Thanks. These madeleines are great, aren’t they?”
The two of them bit into the familiar madeleines, which they’d been eating since they were kids. The ingredients listed on the individual package—flour, butter, eggs, sugar, and lemon—were simple yet rich, much like the atmosphere of the room they were sitting in. It was a taste that never grew old.
As Harune was gathering the crumbs of the fallen pastry, he couldn’t help but admire the table, running his hand over its surface. Just then, Kouki reached for a second madeleine and spoke up.
“About that housewarming gift I mentioned earlier,” Kouki began.
“Hm?”
“Instead of bringing the furniture to your new place, here’s a thought—what if you moved here? Then all this would instantly be yours.”
“Oh, nice idea! And I’d have unlimited access to pinecones too, right?” Harune responded with a polite laugh, playing along with Kouki’s joke while thinking; If he knew how I really felt, there’s no way he could joke about that.
Kouki chuckled with a madeleine in his mouth. “You really love pinecones, huh?”
“I told you, I use them for work.”
After some lighthearted banter, they enjoyed their coffee break and then headed to the workshop to check out the stools.
The workshop was like a more professional version of a middle school woodshop.
Tools hung on the walls, and the floor and workbenches were covered with wooden planks of various lengths and sizes. Harune felt an urge to dive into the soft wood shavings piled under the workbench.
“It smells amazing in here,” Harune said, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath through his nose. It felt like being deep in the mountains, even more so than the forest they had just walked through. Now that he thought about it, Kouki often had this scent about him too.
“Right? The smell changes depending on the type of wood. Chestnut wood, for instance, has a sweet scent.”
Kouki effortlessly grabbed a stack of stools that had been piled up in the corner.
“Here, these don’t have backrests, but they’re easy to stack and store.”
“Oh! That’s great, saves space.”
“Try it out.”
Harune had been a bit worried about working without a backrest, but when he sat down, he was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable it was, far beyond its simple appearance.
“What the heck? This is so good!”
The seat, which should have been hard wood, felt soft. When sitting naturally, it made his posture straighten.
“I’ve added a slight tilt to the seat. If you switch the direction you sit in from time to time, it stretches different parts of your body, so you won’t get tired as easily.”
“That’s amazing. You were always handy, but you really are a genius.”
Harune tried sitting in various directions, marvelling at the comfort, before gently stroking the wood. He could easily imagine how the surface would develop a rich patina as it was used over time.
“Will six stools be enough?” Kouki asked.
“Yeah, that’s more than enough. But are you sure I can have them?”
“Of course. Like I said, they’re prototypes.”
“But I’d feel bad if I didn’t give you something in return. Maybe…”
Harune hesitated, thinking that offering money for something made by a friend’s generosity felt wrong. Instead, he thought of giving something in return using his own skills—knitting. Since the season for knits was coming, maybe an Aran sweater for Kouki would be nice. A high-quality Shetland wool sweater could actually suit even a rugged workshop like this.
Then Harune snapped out of it; Wait, that’s a total landmine. After all, the reason for the fallout between Kouki and him years ago had been a knitted gift for Naoki. If Kouki were to remember that, things could get awkward.
Harune, still frozen mid-sentence, noticed Kouki looking at him quizzically.
“Maybe what?” Kouki asked.
“Uh, well, like, maybe a hundred Abemaki acorns or something?”
Harune casually threw out the suggestion, and Kouki’s lips twisted into a wry grin.
“Yeah, that’s about as useless as it gets.”
“Hey, if it were me, I’d want them so badly I could practically taste them.”
“You and my niece have the same mental age.”
“That’s rude. Apologise.”
“Sorry, Mafuyu.”
“She’s not the one I meant!”
Kouki laughed out loud at Harune’s quick retort.
“Wait, those acorns—you picked them up on my property, didn’t you?”
“They were on the shrine grounds.”
“The shrine’s basically my backyard.”
“If you’re gonna say that, then the whole town is practically my backyard.”
It was a completely trivial argument, but it was fun. Harune wished moments like this could last forever.
“Um…”
Suddenly, a voice came from the doorway, and Harune nearly jumped.
He turned to see a short-haired woman standing there, dressed in a plain T-shirt and denim overalls. Despite her androgynous look, the oversized overalls only emphasised her petite frame. At first glance, she seemed to be about the same age as Harune and Kouki.
“Sorry, am I interrupting?” she asked, looking slightly apologetic as she glanced between Harune and Kouki.
“Oh, no, I’m just a friend, that’s all,” Harune replied.
Harune wasn’t sure if those words were meant to explain to the woman that he was just a friend and not a customer, or to remind himself that he was just a friend, nothing more.
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*Translator’s Note: I honestly thought Kouki was flirting back there. Teehee. -K
Next update: 2026.06.16
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