[TaroTre] My Blind Date is My Childhood Friend - Chapter 19

Time spent with Taro was always interesting and seemed to fly by, but even Tregear who often wished they could stay together like this forever would never have asked for the scene currently unfolding.

“Taro… let. Go. Of. Me.” Tregear ground the words out one by one. No man would ever willingly accept being in such a position.

Tregear looked up at the person pinning him down, whose oppressive presence was overwhelming. Taro’s legs were positioned so perfectly that even if Tregear hadn’t been momentarily stunned, he wouldn’t have been able to find the leverage to break free.

How does this drunkard have so much strength?

The more Tregear struggled, the more force Taro applied. Finally, Tregear had to resort to his old tactic: he spoke to Taro in a soft, soothing voice, and the moment Taro’s guard dropped, he slipped away and knocked him unconscious with a swift strike to the neck.

As Taro slumped onto the sofa, Tregear finally allowed himself to gasp for air. He had been terrified that his “virtue” wouldn’t survive the night. He wasn’t opposed to the idea of intimacy, per se but only if he was the one on top.

Earlier that afternoon, he and Taro had bought a pack of beer. While watching the game that night, Taro had polished off nearly all of it. Tregear had only finished two bottles; the second one sat half-empty on the coffee table.

Staring at the unconscious Taro, Tregear’s mind suddenly drifted back to an event years ago, long before Taiga was born.

Taro had invited him on a trip to a hot spring resort. That night, they were in Taro’s room. Just like tonight, Tregear had been forced to knock a drunken Taro out, after which he had immediately retreated to his own room. What he hadn’t realized at the time was that, in his haste to leave, he had neglected to close Taro’s door.

When he went out for his morning exercise the next day, he saw a woman surreptitiously slipping out of Taro’s room.

Tregear knew her. Rumors had been flying through the Land of Light that she was Taro’s girlfriend, though Tregear knew Taro had never once acknowledged the relationship.

He didn’t know what had possessed him back then, but he had gone to the hotel management, requested the surveillance footage from that night, and erased all evidence of her ever being there. He didn’t know exactly what had happened behind those doors until the woman announced she was pregnant and named Taro as the father.

Only then did Tregear wake from his stupor. It turned out that if you don’t fight for the things you want, someone else will find a way to take them. He wasn’t incapable of imagining what had happened that night; he had simply chosen to avoid the possibility, subconsciously ignoring the fact that it all happened because he hadn’t closed the door.

Tregear didn’t hate Taiga. How could he? If it weren’t for his own negligence, Taiga wouldn’t even exist. But because of him, Taiga had been saddled with an irresponsible mother, and Taro with an irresponsible wife.

I am the root cause of this family’s tragedy.

Whenever he reached this conclusion, Tregear felt as though he couldn’t breathe. He had ruined an innocent child’s upbringing and destroyed his best friend’s lifelong happiness.

He was suddenly reminded of something the shopkeeper at Tsujiki-ya always said:

“People these days are obsessed with dieting and ‘zero-calorie’ health. But life is meant for a little indulgence! Who knows if a disaster or tomorrow will come first? If the world ended in the next second and the last sweet thing you ate was sugar-free, that would be a real tragedy.”

Indeed, one never knows which comes first tomorrow or a catastrophe. He hadn’t waited for the end of the world, but he had waited long enough to see the man he loved marry someone else, a fate he himself had helped facilitate.

Tregear loathed that part of himself. When he learned the woman had died, he had actually felt a sense of relief. With her gone, the truth of that night would stay buried forever. He wouldn’t have to carry such a heavy burden of guilt whenever he faced Taiga.

Tregear sat beside Taro on the floor, pulling his knees to his chest. At least tonight, they were in his own home. He wouldn’t leave Taro alone again.