CGBTS Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – The Tall, Young Man

Novel Title: あの夏から戻れない (Can’t Go Back to That Summer)

Author：宮緒葵 (Miyao Aoi)

Illustrator：笠井あゆみ (Kasai Ayumi)

Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)

Protagonists: 櫛原夏生 (Kushihara Natsuo -MC) & 四辻柊 (Yotsutsuji Shuu -ML)

*Please read at knoxt.space, the original site of translation. TQ*

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……Had he somehow wandered into a different world from the one where Shuu had been 

taken away?

That’s right. Why had he assumed there was only one otherworld? If there were multiple otherworlds—different worlds known as the otherworld—and Mount Hinayama was their entrance and exit, then there was no guarantee that it would lead to the same world as Shuu’s.

“Someone………!”

Feeling all the blood drain from his body, Natsuo shouted. He felt as though moving carelessly might cause him to fall into the lake, yet if he stayed still, he felt as though he would lose his mind. The mist clinging to him was like the tentacles of a monster. Little by little, it was ensnaring his sanity.

There was no response. But he thought he caught a faint glimpse of a human figure wavering far in the distance, so Natsuo rubbed his eyes vigorously. ……He wasn’t mistaken. Someone was there, beyond the mist!

“…Help me! Please, help me!”

Using both hands as a megaphone, Natsuo desperately called out toward the figure. He thought his voice might not reach, but the figure that had been swaying back and forth suddenly stopped moving completely, then began approaching him in a straight line. They had noticed him.

Even in the mist, where even his own form was indistinct, the figure of that person stood out with startling clarity, as though illuminated by a spotlight.

He was a tall, young man dressed in an indigo samue. He was easily more than a head taller than Natsuo.

His densely muscled body strained against the samue, while his long legs extended awkwardly from trousers that were clearly too short. His deeply sculpted features, distinctly unlike those of a typical Japanese man, were, on closer inspection, surprisingly delicate and well-proportioned. Perhaps thanks to the faint, friendly smile playing across his thick lips, however, he gave off almost no sense of intimidation. If he wore combat gear instead of a samue, he could easily play the lead in a Hollywood movie. He would be perfectly cast as an agent who wielded a machine gun with effortless flair, or a righteous soldier battling an ultimate evil.

But what held Natsuo transfixed were the man’s eyes. Vivid green irises like precious jewels. Those were…… those were……

“――Natsuo.”

The man’s lips curved into a delighted smile as he spoke in a rich, resonant low voice.

……How does he know my name?

The moment Natsuo tried to ask, his mind was enveloped in mist.

Strong arms caught Natsuo’s collapsing body.

Bit by bit… an unpleasant sound seeped into his eardrums.

Realizing that it was the cry of cicadas, Natsuo rolled over in bed. He hated the sound of cicadas. On the day Shuu disappeared, they had been screaming loudly enough to be unbearable as well.

Then, this time, a breeze blew against his chest. When he shivered at the chill, he heard a faint chuckle. For some reason, a sweet tingling sensation ran down his spine.

“…Your sleeping habits haven’t changed at all. You’re still a restless sleeper.”

Something soft covered his chest. It seemed the man had pulled a blanket over him. The hand stroking his disheveled hair felt so wonderfully soothing that Natsuo nuzzled against it like a pampered cat.

“…Wh…!”

He was just about to drift into a drowsy haze when he abruptly opened his eyes. He had started living alone after entering university, so there was no way anyone could be here to gently tuck him in.

“What, you’re awake already?”

The man who smiled as though he wished Natsuo had stayed asleep was the same man who had appeared from within the mist. He was sitting cross-legged beside the futon where Natsuo had been laid down, gently stroking Natsuo’s cheek. Apparently, he had rescued Natsuo after he lost consciousness and carried him here.

The roughly ten-tatami Japanese-style room was neatly kept. Beyond the open sliding door was a wooden-floored corridor and a veranda, and farther beyond that was a small garden. The large lightbulb hanging from the ceiling beneath a shade, along with the blue blades of an electric fan turning with a soft rattling sound, gave the room a distinctly retro atmosphere. …There was no doubt about it: this was a human home. Yet there shouldn’t have been any private houses on Mount Hinayama.

“…Ah… Y-you are… ? What exactly is this place…?”

“You don’t know who I am?”

Whether he was asking that or not, the fact remained that today was the first time Natsuo had ever met this man. When Natsuo nodded hesitantly, the man lowered his eyebrows sadly.

“…I see… It’s already been fifteen years since then…”

“Huh?… Um…”

“It’s me, Natsuo. I’m Yotsutsuji Shuu.”

“――Huh?……. Shuu?”

Natsuo’s eyes flew wide open as he stared intently at the man.

A powerfully built, muscular body that looked capable of effortlessly taking down several people even if they surrounded him. A handsome face exuding a distinctly masculine scent. A voice that was low, yet somehow sweet. Even setting aside the difference in age, there was nothing whatsoever that this man and Shuu had in common.

Except for one thing: those green eyes.

Before Natsuo could deny that it was impossible, the man opened his mouth.

“…When you had just started elementary school, you came to stay at my house and wet the bed, remember?”

“――……?!”

“You cried and said you absolutely didn’t want anyone to know, so I secretly went to wash the sheets before Mom woke up… But when I casually dumped in a bunch of detergent, the laundry room filled with bubbles, and in the end we got found out anyway and I got scolded, didn’t I?”

“…Why-… How do you know about that…?”

Other than Natsuo and the others involved, the only people who should know about that were Jennifer and Natsuo’s mother, who had gone over to apologize. Neither of them was the type to go around telling people about something like that.

No way.

“Let’s see, what else… Should I tell you about how Iizuka lied to you and said a card was super rare, so you traded him your rare card with a normal card? Or how you took a spectacular tumble right in front of Mei-chan and, carried away by your momentum, ended up pulling down her skirt…?”

“Waaaaaaaah! No! Enough! That’s enough!”

Natsuo abruptly sat up and frantically shook his head.

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*GLOSSARY: 

• A samue is essentially a loose-fitting work/lounging outfit. It originally developed as clothing worn by Buddhist monks while doing samu (作務), meaning practical work such as cleaning and maintaining the temple.

• In Japan, rooms are traditionally measured by the number of tatami mats because tatami has long been a standard flooring material in Japanese homes. A tatami mat has a standardised size, approximately 0.9 metres by 1.8 metres (varying slightly by region), making it a practical unit of measurement for room dimensions. This method dates back to the Edo period (1603–1868), when rooms were often designed around the size and layout of tatami mats. Since tatami mats were a key part of Japanese architecture and culture, counting rooms by the number of mats became a cultural norm, which persists even today. It’s a convenient and visual way to describe the size of a room, as the number of tatami mats gives a direct sense of the space’s layout and proportions. For example, a ‘6-tatami’ room gives an immediate idea of the room’s size and function.

Illustration 1:

Next update: 2026.10.07

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