Adachi to Shimamura - Volume 99.9 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Halo

SOMETIMES, WHEN I STOOD STILL, a voice in the back of my mind asked, Don’t I have somewhere else to be? Maybe it was proof of my overall contentment that, even then, I wouldn’t be in any particular rush. This unfamiliar town had gradually started to feel like a well-worn glove; before, the buildings and other traces of civilization had looked to me like someone’s discarded garbage, but now they brought a smile to my face. 

Beneath the caramel-colored sky, I took a deep breath as if trying to vacuum up the gold-tinged clouds, filling my lungs with cold, cheerless air that made my fingertips tingle. Another day of living in this town, just me and her, the work divided between us. Whenever I spotted the long shadows stretching out from the buildings, I felt my anxiety claw into the ground. If I paused to listen closely, all I heard was the distant crumble of ruins—no sign of her. At some point, I began to question whether she was even still out there. 

What seed had taken root in my heart, that I now dreaded our parting? I knew the answer, but not its name. It was a strange feeling—foreign but not unwelcome. 

Our long-term goal, seeing the waterfall’s basin, was still ages away. In a world bereft of humans and their culture, simply ensuring survival took longer than one might think. But unlike before, I now had a partner with whom to share that time, and since our individual efforts had been halved, I was content to make incremental progress in the gaps between. After all, if we reached the bottom of the crater too quickly, I’d find myself adrift all over again.

Thus, we’d chosen to center our survival on this place. 

But one day, while I was standing outside the forest and debating whether to enter it, something other than wind rustled the trees. Flinching in surprise, I looked up—and, as if in response to my curiosity, the foliage promptly exposed the source of the rustle. At that precise moment, grayish lumps pierced the sky one after another on wings spread to their full span, each tracing a wide arc through the air. 

“That’s strange…” Just bearing witness to one other living being was uncommon enough, but an entire flock? 

In a blink, they were already halfway to their next destination. At no point did I consider going after them or trying to catch one. Only my neck muscles moved as I stood there and watched them go. 

Then, in the direction toward which they’d departed, another change struck me. My eyes widened in horror. 

The sky…was darkening. It was as if a stream of black water were flowing into the caramel, slowly consuming it. The resulting red-purple gradient was admittedly very pretty, but something told me that I shouldn’t just stand there agog, so I turned on my heel and hurried back to town. 

As I ran, I felt my breaths retreat quietly into the back of my throat, and I listened desperately for any other footsteps. Meanwhile, I stomped hard on the ground, hoping that by some miracle the vibrations would guide us back together. By the time the buildings themselves had all but transformed into inky black shadows, I saw her running straight toward me as if she was fleeing from danger. 

We came together at a speed that threatened a head-on collision. Instinctively, we joined hands—my left in her right—and for a moment we spun, as if dancing, until our momentum declined. When at last we came to a stop, our necks craned upward in unison, and we watched the darkness paint thickly over every last inch of the sky. My free hand clenched into a fist as I wondered whether the world was finally ending.

“Oh, I know!” In contrast to my reaction, the wide-eyed, slack-jawed girl beside me didn’t sound especially worried. “This is called night.”

“Knite?” I questioned her, parroting the unfamiliar word. 

“I heard about it from the person who raised me. Before the world fell to ruin, there was a set time each day when no light would shine.”

That explanation helped to jog my memory. “Yeah, I think I’ve heard of that.” Was the girl who’d told me about it out there somewhere, flying through the cosmos?

“Well, maybe it’s not actually something we need to worry about.”

“But what if the light never comes back?”

“Good question,” she replied, but her tone was too light for her to be considering that seriously. When my focus turned to our joined hands, the churn of restlessness eased slightly in my chest, while my burning cheeks threatened to illuminate the darkness.

“Yashiro…” 

Before she left, she’d said that our world might regain a bit of its shape now that the other girl and I were together—as if something in stasis were reactivating. Did that explain the sky? The birds? Was the world finally taking action?

Well, two could play at that game.

“If the light does come back…” It was too dark to see more than a silhouette beside me, but I set my gaze on the dazzle of dreams. “We should go on a trip together.” 

The invitation was casual, yet my heart leapt into my throat. My blood, once frozen in fear of knite, now melted all at once, pounding through every vein in my body. 

“I’ll fix the bike, and we can ride it together—go see the sights a little ways out,” I added. “Then we’ll come home.”

Home. Together. 

She grinned so brightly, I saw her pearly whites flash in the dark. “Sounds fun. I’m gonna ride in back, so have fun pedaling.” 

From her smile, it was clear that she had no intention of exerting herself. Cheeky, I thought—but aloud, I accepted the challenge. “Fine by me.” The words felt strange on my tongue, almost as if someone else had answered for me. 

I imagined pedaling a bicycle with her riding behind me. Inexplicably, my heart rejoiced at the thought. It just seemed so nice… Once again, I’d found a source of overwhelming happiness, as I had the time a sparkly blue alien crash-landed onto my planet and started me on my journey. 

Evidently the stories of my life would always begin with the sky. 

“Hey. Look at that.” 

She pointed toward a single massive star peeking into view through the long black cloud. As we stood there, baffled by the knite, it twinkled down on us as if offering us its guiding light. 

“I’ve seen faint traces of that thing in the sky before. But, wow, it’s super bright now.” 

“I wonder what its name is…” 

She squinted, as if scanning for something she only half-remembered putting away. I likewise searched the light for answers. Its sparkle was so crisp and white, I could almost hallucinate a chill wetting my cheeks. 

Then I remembered. “Oh, that’s…”

Before I told her the answer, I looked up once more at the pale orb that Yashiro had professed to like.

The moon. 

As if newly empowered, it exuded a ring of light, shining down upon us like a gentle hug.