Adachi to Shimamura - Volume Anime Special - Chapter 2

Shima

At this point, I could no longer tell whether it was people I was looking for, or bicycles. 

The city was covered in a thick layer of green, and the area surrounding it was even more so. With no one left to take care of it, the entire planet had been turned into one big crop field. Things felt so much calmer now than they had when there’d been people around, and sometimes, I couldn’t help but wonder about it. How was that supposed to be interpreted? What was the intended takeaway? Whatever the case, there were far more pressing matters for me to concern myself with at the moment; like the fact that I did not have a bike for example. 

Occasionally, I would turn around to look over my shoulder as if I’d lost sight of where I was. What I saw each time were massive trees—standing tall like a symbol of nature—and the caramel sky spread ing behind them. 

What few clouds there were, had already begun to disperse. It was as if they were attempting to flee the twilight. 

“La la la!” 

“......” 

“Laa laa laa, la la laa!” 

“......” 

“Hohoho.” 

I stopped in my tracks. 

“Ho?” 

Next, I pulled Yashiro out from my backpack and placed her down on the ground before me. “Is something the matter?” 

“I want you to walk every now and then.” 

“For what reason?” 

“Dunno. Just because.” 

Because she always looked like she had a lot of fun doing it. 

“Well, if you so insist.” 

With that, Yashiro began walking by my side. Some thing interesting I’d noticed: no matter how much the girl walked, she never seemed to get out of breath. Not only that, she didn’t even appear to sweat. The cheerful glimmer she had to her would not disappear no matter what. 

At some point, it had become far too much work for me to be shocked by each one of these oddities of hers individually, and so, I’d simply begun accepting them as part of who the girl was. 

She truly was a creature who defied all norms. It was difficult to believe that it’d already been... how long exactly since we’d begun travelling together? 

I couldn’t help but feel like it’d make for a better scene if I had a dog or something with me instead. That said, perhaps this arrangement did have its pros too; you couldn’t talk with a dog for one. 

“By the way, if I may ask, where might we be heading?” 

We’d already been walking for some time when Yashiro asked me that. 

“Some place where they have bicycles. Other than that, I don’t really care.” 

That was my current objective: To find a bike to replace the one I’d worn out. Most recently, I’d found myself here, in the middle of this thick forest. The trees for the most part blocked what little wind there was, leaving the air to feel both hot and heavy. 

Well, I say “forest”, but a city actually used to exist here once. Remains of collapsed buildings could be seen all around acting as proof of that. It was often the case that when survivors decided to settle down, they would do so near ruins. How did I know that? Because it was how I had lived the early portions of my life. That, and it was also what the person who’d raised me had told me. Anyway, that was why I’d come here: I figured I might get lucky and find myself a bike. 

“A bike, huh?” 

Yashiro continued tottering along. Nothing about her appearance suggested that she was looking for any thing. 

“Do we really need one?” 

“Yes, we do.” 

“Did you not say earlier that you located a place where you think there might be people?” 

I could feel the girl staring at me as we continued walking. It was as if she was telling me she wanted to go meet those people right away. 

She didn’t really get it, did she? 

“Yes, and that is what we need the bike for.” “Why?” 

“So that if things get messy, we can get the hell out of there.” 

I knew next to nothing about this region. That was to say, were I to attempt an escape by foot, I would not get far. Riding a bike however, I could just keep pedalling straight and no one would be able to catch me. I could try to explain it to Yashiro like that, but even then, I got a feeling like she still wouldn’t get it. 

“You know? Can’t ever be sure how they’re going to welcome us.” 

Just like how I had my circumstances, other people had theirs. It only made sense to be prepared for the worst. 

“I see, I see”, Yashiro commented. It seemed that to her, none of this mattered one bit. “You are quite the strange fellow, Chito.” 

“Says you.” 

Hahaha, I laughed. 

“I am having a difficult time determining whether you do or do not want to meet another person.” “Hmm...” 

Yashiro’s words managed to cut straight through me. It was common for her to say stuff like that with a big cheerful smile on her face. 

Often I’d find myself wondering, was there more to the girl than met the eye? 

“Ah! I just remembered something.” 

“Hmm?” 

Having said that, Yashiro sprinted ahead of me and did a quick spin around. Then, having seemingly deter mined the right direction, she ran off. 

“Hey! Where are you going this time?” 

“I will be right back!” 

Waving her arms above her head, I watched as she disappeared into the trees. My first instinct was to chase after her, but I quickly gave up on that; the sun had already begun to set, and wading through the forest in search of the girl was about the last thing I wanted to be doing right now. 

“She sure is living life to the fullest, that strange little creature.” 

That was all I could say to myself as I stood there, scratching my head. 

There was no clear reason, no definite motive for Yashiro and me to be travelling together. 

We’d just so happened to meet, and it had been that chance encounter which had brought us to where we were now. 

There was no doubt in my mind that this was how things were going to be continuing from here onward. 

“If she’s going to be right back, then I guess I should just wait for her, huh?” 

I placed my backpack on the ground and sat down next to it. Doing so, I could feel the temperature of the air around me growing just slightly higher. 

“Plus, it’s not like trying to run would even get me far.” 

As if resigning to my fate, I went ahead and fell on my back. Doing so caused a light wave of pain to run across my cheek. I could only assume that the blades of grass below had come into contact with my skin and cut it. My hair grew tangled with the vegetation, and as it did, I felt myself becoming part of the land. I really did get the impression that, were I to start rolling around, I would no longer be able to get back up. 

Not that it turned out to be a problem, as soon enough, Yashiro returned. 

How on earth was she able to run at full speed with out hitting any of the trees? I seriously had no idea. More important that that, what I saw her holding in her tiny hands were fruits I was sure she’d not had with her earlier. 

“Oh, I see now. You remembered you were hungry...”

Hahaha, I laughed dryly, only for Yashiro to walk up to me and hand me the fruit. 

“Hmm? For me?” 

Now this was not something I’d expected the little glutton to do. Feeling quite shocked, I slowly got back up on my feet. 

“Today marks the anniversary of the two of us meeting.” 

“Oh?” 

“There is no doubt. I made sure to count.” I took the fruit from her. They were the kind I often ate, the ones with red skin. 

“Right, right. I was kinda feeling like it might be that time soon.” 

While the fact that the weather barely ever changed did make it very difficult to accurately tell what day or even what season it was, there was still enough fluctua tion in the air temperature for my skin to remember. It had been particularly hot and humid that day when I had just so happened to turn my head to have a look above me. 

There, in the sky, I’d seen her fluttering down. “Anniversaries are very, very important.” 

“Are they now?” 

“So I have heard.” 

Was that to say she didn’t know herself? I was left to let out a deep sigh as the girl continued grinning. “An anniversary, huh?” 

That was the last thing I said to myself before digging into the fruits. 

“Ah, I just remembered. It’s my birthday today.” Each year, I told myself that this time for sure I’d re member, only for me to end up forgetting like so many years before. Why was it that I could never remember that my birthday was coming? Out of all days, that seemed like a pretty important one, so what gave? “Maybe I need to start acting more bold? Like, making-origami-out-of-sheets-of-gold-paper level of bold. Hmm...” 

Unsure as to what exactly I was talking about, I quickly decided to abandon that train of thought. Still, it was true that I was already twenty years old. Once you hit this age, perhaps birthdays simply didn’t mean as much as they once had. What good was the twentieth of anything for? 

“Hmm...” 

A lot had happened to bring me where I was currently. 

“Twenty years old, huh? Twenty years old...” Is that really so? 

Those questions were not pointed towards anyone in particular. Rather, I was speaking into the void. Need less to say, no answer came. It seemed that I would have to figure this one out by myself. I pinched my cheeks, pulled on them, jumped up and down, yet noth ing about the current me felt any different compared to the one of yesterday. 

“Well, whatever.” 

I had a look at the calendar, and saw that a flower had been drawn around today’s date. The drawing had a certain sense of balance that more than made it clear that it had been created by a twenty-year-old. I spent a few moments admiring the workmanship, after which I went back to loitering around the room. What to do next? That was the question. 

I had woken up pretty early relative to this being a day off. Looking through the window, it was still morning outside. The sun was shining bright, so bright that mere moments later, I had to avert my gaze. There, I decided to check my phone. No new message, no missed calls. 

“How unusual for Adachi to forget to call me”, I stated out loud, only to find myself growing incredibly embarrassed immediately afterwards. I was acting a bit presumptuous there, wasn’t I? 

As far as our given names were concerned, a birthday in the spring was what I felt would’ve fit Adachi the most. Mine had the character “Getsu” (Moon), so what would’ve been good for me? Autumn, perhaps? Then again, the sort of moon I liked the most was the one that appeared against the bright blue sky during long summer days. I always very much enjoyed viewing it. Anyway, enough of those pointless thoughts. It was now time to go get some breakfast. Thinking that to myself, I left the bedroom behind. 

I scanned the hallway as I entered it, yet nothing about it seemed any different compared to when I’d still been nineteen. 

“Oh, damn. I forgot.” 

I quickly turned back and went to get my cell phone. Why? Because there was a chance that Adachi might call me. 

A pair of tiny feet poking out from underneath the futon greeted me as I returned. 

I was one hundred percent certain that she had not been here when I’d left. 

“And what might you be doing?” I asked out loud, and immediately the feet began flapping. I went ahead and grabbed their owner by her ankles and pulled her out. 

The girl had been lying on her back, and was now left staring at me. What made the situation even stranger was the fact that her hair showed no signs of being di shevelled. 

“Nothing in particular.” 

“I figured as much.” 

I’d known instantly that it was Yashiro hiding under the sheets. Who else could it have been? Then again, I suppose Mom could be quite strange in her own right. 

While I was busy answering such questions, the lion pyjama-wearing creature took the opportunity to roll out from bed and onto the floor. Yesterday, she’d been wearing a chicken pyjama my sister had bought her. If you asked me, I thought that one matched her personality much more closely. 

“Good morning to you.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Good morning.” 

With the greetings out of the way, Yashiro proceeded to have a look at the calendar. She followed this by nodding her head. 

“Today has a flower on it.” 

“Yep. That marks it as a birthday.” 

“I see, I see.” 

I got the impression that she really didn’t. Whatever the case, Yashiro then toddled over to me. “Your birthday, Shimamura?” 

“Correct. My twentieth birthday, in fact.” 

I lifted both my index and middle fingers up to signal the “two”. Through this peace sign of sorts, I could see Yashiro’s bright blue eyes staring back at me. 

They moved slowly, steadily, like stars floating through space. 

“Twenty years at last. You are still so very young, Shimamura.” 

“Compared to you, you mean? Say, when is your birthday?” 

I decided to ask her that just for the sake of it. At first, I’d thought about asking if she even had one to begin with, but quickly changed my mind. 

No matter how massive of a weirdo you were, you still had to have a birthday. It was just one of those things. 

“A birthday, you ask? Let me think...” 

The girl began counting using her stubby fingers. Needless to say, it did not take long for her to get bored of it and give up. 

“Today will do fine.” 

“Today?” 

“That way, we will match!” 

“Hahaha...” 

Honestly, why not? That was the first thought that came to my mind as I stared at Yashiro so innocently jumping up and down before me. 

“I will be sure to tell Shou all about this the next time I see her!” 

With her hands held out in front of her, the girl then dashed off, leaving the room behind. 

“Is your birthday really something to be that proud of?” 

Everyone had one by default, so what was the big deal? Then again, I couldn’t help but wonder, perhaps it wasn’t like that for her kind? 

With my phone in hand, I headed towards the kitchen. 

“So hot...” 

You would never have been able to guess that it was still spring based on the wave of heat that assaulted me the second I stepped into the hallway. 

“Ah, wait.” 

It was there that a voice coming from the living room called me to a halt. I turned around to have a look, only to find Mom lying in front of the TV. She was holding a cushion against her stomach, which kinda made her look like a sea otter. Quickly, the woman sprang up on her feet. 

“It’s your birthday today, or so I’ve heard.” “What sort of a mother needs to be told when her daughter’s birthday is?” 

“Relax, relax. I’m just joking around.” 

Hahaha, she laughed. I tried to ignore her, but before I managed to walk away, Mom tapped the empty seat next to her. 

“I’ve not eaten breakfast yet.” 

“You can have it later. Now, sit.” 

This statement was followed by her tapping the seat for a second time. Tired of the constant banging, I decided to do as I was told, only for the woman to grab me by the shoulders and pull me down. Her constant gym visits assured that there was little I could do to fight back, and before I knew it, my head had been placed on her lap. 

“What?” I asked while staring straight up into the woman’s eyes. 

“You don’t feel like this could be the start of a birth day event?” 

I really didn’t know what I was supposed to say to that. Mom’s hands brushed my hair aside, and her fingers pinched my now-exposed earlobes. 

“Congratulations.” 

“Well, thanks.” 

Simply hearing that was already more than enough forme, yet as I attempted to pull myself up, I was quickly forced back down again. It seemed that I would have no choice but to accept her kindness whether I wanted it or not. 

How many years had it been since I’d last rested my head on Mom’s lap? I couldn’t help but feel like were my sister to see me like this, she’d never let me live it down. Meanwhile, Mom still continued to run her fingers through my hair. 

“Would you cut that out already?” 

“Ah, look. I found a grey hair.” 

“Well, pluck it out then.” 

“No way. Wear it with pride. It’s a sign of adulthood.” Not the sort of sign I wanted. Still, perhaps this could be taken to mean that it wasn’t only positive things that came with becoming an adult. Now, had Mom thought 

the metaphor that far? Absolutely not. No way. A reporter standing next to a pink pig could be seen on the TV screen. 

“I have to say, looking at you from this angle, you sure have grown a lot.” 

This statement was followed by her giving my back side a light tap. Excuse me? 

“A daughter in her twenties. The years sure keep coming.” 

A deep sigh escaped the woman’s mouth. It was at times like these I found it quite difficult to tell whether she was joking or not. 

“Will you be going out with Adachi today?” “We don’t have anything planned, so dunno.” It was almost certain that Adachi would call me about 

that later on. I knew she would. So then, why hadn’t I taken the initiative and done so myself? It was difficult to say. I guess I just wanted to wait and see if she would remember. 

If against all odds she didn’t remember, what would I do then? Probably just wait till next year. Till my next birthday when I’d wait for her call once more. 

“What about you? You see her often at the gym?” “Who?” 

“Adachi’s mom.” 

“Oh, yeah. Her. There’ve been some... difficulties.” “...Meaning?” 

What an oddly vague remark coming from Mom. I couldn’t help but grow slightly curious. 

In the next moment, another thought crossed my mind: Should I? 

“No, no. It’s all good. We’re total besties.” “Right...” 

“Anyway. Anything you’d like to eat?” 

It kinda felt like the woman was deliberately avoiding the subject. That said, going along with her did seem like the right thing to do here, and so, that was what I decided to do. 

“Let me think...” 

“Just give me a list of your favourites and I’ll do the thinking.” 

“In order, tamagoyaki, okonomiyaki, and... yakisoba.” 

There was no doubt in my mind that Mom would have been able to guess all of those even without me telling her. 

“Hmph.” 

Considering that she’d been the one to ask me, that sure was one weak response. 

“Huh? I thought we were talking about today’s din ner? Was I wrong?” 

“Hmm...” 

Another one. What was up with her today? “The thing is, those are what I usually make.” “Right. I guess they are.” 

“How about I do things a bit differently and mix them all together?” 

“That would be the simplest way, I suppose.” It seemed that in her mind, the only mathematical operator that existed was that of addition. A pleasant smile quickly arose on the woman’s face. She then proceeded to give my back a light tap. There was something very pleasant about the way she moved her hands. It was almost as if she was touching my very soul. The brief instant I spent in a state of bewilderment proved to be enough time for Mom to lean forward and have a peek at my face. 

“What?” 

“Nothing. I was just thinking back to when you were still a little baby.” 

The smile that appeared on her face as she said that seemed awfully familiar to me. Where had it been that I’d seen her smiling like that? 

“I used to always tell the same thing to myself when ever I watched you sleep.” 

“And that was what?” 

“That I would be fine with you not becoming either rich or smart as long as you grew up to be both strong and compassionate.” 

“I’ve almost certainly heard that one before.” 

“Hahaha”, the woman laughed as if to distract me. This was followed by her having another look at my face. “Have you grown strong?” 

“Strong under what definition?” 

“You tell me.” 

Having said that, Mom closed her eyes, gave me a soft smile, and lifted her head. 

“Being strong probably means that you’re not afraid to approach things, no matter what they may be.” It was always on my birthday that this serious side of Mom would make an appearance. With my eyes squinted as if blinded by the sun, I continued staring up at her. Like watching over a young child, the woman did the same. 

“Sure. I’ll aim for that.” 

The future me would, that was. 

“Do that.” 

My backside was given another tap. Did she think of me as a drum or something? 

“Well, whatever.” 

For whatever reason, it was impossible for me to bring myself to get angry at her. 

“Twenty years, huh?” the woman stated once more.

In the next instant... 

“Yoink!” 

“Geh!” 

...she randomly pulled out a hair from my head. A sharp wave of pain not unlike being stuck with a needle travelled through my scalp. 

“What?” 

“I plucked out a hair.” 

“A grey hair?” 

“A hair.” 

“Hey!” 

Instead of answering properly, Mom brought her clenched fist in front of my face and opened it. The hair that fell out and fluttered down onto the floor was most certainly grey. 

I remembered reading an essay a long time ago that someone had written when they’d turned twenty. They wrote that by simply going outside, the world before them appeared completely different than it had before. 

I figured I might as well try to mimic them and see if the same would happen to me. It was for that reason I now found myself walking the streets. 

“Hustle and bustle.” 

By no means was the town busy enough to warrant such a sound effect. The road leading to the station seemed more or less the same it had the day before, and the same was also true for the cloudless sky and the morning sun. There were no signs of fresh developments to be seen anywhere I looked, no breaths of new air. Everything was the same as usual. 

As for the strange sense of fulfilment I’d experienced back home, that too was gradually beginning to fade away. 

“Hmm...” 

Here and there, I found myself checking my phone. The message from Adachi I was waiting for had yet to arrive. Not like it was a big issue or anything, it wasn’t, but still. 

If at all possible, I would like for her to notice that it was my birthday without me having to tell her first. She, if anyone, could do it. 

“Am I being a nuisance? I really hope not...” Mumbling that to myself, I put my phone back. Still, I had to wonder. I sure was placing a lot of hopes on Adachi. When exactly was it that this had begun? Day by day, I just kept changing farther and farther into that direction. 

It was there that the difference between the me of the past and the me of the present could be seen at its clearest. 

Without her—without Adachi—all I was left with was the same old town I’d known for twenty years now. Again I was made to realise: It wasn’t the years that had changed me. No, that’d been all Adachi’s doing. In both good and bad, the waves my girlfriend had brought with her had carried me to the open sea. Such was the extent of the momentum Adachi possessed. Sure, sometimes she’d lose control and end up running head first into a wall, but still. 

Anyway, enough about that. Let’s talk about me. What reason did I have to be out here? There really wasn’t any. At this point, it was more or less just inertia that kept me walking. Thoughts of the sort continued bouncing through my head, when all of a sudden... 

“Oh, if it’s not Shimama.” 

...a voice called out to me from quite a distance below where my eyes were. Okay, yeah. That one was kinda uncalled for. 

The speaker turned out to be none other than Hino. Despite the fact that she too would be turning twenty this year, her height appeared completely unchanged from our time in high school. She was wearing a red kimono, and was currently waving into my direction. 

It was becoming an increasingly common occur rence for her to be wearing a kimono whenever I hap pened to bump into her. Was that a sign of her gaining more responsibilities as the years went by? That, or perhaps she simply liked wearing them. Whatever the case, what I decided to do next was head over to her. 

“You sure don’t look busy.” 

“Well, it is a day off, so.” 

It was called that precisely because you didn’t need to do anything. 

“I suppose”, Hino nodded back, all the while crossing her arms. Doing so caused her long sleeves to wrap around themselves. Matching her Japanese-style outfit, her hair had been tied behind her head in a bun. She proceeded to stare into space, waddle from left to right, and to give my shoulder a tap. It seemed that I was by no means the only one with time to spare. 

“You see, I was planning on going for a walk, but then I just so happened to spot you in the distance, Shimamama.” 

The “ma”s just kept on coming. 

“Right, right. You do live around here.” 

“Two minutes and you can see the house. Ten if you want to reach the front door.” 

“I bet that makes for some good exercise.” These were the types of jokes reserved exclusively for rich people. With them out of the way, Hino then proceeded to turn around. 

“While you’re in the neighbourhood, would you care to go for a cup of tea?” 

“At your house?” 

“It’s the only place I know where you can drink tea for free. Actually, I guess there’s also Nagafuji’s house, but I digress.” 

“Alright then. I’ll take you up on that offer.” I didn’t feel like that was a bad thing at all. Now that high school was over, it was quite rare for me to actually get a chance to talk with Hino. 

Before this, I’d only ever visited Hino’s house one time, and even then, I hadn’t actually stepped inside the building proper. And yet, all these years later, the memory of the place and its surroundings appeared just as clear to me as it had when I’d first seen them. I suppose that said something about how powerful of a sight it was. I remembered walking through the bamboo grove and feeling like my skin was being cleansed of filth by the greenish light that shone upon me. 

It was only after the fact that I happened to learn that Mom had also visited the place once. 

“I happened to find myself there randomly. The guard caught me pretty quick.” 

Something like that. Mom might have been a free spirit, but that was going a step too far, I felt. Dad would do well to try and rein her in sometimes. 

“Will Nagafuji be there too?” 

“It’s my place, not hers. Gosh.” 

That was exactly why I asked her in the first place. The road leading up to Hino’s house was just as relaxing a I remembered it to be. The air here felt completely different compared to the rest of the town, giving me the impression that I’d accidentally wandered into some sort of a tourist location. There was a certain coolness to it—reminiscent of fresh snow—that felt so pleasant against my skin. 

With each breath, a fresh scent of bamboo would fill my lungs. 

Whereas I was borderline struggling to stay on my feet, Hino’s walk seemed to suggest that all of this was just another day in her life—which, to be fair, it was. 

It didn’t end up taking us the full ten minutes to reach the front door, but more like five. Still impressive, though. Definitely. In front of the garden that could simply be described as stunningly beautiful, I noticed a number of cars sitting parked. Hino glanced at them, and without as much as a word, stepped inside the building. I quickly followed after her. 

“I’m home!” 

“Oh my. I wasn’t expecting you so soon. Welcome back.” 

We were greeted by a middle-aged lady who’d been in the process of cleaning up the shoe rack. Based on her appearance, I could only assume that this person was her family’s maid. The woman noticed me, and immediately bowed her head. 

“My deepest apologies.” 

“It’s fine. She’s a friend of mine.” 

Continue, please, Hino added while giving the maid a tap on the shoulder. She then took off her shoes and stepped into the hallway. I bowed at the woman and attempted to follow Hino’s lead, but before I could line up our shoes neatly, she ended up doing it for me. I was left to bow my head for a second time. 

“Just the fact that you have a maid makes this feel like a whole different world.” 

“You said the same thing the last time you came here.” 

“Did I?” 

“Or maybe it was Nagafuji.” 

Hahaha, she laughed. We continued talking in that manner when all of a sudden... 

“Oopsie.” 

...I was pulled to a halt by a tiny head poking out through the doorway of one of the rooms we walked past. 

The baby whom this head belonged to continued staring up at me with wide eyes. 

“Is this your... younger sibling?” 

“That’s your first guess?” 

At least you didn’t ask if she’s my daughter, Hino mumbled to herself. 

“No, she’s my oldest brother’s kid. He still lives here even now that he’s married. Only one of them who does.” 

Having said that, Hino crouched down and extended her arms, only for the baby to toddle over to her. If this child was her brother’s, I suppose that would make Hino her aunt. Also, it was a good thing Hino had told me that the baby was a “she”, because otherwise, I would’ve had no idea. Speaking of, the small start of a human being had now calmed down completely. It seemed as if she felt very much comfortable in Hino’s arms. 

Her head peeking out over Hino’s shoulder, the baby proceeded to stare at me. For some reason, I felt like the appropriate thing to do here was to throw my hands in the air and make a funny noise, and so, that was exactly what I did. 

There was no reaction. I slowly put my hands back down. 

“You might be a good sister, but you suck at being a mother.” 

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” 

Was that really the case? I found myself thinking back to my previous interactions with Adachi. She’d always get all frowny-faced whenever I acted like a mother around her, yet at the same time, she was awfully weak to sister-like behaviour. Balancing the two was a difficult task indeed. 

While I was busy thinking of such things, a woman stepped out from the same room where the baby had come from. She appeared to be the little girl’s mother. “I’m so very sorry, Akira.” 

“No, no. It’s fine.” 

Having said that, Hino attempted to hand the baby back, only for her nostrils to start quivering as if she was about to burst into tears. Flustered, Hino pulled her back, and right away, the quivering stopped. 

“My, you sure are popular.” 

“That’s how it goes. People always just kinda love me.” 

Despite the awkwardness of the smile which appeared on her face, I’d be hard-pressed to say that Hino looked like she completely disliked what was happening. 

With the babymatter taken care of, Hino next guided me to her room. Had I ever been there before? If I had, I couldn’t remember it. As for the room itself, it was absolutely massive, easily outscaling the one my sister and I shared in terms of size. Given that there were two of us and only one of her, I felt like that was saying something. Did she really have a need for this much space? I had a quick look around when all of a sudden, an indigo pillow was thrown my way. 

It was a real shocker that I was able to catch it. “I’ll go make us some tea.” 

“Sure.” 

“Feel free to read some manga while you wait.” “I’ll do that.” 

Hino then disappeared into the hallway. There was another set of sliding doors behind the one leading to her room, and as she pulled those open, I came to learn that they connected straight to the garden. The sight of pure white gravel glimmering in the sun prompted an audible gasp to escape my mouth. 

It was around there that it all began making sense to me. 

This place was practically a holiday inn. Of course you were going to be caught trying to wander around its premises. 

With that mystery settled, I next shifted my atten tion towards the bookshelf. There were five shelves in total, with the bottom two being filled with manga. The middle shelf appeared to be reserved for novels, and as for the one above that, it contained rows of heavy books with hard covers. Going through their spines, I saw that they were mostly about topics such as tea and etiquette—that was to say, matters related to Hino’s family. Their shabby condition seemed to suggest that the books had seen their fair share of reading. 

The shelf was topped off by a number of school books that appeared to have been more or less simply shoved up there. High school, middle school, as well as elementary school were all equally represented. It ap peared that this was where Hino stored her books after each year once she no longer needed them. I couldn’t help but feel a little nostalgic myself as I quickly went through the catalogue. 

Now, back on topic. I crouched down to see what sort of manga there was on offer. 

“Let’s have a look. Kase-san and... This one will do.” It appeared that the books were sorted by the initial letter of their title. Personally, mine were grouped by the author. That felt much more sensible to me. In any case, I picked up a book at random, tossed the pillow I’d been given on the floor, and sat down on it. Worth noting, I was sitting at pretty much the exact centre of the room. I distinctly remembered someone saying that they could never relax in these sorts of situations unless they were sitting by a corner. Who had that been? Hmm... I continued probing my memory for an answer as my eyes ran across the pages. 

The name had yet to come to me when Hino re turned carrying a tray. 

“You sort your books in a pretty odd way”, I stated while pointing at the shelf. 

“Oh, yeah. That’s Nagafuji’s doing. She kept going on and on about how she had nothing better to do.” “Right. Makes sense.” 

With that, Hino sat down opposite me and placed the tray between us. She then picked up one of the cups and handed it to me. 

“The confectioneries are over here”, she added while shaking a box full of tiny cans. Judging by the picture on the cover, it appeared that we were talking about regular old candy. 

“This seems very expensive. All of it.” 

The tea especially had a flavour to it wholly unlike the stuff you could find in a regular store. Not that I wouldn’t have been perfectly fine with that as well. It was what I drank on the regular, after all. 

“It was the one non-alcoholic beverage I managed to find.” 

“Oh, I wouldn’t have minded. It’s actually my birth day today.” 

Turning twenty meant that I was now legally allowed to drink. Sure, I’d not had time to do so yet, but in theory, I could. 

“Is it really? Well, in that case, you can have two.” Having said that, Hino took out two pieces of candy and lined them up in front of me. Was that really the best she could do for my birthday? Not that I was com plaining, but still. 

“Just joking of course. Have as many as you want”, Hino quickly stated in response to me picking the candy up. She also shook the can for added effect. “Thanks.” 

I tossed a piece of candy into my mouth to try it out, and right away, I was surprised in a very positive manner. 

“These are really good.” 

There was something about their quality that went above and beyond what regular sweets could offer. Their aftertaste had a certain elegance to it so refined that it alone made it clear just how expensive the can dies must have been. I could only hope that Yashiro would never get to taste something of this sort, because if she did, then oh boy. My sister sure would have a long bill to pay. 

“I feel like Nagafuji said something similar a while back.” 

“Nagafuji did?” 

Hmm, I groaned to myself as if to mimic her. This prompted a wide grin to appear on Hino’s face. She appeared very much satisfied by my imitation. 

Some time passed, and after a while, we found our selves sipping on tea while enjoying the scenery of the garden outside. I’d considered coming up with a topic for us to talk about, but that no longer felt necessary; simply sitting there and breathing in the fresh air around us was more than enough to pacify my rest less mind. Looking at Hino, she seemed to more or less agree. There was something very refined about the manner in which she was drinking her tea, which, thinking about it some more, made perfect sense; learning proper etiquette had clearly been a big part of her up bringing. Ever since our time in high school, I’d always felt a bit embarrassed comparing my manners to hers. 

The countless number of candies I’d eaten so far combined with the tea to form a river of pleasure so sweet I could feel myself drowning in it. 

With all the tea now gone, Hino cleared our cups away, stood up, and stated the following: 

“Say, Shima. Between go and shougi, which one are you better at?” 

“Well, I don’t actually know how to play go, so shougi I guess?” 

I used to play against my Grandpa in the countryside whenever we visited. He refused to go easy on me, and would always beat me without any difficulty. I remembered him patting my head after every loss and telling me to improve so that I could one day be the one to sit in the winner’s seat. 

He wasn’t the only one to comfort me. There’d also been— 

“......” 

Anyway, I was twenty now, and I’d still yet to beat him even once. 

“Alright. Shougi it is then.” 

With that, Hino walked over to the corner of the room, pulled out a shougi board, and brought it over to us. Much like everything else at the house, the board appeared to be quite solidly built, but at the same time, had definitely seen its fair share of years go by. Being a philistine myself, I couldn’t say for sure, but it also seemed very expensive. I went ahead and ran my finger across the wooden surface. It had a very nice, smooth sensation to it, which, given how nice things here tended to feel, was more or less to be expected. Was this the true meaning of the word “exquisite”? 

“To tell you the truth, I’m actually much better at othello than I am at shougi.” 

“Othello is good with me.” 

“Hmm, let’s not. Games are only fun when both players are on an equal level.” 

“Shuttup.” 

“I was imitating Nagafuji there.” 

Pushing all the blame on Nagafuji (who wasn’t even here), Hino proceeded to start setting up the board. Now that I thought about it, yeah, she had kinda sounded like her. What about me? Would I be able to imitate Adachi if I tried? Honestly, that seemed unlikely. She had a level of passion to her that I just couldn’t hope to match. 

The shougi pieces made a very satisfying sound as they landed on the board. I could vaguely recall my grandfather laughing at me when I’d told him that the sound reminded me of nails being clipped. 

All these years later, it still kinda did. Should I ask Hino to see what she thought? That might be a good way to put the matter behind me once and for all. And yet, for some reason, I found myself hesitating. 

“How’s life treating you these days?” I tried asking her just for the sake of it while going through my pawns one by one. 

“Me? I don’t really get up to much. Like, I basically just sit around all day”, Hino stated back, all the while doing the same with hers. She then picked one to move, and immediately hunched forward, leaving her head to lean against her palm. “It’s been like that ever since school ended. Sometimes I go fishing, other times I hang out with Nagafuji, but at the end of the day, it really doesn’t feel like I’m getting much of anything done.” 

“Sounds very elegant.” 

“Well, we are a modern-day noble family, so it’s kinda given. Living without having to work, that is.” Hahaha, she laughed. A hint of sarcasm could be heard in her voice. 

“What about you, Shima? How’s school?” I’d be lying if I said that it was easy balancing every thing. 

Still, it wasn’t all bad. Definitely not. 

“Good. It’s going good. At least for the time being.” “Glad to hear that”, Hino stated before picking up a piece and moving it forward seemingly without any thought. Was it a good move? Or perhaps a terrible one? I couldn’t really tell one way or another; while I did know the rules of the game, that was more or less where my shougi prowess ended. I had no greater strategy, no game plan. I was simply moving whatever pieces I was legally allowed. 

“And Adachi-chi?” 

“She’s... doing well.” 

“That’s great.” 

“Why are you asking me?” 

“Because that’s way faster than trying to ask her?” Hino stated back, her eyes fixed on the board. The way she said that made it seem like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“You might be right...” 

While I’d never really talked to Hino about Adachi and me, I suppose there were certain details you could glean by simply reading the room. Speaking of, that did go both ways; it wasn’t like I’d gone out of my way to inform Adachi of how close I still was with Hino. 

A thought passed my mind as I had a look at the yard. “You keep any pets here?” 

“Pets? Well, there are some frogs or whatever that have moved to live in the pond, but other than those, no, not really.” 

It was quite the thing to have a house large enough where you could introduce the residents of the pond as a separate group. I couldn’t imagine ever finding myself in a similar situation. The only intruder we had living with us was a certain alien with a blue head. Actually... Maybe I wasn’t one to talk. 

“We travel a lot, and apparently, that makes it difficult to accommodate for a pet. So I was told, at least.” “Right. That makes sense.” 

“So, why do you ask?” 

“No reason.” 

I picked up my rook and moved it across the board. Hino thought for a moment before moving her pawn, thus cornering me. 

There was no backup ready for the lone rook. Its fate had been sealed. 

“Damn.” 

“Are you actually playing, or are you just moving pieces at random?” 

She’d got me. All I could do now was laugh awkwardly while scratching my head. 

We played two games in total, and to no one’s surprise, I ended up losing both of them. I’d just been about to ask her if she wanted to play a third game when all of a sudden... 

“Come to think of it, you mentioned it was your birthday today.” 

“It is.” 

“In that case, give me a second.” 

Leaving the shougi board as it was, Hino got up and left the room. I waited for a moment, only for her to return as quickly as she’d gone. She was carrying what appeared to be a gift of some sort with her. 

“You really didn’t have to.” 

“No, no. Presents are very important. Now, just wait. I need to do this right.” 

“Sure...” 

Hino proceeded to shift her attention towards the garden outside, all the while nodding her head and mumbling something to herself. 

“The kanji for ’person’ is actually made of two people leaning against each other.” 

“Wow. I thought you’d actually say something meaningful, but no.” 

“That was a joke”, she stated quickly before snapping her fingers and once again turning her head: “While you can’t see wind, you can sense it from the way it causes plants to shake and shiver.” 

“Huh? I suppose...” 

I couldn’t help but have a look outside myself. What she’d said was true; you could definitely get an idea of how the wind was travelling based on how the environment was reacting to it. 

“Similarly, gifts and presents open a window to an other person’s heart and let you see what they think of you in a way that would otherwise be impossible.” 

With her speech now done, Hino relaxed her arms and leaned forward. 

“Impossible.” 

“That sounded pretty good.” 

“Could I get a round of applause then?” 

“Maybe if you say it again.” 

With a faint smile on her face, Hino handed me the present. 

“Nah. I already forgot.” 

Figured as much. 

Still, talking to her like this, I could most certainly get a sense of Hino’s “wind”. 

“I gotta say, this place of yours, it sure is nice.” My body and mind alike were completely relaxed, and at this point, even the words that were coming out from my mouth were starting to feel light. Not much had happened in the past few hours. I’d been treated for lunch, Hino had jokingly offered to let me use their bath which I’d of course taken her up on, and after that, I’d ended up falling asleep. Again, it wasn’t necessarily much, but I really enjoyed it. Eating, bathing, sleeping, and then eating again was how life was meant to be lived, I felt, yet in reality, things tended to play out much differently. 

“It’s already evening. Where did the time go?” I was almost certain I’d been sitting in the hallway when I fell asleep, yet when I came to, I found myself lying on a futon. 

“Did you carry me here, Hino?” 

“Do I look like I could? No, I asked Enome—the maid, I mean, to do it.” 

“In that case, pass my thanks to her.” 

“I gotta say, it was kinda hilarious how you never woke up through it all.” 

“Now you’re making me feel all embarrassed.” Hahaha, I laughed awkwardly while running my fin gers through my hair. 

“All these years later, you still are a bit of an airhead, aren’t you?” 

“Hmm? How so?” 

“This so”, she stated back, her finger pointed at my head. What did she mean? I gave my face a touch to make sure, but all my fingers came in contact with was my cheek still glistening from the long bath. 

Hino ended up seeing me off all the way to the front of the house. 

“Say, Shima. Were you planning on moving out once you finish university?” 

Just who had she heard that from? Well, regardless. “Depends on if I can find a job or not. But yeah, preferably.” 

“I guess we won’t really be able to meet after that, huh?” 

Those words left her mouth without any hesitation. She was absolutely correct; you could go as far as to say that once I was gone, the chances were that we’d never see each other again. 

Looking at it from that angle, what was happening here was quite close to death. 

With me left lost for words, Hino quickly continued talking: 

“It is only friends that are able to part ways. Were we not as close as we are, we would barely even notice it.” She then nodded her head a few times. 

48

“I can’t believe how cool I sound today. Just wow.” “Right. Could you repeat it one more time?” “Err, let’s see... Shima! My friend! Okay!” Hahaha, she laughed. I got the impression that in 

stead of having forgotten what she’d said, this time it was a case of her simply being too embarrassed to repeat herself. 

“That’s more or less accurate, I suppose.” 

“Right?” 

Hino placed her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest. She then stated the following: 

“No matter how many years go by, nothing will ever change the fact that in this moment, we are friends. For me, that’s all I care about.” 

“Right...” 

While the way Hino said those words seemed to suggest that she’d meant very little with them, they still managed to shake my heart greatly. 

Was she trying to imply that having your past turn into a pleasant memory wasn’t necessarily a bad thing? Because if so, then I would tend to agree. 

After all, it meant that all the things that had happened, all the people you’d met, they would forever stay 

49

with you, untouched and unchanged. 

“Well, anyway.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Tell Adattsi that I said hello.” 

Waving our hands at each other, Hino and I parted ways. I did wonder if I should perhaps say something to the effect of “until next time”, but ultimately, decided to keep my mouth shut. 

I had one last look at the wall of bamboo trees before closing my eyes and walking away. 

Right then... 

“Oh.” 

...my phone rang. The timing was perfect, so perfect it almost felt like someone had set it up that way. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the way the device was vibrating, yet it alone was enough to let me guess who the person messaging me was. “Sounds good. I’ll be waiting.” 

After typing that reply and sending it out, I took my phone and held it in front of me. 

What was this excitement, this bizarre happiness pounding in my chest? 

Fresh blood flowed through my veins, wiping away 50

the melancholy I’d experienced mere moments earlier. A few moments passed, and then at last. Pedalling as fast as she could, and with such speed I thought she might run me over, she came to me. 

“Ahaha!” 

A laugh escaped my mouth. I simply couldn’t help myself. 

That night, I pulled the living room window open and made my way to the garden outside. 

Our garden was much smaller compared to the one at Hino’s house, but also much more relaxing. All in all, it had just enough of everything for me to be able to call it “home”. 

Simply standing there staring at the town far away I could feel time fly by. 

In the darkness of dusk, a single voice, a single name echoed through my head. 

Adachi. 

You know that feeling after a long bath when your skin starts cooling down and you begin getting tired in the most pleasant of ways? 

That was the closest metaphor I could come up with to describe the sensation I was currently experiencing. 

“......” 

My stomach might have been full, but that was hardly the only part of me that felt satisfied. 

“You seem like you are having fun”, a youthful voice suddenly spoke out from above my head. It was only there that I noticed the particles of light softly fluttering down all around me. 

At no point had I even sensed her weight. “What are those marks on your cheek? Have you been sleeping up there?” 

Said marks were what I saw when I pointed my gaze upward, accompanied by the shine of the girl’s eyes. “I have. I am the sort of creature who gets very tired once she gets her belly full.” 

“So the regular type then, huh?” 

I picked the girl up and placed her down on the ground next to me. She showed no hesitation to this, leaving her lion tail and stumpy limbs alike to flop about. How could her tail move like it had a mind of its own? That was a mystery I did not have an answer to. 

“You seem like you are having fun.” 

Once more she repeated herself. Did I really look that way? I went ahead and touched my cheeks to check. There was, in fact, a wide smile on my face. Right. That made sense. Yeah. 

No way could I not smile thinking back to the way Adachi had acted earlier. 

“I suppose.” 

“It’s a good thing to have fun, I think.” 

That sounded quite convincing coming from the mouth of someone who spent the majority of her time smiling. Never did I get a sense of wrongdoing from her. 

The girl was almost like... a crystal of good, or some thing. Speaking of crystals, I wonder if Hino’s family owned any of those. 

“So, how did it go with my sister? Did she wish you a happy birthday?” 

“She did not believe me, and said I was lying.” Hohoho, Yashiro laughed, sounding quite happy for whatever reason. 

“Shou is quite sharp to see past my trickery. To tell you the truth, I do not actually know my birthday.” Oh, and do not tell her that. It is a secret, she quickly added in a hushed tone. How was it a secret if she— actually, never mind. I simply nodded my head and went along with it. 

“But, she did buy me chocolate after the fact.” “That’s good then.” 

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: That sister of mine went far too easy on the girl. 

“Can tomorrow also be my birthday?” 

“You still don’t fully get it, do you?” 

I gave her head a pat, prompting her to shake it from side to side while giggling. 

“These things only happening every once in a while is exactly what makes them as enjoyable as they are.” “Is that so?” 

“It is”, I stated back before letting out a deep sigh: “I have always wanted to live in a way where, instead of lamenting the years that go by, I celebrate them.” “Ooh.” 

Laughing at Yashiro’s nonsense reaction, I turned to point my gaze towards the sky. Doing so, I could feel a cold liquid of some sort slowly flowing down my cheeks, and then my jaw. Curious, I lifted my hand and touched my face, only for my fingers to fail to find any traces of said liquid. 

“If at all possible... I would like for that to continue till the day I die.” 

There they were, my truest feelings, uttered out into to the wild. 

“The thought of still wanting to keep on living when the time comes... It’s both happy and sad at the same time.” 

How miserable would it be to have things you wanted to do knowing that you’d never have the time to do them? 

It was for that reason that I wanted to feel so tired of living on my final day that I would welcome death with open arms. 

Then again, that was quite the weak way of approaching the matter, wasn’t it? 

Were I strong, then I should be able to take on what ever came my way with my head held high. But, alas, I was still weak. Far too weak. 

“Hmm”, I could hear Yashiro mumbling to herself. The ears of her lion hood continued swinging from side to side: “I honestly am not sure what you are talking about.” 

“I bet you don’t.” 

There was no need for her to understand, I felt. Creatures as mysterious as herself must surely have been far beyond such matters. 

I suppose that was one of the things that most strongly pulled me towards her. 

The way she spent her time so cheerfully observing the life on a whole different planet from her own. “Still, Shimamura. If it truly is that difficult on you, then I too shall help you prepare for your final day.” She followed this up by lifting her hand high up into the air as if volunteering for something. 

“You?” 

“Hehehe. Indeed. As you know, I am a very, very good person.” 

Cheeky, more like. 

“My final day...” 

While I did appreciate the sentiment, that hardly felt like a topic relevant for the time being. That was what I wanted to believe, at least. 

“Say... Are you able to tell how long I’m going to live for?” 

There was a chance that if I got really unlucky, I might die tonight in my sleep. 

“Hohoho.” 

No reply came. All Yashiro did was laugh. “I can say with certainty that you still have at least one more day.” 

“That’s good. I was just worrying about that.” I still had plenty to talk about with Adachi, plenty to make happen. 

Between now and my death, I wished to attain happiness. 

I wanted my happiness to be the joy of another. “So, for now...” 

Yashiro pulled down her hood, exposing a faint glimmer of blue beneath. 

“Happy birthday, Shimamura.” 

Her words of congratulation were pure, free from any and all ulterior motives. 

I stood there for a moment, flabbergasted, before stating the following: 

“You too.” 

As if guided forth by the lingering taste of her kindness, my hand moved to pat Yashiro’s head. It felt like I was touching moonlight itself. 

In the end, I never did manage to find myself a bicycle. 

“It feels like all I accomplished was wasting both time and energy.” 

“Hahaha”, Yashiro laughed from within my backpack. “Still... Hmm. I guess it’s fine.” 

I’d been congratulated, even if I didn’t really under stand what for. When you put it that way, you could hardly say that it’d all been for nothing. 

“Say, how many years has it been since I first met you?” 

“I know for a fact that it is less than 300.” 

“And I’m supposed to believe that you remember the exact day?” 

Leaving the woods behind, I pulled on the straps of my backpack to make it sit better against my shoulders. The sight of plains basking in twilight which greeted me was one I was more than used to seeing. Even if I had managed to find a bike, I doubt it would have been of much use around here. 

“Anyway... I suppose I should just go there and see what’s up.” 

With that, I began walking forth. The cheerful sounds of my feet hitting the grass were in direct contrast to the tiredness weighing down on my body. Swush, swush. Swash, swash. I couldn’t help but find myself a bit jealous of the girl currently relaxing inside my backpack. That said, there was no way I could make her walk; Yashiro never wore either socks or shoes, and this environment simply did not mesh with that in the slightest. 

What was up with that, I asked no one in particular. “So, are there people around here?” 

“Who knows. I found signs that suggested that there were, so that’s what I’m going by”, I stated back while scanning the giant trees that now stood where there had once been buildings. What were those signs I was talking of? A path. A path that had been formed in the grass by a number of people walking through there. 

While I did have my doubts about there being that many people left, I decided that it would be for the best to keep my guard up regardless. 

Why? Because I’d yet to come across a single person since departing my home town. That was why. Not that there was anyone left there either. Like the field before me, those memories too had been wrapped in a blanket of twilight. 

Oh, and before you ask, no; Yashiro did not count as a “person”. Not as a human, at least. 

“I don’t know why it is, but for some reason, people like settling down near tall structures.” 

“I see, I see.” 

I suppose a part of it was that they could help you find your way back home were you to ever get lost. “I too love tall things.” 

“Hmm... I can see that.” 

The memory of her appearing from the sky when we first met was still clear in my mind. From beyond the clouds she’d fluttered down, from where my arms could not reach she’d come to me. 

Thinking back to it now, it did seem quite suspicious, didn’t it? Very, very suspicious. 

Still, not asking questions was how I’d made it this far, and that was how I planned on going forward. There was another approach you could take as well, that being that such things simply did not matter. Yashiro’s coming from afar had motivated me to set out on a journey of my own, and all I could hope now was that I could find the person who I was looking for. 

A friend who’d answer when I called to them, a companion to give me a reason to keep on walking beneath the black sky. 

“I am quite high up as is. Higher than you, Chito.” “Keep that up and I’ll make you walk.” 

My threat was met by mere laughter. I couldn’t help but immediately feel a bit foolish for even trying. “Say, what about you? Do you have an objective of any sort?” 

After a number of years more or less ignoring the topic, I for some reason thought that now would be a good time to ask her about it. If I had to guess, I suppose it was the fact that I’d not had a definite goal of my own that’d led me to not finding it particularly important what she was up to. 

“I do have one, yes.” 

“Right...” 

Considering how detached from reality the girl appeared, I honestly wouldn’t have been surprised had she said no. 

“Then again, it might be that I have already completed it.” 

“Hmm?” 

What was she talking about? I couldn’t for the life of me recall her ever doing anything of the sort. I had a quick look around me, only to find nothing out of the ordinary there. Feeling the earth tremble beneath my feet as buildings continued crumpling in the distance, I stopped in my tracks and shifted my gaze upwards. 

“I don’t really know how to say this, but...” “Yes?” 

“Once that mission of yours is completed, will you—” “Ah, I saw someone.” 

“What!?” 

I’d yet to finish talking when all of a sudden, I noticed the figure of what looked to be a person standing in the distance. 

The distance between us grew shorter by the second as the person made their way towards me from the other side of twilight, casting a shadow that, while long, couldn’t quite match the massive trees growing behind them. 

Their approach was accompanied by the sound of bicycle wheels turning. 

Before I fully knew what I was doing, I’d found my self stretching out my back. 

“Err...” 

There was a distinct sense of hesitation to the per son’s voice. It seemed like I wasn’t the only one feeling lost here. 

For a brief moment, the sound of my heart pounding grew loud enough to completely drown out the noise of the city crumpling down around us. 

At last, I’d found another person. A girl. 

A girl with black hair. 

Would she turn out to be the one I’d been looking for this whole time? I definitely hoped so. Now, that was all good and nice, but there was a problem. 

I’d been so focused on my mission to locate another living person that now that I found myself standing before one, I had no idea what to do next. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that my mind had grown completely blank, but it was close. What felt like an eternity passed by as I simply stood there staring at her, unable to form even a single coherent thought. Never before had I felt such sympathy towards the planet and its uneventful way of existence. 

The girl’s shoes appeared quite worn out, and her cheeks were covered in tiny specks of dirt. If I had to estimate, I’d say that she was more or less around the same age as I was. Her eyes—slightly greenish— trembled nervously as she stared at me. 

The first thought that ran through my head as I re turned her gaze was how pretty she was. Immediately after that, I began wondering what I should say to her. The more I stared at her, the more I noticed all sorts of details—the clumsy way her hair had been cut, for an example—that all seemed to suggest that like me, the girl too had spent a long time living all by herself. 

“Hello”, stated a cheerful voice from within my back pack. Compared to us, Yashiro seemed to be taking the situation quite well. 

Having someone like her around for our first meeting wasn’t going to give the girl a bad impression of me, as it? I sure hoped not. 

It didn’t take long for the girl to realise that it hadn’t been me who’d spoken, prompting her eyes to shoot wide open. 

“H-Hello?” 

“Yes, yes.” 

“Err...” 

64

She quickly shifted her gaze down at her feet, giving me the impression that her approach towards Yashiro was going to be simply ignoring her. A pretty good idea, I felt. 

“I never thought I’d actually come across another person.” 

There was something about those words that man aged to pierce though me and to knock on the very surface of my heart. 

I’d spent such a long time walking for a single goal, and yet— 

“I didn’t either.” 

We hadn’t exchanged many words, yet based on the little we’d said, I felt like I already knew her. An awkward laugh left the girl’s mouth. It seemed that expressing her emotions in such a way was very much not something she was used to doing. The same went for me, of course. We were both laying our inexperience bare. 

After taking a quick breath, the girl stated the following: 

“My name is Shima. What’s yours?” 

Her voice felt cold, like touching ice, but also so pure.

It’d been so long since someone had last introduced themselves to me. Since I’d introduced myself to them. It was for that reason it took me a moment to formu late my response. 

“I’m—”