Adachi to Shimamura - Volume SS1 - Chapter 1

One of Countless Beginnings

LONG AFTER THE HEAT of the moment was over, I realized what I’d said to her was true. I agreed to move in with Adachi because it was what I wanted. Thus far, I’d felt like a passive observer in the process, watching from a distance as each of my cardboard boxes seemed to disappear of its own accord. But now that the words were out there, I discovered I was the one who’d carried them all along. Even if—as some part of me believed—this was the natural progression of our relationship, it was dawning on me that it was also a choice I’d willingly made. 

From that point on, it was like my eyes were finally open. I could clearly envision the future that awaited us. It was so exciting, I couldn’t sit still, so I decided to go find Adachi. Even without that objective in mind, I would likely have found my way to her regardless. 

That night I skipped down the hallway, giddy like a little kid whose long-awaited vacation was just around the corner. It was an ordinary night in the same ordinary house; physically, nothing around me had changed. But now I could see light—the dawn of a new beginning. 

“You appear to be in a good mood, Shimamura-san,” Yashiro commented as we passed each other in the hall. She was dressed in her usual post-bath yukata as if entirely unfazed by the winter chill. Someone—probably my sister—had given her a juice box to slurp, and she looked as happy as a pig in mud. Evidently, so did I. Perhaps my recent transformation was so dramatic that even Yashiro’s blank, long-sighted marbles perceived it.

“Might even be better than yours.”

“I am glad to hear it.” Slurrrp.

I tousled her hair quickly, and we headed off to our separate destinations—or maybe Yashiro was just wandering aimlessly. That thought made me smile. Motes of light lingered on my palm as I hurried upstairs; moments later, my blue-tinged fingertips grasped the knob and flung open the door to the second-floor study room. 

When I came rushing in, I startled Adachi so much that she practically leapt off the floor…somehow without breaking her kneeling position. As usual, she was graceful and clumsy at the same time, and it was a treat to witness. 

“Oh, it’s just you…” she said.

Then, as forcefully as I had entered, I shouted, “I’m all yours!” 

She froze, her head slightly tilted, her eyes fixed on the far wall. In the past, that might’ve seemed odd to me. By this point, though, I understood her well enough to intuit that my sudden (and loud) arrival, combined with my choice of greeting, had short-circuited her brain. Pleased with myself, I smirked. As much as I loved learning new things about Adachi, I was deeply satisfied by the puzzles I’d already solved. I suppose you could say there was nothing about her I didn’t like.

Meanwhile, she gave up trying to parse my random silliness and tentatively raised both hands in an attempt to play along. “Um…y-yaaay…!”

“Hey, girl!” Hey, hey, heeey.