That was why I decided to write to Akari and let her know that I wanted to see her one more
time before I moved. I suggested a list of places and time where we could meet. She replied
promptly. We both had exams for the third semester. I had to prepare for the relocation and
she had club activities to participate in so it wasn't until after the last lesson at the end of the
semester that we could meet at night. After we checked our schedules, we decided that we could
meet at a station near her home at seven o'clock. That way I could skip my club activities and
set o straight after class then after spending two hours with Akari, I could take the last train
home. In any case, as long as I could get back home on the same day, I'd be able to think of
some excuse to explain to my parents. I'd have to take the train on the Oda and Saikyou lines
then switch to the train on the Utsu to Ryouke line to get there which was going to cost around
three and a half thousand yen for the return tickets. It wasn't a small amount for me to handle
at the time but there was nothing more important than seeing Akari again.
There were two weeks left before the promised day and I spent that time writing a long letter
that I wanted to give to Akari. It was probably the rst love letter I ever wrote in my life. I
wrote in it about the aspiring future I had thought of, what I liked such as the books I read and
the music I listened to and, just how important Akari meant to me perhaps it really was still
just puppy love between us but I stayed honest with my feelings and expressed them as best as I
could. I can't quite remember what I wrote but I think it spanned about eight pages of writing
paper. At that time, there were many things I really wanted to say and let Akari know. As long
as she read the letter, I had thought I'd be able to endure the days on Kagoshima. It was the
part of me I wanted her to know about.
As I spent those days writing that letter, I dreamt about Akari many times.In the dream I was a nimble bird. Flapping my wings I ew through the night sky, through
a city lled with high rise buildings and railroads. I was thrilled and enthralled with my small
little body as I ew at a speed hundreds of times faster than what I could manage running on
the ground, ying to that place to meet that special someone. Before long I could see a town
densely packed with lights in the distance, twinkling like stars as I rode the strong night wind,
the light of trains running along like veins and arteries. Soon I managed to pierce through the
clouds and was ying where the moon illuminated them all from above as if I was above a vast
ocean. The transparent blue moonlight made the various peaks of the clouds glow as if it was
another planet. I had the power to go anywhere in the world I wanted to and my feathery body
was shivering with happiness. As I arrived close to my goal I dived down excitedly, the place
where she lived expanding rapidly before my eyes. There were rural elds stretching into the
distance, roofs of sparsely populated houses, patches of forest here and there and amongst it all,
there was a single streak of light moving. It was a train. I must have been on that train too.
And at the platform I caught sight of a girl waiting for that train. The young girl with hair
that hung down to her ears was sitting on a bench alone and nearby stood a single large cherry
blossom tree. The owers had yet to blossom but I could feel a breath of life from within its
hard bark. Before long, the young girl noticed my presence and looked up into the sky. Soon we
were going to be able to see each other again. . .
It was raining on the promised day Akari and I was going to meet. The sky was a single
shade of grey as if concealed behind a giant lid and from there cold droplets of rain fell and
accumulated on the ground. It was a day as if spring had changed its mind and turned back,
leaving only the scent of winter behind. I put on a double layered brown coat on top of my
uniform and after putting the letter I had wrote for Akari in my bag, I had set o to school. I
was expecting to be back late that night so I had left a note for my parents letting them know
so that I wouldn't worry them too much. Our parents didn't know each other and I doubt they
would have allowed us to do what we had planned even if we tried explaining to them.
I felt very unsettled during that day and spent all my time gazing out the window during
all the lessons. It was as if I couldn't understand any of the lessons at all. I had probably been
imagining what Akari looked like in her school uniform, what we would be talking about and
hearing her pleasant voice again. Yes, at that time I wasn't consciously aware of it but it was
clear I loved her voice. Her voice sent waves into the air and I loved it. Her kind and soft voice
always stimulated my ear. Soon I will be able to hear her voice again. Every time I thought
about it my body would grow hot as if it was on re and it would make me feel unsettled but
then I would gaze out the window at the cold rain.
Five centimetres per second. It was daytime yet everything was a light grey colour and I could
see many windows lit up in buildings and apartments as I gazed out of the classroom window.
The lights in the distant dance oor of a certain apartment could be seen swaying from time to
time. As I continued to gaze out the window, the rain drops had grown bigger and as the school
day came to an end, they had turned to snow.