Chapter 03 – An Easier Way
"We happen to meet here." It was Sho who answered that question. "What about you? What are you doing here?"
"I'm looking for someone. You might not believe me but I'm tracking someone suspicious, he went up in those stairs, but I lost sight of him." The red-haired boy said, looking at them with interest. "Mind if I join you a little?"
She was wary of the new arrival. Even his excuse was in fact, suspicious. She glanced at Sho, the way he glanced back showed that he was wary as well.
"I-I wouldn't have minded but the fire's already dying, and I was about to head home, y-you see," Sakura said. She subtly hinted her refusal all the while recalling that she had basically used the same excuse when she wanted to run away from Sho yesterday.
"Oh, right!" He seemed to recall something. "I need to go too. Thank you. And oh, what's your name?"
"Kitahara…Sho…" Sho was taken aback by the sudden question.
"Sho-san, can you escort the lady back home?"
"G-got it."
"Thanks. See you two around," he said as he waved his hand.
With that, the boy ran back to where he came from until they could not see him anymore.
She looked up. Over the shadows cast by trees, the moon was peeking from the clouds. But as the person had said, it gave enough luminosity. The boy didn't use any light as he ran after all.
"Quite a weird person, isn't he?" Sho spoke after several moments had passed.
"Yes. I think so too." Sakura affirmed him. "Also, he is suspicious."
"I agree… So um, since we are done here. Shall I take you home?"
"…Okay."
They made sure the embers were dead, or at least in the state where they could not start a fire before we left. They walked down the steps with Sakura taking the lead. Sho followed after her. They talked little and this made her feel awkward. To Sakura, the way home felt long.
~ . ~ . ~ . . . ~ . ~ . ~
[It was something out of curiosity. I tried it. And the result…]
Sakura woke up abruptly. It was already morning and it seemed she even woke several minutes earlier than her usual. Her breathing was disordered. She remembered something unpleasant again.
She rose from her bed and prepared to head out.
Visiting the cherry blossom in the early morning had been her daily routine that would begin every year when the flowers would start to bud. She never missed a day, whether sunny, rainy, windy, or even stormy. She would go in any weather condition, even if an earthquake occurs—at least, that was what she believed since such instance never happened yet.
She ran forward when she saw the tree, cutting through the morning mist, her disordered breathing earlier had long since calmed down but right now, her heart was beating fast. The cherry blossom she deeply admired had its flowers falling more frequently now.
She smiled sweetly as she touched the trunk…
At the other side of the tree, she saw a person. However, instead of Sho who she was starting to get used to seeing, it was the same red-haired youth they met last night. He was sprawling on the concrete pathway.
She walked over slowly as she thought to herself, [why does my morning always get interrupted like this? It keeps happening these days. Wait… he's asleep!?]
The boy had his eyes closed. Sakura leaned forward closer to the boy to look better. He was about the same age as Sakura. If not, maybe even younger. At least, that's what she could tell with his face. Speaking of which, he hadn't seen his face around here as well. Is he a person from another place too?
The boy suddenly opened his eyes, staring directly at Sakura, who took a step back in surprise. He pulled an instant-stand-up technique with only his feet. She didn't know how to call it. "Oh, you're the girl earlier. What's up, so early in the morning?"
Sakura was perplexed. The person asked her a question, but she believed that it should be her who would be asking that. And her suspicion hadn't bated yet.
"What about you? What are you doing here sleeping on the road?" she asked, and it came out rather blunt.
"…Oh." The boy was surprised and then he continued, a little embarrassed. "Ha-ha… I haven't slept since I left you guys, you see. It just happened."
"W-wait. So you mean to tell that you roamed the town all night, without sleeping?!"
"Yeah. I guess so."
Sakura's mouth slightly opened. [Is this guy for real? For what reason would one stroll around the town? Well… I think I can relate,] she thought.
Wandering all night was something that Sakura wanted to experience too. But if her parents would find out that she was sneaking at night, they wouldn't let her go with just scolding. She was always careful when doing her night strolls, and most of the time, she'll be back home within an hour or so.
Sakura looked at the boy and observed him. He seemed to be sleepy, and his eyes were drooping down, making his claim more believable.
The boy looked above. To the tree's foliage. "Also, when I saw this tree, I felt that it wouldn't be bad to rest under it."
"Oh… Yes. I understand you." Sakura looked above as well and smiled. She felt happy someone had praised this tree. She faced the boy. "Hey, what's your name?"
"…Sorry, I wanted to say this even just once." He grinned, cleared his throat, and pointed a finger at her. "Before you ask someone's name, you should introduce yourself first!"
Sakura was stupefied. It was so stupid. Stupid enough that it made her giggle. "E-even though you asked Kitahara-san's name yesterday without introducing yourself. Fine. My name is Kawada Sakura, although I'll be using the same intro as I used not long ago, I like books and games."
"Nice to meet you, Sakura-san." He offered his hand.
"F-first name?" she was flustered. She immediately thought of how many boys called her like that in the past. There were in fact, very few.
"Ah, sorry, I'll use your last name if it's unpleasant though."
"…N-no." She said, quite embarrassed and hesitant. "I-I don't mind that much."
"Great, Sakura-san it is then. You can call me by my first name too. I am Henkou."
Sakura looked down at the hand still offering a handshake for a few seconds before finally shaking it. It was then another presence neared. Behind the boy called Henkou, Kitahara Sho walked forward, while sucking in smoke from his cigarette.
"Good morning to you two. If I gotta say though, I never thought I would meet the person yesterday here, along with you, Kawada-san," he said as he released the white smoke.
Sakura was bothered by the cigarette. She didn't really mind it when she first saw Sho since she thought their relationship would be cut immediately but now that he was more or less an acquaintance with whom she had interacted these past few days, her aversion towards cigarettes was surfacing again. She didn't want to be close to those who smoke but she did her best to hide it. "We met here by coincidence. You as well, Kitahara-san, I never thought we would meet here as well."
"Let me introduce myself to you as well. I am Henkou nice to meet you too, Sho-san." Henkou extended his hand for a handshake again. Sho looked at it and took it after a second.
"Same here," he said. It seemed the Sho still thought him suspicious or perhaps only curious. "By the way, what were you doing last night before and after you met us?"
"I was tailing someone, they're definitely suspicious. I'm not too sure but I think they were about to approach a woman and they ran when I called out to them. I tried to catch up but lost them. And then I saw you two."
He was talking about something like it was normal. Sakura thought that his story was somehow far-fetched after all. It was not like they were in a movie or something. No one would do that in real life. However, she believed that Henkou was telling the truth. She could not be sure why though. "So, were you able to find them?"
"No. I don't mean to brag, but I might have captured him if I didn't talk to the woman first and told her to go home. I'm quite the fast runner, you see."
"If you're telling the truth then, I think that's for the best," Sho stated as he puffed on his cigarette. "Leaving the woman alone could result in her being attacked or… I have heard the news about a killer in the next town. Maybe it's the same guy?"
"Can you tell me more about that?" Henkou was extremely interested.
Both Sakura and Sho filled in Henkou with the things they knew like victims' count so far, the time when the crime happened, and the place where the bodies were found. Sho didn't know much, and it was Sakura who told about the latter two pieces of information, although a bit unsure.
"Thanks. Later!" Henkou then gave his thanks, and ran off somewhere, saying that he would investigate. He was living freely, maybe even dangerously.
Sho's green eyes gaze was fixed at the boy's back. His black hair swayed freely in the morning breeze. Apparently, he only ties his hair up when burning things. He kept quiet until he looked up at the tree and let out an audible sigh. "This is the first time I've met someone like that."
"Me too. What he's doing is akin to a certain novel's protagonist which I've recently read."
Sho smiled weakly at that statement.
"Right…. He is." His reply was mixed with various feelings, Sakura could tell. He continued to look above the tree and gaze for a while. "Cherry blossoms are really beautiful."
Sakura just listened.
"I just wanted to see this tree again. The two times I passed here, I thought that it is pretty. Standing alone away from the other trees… Yes, I think it really is beautiful."
"I think so too." She looked up again.
The two remained like that for a whole minute, not speaking a single word. Sho puffed his cigarette one last time and flicked it away on the slope towards the creek. "About the plan tonight. We forgot to make a proper plan after all."
"I thought we were going to meet there around midnight again," Sakura admitted. But then she realized that this was the first time they agreed to meet up. "So, what time?"
"Are you fine with 11 PM?"
"That's fine. But why?" Sakura thought that her parents would be sleeping by that time but the time they met last time was past midnight. But then she remembered that it was before midnight when they first met at night so maybe the actual time to burn was before midnight.
It wasn't Sho's reason though.
"Good then. We'll be gathering things to burn after all. Trashes, twigs, anything, and then we'll pile them up in that place."
"...I see. That makes sense." There's no way there would always be convenient things to burn there after all. "Okay then."
They talked a few more times and soon, the boy left the place as well.
Her morning visit took longer than usual, and a farmer started to appear in the fields. Sakura, herself, started walking home as well. It was just another morning, or it was supposed to be. She thought about Henkou, and she would see him again. Then Sho.
What could she say?
Kitahara Sho, someone who loves burning things like diaries, love letters, and diaries. It felt like he had an obsession with the fire. He lived in this town four years ago and came back to reminisce, or so he said. By now, Sakura believed that he had other reasons besides that.
[Now that I think about it, I still don't know a lot about him.] She could not properly understand it. Perhaps because new things were coming one after another to her? Anyway, she wanted to know a bit more.
But more importantly, she had to apologize to him. Although she was still scared of the idea, she decided that she would do it tonight. She knew him enough that she could not just let what happened in the past to be left unsaid. Whether it would cut their relationship, or if they would continue as before, either way was fine.
Sakura walked alone, taking step after step. She stopped and from the ground, her vision shifted upward, towards the morning sky.
She took a huge breath and then started to hum, skipping the rest of the distance.
~ . ~ . ~ . . . ~ . ~ . ~
Nighttime.
Sakura opened the door and walked outside their house. Not too far from there, she saw Sho waiting for her.
They had talked earlier in the morning that Sho would come and pick her up. If the criminal from the next town indeed came here, she had to be careful. However, this was not her idea, it was Sho's. She said that she could take care of herself but the boy insisted so she agreed although a bit reluctant.
"Well then, let's go, Sakura-san," Sho said as he led the way.
"Where are we going?"
"To the residential district."
"Uhm, so we are going to pick up trashes around the town?" she asked. They could gather leaves, twigs, or branches in the area around the clearing, but the residential district mostly only had the trashes littered around.
And their town was in no way full of littered trash. She thought that even if they looked around for a whole hour, they would not even fill the half of one bin bag. Speaking of which, she did not bring anything except her sling bag. Of course, there was no sack or any of the sort inside.
Sho replied without looking back. "Nope. There's an easier way."
Sakura wondered what he meant by that as she quietly followed him.
Thud.
[I feel like a thief?] Sakura thought to herself as she dropped a bin bag on the road's side. This was in fact one of the bin bags left at the corner of some road meant to be collected by the waste collectors.
She was looking everywhere as she stopped to rest her arm for a bit and then she carried it again immediately not wanting to stay long like this. She made sure no one was looking her way from the houses nearby, and that no other people were walking the road too.
Keeping like this for the whole time was nerve-racking. She also had to walk on either side of the road depending on which side would make her less visible to the houses around.
[Really, I feel like I'm doing something very bad right now. And of all things to steal, garbage? Really?]
Sho on the other hand was already carrying two of those. After he arrived at a part of the road where a tree stood nearby. The streetlights didn't reach him there well. He stopped there and waited for her. Sakura gradually went to him.
"Don't tell me you took one of these yesterday?" she said as she looked around.
"Yeah. Don't go telling anybody okay? But at this point, you're already my accomplice so I think you wouldn't do that though," he grinned. "You're even more cautious than I am."
"I don't have a choice, do I? Unlike you, I live here. If they see me doing this, they will brand me as a garbage bag thief… Anyway, it won't do me good."
"Yeah. Sorry for going along with me."
He doesn't look a bit apologetic though, Sakura thought. She sighed.
Soon after, they resumed walking in the shadows.