The 'Disease Coexistence Journal' is, in essence, her
will - that is what I believe. In that unused paperback, she
writes about the everyday things she sees and feels, leaving
them behind. Evidently, it seemed that this method of
recording had rules unique to her.
I couldn't say I knew any for certain, but was fairly sure
of a few that I had observed. Firstly, she wasn't simply
recording her day-to-day experiences. Days where she saw
something special, days where she felt something special -
within the 'Disease Coexistence Journal', she compiled only
things that were of value in leaving behind after her own
death.
Secondly, she chose not to leave behind non-textual
information in the 'Disease Coexistence Journal'. It seemed
she thought that things like drawings or graphs didn't fit in a
paperback, choosing to only write with a black ball pen on
the 'Disease Coexistence Journal'.
Lastly, she decided that she wouldn't show anyone the
'Disease Coexistence Journal' until she died. With the
exception of me, having seen the very first page due even
more so to a force majeure than a blunder on her part, no
one else had seen her life's records. It seems that she had
told her parents to release it to all her loved ones after her
death. Whatever its present purpose, those around her
would receive her message after she died, thus making it something akin to her will.
But even though nobody should have been able to
influence those records or be affected by them until she
died, just once, I had given her my opinion on the 'Disease
Coexistence Journal'.
It was regarding my name - I didn't want it to appear in
the 'Disease Coexistence Journal'. It was simply because I
didn't want to receive any unnecessary scrutiny or criticism
from her parents and friends after her death. In the midst of
our library committee work, she had made a remark
regarding the 'Disease Coexistence Journal' that "various
people appear inside". It was then that I formally requested
the omission of my name. Her answer - "I'm the one writing
it so that's up to me." I swallowed whatever more words I
had. "If you say you don't like it, it makes me want to do it
even more," she added. I resigned myself to the trouble that
would ensue after my classmate's death.
With that said, my name had probably already been
written down together with the episodes involving yakinku
and dessert, but for the two days after we had gone to
Dessert Paradise, my name shouldn't have appeared in the
'Disease Coexistence Journal'.
The reason was that in those two days, I hadn't
exchanged a single word with her at school. It wasn't unusual
or anything, since we had always done our own thing in
class. Instead, it could be said that those days adorned by
yakiniku and desserts were the irregular ones.
I had attended school, taken tests, and returned home
quietly. Though I often felt the stares of her best friend and those from that group, I determined that there was no need
for me to go out of my way to be affected by them.
Nothing truly special had happened in those two days.
If I were forced to pick something, there were only two
minor incidents, the first of which - while I was silently
sweeping the corridor, a boy that normally didn't even so
much as look at me had come to talk to me.
"Yo, Plain-Classmate, are ya dating Yamauchi?"
His rather inelegant manner of speaking had a sort of
freshness to it. I suspected that it may have been the case
that he carried some affection for her, and in turn was
illogically angry at me, but his appearance suggested
otherwise. Judging by the look on his face, he wasn't the
slightest bit upset, in fact, there was some air of misplaced
glee about him. He must have been one of those frivolous
people that were like bundles of curiosity.
"No, absolutely not."
"That so? But the both of ya had dessert, right?"
"We just happened to have a meal together."
"What's with that?"
"Why are you interested?"
"Hm? Ah, don't tell me ya think I like Yamauchi? No
way! Look, I like girls that are more refined."
Even though I didn't ask, he continued to blabber on
nonchalantly. It seemed that the only thing we could agree
on was that she wasn't refined.
"I see, so we had the wrong idea, but everyone in class
is buzzing 'bout it ya know."
"It's all a misunderstanding, so I don't mind it."
"How mature, ya want some gum?"
"Not really. Could you hold the dustpan for me?"
"Leave it to me."
He was flaky and always skipped out on cleaning duty,
so I thought he'd turn me down. But contrary to
expectations, he helpfully held onto the dustpan for me.
Perhaps he didn't understand the concept of clean-up time,
and had someone taught him, he'd have been willing to do it
properly.
He didn't pursue the matter any further than that. This
was the first incident that happened within those two days
that I found to be irregular.
Having a conversation with a classmate wasn't that
unpleasant, but while the next irregularity was trivial, it had
put me into somewhat of a melancholic mood. The
bookmark that should have been sandwiched within my
paperback had gone missing. Though I fortunately
remembered the scene I had read up to, it wasn't something
that was distributed for free at bookshops and the like; it was
something made of thin plastic that I had bought when I
went to the museum previously. I didn't know when it had
gone missing, but in any case, even though I wasn't the least
bit bitter that my own carelessness was the root cause, I felt
down for the first time in a while.
However, despite feeling down about something that
was ultimately superficial, those two days were normal for
me. And since the norm for me was tranquillity - that meant
I hadn't been haunted by the girl who was close to death.
The beginning of regularity's end began on Wednesday night. I was enjoying the last of "normalcy" when I received
a single message.
No matter how much I hoped and wished, nothing
could change the fact that at that time, I hadn't noticed the
signs of abnormality beginning - it was probably because I
was a character. Even in novels, the only ones that knew the
setting of the first chapter were the readers. The characters
themselves don't know a single thing.
The message's contents were as such:
"Good job with the tests! We're getting a day off from
the tests tomorrow, aren't we? [smiley face] To get right to
the point, will you be free? You'll be free anyway right? I'm
thinking of going on a trip on the train! [peace sign]
Anywhere you want to go?"
Her making assumptions about people's circumstances
sort of ruined my mood, but she had hit the bull's-eye when
she said I was free, and I didn't have any reason to turn her
down, so I replied, "I'm fine with going anywhere you want
to go to before you die."
Of course, this would later come back to bite me in the
neck. I simply should have known better than to leave the
decision-making to her.
And so, the message specifying the place and time soon
followed. The rendezvous point was a large and prominent
train station within the prefecture, and the time was
peculiarly early, but I wrote it off as just another one of her
many whims.
I replied with a message containing just two characters,
and she responded with the last message I received that day.
"You absolutely can't break this promise okay?"
No matter how much we opposed each other, I
fundamentally never broke promises, so I replied with a
final "alright" and left my cellphone on my desk.
As a spoiler, the word "promise" was the crux of the
girl's trick. Actually, perhaps it was only I who had
interpreted it as a trick. I'd thought that the "promise" she
mentioned referred to our outing tomorrow. I was wrong.
Her "promise" referred to my slip of the tongue - "I'm fine
with going anywhere you want to go to before you die."
The next day, I headed to our meeting place early in
the morning and found her already waiting there. She was
carrying a sky blue backpack that she usually didn't bring
along, and wearing a straw hat that she usually didn't put on -
she looked as though she were leaving on a journey.
Before we even exchanged greetings, she expressed her
shock at my appearance.
"You're dressed too lightly! Is that all you're carrying?
What about your change of clothes?"
"...Change of clothes?"
"Hmm, well, I guess you can just buy some over there.
Seems like there'll be a Uniqlo."
"Over there? Uniqlo?"
That was the first time I felt signs of unease in my heart.
Treating my misgivings and questions like wind to her
ears, she looked at her watch and responded with the
question - "have you eaten breakfast?"
"It wasn't very filling, but I had bread."
"I haven't eaten. Is it fine if we get something?"
I thought that there wasn't any particular issue with that,
so I assented. She grinned and started to head towards her
destination in large strides. I had assumed that we were
headed to a convenience store, but we arrived at a bento
store instead.
"Huh, you're getting a railway bento?"
"Yeah, it's for eating on the Shinkansen. Are you
getting one too?"
"Wait wait wait wait wait."
I grabbed the upper arm of the girl that was happily
admiring the bentos lined up on the display, and pulled her
away from the cashier. The granny at the register had been
smiling pleasantly as she glanced at the girl, but when their
eyes met a second time, the girl wore a shocked expression,
giving the granny a shock too.
"That should be my expression."
"What's wrong?
"Shinkansen? Railway bento? Explain properly - what
exactly are we doing today?"
"Like I said, we're going on a trip on the train."
"So by 'train', you meant the Shinkansen? And when
you say 'trip', just how far do you mean for us to go?"
After making a face that said she finally remembered
something, she plunged her hand into her pocket and took
out two rectangular pieces of paper. I immediately
recognised that they were tickets.
She passed me one, and after taking a look at it, my
eyes spread wide open.
"Um, is this a joke?"
She chortled. It seemed like she was serious.
"It says we're not going somewhere for a day trip, so it
seems like we can still rethink this."
"...No, no, Get-Along-kun, you got it wrong."
"What a relief, so it really was a joke."
"That's not it, we're not going for just a day trip."
"...Huh?"
The futility of the entire exercise aside, our
conversation from this point on flowed in such a way that I
ended up overpowered. For the sake of convenience, a large
part of it has hence been omitted.
She asserted herself, and while I tried to persuade her
otherwise, she played her trump card - yesterday's messages.
Thus exploited was my intention to never break a promise.
Before I realised it, I was already riding on the
Shinkansen.
"Haaah."
While staring at the flowing scenery from the window
seat, I was lost on whether I should accept being thrust into
the present situation. Beside me, the girl was enjoying her
mixed rice.
"This is my first time going on a trip like this! Get-
Along-kun, have you done anything like this before?"
"Nope."
"You can relax y'know, since I've properly prepared
travel magazines for today."
"Ah, is that so."
Even reed boats should have a limit somewhere; I
frowned at myself.
Incidentally, just like the yakiniku, the money for the
Shinkansen tickets came from her purse. She told me not to
mind, but it wouldn't do not to repay her, even if it was at
the cost of the dignity of a human like me.
While wondering whether it was time to get a part-time
job, an orange was shoved right before my eyes.
"Want some?"
"...Thanks."
I received the orange and quietly began peeling its skin.
"You've got no energy at all, huh. Don't tell me you
feel like getting off?"
"No, I'm staying on board. For your plans, and the
Shinkansen too. And I'm reflecting on my decision to do
so."
"What a downer, you've got to be more cheery when
travelling!"
"Though it seems more like an abduction than a trip to
me."
"If you're going to keep looking back on yourself, you
should just look at me instead."
"And exactly what do you mean by saying that?"
Once again treating my words like the wind, she closed
the lid on the railway bento she was done with, and tied a
rubber band around it. Her nimble hand movements gave
off the impression that she was a perfectly alive human
being.
I discouraged myself from putting into words the
contrast between the sense of reality she emanated and the
actual reality, and proceeded to silently eat the orange one wedge at a time. She had bought the oranges from a kiosk,
but they were unexpectedly sweet and succulent. I took a
look outside and saw the rural landscape spread out into the
distance - a scene which I normally wouldn't have seen. I
spotted a scarecrow in the field, and for some reason, that
made me resign myself to the fact that there was no longer
any point in resisting.
"By the way, Get-Along-kun, what's your first name?"
It was a sudden question from the girl comparing local
specialties in her travel magazine next to me. Looking at the
greenery of the mountains had calmed me down, so I
responded to her query straightforwardly. Even though my
name wasn't even that unusual, she was nodding her head
with great interest. Following which, she whispered my full
name to herself.
"Wasn't there a novelist with a name like yours?"
"That's right, though I don't know which one you
thought of."
Using my own first and last names as a base, two
authors came to mind.
"Could this be the reason you like novels?"
"That's not far off the truth. I did start reading because
of that, but I like books because I think they're interesting."
"Hmmm, so you have the same name as your favourite
author?"
"Nope. My favourite is Osamu Dazai."
Seemingly somewhat surprised at hearing the name of a
literary master, her eyes spread wide open.
"By Osamu Dazai, you mean the one that wrote 'No Longer Human'?"
"That's right."
"So you like gloomy books like that, huh."
"It's true that Osamu Dazai's brooding nature comes
through the atmosphere of his books, but words can't be
dismissed just because they're gloomy you know."
It was rare of me to be speaking so enthusiastically, but
she responded with a pout, seemingly disinterested.
"Hmm, well, guess it just doesn't engage me."
"Looks like you aren't really interested in literature,
huh."
"Yeah, not really. I read manga though."
Just like I had expected. It wasn't a matter of good or
bad, I just couldn't imagine her patiently reading a novel.
Even for manga, if she was at home, she'd probably be
reading it while loafing around her room and making noises
at every little thing.
It couldn't be helped that my conversation partner
wasn't interested in what I had to say, so I asked her
something that I was curious about.
"Seems like your parents are pretty okay with you
travelling. What did you do?"
"I told them that I was travelling with Kyouko. If I told
my parents that I had one last thing I wanted to do, they'd
most likely agree to it in tears, but as expected of travelling
with a boy - I can't tell how they'd react."
"You're really horrible huh - trampling on your parents'
feelings."
"Speaking of which, what about you? What sort of excuse did you give your parents?"
"Since I didn't want to worry my parents, I've been
lying to them about having friends. So I told them that I was
staying at a friend's house."
"That's horrible, but how lonesome."
"But couldn't you say that no one got hurt?"
She shook her head in dismay and proceeded to
retrieve another magazine from the backpack placed next to
her feet. What an attitude for the culprit who had forced me
to lie to the parents I loved. Seeing that she had engrossed
herself with her magazine, I seized the opportunity to
conjure a paperback from my sling bag, and began to focus
on that instead. Worn out by the extraordinary amount of
noise she had been making since morning, I wanted nothing
but to surrender myself to the story and let my heart be
healed.
While thinking about things like that, it suddenly
dawned upon me that I was practically tempting fate to let
her disrupt my peace; it was a certain someone's fault that I
had become completely paranoid. Thankfully, my precious
time passed without any disturbances. I concentrated on my
novel for close to an hour before I reached a good place to
stop. It was then that I suddenly became aware of the peace
I had managed - but never expected - to grasp. I looked to
my side to see the girl soundly asleep, magazine resting on
her stomach.
She didn't wake for the rest of the trip. Not even after
the Shinkansen had arrived at our station.
If I had to say it, it looked as though her short life had ended on the Shinkansen, but the truth was that she was
simply impossibly hard to awaken - it wasn't an omen, and it
wasn't really a misunderstanding either. I gently poked her
cheeks and pinched her nose, but she just groggily moved
away and made no signs of waking up. As a last resort, I shot
a rubber band in my possession at the back of her
defenceless hand - she jumped out of her seat in an
overreaction.
"You could've just called me awake or something!" She
said as she punched me in the shoulder. Even though I had
went through all the trouble to wake her up - unbelievable.
"Our first landing! Waaah! I can smell ramen!"
"Isn't that just as expected of your imagination?"
"I definitely smell it! Isn't it your nose that's rotten?"
"I'm just grateful that my brain isn't rotten like yours."
"It's my pancreas that's rotten though."
"I'm a coward, so let's ban that deathblow from now
on. It's not fair."
While laughing, she said, "What if we made Get-Along-
kun a deathblow too?" But I didn't have any plans to
contract a serious illness in the near future, so I politely
turned her down.
We took a long escalator down from the platform to a
floor where the souvenir shop and the rest area were
located. The space seemed to have been newly renovated - it
got full marks for cleanliness and left me with a favourable
impression.
We took another escalator to get to the ground floor,
and we finally reached the ticket gates. An unexpected sensation assaulted me the moment I stepped out, so much
so that I doubted my own senses. Like she had said earlier, I
could smell ramen. Amazing - perhaps it really was true
then, that he in the urban prefectures could smell sauce,
while he in the rural prefectures could smell udon. I'd never
been to either, so I couldn't deny the possibility, but who
would have thought that a single dish could permeate the
everyday lives of humans to this extent?
Even without looking at the face of the girl standing
beside me, I knew that she was definitely snickering at me,
so I absolutely refused to look.
"So, where are we going?"
"Hehehehehehehehe, huh?"
How annoying.
"Ah, where are we going? We're going to meet the God
of Studies. But before that, we're getting lunch."
Speaking of which, my stomach did feel empty.
"As I thought, it's gotta be ramen, how about it?"
"No objections."
Amidst the bustle of the station, I traced her large
strides at my own comfortable pace. We were apparently
headed for some shop she had read about in the magazine
while on the Shinkansen. Her gait showed neither sign of
pause nor hesitation. We descended underground, exiting
the station into an underground street, and found ourselves
standing in front of the ramen store far sooner than
expected. As we neared the store, its distinctive scent of
broth thickened, and though I wasn't really put off, there
were copies of a page from a famous gourmet manga promoting this shop plastered onto its outer wall. However,
it didn't seem to be a weird shop, so I was relieved.
The ramen was delicious. The food arrived quickly
upon our orders, and we quickly began to stuff ourselves.
The both of us had chosen to get an extra set of noodles,
and when we were asked how hard we wanted our noodles
to be, I heard her say "steel beam"; I politely followed suit.
To think there was such a classification for the level of
hardness - it would be best if no one ever found out about
this matter, for it made me red with shame. Incidentally,
"harigane" was probably created by boiling the noodles for a
shorter duration of time.
Reinvigorated by the hearty meal, we quickly got on our
next train. There was no need to rush, since the shrine of
the God of Studies she had wanted to meet was about thirty
minutes away by train, but as the leader of our expedition
had demanded we hurry, I simply followed suit.
While sitting on the train, I remembered a report that I
had read somewhere, and I parted my sealed lips.
"It seems like this prefecture is rather unsafe, so it's
best to be careful. Shooting incidents and the like are
apparently quite common."
"Is that so? But isn't it the same with any prefecture?
Haven't you heard about that murder case in the
neighbouring prefecture that happened the other day?"
"I haven't been watching the news lately though."
"Someone from the police said it on TV, but it seems
like perpetrators of random attacks are the hardest to catch.
Like they say, the devil's children have the devil's luck!" "Though that shouldn't be the main takeaway from this
story."
"That must be why you're going to continue living and
I'm going to die."
"I've only just learnt this now, but proverbs can't be
trusted. I'll remember that."
It really did take the train thirty minutes to ferry us to
our destination. The sky was so sunny it was getting on my
nerves; just by standing around, I was starting to get soaked
in sweat. I wondered if I would really be alright without a
change of clothes, but it seemed that our next stop would be
close to a Uniqlo.
"What great weather!"
With a smile that rivalled the sun, she climbed the
slope up to the shrine with light steps. The slope to the
precinct was crowded despite it being a weekday afternoon.
On both sides of the street, there were stores selling all
manners of souvenirs, sundries, food, and even the odd
suspicious-looking T-shirt - it truly was a sight to behold. A
store selling specialty mochi especially caught my eye, and
the sweet fragrance it emanated tickled my nasal cavity.
From time to time, the teetering girl would get pulled
into a store, but in the end, we didn't buy a single thing.
Fortunately for us, the store attendants were understanding,
and I was able to enjoy just looking at the items in peace.
Having finally reached the end of the slope - now
drenched in sweat - we headed straight for the first vending
machine in sight. It was frustrating to lose to a vending
machine, especially one deliberately installed in such an exquisite location to take advantage of thirsty passers-by, but
there was no resisting a life-preserving instinct.
Whipping her sweat-soaked hair from side to side, she
was smiling as always.
"Feels like we're really in the springtime of life!"
"The grass may still be green, but it's not spring... It's
hot."
"Have you ever been in any sports clubs?"
"Nope. You see, I'm of noble birth, so it's fine even if I
don't move my body."
"Don't insult those of noble birth. You should exercise
more, you're sweating as much as I am, and I'm sick."
"But that doesn't have anything to do with my lack of
exercise."
Even the people around us had reached the limit of
their stamina - many sat shamelessly in the umbrage of
nearby trees. It seemed like today was another especially hot
day.
Somehow overcoming our dehydration, we slipped
away from the other youth, and resumed our journey. We
washed our hands, placed them upon the burning hot statue
of a cow, crossed a bridge as we watched the turtles float on
the water, and at long last, we arrived before the god. As for
why we came across a cow on the way, I remembered
reading an explanation for it, but the tepid heat had caused
me to forget. She, on the other hand, never seemed intent
on reading it.
We stood in front of the box that acted as the god's
wallet, and tossed in a small amount of money as an offering. Then we properly made our prayers - bowing twice,
clapping twice, and bowing once more.
I had learnt from somewhere that shrine visits weren't
actually the time to make wishes of gods. They were
originally meant as an expression of one's determination
before the gods. But right now, I couldn't muster any sort of
determination. Since nothing could be done about it, I
thought I'd give the girl beside me some help. Feigning
ignorance, I made a wish to the god.
May her pancreas be healed.
Only when I was done did I realise I had prayed for
even longer than her. Surely, wishes that we know won't
come true were easier to pray for. Perhaps she had actually
wished for something different from me. I didn't feel the
need to ask her. Prayers were something that should be
offered in silence, alone.
"I wished to be lively until I died. Get-Along-kun, what
about you?"
"...You're always trampling on my intentions huh."
"Huh, don't tell me you wished for me to slowly get
weaker? You're the worst! I was wrong about you!"
"And why would I wish for someone else's
misfortune?"
The truth was that I had wished for the complete
opposite of what she had speculated, but I didn't tell her.
Speaking of which, wasn't this the God of Studies? Well, it
was a god, so it probably didn't bother about the details.
"Hey, let's go draw our fortunes!"
I furrowed my brow at her suggestion. I had considered fortune slips to have no connection to her fate. Predictions
about the future were written on them, but that girl didn't
have a future.
She rushed to the spot where the fortune slips were
being sold, confidently deposited a hundred yen into the
box, and drew a fortune. It couldn't be helped, so I followed
along.
"The one with the better fortune wins!"
"Just what do you think fortune slips are?"
"Ah, I got a Great Blessing."
She was grinning from ear to ear. Inside my heart, I was
dumbfounded. Just what did the gods think of this girl?
With this, it was proven that fortune slips didn't carry any
sort of power at all. Or perhaps, it was actually an act of
kindness from the gods to the girl who had already drawn an
extraordinarily great curse.
She raised her voice.
"Ahahahahahahahahahahaha! Look, look! It says 'your
disease will be healed soon'! There's no way it'll be healed!"
"…Just what about this are you enjoying?"
"What'd you get?"
"Blessing."
"So it's lesser than a Small Blessing?"
"Though there are also those that say it's just lesser than
a Great Blessing."
"Whichever way it is, it's my win, hehe."
"Just what about this are you enjoying?"
"Wow, yours says that you'll meet a good match in
love, how nice."
"If you really think it's great, don't say it so
contemptuously."
She slanted her slim neck, and brought her face into
point-blank range of mine, a smirk plastered across her face.
"Even though I would say she was cute if I had to," I ended
up thinking - my greatest blunder yet.
I looked the other way, and I heard her cackling. She
didn't say a word once her laughter stopped.
We left the inner shrine and headed back the way we
came from. But instead of crossing the bridge from earlier,
we turned left, coming across the treasure house as well as a
pool named the Iris Pond. There were plenty of turtles
floating about on the water, for which we went to buy food
pellets to scatter into the water. Looking at the laid-back
movements of the turtles, I got a little distracted from the
heat. I broke out of my daze with the quiet realisation that
she had begun talking with a little girl. I looked at her
smiling face and thought, "As expected of a human who is
the opposite of me." The girl asked, "Big sis, is he your
boyfriend?" And she replied, "Nope, we just get along!" Her
response confused the young girl.
Once we were done feeding the turtles, we walked the
path along the pool and came across an eatery. At her
suggestion, we popped in. The store was outfitted with an
air-conditioner and we sighed on reflex at the respite it
provided. The spacious store had three other groups of
customers apart from us. There was a family, a classy elderly
couple, and a group of four aunties who were heartily
engaged in raucous chatter. We sat down at the table by the window.
Soon, a gentle-looking granny arrived with two cups of
water, and took our orders.
"Two umegae-mochi, and I guess I'll get tea. Are you
fine with tea too?"
I nodded, and the granny smiled as she left for the back
of the shop.
I drank the cold water, and felt my body temperature
steadily decrease. It was a relief to feel the chill spread to my
fingertips.
"That confection - you called it umegae-mochi, right?"
"It's a specialty. It was listed on the magazine."
"Sorry for the wait!" And before I could assert that we
hadn't waited at all, two red plates of umegae-mochi and two
cups of green tea had been placed on our table. Since we
had to make payment upfront, the two of us split the bill in
half and handed our coins to the store attendant.
I picked up the round white mochi that seemed to be
in constant production within the store, and its crispy baked
exterior made itself evident. As I bit into it, plenty of
sweetness, together with the faintly salty red bean paste, filled
my mouth. It tasted delicious, and the green tea paired
rather well with it.
"Doesn't it taste great? Following me was the right
decision after all."
"Just a little."
"You aren't honest, huh. At this rate won't you just go
back to being alone once I'm gone?"
It's not like that would bother me. That was what I thought. To me, the situation now was the true anomaly.
Once she was gone, I would return to my original
lifestyle. Without interacting with anyone, I'd shroud myself
in the world of novels. I'd return to that kind of everyday. It
wasn't something that was decidedly bad. But, I didn't think
I could make her understand.
Once we were done with our meal, she spread her
magazine open on the table.
"What are we going to do next?"
"Oh, you're really getting into this huh."
"I decided that I may as well lick the plate clean after
seeing a scarecrow on the Shinkansen."
"Ah, okay, I don't understand what you just said. But
I've come up with a list of things I wanted to do before I
die."
That was a good thing. She had probably realised how
pointless it was to spend time with me.
"Like going on a journey with a boy, eating tonkotsu
ramen at its place of conception, and though we just plunged
into this journey, for now, the last goal for the me of today is
to have offal hotpot for dinner. If I can fulfil that much for
today, I'll be super happy. Get-Along-kun, do you have
anywhere else you want to go?"
"Not really, I'm basically indifferent to tourist
attractions, so I don't really know any places for us to go.
I've already said it in yesterday's message, but I'm fine with
going anywhere you want to go."
"Hmm, I see, so what shall we do... Wah!"
She had let out a dumb sound. The cause was the sound of something breaking coupled with someone's crude
scream that had filled the room. I turned towards the
direction of the ruckus and I realised that within that ever-
noisy group of aunties, one of them had raised her voice
hysterically. Next to them, the granny was bowing her head.
It seemed that she had somehow stumbled and toppled over
a teacup. The crash of the ceramic teacup shattering against
the floor had surprised the girl who was troubled thinking
about our next course of action.
I kept a watch on the situation and observed. Even
though the granny continued to apologise profusely, the
auntie who seemed to have gotten tea spilt on her own
clothes got increasingly possessed by hysteria, and appeared
no different from a lunatic. Glancing in front of me, I saw
that she was also watching as she sipped on her tea.
I had thought that the situation would somehow be
resolved peacefully, but my expectations were quickly
dashed - the auntie absolutely blew her lid and roughly
shoved the granny away. Having been pushed over, the
granny staggered and collided with a table, causing it to flip
and collapse onto the floor. The soy sauce dispenser and a
bunch of disposable chopsticks were also scattered about.
The only one that still remained in the side-lines after
witnessing the present state of affairs was me.
"Wait a moment!"
Raising her voice to a level that I had not heard until
now, the girl that should have been sharing a table with me
stood up, and rushed over to the granny down the aisle.
"I knew it," I thought. I, who wished to remain abystander, and she, who wanted to be involved - it was that
kind of thing. I could say with conviction that if I reversed
myself as a person, that if I were her, I would have stood up
too.
The girl helped the granny up, yelling at the ladies she
considered her enemies. Of course, her opponents fought
back, but this was probably her true worth. Having seen her
in action, the other customers in the shop - the father of the
family, and the elderly couple - kicked into gear, and
supported the girl.
After receiving criticisms from all sides, even the other
aunties turned red. The group hastily left the store,
muttering complaints all the way out. With the
troublemakers gone, the girl checked on the granny, and was
praised in return. I was still drinking my tea.
After putting back the table in its original position, the
girl returned with an "I'm back". She still appeared to be
mad. I thought that she may have been upset with my lack of
action, but that wasn't it.
"Even though the granny tripped and fell over because
that auntie suddenly stretched her foot out. How utterly
horrible!"
"Yeah."
In this world, there exists a notion that the sins of
perpetrators and bystanders carried the same weight. In
which case, I was no different from those aunties, and so
refrained from strongly condemning them.
While looking at the girl who got angry for the sake of
justice, and whose days were numbered, I thought that the devil's children really had the devil's luck.
"There are plenty of humans that should die before
you, huh."
"I know, right!"
I smiled bitterly at her agreement. Just like I had
thought, I'd probably be alone again once she was gone.
When we left the store, she received six umegae-mochi
from the granny as a thank-you gift and souvenir. She turned
it down at first, but at the granny's insistence, graciously
accepted it. I too got to eat some of that umegae-mochi
which had been baked as part of an earlier batch, and I
enjoyed the moist and different texture – even this too, was
delicious.
"For now, let's head towards the city, since we need to
look for a Uniqlo too."
"That's true, I sweated more than I thought I would.
I'm really sorry but, I'll definitely repay you before you die,
so could you lend me some money?"
"Huh, I don't want to."
"...You're a spawn of the devil, huh. Let's get
along in hell."
"Wahaha, it was a lie, I was just joking, just joking. It's
fine even if you don't repay me."
"No way, I'll repay you everything you've paid for up
till now too."
"How stubborn."
We took the train, and headed back to the station we
came from. The inside of the train was quiet. The elderly
were dozing off, and the little children were gathered together, holding their war council in whispers. Since the girl
was reading her magazine beside me, I gazed blankly
outside. The time indicated that evening was approaching,
but the summer sky was still bright. It would be great if it just
stayed bright forever. Having reached this moment in time, I
started thinking about that kind of thing on a whim.
"If only I had made that my wish to the god instead," I
muttered to myself, as she folded her magazine and closed
her eyes. She stayed like that, fast asleep until we arrived at
our station.
The number of people at the station had increased
from the afternoon. In the midst of students and salarymen
making their daily commute, we walked leisurely. I thought
that the residents of this prefecture walked faster than those
living elsewhere. Maybe it was to avoid trouble in an unsafe
prefecture.
After consulting with her, we decided to proceed to the
single downtown district within the prefecture. We had
looked it up on our cellphones, and it seemed that there was
also a Uniqlo over there. We searched it up some more,
and apparently, in order to get to the first station within the
city from the location of the shrine, we should have
continued on without exiting the ticket gates. But at any rate,
having been abducted, it was impossible for me to have
done my research, and she was never a human meticulous
enough to care about such things.
We got on the subway, and headed downtown.
The night had fallen completely, and it was now 8 PM. We were seated at a hori-gotatsu, picking at a steaming
hotpot. The taste of the specialty hotpot with no other
ingredients but offal, cabbage, and garlic chives had left me -
who had declared meat superior to innards - speechless. Of
course, the girl was as noisy as ever.
"It's great to be alive!"
"No lies in that statement huh."
I drank the soup from my own bowl. Thoroughly
delicious.
After we had arrived at the city, we visited Uniqlo, and
following which, we simply wandered around aimlessly. We
entered a glasses shop because she wanted to buy sunglasses,
and later visited a bookshop I had spotted. It was fairly
enjoyable just looking at the townscape of a land I didn't
know. Later still, we chased pigeons in a park we chanced
upon, and sampled the signature confections of the
prefecture in a local confectionery. Time passed right by.
As the darkness of night crept in, the prefecture's
residents began lining up at the unusual food stalls along the
street. While I was still fixated on the scene before me, we
started making our way towards a hotpot establishment that
had caught her eye. Since it was a weekday - or perhaps we
were just lucky - we were ushered to a table in the crowded
restaurant straight away. "It's all thanks to me," so she
bragged, but she hadn't even made a reservation or anything
like that, so it absolutely wasn't thanks to her.
For the most part, we didn't talk about anything of
substance during our meal. She heaped praises onto the
hotpot from start to finish as I quietly relished the food. I managed to enjoy the hotpot without saying anything
pointless. When faced with delicious food, it wouldn't do to
act otherwise.
The next time she opened that pointless mouth of hers
was when the store attendant added Chinese noodles to the
soup brimming with umami.
"With this, the two of us are hotpot buddies too."
"Are you trying to make it seem like we've been living
under the same roof and eating from the same pot?"
"Even more than that. Since I've never even eaten
hotpot with any of my boyfriends."
She tittered. The reason her way of laughing was
different from usual was because alcohol had entered her
system. She had brazenly ordered wine despite her status as
a high school girl. The waiter made no second guesses as to
the excessively unabashed order, and promptly conferred a
glass of white wine. Even though I would've been happier
had he just contacted the police.
The girl who was in an even better mood than normal
wanted to talk about herself even more than usual. It was
convenient for me since I preferred to listen to what other
humans had to say, as compared to speaking myself.
As for how our conversation went, she started with her
last boyfriend who was apparently also my classmate.
"He's a super great guy. Yeah, really, I received a
confession from him, and I thought that since he was a good
person and a friend, it'd be fine to go out with him, so it was
hard to understand that it wasn't like that. I mean, I've
already said it quite frankly, haven't I? After we started going out, he'd get moody easily, and once we started fighting, he'd
stay angry for a super long time. It'd have been fine if we
were friends, but I didn't want to be with him any longer."
She brought the wine to her mouth. I kept quiet,
unable to empathise, and listened to what she had to say.
"Even Kyouko had good things to say about my ex-
boyfriend. Since he seemed like a refreshing boy on the
surface."
"Doesn't seem to have anything to do with me."
"That's true, after all, Kyouko does avoid you."
"Didn't you think you'd hurt me by saying something
like that?"
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm not hurt. I avoid her too, so we're even."
"Even though I want you to get along with Kyouko after
I die huh."
With an expression different from how it was up till
now, she looked at me straight in the eye. Evidently, it
seemed like she was serious about those words. With no
way out, I answered, "I'll think about it." "Please do," came
her curt reply. Those words were spoken with an earnest
conviction. My heart that had already decided that we
weren't going to get along anyway wavered, if just a little.
We left the restaurant once we had satisfied ourselves
with the hotpot, and our faces were caressed by the pleasant
night wind. Even though there were coolers installed within
the restaurant, they were made largely defunct by the many
hotpots simmering away inside. She had left after me, since
she had been footing the bill. Under the condition that I would definitely repay her for everything she spent on me
on this trip, I agreed to leave the bills to her.
"Waaah! Feels great!"
"It's still cooling at night huh."
"Right? Okay then, guess it's about time we head to the
hotel."
I had heard about our place of residence from her
earlier in the afternoon. It was a fairly high-grade hotel that
was connected to the Shinkansen station we had arrived at,
and it seemed to be well-known even within the prefecture.
She had actually intended on staying at a simple business
hotel, but when she informed her parents about her plans,
they proposed that she may as well stay at a better place, and
so provided her with a subsidy. Since she had already gone
that far, there was no reason not to take advantage of their
kindness - it was that kind of thing. Of course, half the
money her parents had forked out was meant for Best-
Friend-san, but the responsibility for that lay with her, so it
wasn't my business.
Having reached the station, it really wasn't long till we
arrived at the hotel. No, it's not like I was casting doubt on
the official information, what I had meant was that the hotel
was even closer than I'd expected.
I had already confirmed it beforehand in the magazine
she had brought along, so I wasn't overwhelmed by the
luxury and elegance of the hotel's interior. If I hadn't
prepared my heart, my jaw would've probably hit the
ground. And so, I should have been bowing my head down
to her. But since even I had a grain of self-respect that wouldn't allow that, I was really glad to just act surprised on
the surface.
Even though I'd avoided getting blown away, I was still
becoming predictably restless in this atmosphere that didn't
match my own social standing. I thus let her handle the
checking in, while I sat down on the refined lobby's sofa,
and quietly waited for her. The comfort I got from sitting on
the sofa felt deep and gentle.
With a look that indicated she was used to this, she
boldly headed for the counter, and the hotel staff all bowed
their heads down as she approached. I thought without a
doubt that she wouldn't become a decent adult, but then
remembered that she simply wouldn't become an adult.
While drinking tea from a clearly out-of-place PET
bottle, I watched from the side as she dealt with the
receptionist.
The person handling her check-in was slender, and had
his hair combed straight back - a young man that very much
gave off the air of a hotel receptionist.
Just as I thought about the trouble the receptionist
would have to go through, she started to fill in some form
she was presented with. I didn't listen to the contents of their
conversation from this point onwards, but she returned the
piece of paper, and with a refined demeanour, the beaming
receptionist began keying in the information into his
computer. Probably having confirmed the reservation, he
turned back to her and began courteously speaking.
She made a surprised expression, and shook her head.
The receptionist's face stiffened in response, as he began to operate the computer once again, all the while still speaking
to her. She shook her head again, took her backpack off her
shoulders, and handed over a piece of paper that she had
retrieved from within.
The receptionist compared the piece of paper to the
computer screen, and frowned before momentarily
withdrawing further behind the counter. Like her, I waited
around doing nothing in particular, until he returned with an
older man; the two of them bowed their heads to her
profusely and countlessly.
After which, it wasn't the younger man, but his senior
that made a deep, full-bodied bow of apology, and began
speaking to her. She made a troubled smile.
I watched the situation unfold from the side, wondering
if something had happened. Thinking about it normally, it
would have been logical to be under the impression that
there had been a mistake on the hotel's side, and the
reservation had been recorded erroneously, but I felt that
that alone would not have explained her troubled smile.
Whatever the case, I expected the hotel to properly deal
with the situation, and so thought little of it. At worst, we
could simply wait out the night at some net cafe.
Still smiling in a troubled manner, she kept stealing
glances at me, and so for no particular reason at all, I
nodded back at her. There wasn't really any meaning behind
that action, but after spotting my response, she said
something to the two apologetic men at the counter.
Right away, the faces of the two receptionists brightened
up, and though they kept their heads down as always, it seemed like this time, they offered her words of gratitude.
The me a few minutes later was going to want to beat up the
me that thought it was best their conversation had
concluded. Just like I've said many times before, I was
lacking in my crisis-management skills.
After accepting the key and the like, she returned with
her head held low once again. I looked up at her face, and
told her, "Seems like you had some trouble huh." She
returned my efforts with her facial expressions. First, she
pursed her lips, showing her embarrassment and
apprehension, then she peeked at my expression, and finally
- as if she was casting them all away - she broke into a broad
grin.
"Hey, so it seems like they made a little blunder."
"Yeah."
"They've filled up all the rooms of the type we
originally made reservations for."
"I see."
"Yup, so, since it's their responsibility, it seems like
they'll prepare a much better room for us than the one we
had reserved."
"That's pretty great huh."
"Hey..."
She dangled the single key she carried in her hand
beside her face.
"We'll have to share the room, but it's fine right?"
"...Huh?"
There's wasn't a single sensible thing I could say in
response to her smile.
I was getting sick of explaining things like this, and I
think if anyone could read the inside of my heart, this
situation's development would be fairly obvious, but I was
overpowered by her, and ended up staying over in the same
room.
I'd like if no one thought that I was a weak-willed flirt
that easily agreed to stay in the same room as someone of
the opposite gender. To put it in one way, there were some
financial issues between me and her. Just by exploiting that
alone, my insistence that it would be better for me to stay
over at a separate location was denied.
That said, who was I even making excuses for?
Yes, excuses. Taking on a firm stance and going in a
separate direction from her - that was what I should have
done. Even for her, it would probably have been impossible
to stop me. However, I willingly didn't do so. The reason?
Well, I'm not sure.
In any case, I ended up sharing the same room with
her. Having said that, there wasn't anything for me to feel
guilty about. I could guarantee that for the rest of my life.
We were pure.
"Isn't sleeping together in the same bed exciting?"
Okay, I was the only one who was pure.
"Are you dumb?"
I frowned at the girl who had said something strange
after spinning around as though she were dancing under the
chandelier that emanated a soft light from the middle of the
spacious room. I sat down on a good sofa within the
Western-style space, and told her something of the utmost common sense.
"I'll be over here."
"Come on, since we've gotten a good room, you should
at least have a proper taste of the bed!"
"In that case, I'll lie down on the bed for a little while
afterwards."
"Shouldn't you be happy to sleep with a girl?"
"Stop with those unwarranted attempts at character
assassination. Look, I'm just a gentleman wherever I go. Just
save those kinds of things for a boyfriend."
"Since we're not in a relationship, wouldn't it be fun to
do things we shouldn't do?"
After saying that, seemingly having thought of
something, she took out the 'Disease Coexistence Journal'
from her backpack and made a memo. I often saw this
behaviour when observing her.
"Wo~w! There's a jacuzzi!"
While listening to her frolicking about in the bathroom,
I opened the glass door, and stepped out onto the veranda.
The room we had been shown to was located on the 15th
floor of the high-rise, and even though it wasn't a suite, it was
way too luxurious for high school students. The toilet and
the bath were even separated, and the night view was
spectacular.
"Waaah, it's wonderful."
Before I knew it, she was out on the veranda, enjoying
the night view. Her long hair swayed in the whispering wind.
"It's just the two of us gazing into the night - don't you
think it's romantic?"
I returned into the room without answering. Sitting on
the sofa, I picked up the remote on the round table before
me, switched on the television that was as big as the room
was large, and browsed through the channels. There were
many local programmes on air that I usually didn't get to
see, and the entertainers showcasing dialects caught my
interest more than the girl's nonsense.
Abandoning the veranda, she closed the glass door and
cut in front of me to sit on the bed. I could imagine from the
look on her face when she made a "woah" just how springy
the bed was. Alright then, guess it wouldn't hurt to have just
a little taste of its springs.
Just like me, she was watching the large television.
"Dialects are interesting huh. Have ye eaten? It sounds
just like some warrior from way back. Even though the town
is cutting-edge, its dialect sounds old - how strange."
For someone like her, she said something rather
meaningful.
"Seems like it'd be pretty fun to study dialects as a job."
"Guess we agree once in a while huh. Even I'm
thinking that it'd be fine if I studied that kind of stuff once I
enter university."
"How nice, I wanted to go to university too."
"...What do you want me to say to that?"
I'd like if she stopped with the non-humorous,
sentimentality-cladded stuff. I didn't even know how I was
supposed to feel.
"Don't you have any trivia about dialects or
something?"
"Let's see, well, when we hear them, they all sound like
the same Kansai dialect to us, but there are actually quite a
number of variants. How many variants do you think there
are?"
"Ten thousand!"
"...That's just plain impossible. I'm going to get angry
if you keep pulling answers out of thin air, you know? There
are various views, but some say the actual number may even
be close to thirty."
"Huh, is that so."
"...I wonder just how many people you've hurt up till
now."
Since she was a girl with a wide network of
acquaintances, that number was probably immeasurable.
Honestly, what a sinful human. On that point, I, who didn't
acquaint myself with anybody, would never hurt anyone. As
for which of us is righteous as a person, I think that
judgement will be divided.
She silently watched the television for a while, but
before long - probably finding it unbearable to remain still -
she began rolling around on the wide bed, and after
completely messing it up, she loudly exclaimed, "I'm having
a bath!" Following which, she entered the bathroom and
started filling the tub with hot water. With the sound of
gushing water acting as BGM from beyond the bathroom
wall, she retrieved various small items from her backpack,
and started the water in the washroom that was separate
from the bathroom. She was probably removing her make
up. Though it's not like I was interested. Once the bath was filled with hot water, she
disappeared into the bath with delightful glee. "Peeping is a
no-no." Such was the foolish piece of advice I had received,
but I didn't even look at her walking into the bathroom. See,
it's because I was a gentleman.
I could hear her humming a song in the bathroom,
something I'd heard before from what was probably a
commercial. Wondering just how in the world had I arrived
at the present situation in which I was sitting so close to a
classmate as she took a hot bath, I thought back and
reflected on my own plans and actions. Looking up at the
ceiling, the chandelier flickered from the corner of my eye.
When I had reached the part of my memory where I
was getting assaulted by her on the Shinkansen, I was called
out to.
"Get-along-ku~n, could you get me the facial cleansing
cream from my backpack?"
Submitting to her voice that echoed from the
bathroom, without feeling anything in particular, I grabbed
the sky blue backpack that had been left on the bed and
peeked inside.
I hadn't felt anything.
That was why it was as if my heart had been hit with an
earthquake from somewhere when I laid my eyes on its
contents.
I looked inside the backpack - coloured just as brightly
as her.
And though there should have been no need or reason
to be shaken up, my heart was pounding. Even though I should have known, even though I
should have understood. Even though I should have already
grasped the premise of her existence, having seen that, I
choked.
Calm down...
I told myself so.
Inside her backpack were several syringes, an
unprecedented amount of pills, and what seemed to be a
measuring apparatus that I didn't know how to operate.
I somehow managed to hold my ground and stop my
thoughts from racing away.
I had known, that this was reality. The truth that she
was maintaining her existence with the power of medical
science. When I looked at what lay before my eyes, I felt an
unspeakable horror befall me. And right at that moment, the
face of the fear that entrapped me showed itself.
"Anything wro~ng?"
I turned towards the bathroom, and saw her wet arm
flapping about; she, who lacked even the slightest clue about
the state of my heart. In order to prevent her from realising
the feelings that had been born within me, I hurriedly
searched for the tube of facial cleansing cream and handed it
over to her.
"Thaaanks! Ah, this is because I'm naked right now!"
Before I could even muster a response, she cracked,
"At least say something! This is embarrassing!" Having
fulfilled the role of a straight man in her own little routine,
she closed the bathroom door.
I approached the bed she had occupied and threw my body onto it. It engulfed me in a springiness that I had come
to expect. And the white ceiling seemed to engulf even my
consciousness.
I was confused.
But why?
I should have been aware, I should have known, and I
should have understood.
But even so, I was still averting my eyes.
Averting my eyes from her reality.
In actuality, just by having seen those items, I was
becoming ruled by mistaken feelings. It was as though a
monster was gnawing at my heart.
Why?
My unsettled thoughts went spinning round and round,
and I fell asleep on the bed, the spinning probably having
reached my eyes.
When I had come to, the girl who had washed her hair
was shaking my shoulder. The monster had retreated for
now.
"So you did want to sleep on the bed."
"...Like I said, I just wanted to have one taste. This is
plenty."
I stood up and seated myself on the sofa. So as to
ensure she wouldn't notice the wounds the monster left, I
stared at the television as expressionlessly as I could. I'd
regained my composure, and the fact that I could do that
much was reassuring.
The girl was drying her long hair with the dryer
provided. "Get-Along-kun, you should take a bath too, the jacuzzi
was great!"
"Guess I should. No peeping alright, since I'm going to
peel off my human skin when I enter the bath."
"You got sunburnt?"
"Yeah, guess that works too."
With the Uniqlo carrier that contained the clothes I'd
bought with money borrowed from her, I headed into the
bathroom. Where humidity was heaviest, a sweet scent
swirled about, but knowing better, I simply dismissed it as a
concoction of my imagination.
Just in case, I properly locked the door before I
removed my clothes and rinsed myself under the shower.
After I was done washing my head and body, I immersed
myself in the bathtub. Just like she said, once I activated the
jacuzzi function, I was enveloped by a sense of bliss that
couldn't be put into words. The tracks left by the monster
trampling over my heart were slowly washed away. Baths
were great. I fully enjoyed the bath of a high-class hotel that I
supposed I wouldn't get a taste of for at least another ten
years.
I left the bath and found the chandelier lights switched
off, making the room considerably dimmer. The girl was
seated on the sofa that should have been my bed, and lying
on the round table was a convenience store carrier that
hadn't been there before.
"I bought some snacks and stuff from the convenience
store downstairs! Could you get two cups from the shelf over
there?" Just as she had requested, I grabbed hold of the two
cups and brought them over to the table. Since the sofa was
occupied, I sat on the elegantly designed chair across the
table. Just like the sofa, this too had a springiness that could
calm a person's heart.
While I sat comfortably, she lowered the convenience
store carrier onto the floor, retrieved from it a bottle, and
poured its contents into the two cups. She filled them both
to half their capacity with the amber-coloured liquid, and
then continued filling them with a colourless carbonated
drink from another bottle until they were about to overflow.
The two liquids mixed together, creating a mysterious
cocktail.
"And this is?"
"Plum liqueur mixed with soda - I wonder if this ratio is
alright."
"I've been thinking since the offal hotpot, but you're
only a high school student."
"I'm not acting cool or anything, I just like alcoholic
drinks. You're not going to drink?"
"... It can't be helped, I'll join you."
I brought the completely filled cup to my mouth,
making sure not to spill any of the plum liqueur. The first
sip of alcohol I had drunk in some time had a refreshing
aroma, and was unexpectedly sweet.
She enjoyed sipping at her own share of plum liqueur -
just like she had proclaimed - while spreading her snacks out
on the table one by one.
"Which faction of potato chip flavours are you in? I'm in consommé."
"Anything other than salt is just anti-establishment."
"We really do go in different directions huh! I didn't
buy anything but consommé though - serves you right."
I watched the girl that seemed to be having quite some
fun, and sure enough, the liqueur was becoming too sweet. I
was pretty much stuffed after the offal hotpot, but the junk
food oddly got my appetite working again. While munching
on the treacherous consommé potato chips, I sipped on the
liqueur.
Once we were both done with our first glass, she
poured us a second glass each, and made a proposal.
"Let's play a game."
"A game? We're even going to play shogi?"
"I'm at the level where I can at least understand the
rules of shogi, but you look like a strong player to me."
"Well I do like tsume-shogi, since I can play it alone."
"How lonesome. I brought poker cards though."
She walked over to the bed, and brought back a box
containing a set of poker cards from inside her backpack.
"I think it's more lonesome to play with poker cards
with just the two of us. For example, what do you even want
us to play?"
"Grand Millionaire?"
"It'll just be revolution after revolution and there won't
be any commoners though."
She giggled, seemingly in a good mood.
"Hmmm."
Taking out the poker cards from the plastic box, she looked like she was thinking as her body shook from the
shuffling. Without being particularly intrusive, I took the
Pocky she had bought and nibbled on one.
Once she shuffled the cards about five times, she
stopped. After seemingly nodding to herself in approval
countless times for coming up with some idea, her sparkling
eyes turned to me.
"Since we're already drinking, let's go with the
momentum and play Truth or Dare too."
I knitted my eyebrows, having heard the name of a
game I wasn't used to hearing.
"What kind of game has a name as heavy as that?"
"You don't know? Then I'll explain the rules as we
play. But first, the most important rule. You absolutely can't
quit the game. Got it?
"In other words, I just can't push over the shogi board,
right? That's fine, I won't do that sort of unrefined thing."
"You really said it huh?"
Her mischievous laughter had an odious tinge. She
moved all the snacks on the table to the floor, and skilfully
spread the faced down poker cards onto the tabletop to
form a circle. I could tell from her expression that she was
going to exploit the gap in our experience to beat me, and
this in turn fired me up - I was determined to take her down
a peg or two. There was no problem, since most games
involving poker cards were battles of wit and luck.
Experience wouldn't help much once I understood the
rules.
"Incidentally, we're using poker cards because we just happened to have them, but using rock-papers-scissors
would be fine too."
"...Give me back my fire."
"I've already eaten it. Alright, so the one that flips over
the largest card from within this circle will be the winner.
And the winner will get the right."
"The right?"
"The right to ask 'truth or dare?' Speaking of which, I
guess ten rounds will do. For now, just pick a card."
As instructed, I flipped a card over. It was the 8 of
Spades.
"What if we both pick cards of the same number?"
"It'd be troublesome otherwise, so we'll just pick
another card. I mentioned it earlier too, but since I only
made up the rule because it was fitting, this game isn't really
related to poker itself."
This time she drank her plum liqueur as she turned
over a card. It was the 11 of Hearts. I didn't really
understand, but I could tell I was definitely in a
disadvantageous situation, so I readied myself.
"Ya~y, so now I have the right. Now I'm going to ask
'truth or dare?' And first, you're going to say 'truth'. Okay,
so, truth or dare?"
"Truth... Then what?"
"Then for starters, who do you think is the cutest in our
class?"
"...Just what are you asking all of a sudden?"
"This is Truth or Dare, you know? If you can't answer,
then you'll have to choose dare. And if you choose to have a dare, then I'll decide what you have to do as the dare.
Whether it's truth or dare, you absolutely can't avoid
choosing one of them."
"What a devil's game."
"I've already said it before, but you can't back out now.
Didn't you agree to it too? You wouldn't do anything
unrefined, right?"
Thinking that making me show my resentment was all
part of her plan, I remained expressionless in front of her,
who was laughing unpleasantly as she drank her liqueur.
No, it was too early to give up. There should still be a
way out somewhere.
"Does such a game really exist? Are you sure you didn't
just make it up on the spot? If that's the case, then I insist
that it invalidates my agreement to not drop out of the
game."
"Too bad, huh. Do you really think I'm the sort of
human that doesn't think their plans through?"
"I do."
"Muahaha, it's a fully-fledged game that has even
appeared in many movies. I can assure you it's real since
I've properly looked it up after seeing it in a movie once. So
thanks for going out of your way to reiterate that you
wouldn't quit the game."
Cackling in a manner that I imagined only the denizens
of hell could, there was clearly malice lurking within her
eyes.
Somehow, it seemed that I'd once again been caught in
a trap. Just how many times did this make it?
"Let's not violate public order and morals in our truths
and dares though - ah, but you've never experienced
anything erotic before huh, good grief, you've got to
remember to control yourself alright."
"Keep quiet, dummy."
"How mean!"
She finished the liqueur in her cup, and poured herself
a third one. Her perpetual half-smile indicated that some of
the alcohol had probably already begun circulating in her
system. Incidentally, my face had been hot since a while ago.
"So, first of all, my question - who do you think is the
cutest in our class?"
"I don't judge people by their appearances you know."
"Personality doesn't really matter, it's about who you
think has the cutest face."
"..."
"Incidentally, I'm not going to show any mercy if you
chose to do a dare instead."
I felt nothing but bad vibes from that.
I thought of the best way to avoid damage in this
situation. It couldn't be helped - I chose truth.
"I think that girl is pretty. That girl who's good at
math."
"Ah!! You mean Hina! She's one eighth German you
know. Hmm, so you like that kind of girl. Even though
Hina's pretty, I don't think she has a boyfriend or anything,
and if I were a boy I'd probably choose Hina too. You've
got a good eye, huh!"
"Saying I have a good eye only if it matches your opinion, you really have an enormous ego huh."
I drank more liqueur. I had become a lot more numb
to the taste than before.
At her command, I once again chose another card.
Nine rounds to go. It looked unlikely that I'd be able to
escape halfway, so I hoped for all of the remaining questions
to be mine to ask. Alas, it seemed that I wasn't really lucky
in times such as this.
I got the 2 of Hearts, and she got the 6 of Diamonds.
"Woohoo, I guess heaven favours children with kind
hearts."
"I've suddenly become unable to believe in any god."
"Truth or dare?"
"...Truth."
"If Hina is number one in the class, just by appearance,
where do I place?"
"...Amongst the faces of the humans I can force
myself to remember - number three."
Thinking of infusing myself with the alcohol's power, I
drank more of my liqueur. At the same time, she too
brought her cup to her mouth, and drank even more
vigorously than me.
"Wo~w, I did ask the question myself, but I'm super
embarrassed! I mean who'd have expected Get-Along-kun
to answer so honestly - it's too much."
"I just want this to end faster. So I've resigned myself."
Probably because of the liqueur, her face had turned
red.
"Get-Along-kun, just take it slow, the night is long after all."
"That's true. They do say time feels longer if you're not
enjoying yourself."
"I'm having a lot of fun though."
So she said, pouring another two cups of plum liqueur.
Since there wasn't any soda left, she filled the cups to the
brim with the strong plum liqueur. Even without a taste, I
could tell just how sweet it was from the fragrance it
emanated.
"I see, so I'm the third cutest huh. Ehehehehe."
"Never mind that, I'm drawing my card. Alright, the 12
of Diamonds."
"Do you really not intend on getting fired up for this
game? Here I come - waaah, the 2 of Hearts."
I took a glance at her disappointed-looking face, and I
was relieved from the bottom of my heart. The greatest
resistance I could muster within the ten rounds of this game
was to trump her hand, even just once more. I swore that
once these ten rounds were over, I'd never again join her in
these incomprehensible activities that she called games.
"Come on, Get-Along-kun, say it."
"Aaah, truth or dare?"
"Truth!"
"Ermmm, that's right, hmm."
I wondered about what I wanted to know about her,
and thought of it right away.
Something that I wanted to know about her – there was
nothing else but this.
"Okay, I've decided."
"This is starting to get my heart pounding!"
"What kind of child were you?
"...Erm, is that really okay? I was even prepared
to at least reveal my three sizes."
"Be quiet, dummy."
"How horrible!"
She leant back and looked upwards, seemingly enjoying
herself. Of course, the intention behind my question wasn't
to hear about her fond memories. What I wanted to know
was how a human like her came to be. I wanted to know
how she - my opposite - grew up, how the surrounding
humans impacted her, and how she impacted them.
The reason was simply because I found it mysterious. I
wondered just how large the gap between our lives must
have been for the establishment of our differing natures. I
was interested in whether I could have turned out to be like
her with a single misstep.
"How I was as a child huuuh - at any rate, I've been
told that I was restless."
"Makes sense huh, I can easily imagine."
"Right? Since girls were taller in elementary school, I
would even get into fights with the largest boy in class. I even
wrecked some things, so I was a problematic child."
Indeed, there may be a link between the size of a
person's body and their character. My body had always been
small and weak. Perhaps that was why I became an
introverted human.
"Is this much enough?"
"I guess so, then let's move on."
Thereafter, it seemed that the gods really did favour
good children, and somehow or other I won five straight
victories. The proud girl from when the game began had
disappeared, leaving the girl that the gods had abandoned
together with her pancreas, who drank more liqueur with
each loss and had gotten into a bad mood. No, to be
accurate, she got displeased every time she heard my
questions. With only two sets remaining, her face was bright
red and her lips were pursed, and it looked like she was
going to slide down the sofa. It was as if she were a child
sulking.
Incidentally, below are the five rounds of questions and
answers that made her say, "Is this an interview?"
"What's the interest you've had for the longest time?"
"If I had to pick something, I gue~ss I've always loved
movies."
"Which famous person do you respect the most and
why?"
"Chiune Sugihara! The one that gave the Jews visas. It
think it was super cool of him to go through with what he
himself thought was right."
"What do you think are your own strengths and
weaknesses?"
"My strength is that I can get along with everyone, and
I'm not totally sure about my weakness, but I guess it's how
I'm easily distracted."
"What's the happiest moment of your life?"
"Hehe, I guess it's meeting you. Teehee."
"Not counting the stuff about your pancreas, what's the most painful moment of your life?"
"I guess it was when the dog I was always with died
when I was in middle school... Hey, is this an
interview?"
I made a splendid face of ignorance if I said so myself,
and responded, "Nope, it's a game." And with teary eyes,
she cried out, "Then ask questions that are more fun!" After
which, she proceeded to drink another cup of liqueur.
"Drink up."
So as to not offend the drunkard that was facing me
with a vulgar look, I drank some liqueur too. With that, I
had become rather tipsy as well, but I was still better at
maintaining a poker face than her.
"Two rounds remaining; I'm going to draw now - the 11
of Spades."
"Whaaat! Why's it so stro~ng, gah!
While wholeheartedly moaning in sorrow, frustration
and exasperation, she flipped open a card too. I looked at
the number she had drawn, and I - who had been convinced
that I'd won - had sweat dripping down my back.
The 13 of Spades - it was a king.
"I, I, I, I did it! ...Hmm?"
It seemed that the alcohol had reached the legs of the
girl that cheered and stood up at the same time, and so she
staggered and toppled back onto the sofa. With an
appearance completely different from before, she snickered
at the abnormal state of her own body.
"Hey, Get-Along-kun, I apologise, but this time, could
you choose after I've revealed both the question and the order?"
"So you've finally revealed your true colours huh, to say
nothing of the questions, you really just want to give orders."
"Aaah, yeah, yeah, it's Truth or Dare after all."
"Well I guess it doesn't break the rules."
"A~lright, truth or dare? For truth, tell me three things
that you think are cute about me. For dare, carry me to the
bed."
My body started to move on its own, perhaps even
before she stopped talking. In this case, if I chose truth, I'd
eventually have to move her anyway, so there wasn't any
room for hesitation in choosing the option that let me kill
two birds with one stone. Not to mention, the question she
asked for truth was much too foul.
Standing up, I was struck by the false impression that
my body was lighter than usual. I headed towards the sofa
she was sitting on. She cackled, seemingly enjoying herself. It
seemed that the alcohol had gone to her head. Thinking of
lending her a hand, I stretched my palm out right before her
eyes. As I did so, her loud laughter stopped.
"What's with the hand?"
"I'm lending you a hand, so come on, stand up."
"Nope, not gonna stand. Since I can't put any strength
into my legs."
She slowly raised the corners of her lips.
"Haven't I said it? To CA~RR~Y ME."
"..."
"Come on, come on, a piggyback might be good, or
maybe even a princ- waaah!"
Before she could finish saying that embarrassing name,
I dug my arms beneath her back and knees, and lifted her
up. Even the feeble me had enough strength to carry her for
a few meters. Hesitating was a no-go - that was what I
thought. There was no problem - we were drunk right now,
so some shame could be slept off.
Before she could even show any reaction, I threw the
girl in my arms onto the bed. The heat slipped away from
my arms. She remained frozen, shock still apparent on her
face. Out of breath, no thanks to the alcohol and physical
exertion, I stared at her as her face slowly and quietly broke
into a smile before she started to laugh in a manner
reminiscent of the clicking noises that bats made.
"I was surprised! Tha~nks!"
As she said as such, with slow and sluggish actions, she
moved to the left side of the large bed, lay on her back, and
closed her eyes. I thought that it would've been good if she
just fell asleep like that, but she giggled as she hit the surface
of the bed with both her arms. Unfortunately, it didn't seem
like she would forfeit the last game.
I hardened my resolve.
"Well, it's the last round huh. I'll specially flip yours
open for you. Just say which one it is you want."
"Okay, guess I'll go with the one right next to my cup."
She went quiet, and she casually threw her restless arms
onto the bed.
I, still standing, flipped open the card whose corner had
been caught under the cup holding a little plum liqueur.
The 7 of Clubs
"7."
"Waaah, ambi."
"Is it alright if I take that to mean that you're
ambivalent?"
"Yup, ambi."
I ignored the girl that continued to say "ambi~" after
probably having taken a fancy to the word, and stared at the
circle of cards to choose my last one. In times like this, there
may be people that would deliberate over and take great
care in their choice, but they were mistaken. Since we were
pretty much choosing under the same conditions, there were
basically no other factors involved apart from luck. In such
cases, one should quickly make their decision without
looking back.
Casually, I picked a card from within the circle, and to
the best of my ability, I cleared my mind of unnecessary
thoughts before flipping it open.
What I needed was luck.
No matter if I decided that this counted as being manly
or not, the number wouldn't change.
The card that I drew was-
"What number is it?"
"...6."
In times like this, I - who was honest to the extent that I
couldn't lie - was at a disadvantage. It would probably be
easier for me if I was able to become a human that could
push over the shogi board, but I didn't want to become one,
and I couldn't.
"Woohoo, wonder what I should get you to do~."
After saying so, she became silent. Feeling like a
prisoner on death row, I stood still as I awaited her question.
For the first time in a while, silence befell the dim
interior. Perhaps as part of the hotel fee, almost no noises
from outside could be heard - not even the noise from the
neighbouring rooms leaked through. Unpleasantly, due to
the fact that I was drunk, I could clearly hear the sounds of
my own breathing and heartbeat. I could also hear her
regular and deep breaths. I thought that she may have even
fallen asleep, but when I looked at her, her eyes were wide
open, stare fixated on the dark ceiling.
Having too much time on my hands, I looked outside
through the opening between the curtains. The busy streets
still shone with man-made lights, exposing no eagerness for
sleep.
"Truth or dare?"
The sudden words came from behind me - it seemed
like she had finally arrived at a conclusion, and while praying
my hardest that it wouldn't be something that would threaten
my heart, I answered with my back still facing her.
"Truth."
A single breath - I heard the large flow of air, and she
uttered the last question of the night.
"If I-"
"..."
"If I said I was really, really afraid of dying, what would
you do?"
Without voicing a single world, I turned around.
Her voice was too soft, and it made me think that my heart was about to stop frozen. In order to escape the chills,
I had to make sure if she was still alive, and so I turned
around.
She might have felt my gaze on her, but even so, the girl
continued to stare motionlessly at the ceiling with her lips
sealed, disinterested in saying any more.
Perhaps, she was being serious. I couldn't grasp her
true intentions. It wouldn't be strange even if she was being
serious. It wouldn't be strange even if she was joking. If I
took it seriously, I wouldn't know how to answer. If I took it
as a joke, I wouldn't know how to answer.
I didn't know.
As if laughing at how feeble my imagination was, once
again, the monster in the depths of my heart began to
breathe.
The terrified me disregarded my own intentions, and
opened his mouth.
"Dare..."
She didn't say whether my choice was good or bad. She
simply remained staring at the ceiling, and gave the following
order:
"Sleep on the bed too, no objections or opposition
allowed."
"Ambi~," she went once again, this time singing it with
a melody.
I was frustrated over the course of action I had to take,
but as expected, I was unable to push over the shogi board.
I switched off the electricity, and lay down with my back
to her, simply waiting for the sandman to whisk me away to
sleep. From time to time, the bed that wasn't mine alone
would rock as she tossed and turned in her sleep. It seemed
she didn't have the heart for sharing.
The large-sized bed had enough space even if the two
of us were to sleep with our backs flat.
We were innocent.
Innocent, and pure.
I didn't have to seek forgiveness from anyone.
Both she and I woke up at the same time because of
the same reason. A cellphone was beeping noisily. I took out
my phone from my bag, but there wasn't even a single
notification - since that meant it had to be hers, I retrieved
the phone that was left on the sofa and handed it over to the
girl that was sitting on the bed. The sleepy-eyed girl opened
the flip phone, and held it next to her ear.
Right away, I, who wasn't exactly next to her, could hear
a roar from the phone's speaker.
"Sakuraaaaa! Tell me where you are right now!" With a
frown, she held the phone away from her ear. Once the
caller had calmed down, she pressed it against her ear once
again.
"Good morni~ng, what's up?"
"Don't ask me what's up! I'm asking you where you
are!"
Looking a little unsure, she informed the caller of the
name of the prefecture we had set foot into. I could tell that
the caller was appalled.
"Wha- why would you go all the way there, and you
even lied to your parents that you were travelling with me!"
With that, I knew that the other person on the line was
Best-Friend-san. In response to her friend that was kicking
up a fuss, she let out a carefree yawn.
"How did you know?"
"There was stuff about the PTA circulating through the
telephone chain this morning! After yours, it's mine y'know!
There was a call from your mom, and I was the one who
picked it up - I had such a hard time fooling her."
"So you fooled her for me, as expected of Kyouko.
Thanks so much. How did you do it?"
"I pretended to be my sister, but none of that matters!
Why did you go as far as deceiving your parents to go to that
sort of place?"
"...Mmm."
"Besides, if you really wanted to go, you didn't have to
lie or anything, just properly go on the trip. I'd even follow
along."
"Aah, that sounds good, let's go somewhere over
summer vacation. When does Kyouko get a break from club
activities?"
"I'll check the calendar and contact you later 'kay - as
if!"
The brilliant flatter-and-retort reached my ears with
volume to spare. Even if someone was speaking at a normal
volume over the phone, inside a quiet room, it's possible to
overhear a certain amount of content. I washed my face, and
brushed my teeth as I watched her talking over the phone.
The toothpaste was even mintier than the one I usually used.
"Basically quietly going somewhere far away by yourself you aren't some cat that's about to die y'know."
A joke that couldn't be laughed at - I thought as I
listened, and she gave a response that was even harder to
laugh at, but was in fact the truth.
"I'm not alone though."
With bloodshot eyes because of last night's alcohol,
and looking like she was enjoying herself, she directed her
line of sight at me. I wanted to bury my face in my hands,
but unfortunately, they were both busy holding a toothbrush
and a cup.
"You're, not alone? Huh, with who… Your boyfriend?"
"No way, you already know that I've broken up with
him!"
"Then who is it?"
"Get-Along-kun."
I could hear the speechlessness from the other side of
the phone speaker. With no more concern as to how this
would turn out, I continued to brush my teeth.
"Y'know, you-"
"Just listen to what I have to say, Kyouko."
"..."
"You may think it's strange, and you may not
understand why, but I'll definitely explain all of it to you
someday. That's why even if you aren't quite convinced,
please just let this go. And so, I hope you'll keep this matter
to yourself for now."
"..."
It seemed like her tone had become serious, and
before I knew it, she had put Best-Friend-san at a loss for words. I thought that that was only natural. After all, the girl
did leave her best friend behind to go on a trip with some
unfamiliar classmate.
Best-Friend-san kept mum for a while on the other side
of the phone. The girl patiently pressed the phone against
her ear. Finally, a voice could be heard from the electronic
device.
"...Got it."
"Thanks, Kyouko."
"I have a few conditions."
"Anything you wish."
"Come back safely, and buy me a souvenir. Also, go on
a trip with me during summer vacation. Lastly, tell this to
Classmate-That-Has-An-Incomprehensible-Relationship-
With-My-Best-Friend - if he does anything to Sakura, I'll kill
him."
"Wahaha, I got it."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, the girl hung up. I
rinsed my mouth and sat on the sofa that had been stolen by
her yesterday. While clearing up the poker cards that were
scattered all over the table, I took a look at her and saw that
she was stroking her long hair that was still messy from
waking up.
"It's nice to have a best friend that thinks of their
friends, huh."
"I know ri~ght, ah, you might have heard already, but it
seems like Kyouko's going to kill you."
"Only if I do anything strange, right? So besides saying
I was innocent, please explain things properly."
"What about the princess carry?"
"Ooh, so it had that kind of name - with everything
done and over with, I felt like I was part of some moving
company."
"Guess you're getting killed by Kyouko no matter what
she hears."
Once she was done showering to fix her bed hair, we
headed down to the first floor of the hotel to get breakfast.
Breakfast was provided in the form of a grand buffet,
and as expected, it really brought to mind the class of the
hotel. I mainly chose to put food like fish and tofu on my
plate, and made a Japanese-style set meal breakfast. Having
taken a seat by the window, I was waiting for her when she
arrived with a ridiculous amount of food on her tray. "I need
to eat lots in the morning," so she said, but in the end, she
left a third of the food untouched, and I had to eat that.
While we were eating, I earnestly preached to her about the
joys of planning.
After returning to our room, I boiled some water and
brewed some coffee; she fixed herself some black tea. We
took a breather and watched the morning programmes,
taking up the same positions as last night. Within the serene
space that dazzling sunrays streamed into, it was as if the
both of us had forgotten the last question from yesterday.
"What's the plan for today?"
When I asked, she energetically stood up, walked over
to her sky blue bag, and took out a notebook. It seemed she
had sandwiched the Shinkansen tickets inside it.
"We're taking the Shinkansen at two-thirty, so we'llhave time to eat lunch and buy souvenirs. Shall we go
somewhere before that?"
"I don't know this area so I'll just leave it to you."
After we leisurely checked ourselves out and bowed
our heads to the employees, in compliance with her
decision, we took a bus and headed for a shopping mall that
was apparently famous. A commercial complex that was
built to have a river run through it, it had everything from
shops selling daily necessities to a theatre, and it seemed
there were many foreign tourists that were visiting it as a
sightseeing spot. Taking a look for myself when we arrived,
the gigantic red facility had unrivalled impact, exuding the
atmosphere of a true landmark.
We were lost as to where to go in the building that was
made to be complicatedly magnificent, but when we
wandered around, there just so happened to be a clown
having a street performance at the wide space next to the
water's edge, and we mixed in with the other spectators.
The approximately twenty minute long performance
was entertaining, and at the humorous beckoning of the
clown after the show, I put a hundred yen into his hat, as
typical of a high schooler. Seemingly having enjoyed herself,
she put in five hundred yen.
"Wasn't that fun? Get-Along-kun should go become a
street performer too."
"Please check who it is you're talking to. Doing a job
where I have to engage others is impossible for me. That's
why I think that person is amazing."
"I see, that's too bad. Maybe I should give it a go. Ah, I forgot, I'm going to die soon."
"Did you bring up this topic just so you could say that?
You do have a year after all, even if reaching their level is
impossible, you'd still get pretty good if you practiced."
At my suggestion, she smiled resplendently. It was a
smile that looked contagious.
"Yeah! That's true! Maybe I should try it out!"
Thrilled at her prospects for the future, she bought a
few items to practice with from a magic goods specialty store
within the facility. Throughout her purchase, I didn't get to
enter the store. Since she would be performing for me too
someday, there'd have been no meaning were I to help her
choose - that was the reason why. It couldn't be helped, so I
watched the commercial for magic goods playing at the
storefront together with some elementary schoolers.
"Aah, maybe with this, I'll emerge like a comet, and
have my name passed down to future generations as the
legendary magician that suddenly disappeared."
"If you were unbelievably talented, then perhaps."
"One year of my life is worth five years of other people,
so it'll definitely work out. Look forward to it."
"Wasn't the value of a person's single day unchanging?"
Looking like she was really serious about this, her
expression was brimming with greater verve than usual.
What made humans shine was the ability to achieve their
goals despite their lack of time. Standing next to me, she
probably shone much more prominently.
As I walked around the facility with the shining girl,
time passed right by. She bought a few articles of clothing. She kept coming to me with cute-looking T-shirts and skirts
in hand, and asking me to appraise each and every one of
them, but since I didn't really understand what counted as
good or bad in girls' fashion, I chose to say they suited her -
words that contained neither praise nor criticism.
Unexpectedly, those words had put her in a good mood, so
I was glad. And since I didn't lie about the clothes suiting
her, my heart didn't feel a twinge of guilt.
We dropped by a shop selling Ultraman goods on the
way, and she bought me a soft vinyl figure of a monster that
looked like a skeletal dinosaur as a present, but I didn't
understand the meaning behind her choice. When I asked
her, she said that it suited me. It didn't put me in a good
mood. In return, I bought her a soft vinyl figure of
Ultraman. When I said it suited her, she was put in a good
mood like always.
We put the hundred yen soft vinyl figures on our
fingers, and after eating some soft serve ice cream, we started
to head back to the station. It was just about noon when we
reached the station, and we - who had only eaten soft serve
ice cream - went to look at souvenirs before getting lunch.
Within the compound of the station, there was a large space
that sold only souvenirs, and it caught her eye.
While tasting various food items, she bought snacks
and specialty fish roe for her family, as well as some snacks
for her best friend. I also bought some snacks for myself that
had been awarded the gold award by Monde Selection
consecutively for years. Since I had only told my family that
I was staying over at a friend's house, I couldn't bring any souvenirs home. It was a real shame, but this time it couldn't
be helped.
We ate ramen at a different ramen shop from
yesterday, and since we had time to spare, we had tea at a
cafe before boarding the Shinkansen. I started to get
sentimental over the end of the trip.
Even more so than the me of the past who had been
taken along by her, I had become somewhat forward-
looking.
"Let's go on another trip - I guess next would be
winter."
The girl that was gazing at the scenery from her window
seat said as such. I was a little lost as to how to respond, but
in the end, I answered truthfully.
"Yeah, that may be nice too."
"Ooh, awfully honest of you. So, did you have fun?"
"Yeah, I had fun."
I had fun. That was how I really felt. I grew up in a
laissez-faire household where both my parents were busy,
and of course I didn't have any friends to go on trips with, so
I enjoyed myself much more than I'd thought I would.
She made a surprised face for some reason, and after
looking at me, she quickly returned to her usual smile and
forcefully grabbed onto my arm. Not knowing what to do, I
was frightened. Perhaps realising how I felt, she gave a look
of embarrassment, then retracted her hand and whispered,
"Sorry."
"What, were you trying to take my pancreas by force?"
"No, it's just that it's rare of you to be so honest, so I got carried away. Yeah, I had loads of fun too. Thanks so
much, for coming along. I wonder where we should go next.
I guess heading north would be nice. I wanna completely
relish the cold."
"Why do you have to treat your body badly? I hate the
cold, so I want to escape even further south than this."
"Waaah, we really do go in different directions!"
Still looking at the girl who had puffed her cheeks out
in mock annoyance, I broke the seal of the souvenir I had
bought for myself. Having given her a share of the snacks, I
bit into the steam bun-type snack myself. The taste of the
butter was almost too sweet.
By the time we arrived at the town we lived in, the
summer sky had slowly begun to adopt an ultramarine hue.
We took a train to our usual station, and rode our bicycles
to somewhere near our school before parting ways at the
usual place. Since we would meet on Monday anyway, both
the girl and I quickly made our farewells and headed down
our respective roads home.
When I got home, neither my mother nor my father
had returned yet. After properly washing my hands and
rinsing my mouth, I stayed in my room. When I lay down
on my bed, I was overcome with a sudden wave of
sleepiness. While wondering if I was physically tired, sleep-
deprived, or perhaps even both, I fell asleep.
I was woken up by my mother when it was time for
dinner, and I ate fried noodles while watching television.
While most would say that everything up till reaching home
could be called a journey, I learnt that in a way, the journey really only ends when I have my usual home-cooked food. I
had returned to my everyday life.
For the remainder of the weekend, there was no
contact from her at all. Just like always, I stayed in my room
reading books, only leaving for a supermarket alone in the
afternoon to buy some ice cream. Having spent whatever
was left of the two days unremarkably, it was already Sunday
night when I had a realisation.
I had been waiting for her to contact me.
When I went to school on Monday, the fact that I had
went travelling together with her had spread throughout the
class.
I wasn't sure whether it was related to that, but I
discovered my indoor shoes inside a trash can.
Whatever the case, it didn't seem like I had accidentally
dropped the ball.