When I went outside, the sky was completely clear, as if yesterday's rain had been a lie... well, not quite, the sky was about 30% covered with clouds. But it was still a pleasant day for a walk.
"Where do we go first?"
"The weather looks nice, so shall we go to Central Garden?"
"Great! That means we'll be going through there , right?"
"Ah, it's just about at its best, so it might be nice."
Our destination for the day was decided to be Central Garden, about a 30-minute walk away, and on the way there we saw a view that can only be seen at this time of year .
There's a good chance that Niya, who comes from a different culture to us, will be surprised as well.
The place where we can see that view is not far from our current location.
As I walked with Lina and Niya , who was still holding on to the hem of my jacket, I looked up and noticed that the clouds that had covered about 30% of the blue sky had thinned out.
"It's been a while since I last went out with Cherry like this."
Lina, who was walking a little ahead of Niya and me, turned to face me and spoke to me.
"Now that you mention it, that's true."
"I can ask this now, but didn't Cherry avoid me during our first year?"
"Huh? That's not true."
I reacted as if the distance between us was just a coincidence, but Lina's intuition was correct. It was true that I had been purposely avoiding her.
The main reason was, "I want Lina to enjoy her student life more," and that was it.
After my parents passed away and I lost my normal life, the time that Lina spent supporting me was immeasurable.
I can say with certainty that if Lina hadn't supported me back then, I wouldn't be who I am today.
However, the fact that Lina had given up almost all of her own time for me at that time also meant that she lost precious time from her middle school life, which she could have had as a bright girl who was popular with other students.
By the time I realized this, I had only half a year left of middle school, as I was so busy with my own things at the time. By that time, we had both decided to take the same school, but my strong desire to not take up any time for Lina in high school made me naturally avoid her.
By the time we entered school, Lina had almost no time to spend with me. She was beautiful and had a bright personality, so she was so popular that boys from her year and even upperclassmen flocked to the classroom every day looking to woo her.
Although seeing Lina like that made me feel a little lonely, I was happy to see her, now free from me, enjoying her student life with a smile on her face with her friends. However, a certain incident led to us becoming too close again like before.
"Because when I talked to you,you were cold, and when I invited you to an event you never showed up..."
"It's nothing really... anyway, don't worry about it."
Even if I told the truth to her, who had an unconvinced look on her face, her response was pretty much predictable.
That's "stupid."
If I had consulted her about the way I had taken up her time, she would have been a kind person and would have said, "Don't worry about it."
Lina probably didn't want me to do what I did. I knew that, but I couldn't bear to see her continually turning down her friends' invitations because of me.
The reason I avoided her was because of my delusions and selfish actions, and because of that I hurt her feelings. If I told her the truth, she would get angry.
"Well, never mind, isn't it about time?"
While I was lost in thought, my first destination was right in front of me.
I'm a little excited to see how Niya, who is still holding onto me as we walk, will react when she sees this.
"That's right. If you turn there you'll see it."
As we rounded the last corner, pink flowers were reflected before our eyes.
Yes, our first destination is pink rose garden, the symbol of spring .
Paper Rose trees are planted along this road, and although the row of trees is short, the beauty of the flowers, so full of bloom that you can barely see the sky, is breathtaking every time you walk beneath them.
"Wow! It's beautiful again this year!"
"That's right."
It's so beautiful that I forget that I was remembering the negative memories from moments ago.
Now, how does Niya, who we wanted to see this view first, react?
Looking at Niya's face, she was staring at Paper Rose with her mouth slightly open.
"Fufu, Niya is also mesmerized by the paper rose."
Lina smiles with satisfaction, perhaps pleased by Niya's surprised reaction.
It would certainly be a little sad if we were the only ones having fun and Niya had no reaction at all.
"Cherry!"
Niya, speaking for the first time since leaving the house, pointed at paper rose and called out to me. I assumed she was asking, "What's this?" so I pointed at the tree and answered.
"It's beautiful, isn't it? It's called Paper Rose."
"Paper rose?"
"Yes."
Perhaps understanding the name of this beautiful flower, Shirahana let go of the hem of my jacket that she had been holding onto, smiled, hugged a Bougainville/Paper Rose tree and said:
"Paper rose tree! Good morning!"
We bursts out laughing at Niya's unexpected behavior.
"Buh! Hahahaha! Niya, you don't have to say good morning to the tree, okay?"
In response to my laughing reaction, Niya had a question mark floating above her head.
"Shhh,Niya is too cute... That's like being hit with no defense..."
Niya's actions must have hit a mysterious sweet spot in Lina's heart...she's saying things that don't make sense.
"Come on, let's get going."
As the three of us - Niya, still holding Paper Rose in her arms, and Lina, who had received mysterious damage from niya- continued walking together, the short paper rose tunnel came to an end and our next destination, Central Garden, came into view.
"There are a lot of people on a holiday, as expected."
Just as Lina said, the place was bustling with tourists and families with local children.
The Central Garden here is a tourist spot in Snow City and is visited by many people. There are restaurants that use ingredients from our city, tourist information about Snow City, and my favorite part is the Flower Zone, where various flowers are planted in a large park.
This flower zone is popular for its beautiful scenery and comfortable, well-equipped facilities, and is visited by many people every day.
"...!"
"Hmm, what's the matter, Niya?"
Perhaps surprised by the large number of people enjoying the Flower Zone that was right in front of us, Niya grabbed my jacket again. It was a little difficult to walk, but it was no problem.
After walking for about 2-3 minutes, we arrived at CentralGarden.
"We've arrived! It feels great!"
As soon as she reached the flower zone, Lina stretched her body as far as she could.
Standing next to her, I took a deep breath, feeling as if the clean air is purifying the impurities inside my body, and then I exhale.
On the other hand, Niya still seemed not to be used to being in places with a lot of people, as she was now holding my jacket tightly with both hands, which she had been holding with one hand until a moment ago, and hid behind me.
"Niya, there's nothing to be scared of, okay?"
"That's right, Niya Look, there are lots of flowers blooming over there!"
Lina pointed to a flowerbed full of beautiful flowers, but Niya didn't step out from behind me.
"Hmm, maybe she doesn't like being around a lot of people..."
"Isn't that right? She looked like she had fun just the three of us looking at the Paper Rose trees."
Is there any way to help Niya enjoy herself since she is completely intimidated by large groups of people?
"Hmm? Isn't that Cherry and Lina's daughter?"
As I was thinking about Niya, I suddenly heard a man's voice from behind me.
When I turned around, there was a man with unkempt brown hair and glasses waving at me.