Adachi to Shimamura - Volume 1 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Future Fishing

"Oh, classic Shimamura. You're like a woman straight from the Shimamura Nation." 
"Sounds like a nice place. Where can I find it?" 
I grabbed the tips of my culotte and stared at them. Did my outfit really look that much like something bought from Shimamura? Honestly, I didn't even shop for clothes there all that often. And yet, due to my name alone, everyone treated me like I had been born there. 
It was Sunday, and I had gone to the fishing pond with Hino. We had originally agreed to go on Saturday, but due to the rain that day, we ended up postponing it till today. Didn't really matter to me; I had nothing else to do either way. 
I didn't have fishing equipment or anything with me. Hino, too, was dressed up like normal. I honestly had expected her to come wearing one of those fisherman's vests with a bunch of pockets. 
If anything about her stood out, it was the large straw hat on her head. As she fiddled with its brim, a look of pride appeared on her face. 
"You can call me Fisherman Sanpei." 
"Fisherman Who?" 
"Huh? You don't know that one? Oh kids these days", Hino grieved, shaking her head. Then, approximately two seconds later, she came up with something else, and her expression returned to cheerful. 
"Let's cheer up. It's Funday, after all." 
"Shut up." 
The proud-looking shorty had been bugging me for a while now to join her, and since I had nothing else to do, I had decided to at last accept her offer. This was where we had met, behind an elementary school. Never had I known that there was a fishing pond here. Not all that surprising, honestly; I did live in a totally different school district. Next to the pond, there was a small shop that sold school uniforms and the like, and there, in the shadow that it cast, the two of us stood. The sky was mostly clear—only a few autumn clouds could be seen—and the temperature was mild. Yet, the sun still shone intensely. It had been the right choice to bring a parasol with me to combat its glare. 
"Is Nagafuji coming? I know she had club on Saturday, but she should be free today." 
"She's not. She said she hates fish." 
This was the fifth time, Hino told me, sounding happy for some reason. She spread her hands wide open to emphasize the "fifth". 
Right, what Nagafuji liked were hamburgers and curry. Only sweet curry, though. Two big reasons right there why she couldn't be enticed with fish. What about Adachi? I was instantly reminded of her pale face as she drank water and grew a little worried. 
"I present to you: a fishing rod I bought from a priest at the flea market for 300 yen. Take it." 
"Antique, huh? Thanks." 
Hino had two fishing rods with her, and I took the black one. It was thin and simple, like a twig that had been painted black. If she hadn't told me, I felt like I wouldn't have even recognized it as a fishing rod. Hino's, on the other hand, was made of bamboo and was a little shorter than mine. 
"Just so you know, I'm renting mine for 500 yen per day." 
"Renting? Haven't you always had that?" 
"Mysterious, isn't it?" 
That was as far as her explanation went. Hino shoved her hand inside of her bag and began searching for something. 
"By the way, Shima." 
"What?" 
"You're not the kind of girl who refuses to bait her own hook, right?" 
She pulled out a small box from the bag she had been carrying on her shoulder and opened it, revealing it to be full of live earthworms. I nearly leapt out of my skin, but also literally leapt backwards. 
Pinching a worm between her fingers, Hino smiled, clearly a little troubled by my reaction. 
"Huh? Worms are a no-go for you too, Shimamura?" 
"Definitely. No way. Impossible", I repeated, shaking my hand multiple times. Looking at them without screaming was the furthest I could go. 
"Well, not like I can force you." 
Hino put the worm box back and took out a different container. My body instantly tensed up, but soon relaxed; instead of bugs, this one was filled with what looked like yellow clay. Was that a type of bait as well? 
"This is fishing paste that I made yesterday. Here, I'll share it with you." 
"Paste? I don't really get it, but sure, thanks." 
I was fine with anything as long as it wasn't alive. Better than touching an earthworm. 
"What's this made of?" 
"Wheat, water, and eggs, mostly. And then some other stuff for flavour. Caviar's pretty good, too." 
"Caviar? For the fish?" 
I'd rather eat that myself, personally. 
"Also, since you're obviously going to catch a whole bunch of fish, I made sure to prepare a big bucket." 
Lifting her thumb, Hino handed me a bucket made of metal. 
Being sarcastic, were we now? 
After the baits had been set, the two of us stepped up onto the bamboo platform that had been built around the pond and began to fish. 
Though called a fishing pond, it would have been more accurate to describe it as a big, deep puddle. It was small, is what I'm trying to get at. Even smaller than our school's pool, from the looks of it. The water was pretty muddy, though, and I couldn't see the bottom. 
"It'd be faster to jump in there and catch the fish by hand, I think." 
"You're gonna get bitten by leeches all over, but if you want to, then sure, go ahead." 
I extended my foot as a joke, but immediately pulled it back. There was no getting around it: this was going to be slow. Having accepted my fate, I stared at the surface of the water, absent-mindedly. Not only was I bored, my hand holding the parasol was as well. I spun it around, and around and around. 
How much time had passed since we started? Like, five minutes? 
"What kind of person is Adachi?" Hino suddenly asked. I was a little taken aback by her bringing up Adachi without any context and tilted my head slightly, as if to ask why she had done so. 
"What kind? Like, normal?" 
"That's not an answer, Shimamu." 
Stop giving me weird nicknames. Although, if I had to choose, I think I preferred that one. 
"Why do you want to talk about her?" 
"Delinquents are pretty rare. I'm very interested." 
Hino ended her sentence with a laugh. Not that Adachi really did anything bad enough to be called a delinquent. She did skip class pretty often, but other than that, she was the same as the rest of us. No wild stories or anything. 
I did think she'd jump even higher than me at the sight of worms, though, and straight up run away. 
"You're like her best friend, huh?" 
"Hmm, I don't really think so." 
Well, Adachi had said that she didn't have friends other than me, so... 
"Actually, you're probably right." 
"Fickle, aren't you? Anyway, since she's your friend, I want to get on good terms with her." 
"Hmph." 
"The fact that she made a friend means that she's not a bad person, in my opinion." 
"Right..." 
I did like Hino's way of thinking, how she always tried looking at things positively. But, would Adachi want to be friends with her? That was a whole other question. 
Knowing Adachi, I could assume that she was the kind of person who preferred keeping her group of contacts as small as possible. The way I imagined her, she didn't open herself to others. Now, that was the exact same thing she had said about me earlier, but I wasn't like that... as far as I knew. 
With the one exception of bugs, I loved all sorts of things. Like, staring at the sky, idly. Or sweet things, those I adored. Seeing Rilakkuma or Mickey Mouse as well. It simply soothed my heart. 
...Huh? Wait, none of those are people. Let's just forget that I said anything. 
"So, talk to me about Adachi." 
"Hmm... I wonder how much is okay for me to tell you...? It's not like I know all that much myself, either." 
Take today for example. Or any day off in general. I had no idea what Adachi was doing to pass the time. 
I limited myself to the inoffensive stuff, like what she liked to eat, or which direction she lived in. 
"Adachi likes water, and she mainly drinks mineral water. Although, it doesn't seem like she's picky about the brand." 
Probably because there weren't enough different ones to be picky about. The vending machines at school only sold Crystal Geyser, so that was naturally what she drank. 
"I see. So, you're saying that Adachi is Namekian?" 
"Hard to say, haven't ever seen her grow an arm. Also, she lives..." 
As I had no idea what things about herself Adachi might want to stay a secret, I decided to keep the details scarce. I did wonder how this sort of basic information might possibly be of any use to her, but Hino didn't seem to mind and simply nodded back, so I tried not to think about it too much. Maybe she was going buy Adachi something she liked? Could she be domesticated with food, like a wild animal? 
Come to think of it, I was pretty sure that Hino's stated reason for asking me to come fish with her had been that there was a weirdo who often came to the fishing pond, and she wanted me to meet her. The fishing part was meant to be a "bonus", yet that person was nowhere to be seen. There were some other people there besides us—an old man and an even older man—but they seemed pretty normal as far I was concerned. Maybe she just wasn't coming today? Well, no big deal; it wasn't like I particularly wanted to meet her or anything. I was perfectly fine just spending the time fishing at my leisure. 
At that very moment... 
"Are the fish biting?" 
I suddenly heard a voice behind me asking how many fish we'd caught. The rod slipped from my hand and almost fell into the pond. After quickly regaining my grip, I turned around, only to be shocked again. This time, it was me who almost fell into the water. Thankfully, I managed to stay on my feet, somehow. 
"Huh?" I opened my eyes wide. There was an astronaut standing behind me. The suit the person was wearing was pure white, and to say that it stuck out like a sore thumb would've been an understatement. 
"Oh, you did come today. That makes bringing Shimamura here definitely worth it." 
Hino didn't seem surprised at all, and instead addressed the astronaut in a friendly manner. Based on that, it seemed reasonable to assume that this was the weirdo she had talked about earlier. Come to think of it, hadn't she also mentioned that the person wore a space suit? Hard to tell; I hadn't been paying that much attention. 
"Khooh, khooh." 
"...Yep, sure is weird." 
A girl dressed in a space suit making strange breathing sounds. Pretty simple, now that I looked at her. As simple as the rod I was holding. Though the helmet did hide her face, the slightly muffled voice coming from under it definitely belonged to a girl. The visor dazzled with reflected light like the surface of water, and I couldn't see through it. She was pretty short, around the height of an elementary schooler, perhaps. Although, if there really was an elementary schooler inside that thing, I was kinda worried for her future. And if it was an adult, well, she was past all hope. 
"Who might this person be?" 
The neck of the suit curled, and her head turned upwards. Though the outfit definitely gave off the impression that it was tight, her movements seemed relatively smooth. It probably wasn't as heavy as a real space suit. 
"This is the Shimamura." 
"What Shimamura...?" 
"Hoho! You, huh?" 
The space suit girl stared up at me, ignoring how obviously confused I was. "Space suit girl". That sure was a mouthful. Feeling a little daring, I decided to try and ask for her name. 
"Umm... What's your name?" 
It was a pretty simple question, yet I could see her visor shining dimly with pride. 
"Hehehe. Unlike my foolish brethren, I made sure to prepare a name beforehand." 
The girl sounded really proud as she said that. I wasn't sure why, though. 
With both of her hands on her hips, she proudly introduced herself. 
"Please, call me Yashiro Chikama. Khooh, khooh." 
Yashiro Chikama. A weird name. Although, that "khooh, khooh" was even weirder. Like us, she was also carrying a fishing rod on her shoulder, meaning that she was likely here to fish. The old men standing on the opposite side of the pond did give her a glance, but seeing how they didn't really seem to care, it could be assumed that they were used to her. 
It was kinda surreal seeing her carry the rod and a bucket as well, two tools that didn't seem like they'd be all that useful in outer space. 
"I have come to Earth to look for my brethren." 
"Brethren?" 
That wasn't a word I had expected to hear, and it took a moment for my brain to connect it to its meaning. Still, what did she mean by brethren? Her buddies? 
Wait, did she just say "Earth"? 
"A multitude of my brethren were sent to this planet, but none of them have returned. I reluctantly came to look for them, but got the landing spot wrong. Khooh, khooh." 
She appeared to breathe audibly after every long sentence. Made sense: just looking at her helmet made me feel like I was suffocating. Were these "brethren" of hers dressed like that as well? If so, then finding them would be pretty quick. 
As I was trying to figure out what the heck I was supposed to say next, Hino gave my shoulder a tap. 
"Well then, have fun communicating with the yet unknown." 
"Huh?" 
"Oh, I can feel a fish over there. That's what my radar's telling me." 
Muttering something to that effect to herself, Hino left me. Some part of me wanted to grab Chikama by the neck and yell at Hino to take her with her. It was then that it hit me, and I realised why she had brought me with her in the first place: so that she could force me to keep this kid company in her stead. I'd been used as a scapegoat. 
For some reason, Chikama had also begun setting up next to me. Her bait was a squirming, freshly picked earthworm which she touched completely calmly, even if her hands were protected by gloves. 
"I hear that you're Shimamura." 
"Huh? Yeah, that's me. Did Hino tell you?" 
I wanted to ask her what else Hino had told her, but I had a suspicion that I wouldn't get an honest answer even if I tried. 
"She told me that you're so popular that all Earthlings frequently visit you." 
"You're thinking of some other Shimamura." 
Shaking the fishing rod, I denied her statement. Don't go mixing me with the other Shimamura. 
"Humble, aren't you? Oh, just to make sure that you know, I'm not from around here. No, I come from the future." 
"Haa... Nice to meet you. I come from the past", I quipped back. This wasn't a weirdo; she was straight up strange. With her brethren around, was Earth really safe? 
"Like a typical Earthling." 
"Yep." 
"Khooh, khooh." 
"Can't you just take that thing off?" 
I advised her to take her helmet off. The self-proclaimed person from the future simply shook her head, however. 
"Please wait a bit longer. My face isn't done yet." 
"What's that supposed to mean? You're getting a new face from Anpanman's world?" 

What a pain. Little by little, I was starting to harbour ill will towards Hino. Speaking of Hino, she had just pulled in a fish and glanced over to me, looking extremely proud of herself. It kinda annoyed me how high up in the air her chin was pointing. 
Still, putting her excuses for running away aside, I could really feel the difference in our skills in the way she moved as she pulled up the fish from the water. Where I only saw a muddy pond, Hino likely saw something entirely different. 
Looking at her having fun casually fishing, I began to feel like I didn't belong here. 
"So, your friends—or brethren—is it okay for you to not be looking for them?" 
"It is, because I'm hungry." 
That almost sounded like something philosophical. 
"Since I already made sure that they were safe, I thought I'd just take it easy." 
"Oh, so you have like, a way to contact them?" 
She thought for a few moments before answering. 
"Well, something like that." 
There was definitely a deeper meaning to that. But, first things first. 
"If you can contact them, then it feels to me that finding them shouldn't be an issue." 
"Due to the circumstances, that won't work", she answered quickly, after which she became a little less talkative. Though I was grateful that she was no longer constantly trying to talk to me, I couldn't help but wonder what had caused her sudden change in mood. Still, it appeared extremely unlikely that I could ever get the answer to that question out of her; based on her looks, she seemed far beyond my comprehension. 
With her out of the picture, my only remaining companion was my fishing rod. And it sure as heck wasn't going to say anything. Slowly but surely, I was starting to feel bored. 
"The fish sure aren't biting, huh?" 
"Those kinds of thoughts are an important first step." 
"Huh?" 
"Fish aren't biting, things aren't going well. Thoughts like those mean that you're starting something." 
As she said this, Chikama lifted up her fishing rod. The line cut through the surface of the water, but, as it turned out, she hadn't caught anything. With her moment to show off ruined, she cast her hook back into the pond. 
Had she simply tried out her luck? 
At the same time, the straw hat fellow on the other side of the pond yelled that she had caught another one. 
"Afterwards, you simply cast your line while hoping for a good future", Chikama stated optimistically. With her stomach growling, she continued to stare at her fishing line. 
Taken in isolation from her earlier crazy statements, she had a good point there. What she had said was also true of other things in life, wasn't it? 
The first thing that came to mind was the second floor of the gym. Its hot and stuffy atmosphere. 
"..." 
Sometimes, for things to start, you needed to take the first step and try speaking out. 

"And that's what happened." 
"Hmph." 
The story of Sunday didn't seem to particularly interest Adachi of Monday, and she simply nodded along as I recited it to her. 
How dry. It was like I was randomly sweeping around dead leaves. 
"You didn't really care, huh?" 
Just so you know, Chikama had caught five (or maybe six) fish before leaving. I wondered if she had eaten them. 
"Huh? No, I did care. ...I wish you'd stop asking questions like that." 
"Sorry, sorry." 
The day was Monday, and it was currently the lunch break. As usual, I was passing the time with Adachi on the second floor of the gym. Hino and Nagafuji hadn't made an appearance, and I bet Adachi preferred it that way. It was also better for me, since it meant that I didn't need to worry about her feelings. 
Hanging around with Hino and Nagafuji and being with Adachi was like water and oil. They didn't mix. That's how it felt to me. 
Which one of us caused that, me or Adachi? Let's just leave that aside. 
Adachi was lying on the floor, using my extended legs as a pillow. According to her, it had been a busy day at her part-time job yesterday, and she was really tired as a result. I was a little shocked to hear that; I had no idea she had a part-time job. 
Still, I knew she must have been doing something on her days off. 
"Where do you work, Adachi?" 
"Not telling you." 
Having turned to lie on her side, she rejected my question. Her cheek touched my lap and felt cool. 
"Why?" 
"I get the feeling that you'll come see me if I tell you." 
"Well, yeah, that was the plan." 
"And that's why I'm not telling you. Too embarrassing." 
Adachi hung her head, causing her bangs to fall onto her face and hide most of it under them. I placed my hand on her hair and slowly stroked it with my palm. It tickled me a little, but also felt good. 
"There's no need to be embarrassed. I'm really impressed that you have a job. Well done, well done." 
I patted her head as a joke, like you'd do when praising a child. I had a feeling that this might make her mad, but surprisingly enough, she didn't say a word. Maybe she really was tired, and reacting was too much work? Adachi had taken off her jacket and tossed it onto the ping-pong table. Her shoes also lay on the floor. Looking at her, there was only a single word that came to mind: freedom. 
Still lying on my lap, Adachi turned over to face me. Her face landed on my skirt, and I couldn't help but flinch a little as her hair tickled my legs. For a few moments, she stayed like that, silently staring at my abdomen. I wasn't sure if it was her way of alleviating drowsiness or what, but she was blinking pretty rapidly. 
Adachi's nose twitched slightly. After that, her lips relaxed. 
"I think I like lying this way better." 
"You do?" 
Considering that she could hardly see anything, it seemed to me that it'd just make her feel awfully confined. 
Adachi lifted her face slightly, almost as if she was proud of something. 
"Yeah, because if I lie this way, I can smell you." 
"Huh? Is my body odour that strong?" 
No one had ever commented on my scent before, and if I really did smell, I'd be absolutely devastated. 
"That's not what I meant... Okay then, I won't do it." 
What do you mean, "okay then"? Don't make this about me. Following her comment, Adachi pouted her lips, and her face turned into a slight frown. I wasn't sure why. 
"I think you might lack elegance, Shimamura." 
"Elegance? Hmm, elegance... That's also something no one has ever said about me." 
"Elegance". That wasn't a word I often got a chance to use, seeing how where I lived—the countryside—was completely devoid of it. 
Around twenty minutes had passed since the beginning of lunch break. Not that we were eating any lunch; with Adachi's head resting on my lap, it was hard for me to move and go buy us some. Still, Adachi relaxing her guard this much around me was quite the rare occurrence, and I simply couldn't bring myself to roll her off. 
Though I had just looked at it moments earlier, I checked the clock again. The break would soon end. We'd clean up, and then... Watching the hands of the clock go around, my mind wandered off into the near future. 
"Hey, Adachi." 
"Mmh?" she responded with what sounded like a purr, still lying on my lap. Stroking her hair, I tried asking her the following. 
"What would you say about sitting through the afternoon classes with me?" 
Adachi lifted her head. She placed her arms on the floor and pushed herself up. Fiddling with her hair, she cautiously looked me in the eyes. 
"Where is this coming from?" 
"Well, I was just thinking about how many days of school there are left. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'd prefer it if neither of us got held back." 
I didn't know if we would be placed in the same class, but even if we weren't, that would easily be less awkward than having Adachi be one grade below me. 
Then again, I hadn't actually counted the days or anything, so it might already have been too late. 
I'd been thinking about suggesting this to her for a while now. The order of things here—skipping class, meeting Adachi, and then proposing something like that—definitely felt like it was backwards, but with there being a real possibility that she might have to repeat a year, I couldn't just sit back and watch. 
I wasn't paying for school with my own money, heavens no. As such, I could easily see my parents kicking me out of the house if I ever had to repeat a year or something. Though they were hands-off most of the times, that only made them stricter when it counted. 
"Hmm, well..." 
Scratching her cheek, Adachi turned her head and looked around the second floor. 
Having taken in the atmosphere and scenery, she once again rested her head on my lap. 
Had she taken a liking to it? 
"I guess it won't hurt doing it every once in a while." 
Her statement wasn't all that persuasive considering that she was still lying down, but it also wasn't a refusal. She had said "every once in a while", which meant that there was a possibility that she would choose not to come tomorrow, but even so, for some reason, my heart was filled with relief. 
It felt like I had managed to ventilate the stuffy air in the gym just a little bit. 
"Let's go somewhere once school's over", Adachi said, having lifted her head. Her voice was much clearer now that she was actually talking while facing me. 
"Do you have any plans? Are you going somewhere with someone?" 
"No, no plans today. Well, most days I don't." 
"I see, I see." 
As if relieved by my answer, Adachi lowered her head back on my lap. My legs were starting to get a little numb, but who cared? 
Still, going somewhere with Adachi was quite the rare occurrence. Most of the time she left before school ended. 
"Well then, how about we go check out the place where you work?" 
"I told you already, I don't want to..." she grumbled in response, and turned over on my lap. She was like a little child, embarrassed that their parent was coming to visit their classroom to see how they were doing. At the same time, I could understand how she felt; I would probably have been embarrassed too if I was in her position. School was functionally its own world, so having its atmosphere be forced on you outside of it was bound to leave you perplexed. 
This was also why there were those who wished that they could live their whole life in school. 
Let's just leave that topic aside. 
I wanted to catch a good future. And for that to happen, the first step was to start fishing. 
Obviously not inspired by the fishing enthusiast from the future or anything silly like that, I went ahead and cast my line towards Adachi. 
"The catches today were pretty good, huh?" 
Watching Adachi lie on my lap, not making any attempt to move, I was reminded more of a dog than a fish. 
She definitely had taken a liking to this. 

We received some stares from our fellow students as we entered the classroom. Which one had surprised them: the fact that Adachi had come to class, or that I was with her. Probably a mix of the two. We were both treated as delinquents, after all. 
Yawning, Adachi looked around the classroom. Had she perhaps forgotten where her seat was? Adachi sat in the front row on the corridor side, whereas I sat in the third row next to the windows. They were on the exact opposite sides of the classroom, and so, we parted ways immediately after entering as we went to take our seats. Having sat down, I started preparing for the upcoming class. Wait, did Adachi even have the textbook with her? Thinking this, I glanced at her, only to see that she had already taken it out. 
From the looks of it, she kept them all stored in her desk. Adachi had placed the book--and nothing else—on the table. Next to it rested her elbow, propping up her chin. Keeping that pose, she turned her gaze towards the windows, most likely to look at me. Her glance came too suddenly for me to dodge, and our eyes met. I was a little startled, and, by the look of it, so was Adachi. 
We sat there, staring at each other. It was difficult to look away. Using our eyes, we asked each other "What do you want?" at least ten times. That's what it felt like, anyway. Being the one who had looked first, it made sense that I should answer that question. Still, how exactly was I meant to convey my answer to her? It wasn't like I could just start yelling across the classroom. 
I decided to try pointing at my own textbook. Would this be enough for her to understand the meaning of my stare? Adachi turned her eyes down towards the book sitting on her desk and stared at it for a while. Still looking at her, a thought crossed my mind: her profile really was like a painting. 
Having lifted her head back up, Adachi mouthed me a reply. I couldn't understand it at first, but after she repeated the message for a second time, I finally realised what she was saying: 
"Did you forget your book?" 
Hey, don't lump me with you. I might not have been the best student, but that was simply crossing the line. Of course, since in the eyes of Adachi—and everyone else for that matter—I was simply a delinquent, the source for such unnecessary worries lay completely within myself. 
Meanwhile, the teacher arrived. Though she did look curiously at the two of us, clearly surprised by our presence, she didn't say anything about it, and simply walked over to her desk in silence. 
The class then began. How long had it been since we last sat in a classroom together? Adachi had definitely been around more during the first semester, but back then, I hadn't been paying any attention to her. Still, looking back to it with the knowledge I now possessed, there had definitely been something strange about her. 
Knowing that we'd end up in another awkward situation if our eyes were to meet, I did my best not to look into Adachi's direction. This actually led me to behave like a good student; I had no choice but to follow what the teacher was writing on the blackboard. 
My eyes and hand moved automatically, and my idle mind continued piling up endless questions in an attempt to fight back against boredom. 
Which one of us was making it so that the gap between us couldn't be closed, me or Adachi? 
With my head filled with thoughts like those, I copied what it said on the blackboard in my notebook like a robot. 

"So, what did you think of your first class in like forever?" 
"I'm fine with Japanese history, but maths? I don't got a clue anymore." 
"Hahaha. Oh Adachi." 
I must've taken far more classes than Adachi. So then, why was I in the same boat as her when it came to maths? 
Well, simple: I was more suited for the liberal arts. Japanese? Fluent. 
After school ended, I left with Adachi as I had promised to do. Once again, there wasn't much in her bag. 
"Shimamura, did you notice that everyone was staring at you?" Adachi said, looking over her shoulder at the classroom we had just exited. 
I hadn't really noticed, but it definitely sounded plausible. 
"You don't think it was you who they were staring at?" 
"Nope. Definitely you," she asserted. And how did she know that? 
"Must be because you're so pretty." 
Huh? Where had that come from? I was so taken aback by Adachi's sudden assessment that I forgot to turn at the corner leading to the stairs and nearly bonked my head into the wall. In panic, I took a step back to avoid the collision, this time coming close to falling on my butt. 
"What's wrong with you?", Adachi asked, tilting her head with her foot firmly planted on the first step of the stairs. Come on, you know that was your fault. 
"Sorry. It's just, no one has ever called me pretty before." 
"Beautiful", on the other hand, I had heard from my relatives as a compliment. 
"Really? ...You don't have a boyfriend or anything?" 
"Nope, never had one." 
"Hmm..." 
Judging by her reaction, something about my response bothered Adachi. Her face was blank, but pointed slightly upwards. 
"All the guys must be blind then." 
Really? I would've thought it was the opposite. Still, I felt flattered, and decided not to say that out loud. 
"By the way, where are we going?" 
"I'm kinda hungry since we didn't have any lunch." 
"Alright. So, somewhere to eat then?" 
Adachi rubbed her belly through her uniform. Then, after taking a quick look around, she replied. 
"I'm in the mood for something simple. Like, doughnuts." 
"Doughnuts, huh? Well, the station's close by. Let's go there." 
I pointed forward, and we exited the school building. It was a pretty long walk to the station, but I wasn't opposed to it. 
We walked silently side by side. It was when I reached the school gate and Adachi was still with me that I noticed that something was off. 
"Huh? Where's your bike?" 
"I didn't come to school with it today. It's being repaired." 
Though Adachi tried to play it cool, I knew that she lived quite far away from school. 
"Really? Even though she had to walk, the delinquent came to school? Well done", I praised her jokingly. As I did, Adachi stared at me, looking completely serious. She pulled her shoulders together, as if her entire body had stiffened up, and opened her mouth. 
"...I thought you might come", she muttered. Or rather, spoke firmly. 
"O-Okay", I answered back, awkwardly. 
What she had said wasn't all that different from straight up confessing that she came to school just to see me. And she had said it straight to my face. 
Having perhaps realised this herself due to my reaction, a faint blush appeared on Adachi's face. Or maybe it only seemed like that to me. Either way, something about this atmosphere felt rough against my skin. 
What was that something? 
Maintaining that feeling of stiffness—different from awkwardness—we drifted towards the station. We entered the cheap-looking, two-storied building swarmed by countless people—some of them wearing school uniforms—and then the Mister Donut located directly to the left of its entrance. As it turned out, however, the store was crowded with students having returned from school by train—as well as other customers of course—leaving us nowhere to sit. Furthermore, the line to the register was absurdly long. 
"This place is pretty popular, huh?" I asked Adachi, and gave her a glance over my shoulder. As I did, I at last saw her laugh. 
"Still, I like this smell of sugar", she said, sniffing the sweet aroma that filled the store. So sweet, in fact, that just smelling it made me feel full. 
"Like insects gather around flowers." 
"Hmm, I don't really like that example." 
Adachi frowned at my comparison. It seemed that she wasn't a fan of bugs. Knew it. 
A part of me felt relieved that we had finally spoken to each other after all the time spent in silence. 
"What do you want to eat, Shimamura?" 
The usual atmosphere was back, and so was the liveliness of Adachi's voice and movements. Walking here together had been like two stone statues trying their hardest to move, and so, her acting like that was, in a way, fresh. 
"I'm always bad at choosing, but I think I'll go with Angel French. Oh, and I'll buy two more to give to my little sister when I get home." 
Though I never knew what to pick, a lot of the time I ended up going with this one. As it turned out, it was also the kind of doughnut Mom used to buy me when I was little, so perhaps there was some sort of psychological imprinting at play here. 
"You too, Shimamura?" Adachi said, pondering. From the looks of it, she had been planning to buy an Angel French as well. 
"Hmm? What's troubling you?" 
"That we're gonna pick the same thing." 
"And? Is there a problem with that?" 
"Hmm... I think I'll go with this after all." 
Adachi chose the Honey Dip from the row below. Did she perhaps dislike matching with others? 
Standing in line, Adachi spoke to me, holding the tray that carried our doughnuts. 
"Are you going to class tomorrow too?" 
"I was planning to. Don't want to be known as someone who gives up immediately." 
"I see." 
It wasn't like I didn't miss the second floor of the gym. Besides, we'd definitely hang around there again. 
Smiling at Adachi's blunt response, I looked at her and spoke. 
"Would you, Adachi, not join me?" 
I purposefully made my tone sound theatrical. Adachi was taken aback slightly, but after a few seconds, she replied with a smile. 
"Well, okay. Just a little bit more." 
Surprisingly enough, she didn't have any objections towards going to class. 
It wasn't like either of us had any particular reason to skip class. As such, once we were actually there, sitting silently in the classroom came to us naturally. 
After waiting for what felt like an eternity, we finally paid for our purchases and exited the store. Then, leaning against the side of a nearby escalator, we began eating. Adachi opened the bag and handed me my Angel French using a paper napkin to pick it up. I thanked her, accepted it, and sank my teeth into the chocolate part. 
"Sweet." 
Having not eaten anything since breakfast, the sensation I felt as the sweet chocolate touched my tongue was quite intense. My lips contracted, but in a unique way, not quite like when eating something sour. Still, the taste was delicious. Heavenly sweetness wrapped my tongue and teeth. 
Adachi, on the other hand, tore off a small piece of her doughnut and placed it in her mouth. She was eating it like bread. However, while doing it that way might look more elegant, it also covered your fingers in sticky sugar, which was why I preferred biting in directly. Still, doing that caused the area around your mouth to get dirty, so in the end, I suppose there wasn't really a difference between the two. 
"By the way, Hino was asking about you yesterday." 
While eating, I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten to tell her that. Adachi's hands stopped, and she looked away from me. 
"Is Hino the small one?" 
"Yep, you got it. She said she wanted to get on good terms with you." 
"Oh, okay." 
"...Yeah, I had a feeling that you wouldn't be interested." 
Adachi still wouldn't look at me, and simply mumbled something in response. It was like talking to a wall. If Hino really wanted to get along with her, she was in for a challenge. 
I had to wonder though, how was I on such good terms with her? 
As one's own personality was something beyond one's grasp, I had no idea what about me had caught her interest. 
"Anyway. Shimamura, you have a little sister? You mentioned her a little while ago." 
Adachi quickly moved the topic away from Hino. Not that I really cared. 
"Yep, I do." 
"How old?" 
"Fourth grade. My folks treat her like she's still in kindergarten, though." 
Speaking about Mom, her behaviour seemed to change completely depending upon if she was at home or outside of it. I'd heard that she used to be a straight-A student back in school, and yet, despite having long since become an adult, she still threw special martial arts moves against her older sister whenever she came over to visit. 
The way she altered her behaviour kinda resembled Adachi, didn't it? 
"A little Shimamura, huh? I bet she's cute." 
"When she's not being a cheeky brat or kicking me", I answered in a slightly ambiguous way. 
"Must be nice", Adachi replied, smiling. 
Was she perhaps yearning for a sibling? I guess that would make her an only child. 
I wasn't sure if it was related to that or not, but either way, Adachi held out a torn-off piece of her doughnut. 
"Wanna try it?" 
"Sure." 
I extended my head towards the piece of dough she held in her fingers and took a bite. The sweet taste coated with honey quickly filled my mouth. So sweet, in fact, that I felt like my teeth were going to start aching. Honey really did have its own, uniquely thick sweetness that cream just couldn't match. 
"You can taste mine too." 
I held out my doughnut in turn, ignoring the fact that it was half-eaten. Adachi stared at it intensely, but refused to move her head. Wondering why she was hesitating, I glanced at the doughnut. I then realised what was wrong. 
"Oh, I see." 
I pulled the doughnut back and took a small bite of it. With the cream filling now exposed, I once more presented it to her. 
"Like this?" 
"...Okay, like that." 
Adachi took a bite of my Angel French, leaving me to wonder what she had meant by that strange expression. She chewed thoroughly and then swallowed. In spite of how loosely she was wearing her uniform, her modest and deliberate movements gave the impression of politeness. 
Watching her eat, I imagined that her parents must have been quite strict with her. 
"Where are we going after eating?" Adachi asked, wiping sugar stains off her mouth. This station had many establishments meant for salarymen coming from work who wanted to drink, but few for us. There were grocery stores, bakeries, and even a MOS Burger on the first floor; all places that sold food. 
Well, there was a Matsukiyo deeper in, but I didn't have any specific interest going there. 
"I don't really see this station often." 
"It's way different from Nagoya, that's for sure." 
"Still, Nagoya's a pain. Too many people. This is just the right amount for me", Adachi said, laughing. Agreeing with the first half of her statement, I tossed what was left of my doughnut into my mouth. 
As I now had to wait until Adachi was done eating, I quickly spaced out. Back when I was in elementary school, it had been written on my report card that I was an absent minded child. I hadn't changed much in that aspect, and even these days, it didn't take long for my mind to wander off whenever I had free time. 
I let my senses take over and lazily extended my limbs, without any particular preference where they landed. I really liked moments like these, just relaxing and letting myself sink into the world of imagination. 
A possible implication of this was that I preferred being alone. 
Being with someone else meant not being allowed to point your senses inwards. 
"I'm done." 
Adachi wiped her hands and stood up. I was a little jealous of how light her bag seemed. 
"Okay. So, umm... Shall we go?" 
We began walking with our destination still unknown. Our legs moved on their own, guiding us towards the station's entrance. 
Had I been by myself, I likely would've spaced out, wandered around aimlessly, and then gone home as my feet got tired. However, Adachi was with me now. Not wanting to offend her, I forced my brain to stay active. A pretty rare occurrence, me working this much. 
In a way, pain and being a human went hand in hand. 
Things that you couldn't comprehend, things that were tedious, the effort it took to mend and demolish all the complexities that arose with relationships. 
And yet, in the crevices of all those negative aspects, there lay scattered bits of happiness. 
Like accidentally finding a small ball you'd lost when you were a child. 
A better future. That's what I wanted to believe that meeting Adachi had been. 
With thoughts like those flowing through my mind, we exited the station. Then, after a few steps... 
Squeeze 
"..." 
I tried to speak, but I was far too astonished, and no sound came out of my mouth. 
Adachi, standing beside me, had grasped my hand. 
Having not anticipated it in the slightest, I froze in my tracks and turned around to look at her. Our eyes met, and I could see Adachi anxiously trying to gauge my reaction. She then looked away. 
Had Adachi, for instance, noticed that I was about to wander on the road and grabbed my hand to stop me at the last second? It didn't seem like that was that case. 

"Oh, if you don't want to, I'll let go. I'll let go right away", she spoke rapidly, almost as if in a panic. I couldn't help but get a little flustered too, and my eyes moved away from her. 
I looked at the station, the fence next to it, then a sign telling that the flying junction was under construction. 
"No, it's fine. I was just surprised." 
I had thought that she'd been a pickpocket who had accidentally grabbed my hand instead of my bag. 
That, or a pushy guy trying to pick me up. 
Anyway, it made me feel relieved knowing that a random stranger hadn't just taken my hand. And yet, I hesitated asking Adachi why she had done so. 
No matter how you looked at it, holding hands was excessively close. I could feel my legs getting shaky. 
It was pretty strange how I had been more okay with her using my lap as a pillow, but I digress. 
"Should I stop?" 
"No, it's fine. Let's keep moving." 
I couldn't bring myself to shake her off. Sometimes even I took other people's feelings into consideration. 
I gripped Adachi's hand back and began walking. Feeling extremely self-conscious, I purposefully puffed out my chest and extended my back. 
I knew that if I didn't force myself to do so, I would've ended up cowering like a cat, trying to hide from the gazes of those around us. 
Though Adachi's lack of warning had definitely caught me off-guard, doing something like this wasn't necessarily unheard of. Maybe not in school, but outside of it I had definitely seen girls walk around hand in hand, or arm in arm. Of course, seeing others do it was one thing; now doing it myself, I felt pretty weird. 
Not that I'd even had the opportunity to hold someone's hand since the sports day in elementary school. 
Adachi's hand was very soft, which also made it a bit difficult to relax. 
"You're surprisingly affectionate, Adachi." 
"I'm... not." 
Her reply sounded strangely assertive. It seemed that even Adachi wasn't all that confident in herself. 
Staring at the road, she squeezed my hand tight. It felt so awkward having her behave this way. 
"Definitely is surprising", I restated, showing just how strange the situation I found myself in was. 
This wasn't at all the kind of future I'd been thinking about while eating that doughnut. 
"It's not really... surprising to me, though..." 
Well, obviously. Adachi had been the one to grab my hand, after all. It would've been a real mystery if even she herself had found it strange. 
As we continued walking, I found myself unable to focus on anything other than the fact that we were holding hands. 
Was this just how Adachi lived her life, always holding someone's hand? 
We had never walked together before this, so maybe she just hadn't had a chance to hold mine? 
Was that it? There definitely were people like that out there, who'd do that because they wanted to feel the touch of another person. 
Or maybe Adachi was actually into girls? No, probably not. Probably. 
Probably. For some reason, I was unable to look at her face and could only stare forwards, but regardless. 
Still, what would I do if that happened, if Adachi said that she loved me? 
...Really, what would I do? 
"Where are we going, Shimamura?" 
"Huh? I don't know. Do you have anywhere you want to go, Adachi?" 
"I'm fine with going wherever you want to go." 
This was quite the difficult situation. As we were both the kind of people who lacked the will to choose for themselves, we ended up pushing the responsibility onto each other. 
As Adachi seemed like the more mature one of us, I wanted her to solve this. We were like a pair of lost children, wandering around somewhere unfamiliar. Where was the doggy cop to take us home? 
Adachi's finger twitched. More precisely, I felt a slight pulse coming from her fingertips, travelling through the part of my skin where they touched. Conscious of that pulse, I moved my finger, earning a reaction from her. It then vanished, as if hiding itself. 
It was like fishing. Slightly cautiously, we both tried to touch each other, all to get a glimpse of something. 
What about me did Adachi want to see? 
I really didn't know. Sure, there was a lot that we didn't talk about, but I wasn't particularly hiding anything. 
Other things, like the townscape around us, no longer mattered to me. As my brain was pretty much full even at the best of times, I felt it might fry from an information overload if I didn't shut off some of my senses for now. The last thing I wanted to have happen was to lose my composure and start yelling out loud. 
Where were we going? Shopping hand in hand? Yeah, definitely not that. 
Should I just drag her all the way to my house, like pulling a fish onto land? 
Just as I was about to make that suggestion... 
"Khooh, khooh." 
"Whoa!?" 
I heard a certain cry (was that the word?) coming from behind me, one that I'd grown very used to hearing the previous day. I turned around, and Adachi did too. 
Just as I had expected, the spacesuit from yesterday was standing behind me. The height was the same, meaning that the person inside was likely the same as well. Though the city might have been small from a global perspective, it definitely wasn't when you actually walked around. As such, it was pretty crazy to think that we'd just happened to run across each other immediately the day after our first encounter. 
The suit's blue visor shone dimly, and as it shook, it seemed like it was filled with stars made of water, moving all around. 
"Hello." 
"Oh, hello." 
She bowed her head politely, and I quickly did the same. 
"I saw you, so I thought I'd call out to you. Khooh, khooh." 
"Was that your 'call'?" 
Talking while bewildered really wasn't good for my stomach. Also, I had just realised, but at some point, Adachi had pulled her hand away. Now holding her arm tight against herself, she stood a small distance away from me. 
Did that slight bit of red I saw on her nose indicate that she was blushing? 
Despite all the time I had spent walking around town with her, I still didn't really understand what was going through Adachi's mind. 
"Is that how you usually dress when you go out?" 
"Well, these are my best clothes." 
Perhaps her only ones. 
It seemed like talking with her was drawing attention to me from the people around us. Not that I really cared. 
I wasn't sure if it was due to the earlier hand-holding and trying to hide my embarrassment or what, but I felt strangely active. 
I attempted to place my hand on her helmet, causing Chikama to panic and hastily retreat. She kept her distance from me as I wiggled my fingers, but the moment I retracted my hand, she hopped back to me. That strong opposition to having her helmet removed made me want to take it off even more. 
Chikama, or I guess I could call her by her first name, Yashiro brought her face close to my fingers. Or more accurately, her visor. 
"Your fingers smell wonderfully sweet." 
Though I couldn't tell if she was actually smelling them or what, she did rub her visor all over my fingers. I was reminded of an insect lured in by the nectar of a flower. While I definitely preferred her to an insect, I still found the fact that she could smell anything through that thing on her head a little curious. What would I do if the person inside was a dog-human? 
My face reflected off the visor. With a slight change of angle, Adachi too showed up in the corner. 
Looking at her expression, it kinda seemed like she wasn't amused. 
"Lovely. What scent is this?" 
"Doughnuts, maybe? I ate one a little while back." 
"Dough-nut?" Yashiro asked, tilting her head. With her head still tilted, she turned her helmet towards the paper bag I was holding. I had a really bad feeling about that, and began pulling it back. As I did, however, Yashiro's hands moved, matching the movements of the bag. She'd likely leap towards it any second now if I were to ignore her. 
"So, what exactly are you doing?" 
"My radar reacted. You have dough-nuts in there." 
"I do, but we aren't at the fishing pond. Don't take them." 
Come to think of it, you had to pay to enter the pond. Did that mean that she had money? 
Yashiro lifted a single finger. 
"Give me one of those 'dough-nuts', and I'll hand you a piece of space secrets in return." 
"Is there a sale on space secrets or something? Because that doesn't sound like a fair deal." 
Though at first I was very much against the idea of giving her my doughnuts, I soon realised it: eating something would likely mean that she'd take her helmet off. I'd get to see her face. 
Seeing how I had been curious about it ever since yesterday, this was the perfect bait to lure me in. 
"...Well, whatever. But just one." 
"Wow!" 
It was hard to tell if that was an exclamation of enthusiasm or not. Her pose, with both of her hands raised high, seemed strangely apathetic. 
My little sister would probably be satisfied with just a single one, right? Besides, if I bought her too many snacks, she'd lose her appetite for dinner and Mom would get mad at me. After a few moments of pondering which to spare, I handed Yashiro the custard cream one. 
"Is this a dough-nut? Oooohh." 
Again, did that voice indicate that she was impressed or not? Either way, it was very characteristic of her, though I couldn't help but be reminded of the cry of an animal. 
I eagerly waited for Yashiro to remove her helmet, only to be massively disappointed: she barely opened it at all. The doughnut slipped through the slight crack, and the sound of munching soon ensued. I felt horribly uncomfortable, as well as disappointed over not being able to see her face. Just what was this girl? 
"These are good. Sweet, sweet!" 
Yashiro, on the other hand, was clearly delighted. Her entire body shook from joy. 
"Not knowing what a doughnut is goes beyond just being a weirdo." 
Not that I minded seeing her happy, of course. 
"Would you happen to have any more sweet things?" 
I could feel a demanding glare coming from inside the helmet. With my hands on my hips, I refused her. 
"Go buy them yourself." 
"I don't have money." 
She seemed strangely proud about that. 
"How the heck do you live the—" 
"Shimamura." 
My name was suddenly called, and I jumped a little. 
Mostly due to how stiff the voice responsible sounded. 
Adachi placed her bag back on her shoulder and pointed her eyes towards the opposite side of the road. 
"I'll go get my bike, so..." 
"Huh?" 
Wait, I thought she didn't come to school by bike today? I felt so confused. 
Thinking about it calmly, she probably meant picking it up from the repair shop. 
"Anyway, I'm going now. See you tomorrow." 
Waving her hand slightly, Adachi turned around and left by herself. I tried yelling back to her, but she only gave me a glance over her shoulder and waved at me again. 
Just moments ago, she'd been asking me where we were going next. What a sudden change of heart. 
"...Could it be that she got mad?" 
Was she perhaps sulking because I ignored her? No, that seemed impossible. It was something else, for sure. 
Maybe she was so embarrassed that she couldn't stand still? Which one? Or maybe neither? As usual, I simply couldn't make head nor tail of Adachi. 
As I hesitated over whether or not I should run after her, Yashiro spoke, still munching the doughnut. 
"Instead of giving you a piece of space secrets, should I explain what just happened?" 
"...Speak." 
"She got mad because you didn't give her a dough-nut." 
"Go home." 
I shooed her off. Luring her in with doughnut as the bait had just made things even more confusing. 
Knowing Adachi, she wouldn't even mention this tomorrow, but still. 
I placed my hand on my forehead and sighed deeply. 
"Dealing with people sure is hard, huh? A real pain." 
"You tell me." 
"What do you know?" 

And thus, like a calamity affecting a city, the number of weirdos grew by one. 
Going forward, this self-proclaimed person from the future would change my life in a great way. Maybe. I didn't know. 
The concept of change didn't exist in the first place when talking about human lives. 
As no one knew the future, changing it was beyond anyone's ability.