Adachi to Shimamura - Volume 11 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Edge of Infinity Loop

“THE HECK is that?”

“It’s a canteen, thank you.” The cross-body strap seemed to give her a childlike flair. 

Just outside the front gates of my house, I discovered a fellow eighteen-year-old geared up like a hiker. When I tried to leave, she tackled me hard—and the pairing of her size advantage plus the element of surprise resulted in both of us smashing into a pillar. 

“Dude!”

“My name is Nagafuji, thank you.”

I didn’t ask, thank you! Also, it was the same canteen she’d used for elementary school field trips, so it was a real throwback. But never mind that. “Are you here to hang out, or are you going on a hike?”

“A hike, thank you.”

“Then keep walking!” 

All I wanted was to go for a stroll, and now look where that got me. I encountered her at the front gate so often, I was starting to think she camped out there. Perhaps it was her presence that drew me to go outside in the first place. 

“Ugh, whatever. Fine, let’s go! Get off me!” I pressed a hand to her forehead and peeled her off of my waist. With a companion now in tow, I doubled back to the front door. 

Only then did she suddenly take her glasses off, as if only just remembering—and the sharpened angle of my neck as I looked up at her informed me that she had gotten taller once again. As I debated whether I could have possibly shrank instead, we entered the house, and I took off the shoes I had literally just put on. After I set them back on the rack, Nagafuji followed suit with her own pair. 

“I found the canteen hidden at the back of the kitchen cupboard and it put me in the mood to hike,” she explained concisely. The heck was she doing, digging around in the kitchen? “But I could die of dehydration if I went too far, so I decided my destination would be your house, Hino.”

“You just wanted an excuse to come over, didn’t you?”

“I did, thank you.”

“…Hm.” Even my best tackles weren’t enough to make her budge.

“Well now, that was quick!” Enome-san turned to look at me as she was dusting a shelf halfway down the needlessly long hallway. Then she saw Nagafuji and smiled slightly. “Welcome.”

“I’m here!”

“She said she wants to have lunch in the yard.”

“I see,” Enome-san replied, straightening up without batting a lash. Evidently, she was familiar with Nagafuji’s quirks by now. “In that case, I shall fetch a picnic blanket.”

“Sorry for the trouble.”

“I’m used to it,” she replied offhandedly as she started to walk off. Then she thought of a question and turned back to ask. “Will you be sleeping over tonight?”

“Hmmm… If I do, this’ll turn into more of an overnight trip than a hike,” Nagafuji mused.

“Then don’t,” I replied.

“But I like overnight trips just as much, so I think I will.” 

You were planning to from the start and you know it, I thought as I glanced at her giant hiker’s backpack. Feeling the residual heat of summer on my neck, I sighed in defeat.

“Then I shall make the necessary arrangements. One moment, please.”

“You don’t have to do anything special for her. Seriously.” 

I felt bad interrupting Enome-san’s work because of this cow. When I hoisted up her udders, she smacked me lightly over the head. Then I realized belatedly: maybe all that smacking was how I shrank. 

“Oooone mooooomeeeeeent,” Nagafuji announced, like a grandfather clock. 

And since a moment had indeed passed, we decided to go out to the courtyard. 

“Oooh, how artistic…”

Next to the large pond was a streak of red, as if someone had run a paintbrush over it. I didn’t mind the blanket, but couldn’t she have found something more fitting than a beach parasol to block the sun with? Not only that, but it was watermelon-themed. Then again, I did say she didn’t need to do anything special.

“Very elegant.”

“Is it?” 

We sat side by side beneath the parasol. Since it was watermelon-themed, naturally, the light that shone through was pink. A visibly watermelon-flavored Nagafuji set down her backpack and canteen, then stretched her legs out and smiled. “You tend to kneel a lot, don’t you, Hino?”

“Huh? Oh…yeah, I guess so.” 

She grinned down at my reflexively bent knees. 

“What?” I scowled.

“I like it.”

“Good for you.” 

I’d developed something of a knack for cutting her tangents short. Not like I ever understood her anyway. 

Behind us, I could hear the chirp of cicadas lurking nearby on the courtyard trees. The heat that made it through the barrier of the parasol began to nip at my skin, and I could smell the pond moss practically baking in the sun. 

“Let’s hurry up and eat so we can go back inside.”

“No, we should stay and enjoy this nice picnic that Enome-san set up for us!”

“Your priorities are ass-backwards, just FYI.” 

At my insistence, she reluctantly retrieved a bento bag from her backpack. Inside was stir-fried udon, most likely made by her mother.

“Did she just dump a bunch of leftovers in there and call it good?”

“Smart move, Mama.” 

In addition to the bento box, I could see another little container in the bag, so while she was busy eating the onions out of her udon, I pulled it out. A goldfish was painted on the lid—classy, I thought as I opened it. Inside…was a whole bunch of canned mandarin orange slices. The sweet citrusy syrup wafted up to greet my nose. 

This was something she would always bring whenever we went on a field trip. But at some point in elementary school…I forget what grade we were in…she lost the goldfish container during the trip. That was the first time I saw her get visibly sad about something. So I searched for one that was identical, and bought it, and gave it to her as a birthday gift later that same year. She was overjoyed, and in return, she… 

Well, we don’t have to get into that. Anyway, it wasn’t really all that old…or was it?

“…I guess it was a long time ago…” 

So much of our friendship felt like it was only yesterday, but I had simply grown numb to the passage of time. Grade school…prior to that, the day we met…then junior high afterwards…all of it was in the distant past now. This was our eighteenth summer, and there was no telling how many more were in store for us. 

To this day, I was still a rich girl with a big yard and a free-spirited best friend. I wanted for nothing and couldn’t ask for more. I was born with happiness right beside me, without ever needing to define it or go out and search for it. My life was on easy mode. In private, I agonized over it a little…but when she was with me, it felt right. I was fine with things staying exactly as they were in perpetuity. She was enough.

“The precocious thoughts of dear young Hino.”

“Do not read my mind.” 

I knew it wasn’t actually possible, but shook my head all the same. 

We were close enough now to read each other’s fine print.