Adachi to Shimamura - Volume 2 - Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Full-Marks Thighs

Getting up and glancing at the clock, I discovered that only ten minutes remained of this year. There obviously wasn't anything exciting waiting for me at the beginning of the new year, yet I still found myself wondering if I should head to bed soon. Anyway, first things first, I needed to pull down my chin; I felt that if I stayed like this, with my head turned upwards, the particles of dust floating in the air were going to enter my nose and mouth. 
The storage-room-turned-into-study-room on the second floor was as cold as a freezer, making sitting quite the painful experience. All I wanted was to lie down and dive under the kotatsu so that only my head remained visible. In that case, you might as well close the textbook, return to your room, and go to bed, right? the self-indulgent part of my mind suggested. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case; I had fallen behind in terms of studying, and really needed to catch up. 
I felt like the man from that legend, the one who slept for three years straight. If there was anything you could call a blessing in disguise here, it was probably my lack of hobbies. 
After all, that meant that there was nothing competing for my attention and motivation, and I could spend all of my time studying. 
"Studying on New Year's Eve... I've become quite the diligent student, haven't I?" I praised myself, though my words were quickly drowned out by a massive yawn. 
Honestly, even though I knew this year had come to an end, it hardly felt that way. Was it perhaps because the third school term was going to start in a mere week? That was to say, I didn't get the sense that anything was truly ending. April was when we advanced to the next grade, and honestly, that felt more like the beginning of the year to me. Then again, it probably only felt that way to students. 
I pushed aside all of those thoughts and picked up my pencil from the table, planning to keep studying till the date changed. However, just as I did, my phone rang. I found myself quite startled by the sudden noise. Yes, I had brought it with me just in case, but as it had remained silent for hours, I'd honestly forgotten that it was there. 
The tune I'd chosen—matching the sound of an old rotary-dial phone—let me know that I'd received a text message. I tossed the pencil away, grabbed my phone, and checked who it was from. Adachi. How rare of her to text me. Most of the time when she had something to tell me, she called. 
"Are you awake?" 
That was it, the entire message. Was it because it was midnight that she had felt hesitant to call me? Perhaps. 
"'Yeah, I'm awake.' And send." 
Seeing as it would've been impossible for me to send any sort of a reply had I been asleep, was there really a point to explicitly stating it like that? Regardless, that was the message I ended up sending her. I placed the phone back on the table, only to receive another text seconds later. 
"Can we talk over the phone?" 
And there it was. Though we had taken a slightly roundabout route this time, it seemed that in the end, we'd once again be talking. Sure, I began typing out, but on a second thought, I could probably just call her myself, huh? I deleted the message and began going through my call history to find her number. I quickly found it, and pushed the call button. I could feel my upper body growing cold as I waited for her to answer, and decided to use the time to dive under the kotatsu. I'd just gotten the blanket over my shoulders when she picked up. 
"Hello. Yeah, we can talk over the phone", I stated, answering the question Adachi had presented in her message before she managed to say anything. For a second, I could hear her giggling. 
"It's rare for you to call me, Shimamura." 
"Same here. You hardly ever text me. Now then, did you have something urgent?" 
"No, nothing like that. I... just wanted to talk." 
"Hmph." 
I turned over, now lying on my right side with the phone resting on top of my ear. 
I could hear the sounds of a TV coming from downstairs. It seemed that my parents were still up. 
"Watching TV?" 
"Maybe." 
"Huh? Shouldn't you know?" 
I decided to keep the fact that I'd been studying hidden from Adachi. While there was definitely something weird about not wanting other people to think that you were a good student, judging by what I saw in school, it seemed to be a common sentiment. 
Was that just the nature of puberty? Not that everyone acting a certain way proved anything, of course. Regardless, whatever the reason might have been, people of my age generally felt embarrassed about putting effort into things. 
Those with time to spare just felt cooler, I guess. 
"By the way, are you aware?" 
"Aware of what?" 
"That there are only ten more minutes left of this year." 
"Yeah, I know. Are you doing something on the New Year, Shimamura? Like, going to visit relatives?" 
"Well, we are planning to go say hello to my Grandfather, but that's pretty much it, I think." 
"Do you get New Year's gifts?" 
"Oh, right... Those things, huh?" 
I turned over once again. For some reason, I just couldn't find a good position for my head. It was easy to see what the problem was; the pillow was way too soft to offer any real support. I found myself thinking back to that time when I had rested my head on Adachi's thighs. They had been just perfect. 
"Shimamura?" 
"Yeah, sorry. I was just reminiscing about your thighs." 
"Huh? My... thighs?" 
"They were nice." 
"Wha—Huh? Is... Is that s-so?" 
"Now then, back to New Year's gifts. Hm? Adachi, are you listening?" 
I could hear the sound of her thrashing about on top of her bed. Was she pretending to be a shrimp on dry land? I tried imagining that, and the image that came to my mind was Adachi with deep crimson skin. 
"Is something wrong?" 
"'Is something wrong'? Well, umm... Shimamura, you..." 
Just as I grew curious, her words cut off. This is no time to be groaning, Adachi. 
"Me? What about me?" 
"What was with that sexual harassment just now?" 
"It was a tangent, sure, but 'sexual harassment'? I don't think so." 
Praising someone's thighs was like praising their arms or something. Anyone could do it. 
"Now then, what were we talking about? New Year's gifts?" 
"No, that's... that's fine. We don't need to go back to it." 
"Oh, really?" 
What should we talk about then? Neither of us said anything. All I could hear was Adachi's breathing. These moments of awkward silence, this was exactly what I hated about talking over the phone. It felt like we were passing the responsibility of telling the other person to talk about something back and forth, and I didn't like that. 
"...Why were you thinking about my thighs?" 
"Oh, back to that?" 

"Well, you brought it up kinda randomly, so I'm curious now." 
I couldn't blame her. Heck, I'd be pretty scared too if Adachi suddenly began reading aloud a poem she'd written about my thighs. Shima-thighs, or something. On a second thought, I would be pretty interested to read a poem written by her. She seemed like she'd have really girly tastes when it came to that sort of stuff. 
"Remember that time when I rested my head on your lap? I was thinking about what a good pillow your thighs made. Oh, I should mention, I'm lying down right now." 
"I see... I see." 
"Yep." 
I could hear from Adachi's reaction that she didn't really know what to say. Made sense. I pulled the pillow out from under my head and pressed my cheek against the floor directly. The wood was far cooler than my body, and honestly, I found that difference in temperature to be quite pleasant. Yet, as I stared at the loose strands of my hair resting beside me, uncertainty filled me; slivers of black had begun peeking through on top of my head, and I wasn't sure what I should do about them. 
Should I go have my hair dyed, or just leave it be? My family was certainly opposed to it being brown, if that counted for anything. 
"Firm ones, or soft ones. Which are better?" 
Adachi's sudden question brought me back to reality. What was this about? I had no idea. The vague grunt I gave as a response conveyed as much, prompting Adachi to continue speaking. 
"I'm talking about thighs. I was just wondering, which ones do you prefer?" 
What, was she going to alter her thighs based on my answer? Was that even possible? If so, then wow. That was some good customer service. 
It was kinda like when you went to a ramen place and they asked how thick you wanted your noodles. Extra thick? Normal? For a second, I imagined Adachi doing squats with her lower body looking like it was about to burst, but then quickly deleted those thoughts from my mind. 
That version of Adachi—standing bow-legged, her legs alone swollen to a massive size while the rest of her body stayed normal—wasn't something that I wanted to see in reality. 
I answered her question by telling her that she (and her thighs) was fine just the way she was. 
After a short pause, Adachi replied. 
"I'll try to avoid gaining weight then." 
"Honestly, in your position, I think you should be more worried about losing weight." 
I'd always been jealous of her slender body, and still was. This New Year, I would resist the temptation to stuff myself full of nothing but mochi. 
"Oh, by the way. I've been drinking that tea you got me, and it's delicious. Thanks." 
"M-Me too. I've... umm... been using your present a lot." 
In what way, I found myself wanting to ask. Hunting, perhaps? 
"Ah, the year changed." 
Adachi's sudden comment prompted me to glance at the clock, and I confirmed her statement; the hand was, in fact, right on top of the number 12. Yet, judging by its position, only two or three seconds had passed since the date changed. Adachi sure had noticed quickly, huh? 
Had she perhaps been staring at the clock this whole time? 
"Wanna do the New Year's greetings?" 
"Yeah." 
I crawled out from under the kotatsu. Then, before I'd gotten ready, Adachi started. 
"Happy New Year." 
"Same. Happy New Year", I stated after kneeling down, followed by a bow. Adachi was probably kneeling on her bed too, huh? After we were done exchanging greetings, I once again dove under the kotatsu. As I did, I found myself growing slightly worried: Would I really be able to leave this warmth and return to my bed on the first floor? I bet the hallway was going to be freezing cold. 
"I hope the next year will be as good as this one." 
"Yeah." 
And then, silence. Silence once again fell between us. I could also no longer hear the sounds of the TV from downstairs, indicating that I should probably head to bed soon. 
Silence within the call, silence outside of it. After a few moments, Adachi spoke. 
"Well then, I think it's time I head to bed." 
She'd stolen the words right out of my mouth. Not that I minded. In fact, I felt relieved; it meant that I didn't need to be the one to say it. 
"Oh? Okay. Good night, Adachi." 
"Good night. ...That feels good." 
"Huh? What do you mean?" 
"Oh, nothing. It's nothing..." 
Adachi's voice grew distant as if she was running away, after which she ended the call. She'd been pretty on edge lately, hadn't she? 
Had it perhaps been written on her report card that she was "easily flustered"? Now then, jokes aside. 
"I wonder, did she only call me because she wanted to exchange New Year's greetings?" 
After putting the phone down, I found myself searching for the reason why she'd called me. It was a bad habit of mine. 
When Adachi said that she wanted to become my "number one friend", was this what she'd meant? 
Stuff like exchanging New Year's greetings with me before anyone else could? I wonder, would she do anything if it meant that she was the first person to do so? 
...Number one friend, huh? 
"It doesn't seem all that difficult, I don't think." 
Like, who was there to compete with her? Going down the list, she was probably my number one friend already. 
At the same time, I got the feeling that it wouldn't make her particularly happy even if I told her that. 
It seemed more than likely that there was a massive difference between our interpretations of that expression—"number one friend"—and its position on the scale of intimacy. For me, it was relatively low, on a level that you could easily get to using your own two feet. As for Adachi, however, I got the feeling that she placed it so high up that you needed to grow a pair of wings if you wanted to have any hope of reaching it. She glanced up at it every time we met, giving off the impression that whatever her goal was, it was something novel. Just how high was she aiming? 
Regardless, I knew that our lives were extensions of what was normal. That fact was true today, and would remain so forever. 
If you couldn't fly, you needed to walk. Whether it was the common path, or the steep path filled with hardship, that didn't matter. 
I at least wanted to have a friend walking beside me as I faced those challenges. Their existence would distract me from all the pain. 
"Let's give it our all this year." 
I'd forgotten to say that to Adachi, and as I now mumbled it to myself, a strange sense of satisfaction filled me. I then closed the textbook. 
"...Probably not the right thing to do immediately after saying that, huh?" 
Did I really have the motivation to give it my all? Maybe, maybe not.