Adachi to Shimamura - Volume 3 - Chapter 1.1

Today's Adachi 

"Shimamura!" I yelled, more loudly than I ever had, before jumping at her from behind. With my legs on her shoulders, as if being carried on her back, I stared at her. There was a massive smile on my face. 
Shimamura returned my smile with a grin of her own. 
That was the kind of dream I'd seen. 
"..." 
I sat there, covering my face with my hands. 
"..." 
I wanted to die. 

Chapter 1 Pick a Chocolate Fitting of Me

No matter what anyone said, it was most certainly winter. I could feel it with my skin. All the signs were there as well. Yes, it was the heart of winter. You needed to be careful at all times if you didn't want your nose to freeze, and in a similar fashion, getting distracted and losing your focus in class would almost certainly result in your eyelids growing heavy. ...Okay, maybe that one wasn't season-specific. Regardless, there was something special about winter that made it so that, no matter how much sleep I got, I was always prone to dozing off. Was it perhaps my body's way of telling me that it wanted to hibernate? Honestly, if that was something that I could do, it might not have been bad at all. 
It was noon on the 4th of February. Nothing special had happened that day. 
Class finally came to an end, causing the tense atmosphere within the room to relax. I glanced at the door, and saw that there were already students rushing out to get to their clubs. So simple, that youth, I thought to myself as I watched them leave. The door being open also meant that the air from the corridor was now flowing into the classroom. It was just a bit colder, but that difference in temperature was enough to cause my body to shiver slightly. Another reason for me not to rush out with them. 
Like with summer break, the seating order had been randomized following the winter holidays. Where I sat had ended up moving from the centre of class to near the entrance. This placed me farther away from the teacher, and I had to say, I was quite happy about that; while she had given me a few strict looks in the past for yawning, with some distance between us, she didn't seem nearly as scary. Of course, being seated by the entrance also had a cost associated with it: You were, at times, forced to experience winter first-hand, like what had happened just now. 
"Now then..." 
What should I do today? Head home immediately, or perhaps go ask Adachi if she had something to tell me? 
Speaking of Adachi, she had been acting visibly strange right from the beginning of February. Then again, when wasn't she acting strange? The month-long period starting from when we had first met was the only time I could think of, leading me to wonder if her strangeness was perhaps limited to winter and spring. Quite the pain in the neck, wasn't she? 
"Ah." 
Our eyes met. Adachi, who'd been looking over her shoulder, now sat there frozen. Likewise, I'd stopped stuffing my textbooks into my bag halfway through. 
The distance between our seats was just a bit too much for us to comfortably talk to each other, meaning that we were left to stare at the other person as we tried to find a solution to this situation. Clearly flustered, Adachi quickly averted her eyes while fiddling with her hair, and in a similar manner, I continued putting away my books. 
Trying to get a sense of my distance to Adachi was surprisingly difficult. 
It wasn't the first time something like this had happened. No, quite the opposite; I frequently felt her staring at me, both after school and during the lunch break. It even happened during lessons, to the point that she spent most of them looking at me over her shoulder. Just kidding, she didn't actually do that. Instead, there was a serious look on her face. Between randomly blushing, resting her face on her books, and frantically playing with her hair, she also seemed quite restless. Oh, I should mention, Adachi now sat in the centre of the classroom, pretty much exactly where I had sat previously. It was for this reason that what she was doing often caught my eye. I rotated my head sideways, and saw that the girl sitting behind me was having some trouble copying down what was written on the blackboard. 
"Hey, SHIMA! It's me, HINO!" 
A joyful being suddenly approached me. Her spirit appeared indomitable, and much in the same way, her skin was covered in a tan. Yes, the aura she gave off was definitely more "HINO" than it was "Hino". In what way exactly? I wasn't sure. Anyway, it still managed to shock me just how brown Hino was now. I'd definitely expected her to come back a little tanned when I'd heard that she and her family had travelled overseas to celebrate the new year, but this much? No, not even close. It was like she alone was living in the warmth of midsummer while the rest of us were stuck in the coldness of winter. 
"What was that greeting about? It sounded like you were going for something foreign but gave up halfway." 
Had the inside of her brain been tanned as well, making her think like someone from overseas? 
"We were just talking about how putting your name in all-caps kinda makes it feel like a brand name", Hino stated, followed by Nagafuji confirming her words with a nod. How on earth had they reached that topic? 
"Although, I guess that doesn't apply to you, Shimamura. The way your name is written, in all hiragana, it already sounds like a brand name." 
"You know it's not actually written like that, right?" 
Nagafuji nodded again. Was she just nodding randomly? Either way, it was quite difficult for me to tell who she was agreeing with here. 
"Anyway, that's all. Bye!" 
Hino waved her hand before exiting the classroom. Staring at her from behind, I got a good sense of just how much she stood out during this season where everything, down to our breath, had turned white. Nagafuji began chasing after this well-cooked ball of joy before stopping in her tracks and turning around as if she had remembered something. She was quite pale, even when not compared to Hino. 
"Has she been throwing it?" she asked me after pushing up her glasses. 
"Huh?" 
"This, this", Nagafuji repeated while waving her right arm lightly. She shook it from side to side, and incidentally, her swaying breasts caught my attention. Hmm... Oh, the boomerang? Right. There was nothing else I could imagine Nagafuji talking about throwing. 
"Sure, she has. ...My little sister, I mean." 
That was what I'd told her, right? Speaking of that "little sister", I could feel her staring at me right now. 
"Tell her that we can have a match once she improves." 
"Huh? Right, yeah." 
And with that, Nagafuji followed after Hino. She'd left me quite the troublesome message to relay. 
I could hardly imagine Adachi standing beside Nagafuji and the two of them having fun tossing boomerangs. 
If all she wanted was a boomerang pal, she should have just asked Hino. Then again, the latter probably wouldn't have agreed; it wasn't like Nagafuji joined her when she went fishing either. 
Those two did nothing in the way of changing their behaviour to match the other person, yet somehow, they still managed to get along. That was what I considered to be a good relationship. 
"Overseas, huh?" 
I found myself feeling slightly jealous; not only had I never travelled overseas, that was also true for just being in an airplane. Why? Dunno. I guess I had built a wall of sorts around it in my mind. Bullet trains exist, so why bother? Something like that. 
Anyway, the stream of cold winter air blowing from the corridor had paused for now, and I figured that I should get going as well. Just as I began standing up, however, a shadow appeared above my table. I lifted my head, and saw that it belonged to Adachi. 
"Yo." 
"H-How's it going?" she replied in a horribly forced manner. It sounded like she'd gone out of her way to match my greeting in tone. In any case, it was the first time that I'd heard Adachi's voice today. For lunch, I'd gone with Hino and Nagafuji, and while I did try to invite her along, she ran away before I could. 
It seemed that she wasn't very good at dealing with those two. Not that I didn't already know that. 
Them being my friends didn't necessarily mean that the same was true for Adachi. Speaking of whom... 
"Are you free today?" she mumbled, almost like she was having trouble moving her mouth. 
"Sure. What about it?" 
"I was wondering if you'd like to, umm, go out... No, not 'go out'. More like, 'drop by'..." 
"You're trying to ask if we can go somewhere?" 
Adachi nodded slightly. Hmm... For a second, I considered passing on her offer due to it being too cold outside, but thinking about it some more, I realised that it might come off as insensitive rejecting her like that. I was of the opinion that choosing the right words was the most mentally exhausting part of dealing with other people. My brain was quite slow, and often times, I found myself struggling to come up with alternative ways of expressing myself. 
Life would be so much easier if I could simply answer "yes" or "no" to everything, like the main character of an RPG. 
"Oh, but if you're busy, then that's fine. I don't mind. Not at all", Adachi quickly added while waving her hands. It was like she was taking precautions in case I refused, which was something you only did when talking to someone you had trouble gauging your distance with. Not offending the other person became the top priority in your mind, leading you to alter your behaviour as if it was certain that you were going to fail. I'd definitely gone through that myself. 
At the same time, it was the kind of thing that made it impossible to resist teasing her a little. 
"Oh, really? Well, that's good. It just so happens that I'm super busy today", I stated jokingly. Adachi wasn't laughing, though. Far from it; her eyes had grown narrow as if she was on the verge of tears, to the point where it seemed that it would only take a single push and she'd start crying. I rushed to salvage this mess. "Just kidding, I'm never busy. Gosh, Adachi, don't ask me such mean questions. Hahaha." 
There, all fixed up. 
"Sorry", Adachi stated awkwardly once I was done. 
...I'd made her apologize. Crap. That definitely hadn't been my intention. Feelings of guilt crawled up my skin, brushing against it like a thin piece of paper. It would be extremely difficult for me to turn her down now. 
"It was a joke. Sorry. I got carried away", I apologized. While I was it, I also accepted her offer: "Anyway, sure, let's go". 
The stiff expression on Adachi's face relaxed as those words left my mouth. She seemed visibly relieved. I really liked that about Adachi, the way her mood and emotions were always visible on the surface. It made her easy to read. Very good. 
For me, it was the opposite; I'd become quite a difficult-to-read person after entering high school. Not good, not at all. 
"Do you have anywhere in mind that you'd like to go to?" 
I figured she wouldn't, but decided to ask anyway. 
"Well, I don't, but..." 
"But what?" I urged her to continue. Adachi turned her head slightly downwards, as if chewing on her muffler, before opening her mouth. 
"I was thinking, I'm kinda hungry for confections", she stated, her eyes looking away while her mouth simultaneously tried to form a smile. There was a lot happening on her face, and watching it, I couldn't help but admire her dexterity; it took a lot of skill to move all those facial muscles into different directions. 
"So, Adachi wants something sweet, does she?" 
Taking in sugar would probably improve her expression, huh? 
I wasn't sure why, but my words caused Adachi to twitch slightly, almost as if she'd been taken aback by them. 
"Umm, yeah. Confections." 
"Huh? You want something that isn't sweet?" 
"No, it being sweet is fine, but..." 
The movements of her mouth grew increasingly subtle as she went on, making it difficult for me to pick out the end of her sentence. 
I got the feeling that we weren't really on the same wavelength. At the same time, I could tell that she really wanted to do this. 
They sold all sorts of confections at the mall, so if we went there, she could buy whatever she wanted. The majority were sweet, of course, though there were also some non-sweet ones. 
Maybe we could eat doughnuts together like that one time? Yeah, that might be good. 
A lot more events had been occurring recently that I could look back to and not feel bad about them. I had to say, I quite liked it. 
Most of the things that had happened to me so far in life, I had already forgotten. The same was likely going to be true for the things that happened to me in the future as well; after enough time passed, I'd forget the majority of them. 
I obviously wanted the bits that remained to have some value, and to increase the chances of that happening, I needed to create more and more good memories. Even the worst archer could hit the target with enough shots, or something like that. 
Anyway, it was for that reason that I'd chosen to spend time with Adachi after school. 
Everything was the same as usual, including Adachi's ultra-suspicious behaviour. 

A thought hit me as the two of us rode on Adachi's bike; we might still have been delinquents. Then again, I suppose people would see me that way as long as my hair remained dyed. My little sister certainly did. Trying to decide what to do about my hair had been causing me a lot of headache recently. Its original colour—that being black—had begun showing through the brown, resulting in a colour combination that could be best described as pudding-like. 
 

To leave it alone, or to re-dye it? Whichever I chose, I had to commit to it; starting something and then stopping midway was going to be worse than not starting in the first place. 
I'd left the decision of where we were going up to Adachi, and in a little less that twenty minutes, we arrived at the large mall. It was the same one I had visited with her on Christmas. The sun had begun to set, and the wide parking lot appeared quite eerie under its dim light. 
The two of us weren't the only people wearing school uniforms near the bicycle park; I saw that there were students from another school loitering around as we arrived. Seeing the white breath coming from their mouths once again brought to my attention just how cold it was, causing my upper half to shiver. I yearned for the warmth of the kotatsu. 
Even so, I couldn't just leave right away. That was what I thought to myself as I watched Adachi lock her bike. 
We'd only taken a couple of steps inside the mall when Adachi gripped my index finger and nervously lifted it. The air here was way warmer that it had been outside, roughly the same temperature as her fingers. 
"Can we?" 
Can we hold hands? is what it seemed like she meant. She'd matured a bit, but only enough to ask first? 
I wonder, was it the rapid change in temperature that had made her cheeks grow bright red? 
"Sure, I don't mind", I nodded, immediately after which Adachi's hand closed around mine like a pair of scissors. She then glanced at it, panicked slightly, and then allowed it to relax to a more natural grip. Personally, holding hands didn't bother me one bit. What did, however, was the stiff expression on her face; she was facing directly forward as if her neck was stuck and unable to rotate, and I got the impression that if I were to touch her cheek, it would make a sound similar to tapping the surface of rock. I couldn't even see her blinking. Was she really okay? 
"So, where are we going again? Somewhere we can eat something sweet?" 
"Yeah", Adachi nodded awkwardly. Was she having difficulty spotting a suitable place? Made sense, I suppose; that did seem like it would be tough if you weren't able to move your head. 
"There's a doughnut shop over there, if that works", I suggested, pointing towards the store. It wasn't the same chain as the one at the station, but the doughnuts were just as delicious. 
Why? Because they were sweet. Sweet to the point where it felt like if you were to turn them around, you'd find a layer of sugar covering the dough like snow. 
Still... Doughnuts, huh? I couldn't help but think of Yashiro and the way she'd appeared the last time Adachi and I had eaten them together. ...I wonder, was she going to show up again? 
Suddenly, Adachi's feet stopped moving. She then pushed her head out, almost as if she was trying to peer inside the store. She went as far as to stretch out her back, and staring at her, I couldn't help but wonder what exactly it was that she was doing. Regardless, I dragged her along until we were standing in front of the store. Being right next to the entrance, the place had barely any walls surrounding it, allowing you to see what was happening at the counter all the way from outside. Needless to say, that meant that the clerk behind it could also see us. 
I could feel them staring at Adachi as she did whatever it was that she was doing, and by extension, at me. We were holding hands, and it might have been a case of it attracting unwanted attention. Figures. There really was something strange about it, wasn't there? Definitely. I found myself looking away from the clerk. 
There was a billboard outside that showed what movies were playing, and before it, stood a man and a woman scrolling through it with their eyes. They were holding hands as well. Yeah, that was normal. There was also another pair of people, a small boy and his mother who were heading towards the nearby Edion store, likewise holding hands. While the difference in their height did make it seem a little tiresome for the mother, that too was normal. In contrast, Adachi and I were a little too old to be walking around hand in hand like some good chums. 
"Hmm..." 
A pained smile crept onto my face. We really stuck out, didn't we? It certainly felt that way to me. It was like the air circulating around the building had grown stagnant only around us. I became increasingly aware of Adachi's hand. 
Yet, at the same time, I knew that it was far too late to take it all back. 
When it came to dealing with other people, ending something was always far more difficult than it had been to start. For example, could I shake off Adachi's hand here? Not really. Doing so would require going against the flow, and the way I lived my life, all I did was leave myself to it and let it carry me. I'd done so yesterday, and would do so again tomorrow. 
I simply didn't have the will it took to break free from it. No, I did not. 
"Not", I muttered to myself, prompting Adachi to glance at me. There was a slightly worried expression on her face. 
That was the case, more often than not, when she looked at me these days. I might have been wrong, but I was pretty sure that she'd been way calmer and more composed in the past. 
"I don't think this place is that good." 
"Oh, I see." 
How exactly had she come to that conclusion? I decided to just go along and not question it. Like usual, she was acting pretty strange today. 
"Would you prefer something Japanese-style?" 
"No, it's not that", Adachi answered, appearing to be thinking very hard about it. Well then, what is it? I wanted to ask her. 
"Any suggestions or stuff?" 
"Huh? Umm, no, not really..." 
Another no. If she didn't have any suggestions of her own, then on what basis had she rejected mine? 
Adachi was being particularly difficult today. Would it really hurt if every now and then she switched to being a bit easier to understand? Easier to understand... Someone who gave you a clear answer no matter what you asked them... No, that wasn't Adachi. 
Constantly trembling, impossible to make head or tail of, that was the Adachi I knew. 
She then began walking. Unsure whether or not she had a destination in mind, I followed after her. 
"Come to think of it, there's actually something that I want to ask you." 
"What is it?" 
"My hair, do you think I should dye it again, or let it go back to normal?" I asked Adachi, while spinning a strand of aforementioned hair around my finger. She proceeded to scrutinize me, from the top of my head to the tip of my shoes. Why though? It seemed to me like you could answer that question even if you didn't check out the person's soles first. I wonder, was she really going as far as to consider how well the hair would go with the rest of my body? 
After carefully examining me, Adachi closed her eyes. She appeared to be imagining both versions of me in her mind. Again, there was no real reason for her to take it that seriously. However, just as I thought that, an idea crossed my mind; closing her eyes had left her completely defenceless, meaning that I could pull a prank on her if I wanted to. I began thinking as well. I could pinch her lips and make them resemble slices of cod roe, or pull her cheeks and make her look like a flying squirrel... No, wait. Why would I ever do that? I wasn't in elementary school anymore. 
While I was busy blushing at my own thoughts, Adachi suddenly opened her eyes, after which she glanced at the part of my hair where the black and brown mixed. She then knitted her eyebrows as if she was thinking hard about something. 
"It's difficult for me to say since I've never seen the black version of you." 
"That's because I'm a good girl with a pure white belly", I stated. My first instinct had been to snarl at her, but after thinking about it for a second, I decided to go with a joke instead. The way she'd said it—the black version of me—I really didn't like that. 
Black Shimamura. White Shimamura. Out of those two, the former did maybe sound a bit better. 
And? Nothing. Just a random tangent. 
"See? It's going to be half and half soon. I need to figure out what to do before it gets there", I explained while lifting up my hair as if I was combing it out. For some reason, Adachi reached for the strand of hair resting on my palm, placing it between our hands. It quickly slid out, however, in a similar manner to what would happen if you tried holding quicksand. Looking at it, I was reminded of the fact that I wanted to get an hourglass. I'd thought about buying one on multiple occasions, but each time, it had slipped my mind. 
Memories, spilling out like the sand of an hourglass... Wow, that was actually a pretty smart simile, wasn't it? 
Anyhow, Adachi's eyes remained fixed on the strand of my hair she'd placed on her hand. 
"Is something wrong?" I asked her. The sheer intensity of her stare had led me to wonder if she had an opinion on the matter. 
"It's nothing", she replied hastily before releasing my hair and pulling her head back. Sure didn't look like it was nothing, I considered saying while fixing my hairdo, but ultimately decided not to. 
I then began walking. In the end, I hadn't been able to get a clear opinion from her regarding my hair. 
We walked past a KFC, an Ootoya, and a Shabuna before switching aisles. There, I glanced to my right, and discovered a sweets store. A western-style sweets store, not a Japanese-style one. 
"What about here?" I asked Adachi. Like the last time, she once against pushed her head forward. I found myself a bit astonished; what the heck was up with this mannerism she'd developed? 
"Sure, I think this is fine", she nodded. This time, she'd agreed with my suggestion. I kinda wanted to ask her about the criteria she used to evaluate the stores, though seeing the worried expression on her face, I didn't really get the feeling that she'd tell me. 
A yellow sign stood in front of the store. A bearded old man was pictured on it, and next to him was written the word "beard". Fitting. The nice, sweet smell of dough poured into my nose, tickling my throat as it made its way down. The list of treats that were on sale was quite large, ranging from cornets to cream puff cookies and cheesecakes. All sweet things, making it clear that this certainly wasn't a Japanese-style place. Yes, it should satisfy Adachi's wishes perfectly. 
There also seemed to be a limited-time offer of small pastries filled with chocolate cream. They were dark in colour, though other than that, it was quite difficult to find anything that distinguished them from the cream karintos being sold next to them. Was this a special promotion of some kind? Well, as it turned out, yes; the reason for why they had chocolate products on sale, specifically, became clear as I glanced at the poster hanging on the wall that Adachi's head was pointing towards. 
It was almost Valentine's Day. 
I see. We were already that far into the year, huh? I needed to buy my little sister something, because if I didn't, she'd present me with a song talking about how stingy I was. I got the feeling that she might even get Yashiro to do it with her this year. A short sigh left my mouth as I imagined that, immediately after which Adachi began crab-walking. Still gripping my hand, she circled around me with her legs spread wide apart. 
Naturally, I was forced to spin around as well. 
I could feel Adachi's hand growing slightly sweaty. Like before, she pushed her head forward and glanced behind me. Whoa, what a massive coincidence, was the reaction her face tried to convey. 
Even without looking, I could tell that she was staring at the poster I'd seen just now. Her eyes still fixed on it, Adachi's mouth opened. 
"Valentine's", she squeaked out loud, her eyes looking as if they were about to pop out from her head at any moment. "Is what it says." 
"Yeah, it does", I commented, only for Adachi to start hiccuping. Her gaze wandered all around, as if avoiding mine. 
"It's already that time, huh?" 
Hiccup. No matter how hard she tried to act calm, her constant hiccups made those attempts completely futile. 
I'd hoped that she was a bit easier to understand, and I guess my wish had come true because I could definitely see what was happening here. 
"Is there something wrong about Valentine's?" I asked, a question which caused Adachi to grow incredibly flustered. 
Her eyes, along with her tongue, spun around in the shape of a spiral. There was a whole circus's worth of emotion being displayed on her face. 
"Huh? Oh... Umm... No, it's not... a big deal... or anything..." 
Hiccup. The time between her hiccups gradually grew shorter and shorter, to the point that they were now splicing her sentences into distinct chunks. 
I wonder, had bringing up this subject been the entire reason why she'd invited me here? Honestly, that seemed quite plausible. It would also explain her saying no to the doughnut shop, as well as changing position just now. What a complicated way to go about it. Or roundabout, I guess you should say. 
Could it be, there was someone who she wanted to give a Valentine's gift to? Had she been lying about not having a boyfriend, and actually had one? No, I really doubt that. I mean, I'd been hanging out with Adachi for months now, but not once had I seen her with someone who fit that role. Actually, I had never seen her with anyone other than me. 
There was... only me... 
In that case. 
"...Me?" I stated questioningly, presenting the answer I'd reached through the process of elimination. This caused Adachi to jolt. Her body shook immensely, to the point that it seemed like she was about to tumble over. I promptly pulled on her hand to help keep her steady, although all that did was make her feet slip, causing her to fall towards me. I ended up having to catch her, and in the end, Adachi's body was left resting against my chest. 
Her scent mixed with that of the sweets as it floated into my nose. 
"..." 
I waited, but Adachi didn't move. What was I supposed to do in this situation? 
As it turned out, it was quite difficult to hold up someone taller than yourself. I could feel my legs growing unsteady. As for Adachi, she simply stood there, resting against me with her body stiff as a board and her eyes wide open. I pulled just a bit away from her and... Whoa. Not only were her ears bright red, that redness gradually rose up them, almost as if they were being corroded. Never before had I witnessed such a rapid transition. Meanwhile, her eyes continued jumping all over the place. 
Adachi ultimately pushed herself away from me and took a step backwards as if overcome with emotion. Immediately after that, a look of mental anguish appeared on her face as she realised what had just happened. She then proceeded to shake her head from side to side with intense speed. You could practically hear her screaming the word "no" over and over again. It was like she had suddenly turned into one of those spring-powered toys. 
It went without saying, but her behaviour was attracting a fair bit of attention. Furthermore, doing something like this in front of a store was sure to interfere with their business, which was why I decided that it would be for the best if we left. With my legs spread to the side like those of a crab, I quickly walked away. Naturally, I took the restless Adachi with me. As we made our way outside, I glanced at the Japanese-style restaurant opposite to the sweets store, and saw on its display that there was a tuna festival of some kind going on there. Illuminated by the light of the display, I thought to myself: I really do lack elegance. 
Anyway, Adachi seemed to have calmed down a little, possibly as a result of us getting away from the Valentine's poster. 
Though it had been her goal for the day to discreetly introduce the topic of Valentine's, what had ended up happening was quite the opposite; it was difficult for me to imagine a more artificial way it could've been brought up. I stared at her in silence, prompting Adachi to slowly open her mouth. 
"Shimamura, do you... do you have anything you're... planning on doing on the 14th?" 
"No, not really." 
As it turned out, I'd been right; that "someone" was me. Although, I suppose it wasn't really that surprising, considering that this was the exact same course of events that had taken place on Christmas. 
It seemed that Adachi's behaviour growing visibly strange acted as an advance notice signalling that something like this was about to occur. 
Today, I learned something about her. 
"If you don't, then could we... go somewhere on the 14th? I was just... randomly..." 
She didn't even bother to finish her sentence. Even she probably realised that it was completely futile trying to pretend like it was just a coincidence that the 14th also happened to be Valentine's Day. 
As Adachi's mouth moved around in a desperate attempt to mumble out the right words, her eyes alone turned towards me, trembling in a way that made it seem like she was begging for my help. 
It wasn't just the tip of her nose that was bright red. No, every part of her body was, including the backs of her hands. Even the redness of the tuna that was displayed on the screen paled in comparison. 
Honestly, "Adachi tuna" kinda sounded like it could be a real species of tuna. You know, like "bigeye tuna" and "bluefin tuna". Wait, no... This wasn't the time for those sorts of stupid thoughts. I needed to say something, or else we'd be stuck here forever. 
"Umm... Do you want to be the one receiving chocolate, or the one giving it?" 
While I did wonder if that really was the most important question here, it was all I could come up with on the spot. 
Adachi's eyes opened wide, after which she spun her index fingers around each other in the air. 
"I'd like to gi—No, wait. Why don't we... exchange them?" 
She wanted to pick both of the options? How surprisingly greedy of her. Regardless, I now had a pretty good idea of what it was that she wanted to do. 
"Hmm..." 
Friends getting each other chocolate on Valentine's Day, huh? I did have a history of buying chocolate for my sister, although I suppose that was a bit different. 
If it was someone like Hino and Nagafuji, then I could easily imagine them doing it, but Adachi and I? I tried to picture us in their situation, replacing Hino with myself and Nagafuji with Adachi. ...No, it didn't work; unlike those two, I simply couldn't see us doing it without it seeming weird. The difference in the length of time that we'd known each other for was just too great. 
Our relationship first needed to grow into one that was a bit more long-term. Then again, how many more years was I going to be with Adachi? Until we graduated from high school? It was also possible that we got placed in different classes for our second year, in which case our friendship might just end there. That was something that had happened to me plenty in life so far. 
In elementary school, I'd felt a massive reluctance towards going into the other classrooms, as if there'd been a massive wall that I first needed to climb over. That had probably been because there was always a teacher present in each room, huh? Regardless, it just hadn't felt like I belonged there. I had lost a lot of friends that way, friends whose names I couldn't remember anymore. 
And that had been in elementary school. Being a high schooler with all the annoyances that came with it made it all the more impossible for me to imagine myself climbing over that wall. Actually, wait... Even if I wasn't up for the task, for some reason, I got the feeling that being in different classrooms wouldn't be nearly enough to demotivate Adachi, and that she'd fully shoulder all of the responsibility to keep our relationship going. In that case, maybe nothing would change after all? Imagining that—things not changing—somehow made me feel relaxed. 
All in all, I was going to be spending a long time with her. A picture formed in my mind: Adachi, as the ****. But really, it was quite like her to want to exchange chocolates with a friend on Valentine's Day. 
The way she always attempted to hold my hand when given the chance made it clear just how desperately Adachi wanted that—to be connected to someone. She wasn't used to sharing things with other people, and it was likely for that specific reason that she longed for it. I didn't get the feeling that it was fair to put the blame entirely on her home environment, but at the same time, seeing how cold her relationship with her mother was, it couldn't be denied that it was one of the causes. 
Not that I was particularly interested in taking up the role of Adachi's mother or anything. 
"Still, don't you think it kinda lessens the impact of these sorts of things and makes them less fun when you know about them beforehand?" 
It was kinda like if on Christmas you received a notice when Santa was about to arrive, and was even told what your present was. If I was given the choice, I definitely felt that being surprised was more exciting. 
I wonder, was that because I'd never had all that many things that I wanted, even as a child? 
"I prefer knowing about it beforehand. When I know that the hope is real, it lets me believe in it." 
"...Is that so?" 
Yep, Adachi nodded, twice. That appeared to be the case. 
It seemed like it was the kind of feeling that I wasn't too familiar with. 
"Plus, there are still heaps of problems left..." she muttered. Her head was turned slightly to the side as she spoke, making it pretty difficult for me to pick out the words. 
Problems, huh? She always had her hands full of problems, so much so that I too felt enticed to grow suspicious. 
And yet... 
Adachi was attempting to step out from the flow that was her daily life. 
And for some reason, I got the feeling that the direction she was stepping in wasn't necessarily away from me. 
At times, I couldn't help but admire her resolution, her determination. 
It was for that reason that I responded to her wishes the following way: 
"Sure. Let's celebrate Valentine's Day this year." 

For me, each day was the same as the last one, an endless stream of grey. 
However, today, the 4th of February, was an exception. 
Why? Simple: the next ten grey days following this one would be ever so slightly coloured.