Adachi to Shimamura - Volume 3 - Chapter 3.1

Today's Adachi 

Without any advance warning, Shimamura told me that she wanted to compare the sizes of our feet. 
Not really sure what was going on, I took off one of my shoes and pressed my sole against hers. Mine turned out to be smaller. 
Having confirmed this, Shimamura mumbled something to herself and left. 
...Huh? What? What just happened? 

Chapter 3 Thorns That Weave the Past: Old Rose

5th of February (Wednesday) 

Each time I glanced at the blackboard to copy something down, the back of Adachi's head came into my view. It waggled from left to right, like a milk tooth right on the verge of falling out, showing just how little she was actually concentrating on the lesson. The fact that she just kept doing it was, in a way, a sign of stability, wasn't it? 
Personally, I found staring at it a bit less tiring than I did staring at the blackboard. 
Later that day, once school was over, Adachi asked me what sort of chocolate I liked. It was a pretty abrupt question, forcing me to take a second to think about it. For a moment, I did consider telling her as a joke that I only ate Godiva chocolate, but since knowing Adachi, I had a feeling that she might actually go and buy it, I figured that I'd be better off not doing that. Instead, I decided to go with the safe choice and said that I liked milk chocolate. 
It seemed likely that she'd asked me that to help her buy chocolate that better fit my tastes. In that case, perhaps I should ask her as well? Sadly, by the time I realised that, we'd already gone our separate ways. I'll just ask her tomorrow if I remember, I thought to myself as I decided not to turn around in a futile attempt to chase after her. Still, Adachi sure was hasty, wasn't she? There were still plenty of days left till Valentine's. 
From my perspective, ten days was an extremely long period of time. Everything that far away was part of the distant future. 
I found myself getting just a bit jealous of Adachi over the way time appeared to flow for her. 

It was while studying that time moved especially slowly. It often happened that I checked the clock after what felt like hours of work, only to find that less than thirty minutes had actually passed. My ability to concentrate would then completely vanish, and I'd be forced to take a break. 
The reason why a small TV had been added to my studying room on the second floor might have been connected to this—the flow of time and its slowness. How? Well, without something to break the monotony of studying, there was a chance that I'd get too bored and fall asleep. In fact, it was something that had been happening to me quite frequently. 
Of course, it wasn't like staying up late was going to make me any smarter, but regardless. 
Collapsed on top of the desk and feeling cold around my hips, I glanced at the TV, only to find the screen filled with hair. Long hair, whirling everywhere. 
"Oh, it's the shaman." 
The flashy person dancing on screen was someone who I was already familiar with. Based on what I'd seen of her watching other TV shows, her style of acting consisted mostly of spouting out complete nonsense and then running off-camera. She was treated as a local performer, or at least, someone who often appeared on shows from Nagoya, which led me to assume that this was likely a Nagoya-based program as well. As an aside, the other day, I'd seen her go absolutely crazy about how she'd seen someone with blue hair, and how they were no doubt an alien. Blue hair? An alien? Hahaha. How did having blue hair make you an alien? I really didn't see the connection there. Hahaha... Hm? 
The shaman kept dancing until she ran out of energy, and as she stood there panting heavily, another performer got up on the stage next to her to keep the show moving. It took me a moment, but watching that person talk, I was able to identify that this was a fortune telling program. Though I was hardly interested in such things, I decided to keep watching until they got to my birth month just for fun. That led me into a bit of a predicament, however: The fortunes presented were based on the zodiac, but I didn't know which sign was mine. 
My guess was either Aries or Taurus, but again, I couldn't say for sure. The horoscopes for the two signs were "Be cautious of memories you've forgotten. Your lucky colour is blue." and "You'll witness something that you shouldn't. Shocking!" respectively. Which one of those would I prefer? 
The show kept going while I thought about that, and once they stopped talking about secret letters or something, I turned the TV off. 
The shaman's dance had been quite interesting, sure, but as the same could not be said for the fortunes, I likely wouldn't be watching this show in the future. 
Probably. 

6th of February (Thursday) 

Adachi was staring at me. Well, although that in itself probably wasn't all that rare, what was happening today was that I could (sort of) feel her eyes on me in the middle of class even without turning around to look. She sure was incredible, that Adachi. 
I did wonder if she maybe had something she wanted to tell me, but then again, she wasn't really doing anything remarkable, not as far as I could tell at least. She'd spent the entire day simply sitting there in her seat. No, wait, actually... Right. Now that I thought about it, she had walked up to my seat before class begun and silently stared at me for a moment, hadn't she? Judging by that, maybe there actually was something that she wanted to tell me? Of course, I had not the faintest clue what that something might be. 
Adachi once again approached me as lunch break came around, and we ended up eating together. She was munching on a ready-made dressed sandwich, and likewise, so was I. Though for me it was common to bring along a lunch box my mom had randomly thrown together, for Adachi, that wasn't something that she'd ever done, not even once. Somewhat related, looking at the way she ate gave me the impression that she held no interest towards food, as if the simple task of moving her mouth was tedious to her. I see, I thought to myself as I recalled the face of Adachi's mother and her valuation of her daughter. It felt to me that if you went out of your way to make someone food only for this to be the attitude they digested it with, anyone would find themselves disliking that person, regardless of whether they were your child or not. Then again, though Adachi had been acting mighty suspicious lately, she was by no means expressionless, and as such, it seemed to me that that a different sort of a relationship might emerge if she were to display that side of herself more. Not that I had any real interest towards meddling with Adachi's family situation. 
What bothered me more was the current Adachi. It made me feel a bit awkward, the way she stared at me without saying a word. I went ahead and asked if she wanted to have a bite of my sandwich or a sip of my drink, only for her to say no. Not that I'd seriously expected that to be the case in the first place. Soon later, Adachi asked me a question of her own, one that I wasn't sure was related to anything that had come before. 
"Shimamura, what's your zodiac sign?" 
What a bizarre thing to ask someone. Knowing little about those sorts of things, I gave her my birth-month, which, based on Adachi's reaction, seemed to be enough. When I tried asking her what sign it placed me under, however, she wouldn't say anything. It appeared that she was busy thinking about something else entirely. Meanwhile, Hino and Nagafuji walked over to us and joined the conversation. 
Adachi's expression immediately grew stiff in response to their arrival, although as I'd only glanced at her, I wasn't able to say for sure what emotion her face was meant to convey. Regardless, it gave off a sense of dryness, much like the sandwich I was currently munching. 
Adachi always acted very relaxed when it was just the two of us. She would interact with me, offer the aura and atmosphere she emitted for us to share. Yet, whenever someone else joined us, it was almost like she pulled an invisible sheet over her body, shutting away both herself and her presence. She had no intention of sharing anything with Hino and Nagafuji, and in fact, she hated the way they'd stepped in. 
She truly was a mental shut-in. 
I wonder, was it only when she was with me that her expression grew soft? 
If so, then why was she so willing to do that, to relax her guard in my presence? I simply didn't know the answer. 
It was things like those that truly made her feel like a little sister to me. My real sister also had times when she wouldn't open herself to anyone outside of our family, from which my preconceived notion that was what little sisters were like seemed to arise. 
Leaving that aside, the matter from earlier still remained unresolved. I went ahead and asked Adachi: 
"So, why did you want to know my zodiac sign? Is this like, some horoscope thing?" 
"Um... Well..." 
Unable to find the words, Adachi turned her eyes away. 
Wanting to know my birthday would have been one thing, but as she'd specifically asked for my zodiac sign, I couldn't help but wonder, what was it that she needed it for? 
Has she gotten into horoscopes or something? I thought to myself before suddenly recalling the program from yesterday. Could it be that Adachi had seen it too? Then again, it felt to me that people generally only cared about their own fortunes, not so much those of others. 
Nagafuji then blurted out something that I couldn't understand, and as I turned back around, Adachi had already returned to her seat, marking the end of our conversation. All that remained was the sense of her staring at me. 
"Hmm..." 
In the end, I'd been left to wonder: What was my zodiac sign? 

School was over, and I was now back home. I'd just changed my clothes and decided what I'd do for the rest of the day when... 
"Go to the meat store and buy some food. You're friends with their daughter, right?" 
"And how is that relevant to anything?" 
"Who knows, maybe they'll give you a freebie", Mom said while shoving me with her shoulder. I'll tell you, you were hopelessly wrong if you were expecting something like that from Nagafuji. 
And so it all began, with me reluctantly leaving the house. I didn't really have a choice in the matter, as refusing would make the dining table a very lonely place, as far as the variety of food was concerned. Anyway, I grabbed the bike keys and made my way outside, which just so happened to allow me to catch my little sister coming home from school. I waved at her in the distance, and with her stubby feet, she began running towards me. 
I'd just managed to take out our family bicycle when she reached me. 
"I'm back." 
"Welcome." 
I could hear her sniffing loudly. The winter wind had turned her nose and cheeks bright red, and the colour scheme of her face now resembled that of Anpanman. 
"Are you going somewhere, Sis? Where?" she asked, spreading her arms wide and blocking my path. 
"To buy something for dinner. Wanna go instead?" 
"Come back soon!" 
In mere seconds, she had slipped past me and entered the house. I really wish that she wouldn't imitate the part of me where I found having to do anything tedious. Of course, it wasn't like I was seriously considering sending her all by herself, not when it was this close to night-time. 
For a moment, I wondered if I should maybe have put on an additional layer of clothing after all, but as I ended up making my way to the bike without reaching a conclusion, I ultimately decided that what I was wearing was good enough. Passing various grade schoolers returning from school, I headed towards Nagafuji Meat. 
It really wasn't that long of a distance when biking, and soon enough, I was there. Once inside, I saw that behind the counter stood a man who I recognized to be Nagafuji's dad. Being a friend of his daughter, he likewise recognized me and gave me a short greeting as he saw my face. I greeted him back, which prompted the customer who had come in earlier to turn to look at me. Her ash-coloured hair fluttered lightly. 
She was a girl around half a head taller than me. Her fluffy hair was lightly curled, and behind it, I could see a pair of glittering earrings. As for her clothes, she was wearing a school uniform—belonging to a different high school than mine—in a very casual manner. 
A few moments later, the girl had already turned back around. I placed myself behind her in line, making sure that there was just a bit of distance between us. 
I wonder, was she too running an errand? I couldn't think of any other reason for a high school girl like her to come here. 
I began pointing at things within the display case by the counter that I was planning to order, but before I could finish, the girl from earlier suddenly turned my way. Matching the rapid movement of her neck, her eyes also shot wide open. I couldn't help but jolt a little myself. After a few moments of staring at her questioningly, the girl opened her mouth and... 
"Shima?" 
...with an unsure look on her face, spoke my name. 
Or rather, my nickname. One that expressed quite a bit of familiarity. 
My brain felt numb. My eyes weren't focusing either. Regardless, I did my best to try grasp the situation. 
The only people who had ever called me that were my friends from elementary school. In that case... 
Going down the list, I compared the person standing in front of me to the people from my past, until finally... 
"Tarumi?" 
"Yeah, that's me." 
That was the name of a friend who I'd once had. The girl seemed delighted hearing it. Yes, there was no mistaking it. 
This was Tarumi, my best friend from elementary school. 
If you would've asked me to come up with a place for the reunion of two high school girls, a meat store certainly wouldn't be the answer I would have given. 
I quickly finished up my order before turning back towards Tarumi. I genuinely hadn't recognized her at all before she'd begun talking to me. 
I'd heard that she was quite the delinquent these days, but at the same time, I had to wonder: Was that truly the case? 
"Shima—No, wait. Are we too old for that nickname? Hmm... Well, whatever. Shima." 
Huh? She was going to keep using it? It almost seemed that Tarumi could sense my reaction, as moments later, she was already back to doubting herself: "Or not?" 
Whatever the case, I didn't get the sense that she was anything of a delinquent, at least not to the extent that I'd heard. I sighed in relief as I felt a part of my initial worries fading away. 
It didn't seem that she was going to use us knowing one another as a pretence to grab me by the collar and demand my wallet. 
"Well, Shima's fine, I think." 
"Sure, okay." 
Though I knew that the person in front of me was Tarumi, for some reason, she still didn't quite match the Tarumi that I'd once known. 
Had she really changed this much in mere three years of middle school? Was there really no trace of her old self left? 
Tarumi took a step closer and stared at me deeply. 
"It kinda feels like you've grown into quite the beauty, Shima." 
"Umm... Thanks, I guess." 
I wasn't a big enough narcissist to say something to the effect of "yes, I have". 
"Sorry to keep you waiting", Nagafuji's dad said as he handed Tarumi her order. She took the bag and nodded slightly before giving me a quick glance. The difference in our height lent her gaze just a slight sense of intimidation. 
"See you later", she said, waving her hand loosely. 
"Yep. Later", I replied after a few seconds. My barely raised hand shook slightly from side to side, like the leaves of a tree. "Later, huh?" 
Curling up my fingertips, I repeated that word to myself. There was something about it that didn't feel quite right. 
Would that really happen? Were we really going to meet again? 
Just as that thought crossed my mind, Tarumi turned around. Had she forgotten something, or was she perhaps going to order something extra? 
She approached me, and soon enough, I found myself once again standing face to face with her. Oh, she wanted something from me? 
"Could I ask your phone number?" she said, all the while fiddling with her hair using her finger. It wasn't something that I'd been expecting to hear from her. 
"Sure, okay. Oh, but I don't have my phone with me right now." 
"Well, in that case..." 
Tarumi opened her bag and pulled out a pen, as well as a brand-new-looking notebook from which she tore off a single page. Then, using the side of the bag as a desk of sorts, she wrote something on the paper before handing it over to me. 
"Here's my number." 
"Got it." 
It definitely seemed a little strange to me that she remembered her phone number off the top of her head, but at the same time, I couldn't help but feel slightly impressed. 
"Call me once you get home, okay?" 
"Sure", I nodded after grabbing the note. Tarumi then shoved the pen and paper back into her bag before once again stating: 
"Well then, see you later." 
Though it felt a bit awkward doing so, I also repeated my line from earlier. 
There it was again. That word, "later". 
"Hmm..." 
I was brought back to reality by Nagafuji's dad handing me a bundle containing the food I'd ordered. I took it, and incidentally, noticed the person standing behind him. 
"I wish you would've noticed me sooner. It's really cold." 
Looking at her closely, I could tell that the person half-poking out from the door that led to their living room was none other than Nagafuji herself. She quickly left her hiding spot and crab-walked over to me. I gave her father—standing behind the counter—a quick glance, and let's just say, the way he stared at his daughter certainly left an impression. 
"Nagafuji witnessed it. She witnessed it all more silently than a maid." 
Really? I would have assumed the opposite, considering that she wasn't wearing her glasses. 
"Was it fun watching us?" 
"Hardly." 
I suppose that made sense. It wasn't anything special, really. Just me running across a friend from my past. 
"Tarumi—I mean, the girl from earlier, does she come here often?" 
"Dunno. I don't take care of the store all that often." 
"Only because you aren't of any use. And, you interfere with business", her father commented. She glanced at him, before quickly turning back towards me as if nothing at all had happened. 
I wonder, did she ever have moments when she acted agitated, or perhaps flustered? 
"Is Hino back there too?" 
"Under the kotatsu, yep." 
"Wow. I'm kinda jealous." 
"Wanna join us, Shimamura?" 
"Sorry, but I was told to come back home quickly." 
The cold weather outside meant that there was only so much time I could waste before the food got cold. 
"Thank you for coming. See you again tomorrow", Nagafuji said as I walked through the door, possibly in an attempt to prove her father's earlier words wrong. Now outside, I glanced in the direction Tarumi had walked into, put the note with her number into my pocket, and set my bike into motion by kicking some speed off the ground. 
Once I was past the initial hurdle and the pedals had started turning smoothly, I breathed out a stream of white vapour and mumbled the following to myself: 
"That sure was a shock." 
However, it only took till those words had left my mouth that I began to wonder, was that really the case? Was I truly surprised? 
"Hmm, maybe not." 
It kinda felt that whenever I questioned myself in this way, a bit of the coldness surrounding me found its way into my heart, chilling me to the core. 
I closed my mouth, as if chewing my breath, leaving only the sound of the bike's tires to run through the night. 
It being winter also meant a lack of bugs, and all in all, there was nothing to disturb the atmosphere. Just silence. 
Picking up some more speed, I thought back to the words I'd exchanged with Tarumi as we'd gone our separate ways. 
"Later". Would there really be a "later"? Was that what Tarumi truly wanted, what I wanted? 
We'd been friends in the past, sure, but what about now? 
I wasn't sure if the modifier "in the past" was something that I could ever be truly able to get rid of. 
Yet, there was also a part of me that felt the following way: 
It was far better to say "see you later" than it was "goodbye". 

I was just about to call Tarumi having now returned home, but before I could, I noticed that I had a new message. It was from Adachi. 
"Do you like white chocolate?" 
"Hmm... 'It tastes good'. And send." 
Imagining the taste of chocolate on top of my tongue, I replied to the text before typing in Tarumi's number and calling her like I'd promised to do. She picked up instantly. 
"Hello. Shima?" 
"Yep, it's me, Shima." 
Though still a bit embarrassing, the nickname was far more palatable now that we were talking on the phone. 
I could hear the voices of other people in the background, mixing in with that of Tarumi. 
"Sure sounds lively on your end." 
"Oh, that's probably because I'm in a supermarket right now." 
"Supermarket?" 
As far as the destinations of a delinquent went, that fell safely on the more wholesome side. 
"Well, anyway. Right. Next time, wanna go out somewhere?" 
With basically no warning whatsoever, Tarumi invited me to hang out with her. I did ponder for a moment how I should reply, but ultimately, when you added in the complexities that came with us having been friends in the past, there wasn't really much choice for me. 
"Sure. One of these days." 
"Okay. One of these days. That's good." 
It kinda bothered me the way she talked, as if she had already decided everything by herself and was merely letting me know of her plans. I stayed silent for a moment, trying to come up with what to say next, when... 
"Oh, by the way, there's something that I forgot to tell you earlier." 
"Huh? What?" 
I could hear the sound of Tarumi inhaling on the other end of the call. 
"I was really happy to see you again after so much time." 
All of a sudden, the world before me grew blurry. My eyes wouldn't focus on anything, and my thoughts fell apart. 
"...That's all." 
Having added that, she ended the call. 
"That's all, huh?" I said, repeating her words to the phone. Needless to say, there was no reply. There'd been no such thing from me, either. 
I placed the phone on my desk and folded my arms. I could feel my cheeks growing ever so slightly warm. 
Tarumi had spoken in such an upfront way, and being an adolescent high schooler, there was no way for me not to feel a little embarrassed. It was almost as if there was some part of me that wanted to tell her to stay away from my affairs. 
"She really was happy to see me, wasn't she?" 
Though for me, we were still merely two people who'd once been friends, it seemed that Tarumi saw things slightly differently. 
I found myself in a conflict: Wasn't it too fast? Wasn't it... too easy? 
Was this what it meant to be friends with someone? Was the bond we'd established really that strong? 
Viewing it from the perspective of one of the people involved, I honestly didn't feel that was the case. And yet.. 
"Hmm..." 
It wasn't a bad thing, being told by someone that they enjoyed meeting you. 
Not bad at all. 

7th of February (Friday) 

Lunch break had come about, and in quite the rare fashion, I saw Adachi spreading out something before her. Had she perhaps brought lunch from home? That was my first guess. Thinking that it wouldn't be bad at all to eat together if that was the case, I grabbed my sandwich and sat in front of her. Adachi didn't react. Apparently, she was too focused on the thing she was munching to notice me. Once I'd sat down, I took a look at what lay on the table between us. 
"Whoa!" 
A short yelp left my mouth, prompting Adachi to lift her head. 
What she'd spread on the table was store-bought chocolate. There were chocolates of various brands, all of which she had pulled out from a supermarket bag. Likewise, the thing she was munching on completely nonchalantly was a chocolate bar. 
"Himamura", Adachi mumbled, her mouth full of sweets, before quickly realising that I could see the bag and hiding it. It was a surprising choice of food for sure, but still, I didn't think that hiding it was really necessary. 
Then again, I suppose that I'd never known that Adachi was this into chocolate. 
There was also another thing that was strange about her: Her hair. She was keeping a pony up there today. 
"Oh? Is it like, you've been studying so hard that you needed extra sugar?" 
"Yes, exactly." 
Adachi's answer came out so fast that I had a hard time believing she had actually listened to what I'd said. Following this exchange, I placed my elbows on the desk and leaned forward, which was when I noticed the plastic mineral water bottle sitting on top of it. There was something about it that made me feel slightly relieved. 
That right there was the Adachi I knew. 
As for the Adachi I didn't know... I suppose that would be the thing swinging behind her head. 
Her head swayed from side to side, and in the same rhythm, the ponytail swung too, making its presence very much felt. It might as well have been shouting "notice me". Naturally, I had. And I wasn't the only one. 
It was a big enough change to even earn a few looks from our classmates. 
I wonder, was the change purely visual, or also in her mental state? Her new hairstyle exposed her ears, and I could see them twitching. 
"I've heard that if you eat too much chocolate, your nose starts bleeding. Dunno if it's true, though", I said randomly, prompting Adachi to touch her nose. She wiped it with her sleeve, and after confirming that there was no blood stuck on it, her eyes turned towards me. It felt a bit awkward, the way she stared at me without saying anything. Thankfully, I didn't need to worry about that for too long as soon enough, she averted her gaze in favour of unwrapping the next chocolate bar. 
Seeing her break off a piece and bring it to her mouth made me want to have some too. 
"A square, please", I asked, only for her to hand over the entire bar. I took it, flipped it over, and checked how the calories compared to the sandwich I was eating. It turned out that getting carried away and buying a croquette sandwich had been a mistake; my hands began sweating as soon as I added the three-digit numbers together. 
On the other side of the conflict, Adachi continued silently munching the chocolate as if calories weren't something that mattered to her in the slightest. I glanced at the wrapping paper of the bar she was currently going through, and based on the text on it, I could tell that it was milk chocolate. In fact, all of them were. 
Milk chocolate, huh? I felt like we'd talked about that just a few days ago. 
Hmm... Could it be, the reason behind Adachi's diet suddenly growing so unbalanced lay with me? 
On that note, was her new hairstyle meant as a display of her devotion towards devouring chocolate? 
If so, then I wasn't really sure how to comment on it. She was a bit too fired up, wasn't she, that Adachi? 
It kinda made her feel like some girl from a romance manga, the way she was giving Valentine's Day her absolute all. 
Adachi continued eating the chocolate, all the while randomly shaking her head and adjusting the ponytail with her hand. All in all, she was quite active from neck up. Wait... Was she waiting for a comment from me? 
I'd felt that if all I could say was the obvious, then I might as well say nothing at all. 
Don't blame me if this sounds generic, I thought to myself before extending my hand. 
"It looks kinda cute", I stated, having finished eating the chocolate and gotten up, with the tip of Adachi's ponytail now lightly in my grip. 
A short yelp left her mouth as she turned around, after which she grew stiff. Comparing her to how she was usually, I added: 
"Not that I don't like your regular hairstyle too." 
It was what I was used to, and in a way, felt safer. Speaking of which, what was I going to do with my own hair? 
While I was busy thinking about that, Adachi attempted to say something. No words came out, however, and she was left simply opening and closing her mouth. Her ears and forehead were also bright red, as if she'd drunk alcohol. "What's wrong?" I asked her, only for Adachi to dash out of the classroom without answering. 
"Hey, class is about—" 
...to start soon. She'd also left the remaining chocolate scattered all over her desk, and I would have preferred if she'd at least cleaned those up first. 
Class soon began, and as I stared at Adachi—looking like it'd been a miracle that she had made it back—I got the impression that her mind was completely wrecked. Thankfully, her nose didn't appear to be bleeding. 
I wonder, had that anecdote been false, or had she perhaps not eaten enough? 

8th of February (Saturday) 

Hearing some sort of noise from downstairs, I went to check out what the ruckus was about, and wouldn't you know it, Yashiro had come by. She and my little sister were busy spinning, rolling, and generally frolicking around like small animals. Instead of dust, the air in the living room was filled with those blue particles that often surrounded her, scattered about by each and every one of her movements. 
"Wow, that hair", Mom commented from the hallway before disappearing into the kitchen. An appropriate reaction, sure, but at the same time, I couldn't help but wonder if it really was okay to leave it at that. 
"I am bored", Yashiro complained, followed by a nod from my sister. It seemed to me like they were having quite a bit of fun lying there on the floor on top of each other in the shape of the letter "X", although I suppose that it wasn't my opinion that mattered here. Not wanting to interrupt the two tiny creatures, I turned around and started walking back to my room, but before I could get far, Yashiro noticed me. 
"She. She. Shimamura. She will do, won't she?" 
That was a lot of "she"s. Yashiro pulled herself out from underneath my sister and—still lying flat on the floor—made her way to me. There was something quite ominous about the way she crawled forward. She wasn't wearing a space suit today, but instead, a green sweater coupled with jeans. It was a very boyish set of clothes, one that didn't look particularly great on her. I got the impression that she'd simply copied what someone else had been wearing. Honestly, considering the colour of her hair, the space suit had felt less out of place. 
"What do you say we go see a movie?" 
"Huh?" 
"What?" 
My sister shared my confusion. Following Yashiro, she too had crawled to my feet. 
"I have heard about these things called 'movies', and I want to see one." 
"Oh, I'll go too!" my sister shouted cheerfully as she raised her hand. The two seemed quite excited, but there was one important thing to note: I hadn't said that I was going. 
Thinking about how to answer, I glanced out through the window, and as I did, I found myself snivelling instinctively; how was it possible to be so cold outside despite the sun shining? 
"Can you two go by yourselves? I have studying to do." 
"No, you're going with them", Mom ordered me from the hallway, having randomly been passing by the room. What was she, some TV extra? "And while you're at it, make sure that they eat lunch." 
"...You want me to take these two off your hands so that you can just stay here and relax, don't you?" 
"And? What's wrong with that?" 
As unabashed as ever, Mom once again left. She'd been carrying a bag of fried rice wafers with her, which indicated to me that she was likely planning on rolling into bed to watch some TV. That was all I wanted to do as well, to return to my warm room. 
"Now then, let's get going, Shimamura." 
Yashiro had gotten up from the floor and was now attempting to pull me along by yanking my arm. 
"I told you not to do that. You're gonna pull off my shirt at this rate, seriously." 
Placing my hand on her forehead, I pushed her back. My sister went without saying, but as far as this one was concerned, I didn't really see a reason why I should make sure that she got dinner. 
I heard that my sister was part of the group of students in her school who looked after the pets, but even so, I could have done without her taking in an animal this weird. 
"Sigh... Well, okay. Wait here while I go change my clothes." 
"Should I come assist you?" 
"No, I think I can handle it by myself." 
I tore her off me and returned to my room. I'd spent the entire morning lying in bed, meaning that I still had on the same clothes that I'd slept in. 
For me, that was how I usually spent the time during winter. 
A tiny bit of regret crossed my mind as I tidied up my bed: I really shouldn't have gone downstairs, huh? 
Having changed my clothes, I took the two to the nearby mall. It was the same one Adachi and I had gone to the other day. Here in the countryside, we didn't exactly have much room for choice. We could have gone all the way to the shopping district as there was also a movie theatre there, and though that would've been all fine and dandy, trying to find a place to eat afterwards would have proven to be a massive pain, with a large number of stores there having been shut down and what have you. 
Yashiro took my hand and grasped it tight. Her hand was tiny, and though it felt more like she was clenching my fingers rather than my palm, I decided to grasp hers back. With a look of satisfaction on her face, she proceeded to pull me along. 
"Hmm..." 
I wonder, why did everyone these days want to hold hands with me? Did it perhaps let them feel safe? Or perhaps I was so lacking in presence that you needed to hold my hand to make sure that I still was there, because otherwise, you would have no idea? 
As I walked forward being dragged along by Yashiro, I could sense my little sister eyeing my remaining hand. 
"You want to hold hands too?" I said, offering my hand to her, only for her to refuse my gesture with an "I'm not some little kid", and turning away. Well, alright then, I thought to myself as I retracted it. We'd definitely done it before, walk hand-in-hand to avoid her getting lost, but then again, I suppose that those days were in the past. For a while, we continued walking like that, until eventually... 
"Stick it out one more time", my sister demanded. I gave her cheeks a quick pinch before doing as she'd said, and this time, she grabbed it. After a few moments had passed, I went ahead and bent my index finger, tapping the back of her hand with it. This caused her to lash out: 
"What!?" 
"Nothing", I said, smiling at her bright-red face. 
Both of my hands were now in use. If Adachi were to show up from somewhere, I'd have no choice but to grow a third arm. 
Then again, realistically, I'd imagine that Adachi's reaction to this scene would be something... a bit different. 
"Now, Shou, grab my hand and—" 
"What? If we do that, how are we going to walk forward? Absolutely not!" 
Shooting down Yashiro's plans to form a ring, I turned her so that she was once again facing the right direction. She sure had become good friends with my sister at some point, hadn't she? 
The movie theatre was on the second floor of the mall. A sweet scent drifted to my nose from somewhere, and as we moved towards the escalator, I could see Yashiro smiling. There was something about it that made it seem like there were no actual thoughts going on in her head, which prompted me to ask the following: 
"Is there a movie you want to see?" 
"...?" 
Her eyes round, Yashiro stared at me. I stared at her back, as if asking if she couldn't understand what I was saying. 
"Are we not going to see a movie?" 
"Yes, we are. That's why I'm asking you, which one do you... want to... see..." 
My voice trailed off as I quickly realised that my words weren't reaching her. 
Yashiro's eyes spun around for a moment, until at last, she replied, sounding extremely proud of herself. 
"It seems that there are different types of movies. Yes, I figured it out, all by myself. I truly am a genius, aren't I? Ehehe." 
"Yeah, I... guess so." 
How was it even possible to be this lacking in common sense? It also seemed that she wasn't merely acting, so maybe... No, nothing. Just forget it. 
There were a great number of things out there that went beyond my understanding, and Yashiro was likely one of them. 
"How's the field trip going?" I heard someone comment. Fitting, I thought to myself as I turned towards the direction the voice had come from. 
It was Hino. I'd been left wondering who it had been at first, and if not for her tan, I likely wouldn't have been able to pick her out. 
Hino stared down at us from the escalator. Something about her immediately caught my eye; it wasn't her hairstyle as that was the same as ever, but instead, her outfit. She was wearing Japanese-style clothes today. And not a yukata or anything, but a proper, red kimono. After a bit of time spent staring at her confused, it dawned on me: This was likely what she wore at home. Right. I wasn't privy to any of the details, but apparently, her household was the kind where the children would dress in these sorts of clothes. 
I'd also heard that her snacks consisted of kombu and chickpeas, but that was a whole other story. 
"If it's not Hino." 
"Is she a friend of yours, Sis?" 
Yashiro and my sister took turns reacting, and to each of them, Hino raised a thumb. Staring at her tiny body and the way the extravagant kimono wrapped around it, I couldn't help but be reminded of one of those traditional children's festivals. When you combined that with her tanned skin, it really made her stand out from her surroundings. It was almost like she'd slipped out from some event venue. 
She often talked about running into weirdos, but right now, she herself was the weirdo. 
"Just a sec", Hino said before turning around and starting to run down the up-going escalator. It seemed to me like something that was too childish for even actual children to do, but nevertheless, Hino did it, and soon enough, she was standing back on the first floor in front of us. 
She sure had guts, that girl. Had it been me, I couldn't see myself having been able to do it. 
"Come to think of it, have we met before?" Hino asked my little sister after getting her clothes in order. Had they? 
"No, I don't think so", she answered while simultaneously slipping behind my back to hide. Always so shy of new people. 
"I can't really remember either. Well, whatever. Now, the alien. You don't have the whole space-thing going on right now, huh?" 
Hino's comment was in reference to Yashiro's western-style clothes. Would an alien even wear a space suit in the first place? I couldn't imagine that being the case. 
"This outfit lets me conceal myself better", she replied, once again sounding proud of herself. I wasn't sure if that pride was deserved, though; her hair alone made her stick out like a sore thumb. Grouped with her and Hino, us two bland sisters felt kinda out of place. 
"So, you brought these two shorties with you to spend some time with the family?" 
"Pretty much. Although, this one's not part of my family", I said while giving Yashiro's head a quick pat. Light shot out as she escaped from under my hand. "And you?" 
Hino could probably tell from my gaze what I was alluding to, and lifting up the ends of her kimono, she began explaining. 
"I needed to come get something from here, and since changing clothes is such a hassle, I decided it'd be easier to just go out like this." 
Personally, between having to avoid stepping on it and getting the sleeves dirty, I would've thought that walking around in a kimono was an even bigger hassle. She did appear to be holding up the sleeves, but still, for casual clothes, wearing it sure seemed to take a lot of effort. Not only that, was she even able to ride a bike? It wasn't hard to imagine the fabric getting caught in the tires. 
"Are you running a family errand?" 
"No, just buying manga." 
In that case, she'd likely been heading towards the bookstore on the second floor. 
"Is Nagafuji with you?" 
"Don't see her much during the weekend", Hino replied, waving her hand from side to side. "Apparently, she needs to attend her club, or something." 
"Club, huh?" 
I'd thought about going with the safe option of commenting something like "she sure is working hard", but decided to swallow my words and instead asked Hino the following: 
"What club is she part of?" 
"Dunno", she replied promptly. I found it a bit surprising that there was something about Nagafuji that Hino didn't know. 
I went ahead and imagined Nagafuji performing club activities. 
Considering her attachment to it, it wouldn't have been all that strange to find out that she'd founded an association for boomerang enthusiasts or something. 
Then again, it also felt like she'd be its only member. 
"Still, Shimaa, why is it that whenever you see me, the first thing you always ask is 'where's Nagafuji'?" 
"Is 'Shimaa' supposed to be me?" 
"Yes, you." 
"I see." 
"Yep." 
What were we even talking about? It was as if neither one was using their head. 
"Anyway!" 
Likely having sensed that this conversation was quickly growing tedious, Hino put an end to it. 
Was that really okay? Sure, the aura of cheerfulness surrounding her did let me feel like a wet blanket hadn't just been thrown on me, but still, she was also pretty strange herself. 
I'd heard it said that everyone had their own unique value system, but if the differences between them were really this vast, then it felt to me like that there was no point in trying to act in a way that took into consideration the person you were dealing with. Whether you tried or not, you could always find a couple of things between you and them that just kinda happened to mesh well together. 
I suppose it could be said that these unexpected matches were the true charm of interacting with other people. 
"So, Shimamura, where are you guys going? To a stone sauna, perhaps?" Hino asked, all four of us now standing on board the up-going escalator. 
Apparently, we were now back to simply "Shimamura" instead of "Shimaa". 
"We are going to see a movie!" 
It was Yashiro who replied, assuming a bit of a pose afterwards. It wasn't really something to be that proud of. 
"Oh, a movie, huh? Those are pretty fun every now and then." 
Hino's stance changed considerably. She'd kinda just been standing around randomly, but now, it seemed that she was doing so with purpose. 
"Wanna come with us?" 
"Well, they are nice, those films." 
"What about the manga?" 
"I don't really read that sort of stuff. I'm more of a book girl", Hino boasted. Strange, considering that just the other day, she'd been going through a volume of some fishing manga. 
Then again, given her appearance, I could definitely buy her reading a lot of books. Specifically those written over a thousand years ago. 
By the time we reached the second floor, the itch I had felt on my skin caused by the rapid change in temperature was starting to calm down, although it came with the caveat of the hand my sister held now feeling a bit too warm. As for the one Yashiro held, that one maintained a fixed, cool temperature. 
It was as if I was touching the very essence of her aqua-coloured hair. 
"Damn, Shimamura. You need more hands. There's nothing for me to hold", Hino joked after we'd walked a bit further. It was easier said than done to grow an extra arm. 
"You want to hold hands too?" 
"No, not in the slightest." 
"Well, in that case, you can hold mine", Yashiro stated considerately (or rather, having completely ignored what she'd said) while presenting Hino with her free hand. 
"I feel touched by your kindness", Hino replied before taking the hand. After only three steps, however, she added: "No, I think I prefer walking at my own pace after all", and let go of it. A very Hino-like view of things. 
In the past, I could have imagined Adachi saying something similar, but not these days. I wonder, when had the switch been flipped? 
Now, let's talk about my sister real quick. Although still quivering behind me, Hino's unique outfit had caught her attention, and she couldn't help but take quick peeks at her every now and then. Hino soon noticed that she was being stared at, turned around, and leaned towards her. My sister tried to escape her glare, but with my hand tightly wrapped around hers, she had nowhere to go. Timidly, she looked up to Hino, and then asked: 
"Are you... a princess?" 
"Hehehe. Do I look like one? I guess I do", Hino stated proudly while raising the sleeves of her kimono above her head. 
"Clothes are just clothes", I replied, a bit astounded by her flashiness, which prompted Hino to shift her eyes from right to left. 
"Speaking of princesses, I had a dream like that." 
"A dream? What kind of a dream?" 
"Hmm, I can't really remember, but I think it ended up with there being a caterpillar fungus." 
The way she stared into the distance while reciting the events of her dream kinda made it seem like she was talking about something she'd actually witnessed. 
I couldn't even tell where the princess was supposed to come in. It just went to show how lacking her explanation had been. 
"Was that a good way for a dream to end?" 
"I didn't get stuck in there or anything and was able to return to reality, so yeah, I'd say so." 
That seemed like a pretty broad way to look at it. It was usually the contents of dreams that people valued, not some external factors. 
"By the way, Hino, why are you charred?" 
It was Yashiro who spoke, apparently curious of Hino's skin. 
Calling someone with a tan "charred" wasn't... technically wrong, I suppose, even if it was a bit off the mark. 
At the end of it, it all pointed towards the same thing: Her being well-cooked. 
"Oh, this? Well, you know. Atmospheric entry, friction, generates lots of heat. It just kinda happened", she answered with an obvious joke. Hey, come on, you need to pick your jokes based on who you're talking to. 
"Earthling technology hasn't gotten past that level yet? Ahaha", Yashiro laughed triumphally. See? She bought it. I knew she'd buy it. 
"Don't believe her, she's just joking around", I warned her. And by "her", I meant my little sister. She pouted before angrily stating: "Yeah, I know." 
Seeing how she still believed in Santa, I felt like it had been necessary to say, just in case. 
"Oh, really? Well, in that case, I guess I should show you what human technology is truly capable of. Try not to be startled too badly once you witness the movie, spaceling!" Hino boasted to Yashiro, which was a little strange considering that she obviously had played no part in creating said movie. 
It was like how the saying went, borrowed authority and so forth. 
Passing by a 300-yen store and a place that sold shoes, we eventually reached a location labelled as "Something Cinema" in bold, English letters. The sign was red and the reception desk blue, both of which combined to create a pretty dim atmosphere. Although I'd passed by here on a couple of occasions before, as for actually coming to see a film, it was my first time. The two shorties—unable to read the English on the sign—appeared quite impressed as shown by the numerous "wow"s that left their mouths, and in a similar manner, I too looked around, with the added caveat that I knew what I was looking for. For example, I was able to figure out that the number of screens went up to at least 12. 
"Shou, do you know of 'Threed'?" Yashiro whispered to my sister. What on earth was she talking about? I vaguely remembered hearing of a magazine with a similar sounding name, but I doubt that was what she meant. 
Also, what was up with her calling my sister "Shou"? It wasn't like her name was Shouko or anything. 
"No, never heard of that." 
"It's when things come flying out of the screen. Like this. Wham! Whoop!" 
Those words, "flying out of the screen", were the clue I needed to realise that she'd meant not "threed", but 3D. 
I wonder, had the reason why she'd suggested that we come here in the first place been because she'd wanted to see a 3D movie? 
Seeming quite proud of the explanation she'd given my little sister, Yashiro quickly turned her eyes towards the kiosk. I chose to pretend like I hadn't seen that. 
The movies playing weren't just the newest blockbusters, but instead, there appeared to be some romantic films as well, likely chosen for their connection with the season—Valentine's. 
"Ah, right!" Hino stated after glancing at the screening schedule. It seemed that she had remembered something. "I need to buy some chocolate on my way home." 
Who was she going to give it to? I began thinking about that... although on a second thought, the answer seemed pretty obvious. 
"You're giving it to Nagafuji?" 
"'Give' isn't really an accurate way to put it, since every year, we end up eating it together on the spot", she answered, waving both of her limp hands in the air as if to emphasize how wrong my choice of word had been. 
Still, she bought it yearly? I found that part quite intriguing. 
"Hmm... Why do you buy Nagafuji chocolate? Is it like, a tradition?" 
"Why? Because, it makes her happy, I guess? She really likes chocolate, that Nagafuji." 
Though Hino did tilt her head slightly, as if thinking it over, her answer ultimately came without any hesitation. 
Rather than being simplistic, her motive was... frank. Natural, or maybe casual. 
In any case, I felt a great difference between it and the ball of clumsiness that resided between me and Adachi. 
"Is that so?" 
"Is that not so?" 
"No, it probably is", I stated in agreement. 
It seemed that both Adachi and I were getting bogged down by our attempts to make things more serious than they needed to be. 
"Anyway, I think it's better if we don't talk about stuff like that here." 
"Why?" 
The reason was simple; speak of sweet things, and ants will show up. 
"I heard that you were talking about chocolate", Yashiro said with a wide grin on her face, now standing in front of Hino. Told it'd happen. 
"Have her buy you some", Hino replied, having placed her hand on Yashiro's head and gently rotated it into my direction. Wait, but I already gave her chocolate. 
"Shimamura!" 
"Stop pestering me", I yelled while pushing her away. This apparently didn't matter to Yashiro, and showing no signs of giving up, she just kept pushing back with her head in an attempt to cling onto me. What the heck was going on with her? 
After a few more minutes of pestering, I eventually gave in and bought her a bag of caramel corn from the kiosk. Apparently, it didn't need to be chocolate specifically, and she'd take anything as long as it was sweet. I even bought a bag for my sister. Just went to show how weak I was. 
"Listen up. You need to be quiet while we're watching the movie. No randomly raising your voice, okay?" I instructed Yashiro once we'd gotten to our seats but before the movie had started playing. 
"Yeah, yeah", she answered half-heartedly, already lost deep into the world of caramel corn. Staring at her hands, I realised that there was also another rule that I needed to make sure she was aware of. 
"Also, no clapping." 
"Yeah, yeah." 
"No. More earnestly", Hino stated, cutting into the conversation from next to us for some reason. I don't know why, but she sounded really passionate. 
"I'll be fine", Yashiro mumbled back, her mouth full of caramel corn. Her words didn't exactly convince me, however, as most of the time, she appeared quite unbound by common sense. Now, my little sister... she'd probably do just fine. That's what I chose to believe, at least; there was a good chance that attempting to advise her would result in her lashing out, and I wasn't really in the mood for that. 
The movie we'd chosen was space-themed, and additionally—like Yashiro had wanted—in 3D. 
I wonder, was this best described as a horror film? Watching it certainly made me have slight trouble breathing. 
I wasn't sure how exactly to put it in words, but if I had to try, I'd say that it was like feeling the weight of my body in a way that I wasn't normally conscious of. Or something. Honestly, it was kinda pleasant. 
The movie was now over, and we were in the process of leaving the theatre. Having been the first to exit, Hino stared at me hard as I walked through the door after her. Specifically, her eyes were focused on my hands, holding those of my sister and Yashiro. 
"What?" 
"Nothing. I'm just surprised how much like a big sister you're acting." 
"Well, more than you, I guess", I stated while lifting the hands of the two slightly, almost as if using them to shrug. 
Yashiro proceeded to shout banzai, probably not even aware what it meant, whereas my sister formed a frown on her face, as if ashamed. 
"Speaking of, don't you have brothers too, Hino?" 
"Four big brothers, yeah. Don't really talk to them often, though. Age differences, leaving home, stuff like that." 
Hino's explanation grew pretty loose by the end. I got the impression that she didn't really want to go into much detail. 
Right, I remember hearing something about that, how her family situation was complex in more ways than one. Not that I imagined it having anything to do with me, of course. 
"Anyway, that aside. It's pretty fun doing stuff like this every now and then", Hino stated with her hands on her hips, tying up that thread of conversation. 
The way she grinned, as if she was seeking agreement, prompted me to smile a little myself and shrug my shoulders. 
Afterwards, Hino treated us to lunch. 
She was doing so just to be nice, completely ignoring the monetary side, and honestly, that felt quite pleasant. 
It hadn't been a bad day. Not at all. 

9th of February (Sunday) 

Like yesterday, I once again lay on top of my futon. No noise was coming from downstairs, however, indicating that we didn't have guests today. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't that I disliked the occasional lively day. No, I just found that interacting with people got a little tiresome when I needed to do it on daily basis, and I always wanted to spend the following day doing not much of anything, especially if it also happened to be a Sunday like it was today. 
I'd rolled into bed with a textbook in hand, a book which I was currently reading through. I was quite the model student, wasn't I? So much so that even my parents would surely be moved to tears if they were to see me right now. As long as I first got them to ignore the fact that I was simply doing catchup for the time I'd wasted skipping class, that was. 
Just two more months, and I'd start my second year in high school. I really needed to get onto the level of my classmates before then. Though I'd made some good progress over the winter break and could practically see their backs already, it didn't mean that I could afford to slow down. The final exam was coming up, after all. Even so, as I continued pushing forwards, there were times that I found myself missing the gym's second floor. 
Once winter was over and spring came around, once the morning glow shone and it got warm on the rooftops, perhaps we would go there again. 
"No, probably not." 
Looking at the current me, the person who spent her days off with her nose glued in textbooks, I couldn't help but ever so slightly feel that she was someone who no longer had a need for that. If I wanted to meet with Adachi, there were countless other places, better places, that I could do it at. Same went for table tennis; if I wanted to play it, I could just go somewhere else. There was no reason to get fixated on the specific location, which was exactly why I had made up my mind on becoming a second year student alongside her, alongside Adachi. 
All of a sudden, my phone started ringing somewhere in my room. Trying to figure out where I'd left it, I searched my desk, but couldn't find it. The tone cut off soon enough, indicating that it had been a text message, but I still hadn't found the device. After a loop around my room and the phone still missing, I stopped and began thinking. Hmm... I had no recollection of using it during the weekend, so maybe it was still in my bag? I opened it, and wouldn't you know it, there it was. How lonely was the life of a high school student that my phone hadn't rung a single time since Friday? Jokes aside, I checked the sender and—just like I'd been half-expecting—saw that it was Adachi. 
The other thing I'd been expecting was some sort of advertisement message from the phone company. 
The message she'd sent me contained no text, only an attached image. 
Wondering what it might be, I went ahead and opened it. What appeared on the screen of my phone was something brown, something muddy. 
"Chocolate?" 
Yes, it seemed to be a picture of chocolate. Chocolate melted down and then poured into a mould. 
"Hmm..." 
It definitely was chocolate, no doubt about that. And? What about it? 
With nothing to go by, it was difficult for me to grasp the meaning behind the picture. 
My thoughts were interrupted by another message from Adachi. This one also came attached with a picture, once again portraying chocolate. 
A second textless image wasn't going to help me much in terms of figuring out what was going on here. If anything, it just added onto the pile of mysteries. She hadn't decided to send me a just a picture instead of handing me actual chocolate in order to save money or something crazy like that, had she? No, that seemed extremely unlikely. Maybe I should call her and ask? Then again, doing that felt the same as giving up, which caused me to hesitate. I stared at the image from all possible angles, trying to make sense of the situation. Hmm... Was this maybe some new form of bullying? 
Given how not good my grades in modern Japanese were, I wish she'd stop it with these sorts of interpretation puzzles. 
I had a feeling that just one look at her face would give me a pretty good idea of what she'd meant, but then again, that wasn't really an option here. 
The last message from Adachi read simply: "What do you think?" Good question. What do I think about this? 
It felt like it was going to take a lot of effort if I wanted to one day find the exit of the labyrinth that was Adachi. 
The gears within my head spun restlessly as I ventured deeper down the distorted, mulberry-coloured corridors and the increasingly complicated stairways. 
The deeper I got, the hotter my mind grew. 
"Hmm..." 
What a bother. 

10th of February (Monday) 

"Ah, it's you, isn't it, Shima?" a person who I'd passed by suddenly said to me. Wondering who it was, I turned around to look, although that only left me to further wonder, who was she? Well, at the very least, I could tell that she wasn't from my high school, because if she was, she wouldn't have been walking in the opposite direction as me in the morning. I rubbed my eyes—still sleepy after the weekend—before taking a good look at her. She was a girl. Around my age. Hmm... Yeah, I think I had a pretty good idea of who she was now. 
"It's been a while." 
She was a friend I'd had in elementary school. Her name was... It was... Crap, I couldn't remember. 
Despite feeling mighty flustered, I figured that the only way I could get through this was to put on a smile. Showing no signs of suspicion or puzzlement on her face, my past friend returned that smile with one of her own. She was still on her bike, and as I continued walking, the person used her feet to push herself backwards alongside me. 
Even without any makeup on, she looked practically like a different person. And yet, I could still somewhat recognize her. I wonder why that was. 
"Wow, just look at your hair. It sure has gotten lighter, huh?" 
"Comes with the age. Hahaha", I laughed before giving my past friend's shoulder a light push. "Just kidding. I haven't grown quite that old." 
"Still, I don't think it fits you all that much", she stated. What an honest opinion to give someone. It almost felt like I'd been splattered with paint made of words. 
Doesn't fit me, huh? I thought to myself while staring at a strand of brown hair pinched between my fingers. That was also what my family thought of the matter. Really, everyone seemed to be against it. Maybe I should just let it go back to black after all. Of course, there was a serious problem with doing that; my hair colour would match Adachi's. And if that happened, the overall impression we gave off would end up growing quite plain. Wait... What the heck was I talking about? 
The "overall impression"? Why did that matter? I was still myself, not some outside observer looking into my life. 
"Have you been keeping in touch with any of our old friends, Shima?" 
"Hmm... No, not really." 
"I see. Yeah, I do get that impression off you." 
What sort of an impression? Her reaction sounded completely meaningless, as if she'd merely said it to keep the conversation going, and the only way I knew how to react to it was with a forced smile. 
At a glance, my past friend might not have seemed all that different from how she once was, but all that changed once you peered below the surface. Yeah, something felt off here. 
Back in the day, when she'd spoken to me, when I'd spoken back to her, the words had resonated deep within my heart. Now, however, they splashed against it like droplets of water. I often heard it said that strength came from persevering through difficulties, and I certainly felt like that was also the case with human relationships; keeping them together required periodic care. 
"Speaking of which, do you remember Tarumi?" 
"Tarumi? Oh, yeah, I do", I answered. I just ran into her, I wanted to add. The words wouldn't come out for some reason, however, which was why I ended up keeping it vague. 
"I saw her last weekend, at the station. She sure has grown tall." 
"Tall, huh?" 
Now that I thought about it, yeah, she had been tall. Her legs had seemed long, too, which was another thing that I was jealous of. 
Having perhaps interpreted the tone of my replies as me being uninterested, the person fell silent. So did I. Then, after a while, both of us lightly waved our hands at each other, as if to escape the silence. For once, the fact that I needed to go to school had helped me out. 
"See you later." 
"Yeah." 
I left her without saying goodbye. At the same time, I did get the feeling that we were never going to see each other again, me and her. The only reason the she had begun talking to me was because she'd been curious, meaning that if, for example, us passing by each other was to become a daily occurrence, there'd no longer be any reason for greetings. I truly thought that. 
It was what past friends were like. Our clocks that had spun so smoothly in synch back in the day now displayed different times. I wonder, how many rotations would it take for them to overlap? 
In the midst of my thoughts, I realised that I'd come near a graveyard. Glancing at one of the gravestones there, I noticed a familiar last name: Tarumi. I traced the letters in the air in front of me. 
Seeing her at the station, running across her in front of the meat store. Our daily milieux still greatly overlapped. 
She still existed within my perceived world. 
I wonder, how would it make me feel if I were to meet her again? 
Not that I had any intention of purposefully seeking her out, but you know, if I just happened to run across her. 
I imagined that happening, and as I did, those thoughts gave birth to a certain feeling. A feeling quite similar to how I usually felt. 
It wouldn't be bad. 
Most of my actions and their results could be summed up in those words. 
"That's really all I am, huh?" 
Not that there was anything wrong with "not bad". Still, I wondered, would there ever come a day when I saw things not merely as that, but instead, "good"? 

11th of February (Thursday) 

Someone had once said that the greatest flaw of humans was how they slowly withered away. 
Not abruptly, but over time. The process was a slow decomposition, starting from the depths where your eyes couldn't reach. 
It was probably already too late. 
"Or something like that", I said, slouched over the table part of the kotatsu. 
"Yep, exactly", Nagafuji stated back, sitting opposite of me. 
Meanwhile, Adachi reached the goal. She was once again the first one to do so, a feat quite impressive for someone who'd said that she didn't know the rules all that well. Or perhaps it was the opposite; her lack of knowledge regarding the rules pushed her to move towards the goal in a straight line, and it might have been this tactic that gave her an edge over the rest of us. As for Adachi herself, her eyes had grown quite cheerful, and there was a smile on her face. It seemed that not understanding the game all that well wasn't stopping her from having fun in her own way. While at it, there was also something else that I couldn't help but notice: I was currently dead last. 
This won't do, I thought to myself as I pulled my body upright off the table. There was no time to be spent wasting away under the kotatsu. 
We'd gone over to Nagafuji's place after school, something that didn't happen often. Her family owned a meat store which they operated from their house, and though I had visited the store-side on multiple occasions, actually going inside to where they lived, I'd only done so once before. Although relatively far away from where the food was prepared, its smells and sounds did reach all the way where we were, earning a reaction from my hungry stomach. 
The game we were playing had been keeping us entertained for quite a while. In a way, you could've said that this was my first time truly visiting her, as previously, I'd only drunk a cup of tea before leaving almost as soon as I'd arrived. 
It had all begun during the lunch break when Hino and Nagafuji courteously invited us over to play Momotetsu. Wait, "courteously"? Had there been anything "courteous" about their invitation? Not that the choice of words really mattered. 
"Well, this also works for studying geography, so", Hino stated towards the TV, sitting closest to it with one knee up. As you might have expected of the person who'd suggested that we play, she was really into the game. Then again, I suppose that she was always very serious when it came to anything slightly competitive, not just when it was her idea. In contrast, both Nagafuji and I lay slouched over the kotatsu table. With my hands extended, I waved them around, like a crushed bug struggling by only moving its legs. No, wait... I felt a little uncomfortable imagining that. Anyway, it was now the turn of Store Manager Shimamura—i.e. me—and I tossed the dice without giving it much thought. 
There were only two controllers. I shared mine with Nagafuji, whereas Hino and Adachi shared the other one. As a result, the sitting configurations available to us were quite limited. Nagafuji and I had practically captured the kotatsu for ourselves, although that did leave me to wonder, what about the other two? Were they feeling cold? Speaking of them, Hino sat 45 degrees to the right of me, and Adachi 45 degrees to the left. I'd initially been giving her instructions and teaching her how to play, but by the time year six rolled around, it seemed that she'd gotten the gist of it. She wasn't using any of her cards, but hey, what can you do? 

 
"I hear that the heartless and evil are the strong ones. Must mean that Shimamura is a really good person then", stated Zen Master Hino—currently in second place—in a sarcastic manner. Using that logic, it would make Adachi the meanest one of us. Speaking of Adachi, she glanced at me over her shoulders, and after awkwardly looking around for a bit, opened her mouth: 
"I think Shimamura is a good person." 
"Why, thank you." 
It felt like the kind of praise that was very characteristic of Adachi. Oh, and in case you were curious, her character was a company president, whereas Nagafuji's was a robot. Yes, a robot. 
Robo Nagafuji always used her attack cards the second she obtained them, no matter what was going on in the game at that particular moment. She also took no time to calculate their effects and how she could benefit from them, but rather, used them on the first target she saw, almost like some sort of a robot on a rampage. If a card let her choose, she always picked Hino, and then when the effect was displayed on screen, she frolicked as if she'd just destroyed her nemesis. What an extreme robot. 
It was hardly the kind of game that you couldn't play with just two people, and I just had to wonder, had it really been necessary to invite us over? Myself, sure, we were friends, but Adachi? I didn't know. Was she friends with the two of them? 
If I had to give my honest opinion on the matter, I'd probably say no. She likely didn't see the thing between them as friendship. Likewise, it was easy for me to imagine her declining Hino's offer had I not been a part of the picture. I wonder, was Adachi the sort of person who prioritized quality over quantity? 
That wasn't to say that I didn't find it fun personally, because I certainly did. Not bad at all. 
The game continued in a pretty similar manner from there on, with me remaining in last place—for some reason—and Adachi bouncing between first and second. Eventually, the clock hit seven, which was when we decided to separate. 
"Let's continue where we left off next time." 
"If the data doesn't get deleted before then, sure." 
"Right. That's the scary thing about cartridges." 
I found it a little strange listening to Hino and Nagafuji talk about that; personally, I'd never seen such an old gaming console before. 
Its surface had turned yellowish with age, and if I had to guess, I'd probably say that it was around as old as the two of them. Had a similar device at some point sat in my room? I thought back to it, but unfortunately, those memories had long since been stored away in some dusty archive deep within my mind, far away from my reach. The past might as well not have existed as far as I was concerned. 
That led me to wonder: The current me, the one here right now, what sorts of things was she leaving behind for the future? 
I walked out through the door, and in the next instant, felt the cold of the night clamping around my limbs. Simply making my way through it was a painful exercise. 
The night was dark enough to make even the white steam coming from my mouth invisible, and as I basked in it, a voice suddenly spoke out to me. 
"I, umm... I'll give you a ride home." 
It was Adachi. How was she "giving me a ride"? We lived in completely different directions. 
"You don't mind having to make a detour?" I asked to make sure. Adachi simply nodded her head, however, which was enough for me to decide to make use of her offer and hop onto the rack of her bike. 
"Your personality sure has changed from how you were when we first met", I said to her, looking at her face right before we took off. I really meant it, too; no way could I imagine the past Adachi staying with me till this late. She'd acted way more indifferent towards me back then, and likewise, all of our conversations had sounded leaden. 
"...Don't say that." 
Adachi seemed to be aware of this fact herself, as her voice was quiet and tinged with embarrassment. 
It was hardly a bad direction she was going into, meaning that... Wait. What about her slightly suspicious behaviour? Was that not bad? And was it "slightly" suspicious, or full-blown? Whatever. 
It being February meant that we were already well into the night by the time the clock hit seven. Darkness far deeper than what you'd find even at midnight during the summer spread all around us, completely swallowing the scenery. Though there were a handful of lamps scattered here and there, in typical rural fashion, the road in front of us appeared to continue forever, vanishing into the distance like the back of a giant snake. With the small light of Adachi's bike as our only tool to cut through the darkness, we continued forward. 
"Did you have any fun, Adachi?" 
It felt like I'd asked her that exact same thing before, yet I went ahead and asked it anyway. 
"Yeah", Adachi replied, facing forward. Her answer sounded stale and parched, as if dried out by the winter wind. 
Hmm... Well, whatever. I wasn't her mother or anything. 
If she said so, then that would have to be enough for me. 
"Shimamura. Umm, in three days..." Adachi began speaking, simultaneously tilting her head upwards to look at me. I really wish that she'd stop doing that while riding her bike. 
Not that anything was going to appear in front of us, but still, just out of principle. My face twitched a little as I bore witness to her inattentive driving. 
"Yep, I haven't forgotten. Chocolate, right?" 
Speaking of which, buying it was still on my to-do list. It would probably be better to take some time to pick a good one rather than do it in a rush on the same day, huh? Definitely. I'd go buy it either tomorrow or the day after that, hand it to her, and then... and then, that'd be that. Yeah. 
To be perfectly honest, I was kinda anxious if the whole thing was going to turn out as exciting as Adachi apparently seemed to be hoping for. Like, we already knew what was going to happen beforehand. 
Then again, chocolate was sweet. Though I had a pretty good idea of what it tasted like before it entered my mouth, there were still times that I found myself wanting to eat it. 
Perhaps it was just like Adachi had said, and there was something meaningful about hope that was visible to you. 

12th of February (Wednesday) 

I'll probably make it in time at this pace, I thought to myself as I slowed down my walking speed near the graveyard. 
An intense gust of winter wind blew against my skin—hot from running—cooling it down considerably. I'd heard that it had started getting windy sometime around midnight, and as morning rolled around, that had still been the case. Standing outside, I could hear the sound of it sweeping across the sky above me. The little me had believed that sound to be that of clouds rubbing together. 
Perhaps I should learn from Adachi and get a part-time job of my own in order to make enough money to buy a bike? I seriously considered that option as I tried to catch my breath. After all, though we did own a bike that was technically shared by our family, in practice, Mom was the only one who ever got to use it. 
I didn't even need her to let me use it all of the time, just the mornings when I was running late would have been plenty. Each time I asked, she refused, however, always stating that it was my own fault for sleeping in. Fair enough. Still, it was kinda mean of her; if she knew that I'd missed my alarm, then why didn't she come wake me up? I suppose that it might have been her way of telling me to take responsibility for myself. Though it did have its downsides as mentioned earlier, if I had to say, I think preferred it to having her constantly meddle in my affairs. 
It meant that the consequences of my actions and all the coincidences that were born from them belonged to me. They were mine, mine alone. 
There was a small park adjacent to the graveyard, and as I glanced in its direction, I noticed a certain conspicuous figure standing there. Her hair was tied in a bow behind her head, which the intense gusts of wind caused to flap like the wings of a butterfly. The bow even let off blue scales as it fluttered in the wind, making it seem like that really was what it was. 
Yashiro was in the middle of doing gymnastics. "One, two. One, two", I heard her repeat as she stretched her sides in a casual manner, facing the side of the park adjacent to the graveyard. Needless to say, there wasn't anyone with her. As I stared at her, only a single impression came to my mind: She really was a weirdo. 
She hadn't noticed me yet, and I did seriously consider walking past her without stopping. Then again, there was no way that I could just ignore a child without a backpack on at this time of the day. Fully aware of the fact that the start of first period class was drawing near, I switched my direction towards the park. A few moments later, Yashiro turned around. 
"If it isn't Shimamura", she said as she ran up to me. I immediately shivered at her appearance; she was wearing a dress that left both her shoulders and legs exposed. The expression on her face appeared completely unconcerned, however. I placed my hand on her round shoulder as a test, and wouldn't you know it, it felt like touching snow. Made sense. 
Despite this, I couldn't see any goosebumps on her skin, not a single one. 
"Do you have some business with me?" 
"Well, no, not in particular." 
I was aware that the same applied to me, but regardless, was this really the place she should have been at this time of the day? 
"You're not going to school?" 
"Hahaha! What are you talking about? Of course not. I'm an adult." 
"An adult, huh?" 
Slightly annoyed by her arrogance, I grabbed Yashiro and lifted her high in the air like you'd do with a baby. She wriggled and struggled, but at the same time, seemed to very much be having fun. Yeah, she was no adult. 
"You're heading down a very dark path, skipping school at your age", I said as I shook her from left to right. She was a bit lighter than my sister, letting me do so without any trouble. With each shake, a handful of blue particles came off her, only to be scattered around by the wind blowing around us. This allowed me to follow the flow of the wind—normally invisible—with my eyes. Honestly, it was kinda interesting. 
"I'm not sure what you mean. I'm more than 680 years old." 
"Yes, yes. Sure you are." 
Was that how it worked for people from space? You could live for almost 700 years, and still end up smaller than my little sister? 
If I were to live for that long, I'd probably die of boredom on the way. 
I let Yashiro down. Is that all? the expression she gave me seemed to say, earning a likewise silent reply from me. 
"Anyway, I gotta go to school. Bye", I waved at her before turning around and walking away. A part of me did wonder if it was alright for me to leave a little girl like her all by herself, but simultaneously, I didn't exactly have time to be staying with her. I still found myself hesitating, though, and as I reached the park's entrance, I decided to take a look over my shoulder. She stood there, staring at me. I turned around and broke into a run. After a bit, I took another glance, only to find that was still staring at me. 
"Dammit..." 
I hadn't even turned fully back around yet, and I already hated myself for it. Why did I feel like I needed to do this again? Why was I acting like her big sister? 
Yashiro welcomed me with a broad smile as I walked back to her. 
"This ninja technique is quite useful." 
"Ninja technique?" 
"Yes, the art of silently staring at someone until they're forced to turn around", Yashiro stated before placing her hands on top of each other and assuming a ninja-esque pose. And who is 680 years old again? I found myself wanting to ask her. 
"That's not a ninja technique, it's just me being a super nice person and walking back to you." 
"Indeed. You are a super nice person, Shimamura." 
What was meant to be a joke ended up being taken at face value by Yashiro. I didn't really know how to respond. It was kinda embarrassing, that's for sure. 
"Say 'thank you'." 
"Thank you", Yashiro shouted as she ran up to me and wrapped her stubby arms around my hips. Again, I hadn't wanted her to literally thank me, it'd just been something I'd said to quickly change the topic. I stood there stiffly as Yashiro's forehead rubbed against my stomach, unsure what I was meant to do next. She really was innocent, wasn't she? Or perhaps "simple-minded" was a more accurate way to describe it. Pure as the blue of her hair. I couldn't help but feel slightly put off. Why? I wasn't sure. Perhaps it was just due to me being sixteen years old, right in that period where I was no longer a child but not yet an adult either. Whatever the case might be, there was something about such straightforwardness—once a virtue—that I found difficult to accept, that made my eyes and mouth grow narrow. I wonder what it was. 
"Well, I definitely don't want to stand here all day, so... Should we go somewhere?" 
Maybe I should take her to a coffee shop or something? Or maybe not; the more I thought about the idea, the worse it sounded. For one, I was wearing a school uniform. Plus, although we knew each other by sight, in practice, we were still total strangers. It wasn't hard to imagine people thinking that I was a kidnapper or something if they saw me walking around with a child like that. Escorting her home didn't sound like it would be a bad choice either, although that would mean having to ask her where she lived first, and I had a strong feeling that whatever she gave me as an answer, it wouldn't be a place that I was physically able to reach. Not that I believed that she was actually an alien, of course I didn't, but still, just a hunch. 
Nowhere to go, huh? In a flash, an image of the gym's second floor appeared in my mind. It had been where I myself had arrived at as I'd drifted about, searching for a place where I could be free from the stares of teachers and other students. 
"Why don't we go to your house, Shimamura?" Yashiro proposed, her arms still wrapped around me. My house? Well, Mom had probably left already, so there shouldn't technically be anything stopping us. Why did I hesitate then? Well, it just felt to me that if I were to return home now, I would most likely stay there for the rest of the day instead of going to school like I was supposed to. 
"Is Shou there?" 
"'Shou'? Oh, you mean my sister?" 
Yashiro nodded repeatedly, clearly looking forward to seeing her. Unfortunately for her, those wishes were soon crushed as I opened my mouth: 
"No, she's at school." 
"Aww." 
Her reaction of disappointment sounded quite exaggerated. She went as far as to take a step back away from me, freeing up my legs. 
After one last look towards the graveyard and the school road that continued beyond it, I scratched my head and stated: 
"Well, whatever. Doing it once isn't going to hurt anyone." 
I decided that I'd take responsibility for my own actions and skip school for the day. 
It was a little strange walking forward with something blue constantly hopping up and down in the corner of my eye. 
Plus, what a waste it had been to walk all the way here through the cold only to immediately turn back. 
I hated the cold, and I hated things that were bothersome, and here I was, falling victim to both. 
"Sigh..." 
It had become the norm for me to think of things as being "not bad", but for once, I'd stumbled across something that was just bad. 

I'd taken off my jacket and crawled into bed, and though I did know that falling asleep in my school uniform was something that I was most certainly going to regret later on, it hadn't been enough to stop me from doing exactly that. I lay there, right on the verge of sleep, Yashiro's light snoring filling my ears. 
She'd insisted upon using my arm as her pillow, and as a result, everything from my elbow up now felt completely numb. Also, was this really the kind of face someone who was 680 years old made in their sleep? Definitely not. I could feel my eyelids growing heavy as I stared at it, and even when I closed my eyes, I could still see the blue sparkle within the darkness. 
I had a feeling that the dream I'd see if I were to fall asleep now would be a bright one, a fluffy one. 
How much time passed? I wasn't sure. 
The sound of the doorbell ringing caused me to slowly open my eyes. I was still far too tired to get out of bed, however. 
Yashiro, on the other hand, practically sprang up. 
"Are you sleeping, Shimamura?" 
"Mhh..." 
"Should I go?" 
"Oh? Yeah, please do..." 
"Alright then." 
With light steps, she ran towards the entrance. I was quite impressed, honestly; she was far more sensible than my sister. 
Chortling to myself, I turned over, but just as I was about to fall asleep again, I realised that sending Yashiro to the door might not have been the best choice. What if it was a newspaper salesman? That would definitely be a problem. Or a person from the neighbourhood handing out notices? Same thing. Honestly, I couldn't think of a single situation where her being the one to open the door would be fine. I reluctantly got up and began heading towards the entrance myself. 
My head felt incredibly heavy, almost as if I was still half-asleep. 
Rubbing my eyes, I exited my room, only to find Adachi standing in the hallway. She was wearing her uniform, and I could only assume that she was currently on her way home from school. 

"Oh, if it isn't Adachi." 
What a surprising guest to come pay me a visit. I quickly checked my clothes before moving any further, and saw that—just like what I'd been worried would happen—they were full of creases. Well, whatever. It was just Adachi. I decided that changing my clothes wasn't necessary and walked over to greet her. 
Come to think of it, where had the blue-haired menace disappeared to? I couldn't see her anywhere, not even outside the house. 
"Where's Yashiro?" 
"She said she was going out to 'procure dinner' and left." 
"Figures. She's the kind of person who does what she wants. So, anyway. What about you, Adachi?" 
Do you have business here? I asked with my eyes. Fiddling with her hair, Adachi opened her mouth and quickly answered: 
"You didn't come to school, so I thought you might have caught a cold or something. I texted you too, but you didn't reply..." 
A text? I turned around to take a look over my shoulder. Where had I left my phone? Hmm... Maybe in my bag? 
"Oh, sorry. I left my phone in my bag, so I didn't see it." 
By that point of the conversation, the weight I had felt on my head and my back had mostly come off. Likewise, my eyes were also starting to become clear. It was as if the cold wind blowing in through the open door had dusted off my brain. I absolutely could have done without the "cold" part, though. 
Now, back to Adachi. What was going on with her? Her lower lip was curved slightly, making it almost seem like she was pouting. 
Was she that annoyed that I hadn't replied to her text? 
"So, anyway, that's why I thought I'd come check up on you. Although, I guess all I ended up doing was wake you up..." 
"Really? That's super nice of you, Adachi", I praised her in the same way I'd praise my sister before reaching for her head. My palm landed on her forehead, and my fingers combed through her hair. I couldn't feel the touch of it, however, as my right arm was still numb from Yashiro resting on top of it. There was a part of me that found that slightly regrettable. 
Adachi did jolt slightly as my hand came into contact with her, but after that, she hung her head and remained mostly still, leaving herself at my mercy. 
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to", I apologized and moved to withdraw my hand, assuming that she'd soon get tired of being treated like a child and lash back. As I did, however, Adachi leaned forward herself—almost as if her forehead was glued to my palm—effectively cancelling out my movements. 
Was this perhaps her way of saying that she wanted me to pat her head more? 
I did so as a test, and Adachi immediately stopped moving, as if surrendering herself to me. It seemed that I'd been right. Staring at her, I at last understood what it was that she wanted from me. 
Support, something to lean on. 
Earlier, that role had been played by the gym's wall. We'd shared that space, and as the seasons changed and we switched locations, it had transferred over to me. Hmm... I wonder why. 
"Well, whatever." 
Although Adachi did seem embarrassed by the way she stared at her feet, she still wouldn't move. 
The details might have been beyond me, but those didn't matter anyway. I'd begun regaining feeling in my right hand, and as I ran my fingers through her hair, there were two things that I felt to be true, just two: 
Adachi would continue seeking my attention, and I would continue giving it to her. 

13th of February (Thursday) 

Although I did blame Yashiro for it as she'd made me spend the day looking after her, the fact remained that I'd been unable to go shopping yesterday, meaning that if I wanted to do that, today would have to be the day. Where should I go, though? That was the question I found myself struggling to answer during gym class. One option I considered was going to the supermarket and grabbing one of the many chocolate bars they sold there, but somehow, those didn't feel like gifts to me. They were more like, snacks. 
Chocolate was tricky. While a single bar might have been plenty for my little sister, I got the impression that it wouldn't be for Adachi. Just a hunch. The difference between a gift and a snack seemed like something that demanded a bit of thought. 
The volleyball flew back and forth before me. Neither Adachi nor I were participating in the game, but Hino and Nagafuji were. I followed them with my eyes as they ran around the court. Hino was one thing, but as far as Nagafuji went, it was clear to me as an outside observer that her ridiculously excessive movements weren't contributing to her team's success whatsoever. She should have kept her glasses on. 
Adachi was sitting next to me. The gym was yellow in colour, and as we sat there side by side on the slightly sticky bench, I could almost hear the cicadas singing. I glanced at Adachi, and saw that her jaw was tilted upwards, her eyes turned towards the second floor. It seemed that I wasn't the only one thinking about that place. 
There was a chance that Adachi still wished that we could return there. 
However, we couldn't. Not right now. All that waited for us there was freezing cold. 
Seasons changed, and likewise, we were stuck in their flow, forced to go with them. Sitting there, I found myself wondering, was I really fine with that? 
After turning my head back while pretending not to have noticed Adachi's stare, I began forming my plans for what I'd do once school was over. 
The candy store near the bookshop would probably be a good place to go do some shopping. The parking lot next to it was always filled with cars when I walked past it, indicating to me that the store was quite popular, and therefore, likely inexpensive. If I remembered right, it was also where we'd gotten the cake for my little sister's birthday, although then again, the only impression that thing had left taste-wise was overbearing sweetness and not much else. 
I could take a train to Nagoya, find a department store there, and have as much choice as I wanted. The only problem with that plan was that I was far too lazy to actually do it. Sure, it might make Adachi happy... And I'd love to see her happy, but still... Hmm... There was a part of me holding me back, a part that stopped me from going through with it. 
It was around the time I decided I'd settle with the nearby candy store that the gym class ended and it became time for lunch break. For today's meal, I was going to be eating a sandwich I'd bought from the convenience store during my walk to school. I took a bite out of it, followed with a gulp of mineral water. I wonder, was Adachi eating something similar? Staring at her, I couldn't help but feel that her lunch felt kinda bland, an impression likely caused by the lack of presence I sensed off her back. 
There were times when we had lunch together, and there were times that we didn't. If I had to estimate, I'd say that the odds of her walking up to me were around one-in-two. In school, every day was more or less a repeat of the previous one, and so it was kinda strange for there to be so much deviation in her behaviour. I found myself slightly curious as to what exactly did Adachi use to determine when to leave her seat. Was it on days that she was a in a good mood that she walked over? Or was it the opposite? 
As I continued thinking about it, my phone suddenly rang. I usually turned it off while in school, but it seemed that today, I'd forgotten to do so. Who might it be? I pulled the device out and checked the screen, and saw that the caller was Tarumi. 
The image of her ash-coloured hair immediately appeared in my mind. 
Tarumi wasn't even on the list of people who I would have imagined calling me, and honestly, I was a bit shocked. I exited to the hallway after deciding that the classroom was too noisy to talk in, leaned against the wall, and answered. 
"Hello." 
The layer of clothing between me and the wall wasn't enough to stop its coldness from transferring into my back. Likewise, I nearly screamed when the backs of my thighs came in contact with the stone. 
"Are you free today, Shima?" 
She didn't even bother to give her name, and instead, went straight to asking about my schedule. Was I free? Hmm... 
"You mean, after school? Well, I was planning to go do a little shopping." 
"Do you mind if I come with you? Oh, or are you already going with someone else?" 
Things were proceeding pretty much exactly how I'd anticipated. 
Sure, we had agreed to hang out again one day, but this soon? 
What was I supposed to do here? 
She was my past friend. The current her, I didn't know that person. 
On the flip side, it was true that she'd been my friend back in the day. My very best one. 
Images of our days spent together in elementary school flickered in the corner of my eye, giving me the push I needed. 
"No, it's fine. I was going by myself. Where do you wanna meet?" 
"How about inside the station? Like, in front of the doughnut store?" 
"Sure, that sounds good. I'll come there after school. Sometime around 4:30." 
I ended the call with those words. For a few moments afterwards, I simply stood there, staring at the now-blank screen with my hand pressed against my jaw. 
Not only had Tarumi called me, we were already going to be meeting each other again. This was all happening so fast. 
"Meeting each other, huh?" 
I couldn't shake the feeling that I might not have made the right choice. 
We'd been around as good of friends in elementary school as I was with Hino and Nagafuji right now, meaning that it shouldn't be strange. At the same time, it also posed a problem. The years had created a gap between us, a gap that could only be filled through talking. Lots and lots of talking. 
Sure, there were things we could talk about, but still... No, let's not worry about that. I chose to think about it optimistically, to assume that everything would sort itself out in the end. 
I had more important matters to be thinking about at the moment. Like, if I was going to the station anyway, I might as well take a train to Nagoya and check out the chocolates there. 
A single reason wasn't enough to make me move. Give me two, however, and it would trick me into thinking that it was the logical thing to do. Wait... What? 
As I walked back into the classroom, I caught Adachi staring at me. I went ahead and waved at her. Though she did seem a bit awkward in doing so, I did get her to wave back at me, causing me to feel like I'd just accomplished something, even if I probably hadn't. 
Not bad at all. With that thought in my mind, I returned to my seat, just in time to catch Nagafuji taking a bite out of my sandwich. 
She appeared to be in no rush, as shown by the calm manner in which she chewed the piece of bread inside her mouth. There was also a slight frown on her face, indicating that she was analysing the taste very thoroughly. 
"Hey." 
"The sauce in this is kinda thick." 
Ignoring Nagafuji's unsolicited review of my sandwich, I shoved her off my seat and retook it. This was something that I'd expect Yashiro to do, not her. I quickly checked the sandwich I'd snatched back from her hands, and saw that there was a sizeable chunk of it missing. She'd been chewing it for real. Its shape now resembled that of a crescent moon, or an island that'd had a part of it blown off in a bombing attack. 
As if to make up for the lost bread, half of a fried meat cake had been left on my desk. With a blank look on her face and sauce sticking by her lip, Nagafuji explained: 
"This is from our store. Put it between the bread, and it'll taste even better." 
"Thanks for the blatant advertisement. I'll be sure to let Mom know", I stated before shooing her off. She galloped to Hino, who I could hear asking something to the effect of "You got some for me too?" To that, Nagafuji replied in the affirmative, and brought the piece of bread she'd been holding between her fingers to her mouth. 
Damn, those two... Should I launch a counter-attack? I craned my neck to have a look, but unfortunately, it seemed that they were already done eating and didn't have anything left for me to steal. 
I was pretty sure that I'd eaten one of these fried meat cakes less than a week ago. Well, whatever. I wasn't going to say no to free food. On the lookout for any weird things they might have put in it, I took a bite. Thankfully, those suspicions turned out to be unfounded as I was unable to find any faults with the taste. While chewing the meat, I took a glance towards where Hino and Nagafuji sat, and saw that the two were currently busy thumb-wrestling. I was kinda amazed by how restless they were, but at the same time, couldn't help but smile a little. Meanwhile, Adachi turned around to look at me. I lifted my hand, getting ready to wave at her again, but she'd seen it coming and waved at me herself before I could. No matter how many times I saw her do it, I just couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something slightly awkward about the way she shook her hand. It moved really fast when going to the right, but then on the way back, she seemed confused, almost as if she wasn't sure what she was doing. 
It showed off her erratic nature, and in a way, was kinda interesting. 
I waved my hand purposefully smoothly, as if to point that out. 
My heart bounced just a bit more than during your average bland lunch break. 
The fact that Adachi and I, Hino and Nagafuji, we were all here, in the classroom, the fact that we had fun together from time to time, that would all come to an end in less than two months. 
I wonder, what sort of a spring would I find waiting for me in the future? 

I really despised going out at this time of the year, so much so that I found myself wondering who the idiot had been that decided that Valentine's Day had to be in winter. Then again, there was probably a fair bit of history behind it. And you couldn't really have it during summer anyway since all the chocolate would probably melt. Not that I could think of any particular reason why the gifts had to be restricted specifically to chocolate. 
I had run home from school and hopped onto the bike, and was currently making my way to the station. It was back-and-forth trips like these that made me really wish that I could go to school by bike. Perhaps I should just go through with it and get a short-term part-time job during this year's spring vacation? Maybe I could even consult Adachi. In a way, she was my senior when it came to this sort of stuff. 
Going against the stream of students from all levels of education returning home, I eventually reached the station. I hopped off the bike, ran to the doughnut shop—the same one Adachi and I had eaten at before—and saw that Tarumi was already there waiting for me. She had her school uniform on, but wasn't carrying a bag. As she noticed me, she quickly put back on the shoes she'd taken off. 
"Yo." 
"Evening." 
Oh, crap, wrong word. It wasn't evening yet. I thought about correcting myself, but decided not to. 
With Tarumi having put her shoes on and gotten up, we hopped onto the escalator next to us. I hadn't explained anything to her yet, but for some reason, she too seemed to be under the impression that we were heading to Nagoya. Staring at her back, I couldn't help but feel slightly out of place. 
It was kinda like being with a total stranger. 
"What are you going shopping for?" 
"Chocolate." 
"Chocolate? What, you have a boyfriend, Shima?" Tarumi asked, sounding extremely interested. Personally, between her and me, I thought she seemed more likely to have one. 
"No, I don't. I'm just buying it to give to a friend." 
A certain realization hit me as those words left my mouth: I was now at an age where that sort of stuff was part of conversation. 
When putting my memories back to back against the present and comparing them, the former always ended up coming out on the bottom. 
There was a certain sense of loneliness I felt with regard to that, one that pounded my chest lightly. 
"Hmm." 
"Yeah." 
Our conversation dragged along the ground, like a small bird trying to get into the air but failing. Both of us certainly did want to fly over the gap between us, but unfortunately, our wings remained folded. Time had caused them to grow stiff. 
We got to the second floor, and as I bought tickets from the machine there, I was reminded of Adachi. 
I could more or less guess how she would react if she was to see me with another friend. And I didn't want that to happen. 
Not again. 
It was rare for me to use the station to begin with, and even more so to walk through the ticket gates during the evening. We passed by a group of high school students coming from Nagoya on the stairs. Tarumi began walking slightly faster as she saw them, and I too picked up the pace to keep up with her. It seemed that she'd judged that the train to Nagoya had arrived. 
We dashed up the stairs, and there it was, standing by the platform. According to the announcement that played shortly after, the train would be leaving soon, and so we wasted no time getting in through the nearest entrance. Just as we did, the door closed shut behind us. 
"Barely made it, huh?" 
"Yep, barely." 
Tarumi fixed her dishevelled hair while trying to catch her breath. Likewise, I adjusted the shoulders of my jacket. 
The train was now moving, and as we walked forward through it, we noticed that only a single one of the seats by the walls was free. I glanced at Tarumi, and she glanced at me. Neither one of us would move. 
"Do you wanna?" 
"You wanna sit, Shima?" 
Staring at each other's face, we both grew stiff. The atmosphere between us was quite delicate, and it was almost is if our eyes and voices alike were dodging to the side to avoid it. 
"Well... Alright then. I'll sit." 
"Yeah..." 
I eventually gave up and sat down. It might have been easy to think of this as us both trying to be polite, but that wasn't exactly what had happened here. It'd been something colder than that: Neither of us had wanted to be the one to make the first move. Most of this could likely have been avoided if only there had been two empty seats instead of just one. If only. In any case, even now that I was sitting down, I still couldn't help but feel a little restless. 
Gripping a handrail, Tarumi stood directly in front of me. She leaned ever so slightly forward, almost as if to get a better look at my face. 
I tried desperately to think up any possible topics of conversation, but even my attempts to use the past as reference bore no fruit. Nothing was coming to mind. A topic, a topic... Hmm... Favourite sweets? Recent trips? Anime? 
It was no use. My mind was in shambles, and even when I attempted to look for any remaining scraps of memory, I only ended up getting distracted. 
With the past out of the question, I decided to ask her about the present. 
"So, you're in high school, huh?" 
"Yep. School uniform and all. Ahaha", Tarumi laughed while simultaneously pulling out the sleeve of her uniform from under her jacket. It almost sounded like she was laughing at how stupid my question had been. 
"You're in high school too, huh, Shima?" 
"Yeah, I am." 
Of course. We were the same age. Once this boring exchange of facts we both already knew was over, silence once again fell between us. 
It seemed that we no longer had anything to talk about. Sure, Adachi and I were no strangers to awkward silences ourselves, but this felt different. While the air around us might have grown stagnant in a similar manner whenever we fell silent, it could always be ventilated, whereas with Tarumi, I felt that it came mixed with liquids that had oxidized over the years. 
I knew what the right thing to do here was. We needed to toss away the old and replace it with the new. It was hopeless, trying to run maintenance on the past. 
"You're going to school every day? I heard rumours that you'd grown into a delinquent." 
"Well, most of the days I do. More importantly, Shima, your hair doesn't really know what it wants to be, huh?" 
Tarumi grabbed a strand of my hair between her fingers as she asked that. She then separated it into two parts, brown and black. They danced in the air like the antennas of a bug, and I too found myself chasing them with my eyes. Brown, and black. The current me, and the past me. 
"Shima, do you remember the nickname you used to call me by in elementary school?" Tarumi asked while leaning even further forward. 
I couldn't help but feel slightly startled, both by her questions and her face as she stared at me in the eyes. 
I tried reaching for the past, but all that did was make one of the many thorns covering it pierce my finger. 
"No, sorry. I must have forgotten." 
That was a lie. I did actually remember. I'd just decided to prioritize hiding my own embarrassment. 
It might have been for that reason that I wasn't able to pay full attention to the way I spoke, resulting in my answer sounding slightly insincere. For a moment, both Tarumi's mouth and eyes remained open, as if staggered by my reply. Aware of my mistake, I assumed a similar expression, albeit with my lips pursed tight. She let go of my hair and closed her eyes. 
With them still closed shut, she spoke: 
"You've changed quite a bit, Shima." 
"...I suppose." 
She was right. That might very well have been the single biggest problem here. 
And it wasn't that I'd only changed slightly. No, I saw the past me as practically a different person. 
I'd been so immensely cheerful back then, so sociable, so stupid, so free. 
In a lot of ways, my wild nature had resembled that of Yashiro. 
It had likely been that version of me that Tarumi had been expecting to meet. 
Honestly, I felt awkward, unsure what to do. In some sense, I'd turned into Adachi. 
I was forced to face the fact that in reality, the change I'd gone through hadn't been as elegant as I'd remembered it to be. 
Tarumi turned her back to me, and likewise, I moved to look at the scenery through the window. What felt like hours passed, and by the time I began wishing that the train would just make a U-turn and let me go home, we finally reached Nagoya. I was aware that this was a high-speed train and knew that the trip couldn't have taken more than twenty minutes, but at the same time, I couldn't help but feel that I'd just sat through three of my least favourite school classes back-to-back. Gravity had also done its thing to my joints, and as a result, my body now felt sluggish. 
It was as if invisible clouds of anxiety were weighing on my shoulders. 
We silently got off the train. A long line of people had formed outside it, and as we walked past, various smells assaulted my nose. 
It smelled unpleasant, but at the same time, slightly sweet. Strange, but not the strangest. That would have to wait till we passed the ticket gate. 
Looking up at a large, golden clock en route to the department store, Tarumi opened her mouth: 
"Do you remember that murder case that took place under this very same clock years back?" 
"Oh, that's a thing?" 
It was the first time in my life that I'd heard about that. Without thinking, I glanced up at the clock myself, and a couple of seconds later, turned my eyes back down. All the people standing around it—busy waiting for whoever it was that they were planning on meeting—gave the monument a certain aura of liveliness, an aura that made it impossible to imagine it in the same context as bloodstains, much less a corpse. It was kinda impressive how, in a way, the tragedy had been able to be written over. 
"Yep, it happened. It's pretty scary here in the big city." 
"You tell me", I nodded to my fellow rural girl before entering the department store. Right after the front door came a section where they sold hats and bags, which we walked past in order to reach the downwards-leading escalator. Tarumi hopped on first, and I followed closely after her. I wasn't sure why, but as I stood there, I felt kinda out of place. 
Much like the previous time I'd been here, the basement floor of the store was bustling with people. The lights were quite bright as well—perhaps even oddly so—further pushing the sense of discomfort I felt. We began walking without a goal, and soon after, found ourselves heading towards the section where they sold candy, almost as if lured by its sweet scent. Not a single word was exchanged between us on our way there. Instead of attempting to come up with a topic, we were stuck scanning the surrounding scenery with our eyes. Back in the day, we'd always had so much to talk about, but now, those same seeds of conversation were buried under the frozen winter ground, unable to sprout. 
I couldn't help but imagine that Tarumi felt disappointed, that this wasn't how it'd been meant to go. I found myself purposefully avoiding looking at her face. 
A different question filled my mind as we entered the sweets section: Which counter should I buy the chocolate from? In the end, I'd neglected to ask Adachi about her preferences, meaning that there wasn't much for me to base my decision on. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to simply pick which ever line was the longest. Longer the line, the better the chocolate, right? Logical, or too simplistic? Either way, I did just that. Tarumi followed after me, leading me to wonder what reason there was for her to stand in line if she wasn't going to buy anything. Honestly, I felt kinda bad for making her stick with me. No, wait... Was that a good thing to say? It made it sound like I was treating her more as a stranger than a friend. Although, I guess that was the point; we were strangers. 
The line kept hustling and bustling, and it was us who remained cold, as if holding winter in its place. 
After some time queueing, the chocolate had now been purchased. A pair of deep sighs left both of our mouths. 
My shoulders were stiff, and a part of my head felt heavy. The sensation was similar to that following a workout where you went out of your way to use muscles that you weren't normally used to moving, just instead of muscles, the fatigue was felt by parts of my brain lacking in terms of experience dealing with other people. Based on the impression I got off her, it seemed that this feeling was shared by Tarumi. 
It was a bit sad, how that appeared to be the only thing we could hold in common. 
Even as we walked back to the escalator and returned to the first floor, the only sound that could be heard was that of the paper bag rustling. 
It was just outside the station that my eyes came across an electric noticeboard meant for displaying advertisement. 
"..." 
The board was pitch-black and currently not displaying anything, and behind it, spread out the purple sky. 
Where should we go next? Should we drop by somewhere? Those were all questions that I shouldn't have had any problem asking. 
And yet, the words just wouldn't come out. I was stuck, unable to look anywhere but straight forward. 
Tarumi was waiting for me to speak. Most likely, she was waiting for the past me. 
That had probably been her one mistake all along. 
The words that the current me spoke were dull, only motivated by my desire to get away from the cold. 
"So, should we head back?" 
"Yeah..." 
Unbearable. That seemed like an appropriate way to describe this situation. I felt like I needed to get away. 
She'd likely been expecting more. 
Something probably should have happened. 
Yet, in reality, all that remained in between us was this oppressive atmosphere, one that, in a way, felt even a bit annoying. 
If I was forced to blame one of us for this, then I'd probably blame myself. 
Unsure as to how to reignite our old friendship, I was left shivering in the cold. 
In the end, we walked straight back to the ticket gates without dropping by somewhere first. To be perfectly honest, I hadn't been expecting this shopping trip to be over this quickly. I'd spent more time standing in line for the chocolate than facing Tarumi. Rest assured, not texting Mom that I wouldn't need dinner hadn't been motived by me anticipating that this would be the way things turned out, even if, when looking at the outcome, it turned out to have been the right choice. 
I glanced at Tarumi over my shoulder, and saw her scratching her head. Her eyes were also closed, making it seem like she was slightly tired. 
It felt surprisingly painful, to have your past friend be disappointed in you. 
"..." 
On my right, I saw the night, and on my left, the end of twilight, separating me from the train car. 
The train was filled with people on their way back home, and as it continued rocking me about, I went ahead and shone the lamp that was my thoughts beyond the dusk. 
What was it that people saw when they peered into the past? 
A once-happy world? The version of themselves that used to be pure and innocent? Wounds that they wished they could forget? 
Those were all things that I, too, could see. 
Yet, my past was bound by thorns. Trying to reach for it always resulted in my still-immature self getting stung by them. 
Likewise, any attempts at pulling it towards myself would end with my palms in shreds. 
There weren't any particularly bad memories lurking in my past or anything like that. No, it was the vast difference between the past me and the current me that I wished to avoid facing. Thinking about it along that line, it dawned on me just how conservative I was when it came to this topic. Or better put, it was surprising how much I liked myself. I didn't want the current me to change, and simultaneously, wished to forget all about the past me and how shamelessly she'd behaved. 
Puberty sure is the time of self-consciousness, huh? I thought, mocking myself in an attempt to fake being calm. 
While I was doing that, my phone rang. It was quite noisy inside the train car, but as I hadn't been talking myself, I'd been able to hear it. It was a text from Adachi. Hiding my phone from Tarumi, I went ahead and checked what she had to say. 
"Are you free tomorrow? If so, what would you say about going somewhere together?" 
There was something about the message that made it seem like it had been typed in a rush. I couldn't help but giggle a little when I imagined that, Adachi using her phone while all flustered. My laugh had apparently been more audible than I'd imagined, as near instantly, Tarumi turned to look at me. 
"What are you laughing about?" 
"Well, umm... Nothing", I mumbled, all the while hiding my mouth behind my hands. I didn't have it in me to tell her the truth. 
It felt that doing so would only further display the level of relationship that existed between us two at the present. 
As for Adachi's message, I went ahead and replied to it with a quick "Sure". 
Why? Because she was the connection that the current me held. 
The train eventually made its way back to our town. Tarumi got off first, and I followed soon after her. It was there that I noticed that we hadn't been walking side by side. Had it been Adachi, she would've insisted to walk next to me, mostly to allow her to hold my hand. The same had also been the case with Tarumi back in the day. And yet, right now, we were walking in a line, one after another. 
You could easily mistake us for strangers once we got in a crowd. Then again, I suppose that was what we were, strangers. 
We walked through the ticket gate, and there, Tarumi turned to look at me over her shoulder. I watched her raise her hand as she slowly disappeared into the stream of people, as if swallowed by it. 
"Well then... Bye." 
The way those few words came out of her mouth made it sound like she felt hesitant to say them. 
I remained where I was, staring at her back. 
Was I really okay with this? That question continued rocking me about, just like the train had done earlier. 
Something hadn't gone the way it had been meant to. At some point, I'd stumbled. I knew that I had. 
Correcting my mistakes would certainly lead to me feeling less regret. 
Although memories didn't age, I did. We did. 
"Hmm." 
There were things that had been left half-cooked. 
"Hmmm." 
There were things that hadn't been resolved. 
"Hmmmm." 
I knew what I was supposed to do here, but instead, I chose to groan. 
The warmth was welling up. 
"Hmmmmm!" 
Why do you always have to be so indecisive? I asked myself as I slapped my temple. And I really slapped it hard, so much so that for a second, the whole world before me appeared all wobbly. 
It was there that I finally made certain what it was that I was meant to do. 
No matter how much and hard you stared at the uncertain, you wouldn't get a clear answer. That was the case here as well. And yet, there was also something new, something that experiencing sympathy had allowed me to see for the first time in my life. I chased after it. 
Rushing to do it before her back disappeared from sight, I grabbed the thorns with all my might and pulled them to me. 
Trying to ignore the pain as well as I could, I opened my mouth: 
"Taru!" 
What I felt was not the pain of the thorns piercing my skin, but instead, the warmth of my cheeks growing hot, the sensation of my heart pounding in my chest. 
Would my voice reach her? Would it reach the friend who I'd once loved? 
Step after step, she continued walking, growing ever more distant from me. She couldn't hear me. My voice didn't reach her. 
I took my dangly, strengthless arms, placed my hands by my mouth, and shouted with all my might: 
"Hey, Taru!!" 
That voice had come from the old me. 
I was unable to cast away the present. It wasn't that easy for people to change who they were. 
The past me had only surfaced temporarily. A second later, and she was already gone. 
Just like how she'd done it when we'd met at the meat store, Tarumi immediately sprang around. 
There was a look of shock on her face, and though I couldn't see my own, no doubt was I grinning broadly. 
"See you later." 
My voice naturally came out high, and also soft. It was just like back in the day when I'd naively believed that, believed that there would one day be a next time. 
It all came back to me. 
Those had been the last words I ever spoke to her in elementary school. Needless to say, I hadn't known that at the time. No, I'd genuinely thought that we'd be able to meet again in no time. 
It wasn't quite a promise, but rather, a wish. A wish that we'd one day be reunited. I wonder, did Tarumi still remember it? 
In either case, her reaction was exactly the same as back then. 
A wide grin. 
Smiling from ear to ear, the now-delinquent waved her arm at me. 
"Later." 
Just like in the past, we exchanged promises made on a whim. 
Would there be a next time? We didn't know. 
The true friendship between us had rusted, crumbled. There might not come another day that something would shine on top of its wreckage. 
And yet. 
I truly felt that her smile was pleasant to look at. 
So much so that my fingertips grew numb. 

And so, tomorrow, it at last came time for the 14th. 
That sure took a while.