Adachi to Shimamura - Volume 7 - Chapter 2.1

Chapter 2 – Momentary Peace Is All I Need

The same languid sense of melancholy marked both the end of summer break as well as the start of the next school term. 
It had been some time since I'd woken up, and yet, I still continued to lie in bed, refusing to accept my defeat to the bitter end. Starting from today, I would need to adjust my sleeping schedule and in general start getting up earlier, all so that I wouldn't be late for school. Naturally, that wasn't possible for me; summer break as I'd just experienced it had robbed from me the energy necessary to do so, leaving even my spine to feel limp and powerless. Tiredness and laziness alike covered me like a thick layer of sweat, eating at my heart and causing my eyelids to grow heavy. This sensation made its way through my skin. Not even the deepest parts of my eyes were safe from it. 
No longer could the song of the cicadas be heard. That was what I found myself thinking about as I lay there, my back turned towards the window. Summer was slowly but steadily coming to an end. The days I could not return to would turn into memories, leaving me with no choice but to proceed to the next season. 
Fighting against the flow of time hadn't been possible last year, and it wouldn't be possible this year either. 
Rather, I found myself in the exact same situation as previously, once again experiencing the changing seasons first hand. 
That was all to say, would me going back to sleep here really change anything? Or would the world just keep trucking along? 
I felt like the latter was true. 
It'd be fine. Probably. 
Zzz... 
"Wake up!" 
All of a sudden, I felt someone kick me on the butt. Pulling my blanket along, I instinctively rolled away, only for the pair of feet to follow me. Did the woman really find such joy in kicking her own daughter? She didn't stop chasing after me till I hit the wall, forcing me to reluctantly get up. There was a wide grin on her face, the kind that left her teeth visible. They were really white. 
Glancing to my side, I noticed that even my sister was still in bed. How strange. She was usually the first to get up. 
"Morning." 
"What time is it?" 
My heart creaked as if my biological clock was in disorder. I'd clearly not gotten enough sleep. 
Mom didn't answer my question, instead choosing to state the following while still grinning: 
"A friend of yours is waiting for you outside." 
"Huh? Who?" 
Shaking my head from side to side as if trying to wake myself up, I asked the woman to repeat herself. However, by that time, she had already left the room. 
A friend... Outside... It obviously had to be either Adachi or Tarumi. Moreover, the fact that today marked the day of our school's opening ceremony further whittled the possibilities down to just Adachi. 
If it had turned out to be Nagafuji or someone else after all that thinking, I would've laughed. I would've laughed so hard. 
First things first, I should probably check who it was. To do so, I walked over to the curtains, pulled them open, and had a look. To no one's surprise, the person I saw standing there in front of our house was none other than Adachi. The light of the morning sun shimmered off her, leaving me to assume that her forehead must already have been covered in sweat. Despite that, her shoulders remained at a stiff 90-degree angle. Why? Was she angry? In a similar manner, both her cheeks and neck were bright red, and I could only assume it was her holding her breath in order to maintain this blocky posture which made them that way. 
"Hmm? Is she waiting for me?" 
It appeared so. I turned around, left the window, and making my way down the hallway, headed towards the front door. While her strange posture had left me wanting to spend some more time observing her, it was exactly the difficulty she appeared to have maintaining it which caused me to decide that the sooner I went out to see her, the better. 
And so, I ended up leaving my room still in my pyjamas and with my hair totally unkempt. Come to think of it, it had been quite a while since I'd last seen Adachi. We had talked on the phone multiple times, sure, but the last time we'd met in person had been during that particular summer festival. Knowing Adachi, I'd figured that I'd find her knocking on my door the very next day, but she hadn't done so. It appeared that she too had some things she needed to think through first. Or not. That possibility felt just as likely. 
Still, I had to say, that night sure had been quite the ordeal. So warm, truly. 
For one thing, getting Adachi back home with her being only half-conscious hadn't been easy in the slightest. 
I even found myself wishing that she would've saved her confession till after we got back. Uncouth, I know, but that's how I felt in the moment. 
It was exactly that which I felt to be my biggest flaw. 
Thinking back to it now, the whole thing kinda made me blush. 
"How embarrassing." 
I'd never had a girlfriend before. Fair enough, I suppose; most girls didn't. Wait, but what if they actually did? What if they were just hiding it? I mean, take Hino and Nagafuji for an example. Those two were pretty close. Suspiciously close, you might even say... Well, whatever. That hardly mattered to me. The more important question here was how I was supposed to approach the situation. 
What changes came with us going from just friends to girlfriends? 
What things should change? 
In that moment when Adachi confessed to me, I left all those questions for the future me to think about. 
Well, it was the future now. I had to think about this stuff. 
I had become the future me. 
"Help me, Doraemon..." 
There was still one more piece of homework left for me to take care of before the end of summer break. 
Normally, girls didn't have girlfriends. Well, at least not in general. Probably. 
The point is that this differed from what was normal for Adachi. 
It had likely been in that moment when I'd allowed our relationship to become what it was now that what was normal for me had changed as well. 
"How embarrassing. Seriously." 
The short span of time it took me to walk down the hallway wasn't enough for me to draw a solid conclusion. Obviously not. I'd never expected it to be. 
In the end, I was left opening the front door, figuring that the usual would do. 
"Morning." 
As if frightened by my greeting, Adachi proceeded to shiver, all the while maintaining her blocky posture. It was there that our eyes met. Unlike her shoulders, there was no sense of stability to how her eyes moved around. The fact that she was wearing her school uniform seemed to imply that she was here to go to school with me. 
It appeared that this year, she had no intention of cowering on the second floor of the sports hall. 
I had changed myself, too. Not only was my hair a different colour, I'd found myself someone to go to school with. 
All these tiny changes that in the moment hadn't felt all that meaningful had piled up, leading us to where we were right now. 
The second summer break of our high school lives had come to an end. The only thing still the same was the suffocating heat all around us. 
Her shoulders maintaining their rigid angle, Adachi walked over to me. The way she moved almost looked like she was taking tiny hops with each step, leaving me to assume that the joints in her knees were equally stiff. 
"Hmm." 
The state she was currently in very much resembled that of a super ball. So bouncy. Also sort of fun. 
I couldn't help but greet her with a smile. 
A few steps later, Adachi had made her way to me and was now standing before my eyes. There was something about the sheer normality of this situation that made it feel strangely novel to me. 
Though Adachi had yet to say a single word, both her lower lip and eyes were already shivering. Nothing unusual there. She hadn't changed, had she? What a relief. Just as I thought that, Adachi made a sudden move: 
"I l-look forward to our time together!" 
This statement was followed by a deep bow. 
I could practically hear her stiff body cracking in multiple spots as she forced it to bend. 
Where was all this coming from? I thought about that for a moment before quickly reaching a conclusion. 
"Oh, right. Yeah." 
We were going out. Though we'd already been doing so for multiple days now, somehow, it felt to me like today marked our first day together. I could only assume that Adachi thought that too. 
Something about the realisation caused me to feel a bit embarrassed. 
"I should be the one to say that..." I added quietly. If I had to take a guess, I would assume that it was likely me who felt the most troubled by this whole thing. 
Why was that? Well, for one thing, I still wasn't quite sure what the relationship between us was. 
I could recall there having been times in my life where I had prefaced doing something by telling the other person not to blame me if they got hurt. Looking back to it now, it might be that those words were exactly what I ought to say here. 
"Still, you sure are, hmm, early, huh?" 
Still bowed down, the top half of Adachi's body leapt upright as I said this. 
"Well, I... I figured that we could go to school together, and..." 
"I see." 
Was I supposed to interpret her coming to get me this early as her wanting to turn me into a top student? 
"I mean, we're... you know... girlfriends now." 
Adachi appeared visibly tense as she forced these words out from her mouth. Her tongue wasn't the only thing shivering; her teeth were as well. 
"Hmm? Oh, yeah." 
The plural there was important. We were both each other's girlfriend—in other words, girlfriends. Confusing, I know. 
"R-Right?" Adachi asked as if seeking for confirmation, all the while taking another step towards me. The impression I got was that she was about to grasp my hand. 
She lifted her chin, bringing her nose right next to mine. 
I distinctly remembered her asking the same thing when we'd been talking on the phone. Was she worried? Anxious? Looking back to the events of that night and how she had acted throughout it, there was certainly a possibility that Adachi couldn't remember anything that had taken place. It wouldn't be strange at all for her to confuse it with a dream. 
As such... 
"Yep. We are." 
Pushing back the slight embarrassment I felt, I went ahead and took Adachi's hand. I wrapped my fingers around her fingers, placed my palm against her palm. Based on the way her expression grew stiff and her shoulders jumped up, I was left to assume that Adachi was quite startled by me doing so. Staring at her, I slowly raised her hand. 
"You love me, and I love you. Right?" 
Simple, huh? 
Step by step, Adachi transitioned from being startled to hanging her head. Her back curved too, almost as if she was a plant in the process of withering away. 
All the tension that had just moments ago held her body upright appeared to now have left her. Matching this, her cheeks and neck were being painted in a thick shade of scarlet. 
"Right..." 
What an unusually calm reaction for her. Hmm... There was a part of me that felt just a bit unsatisfied with it. 
A few moments passed until I heard footsteps behind me, prompting me to immediately let go of her hand. 
"Hello." 
That person was Mom. For some reason, she too had decided to come outside. I tried telling her to go away by pointing at the house, only to be completely ignored. 
It didn't stop there; not only did the woman ignore me, she went as far as to grab my head and push me down. 
"You're quite early, Adachi. Have you eaten breakfast yet?" 
Adachi appeared a bit startled. Made sense, I suppose; she was being addressed by her friend's mom here, after all. Wait, no; now that I thought about it, it might have actually been because of me that she was acting this way. 
"Oh, no. I never eat breakfast..." 
"That's perfect then. Come inside and have some." 
"Huh?!" 
Before she could protest, Mom had already grabbed Adachi's arm and dragged her inside. There really was no room for argument when dealing with her. 
"You get inside too", she beckoned at me next. I gave her some vague response resembling an affirmation, followed by a deep sigh. 
Right before closing the door, I had one last look outside. 
"It's so early. What need is there to hurry?" 
They were all so hasty. All of them. 
I chased Mom and Adachi to the kitchen. While my sister wasn't there due to still being asleep, a certain other little girl was. I was of course talking about Yashiro. She sat in her usual seat with her cheeks stuffed full of cabbage. There was a massive plate of it in front of her, accompanied by a cup of miso. 
"This is a good breakfast." 
"Really?" 
Thinking about it some more, I kinda had to agree; while I obviously didn't approve of her marching in without permission to get it, the food she was eating, it looked sort of delicious. 
"Oh, Shimamura. And Adachi", the girl greeted us. Her voice didn't sound the slightest bit muffled, which was quite strange considering the sheer speed at which she was moving her jaw up and down. It was almost as if her speech wasn't actually dependent on her mouth. While this would've been extremely suspicious had it been anyone but her, given the girl's multiple other strange parts, it hardly stood out among the rest. I greeted her back and took a seat next to her, prompting Yashiro to in turn push the plate of cabbage towards me. 
"Want to eat some?" 
"No, thanks. I'm good." 
Me turning down her offer acted as a signal for her to resume munching. I didn't normally get up this early, and yet, each morning I came down to get breakfast, she was still in the kitchen, eating away. What was up with that? Was she like a mouse in that she needed to eat all day long in order to calm down? I'd never seen a mouse with blue hair before. Also, I wonder, what sort of conversation had to take place for Mom to offer her a plate of cut cabbage? They were both quite the personalities. So mysterious. 
Seeing Adachi act a little lost as she tried to decide where to sit, I decided to help her out and pointed her to the chair Dad always used. He was nowhere to be seen, which I could only assume meant that he had already left for work. It really was true; all the members of our family with the exception of me were morning people. 
I always tried my hardest to get up early. I truly did. And yet, whereas they succeeded, I failed. What was it that caused this difference between us? 
Staring hard at me, Adachi proceeded to slowly sit down. She placed her butt on the very corner of the seat, which honestly made her look awfully suspicious. Fortunately for her, none of the people currently present in the kitchen were the types who were going to catch onto that. 
"Today we're starting the day off lively, I see." 
"Yeah, you can say that again. Hahaha." 
Yashiro's cheerful comment earned an equally light response from Mom. While at it, she placed plates in front of both of us. 
"You won't have a long day in school today. A slice of toast should be more than enough, I think." 
"Yeah. Thanks." 
"What about you, Adachi? Want yours with butter or jam?" the woman proceeded to ask her, holding up jars of both she'd grabbed from the fridge. I could see Adachi's eyes bounce between the butter and the jam—strawberry jam specifically. 
"Oh, it's... Err... Jam, please." 
While she had obviously been about to say "it's fine" with her goal being to refuse the woman's offer, she ended up taking those words back the last possible second. The impression I got was that she was doing so solely to please Mom. Hmm... I would've liked for her to understand that it really wasn't necessary for her to do that. 
Mom pulled out another slice of toast from the bag and placed it on the plate in front of Adachi. She then added the jar of jam next to it. 
"Here you go." 
"Thank you very much", Adachi stated politely with her eyes cast downwards and her legs shaking restlessly beneath the table. It was clear that she wasn't good at dealing with Mom. Well, that went without saying; the woman was my mother. What I meant was more that her behaviour here seemed to suggest that she would've acted just as awkwardly in the presence of her own mom. Her hand stiff as if she was suffering from a muscle spasm, Adachi took some jam—an extremely small amount at that—and spread it on her slice of toast. Then, she kept spreading it without adding any more. 
"Feel free to use as much as you want." 
Like her, Mom added while pointing at Yashiro—currently in the process of drenching her cabbage in miso. 
"The more you add, the better it tastes!" 
Those were the last words the girl said before once again going back to munching. Yeah, let's just leave her be for now. 
Between hanging her head and moving her eyes around, Adachi appeared quite hectic. Having managed to calm herself down somewhat, she then thanked Mom one more time followed by a deep bow before taking a bite out of the corner of her bread slice. She pecked at it, almost like a bird. In a lot of ways, the way she was acting here made it clear that she didn't find the situation to be all that comfortable. It was like she couldn't quite wrap her head around why she was being given breakfast. Well, not that I really got it either. 
And yet, what mattered was that Mom didn't mind one bit. Speaking of, the woman soon placed a slice of toast on my plate as well. 
"Here. Eat." 
"Why didn't you ask me which one I want?" 
"Because, I don't care." 
Now that's just rude. 
And so, I ended up having my toast with butter. 
Taking a seat by the table herself, Mom proceeded to fix her eyes on Adachi. She reacted to this by coughing lightly, almost as if she was having trouble forcing the tiny bits of bread she was biting off down her throat. Looking back to it, had there ever been a food Adachi had appeared to enjoy the taste of? Not as far as I could remember there hadn't. The impression I was left with was that she lacked anything that could be called an appetite. I wonder, was that the reason why she at times appeared so pale to me? Not pale as in physically, but rather, emotionally. Perhaps "expressionless" was more akin to the word I was looking for? 
Just imagine it: Adachi, eating something with a grin on her face. What would I have to do to be able to see that? 
"Hmm, hmm." 
"Err..." 
By this point, Mom had laid the upper half of her body flat across the table and was now staring at poor Adachi from below. Seriously, what a weirdo. 
"Can you go away please?" 
"Hahaha." 
Mom paid little mind to my request—or a command depending on your perspective—choosing to respond solely in the form of a flat laugh. You could just do that? The sheer nerve of this woman. I couldn't help but find myself slightly amazed. 
"So, you came to pick up our little miss sleepyhead here, huh?" 
"And who might you be talking about exactly?" 
"Oh, umm... Yeah..." 
Why is everyone ignoring me? Stop it. 
"You came quite early for that, I feel." 
"Sorry. Shimamura, you were... err... still asleep?" 
Adachi's shoulders drooped in a very apologetic manner as she shifted her eyes from my messy hair to the pyjamas I was wearing. 
"It's fine. Really, don't worry about it. It was about time she woke up anyway." 
"What makes you think she was talking to you?" 
Constantly having to make objections was quickly becoming an incredibly tedious ordeal, and not least because the person I was making them to wasn't paying any attention to me. 
Just as I was thinking that, Mom turned to look at me with a grin on her face. 
"You've found yourself a good friend." 
"Hmm, I suppose." 
There was one thing wrong about her statement: Adachi wasn't my friend. She was my girlfriend. 
I kinda felt like that was the one thing I could say to Mom that would render even her speechless. Or was I wrong in assuming that? Would she simply accept it like it wasn't a big deal at all? 
Hmm... No, she probably wouldn't. Laughing at my own conclusion, I shifted my focus to the side, only to notice something there. 
"Stare." 
That something was Yashiro, currently staring at my hands with a piece of cabbage hanging out from the corner of her mouth. 
More precisely, her eyes were pointed at my half-eaten toast slice. It didn't take a genius to figure out what she was after. 
"Here you go." 
I spread some butter on the corner and held it out to her, and immediately, she caught on. And I mean that literally; like an animal that had fallen for bait, she sank her tiny teeth into the piece of bread. Not only that, the way she pushed her head out made her neck look super long for a second. Was my mind playing tricks on me? Yeah, that must've been it. 
A few moments of munching later, a satisfied grin formed on Yashiro's face. She then proceeded to pass something both green and yellow into my direction. 
"Here is some cabbage as a sign of my gratitude." 
"I'm good, thanks." 
There was no arguing with the girl, and before I knew it, my toast had been covered in a mix of cabbage and miso. Miso-cabbage-butter-toast. Now that was a new invention. It was sort of like a miso cutlet sandwich, except without the cutlets. While certainly not happy about it, I decided to go ahead and try it out anyway just for the heck of it. 
"Hmm... It's honestly not that different." 
I wouldn't go as far as to say that I wanted to start eating it regularly. Rather, it was more the case that the cabbage added a kind of... how to put it... nice, grassy smell to the bread that it otherwise lacked. 
"Hm?" 
It was there that I noticed that Adachi was looking my way. Hiding her mouth behind her own slice of toast, she stared directly at me. 
The expression on her face wasn't one that I would call favourable, and from that one fact alone, I could glean all the information I needed. 
"Wanna trade bites?" 
"Yeah." 

Adachi's face lit up as I said that. It appeared it was exactly what she'd wanted. We proceeded to tear off a piece each and give it to the other person. 
Munch, munch. 
"Hmm." 
You could barely taste the jam on Adachi's toast. That was how little she'd used. 
Some more stuff happened, we finished eating breakfast, but even so, it still wasn't quite time for us to leave for school. With my sister sleeping in our room, I decided that it would be better for me and Adachi to head to the one upstairs. Oh, and in case you're curious, Yashiro was still eating. Like I said, a mouse. 
"It's pretty hot up here, but I hope you can take it", I informed her, earning myself a series of nods. The colour of Adachi's ears kinda resembled her toast; slightly red, but not all that much. Though clearly nervous, she would probably be fine. Probably. There was always a chance she'd end up transforming into a block again. 
Unlike her mouth, her body was surprisingly dexterous. That was one aspect of her that I couldn't help but admire. 
We'd just entered the room when Adachi sat down on her knees with her back straight. Restlessly, her index finger drew circles on the surface of her knee. Rather than being unable to calm down, the impression I got off her more resembled a child who'd done something bad and was now being called for a talking. Truly, what a bother. I found myself scratching my head. 
First things first, something should be done about the heat. I pulled out an electric fan and flicked it on. 
Just in that moment. 
"I... I look forward to our time together!" 
This statement of hers was followed by a deep bow. I was just about to lower my head in response when I realised something. Something very important. 
"We already did this earlier." 
"One more time!" 
"Seriously? Whatever..." 
She was far too passionate for me to want to bother arguing with her. Right; as far as she was concerned, this appeared to be a pretty big deal. 
"I'm, so, err... so incredibly happy right now... and..." 
With the breeze from the fan playing with her hair, Adachi tried her best to convey her feelings to me despite stuttering like crazy. 
There must have been so many different words bouncing around inside her. 
"Right." 
Keep going, I urged her. And yet, Adachi didn't. Clear signs of helplessness could be seen in her eyes as she turned to look the other way. 
Was this simply something she would never be able to get across in a logically coherent manner, no matter how much and for how long she thought about it? Likely so. Adachi truly did lack experience, and not only when it came to this, but in general. Not just that, I was left feeling like that was something that could no longer be made up for in this point of her life. 
And yet. And yet, those honest feelings of hers backed up with thorough thinking always managed to make a great impression on me. 
The ideal best and the best you were capable of weren't always one in the same, and they didn't have to be. 
"I-I'll do my best!" 
There were so many things that could've followed here, all sorts of questions and replies, but we skipped straight past them. 
Instead, what came at the end of the conversation was a very Adachi-like proclamation. There was something about it which made me smile. 
While not able to say everything she wanted to, she still managed to convey certain things. 
One of them being that the amount of time you'd spent with another person was a very important factor and not at all to be taken lightly. 
Lowering my hips, I too sat down. 
"The pleasure is all mine", I stated before placing my palms against the floor and bowing in a very polite manner. 
While a strange thing to do for sure, it also caused me to feel very much satisfied. 
There was something quite fun about letting the resulting sensations have their way with me. 

Through this and that, it eventually came time for us to leave for school. 
"Don't turn into a delinquent." 
"I'll be waiting for my souvenir dough-nut." 
"No to both." 
Seen off by both my sister and Yashiro, I stepped outside and saw that Adachi had already gotten her bike ready and was now waiting for me. Slowly, she rolled in my direction. Or rather, her bike rolled. She was walking. 
"Do you mind if I toss my bag in?" I asked her, prompting Adachi to hastily pull her own bag out from the basket. Wait, no. There was definitely enough room for them both. I went ahead and stuffed both of our bags in with a wry smile on my face. 
Now empty-handed, I set off. I'd only taken about two steps forward when I noticed that Adachi wasn't actually riding her bike. I turned around to see what was up, only for her to awkwardly wobble the rear wheel from side to side. 
"On the... back..." 
"Oh, I should get on the back?" 
"Y-Yeah. I'll, err... pedal real hard. So don't worry about it. Yeah." 
While not a terrible attempt at a joke, it did come out way too delayed to be at all effective. Regardless, it wasn't the case that I necessarily disliked it. 
Once again giving up on my aspirations to be a model student, I hopped on the back of her bike. There was something quite nostalgic about the act of placing my feet on either side of the rear wheel and my hands on Adachi's shoulders. Compared to how they had been back in the day, her shoulders felt much more stiff right now. 
"Are you sure you're okay? I mean, it is the first day after summer break and all." 
"Umm, I... I'll be fine. Yeah. You're as light as a feather, Shimamura!" 
What a nice thing to say. If not for the "umm"s and "yeah"s, I would've given her full points. 
"Ehehe." 
"Hehehe." 
Alright. Time to get going. 

With both the sun and the wind blasting against us, our bodies began moving forward. 
And so, accompanied by Adachi, I began my second school term for the second time. 
A sound slightly weightier than when a single person was riding it was emitted from the wheels of the bike as it travelled down the road. 
All I had to do was maintain my balance, and before I knew it, I would find myself at school. 
I had to say, this was honestly quite enjoyable. If she were to do this every single day—come pick me up for school—I don't think I would mind that one bit. 
At the same time, it was true that such an arrangement would effectively turn Adachi into a bus. And that felt wrong. I mean, at the end of it, she was my girlfriend. Yeah. 
"Hmm..." 
Things were still mostly the same as they'd always been. 
When you became girlfriends with someone, it was strange for things not to change, right? Probably. That was my impression at least. 
Rather than pay attention to the scenery around us, I instead chose to spend this time thinking about everything that had happened. 
What a tough situation indeed. Actually going out with someone, putting a lot of effort into it, it was anything but easy. 
She was my girlfriend now, huh? Hmm... 
I suppose that the fact that I was struggling so much with this could be traced down to my previous lack of meaningful relationships. 
I ended up agonizing over these questions for the entire duration it took for us to get to school. 
It was for that reason I even forgot to hop off the bike before riding through the main gate. Luckily, there were no teachers there to yell at us, and instead, we were able to smoothly make our way to the parking area for bicycles. I'd just placed my feet on the ground and stretched out my back when a random thought crossed my mind. 
"Shimamura?" 
With Adachi now having let go of the handlebar, I softly took her hand and stared at her. 
"Sakura." 
Why did I call her that? Just to try it out. Adachi's eyes immediately grew wide, followed by her shoulders twisting in a weird angle, almost as if someone had punched her. Her back was shaking. A strange sound I didn't quite know how to describe could be heard coming from behind her arm she was using to hide her face. Was she coughing, perhaps? That was kinda what it sounded like. Trying my hardest to suppress the desire to poke her sides that had been left completely defenceless, I waited for her to recover. We were so lucky that no other students arrived to store their bikes there in the meantime. 
Why? Because viewing the situation with no context, it really did look like I'd just punched Adachi. 
"Are you okay?" 
There was something about the way she was suffering here—almost as if she'd taken a far too large sip of water—that made me feel slightly guilty. Had it been wrong of me to surprise her like that? Possibly. At the same time, it was also true that you couldn't exactly preface these sorts of things without completely ruining the intended effect. 
What to prioritize, her health or the mood? Hmm... What a profound question. 
While I was busy thinking about that, Adachi recovered. A few tears had appeared in the corners of her eyes. Was it really that bad? Staring at her, I felt like this time, I might end up getting flustered. 
"Sorry about that." 
"No, no. It's... fine", she stated, accompanied by the sound of her drawing in snot through her nose. Was that really something a maiden ought to do? 
Slowly, Adachi drew circles on my palm using her finger. She was like a child learning how to write. It kinda tickled. This exercise was followed by her stating the following: 
"H-Hougetsu..." 
"Present!" I responded with a smile. A blush appeared on Adachi's face as she drew her head in. The way she did that, she kinda looked like a turtle. Turtle Adachi. 
"It's pretty tough to say." 
"I bet." 
Of course it was; my given name hardly ever got used. 
Even assuming that she was mostly joking, which she probably was, something about her calling me "Hougetsu", it made me struggle a little trying to decide how to react. 
"Yeah, no. I think you'll always be a Shimamura." 
"Perhaps." 
That was certainly the name I was most used to personally. In a similar manner, as far as I was concerned, the person standing in front of me was definitely "Adachi". 
Knowing that we couldn't spend the rest of our lives standing there, we set off. All the while still holding hands. Hmm? I quickly turned my head to give Adachi a glance. She appeared a bit puzzled by my stare, giving me the impression that she wasn't particularly conscious of the fact that she was currently holding my hand. I honestly found it kinda fun how me simply looking at her could cause her to start acting all suspicious. Was I really that scary? 
No, that probably wasn't it. If I had to make a guess based on everything I knew about her, I'd say that it was interacting with another person she was scared of. 
"H-Hou..." Adachi went ahead and stated out loud, her neck as stiff as it could be. While definitely a strange nickname, the way she said it was even weirder. 
"Now that's something I've never been called before." 
"Well, in that case... What about Shima?" 
"Cough." 
Putting her actual suggestions aside for a moment, what she was doing here, she was looking for a way to become even more intimate with me, wasn't she? 
If nothing else, I had to admire her willingness to just keep on trying. 
With even the school building being mostly devoid of other students due to us coming so early, we ended up reaching our destination still holding hands. Of course, given that there was no way we could step in like that, the hallway preceding the classroom had to be where we let go. 
Truly, what an unfortunate place it was, this world we lived in. 
Had we been the only two people who existed, then that would've solved that issue. But, we weren't. 
I wonder, would we be able to live like that? Without anyone else? Probably. And yet... And yet, there was something about it that felt off to me. 
Well, whatever. 
Adachi looked quite reluctant to let go of my hand. I replied to her with a smile, prompting her to ask something different from me instead: 
"That thing, could you say it again?" 
"What thing?" 
"My first name." 
Adachi was staring at the floor as she said this. Not only that, she wasn't even blinking. I didn't have to touch her to be able to tell that her heart rate had gone up. 
How keen, how acute were the sensations surrounding her. I found myself feeling just slightly jealous. 
Why? Because in that moment, I hardly felt anything. 
"Sakura." 
I went ahead and called her by her given name one more time, just like she'd asked me to. 
Like the flowers of a sakura tree, Adachi's face became tinged with a reddish tone. 
She didn't cough this time. Was that a sign that she was adapting to it? 

It was only morning, and yet, so much had happened already. I could only assume this was the reason why the opening ceremony felt very much like a dream to me. 
"Yawn." 
The day came to an end with me still dozing off. Figuring that I'd go for a nap once I was back home, I got my bag sorted out. 
"......" 
Who also loved sleeping? Gon. He spent so much of his days sleeping that he was barely seen awake. I couldn't help but smile a little as I thought about that; had I already turned into an old lady myself? 
My grandmother messaged me quite frequently. Sometimes, she would even send me videos of Gon. Some of them were a bit silly. Others were completely surreal. And yet, the one thing that they all had in common was the whirlpool of emotion they created in my heart. While not all of those emotions were necessarily positive ones, it couldn't be denied that they caused me to feel something. And not just a little bit, but in a big way. 
I was changing, transforming. This left me confused. It gave me goosebumps. 
More than that, it allowed me to feel strangely calm, a sensation accompanied by a slight feeling of nausea. 
"Yawn..." 
Time to go home. 
It was there that I noticed a shadow being cast across my desk. I lifted my head, only to see that at some point, Adachi had shown up next to me. Realising that I'd noticed her, she proceeded to grab the sleeve of my uniform and pull on it slightly. This was exactly how my sister used to behave way back when. 
"L-Let's go home..." 
"Hmm, sure. Let's do that." 
Did it really count as us going home together if we were going to part ways immediately after exiting the school premises? Whether it did or didn't, I guess it was all the same. 
"I'll, err... give you a ride." 
"Huh?" 
"I just mean, I'm your gir—" 
"Right. Sure, got it. Let's get going then." 
Worried that she might actually end up blurting out what she'd been about to say right there in the classroom, I quickly placed my hands on her shoulders and shoved her to the hallway. Don't let your guard down, Adachi. 
Looking like we were imitating a train, we made our way through the hallway and down the stairs. While me shoving her from behind was clearly causing Adachi to grow incredibly flustered, that wasn't the only emotion she gave off; the awkward smile which soon appeared on her face made it clear that she was simultaneously enjoying the situation somewhat. 
She really was bad at smiling, wasn't she? Then again, I could only assume that the reason why was that she'd never had to smile before. 
Perhaps I could help her get better at it by smiling at her more? 
"......" 
I found myself staring at her armpits—left slightly exposed by her summer uniform. Should I tickle her? No, no I shouldn't. Still, her arms sure were pale. It almost seemed like whereas the rest of the world had gone through summer to get here, she alone had skipped straight past it. 
We'd just exited the school building when I spotted a pair of backs slightly off in the distance, one of them short and the other one tall. 
Having noticed me back, the two figures proceeded to wave at me. 
"Ohh. Shima-chi, Ada-chi." 
"Chi." 
While Hino's greeting was the same as ever, Nagafuji's was clearly lacking something. 
"Chi." 
However, as I tried it out for myself, I came to realise that it was actually quite convenient. It had just the right amount of familiarity to it. Casual, but not too casual. Most importantly, it was something you could just say out loud without having to think about it too hard. 
Whereas Nagafuji hadn't changed at all over summer break, Hino on the other hand was burned to a crisp. Her skin was just as dark as that of my little sister, giving me the impression that there wasn't much, if any, difference between the sun over at Hawaii and the one here. 
"So, what have you guys been up to that hasn't gotten you tanned?" 
"Huh? Oh, err. Just the usual. Studying mostly." 
"Liar, liar." 
My obvious lie earned me a laugh. 
To be completely honest, a lot had happened this year. For one, I'd found myself a girlfriend. I wonder, how would the two react if I were to casually bring that up? Hino would probably end up with her eyes wide in shock, but Nagafuji. Hmm... I kinda feel like she'd give me an applause. Was there anything in this whole world with the power to shock her? My impression of her was that of an eraser stuck on a desk, unable to be turned over. 
"Oh, that reminds me. Shima-chi-chi." 
"Why do you keep adding more of them?" 
"Yesterday, your mom came to buy stuff over at Nagafuji's place." 
"I'm aware." 
The croquettes at the dinner table were a clear sign of it. 
"Wait a minute. Why are you bringing this up, Hino?" 
It would've made a lot more sense for Nagafuji to say that considering she was the one who lived there. The girl in question gave me a laugh, all the while pushing up her glasses in a very proud manner for some reason. 
"Do you have potato stuck between your teeth?" 
"Huh? What are you expecting me to answer to that?" 
What a weirdo, seriously. I couldn't help but smile a little. 
Come to think of it, Adachi hadn't said anything the whole time, had she? I turned my head to see what was up with her, only for our eyes to meet. Unlike me, she wasn't smiling in the slightest. Not that I'd expected her to be. Wait... Why hadn't I expected that? I lifted my hand in the air and waved at her, and immediately, she grabbed onto my wrist. This was followed by her breaking into a sprint and dragging me away with her. 
"H-Hey!" 
While Hino and Nagafuji were clearly taken aback, they also seemed to understand what was going on here. 
"See ya." 
"Bye bye bye!" 
Truly, what a classic situation. Waving at the two, I parted ways with them. 
Adachi ended up dragging me all the way to the parking area for bikes. The fact that she'd been looking forward the whole time had made it difficult for me to tell what sort of an expression she had on her face, but now that she had come to a stop, I decided to check it out. Partly because I was worried. Or really, mostly. One look at her eyes jumping around in a very awkward manner, almost as if she was trying to avoid looking at me, let me know that even she herself questioned the way she had acted. And yet, it appeared that it was what her heart had told her to do. 
I looked at the row of bikes, then the sky. A few moments later, a realisation hit me. 
"Oh, I get it. You're jealous." 
Jealous because I'd talked with another girl. 
Furiously, Adachi shook her head from side to side. 
"Ada-chi." 
"N-No, that's not it!" 
It was written all over her face that it definitely was. 
Really, what was I going to do with her? My faint laugh was met by Adachi turning around to look at me. Importantly, her fists were clenched. 
I ended up assuming a defensive pose without even thinking about it. 
"That's not it.." Adachi mumbled, her eyes and cheeks red, her lips pouted like those of a sulking child. "I just don't want you to... cheat on me." 
"Huh? I was cheating on you just now?" 
Slowly, Adachi nodded her head. 

"I mean... You're my g-girlfriend now." 
"Right." 
In the same way, Adachi was my girlfriend too. Truly, what a complicated situation. 
"I get that. Still, I do think your criteria for what counts as cheating is a bit harsh." 
"No it's not!" she lashed out, her voice carrying enough intensity to cause the scraps of paint hanging off the rusted pillars near us to tremble. 
I could feel the smile on my face fade away. 
I'm not sure if it was witnessing first-hand Adachi's hidden claws that did it or what, but for some reason, I found myself slowly drawing my head in. 
"I don't... think it is..." 
Done being a beast, Adachi quickly transitioned back to acting like a small animal. The way she shrivelled up almost made it seem like someone had smacked her on the head. And yet, it wasn't the case that I could simply ignore her outburst. Why? Well, for one, it had attracted the attention of every single person around us. So yeah. 
Anyway, let's put them aside for a second. 
"Right", I stated randomly just to say something before pinching Adachi's cheeks. This caused her to panic, but I didn't care. Instead, I simply continued squeezing her soft flesh. Though they'd been cold at first, with every second that passed, her cheeks grew warmer and warmer. 
A few, broken-up mumbles left Adachi's mouth. While I couldn't be sure, it did sound like she was trying to say my name. 
"Hmm..." 
Acting all serious, I spent the next few moments like that. 
Was this enough to cancel out the oppressive ambience her earlier outburst had created? Probably. If nothing else, that was what I chose to believe. 
Here I was, trying to calm down my angry girlfriend and get her back in a good mood. There was something about that which made me feel like I'd become her boyfriend all of a sudden. 
What did that actually entail? Was it even a good thing? Well, I didn't really know. Regardless, as it had allowed me to pull through in this specific situation, I decided to deem it acceptable. 
Today's me had done enough. 
As for the remaining problems, those would be tackled by the me of tomorrow. 

And so, our second school term began. 
This also marked the end of the 24-hour futon show (i.e. days where I could sleep whenever I wanted to). While Doraemon hadn't shown up, I did get fireworks, and I guess that made up for it. 
Once again I was back to the same old weekly routine of a long, tedious trek followed by a weekend of rest. 
Having made it through yet another boring week, I now found myself enjoying a precious Saturday afternoon in front of the TV while munching a sandwich. What was on? A show where they interviewed high school girls. While I wasn't paying full attention and therefore couldn't say for certain, it appeared that the interview was centred around club activities. One of the girls' answer to a question I hadn't heard was something akin to them viewing their time in high school as time for self-improvement and consequently being very happy that they were getting good results. 
"How can two high school students be so different?" 
This sarcastic quip came from Mom, currently passing by with her hands full of laundry. 
Hmph. Honestly, that was exactly what I'd been thinking. 
"Still, I do love you too, my sloppy little Hougetsu. Pat, pat." 
Grind, grind, more like. 
"Can you stop patting my head using your jaw just because your hands are full?" 
Mom then ran off, but not before taking a bite out of my sandwich. It appeared that was what she had been after in the first place. Munching on the remaining bread, I shifted my focus back on the TV, only to see that the interview had already come to an end and was now replaced with a different news topic. 
"Hmm... Making the best of the time you have been given..." 
That expression definitely had a certain ring to it. To the me who preferred spending her days lying flat on her desk, it seemed almost alien. 
What had I been like before becoming a high school student? More importantly, how would I have changed after it was all done? 
For some reason, I felt like the answer to the latter question lay not with me, but with Adachi. 
"My girlfriend is so jealous." 
Hahaha. Right now, this whole thing was still very much a laughing matter, but I wonder, what was going to happen with it going forward? What if it got worse? 
...Haha. 
Adachi, she... loved me. Well, yes. Obviously. I knew that. However, I felt like she wanted something more, something beyond that. And I don't mean like kisses and that sort of stuff, but rather, something that could be summed up as being truly special. 
A special, unique relationship. That was what she wanted. She wanted it so desperately. 
While I did get it, I just... I just felt like her attempts at tying me down were going to be met by me turning into boneless ham. Then, eventually, the tied ham—i.e. me—was going to end up being eaten by her. That was how I saw the situation. 
"Scary, scary..." 
Munch. 
"Oh! Shimamura." 
It was there that Yashiro toddled in. She always acted so incredibly carefree, almost like there was nothing in the whole world that could get her down, and I could only assume that was how she felt on the inside too. She certainly didn't seem like the sort of person who would put up a front. Lately, I'd begun finding myself feeling slightly jealous of her. 
"You are eating something quite wonderful", she stated straight away, her tiny eyes growing fixated on the egg sandwich in my hand. "It is an egg sandwich. Yes, I am very versed when it comes to these sorts of things." 
Why did she say that like she was speaking some foreign language? I had no idea. Regardless, the girl had walked up to me and was now standing by my side as if waiting for something. As for what that something was, well, you could probably tell. The thing I found so amusing—or rather, interesting—about Yashiro was that even if I chose not to share the sandwich with her here, she wouldn't get the slightest bit angry. There was this one time she'd asked me something similar and I'd turned her down for whatever reason, and in response, all she'd done was state how regrettable it was before gleefully sprinting off. 
She didn't drag it out or make it a big deal or anything of the sort. Rather, the whole matter was settled just like that. 
Sure, it didn't really make sense for her to get angry when she wasn't given food seeing how she was basically a freeloader to begin with, but even so, my personal experiences gave me the impression that people in general had great difficulty avoiding reacting at least somewhat negatively when their expectations weren't met. Whereas kids would shout, adults would feel depressed. While certainly different, those were both expressions of the same base emotion. As for us stuck in between, well, we would go either way. 
Yashiro on the other hand was different. She didn't choose either. 
There were always weirdos like here out there who broke the established norms. 
She reminded me of a block of pure ice that had remained solid since times immemorial. 
"Here you go." 
I held what remained of the sandwich out to her, and right away, the girl began munching on it ecstatically. 
I wonder, would this be counted as cheating as well in Adachi's eyes? Hmm, no. Probably not. It was more akin to feeding an animal. Wait... Was that it? She came over because we fed her? I kinda got the feeling that I hadn't thought things through well enough before starting, although at the same time, I guess it was pretty late for it now. 
"I have to say, you sure look like you're enjoying it." 
"Mhohoho!" 
"Yes, yes. Just don't bite my fingers, okay?" 
All of this combined with the delicacy of her appearance really made her seem like she had been created artificially. 
Just where had she come from? Where could you find a creature this innocent? 
"Say, have you ever gotten jealous?" 
"I do love jello." 
"Right." 
Ahahaha. 
In the end, all that was left of my sandwich got eaten by Yashiro. 
"Hmm... Alright. I guess now is as good of a time as ever." 
"Huh?" 
Leaving Yashiro to enjoy the aftertaste of her meal, I got up and went to get my phone. 
What I came across as I entered my room was my sister busy with her homework. 
"My, how diligent." 
"Don't group me with yourself, thanks." 
"Hmph." 
"Hyah!" 
After showing the cheeky girl who was the boss by, well, squeezing her cheeks, I grabbed my phone and called Ada-chi, only for her to immediately pick up. Not a single beep of the ringing tone managed to go off. Honestly, it was kinda impressive. She was like one of those people at a trivia contest with their hand on the buzzer. 
"Yes, yes? What?" 
"Don't run inside. It's dangerous." 
While I obviously couldn't see her, the intensity of her words more than made it clear what she was doing. I could practically imagine her leaning forward with her phone in hand. 
Truly, she was so easily read. 
"It's pretty, err, rare for you to call me, Shimamura." 
It was rare, and yet, she'd managed to react that briskly? Truly, Adachi ought to be feared. 
"Is it really?" 
"Y-Yeah. It is." 
A hint of disapproval could be heard in her voice. I got the feeling that this could make for a pretty annoying topic if we were to get into it. 
"Anyway. I have a suggestion, Adachi." 
"Sure. What is it?" 
She waited a moment before responding. Was she hoping that I'd ask her to come hang out with me? That was the impression I got based on her tone. While I certainly wasn't against the idea, it was something that we could have always done, and had. 
The idea I had was a bit different. I figured that we could start something new, something that would reflect the change our relationship had gone through. 
"I was thinking, what would you say about us packing each other lunch?" 
"Huh?" 
"You know. I'll make you lunch and bring it to school, and you do the same for me." 
Simple enough, right? 
To tell you the truth, it had been my original plan to make her lunch without telling her and then surprising her on the very day. However, knowing how weak Adachi was to surprises, I had ultimately decided against that. It would definitely attract a lot of unwanted attention if she were to have one of her fits in the classroom. Plus, there was something very unequal about me being the only one doing it. 
Why? Well, we were both each other's girlfriend. That's why. 
"Lunch... made by Shimamura..." 
Her voice sounded very soft as she said that. 
"Sure, sounds good. Sounds really good." 
This time, her voice had gone from soft to sharp. 
I was honestly a little shocked how favourably she was reacting to this. 
I mean, sure, I'd never thought it would be a tough sell, but still. 
"So... You'll make lunch just for me?" 
"Yeah. That's right. And you'll make it just for me, right, Adachi?" 
"Right. Got it." 
I couldn't help but wonder if she really did get it. Considering how obviously sincerely she was taking the whole thing, I would've expected there to have been some more weight to her answers. 
"Still. You know how to cook, Shimamura?" 
"Hahaha." 
What a thing to ask. 
"What about you, Adachi? Do you know how to cook?" 
While she did work at a restaurant, it appeared that her role there was serving the customers, not making the food. 
"Oh, err... I have made chocolate before." 
"Huh." 
I'd never done anything of the sort myself, and it was for that reason I was so taken aback. How did that stuff even work in practice? I didn't have a clue. 
Thinking about it, I did seem to recall a time she'd sent me a picture she had taken of some chocolate. Hmm... Wait a minute. Could it be? 
"I-It'll be fine. Same for you, Shimamura. I'll eat it no matter how it turns out. I promise." 
"Now that's reassuring." 
Not that I expected it to turn out badly. It was hardly my intention to push any sort of culinary boundaries here. 
With both of us having agreed to that, we then ended the call. 
"Now then." 
What was something that I could make for her? Wondering about that, I walked down the hallway before taking a peek inside the living room. 
"Oh, yeah. That's it." 
"Hmm?" 
Seeing Yashiro lying flat on the floor brought just the answer into my mind: A sandwich. I should definitely be capable of making a sandwich no problem. A safe choice, yes, no doubt about that, but if the other option was aiming too high and then failing miserably, I felt like I'd much rather choose the path that guaranteed success. 
Besides, I was pretty sure that what mattered was not so much the food itself but rather the fact that I was the one to make it. 
"Shimamura. Are you free?" 
Still lying on her stomach, Yashiro squirmed to my feet like a snake. 
The sparkle in her eyes—blue like the ocean—made her intentions clear. She was asking me to play with her. 
"Go play with my sister." 
"I would, but Shou says she's busy with home-work." 
"Oh, right... Well, in that case, why don't you read manga or something?" 
Though I'd been free until just now, currently, I was extremely busy. 
Busy because of Adachi. 
That was going to become an increasingly common occurrence going forward, wasn't it? I couldn't quite make up my mind about whether or not I felt like that was a positive thing. 
"Ah, yes. That is a good idea. It'll make for good language practice too." 
While I didn't exactly understand her reasoning for it, Yashiro ultimately chose to go along with my suggestion. I took out a few volumes that no longer fit in the bookshelf and had instead been stuffed inside a cardboard box and handed them to her, and immediately, the girl began sprinting in the direction of my bedroom where my sister was, the books raised high above her head. It was quite the thing, being that close to someone. 
My sister was so terribly afraid of new people, and yet, she'd chosen to open herself to Yashiro. Was it exactly this cheerful personality of hers that was being displayed here that had led to that happening? I could only assume so. 
There were certainly things that I could learn from her. However, at the same time, I also felt like it was far too late for that now. 
Why? Because I was already halfway to becoming an adult. 
Once that happened, once you became an adult, you needed to start following things other than your own heart. 
"It's important to at some point re-examine what you've learned reading textbooks." 
You could even say that it was necessary if you wanted to live normally. 
Doing things for other people, trying to understand them, stuff like that was crucial. 
The world had taught me that. 
From now on, I was going to make an effort to follow its teachings. That was what I decided. 

It went without saying, but the most important thing to do during a day off was of course to rest. 
As for how you ought to go about doing that, well, that part varied from person to person. Just as there were those who preferred doing nothing at all, some people felt the most calm when they were running around. In the same vein, while others might think that I was lazy for lying idly in place, that was actually just me staying true to my body's desires. 
All I wanted was to forget that the sun was ever going rise again and fall deep asleep. 
That sensation of my body melting down in the river of time, I wanted to be swallowed by it. 
"Wake up!" 
"Hyah!" 
Just then, I was pulled out from underneath the sheets. Wait, really? Was I sure that it wasn't the sheets that were pulled off me? It was difficult to distinguish between the two, but whatever the case, the end result was that my peaceful sleep was disrupted. Turning my eyes towards Mom, I asked the woman what reason she had to wake me up on a day when I didn't have school. She answered this question by pointing her finger in the direction of the hallway. I went ahead and looked. There was nothing there. 
"You have a guest." 
"A guest?" 
Still wearing my pyjamas, I got up and entered the hallway. I understood it was because I'd just come from a room where I was protected from both light as well as the flow of time, but the sun, it really hurt my eyes. I could feel myself growing dizzy as the light around me swallowed me whole. 
It was only when I reached the entrance that I managed to get a grip of myself. 
I opened the door, and there, in front of our house, I saw Adachi standing with her hands full. 
It was currently Sunday. 
"Wait, wait. Wait. Hold on." 
This surprise attack of hers had truly come out of nowhere. She hadn't even reserved an appointment or anything. 
I got why she was here. That wasn't what confused me. No, what did was her bag; it was far bulkier than what I would've expected. 
"Err... Weren't we going to be making each other lunch for school? You know, during the week?" 
That was the idea I'd had when I'd made the suggestion. Don't tell me, she hadn't chosen to interpret it as me inviting her out on a picnic, had she? Hmm, no. Probably not. That didn't really make sense now that I thought about it. I should also point out that the shirt she was currently wearing had the words "love is difficult" printed on it. Difficult, huh? 
Coincidentally, that was also how I would describe Adachi's taste in fashion. 
"I haven't even gotten started making your lunch yet." 
"Oh, yes. That's fine. Totally fine. You see, this is, umm... a practice run." 
"Huh?" 
"That, and an investigation. I was wondering if something like this would work and wanted to hear your opinion on it." 
The way the strap of her bag dug into her shoulder seemed to imply that she'd gotten a bit carried away while cooking. 
"Hmm... That's so like you, Adachi." 
Still feeling slightly hesitant, I chose to approach the matter head-on. The cap of the water bottle peeking out from inside her bag could be seen glimmering as light reflected off it. 
What might she have cooked up for me? While it hadn't been all that long ago since I'd eaten breakfast, I couldn't help but find myself growing slightly curious. 
"Sure, why not. It's going to be a lot more relaxing eating it here compared to a lunch break at school." 
I bet Adachi too would be able to act much more naturally with no people around to stare at her. 
Doing my best to resist the urge to yawn, I invited her to come with me upstairs. 
It went without saying, but my life truly had gotten a lot more busy since I'd started going out with her. 
This extended to my days off as well, and so, the time I would normally have spent sleeping was swept away to make room for reality. 
For the old me, the one who found immense tranquillity in the act of falling asleep, that would've been utterly unacceptable. 
"......" 
However, for the current me, things were a bit different. 
Seeing Adachi's eyes sparkle with excitement, I decided that it'd be just fine. 
"Welcome, welcome", Mom greeted us as we walked through the hallway. She'd been mopping the floor, but as she raised her head, she immediately noticed the massive bag Adachi was carrying. A puzzled look appeared on her face. 
"Are you here to take another bath?" 
"Huh? Oh, no." 
"She packed some lunch and asked me if I wanted to eat it with her." 
"Here? At our house?" 
You could see Adachi's face turn slightly red as the woman asked that. Her head tilted to the side, Mom then shifted her focus on me. 
"What an interesting friend you've found." 
"I guess." 
This had really been the natural outcome of me deciding to approach something unexpected in a positive way. 
"Still, it's quite nostalgic having someone else pack lunch for you, isn't it? How long has it been since I last packed you some? A year? Even longer than that?" 
She followed this statement up by letting out a hearty laugh. Was that really something you ought to be happy about? 
"I mean, it's not like anyone is stopping you." 
Not once had I told her that I didn't need her to make me lunch. 
"Nope!" Mom exclaimed, followed by her wiggling all over. Pretending like I couldn't see her, I turned towards the stairs and began making my way up them. 
"You quite resemble your mother, Shimamura." 
"You think so?" 
We were still in the process of walking towards our destination when Adachi said this. I quickly went ahead and pinched both my cheeks and my nose. I hadn't really thought about it all that much, but yeah, she might have been right. 
"I don't think I'm quite as commendable as she is as far as my personality goes, though." 
"I suppose..." 
"Huh? What?" 
"Nothing." 
Adachi's reply came briskly, which honestly, was quite rare for her. 
I ended up guiding her to my dusty study room. I made sure to keep the place ventilated, and yet, after every night, particles of dust could always be seen dancing around in the air. Why was that? Moreover, where did dust even come from? I kinda felt like that was something we'd been taught in school once, although since it had never come up in an exam, I'd simply ended up forgetting all about it. That really wasn't a good thing to do, I felt. 
With the kotatsu between us (it never had ended up being cleared away), Adachi took her heavy-looking bag and placed it down. 
I grew worried just looking at it; had she really made that much? 
"Here." 
Looking quite nervous herself, Adachi took out a small box and handed it to me. 
"Thanks." 
Rather than this being a packed lunch she'd made specifically for me eat in the middle of a long school day, it almost more felt like she was sharing the stored leftovers of her meal from yesterday with me. All this because of the plastic Tupperware container she'd chosen to use. 
Regardless, it appeared that this was all she'd made. That left me with a question; what else did she have in her bag? 
Whatever. I guess I didn't need to know that right now. I pulled the container open, revealing something flat and light brown inside. 
"You made okonomiyaki?" I asked her, all the while pinching a piece of onion that had been sticking out between my chopsticks. 
"I've done it at work before, so I figured it'd be a good idea." 
"Right... You still work at that Chinese place?" 
"Yeah." 
I went ahead and poked the okonomiyaki using my chopsticks. I then flipped it over, only to reveal that below it, there was yet more okonomiyaki to be found. This made for two pieces of it in total. Yeah, I should be able to eat these no problem. 
"Too few?" 
Adachi followed this question by reaching for her bag in a very ominous manner. While I didn't know for certain, I could kinda assume what she was planning on doing. 
"No, no. It's fine. Really. I don't think I'd even be able to eat more than this." 
"Oh. Sure." 
Slowly, she put the bag back down. I guess that proved it; she had made more after all. 
While Adachi didn't pull out any more food, she did take out a water bottle filled with green tea. Memories of a time when I'd used to play "house" came rushing back to me as she placed it on the table. I distinctly remembered getting bored of it right away and quickly running off. I guess that didn't really count as me playing it then, did it? 
"H-Here you go." 
"Thanks." 
After repeating the same exact exchange from just moments earlier, I went ahead and rolled up my sleeves. Or rather, I pretended to; I wasn't actually wearing a shirt with long sleeves. 
Never before had I eaten food made by someone from my class. It was a completely unknown experience, and honestly, kinda made my heart beat. 
"Alright then. Let's dig in." 
I quickly pressed my hands together before extending my chopsticks. I then cut off a piece and brought it to my mouth. 
There was something about the intensity of her glare that caused my throat to start growing dry. 
I chewed. I swallowed. I gave her a glance. 
The anxious look Adachi had in her eyes kinda made me feel like her staring at me was going to cause me to catch whatever it was that was affecting her. 
"Do you want me to be honest, or would you prefer vapid praise?" 
What I was saying there—if you couldn't tell—was that it wasn't all that good. I'd definitely eaten better. 
"Err... S-Something from the middle." 
From the middle, huh? Sure thing. 
"It's cold." 
"Ah!" 
Panicking, Adachi reached for her bag. She then pulled up multiple other, similar-looking plastic containers. Called it. 
"Umm, this should be warmer, I think." 
After examining few of the containers, she picked out a single one and handed it to me. I pulled the lid open and took a bite. 
"Oh, yeah. Much better." 
Flour-based foods really did tend to feel awful in your mouth after they got cold. Hmm, yes. I'd even go as far as to say that this was quite delicious. 
Not bad. Not bad at all. She'd really managed to pull through here. The one thing that still stuck out to me was the sheer amount of food on offer. Just who was going to be eating the rest? Right as I was wondering about that, Adachi circled to me around the table, almost as if she was sliding on the floor. 
"Adachi?" 
"Aaah." 
"......" 
An utterly bizarre sound left Adachi's mouth. Well, not really. She was simply holding her mouth open. 
Was this what I thought it was? More than likely. Using my chopsticks, I cut off a piece of the okonomiyaki. 
However, before feeding it to her, I decided to first peer inside Adachi's mouth. Why did I do that? Well, I didn't really have a reason other than that it wasn't something I got to do often. Hmm, yes. She had all of her teeth intact, no doubt about that. I have to say, her mouth was much more pink on the inside than I would've thought. Was it the contrast between it and her white teeth that did that? Possibly. 
"H-Hurry up please." 
"You have a piece of onion stuck between your back teeth." 

Adachi proceeded to urge me to hurry up by clanging her teeth together. I kinda wanted to continue joking around, but as doing so seemed like it might lead to me being bitten, I decided to do as I was told instead. Now, where should I place the okonomiyaki? On her tongue? Unable to think of a spot that would work better, I did just that, prompting Adachi to wrap her tongue around the piece, almost as if grabbing it. Having made sure that she got it, I pulled back the chopsticks. 
"Is it good?" 
Why was I the one asking her that? 
"Yep." 
Equally confusing was Adachi's satisfied reply. While her eyes were cast downwards, she wasn't quite able to hide the smile on her face. 
If the end result was that we were both satisfied, then did it really matter how we'd gotten there? No, no it didn't. 
"I'll do it next." 
Adachi was just about to take the chopsticks from me when all of a sudden, a phone rang. 
My phone specifically. I'd left it on the corner of the table. 
With Adachi here, who could've been calling me? 
Oh, right. Tarumi. 
I'd completely forgotten about her. 
"Sorry. It's my phone." 
Doing my best to fake being calm, I picked the device up. One glance at the screen confirmed what I'd been suspecting; it really was Tarumi. 
"Could you give me just a second." 
No response came from Adachi. Instead, she chose to simply follow me with her eyes. Hmph... 
It was only after I'd exited the room that I answered the call. 
"Hello." 
"Ah. Yo." 
When had been the last time I'd heard Tarumi's voice? I was honestly having difficulty remembering that. Was it when I'd turned down her invitation to visit the summer festival? It might have been. 
"Yeah, so. Hello." 
"Hello." 
Making my way down the stairs, I greeted her back. 
"I'm just gonna go straight to it. Are you free right now, Shimamura?" 
"Hmm..." 
Though faint, the sound did not escape my ears. 
"Just a moment." 
"Huh?" 
Making sure that I was covering the phone's microphone under my palm, I turned around towards where I'd come from. 
"...Hey!" 
As if a pebble had been tossed against the clear surface of a lake, she leapt up from her hiding spot. By "she", I was of course talking about Adachi. Slowly and hesitantly, she revealed herself. 
Her eyes were turned upwards like those of a child who'd just been caught making mischief. 
"But..." 
"No buts." 
I gave her a soft chop on the forehead. The shadow being cast from my extended fingers lined up perfectly with her hairline, splitting Adachi's head in two. 
"Hey, Adachi. I really think you ought to act with more confidence." 
"Huh? Are you, err... telling me to stay and listen? That sort of confidence?" 
"Umm, no. Not exactly." 
How should I put it so that she'd understand what I was trying to tell her? Hmm... Perhaps words weren't the best choice here after all. Maybe I should give her a concrete example. 
I knew pretty much exactly what it was that Adachi wanted. Alright. 
Brushing away the hair from her forehead, I went ahead and pressed my lips against her skin. 
It felt just a bit bumpy. You could get a good sense of how skinny she was. 
As I pulled my mouth away, Adachi immediately grew stiff. She then quite literally fell on her knees. Her face was... hmm... Her face was honestly quite red at the best of times, so that part's probably not worth a special mention. Regardless, looking at her kinda reminded me of a strawberry. 
"You're the only one I'd do this to." 
Currently. 
Now that I thought about it, when was the last time I'd done something like this to another person? It was quite a while ago now, but I definitely remembered doing it to my sister before she started going to school. Adachi resembled how she'd been back then in more ways than one, which was the reason why I'd figured that it would work on her too. However, as we now saw, it might have been a bit too effective. 

"Got it?" I asked her, earning myself two small nods in response. Good. Following that, I urged her to go back to the room: "It'll take just a moment. Alright?" 
Adachi nodded one last time before turning around and retracing her steps. The way she walked made it look like she might topple over any second now. 
Looking at her, I couldn't help but see a resemblance between her and a bird scuttling away after flying into a window. 
She was acting just as she'd been during the night of the festival. 
"Shima?" 
I quickly brought the phone back to my ear. 
"Yeah, I'm here. Sorry. I have a friend over." 
"Oh... Is that so. Should I, err... call you back later?" 
"Hmm... Yeah, probably. Right. Sorry about that." 
I could feel my guilty conscience rattling around inside my mouth. 
"Catch you later then..." 
"Right..." 
Three steps forward followed by four backwards. 
The faint sense of awkwardness I felt as I ended the call was accompanied by intense self-loathing. 
"This isn't good. No, not good at all." 
I couldn't help but feel like I truly was a heartless person. 
"Hmm... Heartless? Is that really so?" 
Perhaps a more accurate description would've been that, instead of lacking one entirely, my heart was simply cold as ice. Yeah, that sounded much better. It really summed up who I was perfectly. 
My heart was cold, and therefore, shallow. Sure, it didn't really make sense physically speaking, but as far as expressions went, I felt like it fit quite well. 
It was for that reason exactly that from time to time, the excess amount of sentiment would cause me to tear. 
I was just like one of those paper ladles you used to catch goldfish during that one festival game. 
While my grandmother has praised me for being both fair and just, a person gifted with beauty and intelligence alike, when it came to dealing with Adachi, justice wasn't really something I could base my approach on, was it? What made me say that? Simple: She was my girlfriend. And because she was, it was perfectly fine for me give her special treatment. Or better put, I felt like I had to do so. At the same time, it was also true that doing that by its nature led me to act cold, almost negligent towards other people who weren't her. Hmm... Regardless of how this all sat with me, it was simply something that I would need to get over. 
I needed to be careful or else I might end up becoming someone who gave up immediately at the first sign of difficulty. 
The specifics of a given situation bred strength. They created thoughts. For example, had Mom not been my mother, I would simply have thought of her as an extremely annoying adult. In the same way, since Adachi was my girlfriend, I ought to act and think accordingly when dealing with her. But how? What did "accordingly" really mean here? That was something I was still trying to figure out. 
I returned to the room, only to find Adachi sitting on the floor with her knees held up. She'd been gently stroking her forehead using her fingers, although as soon as she noticed me, she quickly pulled her hand away, almost as if trying to pretend like she hadn't been doing it. Had I ended up getting saliva on her or something? How unclean. 
I sat down, and immediately, Adachi got up for some reason. What was going on? I gave her a questioning glance, only for Adachi to squeeze herself between my body and the table. Let's just say, this was anything but a refreshing experience. It almost felt like a lump of warmth had been placed on me. 
I decided to poke her upper arm as a test, and yeah. She definitely was warm. 
"Hmph. You're like a baby." 
"Is that bad?" 
The response I earned myself almost made it sound like she was pouting. It wasn't often that she showed such a side of herself. 
While I didn't personally mind any of this, the room being totally closed did make it quite warm. At the same time, I could only assume that Adachi loved it here. 
She'd found the place where she belonged right between my legs. 
Using the chopsticks, I cut off small pieces of the okonomiyaki and brought them to her mouth. Occasionally, she would do the same for me. While eating them like this was definitely a bit more difficult than normal, I didn't think it was bad at all. I was reminded of all those times when I'd held Gon between my legs. 
I had said it before and I'd say it again: Adachi truly had the personality of a dog. 
I watched as the corners of her mouth and eyes moved about like ocean waves. 
With her hands placed against my legs, I could feel her arms tremble. 
"Shimamura, I... I love you. I really do." 
Ever her voice sounded shaky. 
"Thanks." 
Never before had anyone outside of my family told me that they loved me this many times. Not just that, there was a possibility that no one ever would. 
Eventually, there would come a day when I found meaning in that person being Adachi. 
I was sure of it. 
"......" 
Yes. 
I'd start thinking of our time together, the moments when we got to touch one another, as being something precious. 
While serenity and peace were nice, they didn't need to last forever. That was the one thing I wanted to train myself to believe.