Adachi to Shimamura - Volume 7 - Chapter 4.2

Chapter 4.2 – In This World

I heard that the stars were going out in three days, and so, I decided to travel for two. 
It was quite exciting for someone like me who only knew the town I'd been born in to see how far I could go in my limited time. Live in the moment, I told myself as I left my house behind. My plan was to first travel for two days by myself, and then spend the third day with my family. That was to say, I'd devote a day to walking somewhere and another day to walking back. 
There were obviously no trains running as the world was coming to an end. Everything had stopped. Fair enough, I suppose. However, since I didn't want to stop myself, I was left with no choice but to travel by foot. 
Why was it that I was walking? 
Was I happy? 
Would tomorrow be a better day than this one had been? 
Going through these thoughts in order, I just kept on walking. 
In the dead of night, my feet carried me to a park I'd happened to spot. That was the destination of my journey—its goal. 
There, at the end of my life, I met her. I met a girl. 
She too was carrying a backpack, just like me. Not only that, it appeared that even our reasons for setting out were the same. 
There was no need for formalities. We didn't need to exchange either greetings or our names. No, the similarities between us alone acted as a bridge to let us open our hearts to one another. 
"You have any snacks?" 
"Hmm. If you mean sweet stuff, then yeah, I have some." 
Alright. We both took off our backpacks. After that, we proceeded to exchange the food supplies we'd brought with us. 
It appeared that just like me, the girl too was lacking a destination. 
"I wasn't really heading anywhere. I was just walking. The reason why I stopped here was because I got exhausted." 
Wearing the night like a crown, her pitch-black hair fluttered about. As for her face, that appeared so fleeting, so transient, almost as if it had been carved out from a thin layer of ice. 
"Myself, I intended to return home tomorrow." 
"Hmph." 
"You're not going home?" 
"No." 
"Hmph." 
"You're imitating me?" 
A slight smile appeared on the girl's face. Coldness reminiscent of the night could be felt in the way she conducted herself. 
"If you really don't have anywhere to go, then would you like to come with me to my town?" 
I decided to try asking her to join my journey—to become my fellow traveller. Why did I do that? Well, I figured that the way back home would be a lot more boring since I'd already witnessed the scenery once. 
It might be fun seeing what it was like travelling with someone else now that I had the opportunity. That's why I asked her. 
Rocking her feet back and forth and with her head hung, the girl replied to me with a smile. 
"Hmm, yes. That might be fun." 
It seemed that tomorrow was, in fact, going to be a better day than this one had been. 
"Say. What's your name?" 
In likelihood, this was going to be the last time I either heard the name of another person or gave them my name. 
In a mere three days—or really, closer to two by this point—her name would no longer carry any meaning to me. 
And yet, I wanted to hear it regardless. 
Say that the predictions had been wrong. Say that we were going to die tomorrow and not the day after that. I would still have gotten to hear her name. 
If it was our fate to fall into never-ending sleep just like the stars, then me meeting her here was fate as well. That was what I thought. 

For the human race as a whole, this would've been considered the distant future. However, for me, it was the present. 
Given that, it wasn't all that concerning for people living on a different planet to come live on ours. That was how I felt at least. However, for the generations slightly older than me, everyday space travel appeared to be kind of a big deal. They didn't quite know whether to approach it with worry or excitement. To give a concrete example, my parents used to never as much as talk with each other, but now, I'd often find them watching TV together. Myself, I chose to stare at the stars which floated across the night sky with cold eyes, so cold that sometimes, I even earned myself a few comments from the people around me. 
What I was more interested in were the coming exams and such—my future. 
There were a lot of things near me that I ought to think about first. 
Those people from another planet, they played no part in my life. 
That being said, given that I did live in the town located just near where their rocket had landed and would be able to see them passing through the streets as they were welcomed to our planet, I decided that I might as well go take a look—out of curiosity if nothing else. We'd been given a day off from school because of the incident, and that too played a big part in me making this specific decision. On top of it all, given that every single TV channel was going to be showing news programs about the aliens anyway, the choice was really between seeing them in person or through a screen. And that wasn't a difficult choice at all. 
The streets outside were all closed off. A bunch of the adults I saw were accompanied by bodyguards. As for curious onlookers such as myself, they were all being drawn near the marked spot, their composition resembling a lunch box tilted heavily to one side. I too became part of the crowd, and quickly, my body was swallowed by the heat and warmth the others emitted. I hated it. I really did. Regardless, since I'd come this far—and because turning back now would be at least twice as difficult—I decided to stick through it. 
It appeared that everyone wanted to see the aliens. 
I didn't really get why. I mean, we'd all seen what they looked like on the news, hadn't we? 
The aliens didn't have a bunch of limbs or anything silly like that. Their mouths also didn't extend all the way to their ears. Furthermore, it didn't seem like they were parasites of some kind that were going to be laying eggs into us either. Really, as far as their looks went, they weren't all that different compared to the people of our planet. If I was forced to point out something that stood out to me, then I suppose I would say that their eye colours were slightly peculiar. From what I'd heard, various experiments and studies had been run that confirmed that only humanoid creatures could thrive on a planet sufficiently similar to ours. Apparently, that was simply how the world functioned. 
As to why that was the case, that seemed to be the question that the scientists were currently trying to answer. 
All adults did all day long was think about these things that made my head hurt. 
Truly, they were something else. I hoped to never become one. 
I wanted my life to be more fun than that. 
Some time passed. It was about when my throat was starting to grow dry that a group of aliens at last showed up. They were riding in a convertible car and were escorted by a bunch of people who I assume were there to protect them. If I'm being honest, it was kinda wild looking at them. I almost felt like I was viewing a parade or something. Wait, a parade? Was that really the best comparison here? There weren't even a hundred people present. Whatever the case, this was an opportunity to see aliens with my own eyes, and I guess that was what really mattered. Just like I'd heard it said in the news, there was nothing about their physical appearance that stood out. 
I found myself letting out a sigh. 
These weren't just normal earth people lying to us and tricking us into believing that they were aliens, right? 
Looking around me, it didn't seem like anyone else shared my suspicions. I was left with the impression that they were too excited to even contemplate such a possibility. That, and too busy making noise; I really hoped that the aliens remembered to bring earplugs with them. 
I wonder, what did it feel like becoming—or rather, being made--the centrepiece of a spectacle? 
Were perhaps they afraid? Scared? There were a lot more of us than there were of them. 
The alien in the front, the one that looked like their representative or something, kept on smiling in a very sociable way. 
I guess there was nothing to worry about. 
However, right in that moment, right as that thought passed through my mind. 
The shock I felt was comparable to someone punching me without a warning. 
Had a burden this large, a tax this massive ever been placed on my heart? If it had, then I couldn't remember it. 
I was left unable to breathe for a brief moment. 
My eyes had met with a girl from the group that was being welcomed in. 
Was it because the sunlight was so dazzling? Or had something else caught my eyes? Like what? The wind? The clouds? Carrying herself in a manner that could only be described as being exquisite, the girl lifted her head and pointed her gaze towards me. 
It was in that instant that I spotted her too. From among the people I'd only been glaring at in passing, I found her. 
We proceeded to stare at one another. 
I'm not sure if it was the amount of light that did it, but the girl appeared pale, almost fleeting. 
Her hair was light blonde, and as for her eyes, those were yellow—a similar but deeper tone. 
One look at her made it clear that this was a sight that I wasn't going to forget easily. 
It almost felt like I was staring up at rings formed by the sun on the surface of water. 
Neither of us would avert our gaze. 
And yet, the moment didn't last; the car that carried her made sure of that. 
I continued staring at the girl. I stared at her till she turned her head back around and I finally lost sight of her. 
Even now that she was long since gone, I just kept on staring. 
The clatter of the crowd around me, the thick air and its warmth, all that had left my mind. 
A series of thoughts I had a hard time putting into words collected on the tip of my tongue. 
I was a girl. So was she. 
And yet. 
And yet, what I felt in my chest was a mix of excitement and impatience. 
The overwhelming amount of sustenance I'd received had been consumed in an instant. 
At the same time, my body also felt like it might crumble any second now. 
The girl from space. 
Given that she was the one who had come to our planet, it was not that simple for me to go see her. 
You needed to be an adult with specific qualifications to be able to do something of the sort. 
Conversely, that meant that doing so was possible. 
It wasn't like she was out there in space somewhere. 
The world we existed in connected us. 
I'd now decided it. I'd decided what I would do after school. 
I would keep going straight and become an adult as quickly as possible. 
Years later, it finally happened. 
Having obtained the necessary qualifications, I went to visit the district given to the aliens to live in. 
It was quite the nice place. Lots of greenery everywhere, few people to be seen. 
I suppose the latter might have been the reason for the former. 
It took me little time to find the girl. 
She was sitting on the lawn near the edge of the district, staring at the sky while the wind blew past her. 
The scene was so idyllic. So fresh and clear, like something from a painting. The intense nervousness I felt in my mind didn't suit it in the slightest. 
The sound of me stepping on grass as I approached her prompted the girl to turn her head my way. Instantly, her eyes grew narrow. I noticed that her hair was even longer than it had been back then. Simply watching it flow like a stream of threads made of gold caused my face to grow warm. Likewise, her eyes were still just as radiant as before. I felt myself being blinded by them. 
The girl opened her mouth wide. 
Her reaction showed that she recognized me. We had never exchanged any words. No, we'd only met eyes from a distance. And yet, just like I remembered her, so did she remember me. I could feel my eyes starting to spin as I thought about what that actually meant. 
As I took a step closer to her, the girl turned the rest of her body in my direction. She then stood up and greeted me. 
I couldn't help but notice that she was slightly taller than I was. 
I'd made sure to bring a dictionary with me, but now, its pages appeared empty to me. 
The words I thought I had memorized refused to come out. It was as if they had all vanished from my mind. 
My eyes kept spinning faster and faster. 
The girl appeared confused as to what I was trying to tell her. 
Likewise, as she responded, I too grew flustered. 
We had both been skipping our studies and were thus unable to convey our words properly. 
And yet, I didn't let that stop me. With the dictionary in hand, I went ahead and tried to introduce myself. 
Using gestures, I explained to her what sort of a person I was. 
The girl's lips moved as if she was using them to sound out my name. She then nodded. 
This was followed by her giving me her own name. 
I wasn't quite able to make it out. 
"Err... Umm, but..." 
Shimamura. That was what it sounded like she had said. Had I misheard her? Yeah, I must have. 
I doubt they had already started opening stores in space. 
The girl proceeded to let out a laugh. It appeared that the way I franticly searched the dictionary while simultaneously scratching my head was highly amusing to her. 
That smile of hers caused my heart to skip a beat. 
I could feel something seeping through my body in parallel to the lines of my wrists. 
I closed the dictionary shut. 
There was so much I wanted to tell her. 
And yet, in that moment, I chose to immerse myself in the coincidence of us meeting in the first place. 
The rapidly increasing rate of my heart beating was more than enough to convey how I felt. 

My eyes ended up moving towards the stairs on their own as I stood there at the subway station, waiting for the train to arrive. 
As usual, I was looking for a certain someone among the sea of office workers. 
That someone was a woman, a woman who boarded the same train I did every morning. 
Well, I say that, but we did take different carriages. I also didn't exactly know her or anything like that. Really, the relationship between us was such that every morning, I would wonder if she was here or not, and each time, I'd be surprised that she was. 
Why was I bringing this up? Well, you see, it just so happened that I had ended up sitting next to her by chance. There was something about her that I didn't quite understand that had drawn me in, something that had led me to asking what her name was. After talking for a moment, we then parted ways. Oh, and I should say, this had happened yesterday. 
We hadn't exchanged phone numbers. We hadn't arranged to meet again. 
That's right. We'd just been talking. 
We weren't friends. 
And yet. And yet, my encounter with her had immediately caused something akin to impatience to fill my chest. 
Unable to calm down, I thought to myself, was that really enough? 
Of course, this wasn't to say that we were now acquaintances or something. Hardly. 
I wasn't even sure if anything at all had taken place. 
Erring on the side that nothing had would've been the sensible decision. I knew that. 
And yet, for whatever reason, I found myself waiting for something to happen. 
...That sure was a lot of contemplating I had done there. 
While I was busy focusing on things that honestly didn't matter, the lights of the train came in through the tunnel. Was she not coming today? Was she taking a different train? Thinking that, I glanced up the stairs one last time, and there, I saw her. I saw the woman among the people rushing to reach the platform in time. 
I could feel a smile appearing on my face. 
The woman made it down the stairs just as the train pulled to a stop. It was there that she noticed me. 
She stopped in place as if hesitating, but only for an instant. 
What she did next was walk up to me. 
The final step was one she took with her legs apart. It was almost like she was stepping across an imaginary finish line. 
We proceeded to smile at each other in a slightly awkward manner. How was I supposed to greet her? How was I supposed to approach this situation? I didn't really have a clue. 
To make sure that the train didn't leave without us, we got on without as much as exchanging greetings. There, we were left with no choice but to stand; this being the morning train meant that all of the seats had already been taken. How long was this going to last? How long we were going to be together? I had no clue. Given that we didn't work at the same place, the woman could get off at any stop for all I knew. 
"Yo." 
We took a moment to calm down, after which the woman bowed her head at me slightly. I quickly gave her a "yo" of my own. 
Why were we talking like this? 
"You were, err... You were late today, huh?" 
I used my fingers to gesture her making it to the train just in time. This prompted the woman to use her own to curl her hair around them. 
"Yep. I overslept." 
"Oh." 
"Not really a morning person." 
"I see." 
And so, our conversation came to a halt. 
This was it? This was what conversations were? 
I thought back to the ones I'd had with my co-workers, and yeah, I suppose that was so. 
Like taking two dry stones and placing them next to one another. I'd always thought that was a good thing. 
I wonder, why was it that I now felt differently? Why did I find myself unable to calm down? 
"Err." 
It was the woman who spoke. I saw her eyes being reflected on the glass panel of the door in front of us. 
"Would you like to go have dinner tonight? I know we work at different places so it might be difficult, but still." 
My hand gripping the straphanger grew stiff. 
"After work?" 
"Yeah." 
This time, I chose to look at her directly. 
"I don't know why, but I feel like we'd make good friends." 
A smile formed on her face as she said that. It was a smile of innocence, one that didn't show her age at all. 
I could feel all sorts of emotions flowing through me as I stared at her eyes. 
"Sure." 
What prompted me to say that? I didn't know. 
We were practically strangers. Nothing tied us together. 
And yet, there was something fun about not knowing. 
The way I let this brand-new experience carry me was how I had always done things. 
The only difference was that now, I was choosing to face things in a positive manner. 
Truly, it was something mysterious. That was what I thought to myself as my heart continued trembling in the rhythm of the train car. 

On Monday, while the sun was shining more intensely than usual, I exited my house. 
"G-Good morning." 
A yawn left my mouth as I thought about school. It was there that I saw her. Like usual, she'd been waiting for me outside the front door. 
The way she stood by my side almost made her look like my own private secretary. 
For a moment, I considered acting all pompous for the fun of it. 
Of course, I didn't actually do that. I just thought about it. 
"...Haha." 
I couldn't help but smile seeing how nervous the simple act of greeting me had gotten her. Her shoulders were all stiff. 
One careless moment, and her heart might sink in. She was working so hard to make sure that didn't happen. 
"Good morning, Adachi." 

I wonder, how many people were there on this planet right now? 
How many people would I never have an opportunity to meet? 
The one person I had met was Adachi. It was almost as if it had been meant to happen. 
In this world, there were so many people I'd never meet, but I had met her.