Adachi to Shimamura - Volume Anime Special - Chapter 1

Chito

How many years had it been since I crossed paths with this strange little creature? I honestly couldn’t re member anymore. 

At some point, I’d simply stopped counting the days. Little by little, her strange antics had started to appear less strange to me, and before I knew it, her always being there had become part of my daily life. 

It had to have been quite a long while for that to have happened, right? 

“Is something the matter?” the girl asked. She spoke very calmly considering the fact that I’d pinched her soft cheeks between my fingers and was currently stretching them wide. It was almost as if she didn’t even mind. Honestly, her voice had so little intonation to it that I couldn’t help but wonder if it wasn’t actually coming from her mouth, but from somewhere else entirely. 

“No, no. Nothing’s wrong. Everything is normal.” “I see, I see”, she stated back. Even now that I’d let go of them, her cheeks still remained stretched out. It didn’t take long for the girl to also notice this, and immediately after she sat down opposite me, she began pulling them back to their original shape. Let’s just pretend like I didn’t see that. 

With my elbow resting against my knee, I found myself staring at nothing in particular. 

The few lights that could be seen around us were like scars in the vast sea of darkness. There were also random buildings scattered here and there, all crum bled down and covered in plants which even now were still growing. It seemed like this was yet another region that had for the most part been left behind. There, a long and narrow yawn escaped my mouth. It was by no means the first one. I didn’t need to take a look at a mirror to be able to tell that I was getting tired. 

We’d been so busy walking around that before we knew it, the sun had set and it’d become night time. Night equalled tiredness. 

I proceeded to lift my head and roll up my shoulders. Whereas my body still had some energy left, my mind on the other hand felt completely out of it, almost as if my thoughts had been drenched in mud. Why was it that living creatures had to sleep in the first place? If only I was able to make use of that time, then... Then what? In silence, I found myself thinking about what lay beyond the darkness of the night. 

Had I been walking this whole time, then where would I be now? 

“By the way, Chito. Is it time for dinner yet?” the girl asked, her cheeks having returned to normal. This was a very usual question for her. Hearing my name on the other hand, that was less so. I could feel some of the tiredness I’d been experiencing earlier fade away. 

“Yeah, yeah. Just give me a second.” 

Doing as told, I reached into my bag and pulled out one of the packets sticking out. My shoulders grew heavy at the sight of the object small enough to fit on the palm of my hand. Half a day of running around, and this was all that I’d managed to obtain. 

“Not sure what these fruits are or if they’re even edible, but here you go.” 

“Thank you.” 

That was a joke, mind you. Of course I wouldn’t pick up something I thought might be poisonous, much less give it to the girl. Speaking of, she’d already tossed the piece of fruit into her mouth and begun munching on it. She ate the skin too, and also the core which I personally found to taste bitter and nothing else. How did I know that? Because I’d tried doing the same myself one time in order to save food. How had it gone? Horribly, of course. There had also been another similar occasion when I’d spotted hermunching on some unknown piece of fruit and assumed it was safe to eat, only to find myself suffering from severe hallucinations for several hours after the fact. It’d been there in the world of rainbows that I’d come to the conclusion that the girl had no value as a food tester. 

Now, enough about that. What caught my eye next was the fruit she was munching on. Specifically, the part she’d bitten off; the cut was perfectly even, so much so that it almost looked as if she’d used a knife or some thing. What sort of teeth did she have to leave such bite marks? I wasn’t quite sure. Whatever the case, after she was done eating the rest, the girl then proceeded to shake her body from side to side in a way matching the movements of the flame I’d kindled. I was left with the impression that she’d greatly enjoyed the food. Every time she did it, more and more of those mysterious particles floated off from her hair. A few even landed on my arm, only for them to immediately vanish as if melting into the air. Another thing to mention about the particles was that they were warm, warm enough for me to be able to sense them even with the fire burning directly next to me. 

“Tell me another story.” 

Having spent the entire sunny portion of the day moving, I no longer had any interest in taking another step for the rest of the night. 

There was something I always found very relaxing to do during moments like these, and that was listening to the girl’s stories. 

“That one from the other day, was there more to it?” “That one?” 

Her pale blue pupils quickly turned my way. Would I be able to fall asleep listening to her? That was my goal, so hopefully. 

The girl placed her hands on her petite knees before closing her eyes. 

“There is more, yes.” 

Assuming she was telling me the truth, this was some thing that had happened over 3700 years ago. 

“I know this happens often, but I just realised I’ve been wrong this whole time.” 

“Huh? What are you talking about?” 

“That supermarket located nearby, Sunmart. When I was a kid, I always thought the name was in reference to sanma (type of saury). I know, I know. It makes no sense. They even have a picture of the sun on their bags. I guess somehow, I just wasn’t able to connect the dots.” “Umm... Sure.” 

“Yeah.” 

We continued walking. Now, what did I need to get from the store? Making sure to pay attention to the traffic lights, I began forming a mental list. Some strawberry jam would be nice. That was about as far as I got when all of a sudden, I felt a stare. I turned my head, only to find Adachi looking my way. The expression on her face made it seem like she was waiting for me to continue with the story. 

“Oh, no. That was it”, I stated quickly. I figured I shouldn’t keep her waiting like that. This prompted Adachi to mumble out something, nod her head, and shift her gaze away. As was often the case with her, I found myself having some trouble trying to interpret her reaction. 

“We’re going to the supermarket, so I thought I’d share a supermarket anecdote. It’s that simple.” “Right. You are like that sometimes, Shimamura.” 

“Hmm? Like what?” 

“...Like that.” 

Not sure what she meant. 

Our apartment was located the perfect distance away from the supermarket where the walk there sometimes felt pleasant, and other times exhausting. Today being a day off among other reasons made it fall decisively into the former category. There we were, Adachi and I, walking under the cloudless sky without a care in the world. 

Though you might have assumed that we were al ready deep into summer based on temperature alone, it was actually only the start of May. 

Another way to put it was to say that all walks uphill were accompanied by a line of sweat dripping down my forehead. 

I’m not exaggerating when I say that I experienced genuine relief stepping inside the store and feeling a wave of cool air wash against my skin. 

I extended my arm to pick up a basket, only to notice that Adachi was already holding one. 

“My, Adachi. Aren’t you a tactful girl”, I praised her in a tone imitating a certain old lady I happened to know. 

Once again, an expression I wasn’t quite sure how to interpret formed on Adachi’s face. Then, a moment later, she stated the following: 

“You sound just like your mother.” 

“Ugh.” 

Way to make me feel way older than I was. Actually, it was kinda weird; while I didn’t mind the comparison per se, there was this part of me which I couldn’t quite wrap my head around that didn’t want to accept it. 

“Ohohoho. Oh you, Adachi.” 

I gave her shoulder a light tap, to which Adachi responded with a smile she was clearly forcing on. “Isn’t there someone like that at your workplace?” “Ohoho. I don’t think so. Wait... Is there?” “Don’t ask me.” 

Out of all the people I knew, Hino came closest to fitting the stereotype of a rich young lady, and even she didn’t talk like that. 

Adachi and I worked at different places. It’d been her idea originally. I would get too distracted trying to work with you around, she had told me. Compared to our days as students when she’d insisted on doing everything and anything with me, I think it was fair to say that she had grown a little. Or matured, I suppose was another way to put it. Was this how mother birds felt watching their babies leave the nest? All jokes aside, I did appreciate the more calm and collected version of her. 

I guess that at some point over the years, she’d learned how to properly convey her feelings to others. Now, that wasn’t to say that she was the only one who had changed. I did feel like her being able to get this far had in large part been due to me learning how to do the same—to better convey my feelings. 

That was what I wanted to believe, at least. Leaving the basket-carrying to Adachi, I proceeded to walk in front of her picking up this and that off the shelves. Some vegetables, and... Oh, these fruits look good. I knew it was a bad thing to do right before dinner, but I would’ve been lying if I said that I didn’t catch myself reading off the labels of some of the more unusual ingredients I never used for cooking and imagining what they might taste like. Each time I did so, a colourful music note would appear in my mind. 

“You always look like you’re really enjoying yourself when we go buy groceries, Shimamura.” 

“Do I?” 

This statement of hers prompted me to do a quick mental rewind. Hmm... Yeah, I could see it. I had been acting pretty cheerful from the moment we got inside the store, hadn’t I? 

“Well, you know. It happens sometimes. You’re just staring at a shelf full of vegetables, and then all of a sudden, you start smiling.” 

“I guess...” 

It didn’t seem like she knew what I was talking about. Not that it really mattered; Adachi was her own person, and so was I. 

I had another look at the cherries and bananas and all the other fruits I’d so carelessly tossed into the basket. Though there was no coherency to their colour scheme to speak of, something about the sight still caused my heart to flutter. Similarly, I could practically feel the sweet scent of pineapples tickle my core as we passed by a shelf stacked full of them. And yet, as I turned to look at Adachi, guess what she was doing? Spacing out. It really did look like I was the only one being affected in such a way—like what I saw and what she saw were two different things entirely. I wonder, how did she see it? What did being surrounded by foodstuff feel like to someone who showed no particular interest in eating? I kinda wanted to ask her about it, but ultimately decided not to. Why? Because I could already guess what she would say: “Oh, yeah. There sure are vegetables 

there”. She could be so clueless at times, seriously. Then again, I suppose that was exactly what made her the Adachi I knew. 

We continued walking. The whole time, Adachi’s eyes remained fixated on the shelves. It was as if she was searching for something—or at least, attempting to look like she was. 

“You know you don’t need to force yourself.” “Yeah”, she stated without averting her gaze. “It’s just, knowing that you’re having fun when I’m not, it makes me feel... kinda lonely.” 

“.....” 

I reached for her head and patted it softly. Her hairstyle was more or less how it had been during high school, albeit maybe a bit longer. 

“H-Huh?” 

“That thing you said just now, it sounded so adorable I couldn’t help myself.” 

I continued patting her head, which in turn prompted Adachi to pout her lips in a manner signalling dissatisfaction. Fair enough, I suppose; I was well aware of how much she disliked being treated like a child. She kinda resembled my sister in that aspect. I distinctly remembered me teasing her a lot when we were younger, as well as her always getting angry in response. It felt almost nostalgic thinking about it now. 

Seemingly fed up with the fact that I wasn’t stopping, Adachi decided to take matters into her own hands and grabbed my arm. What was she planning on doing next? As it turned out, I wouldn’t need to wait long to find out. “Munch!” 

“Whoa!” 

She’d bit me. She’d bit my finger. My middle finger was currently inside of Adachi’s mouth. A moment passed, and yet, her teeth wouldn’t let go. I could feel a line of sweat dripping down my forehead as my body began growing stiff. 

Little by little, her teeth sank deeper into my skin. I decided to try waiting it out. 

Adachi showed no signs of movement. Looking at her, I got the impression that she’d not thought about how to follow this up. Her face was also gradually growing red. Was she perhaps having trouble breathing with my finger in her mouth? That, or I could come up with at least one alternative explanation. The daikon sitting on the shelf behind her proved to be a good measuring stick to compare her face with and to see how fast the redness was spreading. 

It was here that her eyes started spinning. Alright, that’s far enough, I thought to myself as I began pulling my finger away, only for Adachi to stop me by grabbing my wrist. Doing so, the tone of red that painted her face grew a whole additional level deeper. I honestly wouldn’t have thought that was even possible. The awkwardness of the situation was now starting to affect me as well, and standing there, I could feel a line of sweat dripping down my back. 

What was it that she wanted me to do? 

Anyway, that happened. We then got done with the rest of the shopping and exited the store. It was pretty cloudy today, and occasionally, the light shining on the road would flicker slightly as said clouds passed by in front of the sun. 

While I was busy appreciating the sight, Adachi went ahead and used the opportunity to grab my free hand. 

“Oh.” 

She’d gotten quite good at doing that over the years— taking my hand. Before, it often felt like I’d been hit by a truck when she did it, but nowadays, the sensation was more akin to an airplane landing. I should mention here, she’d yet to master the art of take-off. 

“I thought about not doing it because of the bags, but...” she explained with her head hung. What was she talking about? As was often the case with the things that came out from Adachi’s mouth, it took me a little while to figure out what she was trying to say. 

“Right”, I stated back while giving the bags a slight shake. I shook my other hand too—the one she was holding. Adachi seemed kinda flustered at first, but after a moment, she responded by doing the same. 

All these years later, she was still just as bad at going along with these sorts of unusual situations. I could still feel my finger aching from the biting earlier as our eyes met. Ignoring the pain, I decided to instead face her with a smile. 

This in turn caused Adachi’s fingers to grow slightly warm. It was almost as if she was the one who’d been bitten. 

“Are you feeling hot?” 

“Yeah.” 

Her face as she said that was painted in a faint tone of red. Looking at her, I couldn’t help but laugh. 

A few days later. I’d just gotten back home from work. Earlier that day, Adachi had called me saying that she’d be running late. 

“Click.” 

That was the sound our door made as I decided on a whim to make sure someone had remembered to lock it. Satisfied with my findings, I then used my key to unlock the thing, lazily pushed it open with my foot, and stepped inside. 

I didn’t feel like closing the door behind me, nor did I have the energy to take off my shoes. No, all I wanted to do was collapse on the floor and lie there. 

“Why not? It’s not like there’s anyone else around. Wait, but...” 

I knew well that were I to lie down, there was a good chance that I wouldn’t be able to force myself back up. A deep sigh escaped my mouth as I took off my shoes and placed them on the rack. With it, I could feel what little energy I’d had left flow out. Even if lying down was going to kill me, sitting should still be okay, right? Using that as my justification, I went ahead and planted my butt right there in the middle of the hallway. I then spread my legs out before placing my hands in front of me. 

“Haa...” 

Out of fuel, the engine that was my head was left stalling. 

“I’m so tired”, I stated out loud to no one in particular. Kinda lame, sure, but it was the best I could come up with in the moment. 

The older you became, the tougher life got. As I’d recently come to realise, that was simply how the world functioned. It wasn’t at all uncommon for me to be haunted by thoughts of self-doubt. Was I really good enough, I’d think. Would I be able to do this? I honestly had a hard time comprehending how on earth Mom had managed to get through this phase when she’d been my age. 

I never felt relieved coming home from work. Rather, what I experienced was sadness—sadness over the fact that tomorrow, I’d have to do it all over again. 

Even now, all I wanted to do was thrash around the floor like a shrimp and yell about how tired I felt. And yet, I didn’t. I held back. Why? Because I felt like I might lose something very important. Better put that energy into making dinner. 

“Right. Gotta do it.” 

I pushed myself back up off the floor. Honestly, I felt a little shocked how easily I was able to do so. I guess that meant I was still young. 

It’d been either two or three years since Adachi and I had moved to live in an apartment together. By this point, most of the immediate problems had already been taken care of. Similarly, no big developments were really happening either. We were more or less just coasting ahead. Personally, I really liked it; things were neither boring, nor at a point where we had to start answering those major questions that would forever alter the course of our lives. 

Having gotten back on my feet, I now found myself feeling oddly relaxed for whatever reason. There were no lights that had been turned on, no familiar voice to greet me back home. Just silence. I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t exactly dislike the sensation. 

I let out yet another deep sigh while staring at the wall on the opposite side of the room. Doing so, I could feel more of the built-up exhaustion leave my body. The resulting shift in temperature caused me to shudder slightly. 

It was given that these things—all of them—were going to vanish one day. 

Had they been missing in the first place, then I might have found myself screaming while running around in circles. 

After tossing my bag into the living room, I took off my work clothes and switched to something more comfortable. The shirt I ended up settling on was one I’d worn for... how many years now? I honestly couldn’t remember. Both its sleeves and neck had grown loose over time, and there was also a hole the size of my pinky finger by its side. Yeah. This was good. 

I pulled the curtains I’d made sure to close before leaving for work open, and what greeted me behind them but a view of the town bathing in evening dusk. The glow of the sun painted both the sky and the townscape in a similarly orange tone. Pressing my hand against the glass, I spent the next few moments like that, just appreciating the scenery. The world really was beautiful. Why was it that I never noticed that while I was actually outside? Was it maybe because I always walked with my head down, staring at the ground? All things considered, that seemed like a pretty plausible explanation. 

On the other side of the mosquito screen, I could hear the sound of birds singing. While I unfortunately wasn’t able to tell what type they were exactly, I could at least say for certain that they weren’t crows. My sis ter really liked all animals, so she probably would’ve known. I remembered all those books she had about them back at home. Speaking of, I kinda wondered what had become of my room in my absence. 

“Now then...” 

Moving away from the living room, I next stepped into the kitchen. There, I pulled the fridge open, took out a bottle of barley tea, and had myself a sip. With that out of the way, it then became time to decide what I was going to make for dinner. Though we for the most part alternated cooking responsibilities by the day, there were also occasions like this one where one of us got busy, and minor alterations had to be made. Or some times, not so minor; I had been cooking every single day this past week. It was by no means an uncommon occurrence for Adachi to find herself busy with work. 

“Money, money, money”, I sang to myself while rummaging through the fridge. Compared to how easy buy ing ingredients from the store was, trying to decide what to make from them always proved to be a real struggle. The fact that Adachi showed little to no interest towards food and never offered any suggestions certainly didn’t help either. If I was going to cook anyway, I would at least have wanted to make something she enjoyed. And yet, each day, she’d just sit there in silence, with no expression on her face and with her chopsticks moving lazily. I’d then ask her what she thought, and regardless of what I’d cooked, she’d always say that it was good. That’s more or less the sort of person Adachi was. 

And before you ask, no, I couldn’t just tell her to make a request. Why? Because every time I did, she simply replied by saying that she was fine with anything I made. She did it with such consistency that at this point, I’d stopped asking so as not to waste both of our time and just assumed that was her answer. 

I found myself feeling like I was ever so slightly able to sympathize with her mother. Dealing with Adachi was difficult, no two ways about it. 

Now, if it wasn’t food that interested her, then what did? 

“Gosh... It’s kinda embarrassing thinking about it.” The answer to that question was still the same it had been all those years ago. 

“How about udon?” 

“Whoa!” 

No prior warning, no anything. One moment, she was just standing there next to me. I’d be lying if I said my heart didn’t nearly skip a beat. As for the girl, she simply smiled while raising her tiny arm high up into the air. What she had on today was a cow spot pattern pyjama, with a pair of soft horns growing from either side of the hood she’d pulled over her head. 

Did cows actually have horns? I couldn’t say that I’d ever seen one that had them myself. 

It was Yashiro. Yashiro was standing next to me. The same mysterious freeloader who’d always hung around my parents’ house was now here for dinner. “How did you get here?” 

“Sorry to intrude.” 

“Answer the question. I’m ninety-nine percent sure that the door was locked.” 

“Hahaha.” 

Sure enough, the girl gave me no answer. I was left thinking that she’d simply sprouted up from the floor. Knowing her, that honestly didn’t sound quite so im plausible. 

“You looked like you were in trouble, Shimamura, so I thought I’d give you a piece of advise.” “Thanks a bunch.” 

“That said, I am fine with anything you make.” Her “anything goes” had a slightly different meaning to it compared to when Adachi said it. I could hear her teeth—glowing with a faint blue light—make a clattering sound as she repeatedly bit them together. She’d always been shorter than I was, but staring at her now, I couldn’t help but feel like that difference in height had only grown wider since my high school days. 

“So, why udon?” 

“I was watching television earlier, and I saw them make it.” 

“Hmm, yeah. That’s about what I expected.” Mom was clearly having an influence on her. I grabbed the girl by the horns, shook her around for a bit, and then let go once I felt satisfied. 

Now, did we have the ingredients necessary? I had a look inside the fridge, counted the packages, and... yeah. Figured as much. 

“If I do make udon, then there won’t be enough noo dles for your portion.” 

“That is a considerable problem.” 

Having said that, Yashiro got on her tiptoes and peered inside the fridge herself. She went through the shelves one by one before spotting a bar of chocolate on the top one, jumping up, and reaching for it. I quickly moved my own hand to deflect hers. This caused the girl to miss her target and land back on the floor empty-handed. 

“I’m impressed, Shimamura. You’ve improved over the years.” 

“Hehehe.” 

I’d won. Now, how on earth had Yashiro been able to so easily jump up so high into the air? While a part of me felt like that should probably bother me more than it did, I ultimately decided to simply pretend like I hadn’t seen anything at all. Pushing her shoulder down so that she wouldn’t be able to try again, the two of us went back to thinking. 

“What did you have for lunch today?” 

“I had peaches.” 

The girl’s answer offered me little inspiration. I took out a box containing the leftovers of the rice I’d cooked yesterday and peered inside. 

“Maybe chao fan?” 

I remembered Mom being the sort of person who, when she wasn’t sure what to cook, always went with chao fan. 

Though there wasn’t much rice left, perhaps a hand ful of extra ingredients would be enough to hide that fact? 

“Hooray”, I could hear Yashiro celebrating next to me. I kinda got the feeling like that would’ve been her reaction regardless of what I chose to cook. 

“There’s also some miso soup here. Other than that... Hmm, not much else.” 

“I will go arrange the chopsticks.” 

Gripping chopsticks she’d taken off the shelf, Yashiro tottered off. While I did feel like she was jumping the gun a little here, I had to say, this was kinda unexpected. 

“Haven’t you gotten helpful over the years. Thanks.” “That would be because Shou asks me to help her out so often.” 

Hehehe, she laughed to herself proudly while placing the chopsticks on the table. Looking at her, I couldn’t help but laugh myself. It was as if all tension had left my body. 

“How is she? My sister, I mean.” 

“How is she in what way?” 

“Right, right...” 

What was the proper way to ask her? I spent a moment thinking about that. 

“Does she give you plenty of candy?” 

“Most certainly.” 

That’s good, I laughed again. Immediately afterwards, I grew worried of my sister’s monetary situation; it was quite the thing to have to provide for this tiny, greedy creature at her age. Hopefully Mom had upped her allowance at some point. 

“Oh, and bring some spoons too.” 

“Okay.” 

Yashiro ran to the drawer where the spoons were kept, took a few out, and carried them to the table. Then, having returned to me, she proceeded to stare upwards as if expecting something. 

“Yes?” 

“Shou always gives me a reward whenever I help her.” “Does she now?” 

“I’m excited.” 

How obvious could she possibly be? I reached for her head and patted it. 

“Hohoho.” 

It looked like that alone was enough for her. “Hmm...” 

After thinking about it some more, I decided to give her a piece of candy in addition to the head-pat. You know, just because. 

“Crunch, crunch.” 

“Hey. Don’t bite it.” 

That only made it run out faster. 

With nothing to keep her attention anymore, Yashiro then began loitering around the kitchen. 

“You’re in the way.” 

“Oh?” 

“Go watch TV or something.” 

I ended up having to remove her by force. To noone’s surprise, Yashiro didn’t fight back, choosing in stead to head towards the sofa with her hands raised above her head. She then jumped on the soft cushions, rolled around for a bit, and turned the TV on. None of the channels seemed to interest her all that much, except for one that just so happened to be displaying pictures of food. She immediately stopped scrolling as soon as she got to that. Or at least, that was my assumption; knowing her origin, it was very much possible that the girl might find even a screen of pure white noise informative. 

“Is Adachi running late today?” 

“Yep. She works super hard, that Adachi.” Not to imply that I wasn’t trying my best too, because I most certainly was. That said, Adachi had already been working a job in high school, so maybe she was just used to it by this point? On a more practical side of things, Adachi’s salary was quite a bit higher than mine, and since we also split housework on top of that, it kinda made me feel like she had me wrapped around her finger or something. 

We’d discussed all sorts of matters after it was de cided that we’d be moving in together. Stuff like, where would we live? Would we both work, or just one of us? Even the act of choosing what size of refrigerator to get had become the source of many headaches. It was very important for us to talk through all those topics in great detail, because otherwise, Adachi would simply have chosen to go with whatever it was that I wanted. 

The impression I got from her was that she seriously wouldn’t have minded letting me handle every last decision in her life.

Not to imply that was a bad thing or anything. I didn’t feel like it was, at least. 

With the TV program now over, faint snores could be heard coming from the direction of the sofa. It seemed that Yashiro had decided this would be a good time for a nap. It’d been my sister who’d said it first, but the girl really was like a cat masquerading as a human being; whenever there was a gap, she’d always spend it sleeping. Then again, given my own past, I was hardly one to talk. These days, it was impossible for me to spend all my time sleeping even if I’d wanted to. With the exception of weekends, of course. Thank goodness for those. 

“Just the other day when Adachi didn’t wake me up, I ended up sleeping till way past noon. She was astonished. Borderline disgusted.” 

“You are very slovenly, Shimamura.” 

“You’re the last person I want to hear that from, Miss Stretchy-Cheeks.” 

Also, why (and how) was she having a conversation with me while simultaneously appearing like she was asleep? 

I peeled the skin off an onion, chopped it into tiny cubes, and fried those. There was still plenty of time left till Adachi would be coming back home, and for that reason, I only carried out the preliminary steps. The chao fan in our household had always been made with onion. Now that I was cooking for myself, I too did the same. While I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it was in my blood or anything, there were certain things I had inherited from my parents, and this was one of those. 

My family, my friends. Even the most trivial of relationships. They’d all given me something. “It smells good.” 

“Doesn’t it?” 

“Zzz...” 

“Try to decide whether you’re sleeping or talking.” Was only half of her brain asleep, with the rest continuing to function? That was one explanation that came to mind. I’d heard that there were species of birds out there who did that. 

If birds could do it, then was it really that strange to think that other species could as well? 

With cooking done for time being, I then placed a blanket on Yashiro before sitting down on the other end of the sofa myself. My body felt heavy. So heavy. Sitting there, I could feel my head tilting slightly forward. The exhaustion I’d endured all this time was finally starting to take its toll on me. The late evening sun shining in the corner of my eye, I continued enjoying the scenery before me with my mouth left hanging open. 

Simply altering my viewing angle of it caused the town to appear as if floating in space. 

Vision was, how to put it... a very amusing thing. “It’s the same colour as curry”, Yashiro stated, her eyes still closed. How could she see if her—actually, I’m not even going to ask. 

“Curry...” 

That was an apt comparison for the girl to use, I felt. She did love food and eating a great bit. That said, “curry-coloured” didn’t perhaps exactly capture the atmosphere of the scenery. 

A better word to use would have been... 

“Caramel. The name of the colour is caramel.” Now, why exactly was it called that, I didn’t know. “I see, I see.” 

“Yep.” 

“Caramel is very delicious.” 

“Is that all you think about?” 

I gave the sole of her foot a small poke. It was very squishy. 

“Zzsshh...” 

What a crude way to snore. There truly was no making sense out of this creature. 

As the evening sun continued sinking, I quickly found myself without anything to do. I decided to look back into my past. What would the young me have done in this situation? Hmm... Maybe I should take a nap as well? With that in mind, I went ahead and placed my feet on the sofa. Oh, but, if I did that, then wouldn’t it make me look like a useless wife doing nothing at all as she waited for the “man” of the house to come back home after a long, hard day of work? There was something about the thought that I wasn’t really a fan of. 

I decided that it would probably be better after all if I was awake when she came back home. In that case, this posture would not do at all. Knowing full well that even sitting carried with it the risk of falling asleep, I got up and began moving my body. 

Recalling the types of exercise I’d done when I had been way, way younger, I stretched out my limbs and hopped in place. It didn’t take long for Yashiro to appear by my side and to move her body in a similar manner. Her eyes still remained tightly closed. 

“Laa, laa la laa laa.” 

“Oh? You know how this works?” 

“I do it often with Shou.” 

“Right, right. I remember now.” 

My sister had in the past often come home with Yashiro from the radio gymnastics events that were commonly held during summertime when there was no school. Compare that to the present where she would simply show up at the house whether you brought her there or not. There was something oddly relaxing about watching the girl move her tiny body around. If I had to describe the sensation, I’d say it was like the surface of my heart was covered in cool water droplets slowly dripping down it. 

Doing that and a few other things, I was able to keep tiredness at bay. I’d have to wait till the night had already started growing late. 

“She is back.” 

“Really?” 

Having in the end fallen asleep, Yashiro opened just one of her eyes to say that. I decided not to question her; my past experiences had taught me that the girl’s intuition could be taken at face value. I got up, and in the next instant, the doorbell rang. I quickly made my way to the door. 

“Welcome home.” 

“I’m back.” 

The clock was almost eight when Adachi—the “man” of the house—returned. Not only was this earlier than yesterday, she didn’t look anywhere near as tired either. After brushing her hair away from her face, a deep sigh left her mouth. 

“Was it a tough day at work?” 

“You say that like you don’t work full days yourself.” A short giggle left Adachi’s mouth. She took off her shoes and placed them next to mine. 

As she did so, I noticed that her feet were slightly larger than mine were. Did any part of me compare favourably to her for that matter? Not really, no. Aha haha. Well, you know what they say about a person’s capabilities. My years spent being an older sister would surely increase my chances of coming out on top. That’s what I wanted to believe, at least. 

“Hmm, I wonder about that.” 

“Wonder about what?” 

“Nothing.” 

I forcibly moved the conversation away from that topic. There were far more important things for me to be doing, like taking Adachi’s bag for an example. I had to say, it was quite heavy. 

“You must be exhausted.” 

“Yeah.” 

Immediately after mumbling that, Adachi turned to look away. She then blinked a few times before returning her gaze to me. 

“...What?” 

“It’s just, whenever I see your face, Shimamura... it feels like all that exhaustion melts away. Or some thing...” 

Halfway through her attempt of putting her thoughts into words, a deep shade of red appeared over Adachi’s face. 

I could certainly see where she was coming from; her acting all embarrassed had a similarly relaxing effect on me. 

“Well, in that case, show me that you’re doing great.” “Huh?” 

Just like that, Adachi froze. This was an exchange we had at least once per week. 

A few moments passed, after which she lifted her head and wrapped her hands around me. “Oh?” 

“Here we... go!” 

“Whoa!” 

“I-I’m doing great!” she stated with a wide grin on her face as she lifted me into the air. 

Feeling the muscles in her back grow stiff as she flexed them, I went ahead and smiled a little myself. There was something so enjoyable about these sorts of minor exchanges. They greatly showed off what the relationship between us was like in the present. 

A weak laugh left Adachi’s mouth after she placed me back down. 

“S-See? I’m doing great...” 

“Yes, yes. I apologize for ever doubting you”, I stated back, all the while pretending to weep. Her message had certainly been received. “Putting that aside, was I really that heavy?” 

“Err, no. You weren’t. I don’t think so...” 

I don’t know. Why are you asking me? I don’t know... she added quickly, sounding almost flustered. She then turned around and walked away, almost as if she was fleeing. I chased after her, only for her to break into a run. She seemed to still very much be full of energy. How relieving. 

“Welcome back.” 

“Oh, you’re here again...” 

“Good evening.” 

The greeting from Yashiro—still sitting on the sofa— was enough to bring Adachi to a halt. She scanned her from head to toe before asking the girl the following: “You didn’t hear that, did you?” 

“I’m doing great!” Yashiro stated cheerfully as she leapt up. She was obviously mimicking Adachi from  just moments earlier. “Hohoho. Feel free to lift me up.” “I don’t think I will.” 

Yashiro only laughed as Adachi pinched her cheeks and stretched them. 

The two were getting along, and that was good enough. As they continued playing, I took care of bringing Adachi’s bag inside. 

“Go get your clothes changed. The food will be ready by then.” 

“Thanks.” 

Having said that, Adachi disappeared into the other room. As for Yashiro, she ran over to me holding up two pairs of chopsticks—one for each hand—with her cheeks still stretched out to a point where her face resembled on open wallet. 

“I can hardly wait.” 

“While you do, make sure you get your cheeks fixed.” “Oh, you’re right.” 

Yashiro immediately began squeezing and pulling her face all around. Was she made of clay or something? Deciding not to think about it any further, I went back to making chao fan. 

“This reminds me. Shou is also learning how to cook.” 

“Is she now?” 

“She says that she is doing it so that she can cook me all sorts of delicious sweets.” 

“I look forward to seeing that then.” 

Very excited, Yashiro added in the form of a grin. She really did love my sister, didn’t she? 

Back when she’d still been in elementary school, the two had played together like good friends, but now, they more resembled a pair of sisters. 

I couldn’t help but wonder sometimes, just what was their relationship going to look like in five, or even ten years? 

Would Yashiro remain a child even after my sister became an adult? It did feel to me like that was likely what was going to happen. 

I proceeded to think about what the future might bring with it as I prepared dinner. 

I’d just finished when Adachi showed up, having now changed her clothes. Perfect timing. 

“Welcome back.” 

“Right. But, I see that you’re mostly finished al ready”, Adachi replied as she took a seat next to me. 

After quickly glancing at what was on the table, she then shifted her gaze towards me. “I promise I’ll cook next week.” 

“I can hardly wait”, Yashiro replied, having already begun eating. Adachi staring at her in shock did little to slow the girl down. 

“Hahaha...” 

All I could really do was laugh. Still, I had to say, with Yashiro sitting between us like this, she did almost kinda feel like our child, or something. Whereas back in the day, I’d always treated her like a little sister, these days, our relationship had more transformed into one between a child and a parent. 

“Wait... No, no.” 

No way could she be our child. For one, the colour of her hair didn’t match either of us. 

“Yes?” 

Having likely noticed that I was staring at her, Yashiro lifted her head with the spoon still in her mouth. “Nothing, nothing. Is the food good?” 

“It’s yummy.” 

One look at her face made it clear that she felt very much satisfied. 

“It tastes very similar to when Mommy makes food.” “Does it? Hmm... I guess I can see why.” 

Her cooking was what I’d grown up with. While you might have expected my preferences to end up matching Adachi’s over the years, it turned out that she didn’t really have any. Sure, she kinda disliked bitter foods, but other than that, anything went. She approached food very much in the same manner as she did people who weren’t me. 

“Is it good?” I asked Adachi. 

“Huh? Yeah.” 

Her reply came out sounding so plain that I couldn’t help but laugh a little. A few moments passed, after which Adachi quickly lifted her head, having seemingly realised this herself. 

“I-It’s delicious!” she stated cheerfully. I had to ad mit, she’d gotten a lot better at that, reading the room. “Yummy...” 

“No need to go out of your way to imitate her.” This one, I clarified as I gave Yashiro’s head a pat. She’d been far too busy eating to pay any attention to her surroundings, and immediately proceeded to have a look around her as if under threat. After that, a random spurt of laughter left the girl’s mouth before she went back to what she’d been doing. Though she could be strange at the best of times, there was something very peculiar about the weirdness she was displaying here, I felt. It was... How to put it... Kinda random. Like the pattern didn’t match or something. 

Anyway, that’s what happened. The three of us shared dinner. 

“I will be taking my leave now”, Yashiro stated while waving her hand at us. This was more or less how it always went down whenever she came by. 

The occasions when she did stay the night were few and far between. As to why, well, to put it in her own words, “Shou would get very lonely”. 

“Pass a greeting to my sister from me.” 

“What shall I say?” 

“Oh, err... Well, to keep it simple, just tell her I said hi.” 

“Got it.” 

Would my sister be confused? Almost certainly. Heck, I didn’t even know how I’d take it myself if someone came to me with that. 

“Be careful on the way back.” 

“I will.” 

“Careful for other people’s sake, that is.” 

I wasn’t sure how she did it, but given the distance between our apartment and my parents’ house, she had to be running quite fast to make it back there by foot. At those sorts of speeds, bumping into someone was bound to lead to serious injuries. Injuries to which party? Well, given everything I knew about the girl, I’d say it was the other people who ought to be worried. 

And so, Yashiro ran off. All these years later, she’d yet to start feeling shame in dropping by just for a free meal. I couldn’t help but feel like she’d probably be going for a second round once she got to my parents’ place. Eat, then sleep, and then eat again. That was more or less what she did all day long. She was like an adorable baby gorilla or something. Not to say that baby gorillas weren’t naturally adorable, because some of them most certainly were. 

“What am I even talking about at this point? Sheesh...” Shaking my head, I returned to the living room. There, I found Adachi lying on the sofa. 

“Adachi?” 

“Oh... Sorry. I was just dozing off.” 

She quickly lifted herself back up. It seemed that filling up her stomach had caused her exhaustion to re emerge. I stood there for a few moments before taking a seat next to her. 

Having done so, I then placed my hands on her shoul ders and helped her rest her head on my lap. Adachi showed little hesitation towards any of this. “I don’t know if this will help with the stress or not, but let’s give it a shot anyway.” 

I went ahead and ran my fingers through her hair. As I did so, Adachi traced the movements of my hand using her eyes. Normally, she always acted flustered in situations like these, but now, not so much. Was that because she was feeling too tired to react? It was possible. 

A few more moments passed, after which even her eyes stopped moving. 

“I feel much better now. Thanks.” 

“Glad to hear that.” 

I found Adachi’s particular choice of words very pleasant for some reason. 

It certainly wouldn’t be the end of the world if the dirty dishes waiting in the kitchen were to stay dirty for a few dozen more minutes.

I proceeded to stroke her back, and this time, Adachi closed her eyes. Her lips then began moving softly, almost as if she was about to start snoring. “How was your day, Shimamura?” 

“Hmm. Nothing much happened. The same as usual, really.” 

It said a lot about how boring my life was that such an answer really was the best I could give her. My co-workers often called me Miss Nothing-Much. I doubt I need to tell you where that nickname came from. All this time later, there were still parts to me that hadn’t changed much since my days in school. “I see.” 

“Yep.” 

I followed my reply by lightly wiggling my toes around. After that, silence fell between us. Adachi looked like she was about ready to fall asleep right there on my lap, but still decided to keep the conversation going. 

“There’s probably a better way to ask that. It’s just... I’m not very good at talking”, she mumbled as if criticising herself. 

“Personally, I think you’ve gotten way more com posed over the years.” 

“Really?” 

“Then again, given how you were back then, I sup pose that’s not saying much.” 

Ahaha, I laughed while reminiscing about all the things she’d said and done. I had more of those memo ries than there were stars in the night sky. “What are you laughing about?” 

“I’m laughing because it’s fun.” 

“I think I... might have acted a little unrelaxed at times in the past.” 

“A little?” 

The tone of my question was, well, very questioning. As for Adachi, she didn’t say anything back, choosing instead to pretend like she was asleep. 

Was she a grown woman or a little child? I couldn’t help but laugh a little once again. 

That said, it was as clear now as it had been back in the day that she was always trying her hardest. I knew that, and because I did, I was willing to give her all the time she needed. 

“I’ll keep working hard every day. Then, once things calm down... let’s talk about where we’re going again.” Adachi quickly switched topics. The way she spoke made it seem like she couldn’t be bothered to move her mouth properly. 

“You mean the vacation?” 

“Yeah.” 

There was a certain place Adachi and I had decided to visit one day. 

A place very, very far away. 

A symbol of our growth. 

“To be frank, I don’t really care about where we’re going.” 

“Yeah.” 

“The fact that I’m going there with you is what mat ters the most.” 

“Right.” 

This might not be a good thing to say, but were Adachi ever to travel somewhere by herself, I honestly couldn’t see her having any fun whatsoever. Simply imagining that, her experiencing positive thoughts let alone fun over something or someone not named me, was difficult. Call it overconfidence or whatever, but that really was the feeling I got from Adachi. As far as she was concerned, it was like I was connected to her by the fingertips. 

“What about this coming holiday? Feel like visiting some place?” 

Before travelling all the way overseas, we ought to go somewhere closer by as if to build a foothold. That was how I saw it. 

“Sure. Where do you want to go?” 

My own question was shot right back at me. This time, it sounded like her tongue hadn’t even moved. “That’s what I’m asking you. Do you have anywhere in mind?” 

I knew she probably didn’t, but went ahead and asked anyway. If nothing else, I could always be wrong; there had been one occasion back in high school when she’d caught me completely off guard by asking me to travel overseas with her. For better and for worse, she could be very dynamic if she so wanted to. I’d even go as far as to say that this part of her personality made her come off as trustworthy—someone you could always depend on. 

No reply came this time. I turned my head to have a look at her face, only to find that both her eyes and her mouth were shut closed.

“Did it happen? Did she fall asleep?” 

I brushed the strands of hair that had landed on her face aside. Doing so, a faint snore left Adachi’s mouth. Thinking about how we’d met was always very weird to me. Some of those memories were so very distant, 

while others felt like they’d happened just yesterday. Let me tell you, it was very exhausting constantly running between high school and the present. Was the fact that we’d shared the same path ever since our first meeting the reason why? If not, I had to imagine it was something close to that. 

“......” 

How far would we really be able to go together? That was something I often found myself thinking about. 

I’d thought about it the day she suggested that we move to live together too, and that time, the conclusion I’d reached had been the following: 

Why not? 

I’d walk down this road as far as it took me. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to go anywhere, Adachi?”

Adachi was currently sitting so close to me that I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me feel a bit stuffy. “Yes. Today, this is what I want to do”, she replied without as much as turning to look back at me. I could feel her hair tickle my cheeks. Well, if this was what she wanted, then that was all that mattered. 

It was currently Sunday. We’d yet to take a step out side our apartment. There, we sat together on the sofa, with Adachi between my legs, passing time while doing nothing in particular. 

I’d asked her what she wanted to do, and this had been her answer. She was effectively telling me to be her own private chair. There was something very excessive about that, I felt, sitting on top of one another on a sofa large enough for us to sit side by side. 

Excessive, or perhaps budget-minded? That was what I thought to myself as I pointed my eyes at the empty spot. 

Adachi had initially been sitting in a very reserved manner with her back hunched, but now, having perhaps gotten tired of that, she’d begun leaning towards me. This placed my mouth directly against her shoulder, though honestly, I didn’t really mind. It being relatively early in the morning meant that we had all the time in the world to do this. Thinking about it that way, I could feel myself growing strangely relaxed for some reason.

Like yesterday and the one before that, today was yet another warm day. That was how things tended to go in June. 

It was so warm I almost felt like I was being embraced by a big, fluffy dog or something. Were I to tell Adachi that, would she get angry? Honestly, there was a chance she might. 

“A dog...” 

Before I knew it, the words had ended up leaving my mouth. That was a bad habit of mine, saying things without thinking. 

“A dog?” 

“Yeah. Dogs are cute.” 

“Huh? Oh, sure. I guess...” 

The way she said that made it clear that she wasn’t exactly interested in such things. 

Was it enjoyable having only one thing in life that you liked? That, or was it extremely tough? 

Either way, knowing that I was in charge of steering a large portion of Adachi’s life did leave me feeling mighty responsible. 

The conversation didn’t really go anywhere from there. I was left staring into space till Adachi decided to take control. 

“I just kinda thought that maybe you wanted to get a dog.” 

“Hmm? Hmm...” 

Right away, an image of a dog appeared before me. I waited for it to turn away before closing my eyes. “This place doesn’t allow pets.” 

“And what if they did?” 

“I don’t think I’d like one, no. Goodbyes are really tough for me.” 

That was how I truly felt in my heart. In the past, I would likely have made some sort of a joke here—or straight up lied—but now, I felt safe opening myself to her. I think that said a lot about how far we’d come. 

“It’s so cruel that no matter how well you get along, all meetings are bound to end in a goodbye.” Coping with the bitter aftertaste was a difficult task indeed. 

So much so that sometimes, it was even necessary for me to lie to myself. 

I continued brushing Adachi’s hair. Little by little, a cool, soft sensation spread through my fingers. “If only things could forever remain how they are...” Adachi’s head swayed gently from side to side. “I’m glad this happened. Before, I had no idea it could be that painful saying goodbye to someone.” Having said that, she then turned to look my way. “Glad that I met you, Shimamura”, she added, fol lowed by her cheeks turning bright red. “I... I love you.” This confession of hers adhered to the same exact pattern so many ones before it had. If there was such a thing as beauty in repetition, I found this to be a perfect example of that. 

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that it was close to a tradition at this point. 

“Oh, sure. Thanks.” 

Being told that with her sitting so close that our hair overlapped, I couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed myself. 

Sure, I would probably have felt the same way regardless of how far she was sitting, but that was beside the point. 

It just went to show how strong Adachi truly was. Adachi continued staring at me. It was almost as if she was waiting for something. Returning her stare, I stated the following: 

“I love you too.” 

This was exactly what she’d wanted, and what I had delivered to her. 

“I loved you back then, and I still do now. My feelings have not changed one bit.” 

No matter how much time passed, no matter how many years, my love for her continued to shine. I thought that was a very poetic thing to say. And yet, Adachi seemed to take issue with it. 

“I wish...” 

“Hmm?” 

“I wish you would’ve grown to love me even more over the years...” 

“Aren’t you being selfish, Adachi.” 

That said, I suppose I could see what she was after; if my feelings remained the same, then what had been the point of us living together all this time? If you were going to be stuck together in the same spot and never move an inch, then memories were more than enough to do that with. 

“Understood. I will make an effort to improve as opportunities arise.” 

I’d think about her more often. Do more things with her. 

“Is that good enough?” 

“Yeah.” 

My reply had been meant more as a joke, and yet, it appeared to satisfy Adachi greatly regardless. “Also, I don’t need another puppy when I already have one”, I added. The fact that I’d been under her stare this whole time led to me wanting to mess with her a little. 

Were we ever to get a pet of some sort, I could easily see Adachi getting jealous of the thing. It likely wouldn’t even take all that long. 

Ahaha. 

My laughing was met by Adachi opening her eyes wide open. 

“You mean me?” she pointed at herself. 

“Ahaha.” 

This time, she proceeded to pout her lips.

“I’m not a dog. No. Not in the slightest.” 

“You used to be so adorable back in the day.” There’d been many occasions when I’d imagined a tail wagging behind her. Even these days, I could often see her growing dog ears. 

“And now?” 

“Huh?” 

I came this close to saying the word “dog ears” out loud. 

“Am I not... adorable anymore?” she asked me, with her voice wavering and her eyes turned upwards. I could once again see said dog ears manifest above her head. I couldn’t help but let out a short giggle. 

“You are when you say things like that.” 

With that, I gave her head a pat. Adachi closed her eyes and let me do so without any resistance. The fact that Adachi was still the taller of us two didn’t match at all with our roles here. Though difficult to put into words, there was something about the sensation I found oddly relaxing. 

“Hmm, well. I guess this is fine too.” 

While not a dog nor a cat, we did already have one little creature that we were feeding and taking care of. 

Plus, unlike with an actual pet, I could rest easy knowing that Yashiro was not going to die before I did. Not to say I had any sort of evidence to suggest that, because I certainly did not. Let’s just call it a hunch. In any case, having someone like her in my life was a very good thing overall, I felt. 

It meant that no matter what happened, no matter how much I lost into the river of time, I would never be left truly by myself. 

Again, there was nothing to suggest that I was going to outlive everyone in my life, but that was beside the point. 

I did sleep way more than anyone else I knew, so maybe. 

“There’s something I find myself thinking about from time to time”, I stated after a short pause, hav ing waited for Adachi to turn back around. “I feel like for two people meeting each other to be meaningful— any two people, not just you and me—it has to result in something.” 

Occasionally, these thoughts would come visit me. They’d cause my body to shiver like a gust of cold wind. The irresistible desire to leave something behind. 

“Err...” 

The impression I got from Adachi was that she felt like she was meant to say something here, but just didn’t know what. 

I suppose I couldn’t blame her; for someone like her who only had the present to live in, none of this probably made any sense. 

Oh, to have it so easy. I found the way she saw the world almost adorable. 

“Actually, never mind. It’s nothing.” 

Telling her that, I once again buried my face into her shoulder. 

The sky in the corner of my eye remained blue. 

“Now then, what shall we cook today?” I asked myself as I stood in front of the refrigerator with my arms crossed. It was currently early evening. 

“How about noodles?” 

“Oh... You again.” 

This time, Yashiro had appeared on top of my head. Only when she spoke did I notice that she was there. “You sure like those noodles, don’t you?” 

“I like everything.” 

“Yes, yes. You’re very simple like that.” 

A cloud of blue particles floated above her weightless body, covering her head like a hat. 

I caught one on my finger, and right away, it disap peared, almost as if melting into my skin. Did these particles come from Yashiro herself? Were they part of her? The answer to both of those questions was a resounding “perhaps”. 

I found myself spending a few moments thinking about space. I’d never witnessed it with my own eyes, and in all likelihood, would never get an opportunity to do so. 

“I had an apple for lunch.” 

“I didn’t ask you yet.” 

Moving her limbs all over, Yashiro took this oppor tunity to climb off me. 

She then turned to look up at me, and as she did so, the shine in her eyes grew a whole additional level more intense. 

“It appears that you’ve already decided.” 

You couldn’t keep anything from her, could you? That, or was it perhaps my fault for being so easy to figure out? 

I went ahead and slowly nodded my head. “Yeah. I’m going to cook something that Adachi likes.” 

That was a very short list, and I wanted to do what I could to help grow it. 

To fill her head with things other than exclusively me. 

From now on, that was going to be what I continued to strive for. 

“Yay!” Yashiro yelled out with her hands above her head. 

That too I found just slightly favourable. 

“If I had to pick one of them, Chito, I’d say that you most closely resemble Shimamura.” 

“Oh? Really now?” 

With Yashiro still continuing her story from last night, I finished my preparations by stuffing her inside my backpack. Though it might not have looked like it at first, the thing was actually the perfect size for her; her head alone was left peeking outside. 

I’d asked her if she was alright with this arrangement, only for her to reply saying that she preferred being carried to having to walk using her own two feet. She was pretty light, and so, I didn’t exactly mind myself. The only question was, how on earth did she fit inside my backpack when it was already stuffed full of other stuff? That I had no answer to. It was there that another thought crossed my mind. I stopped walking and placed the backpack on the ground. 

“Hmm?” 

“Here, have this. I don’t want you to get hurt if you fall out.” 

Having said that, I put a helmet on the girl. The helmet itself was yellow, and had a name tag painted on its frontside. As to who that name belonged to, I really didn’t know. A cloud of blue particles gushed out as the soft padding came into contact with her hair. 

“Thank you greatly.” 

“No problem.” 

I didn’t know why exactly she was thanking me, but I decided to go ahead and bow my head regardless. With that out of the way, I then picked up the back pack, placed my feet on the pedals, and set out for a second time—this time for good. In this era where fuel was tough to come by, owning a bicycle really did pay for itself. 

Riding one till its tires gave out, and then hopping onto the next one. How many times had I gone through this exact cycle by now? I honestly couldn’t even re member. All I knew for sure was that the first bike I had ever ridden had been red. I’d been walking before I found it, and after it broke down, well, you can prob ably guess what happened then. More walking. Never stopping, always making progress. 

At first, riding down a road whose pavement had been torn to shreds by the flow of time had been a very unnerving experience, but now, I found it almost relaxing. Each time I hit a bump, more of those shiny blue particles would gush out from behind me, floating through space and passing me by almost as if possessing a will of their own. What lay behind them was the same orange sky I was so used to seeing—a sky which burnt the clouds and concealed the past. 

“The sky on this planet is caramel-coloured.” “Caramel?” 

“It’s a very delicious-sounding name, don’t you think?”

What on earth was she going on about? While I did understand most of what Yashiro said, there were occasions like this one where she’d mix in language I wasn’t quite familiar with. I suppose certain words were only used on certain planets. 

This sky—caramel-coloured as Yashiro had put it— was always there to paint both the ruins and the vegetation that had taken over in its soft tones. 

There was something very melancholic about the whole thing, I felt. Every time I came under its light, I found myself filled with an irresistible desire to turn back. 

The sheer scale of this ongoing collapse of the world truly did go beyond what the mind was capable of imagining. 

“Are all your stories ones from different planets?” “Correct. Planets that I’ve visited in the past.” “Wow. You sure do get around, don’t you?” Assuming the girl could be trusted, she seemed to be 

a traveller of some sort hopping from planet to planet. That was to say, I was talking to an alien. 

“Show me proof that you’re an alien.” 

“Shall I take you to space with me?” 

“Actually, wait. Never mind.” 

Being left to drift out there definitely wasn’t some thing I was excited for. 

Plus, if I didn’t get to look around for food, then what would I eat when night came? 

“You mentioned that I resemble this Shimamura person. Care to explain how?” 

“She always gave me food, and you do too.” There was a certain sense of softness to the girl’s voice I had never heard before. 

“So, you’re telling me you’ve been doing this for a while now?” 

“Doing what?” 

“Begging for food.” 

“Ah, yes. I do get that often.” 

Even without turning around, I could tell that the expression currently on her face was one of pride. “Well, if you’re able to make a living off that, then I suppose that’s praiseworthy in its own right.” “That’s another thing I’ve been told in the past.” “By the person who I resemble?” 

“Indeed.” 

“Hmm...” 

I found myself kinda wanting to meet them.

Then again, I suppose it might have been that I just wanted to meet anyone at all. 

Even if I did have someone to talk to as I travelled, it wasn’t like that was going to make things any more dangerous. 

For one, most other creatures were already gone. Only plants remained. The world at this point was like a giant, outdoors garden. 

I’d begun my travels all by myself, and before I knew it, there had been two of us. 

While she didn’t really do anything to help, her sto ries of other planets were at least good for passing the time, I felt. 

The more I heard about the two women, the more I began feeling like I kinda knew them already. “So, you’re telling me those two lived some 3700 years ago?” 

“Now that I think about it, it might actually have been 37000 years.” 

“Wait, seriously?” 

While for me, that felt like a pretty serious mistake to make, I suppose that to her, there wasn’t too much of a difference between the two. 

“All I remember for certain is that it has both a three and a seven.” 

“What sort of a messed-up counting method is that?” I could see her lift both of her tiny hands next to her head. One of them displayed the number three, and the other the number seven. How did you make seven with a single hand? By having it be written on the surface of your palm, apparently. 

“Still, I wonder.” 

“Yes?” 

Assuming thousands if not more years had gone by, then that could only mean... 

“Those people you speak of, they’re long gone al ready, aren’t they?” 

I purposefully worded my question in a slightly am biguous manner. Having never known another person for as long as I’d been alive, it was difficult for me to imagine how that must have felt, losing someone you cared about. There were all these photos left filled with pictures of people, and sometimes, I did find myself thinking about those sorts of matters. 

The wheels of the bike continued rolling softly. “That is correct.” 

That was all Yashiro said back to me. On her face, she had the same bright smile she always did. I wasn’t sure what it meant, but somehow, I got a feeling like her eyes were pointed way above my head. Did the girl really have any emotions at all? That was something I found myself wondering about from time to time. 

I suppose there was no making sense of an alien. “You are not finding much, are you?” 

“No kidding. All these tracks, yet there’s no people anywhere to be seen. Sheesh.” 

Pedalling up the endless hills of the shattered landscape had left both my voice and my feet feeling com pletely powerless. I had to lean forward and practically cling onto the handlebar to keep on going. 

After a while, even that grew far too much for me to endure. 

“Aah! I just want to meet a human! Is that really too much to ask?” 

I took my feet off the pedals and spread them wide as I let gravity carry me down the slope. The air around me had been stagnant for a while, but now at last, I could feel it brushing against my skin, blowing away the thick blanket of warmth and cooling me down. My hair was left dancing in the wind. 

“Hohoho. Have you forgotten that I am here too?” a voice stated behind me. Did she really count as a human? I wasn’t so sure about that. 

“I want to meet a human whose cheeks don’t stretch without a limit!” 

“If you did meet one, what would you do then?” “Dunno. I haven’t really thought that far.” If nothing else, I at least wouldn’t stretch their cheeks. That much was given. 

“Still, I do feel like unless I meet someone, nothing can begin.” 

That, or perhaps I’d convinced myself to think that way simply to give me the motivation to keep on going. I suppose that was also a possibility. 

As to what I was going to do after the encounter, that would be something for the future me to decide based on her feelings in that moment. 

Not that I actually had any evidence to begin with to suggest that there were people other than me left alive. My ancestors had landed on this planet, spread around, expanded... and had then come to the conclusion that the place was not suitable for them after all. The problem was with the soil, or so I’d heard. Whatever the case, the number of remaining people had rapidly begun reducing till we’d gotten to where we were now. It likely wasn’t going to take all that long till there was no one left. 

Would I be able to accomplish my goal, to meet someone before that? I could only hope so. “I wonder sometimes... Why did you come here exactly?” 

“Hmm?” 

“It’s just, the other planet you always speak of sounds better in every way imaginable. So much more lush.” Apparently, the streets there were simply overflow ing with people. Sure, that could certainly pose some issues in its own right, but those were besides my point. What I liked about the place the most was that you didn’t have to travel. 

That you could always have someone by your side. Actually... Right then, an alternative theory popped into my head. Perhaps that planet too had lost its people, and that was why she had left? Could that be possible? I was just about to ask Yashiro about that, only for her to open her mouth first: 

“I made a promise with Shimamura. That is why.”