3
As scheduled, Sakuta worked his butt off until two, then quickly got changed. He was out of there at 2:05.
“I’m off.”
“Oh, okay senpai! Have a good one!”
Like he’d told Rio, he had a fun date planned with Mai.
It was a bit late for a New Year’s shrine visit, but they were gonna do it anyway.
He walked right past the JR gates Nodoka had taken that morning, moving to the south side of Fujisawa Station.
He crossed a connecting bridge and was about to turn into the Enoden station when something made him pause.
It was a group of junior high kids doing a fund drive.
He stood still a minute, listening to see what cause this was for. He soon figured out it was to help poor children in developing countries get a proper education.
Sakuta took all the coins out of his wallet.
“Here,” he said, dropping them into the box the nearest boy was holding. The coins rattled as they fell. Probably three hundred yen, total.
“Thank you!”
The boy’s voice was so loud, Sakuta cringed and quickly fled the scene. The last thing he wanted was for people to think he was doing it for the attention. He went past an Odakyu department store and into the Enoden Fujisawa Station, running his train pass through the gates.
A train bound for Kamakura was just coming in.
This was the start of the line, so the tracks stopped at the end of the platform.
He went around the left side of the green-and-cream train and took a seat. He was alone in the car.
When the departure time arrived, the train slowly pulled out of the station.
The train dawdled along, feeling like it was still getting up to speed. But before it did, it started slowing down to stop at Ishigami Station. From there, it headed south, stopping at Yanagikoji, Kugenuma, and Shonankaigankoen on the way to Enoshima Station.
Next, the tracks turned east toward Kamakura, following the coast. Once it passed Koshigoe, it emerged from the rows of houses and provided an unobstructed view of the water. The clear winter skies, the deep ocean blue—a soothing beauty exclusive to this time of year.
Sakuta watched it roll by until the train reached Kamakura Station—end of the line.
He got out and left the gates.
“Sakuta,” a voice called.
Mai was standing by the ticket machines. She had her hair in braids and a pair of fake glasses on—a disguise. But her makeup was flawless, so she was still attracting plenty of attention.
She must have noticed him studying her appearance.
“Just to be clear, this isn’t for you. It’s left over from the shoot.”
“Aw. Even if it isn’t for me, you could have lied and said it was.”
“You should be happy I didn’t bother removing it.”
“Was that for me?”
“So what do you have to say?”
“Mai, you’re supercute. I love you.”
She smiled, clearly satisfied. This made him love her all the more.
“Come on,” she said, taking his hand.
They walked off together.
Mai and Sakuta were visiting Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, a ten-minute walk from the station. On New Year’s Day, this shrine would be so packed even grown-ups could get lost in the crowds. Even on the third day, the staff had to police the crowd size.
Mai showing up at a place like that would only invite disaster, so they’d waited until the sixth to make their visit out of an abundance of caution.
They walked through the torii gate and along the broad gravel path. After a bit, they reached the handwashing basin and cleaned their left hands, followed by their right. Then took a sip of the water from their right hand. Finally, they tipped the scoop backward, letting water run over the handle.
Sakuta hadn’t planned on being so formal about it, but Mai insisted they do it right.
“You know a lot about this stuff, Mai?”
“Learned it for a role.”
Mai told him about that job as they headed in. There was a towering staircase ahead, and the main shrine building was at the top.
They took it one step at a time.
At the top, Sakuta pulled out his wallet to drop a coin in.
“Ack…”
The coin pouch was empty.
“What?”
“Mai, can I borrow a coin?”
“Huh?” She blinked at him.
“I donated mine at Fujisawa Station.”
“Oh…” She realized what had happened. “I don’t want to begrudge you your hobbies, but…”
Despite this grumbling, she opened her wallet without a trace of resentment.
“Not exactly the word I’d use,” he said.
It was just a thing he did.
The first one had been for research on a tricky medical condition. Maybe three years ago? Ever since, he’d been emptying his change into any donation box he saw. Even now he wasn’t exactly sure why.
“Who was it who found himself without lunch money the other day?”
“But I got to eat half of yours, so I call that a win. You even did the ‘Say ahh!’ thing! My karma is finally paying off.”
“I knew you’d say that. Wait.”
“What?”
“Sakuta, do you have any paper money?”
“Yeah, a thousand-yen note.”
He wasn’t showing up to a date with just a handful of coins. But it was only a single bill…
He pulled it from his wallet to show her.
She promptly reached out and took it from him.
“Ack! Mai!”
But she was already headed toward the shrine.
“Look, you had money for an offering after all!”
She stopped by the collection box, muttering, “We’re supposed to put bills in envelopes…”
And then dropped his one thousand yen in.
“Aughh!”
He let out a shriek, but Mai just bowed twice, clapped twice, and bowed again.
“You too.”
No use crying over lost money. He stood next to Mai and put his hands together.
“……”
He made a proper report to the gods. And he followed it up with his usual request.
Once the unexpectedly expensive prayer was complete, they walked past the booths selling good luck charms and down the side staircase.
“Did you make a request worth the money?”
“I made sure to tell the gods I’d make you happy.”
“You what?” she said, laughing.
“Then I asked them if we could have fewer crazy things happen this year.”
“There were a lot…but that’s also what brought us together.”
“I’ve met enough wild bunny girls for one lifetime.”
He’d met Mai at the library last spring. And before summer even arrived, he’d gotten mixed up in the petite devil’s mess, been caught between two Rios over summer vacation, and when second term started had to deal with Mai and Nodoka swapping bodies. Then when fall was wrapping up, his sister got her memories back, becoming her old self again.
That was a lot for a single year, so he was hoping this one would take it easy on him.
“Also, since I’m broke now, I requested that you come over and cook dinner for me.”
He said this in a very hammed-up voice, pointedly glancing at her.
“Fine. I’ll come over.”
“Great!”
“What do you want?”
“Those hamburg steaks of yours.”
“If you help me make the patties.”
“That would make it my hamburg steaks.”
“Don’t sweat the small stuff.”
“But it makes a huge difference!”
On the way back from the shrine, they took a train from Kamakura Station but got off halfway, at Shichirigahama Station.
A small station on a single-track line. They ran their passes through the simple gate and went down a few stairs, and they were on the road outside the station.
They crossed a little bridge, and on the left stood their school, Minegahara High. Third term would start tomorrow. They’d have to come here every day.
But Sakuta put that depressing thought out of his mind and walked in the opposite direction, down the gentle slope toward the vast expanse of the ocean.
The light on Route 134 took forever, but they eventually crossed it. On the other side, they went down the stairs to the beach. The sun was already setting.
He and Mai walked along the surf, the sand catching their feet.
The sea breeze was chilly in winter. The roar of the surf drowned out all other sounds.
There were people here and there, but for the most part, they had the place to themselves. That was why he liked coming here.
“You really love the ocean, huh?” Mai asked.
“Not as much as I love you.”
He hoped that would get him a reward, but she seemed disinclined. Actually, she seemed a little grumpy. He soon learned why.
“As much as this girl in your dreams?”
There was a challenge in her voice. She was feigning disinterest.
“Like I said before, nothing like that. I just feel like she helped me out.”
“Yet you came here on dates.”
“Only in dreams.”
Which meant it was all very hazy. The specifics were hard to remember exactly.
Sakuta didn’t even know her name.
Or have a clear idea what she looked like.
It was a dream, so what they’d talked about and what her voice sounded like eluded him.
But the general idea that she’d saved him stuck.
The same thing had happened two years back. Kaede’s bullying had hit its peak, and the girl in his dreams had given him the courage to move forward.
He’d realized the uniform she wore was from Minegahara High—so when he and his sister had to move into a place of their own, he’d chosen to come here.
With a faint hope he might find her.
He hadn’t.
He didn’t meet any students who seemed like the one.
“Hmm,” Mai grumbled.
“But you like it here, too,” he said. The odds were stacked against him, but he was trying to change the subject.
“I dunno about that. I just have history with it.”
“That movie was a huge hit.”
This was a movie she’d made back in junior high.
It was set near Shichirigahama, and they’d filmed scenes on this very beach. Mai had played a girl born with a serious heart condition. A heart transplant was her only shot at life. Except no donor appeared to save her. A little girl struggling to make the most of her tragically short life—the entire country had wept for her. That girl had known the value of life better than anyone, and that depiction had received rave reviews abroad, earning the film major international awards.
And because of that film, awareness about the lead character’s condition had skyrocketed. It had changed attitudes toward organ donation. For the better.
Sakuta had a green donor card in his pocket.
“It’s cold. Let’s go home.”
Without waiting for an answer, Mai headed away from the water. Sakuta quickly caught up and took her hand.
“Your hands are cold,” she said.
“That’s why I’m making you warm them.”
“It’s usually the other way around.”
She rolled her eyes at him but didn’t try to shake him off. Instead, she grinned and tried to jam both their hands into his jacket pocket. That made him laugh.
As they goofed around, they reached the stairs leading up to the road, passing a family as they did.
The parents looked to be in their late thirties. Very close-knit.
And between them was a junior high school girl. She was talking to her parents, all smiles. Her smile so bright it really caught Sakuta’s eye.
She ran off toward the surf, and her father called after her.
“But only for a little bit! I don’t want you straining yourself!”
“Yes, I know you’ve had your operation, but…”
Before her mother finished, the girl called back, “I’m all better now! It’ll be fine!”
She turned and waved at them.
Sakuta stopped in his tracks.
“Sakuta?” Mai frowned, leaning in.
“That girl…,” he croaked.
He felt like he knew the girl running along the surf.
Laughing as she ran from the incoming wave.
Delighted to be alive.
Her long hair streaming behind her.
He tried to remember, but nothing came to mind.
Not her name.
Not where they’d met.
Nothing at all.
Thinking harder didn’t reward him with an answer. There was nothing for him to find.
“…Never mind,” he said, and he took a step up the stairs with Mai.
Then…
…his body moved with a will of its own.
His heart jumped ahead of his thoughts.
He turned toward the water and yelled a name he’d never heard.
“Makinohara!”
Loud enough to be heard above the roar of the waves.
The wind caught it, carrying it far.
And as he called the name, he remembered.
The name that taught him kindness.
Every precious memory came back to him, and he felt a heat behind his eyes.
“……”
The girl looked very surprised.
She turned back toward him, like she couldn’t believe it.
Then a moment later, her face crumbled. She didn’t even bother trying to wipe away the tears.
“That’s right, Sakuta!” Shouko said with a smile.
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