Interlude: Hino and Nagafuji

Interlude:
Hino and Nagafuji

 

“OH, I WAS actually right!”

I looked up from my idle fishing line and saw Nagafuji standing there. For a moment, her head blocked out the sun, but as she approached, it got bright again. The frames of her glasses glinted in the sunlight streaming over her shoulders, and her T-shirt bore the word DISCIPLE in glossy print. Not mine, I hope.

“Heyo. What brings you all the way out here?” I asked, raising a hand in greeting.

This was an uncommon sight. Usually, she refused to fish with me, since it was “too boring.” One time, I forced her to tag along with me anyway, but I quickly learned my lesson. I couldn’t get any fishing done with her around.

“I went to your house, but they told me you had gone fishing.”

Her words left a silent implication: So I chased you all the way here. Only Nagafuji would come to a fishing hole empty-handed.

“You went to my house? You could have told me you were coming over.” Cell phones are a thing that exist, you know.

“If I’d told you I was coming, you would’ve shown up at my house instead.”

“You know me well.”

Instead of inviting her over to my place, I preferred going to hers. At her house, I could actually relax. Not that I hated my family or anything—I just wasn’t naturally inclined to live in a huge, empty house. Every now and then I wished someone would come along, reel me in, and put me in their bucket… Then again, actual fish probably didn’t enjoy the experience very much, did they?

Nagafuji crouched down beside me and stared out blankly at the still waters. The sunlight still carried the earthy smell of summer, and for a weekend, there weren’t many lines cast. That was why I was hoping to relax out here, but alas… I shot her a quick glance.

The reason I couldn’t fish with her around was because she always made things difficult for me. She would stay quiet for about five minutes, then start pinching my cheeks or resting her chin on my head or slapping my legs. She just couldn’t be trusted to sit still.

“Today, I’m going to take part in your favorite hobby, just for you.”

“Condescending much?”

“In exchange, you have to try my favorite hobby too.”

“Uhh…sure, whatever,” I replied offhandedly. Then it hit me. “What is your favorite hobby, anyway?”

We always spent so much time doing random stuff together, I’d never really stopped to consider it until now, and I was drawing a blank.

“Who, me? Heh heh.” She thrust her chest out smugly for…some reason. “Clearly, you need to do a little more research if you can’t answer such basic trivia about me.”

“Cram it.”

“My favorite hobby is boomerang throwing, of course!”

“Oh, that’s right. I remember now.”

“And my second favorite hobby is caring for you,” she declared proudly. But frankly, this was no secret to me.

“…You mean that same stuff you always make me do with you?”

“That’s right.”

Well, then, I already do it with you all the time! What more do you want from me, you weirdo?

The water rippled quietly as I reeled in my line and packed up my stuff.

“I quit. Let’s go home,” I announced as I rose to my feet. She looked up at me, partway through a yawn, mouth hanging open.

“What the? Already?”

“Well, you’re bored, right?”

“Yeah.”

Thus, there was no point in us staying here.

“Oh, and when I said ‘go home,’ I meant your home.”

“Noooo! How come?!”

Because lunch at my house was always light, and I wanted to eat something with actual flavor for a change. Why did my brothers all eat that rabbit food anyway? Because it was “traditional”? Yeah, probably. Sometimes it was important to carry out the role given to you, and you couldn’t always turn a blind eye to it. These things all meshed together to create a functional society.

After we left the fishing hole, Nagafuji took her glasses off and put them away.

“You sure that’s safe? I know you’re not totally blind without ’em, but…”

To me, this was the real Nagafuji. Probably because I first met her before she got glasses, back in elementary school. That said, we were closer to the same height back then.

“I remembered why it is that I wear these glasses.”

“Huh? Because you have bad eyesight, right?”

“Yes, yes.”

“You really confuse me sometimes…”

“It’s because you’re so small, Hino.”

“Say that again? And wipe that smirk off your face!” I glared back at her.

“I wear my glasses so I can find you in the distance.”

I froze, still glaring. She turned and faced forward, her expression peaceful. Her gaze was pointed in the direction of the old, grimy elementary school building.

“So when you’re nearby, I don’t need them anymore.”

“…Good grief. Quit joking around.”

Such a weirdo. I started scratching my head, but then she grabbed my hand and pulled me toward her.

“Wh-where did that come from?”

“I reeled you in! Yaaaay!”

She whipped our joined hands over her head, yanking me upward onto my tiptoes. Did she get even taller? For a moment, I panicked. Why does she keep growing? Maybe  my family needs to serve more meat at dinnertime… But then again, my parents and brothers are all taller than me…

And so the two of us ended up holding hands as we walked.

“Can’t really remember the last time we held hands.”

“Me either.”

It felt like we’d done a bunch of this stuff completely out of order.

“It’s nice!”

“Except it’s making me sweaty.”

From the cicadas to the shape of the clouds, every tiny detail of summer was slowly being peeled away—except the eternally robust heat. Now that the sun’s bright rays had warmed our town like a microwave, it would take a little time to cool down again. In the meantime, her palm was just too hot.

“That’s what I like about it,” she replied with a smile.

For a moment I wondered: Why? But after a few moments of walking in silence with our joined hands swinging in the breeze…

“…I guess it’s not so bad.”

And so I decided to try out one of Nagafuji’s favorite hobbies…at least until we made it back to her house.

~Today’s Adachi Forecast~

 

In the window’s reflection, I was smiling. In the bathwater’s reflection, I was grinning. And in the mirror’s reflection, I was very clearly smirking.

I was undeniably on cloud nine.