Interlude: Yashiro Comes Calling, Part 9

Interlude:
Yashiro Comes Calling
Part 9

“Chrrrrp!”

As Yachi runs around the hallway like a scared little kitty, I jump and grab her from behind. Wait, “kitty”? Well, I guess she’s a lion right now. She must really like those PJs.

“Give it up, Yachi!”

“Nice try, Little!” Then she pops right out of the lion’s mouth. Wait, what? How?!

She shoots into the air like a bar of soap, leaving me holding her empty PJs.

“Whaaa…?”

How can you bend your shoulders like that, Yachi?! And why are you naked?!

“Yachi! You’re not supposed to be naked under there!”

“Why would I wear more clothes during the summer?” She tilts her head at me, puzzled. Not even a little embarrassed, either. “Now then, fare thee well!”

“No, no, no!” She starts to run, but I grab her again. By the scruff of the neck, too, just like a real cat.

“In that case, I shall slip right out of this skin…”

“AAAAAHHH!” You really shouldn’t do that! All I wanted was to take a bath with you, so why are you fighting me?! “Yachi, do you hate the heat?”

“I have no strong feelings about it. I simply don’t want to melt.”

She grabs her cheeks and stretches them out. They look really squishy and soft… Yep, they’re soft, all right.

“You’re not gonna melt, silly—”

“What are you kids doing out here?”

Nee-chan walks out from the kitchen. She takes one look at naked Yachi and scowls.

“Yachi took her clothes off!” I shout, holding up the limp lion skin. Wobble wobble.

“You look like you’re melting, too, Shimamura-san.”

“Well, it’s hot.”

“You could take off your clothes.”

“I could, but I’m not gonna. Now either get in the tub or put your clothes back on. Why is our bathtub so popular, anyway…?” Tilting her head, Nee-chan walks off.

“See? It’s bath time! Now let’s go!” I tug on her hand.

“Very well. You leave me no other choice.”

Reluctantly, Yachi toddles after me. I lead her to the bathroom and start calling the shots like a big sister. “Now sit here, Yachi. I’ll wash your hair,” I explain, pointing.

“My hair does not need to be washed,” she protests as she sits down where I pointed.

I stoop down and spray her hair with the detachable showerhead. After I untie her usual butterfly braid, it all falls down past her hips.

“Blub blub blub…”

“Whoa…!”

Yachi’s hair dyes the water blue. No matter how many times I see it, it always blows my mind. And every time I comb it with my fingers, little blue sparklies fly out. Combined with the steam, it makes the whole bathroom blue. Still holding the shower head, I stop and stare for a while, entranced.

“Amazing…”

“Blub blub blub blub…”

“Why don’t you close your mouth?!”

I pour shampoo onto her wet hair and lather up some suds. She was right—her hair is perfectly glossy, with no dirt or grime. And her skin is so clear, she could give the bathroom tiles a run for their money. But I wash it all anyways.

Her head starts to sway, probably ’cause she’s bored. Happens all the time.

“Hey, keep your head still!” I put a hand on each side, holding her in place.

“Oh, Little, you’re so demanding.”

“Excuse me?!”

I start lathering her hair super hard. The bubbles turn blue to match. Then I check my hands to see if they’re stained, too, but nope. Still regular hands.

“Your hair is such a mystery.” It’s the prettiest hair in the whole universe.

“It is merely a recreation of an Earthling’s hair.”

“Wh-what?”

“Some of you Earthlings are awfully strange, aren’t you?”

“Not as strange as you!”

Me personally, I’ve never met anybody as weird as Yachi, and something tells me I never will. It’s just not possible.

After we give ourselves a good scrubbing, it’s time to get in the tub. It’s not very big, so taking baths with Nee-chan or her “friend” can get pretty cramped, but when it’s me and Yachi, our legs have plenty of room.

Water drips from our hair—plip, plip, plip. I look over at her. Even with her hair down, she’s so radiant. I’m kinda scared she’ll turn to light and fade away.

“Yachi, you came here to find your…compatriot, right?”

“That is correct.”

“And when you find ’em, you’re gonna leave?”

Feels like she might disappear at a moment’s notice. She’s like a ghost—no matter how good of friends we are, no matter how much time we spend together, she’ll never belong here. She might start floating away any second now.

“As soon as I find my compatriot, we will leave this planet and go back to outer space,” Yachi confirms gently.

“…Oh.”

I don’t know if she’s serious about this “outer space” stuff, but once she leaves, I get the feeling I’ll never see her again.

“We probably won’t return for another three thousand years.”

“…What?”

Yachi nods gravely. Three thousand years?! Wait, but that’s as long as…um… Well, my grandma is like seventy, so…

“Oh, okay, then.” I don’t believe every single thing she says, but it’s nice to have a reassuring number. Then I notice her looking at me. “What?”

“Mwah!”

She leans forward and kisses the tip of my nose. All at once, everything is blue. My hand freezes underwater, fingers twitching. Then she licks my nose with her tongue, and everything jolts to life again.

“Wh-wh-what was THAT for?!”

The splash of the water matches my feelings to a T. Yachi pulls away and grins. “I have heard it is a symbol of close friendship.”

“Wh-whaaa…? Really?”

Nobody ever told me that. Is this what they do in the big city? Is it a city thing? Maybe not. The room starts to spin. I feel all warm, and not just from the water.

“We are close friends, are we not?”

I guess she mistook my panic for something else. She tilts her head at me, and her shining gaze shifts like a spinning globe. I can see the stars in her eyes.

“Of…of course we are!”

It’s not the same kind of friendship I have with the kids at school. I don’t know how to explain it, and I can’t prove it even exists, but I can feel something between us, pulling me in. Even when we take all our clothes off, it’s still there.

“But…why my nose?”

“Did I make an error of some kind?”

“Well, normally you do it on the…ch-cheek or something…”

“Ah, I see. In that case, let us try again. Mwah!”

“Mwahhh…”

I wrap my arms around my knees as she plants her lips on my cheek. And in the meantime, all I can see is wet, glossy blue.