The World as It Is
How do bathrooms in old homes manage to start out so incredibly hot and stuffy, right from the beginning of the day?
The bathroom in our house was built underneath our narrow little staircase. Every time you walk in, it feels like the walls are just waiting to squeeze in on you. The bathroom does have one tiny window, but it hardly manages to bring any fresh air inside.
That was how I found myself sitting on the toilet, feeling like a Christmas roast, even though it was the height of summer.
A calendar from a local travel agency hung in front of my face. Its current photo showed a scene of tourists frolicking in the ocean along the coast of Moshimo Beach. The only problem was that Moshimo Beach hadn’t seen crowds like that since at least before I was born. I wouldn’t have gone so far as to say that the photo was decades and decades old, but I did suspect that it wasn’t taken during the current century.
I sighed as I traced the tiny image of a woman in a bright-red, high-legged swimsuit with my finger. I was lost in thought about the babes of another era when I heard rapid knocking at the bathroom door.
“Norimichi!! Hurry up and get out of there!! Dawdling isn’t going to change the fact that you’ve got school today!!”
My mother’s hysterics reverberated throughout the tiny room. The already sweltering air seemed to shoot up another three degrees.
Geez. How are moms able to scream that loud first thing in the morning?
I rolled my eyes as I answered, “Leave me alone! I’m not done yet!!”
She seemed to have already walked away without waiting for my response. I heard her call out from the other room, “Breakfast is on the table! It’s last night’s curry!”
I clutched at my stomach and quietly groaned, “…Come on…”
The TV in the living room was reporting on all the big fireworks displays scheduled around the country. I listened as I carefully passed the yolk of a raw egg back and forth between the halves of its broken shell. Once the white had all run off, I plopped the yolk on top of my bowl of curry.
“Eat the white, too! It’s good for you!” I felt my mom smack the top of my head with a rolled-up sheaf of newspaper ads. Not a moment later, the room was filled with the blare of the vacuum cleaner.
“Oh, come on. Do you have to do that while I’m eating…?” I wanted to scream each word of my response, but I released them under my breath instead. If I bothered to shout, I’d only get twice the earful back. In a token of defiance, I pointedly left the white untouched and stirred only the yolk into my curry.
Man, if someone manages to invent yolk-only eggs someday, I bet people will buy those things up in droves…
With that thought, I started scooping up mouthfuls using the little scratched-up spoon that had been my favorite since I started elementary school.
Mmm. Delicious!
What was it about curry from the night before that made it so good? There had to be some kind of chemical reaction going on when it sat in its pot overnight or when an egg yolk was mixed in.
“We’ll be seeing fireworks all across the nation again tonight! Now, for those of you wondering about the weather…”
The image on the TV switched from a listing of fireworks events to a shot of the weather girl. She stood in front of a map of Japan dotted with an absolutely ridiculous number of little sunshine marks.
The calendar in the bathroom flashed back into mind. Under AUGUST 1 I’d seen the words FIREWORKS DISPLAY… Not that a fireworks display was a big deal to me. I mean, I was in seventh grade. But still, it seemed like kind of a special day.
Wait a sec. The weather’s on? Crap, I gotta get outta here.
I shoveled the rest of the curry down my throat. When I was finished, I left the bowl on the table and rushed through the door to the storefront. I slipped my sneakers on and tied the laces.
“What a pain… Why do they have us show up for one day in the middle of summer break…?” I grumbled to myself, working my tongue around the inside of my mouth as I tried to pry out a piece of chicken stuck between two molars.
“Consider yourself lucky.”
The reply came from my dad, who was cleaning some fishing rods in the shop. He wore a tank top, shorts, and sandals—not exactly the attire you choose when expecting customers.
My family had been running the Shimada Tackle Shop for generations… Or more bluntly, my grandpa had set it up on a whim after he retired as a fisherman. It had been in business for some twenty-odd years, stocking fishing gear along with general household goods, nonperishables, pet food…you know, just about what you’d expect at a tackle shop. Dad took over from Grandpa, but I didn’t have any plans to carry on the trade.
“Huh? Why’s that?”
“Because you don’t have t—”
As if she’d timed herself to drown out Dad’s words, my mom’s voice erupted from the living room. “Norimichi! Put your dishes in the sink when you’re done eating! Also, we’re heading out in the afternoon, so you’re on your own for dinner! Find something to eat in the fridge!”
I’m right here! You don’t need to scream!
…is what went through my mind. The words that left my mouth were those of a well-behaved son: “Got it!”
I looked back at my dad, who was still working on the rods.
“You’re going somewhere tonight?”
“She’s got a bunch of junk she wants to take over to the flea market at Moshimo Shrine.”
“The one at the festival? Who’s gonna come to that?”
“Not to mention it’s hardly worth closing the shop for a whole d—”
He stopped himself short and turned back to his work on the rods. Confused, I swiveled my head—only to find Mom standing right behind me.
Her expression was flat. Now it was time to be scared.
“…You were saying?” She angled herself toward Dad.
“Well, I’m outta here!!” Sensing trouble brewing, I dashed out of the shop and onto the street outside.
“Junk, huh?! Well, if it’s so much trouble, you don’t have to come!”
An image of my dad anxiously shaking his head back and forth floated to mind as I hopped onto my worn-out bicycle, which was parked just outside the shop. I began pedaling down the sloped road that led to the sea.
I knew I’d probably be drenched in sweat soon, but that brief downhill stretch would bathe my entire body in a cool ocean breeze. It was a treat that left me feeling happy—just a little bit, mind you—to have been born in such a small seaside town.
Moshimo was made up of an old fishing port and a short stretch of coastline. Beyond that was the Pacific Ocean. Moshimo’s population was…about 2,800, if I remembered right. Most of its residents lived along the foothills sloping up from the port to the mountains, and the way the houses were built made them look like they were clinging desperately to the mountainside.
“It’s like a run-down version of Onomichi. The slow, quiet atmosphere is nice, though.” A young tourist from Tokyo had said that about the town. He’d come to Moshimo to do some fishing.
I didn’t know much about Onomichi, but it seemed like a pretty rude thing to say. Still, it was hard to argue with the fact that things had slowed down around Moshimo.
Back in the day, we’d been a pretty lively fishing town. And in the summers, tourists used to flock to Moshimo because it was one of the only swimming beaches in the prefecture. But ever since the big earthquake and tsunami six years ago, the town had lost all its pep. Compared with what happened in Tohoku, our damage was minimal, and we were lucky enough not to have any casualties. Even so, the fishing port had been wrecked, and even six years later, it was only half-rebuilt. As for the beaches, only the locals really visited them anymore.
“Man, it feels like you’re living in another era when you’re here.” The tourist from Tokyo had said that, too.
“Another era?” What was that supposed to mean? It didn’t seem like he was taking a jab at the town from the way he said it, but at the same time, I’m pretty sure he wasn’t about to consider moving in.
If you were to ask me if I liked living in my town, honestly, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. I mean, I definitely thought Tokyo sounded like a cool place, but I wasn’t sure I’d like to live there… On the other hand, if you were to ask me if I wanted to stay in Moshimo my entire life, I don’t think I could get excited about that idea, either.
“Norimichi!!” A voice called out to me.
I turned in its direction and caught sight of a slick new mountain bike flying out from a side road connected to the slope. Riding it was Yusuke Azumi. Yusuke was the son of a doctor, and the two of us basically grew up together. Aside from my parents, I’d bet I’d spent more time with Yusuke than anyone else in my life.
“Yo!”
“’Sup!” I raised a hand from my handlebars as I responded.
As if on cue, two more friends joined us from another side road: Junichi riding his skateboard and Minoru on his kick scooter. As the four of us sped down the slope, our usual morning banter commenced.
“What are the stakes today?”
Junichi was the tallest. His voice had deepened, too. Despite those traits, he didn’t act much like an adult, and in fact, among the four of us, he was usually the one making pointless bets. He was also the one most likely to be setting the mood and causing trouble. For Junichi, everything always had to be a competition. Honestly, it was kind of childish. Still, we four had a long-standing, unspoken agreement since elementary school that if a bet was made, we all were immediately on board.
“Whoever loses makes a pass at Ms. Miura!”
Minoru hadn’t grown an inch since fourth grade, not to mention any pubes, but he was the one always making edgy, grown-up comments. He tended to act kind of like Junichi’s right-hand man. The two were always playing off each other.
“Hey, anyone else think that Ms. Miura’s boobs have gotten even bigger over the summer?”
“Did you know that boobs get bigger if you let someone massage ’em?”
“Seriously?!”
“Who’s she got massaging her boobs?!”
“Oh man, I wanna try!!”
That was how it usually was for us: talking about nothing particular, half drowned out by the ocean breeze, as we made our way down the last of the slope and onto the road following the coastline.
I glanced back and saw the wind turbines lined up along the mountain ridge, their propellers slowly rotating clockwise.
Wind energy was the city’s new initiative. Test projects had begun the year before last. If nothing else, Moshimo had an abundant, stable supply of wind coming in off the ocean, and that apparently made the town an ideal candidate for generating wind energy.
I’d seen that ridgeline a million times since I was a kid. When the turbines first showed up and changed the view, it just hadn’t seemed right to me. But over time, I’d grown accustomed to the new residents.
“Shortcut!” Yusuke’s mountain bike suddenly veered from the coastal road, down a small stone stairway, and out onto the boardwalk.
“Oh, come on!”
“No fair!”
The rest of us, with our wimpy tires and tiny wheels, were no match for his thick, off-road tires. We had to jump off our own rides and then carry them down the stairs to the boardwalk. At the bottom, we remounted and chased after Yusuke.
I was just getting ready to throw all my weight into the pedals again, when suddenly a strong gust of wind blew past us. As if beckoned, I turned my head to look out at the ocean. My eyes caught sight of an indistinct silhouette near the water’s edge.
At first, I assumed it was a particularly energetic sightseer out for a morning stroll. But as my gaze lingered, the figure came into focus, and I saw a white-topped school uniform, a skirt with a hem just above the knee, and long hair in braids.
It was a girl from my class: Nazuna Oikawa.
She was far away, and her back was turned to me, but I was sure of it. It was Nazuna.
Nazuna was lightly stepping across the concrete tetrapod blocks piled along the shore. From where I stood, it almost looked as if she were walking on the surface of the water itself. As she made her way along, the water glittered with the light of the sun behind her. She looked just like a heroine from the movies or on TV.
Time seemed to be moving slowly in the space immediately around her. My eyes were transfixed, and I found myself hoping she might turn my way…
That small, silently held desire was interrupted by a shout from Junichi. “Norimichi! We’re gonna be late!!”
Coming back to my senses, I pressed down on my pedals.
“I know!”
I stood up from my seat to pedal harder but took one more look at the shore. Nazuna had crouched down and was picking up something from the shallows. When she had fished it out of the water, she turned toward the sun and held it high in her right hand. Because of the distance, I couldn’t tell what the object was.
I had the impression that the glint coming from whatever she’d found was not the same light shimmering on the waves. Or maybe it was just my imagination…
“Heeeey, badda, badda!!”
“Horsehide! Horsehide! Come on, right here!!”
“Bringin’ the gas!”
The baseball team—on the field for practice every day of the year except New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day—seemed uncharacteristically happy for a school day in the middle of summer. They were taking up the entire schoolyard, and as they practiced, they shouted all kinds of gibberish at each other.
The rest of the school’s students slowly walked by, still in a summer stupor… Of course, the four of us were no exception. We trudged toward the doors of the school building as the warning bell rang out. Our bicycles, board, and scooter had been stashed in the parking lot of a nearby convenience store.
Hearing the baseball team, Junichi mockingly remarked, “What’s badda supposed to be anyway?”
“A batter, I guess?” Minoru responded with a big laugh. “You’d think they could at least pronounce it right.”
“Yeah, and what about horsehide?”
“Isn’t that what they call the ball?”
“And bringin’ the gas?”
“No clue.”
Soccer had been the sport in vogue since we were little, and in comparison, baseball seemed well past its prime. As far as we were concerned, baseball was for old farts. But because Moshimo’s vocational school had once won the national high school championships, baseball had been slow to wane here, and plenty of kids in the town preferred it to soccer.
A wayward ball rolled toward our feet, and a dirt-smeared member of the team chased it down at full speed.
“I can’t believe the whole team’s still got buzz cuts. You’d think that kind of thing would have died out years ago.”
“Never gonna score with a girl looking like that.”
“I can’t even imagine why anyone would sign up for baseball.”
We scoffed, but actually, Yusuke, Junichi, Minoru, and I had all been on a little league team during our first three years of elementary. Our parents had made us. We were completely uninterested, and instead of practicing, we’d kick the rubber kiddie baseballs around on the ground like soccer balls. Eventually, the coach got fed up and declared that we had all “voluntarily” retired ourselves from the team. We four had been friends before then, but the little league fiasco was what really brought us close.
No single member of our group stood out as the leader, but Junichi was usually the one starting games and conversations, and Minoru was quick to follow along. When it came to topics, though, Junichi seemed to be eternally stuck in elementary school. Recently, Yusuke and I had begun to get a little tired of it.
“Pick up the pace, guys!!”
A bright voice echoed out behind us, and we turned to see Ms. Miura riding up from the school gates on a granny bike. Her chest bobbed as she pedaled, and the buttons running down her white blouse looked about ready to pop off.
“Oh man, we’ve got some serious action again today.”
“I’d say that’s about a six on the Richter scale.”
“Who came in last?”
“Junichi!”
“Oh yeah, like a skateboard’s gonna beat a bike!”
Even as he complained, Junichi sprinted forward with a big grin on his face. A moment later, he was jumping onto the back of Ms. Miura’s bicycle.
“Hey! Get off of there!”
Ms. Miura’s handlebars wobbled unsteadily from the sudden extra weight. Junichi’s hands reached around and firmly gripped the woman’s chest.
“That is not appropriate!”
Ms. Miura slammed on her brakes and then threw her elbows back. Junichi avoided the blow, hopped off the bicycle, and started running across the schoolyard.
“Tajima! You get back here this instant!!”
As she sped after him on her bike, the remaining three of us broke down laughing and called out, “Junichi! How big are they?!”
“J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J cup!!”
He held up his hands in the shape of a J. As he continued to run, he passed in front of a girl walking toward the school building.
It was Nazuna.
“There’s no way they’re that big!!”
Junichi and Ms. Miura had sped right in front of Nazuna’s eyes, but the girl hadn’t even turned her head. She’d continued walking straight forward, unfazed and uninterested. It might have been my imagination, but the expression on Nazuna’s face seemed a little sad.
Something felt different about her…first the strange behavior along the coastline that morning and now that melancholy expression. My musings, however, were soon drowned out by the ringing of the school bell.
The classroom bustled with the happy, awkward reunions unique to a day at school after a break.
Nazuna’s seat was precisely in the middle of the room. A chubby girl one seat back was talking to her.
“Hey, Nazuna. Have you been anywhere for summer break?”
“Not yet.”
“I’m going to Disneyland next week!”
“Oh, that sounds great.”
“Have you been anywhere?” Right. It was pretty clear she’d only bothered to ask so she’d have an opening to brag about her Disneyland trip.
Nazuna smiled as she talked, seeming no different from usual. What was the reason for that strange unease I’d felt earlier?
I sat in my seat at the back of the classroom, in the row next to the windows. I’d spent the entire first term of school gazing at Nazuna from that desk. Most of the time, I was only seeing her from behind, but every once in a while, when she was passing papers back, or—like now—when someone behind her struck up a conversation, I’d catch a glimpse of Nazuna turned around in her seat. Every time it happened, I’d find myself awestruck… When had she become so alluring?
Nazuna had moved here from Tokyo when we were in fifth grade. I could tell immediately that she was different from any of the girls I’d known growing up in Moshimo.
I’d been just a kid—or, well, I guess I still was a kid—but anyway, even though I knew Nazuna was different, I couldn’t quite pin down why. She seemed so sophisticated. So refined. When she was in her school uniform—or even in her gym clothes—she had an aura about her… None of the other girls even compared. When we began junior high and she started growing taller, every extra inch seemed to be accompanied by…
Ugh! Where is all this mushy, lovey-dovey crap coming from?!
But…she was so cute…
“Man, she’s cute, isn’t she? Nazuna Oikawa, I mean.”
“Huh?!”
Yusuke’s words caught me off guard, and my voice squeaked. Yusuke’s seat was directly in front of mine.
“Whoa there, Squeaks.”
Yusuke’s jab came lightning quick. Eager to avoid any suspicion of interest in the girl, I parried back with my own improvised joke.
“Nazuna? I guess she is fairly…snazzy.”
“…Weak.”
I tried to act casual. “What’s so cute about her anyway?”
“I really wanna ask her out.”
“Then do it.”
Since we’d started junior high, Yusuke had become blatantly more aware of Nazuna.
A while ago, I’d learned that he was quietly snapping pictures of her on his smartphone. The photos were all collected into a folder, and Yusuke couldn’t fall asleep at night without scrolling through them. It kind of grossed me out when he told me, but at the same time, I really wanted a copy of that folder.
“I mean, I just wanna go somewhere with her before summer’s over. Like the fireworks display tonight…”
“Then you should ask her.”
“I can’t just go up to her like that! What if she says no?!”
“Figure it out!”
“Hey. How ’bout you go ask her for me?”
“Oh yeah, sure… ‘Hey, Nazuna, Yusuke has something he wants me to tell you…’”
“‘Oh? What’s that?’”
“‘He says you’re the ugliest girl on the planet.’”
“Hey! That’s not what I said!”
“That’s all, folks! Thanks for watching!”
That had been our standby bit for the last several months. Just as we reached the ending beat, Ms. Miura walked into the classroom.
“In your seats, people!!” Our impatient teacher didn’t bother to wait for the scattered students to follow her instructions. She just continued speaking. “All right. Today’s the day of the big festival and fireworks display at Moshimo Shrine. There’s probably going to be some pretty big crowds. I want you all to be careful and not to stay out too late—especially those of you going with friends.”
Minoru shot up out of his seat as if he’d been waiting all morning for this opportunity. “Ms. Miura, who are you going to the festival with?”
Aside from being impatient, Ms. Miura was also a terrible liar.
“Um…” No sooner had she faltered than the classroom erupted in excited chatter.
Junichi struck the coup de grâce. “I bet you’re going with your boyfriend, right? And after the show’s over, maybe you’re planning a grand finale of your own at a hotel?!”
“Tajima! You better learn to control yourself, or you’re going to be on the receiving end of a harassment lawsuit!”
“Then I’ll just countersue for abuse of power!”
“You are simply unbelievable, you know that?” Ms. Miura began making her way from her desk toward Junichi. Her chest bounced with her sudden, sharp movements.
“Ms. Miura! Do you have a license to be carrying around fireworks like that?!”
“Junichi Tajima!!”
Laughter enveloped the entire classroom, and Ms. Miura and Junichi began a chaotic game of tag.
Looks like somebody’s parents will be making another after-school visit… I shook my head. As my eyes loosely followed the unremarkable scene, I caught sight of Nazuna again. She was facing toward me.
Huh…?
No, she wasn’t just turned my way… Her gaze was locked directly on me…
I’d spent the whole term stealing glances, but that was the first time our eyes had ever met.
Nazuna knew I was returning her gaze. Her face was blank, but something deep in her eyes seemed to be reaching out to me—pleading with me.
The connection lasted only an instant… Within a second or two, our eyes had broken away.
She turned to face forward in her seat while I continued staring in confusion at her back. She didn’t turn around again.
“Junichi! Your mother is going to be hearing from me!!”
I was about to shift my attention back to the usual ruckus between Ms. Miura and Junichi. That’s when I saw it: a strange light in the corner of my eye. A quilted bag hung from a hook at the side of Nazuna’s desk. The bottom of the bag seemed to be shrouded in a strange halo.
No, not shrouded… It was more like something inside was faintly shining through the fabric…
What is that…?
I felt as if I were being pulled in toward the light. I couldn’t turn away. Just then, Junichi and Ms. Miura blocked my view and brought me back to my senses. Ms. Miura had finally caught the boy right in front of my desk.
“Nooo! Have mercy! Norimichiii, help meee!”
Ms. Miura gave Junichi a light rap on the top of his head. The room’s laughter peaked, and the go-to comedy routine of first-year Class 1-C came to an end.
As Junichi was led back to his seat by the scruff of his neck, I stole another glance at Nazuna’s bag. The light was gone.
A loud screeeech rang through the outside summer air. Beyond the rusted iron gate, a staircase rose up before us. The stairs had once been light blue, but most of their paint had since peeled away. We vaulted the steps two at a time, and at the top we found clear blue sky, lounging white clouds, and a spread of green forest. The same beautiful scenery was re-created in the still water of a twenty-five-meter pool before Yusuke and me.
Yusuke tossed the mop he’d been holding to the side and said, “Whaddaya think? Shall we ditch the cleaning?”
“Don’t you know? Pool cleaning duty comes with a special perk. Since the swim team already cleans the pool every day, there’s really nothing for us to do!” I replied.
“Sounds about right.”
Yusuke and I grinned from ear to ear: We had the entire pool to ourselves. We stripped off our gym clothes and pulled tight the waist cords on our school-issued (and decidedly unfashionable) athletic trunks. With goggles strapped to our heads and shoes tossed aside, we started our dash to the pool—only to stop short.
“Ow!”
“Geez! My feet are gonna burn off!”
The concrete poolside had been subject to its own bath of scorching sun all morning long. It would have been easier to walk our bare feet across hot coals.
“Oh man… Let’s just jump in alrea— Huh?”
Yusuke cut himself off. I looked up and found him staring over my shoulder.
“Nazuna?” he said.
I followed his gaze to the other side of the pool.
“Oh…”
There, twenty-five meters away, sitting atop the starting blocks and wearing her athletic one-piece swimsuit, was Nazuna.
My eyes were unconsciously drawn to her faintly swelling chest. They continued downward, along the gentle curves that connected her rounded hips to her thighs and firm calves. Nazuna’s feet dangled in the pool. She slowly dragged them back and forth through the water, creating ripples that distorted her reflected self.
“Um…was she on pool duty today?”
“Pretty sure it’s just the two of us.”
“Oh, is she on the swim team, then…? Do they have practice today?”
“No idea.”
“Hey, I gotta go to the bathroom.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Dunno. Saw Nazuna, and now I gotta take a dump.” No sooner were the words out of his mouth than Yusuke started waddling away with his arms and legs held stiff.
“You’re so weird.”
It was an old quirk of Yusuke’s. Ever since we were in kindergarten, any time something unexpected confronted him, he’d suddenly need to go.
One time, we were in the middle of a soccer game. He’d been fouled and was lined up to make his penalty kick. The ref’s whistle sounded, and Yusuke just shot off the field toward the restrooms.
I shifted my gaze from Yusuke’s awkward waddle back to Nazuna…
Huh? What in the world is she doing?
Now she was lying faceup, as if the poolside were her bed. The rays of the hot summer sun beat down on her. I was alone at the pool with Nazuna. A cacophony of morning cicadas served only to underscore the awkward quiet between us.
Is she waiting for something? What am I supposed to do in a situation like this?
It felt ridiculous to just stand there waiting for Yusuke to get back. And Nazuna had to have noticed I was there. It would be decidedly uncool for me to just hang around uncomfortably on my side of the pool…
Mentally arming myself with that slew of excuses, I moved closer to Nazuna. When I was about six feet away, I could see her expression. She was lying with her eyes closed and her mouth fixed into a faint smile, which made her somehow feel further away than she actually was. I sensed I shouldn’t get any closer to her and stopped walking.
“…Um… Out sunbathing today?”
My words came out much quieter than expected, but Nazuna seemed to hear them. She shook her head slightly from one side to the other.
I forced an awkward cough and then asked, “Um, got practice today?”
“…Nope.”
“Um… Just going for a swim?”
“Not swimming.”
“Uhh… Why are you here, then?”
“Guess.”
“…I have no idea.”
Nazuna’s eyes stayed closed throughout the exchange.
“Why, oh why, could I be here?”
“…”
It felt like we were in the middle of some kind of avant-garde comedy sketch. I’m a straightforward guy: setup and payoff. I didn’t think I could go on like that, so I just stopped responding. How was I supposed to know why she was there? Without the faintest idea what kind of response she was fishing for, all I could do was shut up and listen to the background music, compliments of the Moshimo Cicada Chamber Choir.
A dragonfly bobbed languidly before my eyes. It briefly touched down on the surface of the pool two or three times, then doubled back and began circling just above Nazuna. Finally, it perched…right on one of the shoulder straps of Nazuna’s swimsuit.
Nazuna didn’t so much as flinch. It was impossible to tell whether she was aware of the dragonfly or not.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“It landed on you.”
“What did?”
“A white-tailed dragonfly.”
“…Grab it.”
“Huh?”
“Catch it.”
Nazuna continued to speak to me with her eyes closed. Her tone was hard to place. It might have been the cute pleading of a smitten girl, or it could have been the listless teasing of someone well aware they had the upper hand…
Dragonfly catching wasn’t anything new to me. But the dragonfly’s location was…problematic. I hesitantly drew nearer, and soon my vision was entirely filled with Nazuna’s supine figure. The fact took me more by surprise than it ought to have.
When we did swimming in PE, girls and boys were always split into separate classes. This was the first time I’d ever seen a girl in a swimsuit up close. The whole situation seemed kind of suggestive…
Whoa, there! Keep your mind on the task at hand! And man, would the cicadas just shut up already?!
I turned my head to one side, trying to angle it away from Nazuna as I leaned in and reached toward her collarbone. My valiant attempt to look away predictably faltered when I realized my eyes were now pointed directly at her breast. My hand started to quaver.
The dragonfly! Focus on the dragonfly!
I repeated my newfound mantra and continued to stretch out my hand. My thumb and index finger were a quarter inch apart, closing in on the dragonfly’s wing…
The dragonfly sprang into the air.
“Oh…”
I followed the insect’s course high up into the sky. Nazuna sat up.
“You’re pretty bad at that.”
She looked at my dumbfounded face as I stared up at the dragonfly, and she laughed at me.
“Am not!”
I glanced down at her face but received an eyeful of cleavage, too. Embarrassed, I turned away. It was probably the first time I’d talked face-to-face with Nazuna since we started junior high.
There was a small, round object lying at Nazuna’s feet. It looked like some kind of stone…or ball…or maybe an orb.
It was perfectly round—too round to have been formed by nature—and its surface was etched with a mysterious, ineffable pattern.
“Hey… What’s that?”
“Huh? Oh, this…? I found it in the ocean earlier today.”
Nazuna scooped up the mysterious orb and handed it to me.
So this is what I saw her fishing out of the ocean before school…
It was about the size of a tennis ball, and though it had looked fairly large while in Nazuna’s hand, it seemed a bit smaller in mine. Its weight seemed both too heavy and yet too light for something of its size and build. The texture was unlike anything I’d held before.
“Is it a rock? …Or made of some kind of glass?”
“I don’t know. I picked it up because I thought it looked pretty.”
“It’s really weird…”
I held the orb up in the sunlight. The strange hues covering its surface grew more intense. I didn’t disagree with Nazuna. It was quite pretty.
We stayed like that for a moment, both admiring the orb held in my hand, until a loud clang rang out from the iron gate at the pool’s entrance. I shoved the orb back into Nazuna’s hand and hurriedly made my way back to the other side of the pool.
On the way, I stole one more glance at Nazuna. She was looking intently at the orb in her hand.
Yusuke returned to the pool with a strangely satisfied expression. He announced happily, “Nothing came out!”
“Um… Okay?”
Then, what are you looking so smug about? I wanted to prod, but I hadn’t yet recovered from my encounter with Nazuna.
“Why, oh why, could I be here?” Her words crossed through my mind again.
I was obviously agitated, but Yusuke seemed to pay no mind. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
“More importantly, I just had a great idea.”
“What’s that?”
“Wanna race? Two laps of the pool. Let’s place a bet on it.”
“Sounds great!”
What was so “great” about the idea and what it was “more important” than, I had no idea. I was ready to jump on any suggestion, if it meant keeping the conversation away from Nazuna. I pulled my goggles down over my eyes and climbed up on one of the starting blocks.
“All right. If I win…you gotta buy me the newest issue of One Piece,” I said to Yusuke.
“Hah! Sounds good!”
“What about you?”
“If I win…I’m gonna ask out Nazuna.”
“Huh?!”
No sooner was the sound out of my mouth than Yusuke had taken a head start, diving into the pool.
I panicked and shouted out, “Hey! What gives, man?! No fair!”
Yusuke continued to swim for about fifteen feet, then stopped and lifted his head out of the water. “Can’t take a joke? I know you want Nazuna for yourself.”
I froze. My heart gave one big thump! Had Yusuke even gone to the bathroom at all? Maybe he’d been standing there the whole time, watching everything that happened between Nazuna and me.
“What? What are you talking about?” I protested.
“You and Nazuna. You were talking just now, weren’t you?”
Yusuke climbed back up onto his starting block. I could feel the intensity of his glare despite his goggles. His eyes dug into me.
“No. I didn’t say anything to her…”
“You like her, too, don’t you?”
“Huh? Where’d you get that from?”
“…”
“…”
We stood locked in a brief, icy silence until a strangely sunny voice broke through.
“You guys racing?”
The pitter-patter of Nazuna’s feet echoed out as she jogged toward us.
Unconcerned by our lack of response, she began climbing onto a starting block beside us and said, “I’m in.”
“What? Um, sorry, this is between Yusuke and me. Right?”
“Uh, yeah. Just us.”
She stood atop the block now, acting as if she hadn’t heard us. “What’s the bet?”
“Um, well…”
One Piece aside, we sure weren’t in any hurry to tell her about Yusuke’s bet. But what had shocked me the most was the sweeping change in Nazuna’s expression and voice. It was like she was a completely different person from the one I’d been talking to just moments before.
“Well, if I win, you have to do whatever I say.”
“What kind of bet is that?!”
“Come on! Whatever I say, okay?”
“…Okay… I guess.”
“…All right.”
Yusuke and I were still unconvinced. “Whatever I say?” There were way too many possibilities. But it was clear Nazuna wasn’t going to budge. We gave in to her frivolous terms.
“All right. Ready…!”
Nazuna leaned forward on her block. She was clearly an experienced swimmer.
What was going on? How had we put ourselves in this situation? Yusuke and I exchanged dumbfounded looks, but when Nazuna called out “Set…!” we each scrambled into position.
“Go!”
The three of us plunged into the water.
Based on the arc of our dives, Nazuna was already in the lead. Under the surface, I could see her practiced form. She was pulling farther and farther ahead. Yusuke and I, on the other hand, were neck and neck. I pulled myself through the water with all my might.
Nazuna had a good fifteen-foot lead on us when she spun in the water and kicked against the far wall. It was a flawless turn. She sailed back toward us through a wall of bubbles. Her braids swayed behind her.
As Nazuna and I passed each other, our eyes met.
It was the third time that day: first in the classroom, then poolside, and now here. Each time, the eyes—and the things they made me feel—had been completely different. This time, too, I felt her eyes trying to tell me something. I didn’t know what it was, and I couldn’t explain how I knew they were. I just did.
At that moment, it occurred to me why I could see her eyes so clearly.
Huh? She swims without goggles…?
Maybe it happened because I’d let my mind wander from the race, but when I went in for the turn, my body wasn’t ready. My foot was at a weird angle, and by the time I realized what was about to happen, it was too late.
Slam!
“Ow!”
Right at the turn, my foot had shot out of the water and come smashing down against the lip of the pool. I felt pain surge through my ankle. While I flailed about in the water, I saw the shape of Nazuna—and Yusuke, too—recede into the distance.
Amid the bubbles bursting before my eyes, I caught sight of something else. The orb that Nazuna had been staring at so intently was sinking through the water, headed to the bottom of the pool. Nazuna must have left it at the edge of the pool, and the shock from my ankle had caused it to roll in.
I instinctively reached out to it. The orb stopped its descent.
“?”
It hadn’t just stopped sinking. It was now slowly spinning in the water and wavering slightly. It began to emit a faint ray of light that stretched outward like the beam from a lighthouse and cast a spotlight along the walls of the pool.
The world seemed to be moving in slow motion. The orb resumed its descent ever so gradually, as if serenely allowing itself to sink.
“???”
What on earth was happening…? Was it some sort of illusion caused by the sunlight reflecting off the orb in the water?
My hand continued to reach out, and finally, I grasped the strange object. The light it had been emitting immediately vanished.
At the same moment, I realized just how long I’d been holding my breath. I struggled up to the surface for air. Nazuna and Yusuke had both finished swimming. I saw them at the other end of the pool talking about something.
He wasn’t really asking her out, was he?
With the orb still in hand, I resumed my crawl to the other end of the pool. I managed to make it back to the starting side and brought my head out of the water. Nazuna was standing at the side of the pool and staring at me with water still streaming down her face. I looked around, wondering where Yusuke was, and found him slowly sinking under the surface. Bunches of air bubbles burbled up from the empty expression on his face.
“Hey!”
I splashed over to try to bring Yusuke back to the surface. As I flailed my arms, I realized that the orb was still in my hand. Nazuna must have noticed it, too, and her hand shot out in my direction.
“Give it back.”
“Huh?”
For a second, I didn’t understand what she meant.
She repeated herself more forcefully. “That. It’s mine.”
Her insistence caught me off guard. Of course I knew the orb was hers. She’d been showing it to me just a few minutes ago. Was it that important to her?
The whole exchange struck me as unusual, but I plopped the orb down into her outstretched hand. The orb safely recovered, Nazuna began walking toward the pool’s exit, without so much as a glance back.
I watched her departing figure from the water.
First, there was the awkward comedy sketch, and after that came the perplexing fifty-meter race in the pool. What on earth was Nazuna trying to accomplish?
The bell rang, signaling that the school day was over. We’d managed to spend our entire time on cleaning duty at the pool without actually cleaning an inch. Yusuke and I made our way back to the classroom. He was silent as we walked through the hallways.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“Something happen to you?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Yusuke was definitely acting fishy. Ever since that moment he’d shared with Nazuna at the side of the pool, he’d been distracted by something. I mustered up all my courage and spelled out what I really wanted to ask.
“Back there at the pool. Did you ask Nazuna out?”
“Huh?! What are you talking about?! Why would I ever do that?! Don’t be stupid!” He brushed me off, then shuffled ahead.
“I— Never mind… Sorry.”
Why was he acting pissed off all of a sudden? I was feeling pretty fed up with Yusuke but continued to follow him back to the classroom.
When we arrived, Junichi and Minoru were having some kind of argument with Kazuhiro in front of the blackboard.
“They’re round!” Kazuhiro’s shrill voice reverberated throughout the room.
Kazuhiro was the best student in the class. As serious as he was about studying, he quickly became riled up any time there was an argument.
“No, they’re not. They’re flat. What are you, stupid?” Junichi took every chance he saw to get a rise out of Kazuhiro, and he prodded teasingly with his reply.
“I’m telling you, they’re round! Think about it! The powder inside ignites, and then it explodes outward in all directions. Of course they’re going to be round!”
“Hey, Norimichi. If you see a firework explode from the side, does it still look round like a globe, or is it flat like a pancake?”
Junichi had noticed us walk into the room. He was eager to drag us into the conversation, but his question confronted me so suddenly, I struggled to respond.
“What do you mean? Like a bottle rocket?” I ended up stalling.
Minoru, obviously on Junichi’s side, chimed in. “No! Big ones, like at a fireworks display! Like the kind they’ll be using at the show tonight!”
“Display fireworks? Um…flat, I guess?”
I wasn’t very invested in my answer, but Junichi proclaimed his victory with a few more vocal jabs at Kazuhiro.
“See?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! They’re totally round!!”
“Yusuke? What do you think?”
Yusuke, who had returned to his seat and was putting on his backpack, replied with a complete lack of interest. “Huh? I dunno.”
As if triggered by Yusuke’s lackadaisical response, Kazuhiro’s speech grew more and more heated. “Are you all stupid?! Have you ever seen a sparkler before? Round, right?!”
“Just because sparklers are round doesn’t mean the big ones are the same!” Junichi’s voice had risen, too.
“All right, so have any of you ever seen a flat firework before?!”
“I have!” Minoru stood in front of Kazuhiro, full of confidence as he stared up Kazuhiro’s extra foot of height. “Last year, I watched the fireworks display from my grandpa’s yard. The fireworks were totally flat. Grandpa said it was because his house is at a bad angle for viewing the show.”
“See! If his grandpa says so, it has to be true!”
“His grandpa’s off his rocker!”
“No, he’s not! Not all the way anyway!”
“This conversation is going nowhere,” Kazuhiro declared, exasperated.
“Then, let’s take a vote!” Junichi charged.
“It’s not something you vote about! Fireworks are round, and that’s that!!”
“Anyone who thinks they’re flat, raise your hand!”
Oh, come on. This conversation is ridiculous.
By now, I’d gotten the gist of it: Would fireworks in the sky at a professional show always look round, no matter where you were standing? Or was that roundness dependent on the angle you were watching from? It seemed like Junichi, Minoru, and Kazuhiro had been at it for some time.
Personally, I was more concerned about my ankle, which had begun to ache. I wanted to go home already.
I turned my attention away from the silly vote to find Nazuna walking into the classroom. She’d changed back into her uniform.
Nazuna walked straight to her desk. This time, rather than shooting a glance in my direction, she looked at Yusuke instead. Their eyes met, and Nazuna kept her gaze firmly fixed. Yusuke appeared to grow uncomfortable, and he turned away to look out the windows.
It seemed like something had happened at the pool, after all…
As I was trying to piece it together, Nazuna wordlessly picked up her school bag and headed out the classroom door. Just before she disappeared down the hallway, she glanced back one more time. It was hard to tell whether she was looking at Yusuke or me.
She hadn’t bothered to close the door behind her. My eyes lingered there for a while.
“All right. If you’re that sure, let’s make a bet.”
Kazuhiro’s words, suddenly calm, pulled me back to reality.
“Hah! Okay. And if fireworks are flat, you’ve gotta do our summer homework. All of it—for all four of us.”
I didn’t really care about the fireworks, but those last words out of Junichi’s mouth caught my attention.
“Yeah!” I chimed in. “That’s our bet!!”
I was reminded that I hadn’t even touched my summer homework yet. The ridiculous argument suddenly seemed a lot more important.
“Okay. And if they’re round?”
“I’ll give you an up-skirt pic of Ms. Miura!” As Junichi made his latest announcement, he held his smartphone up alongside his face.
It was common knowledge in the class that Kazuhiro had a thing for Ms. Miura.
“What?! You’ve got a picture like that?!”
“Nah. I’ll take it for ya.”
“How?”
“I’ll just bend over like I dropped something, angle the camera like so, and snap!”
Junichi struck a pose, leaning backward as if he were about to do the limbo, then mimicked the shutter noise of a camera.
As I watched, unimpressed, another thought occurred to me. “…Hey, how do you plan on seeing a firework from the side anyway?”
“That’s easy.”
Kazuhiro walked over to a map of Moshimo affixed to one of the classroom’s walls.
“See here? Moshimo Lighthouse is right to the side.”
Most of the spectators for the fireworks display that night would be lined up along the crescent-shaped Moshimo Beach. The beach skirted the edge of a bay, which had a small island precisely in the middle. The fireworks were always launched from that island.
“The fireworks shoot up from Moshimo Island,” Kazuhiro continued. “And that means we can see the fireworks from the side if we’re standing there, right?”
As if to seal his victory, Kazuhiro brought a finger up to the bridge of his nose and coolly adjusted his glasses.
Not to be outdone by Kazuhiro’s sudden logical insight, Junichi doubled down with a firm response. “Perfect! So we’re all going to the lighthouse tonight, yeah?!!”
“Huh? All of us?”
I’d played along with Junichi’s bet, but actually going to the lighthouse was another story. It wasn’t just some short walk. The local schools held an annual 10K run in the winter, and the course used the road that led up to the lighthouse. The agony of past runs flooded my mind, but there was no stopping Junichi now.
“What do you mean? Of course we’re all going. Yusuke, you’re coming, too, right?”
Yusuke, who had been all but uninvolved up until now, blinked in surprise at the sudden inquiry. “Huh? Where?”
“To the lighthouse! Oh my gosh! Were you even listening?!?!”
“We’re gonna see for ourselves whether fireworks are round or flat and settle this once and for all!”
Overwhelmed by Junichi’s and Kazuhiro’s gusto, Yusuke scrambled. “Yeah, okay. I’m going.”
“Awesome! Okay, so we all meet at Moshimo Shrine at five PM!! No homework all summer. This is gonna be great!!”
“Not likely! And you better be serious about that up-skirt pic!”
Junichi and Minoru gave each other a high five, ignoring Kazuhiro altogether now.
“If it means he does all our homework, I guess it’s worth it…,” Yusuke mumbled with an uninterested expression on his face as he stared out at the schoolyard.
“Yusuke? What’s up?”
“Nothing! Geez, mind your own business.”
“Huh? What’s got you all pissed off?”
“I’m not pissed off! Okay, let’s go to the lighthouse, then! Great!! Sounds like an awesome plan!!”
“Um… Okay…”
Yusuke filed out the door after Junichi and the others, who were still chattering excitedly. I lingered behind, bewildered by Yusuke’s sudden shift from snippy to gung ho. What was going on with him…? I glanced out the window he’d been facing. The baseball club was practicing again in the schoolyard. Walking right through the center of the practice was Nazuna. She moved with purpose, as if she’d made up her mind about some plan.
“Five o’clock! You guys better not be late!”
Yusuke raised one hand into the air as he pedaled his mountain bike to the right at the fork in the road. His voice was overly cheerful.
“Huh? What’s got him so happy?”
“No idea… A while ago he was telling me all about how he couldn’t take a dump, though.”
“Ah, so he’s got a bunch of extra fuel packed up inside, then.”
Junichi, Minoru, and I held our low-IQ conversation under the shade of the age-old beech tree standing between the two diverging paths. We watched as Yusuke receded into the distance.
A rusted old noticeboard stood in front of the tree. The town had affixed a poster there that read:
LIGHT OF HOPE
AUGUST 1
MOSHIMO FIREWORKS DISPLAY
7 PM TO 8 PM
The background of the poster was filled with photos of multicolored firework explosions. It was the same design they used every year.
“Um, don’t the fireworks on here look pretty round to you…?” Minoru asked worriedly, an ice pop hanging out of the corner of his mouth.
Junichi answered reassuringly, “That’s just ’cause they shot the pictures from the front. If you look at it from the side like this… See? Totally flat!”
Junichi stood to the side of the noticeboard and stared at the poster with one eye shut.
Minoru followed his lead, then announced, “You’re right!”
“See? Why are we even bothering with the lighthouse? …Huh? Hey, Norimichi, you’re bleeding.”
“I am?”
I followed Junichi’s eyes down to my feet. One white sock was tinged red with blood.
“Oh yeah… Earlier at the pool, I was making a turn and smashed my ankle.”
“On a turn? Smooth.”
“My foot just shot out farther than I expected.”
“How does something like that even happen?”
“I dunno.”
As I related the story of my ankle to Junichi, I was confronted by the mental image of Nazuna’s face with her eyes fixed directly on mine as we both swam in the water. Nazuna and I had probably only been looking at each other like that for a second or two, but her gaze had been so intense, it felt much longer.
“Hey, Junichi. Can you keep your eyes open underwater?”
“Huh? You mean without goggles?”
“Yeah.”
“No way. It stings.”
“Right? Minoru, what about you?”
“I used to be able to. A long time ago, in elementary. Don’t you remember? In swimming class, we used to make each other play rock-paper-scissors underwater.”
“Oh yeah. I forgot about that.”
He was right. When we’d first been learning how to swim and still couldn’t do much beyond sticking our heads under the water, we’d have little competitions—like who could grab the chlorine tablet from the bottom of the pool after the teacher had tossed it in.
We hadn’t been wearing goggles then, but we’d been able to see everything under the surface clearly.
“Anyway, see you at five, right?”
“Yeah.”
Junichi and Minoru rode their skateboard and scooter up the left fork. I watched them go, then lifted my foot up to the pedal of my bike. The dull ache of my ankle changed into a fresh, biting pain. I clenched my teeth and thought again about everything that had happened at the pool.
Did this mean Nazuna was still able to see everything under the surface with perfect clarity?
A makeshift sign reading CLOSED FOR TODAY fluttered in the wind. I circled around behind the shop and pulled our spare house key out from the mailbox. When I opened the door, I was met with the muggy air of a house left unoccupied during a summer day.
“Why does it have to be so hot?”
I threw my sweat-soaked button-down shirt into the laundry basket, then walked into the kitchen. I opened the fridge, expecting to see my half-finished bottle of cola from the day before. It was gone.
Huh? Did Mom throw it away?
I pulled open the freezer and saw a box of my dad’s favorite ice pops: Watermelon Bars. There was only one left in the box, and I decided to take it. Whoever came up with the idea of an ice pop that looks just like a wedge of cut watermelon, with an easy-to-eat triangular shape and little chocolate “seeds” inside, was a genius.
The pain in my right ankle had grown a little more intense. I dragged it along the floor and limped up the stairs toward my room. When I threw open the door, Yusuke was sitting there playing Mario Kart.
“Whoa!! You scared me!!!”
“Welcome home.”
I was so surprised, I’d almost dropped my Watermelon Bar. Yusuke, in contrast, sat calmly playing the game and drinking a bottle of cola—my bottle of cola. He didn’t even glance in my direction.
“What do you mean, ‘Welcome home’? Why are you even here?”
“You guys gotta take better precautions. You can’t just leave a spare key in the mailbox. Anybody could find it.”
“That doesn’t mean you can just waltz right in, you know. And that cola you’re drinking is mine.”
“Come on, it’s no big deal. You’re free until five anyway, right? And hey, so am I!”
“Don’t change the subject.”
As I gave my last quip, I sat down beside Yusuke. His eyes gleamed at my frozen treat.
“Oh man, a Watermelon Bar. Hey, get me one of those, too.”
“Too bad. Last one.”
“Haven’t you ever heard of a little something called hospitality?” With a devilish grin and his controller still in hand, he leaned over and took a bite out of the ice pop.
“Man, whoever came up with the idea of an ice pop shaped like a piece of watermelon was a genius,” he continued.
It was these kinds of exchanges that reminded me why we were best friends. Even after some kind of argument or fight, the next time we saw each other, things were back to normal—as if the disagreement had never happened.
I picked up the second controller, and Yusuke switched to two-player mode. He picked Bowser; I picked Luigi. That, too, was how it always was for us.
We’d been so wrapped up in the game, we hardly noticed as the cries of the morning cicadas faded into those of the dusk cicadas.
“Hey, it’s almost five.”
“No big deal if we’re not exactly on time,” Yusuke responded as his Bowser drifted around a corner.
“Really? Weren’t you the one going on about how we shouldn’t be late?”
“Seriously, though. Of course fireworks are round,” Yusuke half laughed as he downed the last of his drink.
“Huh? Really?”
“Yeah! Wait a second, you don’t really think…?”
“No! I mean, I guess so…,” I faltered.
“Are you stupid? In what kind of world do they have flat fireworks? Think about it. There’s a bunch of powder inside, and it explodes outward. Of course they’re gonna look round, no matter what direction you see them from!”
Yusuke picked up a soccer ball that had been lying in my room and handed it to me. I turned it over in my hands. His explanation definitely seemed logical, but part of me was still unconvinced.
“Yeah, but…what about in comic books? If there’s a drawing of a soccer ball in a comic book, it’s flat, right…?”
“Well, duh! That’s because it’s in a comic! You know, it’s two-dimensional or whatever.”
“What’re you gonna do if we find out they’re flat, though?”
Yusuke met my persistence with an air of exhaustion. “Impossible. There isn’t a world where that can happen.”
“Then why didn’t you say so when they were talking about it at school?”
“Huh? I was just going along with whatever they wanted.”
“Really…?”
“Anyway, I guess we should get going. Ugh, what a pain,” he said as he stood and hit the power on the console.
Yusuke’s mood seemed to be all over the place that day. I was having trouble following the constant ups and downs. At any rate, we both headed to the back door.
“Ouch…”
When I tried to put on my sneakers, my right foot wouldn’t fit in its shoe. I looked at my ankle more closely. The blood had stopped, but the area around the wound was now swollen. The most disconcerting thing was the appearance of the wound itself. It was so weird and squishy I could hardly bear to keep my eyes on it.
When Yusuke looked over, he let out a big yelp.
“Ew! What happened?! Gross!”
“It’s from when I smashed it at the pool, remember?”
“At the pool? You hit your ankle?”
“You were there! When we were racing!”
“Huh? Racing? What are you talking about?”
“Come on. You, me, and Oikawa. We had a fifty-meter race.”
“Where are you getting this from?”
I couldn’t tell if he was playing dumb or if he’d actually forgotten. He looked completely serious, and it left me feeling unsure of myself. I didn’t press the issue any further.
“Anyway, you should see a doctor about that.”
“It’s no big deal.”
“You don’t know that. If you contract tetanus, you could die.”
“…Really?”
I didn’t necessarily believe Yusuke just because his dad was a doctor… More that something in his voice seemed really convincing. It was making me nervous.
“Go to my place and ask my dad to take a look. I’ll let Junichi and the others know.”
“Huh? No way. Come with me. And…I don’t have any money anyway.”
“If I go with you, we’ll both be late, and they’ll wonder where we are. Just go. You can pay for it later.”
It occurred to me that he’d changed his position again about whether it was okay to be late. However, I didn’t want to risk a serious disease. I was starting to think that I ought to go and have my ankle checked out, after all.
As if he’d sensed my feelings, Yusuke put an arm around my shoulder. His voice softened.
“One more thing.”
“What?”
“If Nazuna’s at my house, tell her that I won’t be able to go, after all.”
“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”
I was confused by how casually he’d dropped the information. Why would Nazuna be at his house? And what did he mean “he wouldn’t be able to go, after all”? My mind was spinning with questions.
Yusuke leaned over, right in my face, and inexplicably began to whisper. “…She invited me to go to the fireworks display with her—or something like that.”
“When?”
“Back there.”
“Back where?”
“…At the pool.”
I finally made the connection between the moment they’d been talking at the pool and Yusuke’s constantly fluctuating mood throughout the rest of the day. Something had happened between them, it seemed.
“…So you do remember! But…why don’t you just go with her? You like her, right?”
“Huh? What are you talking about? There’s no way I’d like her. When did I ever say anything like that?”
“You’ve been saying it as long as I can remember!”
“What? Are you serious?”
“Stuff like ‘I like her’ and ‘I wanna ask her out.’ Over and over again!”
I felt myself heating up as I confronted Yusuke’s feigned ignorance. My words were growing harsher and harsher.
Yusuke suddenly began pacing around in circles and shouted, “Jokes! They were all jokes! Who would ever like someone as ugly as her?! Are you stupid?! I can’t believe you thought I was serious!!”
“Huh…?”
Yusuke ran off, leaving me and my frustration behind.
“I’ll go ahead and tell the others!” he called back at me. “If you see Nazuna, let her know what I said, okay?!”
What was with him today…? Nothing he said or did made any sense! More than that, my mind was reeling with the knowledge that Nazuna had asked Yusuke out to the fireworks display. Did she like him? More than me? Even after our eyes had met three times in one day?
“…Grab it.”
Her voice flashed through my mind—the words she’d said as she lay with her eyes closed at the side of the pool.
“Catch it.”
I climbed up the sloped road, dragging my foot along the ground, until I arrived in front of the Azumi Clinic. The pain in my ankle had multiplied during the journey. Every step now sent shock waves through my entire right leg.
What if I really contracted tetanus? My mind was anxious as I pulled open the glass double doors of the entrance.
Just as Yusuke had forewarned, Nazuna was sitting in the waiting room.
She’d chosen a corner of a bench untouched by the harsh afternoon sun that glared in through the windows. When she heard the door open, she looked up. It was the fourth time that day for our eyes to meet.
Oh man… She’s really here… Why’s she wearing a yukata?
It was the first time I’d ever seen her dressed like that. The difference was stunning. The navy-blue garment was accented at the waist with a vermillion sash. It made her look very mature.
So this means she wanted to get dressed up and go see the fireworks with Yusuke…
Her eyes appeared disappointed—or perhaps even accusatory. It seemed that my arrival instead of Yusuke’s had caught her by surprise.
I knew I couldn’t bear that gaze very long. I sought refuge, turning to face the reception window.
“Excuse me. I’m a friend of Yusuke’s…”
My throat felt dry, and the words came out like sandpaper.
“Huh? What’s that?”
The chubby, middle-aged nurse was sitting on the other side of the window chewing on a cracker. Yusuke and I had both known her since we were babies, but in truth, neither of us knew her actual name. We’d always just addressed her as Ma’am.
“Um, I kinda injured my foot.”
“Heavens! Come on in.”
“Thanks…”
I sensed Nazuna’s gaze at my back. It felt as if I were running away from her as I walked into the examination room.
Treating the wound took all of one minute. The nurse applied some disinfectant and a strip of gauze, then went around and around my foot with a long white bandage. My eyes took in the events, but I wasn’t really paying attention.
“Tetanus? Honestly, the things that boy says… You don’t need to worry about tetanus for a scrape that size…”
A putting green was rolled out along the examination room floor. Yusuke’s father spoke with an air of disbelief as he sent a ball rolling toward the hole. I wasn’t sure what to say, so my reply was almost involuntary.
“Oh… Ouch!”
“Come on, now, hold still.” The nurse’s hands had never been very gentle. Complaining that something hurt didn’t make any difference. She’d just go on doing the same thing as before.
“So where’s Yusuke at now?” Yusuke’s father asked.
“Um, I think the fireworks display—or something like that…”
The nurse, who had finished wrapping the bandage, spoke up. “Ah, that reminds me. A girl from his class came into the waiting room.”
“Fireworks display, huh? Honestly, all he thinks about is fun… We should have put him in a private school,” Yusuke’s father muttered as he struck another ball.
Every shot he’d taken had gone rolling off the green, and balls were now scattered all across the room. I gazed at the stray golf balls, noting how round they all were. It was an obvious thing to notice, but it struck me nonetheless. Nazuna’s mysterious orb came to mind, as did the photographed fireworks from the poster.
“…Do you happen to know whether fireworks are round or flat?”
“Huh?”
I’d let the question slip out without really thinking. The nurse and Yusuke’s father both stared at me.
“Um, I mean… Never mind…” I scrambled to take back what I’d said.
When I returned to the waiting room, Nazuna was sitting on the same bench, just as before. This time, she didn’t look up at me. Her eyes remained fixed on the floor.
“We’ll get you a bit of medicine to take at home, so just wait here,” the nurse instructed from behind the window.
“Thank you.”
I sat down and waited on the far edge of a bench, some distance away from Nazuna. Mixed among the calls of the dusk cicadas outside, I could also hear a distant booming—the sound of test shots courtesy of the fireworks crew.
“…”
“…”
Thirty seconds went by… Then a minute… Come on! How long does it take to get a prescription ready?!
I focused all my prayers on the reception window, but its little sliding door remained shut. I stole a few glances at Nazuna and saw the side of her face. She steadfastly refused to look in my direction. The ticktock of the waiting room’s old grandfather clock was clearly audible, underscoring our awkward silence. I felt a bead of sweat roll down the back of my neck. I couldn’t handle it anymore.
“…Are you waiting for Yusuke?” I called over to Nazuna.
She gave no response. I couldn’t tell if she’d heard me or not. Trying my hardest to sound casual, I spilled the news. “…He’s not coming.”
“…I see.”
Nazuna’s reply came nonchalantly. Still without looking at me, she lifted herself from her seat and put a hand to a rolling suitcase waiting beside her. With a light click-click from her wooden sandals against the floor, she walked out of the clinic.
What was up with that huge bag? Surely she couldn’t be planning on taking something so bulky to the fireworks display?
The fireworks crew seemed to have finished firing their test shots. The cries of the cicadas again dominated the waiting room.
At long last, the nurse’s face appeared at the window.
“Here’s your medicine. Come by again later to take care of the bill.”
“Got it…”
I shoved the little paper bag containing the medicine into my pocket and walked over to the exit. When I grabbed the door handle, it felt warm, as if Nazuna’s touch still lingered on it.
Outside, the oppressive heat had partially subsided. I felt the ocean air blowing up along the slope.
“I guess I should head to the shrine… Wonder if they’re even still there… Or should I go directly to the lighthouse…?” I muttered to myself and began to make my way down the slope.
I was stopped short by the sight of Nazuna. I’d figured she’d be long gone, but there she was, standing in the middle of the road. Her head was pointed downward. She held one foot slightly aloft, picking at the red strap of its sandal with her toes.
“Huh?”
The word had slipped out of my mouth. Nazuna looked up.
Beyond her, the vast ocean was slowly being enveloped in faint orange. The girl floated there, between the orange sky and the faintly dyed ocean, dressed in her navy-blue yukata—a picture-perfect scene of evening. Her hair fluttered in the wind, and among the strands, her piercing gaze bored into me.
I stood transfixed, eyes stolen away by that single, perfect movie still. After some time, Nazuna broke the silence.
“Do you have a minute?”
“Huh?”
“Would you…walk with me for a minute?”
“Uh… Sure, I guess…”
We walked down the slope together—my mind full of questions. As we arrived at the fork where the two slopes converged, we encountered groups of people walking toward the beach and its fireworks display.
What’s going on? How did it get like this…? Why am I suddenly going for a walk with Nazuna?
Was it okay for me to blow off my friends at the shrine? I wondered what they were doing right at that moment…
I found myself unable to make any conversation with Nazuna. I didn’t know how to break the silence. My head felt like it was filling up with an endless stream of question marks.
On the other hand, Nazuna hadn’t said a word since she invited me to walk with her, either. Maybe it was up to me to say something. I opened my mouth, but then…
“What if…”
Nazuna was walking six feet ahead of me. The little suitcase rumbled along the road behind her. She’d begun speaking in a soft voice, without turning to face me.
“Huh?”
I closed some of the distance between us in order to hear more clearly.
“What if I’d invited you instead? Would you have done the same thing as Azumi? Would you have…run away from me?”
“…”
“I decided to invite whoever swam faster in the race. The idea just came to me.”
“…”
When I didn’t reply, Nazuna stopped and turned around.
“I thought you’d win, Shimada.”
“…”
“Why did you lose?”
Perhaps she had turned around to face me so I wouldn’t be able to lie. But I had no idea what to say in the first place. All that bubbled out were a bunch of words that sounded like pitiful excuses.
“Well, I mean, you’re such a fast swimmer… It caught me off guard, and…”
My answer seemed to displease Nazuna. She released her grip on the suitcase and walked two or three steps closer. I instinctively shrunk back.
“So it was my fault?”
“…”
“Was everything my fault?”
“…”
Whoa, whoa. Hang on a second. What am I supposed to say to something like that…? And what’s this about how she “thought I’d win”? And when I didn’t, she invited Yusuke to go with her instead? What in the world…? None of it makes any sense!
The setting sun was shining in my eyes. Nazuna was set against the light, her face mostly cast in shadow. But I thought I could faintly make out a pair of moist eyes. Was she crying…? I tried to think of something to say, but my mind was blank. No words came out.
Embarrassed, I averted my gaze. The abandoned suitcase again came into view. Now desperate for a way to steer the conversation away from what had happened at the pool, I asked about it.
“What’s that thing for anyway?”
“What thing?”
Nazuna’s brows furrowed unhappily. My desire to change the subject was painfully obvious, but I hurriedly pointed at the bag behind her to keep the new line of conversation moving.
“That. The suitcase.”
As if only now realizing she’d left it behind, Nazuna twirled and grabbed its handle, then resumed walking in the same direction as before. I hurried after her.
“…What do you think it is?” she said over her shoulder.
The gravity of mere moments ago was gone. She spoke in a light, casual tone—but it felt forced.
“How should I know?”
“I’m running away from home.”
Running away?
The news came with no buildup. She’d said it cheerfully, as if the decision was of no real consequence. It had to be a joke. I cracked a smile.
“Ah-ha-ha… Seriously?”
“Yes. I’m leaving this town.”
Her pace was not hurried, but she moved with purpose. The idea occurred to me that maybe she really did intend to walk straight out of town.
I pressed, trying to feel her out. “…You’re joking, right?”
“Yep. Just a joke.”
“Well, which one is it?!”
“…You tell me.”
Not this again…
But Nazuna’s tone now was a little different from the way she’d spoken during that surreal comedy routine by the pool. If she only turned around, maybe I could tell whether she was serious or not.
She stopped walking.
Come on, turn around…
As if granting my wish, she twirled around to face me. The evening sun was now perfectly eclipsed behind her, further deepening her mask of shadow. I could still just barely make out her eyes. They were trained directly upon mine.
“Do you know why I thought you’d win?”
Welling tears transformed Nazuna’s pupils into polished mirrors. I could see myself standing there in my old T-shirt with its stretched-out collar.
“…I have no idea…”
Suddenly, a new voice came from behind Nazuna, shredding through the air.
“Nazuna!!”
There was someone at the fork in the road, half running toward us.
Is that…? It looks like Nazuna’s mom!
She was still too far away for me to see her expression, but the sound of her voice told me she was panicked.
Whump!
I was awoken from my daze by a dull impact. Nazuna had forced the suitcase into my arms and taken off running down the street.
“Nazuna! Get back here!!”
The loud click-click of the woman’s sandals rushed by, quickly closing the fifty-foot gap to the clacking of her daughter’s traditional footwear. She grabbed the girl by the collar.
“Nazuna! What were you thinking?!!”
Nazuna was struggling with all her might, desperate to break her mother’s hold.
“Stop it! Let me go!! Stop it!!”
Her mother’s grip held firm.
“Honestly, get ahold of yourself! Why are you always so difficult?!”
“Shut up! Let me go! Get your hands off me!!”
My body was frozen in place. The only time I’d ever seen two women fight before was on TV. Nazuna was hardly one to flail around like that in the first place, and though I’d only met her mother a few times before, she’d never struck me as the type prone to fits of hysteria.
Finally, Nazuna seemed to have either drained all her strength or accepted her fate. Her mother began pulling her along, hand still firmly clenched around the girl’s collar. When they passed in front of me, Nazuna pleaded to me.
“Norimichi! Help me!!”
“!!”
I jolted at Nazuna’s imploring use of my first name—and again at the subsequent glare I received from her mother. Every muscle in my body stiffened.
“Give me the suitcase,” Nazuna’s mother said, reaching for it.
The suitcase was still at my chest, bundled between my arms. My grip tightened.
“Give it to me!”
The woman’s hand jumped the remaining distance to the suitcase’s bandanna-wrapped handle. I twisted away from her, but I was no match for the grown woman’s strength. The bag was wrested out of my arms.
The scuffle had caused the bag’s clasps to pop open. As the suitcase passed from my hands to the woman’s, it burst open, sending its contents flying outward.
I’d lost my balance and was also tumbling to the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flurry of clothes, a purse, a small stuffed animal, and numerous other items disperse through the air in slow motion.
“No! I won’t go! I don’t want to go!!”
Nazuna’s sobs filled the air as her mother dragged her away.
I had yet to recover from everything that had happened. The most I could do was to prop myself up onto my knees and watch as Nazuna and her mother receded toward the fork in the road.
Just as they left my field of vision, a familiar voice came from behind.
“Whoa! What happened?!”
I turned. Junichi and the others were running toward me. They appeared to have witnessed the whole scene and were now chattering excitedly.
“That was Nazuna, right? Holy crap! I can’t believe she was screaming like that!”
“Her mom, too! What did she do?!”
“And what are you doing here, Norimichi?”
I still sat propped up on my knees, unable to speak. Rather than offering to help me up, Junichi grabbed at the collar of Minoru’s shirt and, between fits of laughter, began reenacting the scene that had just unfolded.
“‘Ugh, you’re so difficult!’”
“‘Stop it! Let me go!!’”
“Oh man. Too funny!”
Yusuke stood apart from Junichi and Minoru’s improvised performance. He stared intently in the direction of the fork in the road.
I suddenly felt myself boiling over with rage. I didn’t know why I was angry with Yusuke, but I lifted myself up and stormed toward him.
“Quit staring!”
I punched Yusuke in the face as hard as I could. As he staggered backward, I rammed into him, sending him to the ground. I threw myself on top and continued to pummel his face.
I didn’t know why, but for some reason, I couldn’t forgive Yusuke for seeing Nazuna like that.
When I raised my right fist for the fourth punch, Junichi grabbed hold of my arm.
“Stop it!!”
“What are you doing?!!”
Kazuhiro pried me off Yusuke. I pulled and tugged against them with every ounce of strength I could muster.
“Let me go!”
Yusuke still lay on the ground with his arms covering his face, unmoving.
The two of us had fought any number of times, but until now, the fights had always had some element of playfulness. I’d never outright punched anyone in the face before.
I was filled with the adrenaline of my assault, as well as a nagging anxiety about what would come next. I didn’t know what to do. I began walking away from the fork.
“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?!”
I heard Junichi call out after me but ignored him.
Nazuna’s belongings were strewn out before me: T-shirts, a dress, socks, camisoles, a sweater… It seemed she’d been serious about running away from home…
The stuffed animal lay streaked with dirt. Next to it, something glowed faintly.
What’s that…?
It was the strange orb Nazuna had shown me. I picked it up. It seemed to grow slightly warmer, and it began to emit faint traces of light in red, green, and yellow.
“Do you know why I thought you’d win?”
Nazuna’s words floated back to me.
If… Back there… If only I’d…
I lifted the orb higher and clenched my fingers around it more firmly. As if in response, the orb’s light grew brighter.
If only I’d swum faster… If only I’d won against Yusuke… How would things have turned out then…?
“Hey! You gonna explain yourself?!”
“Norimichi! Say something!!”
Junichi, Minoru, and Kazuhiro were moving in on me. I faced them, drew my arm back, and shouted, “If only I’d—!!!”
Near the Fork in the Road
Norimichi lets out a shout and hurls the orb.
The orb spins as it flies down the length of the road. Rays of light stretch out from it, like beams from a lighthouse.
Whoa!!!
Junichi and the others dodge the orb. It passes between them, then slams against the noticeboard at the fork in the road, precisely where the poster of the fireworks display is hanging.
Just as the orb connects, its light grows stronger. Its colors are now strange, unearthly. The area around it begins to bend and distort into some kind of dimensional void.
Norimichi, Yusuke, Junichi, and the others are bathed in light.
NORIMICHI
?????!!!
In the distance, the propellers of the wind turbines slow to a stop…then begin to turn again, this time in the opposite direction.
There’s a flash.
An egg yolk dropped on top of Norimichi’s curry rises back up into its shell.
A golf ball comes rolling back toward a putter gripped by Yusuke’s father.
The wheels of Norimichi’s bicycle spin backward.
There’s another flash, followed by images of Nazuna.
She’s standing with her back turned, staring into the ocean.
She’s in the classroom, looking directly into Norimichi’s eyes.
She’s lying down. A dragonfly is perched atop her.
NAZUNA
You guys racing? I’m in.
NAZUNA
Well, if I win, you have to do whatever I say.
A dragonfly rises languidly into the air.
Norimichi, Yusuke, and Nazuna dive into the pool.
“Back there… If only…I’d won…”