Origami Girl

Chapter 10: The Floating World II

“For a lovely bowl

Let us arrange these flowers...

For there is no rice”

-Matsuo Bashou, Japanese Haikus

Ka-chan had agreed to meet me for coffee the Saturday before Adam-kun’s birthday. I had informed her earlier that I needed some help in choosing a present for someone. For whom I did not specify, because I wanted to keep the relationship between Adam-kun and I a secret, and I just had this strong feeling in my chest that Ka-chan must not know of our relationship at all costs. I don’t know, I just had a very bad feeling. It wasn’t like I did not trust Ka-chan or anything, it was just that my gut told me not to do so.

That Saturday was just like any other late September days. Autumn had begun to set in, and the drop in temperature were apparent. People had begun to wear more clothes. The day was lovely, the sun shining brightly in the sky, with the few clouds dotting the blue canvas. I sat there in a corner of Starbucks by the bay front. To be honest, I chose that place to meet up because mother recently received a Starbucks card from one of her friends.

“I don’t really go to these kind of places,” mother told me as she placed the card in front of me the other day, “Why don’t you register it under your name?”

I gladly did. I was overjoyed when I realised that I had 12,000 yen worth of credit in there, and decided to make it my meeting-up place with Ka-chan for our little shopping trip that Saturday. Besides, it was fashionable to be drinking Starbucks. All the celebrities I followed on Ameblo had their morning pick-me-up at Starbucks. Pictures of Starbucks drinks were always on my notifications. I just couldn’t get away from Starbucks. I was at first put off by the price, but then, after receiving the card, nothing was going to stop me.

I made it to Starbucks at 11 am, after a short walk from Jujigai station. We were supposed to meet at 11.30, but I came early to reserve a spot, and also because I had some work to do in the meantime. We all had a common test the following Wednesday, so I brought along a math practice paper to work on. After all, I always found myself being more focused when I had a nice, fancy drink to sip on.

Fingers punching the buttons of my calculator, I raced against the timing I set for myself as I attempted the paper. Occasionally I would take a sip from the straw of my drink, to help me calm down whenever I felt so dissed off at a problem. I bought for myself a matcha latte, with cream and vanilla. I asked for some caramel as well, and chocolate shavings to top the cream. I got myself the best drink ever.

“I’m sorry I’ve kept you waiting,”

I looked up and saw Ka-chan standing in front of me.

“Ah, hello,” I replied, “Don’t worry, I deliberately came here early.”

“I see,” she said, sitting down on the armchair facing me, “You’re studying for the test?”

“Yeah,” I said, taking a sip from my drink.

“I’ll go buy myself something first,” she said, standing up and taking out her purse from her handbag.

With that, she left for the barista counter, and after a few minutes and a few math questions, she came back, a drink in her hand.

“What did you buy?” I asked her.

“Cucumber and strawberry smoothie,” she replied, taking a sip from her straw, “It’s good for skin, and full of antioxidants.”

“That’s cool.”

I noticed she had an overbearing scent of peonies, not like it was bad, but she usually doesn’t apply so much perfume, especially if she was just going out to meet me. After having realised that, she was actually rather dolled-up as well, a sweet pink cardigan over a white-collared blouse, with a matching white knee-length skirt, as well as black lace stockings. Her black hair was newly permed, and her face was beautifully powdered, her lips covered in cerise lipstick.

“You look very pretty today,” she said, as if in reply to me eyeing her clothes.

I thanked her for her compliment. I suppose she was just saying it out of politeness, my pink cat sweater and skinny jeans pale in comparison with her outfit. She probably knew it as well.

“Are you going somewhere after this?” I asked her.

“Yes, actually,” she replied, “So I can’t really stay that long.”

“Where are you headed to?”

Ka-chan initially ignored my question, as if she hadn’t heard it. Leisurely, she reached out for her drink on the table, and brought the straw to her lips. After a few slow sips, she finally spoke.

“Somewhere,” she said, a sweet smile on her lips.

Seeing that she would not tell me, I ceased to press on any further. I should have noticed her strange demeanour when I asked her that question, her smile just seemed too sweet, the kind of syrupy sweetness that served to conceal bitter poison.

We left the coffeehouse roughly around noon, and headed over to the shops in the vicinity.

“Who are you getting the present for?” she asked me as we walked.

“Someone,” I answered vaguely.

“What for?” she asked again.

“*That person’s birthday is tomorrow,” I replied.

Ka-chan stole a glance at me, before turning to look straight ahead again. We remained silent for the rest of the walk.

I decided to take a stop at Yamaha, since it was a music shop and Adam-kun loved music and guitars, but found myself unable to buy anything in the instruments section, since they were too expensive, and I didn’t have that much money. So I sauntered over to the accessories section, Ka-chan following behind me. On one of the display racks I saw an entire selection of boxes containing six guitar picks of different designs, but what caught my eye was one box right in the centre. It was a transparent plastic box containing butterfly-shaped picks, and the most prominent one was a blue and black butterfly, which I found really pretty. I felt that Adam-kun would like it, since it was a guitar pick, and the butterfly, hopefully would remind him of me. I smiled to myself as I reached out to my would-be gift for him. After all, during the festival last summer he did buy me a butterfly keychain.

“I don’t think boys like butterflies,” Ka-chan suddenly said.

I looked at her, eyebrows raised. I didn’t even state that I was getting a present for a boy, so it was rather peculiar that she said that. She seemed to have realised me looking at her in a suspicious manner, so I guess she tried to cover up her blunder.

“I was just assuming, you know,” she said, “As a general rule I don’t think boys like butterflies.”

Her answer still left my doubts echoing in my mind, but I decided to pursue the matter no further. I instead, went for a small ukulele-shaped keychain, even though I really wanted to get the butterfly-shaped picks for Adam-kun. Nevertheless, I paid for the keychain and the both of us left.

The both of us boarded the eastbound tram at Jujigai, and we were silent the whole time. The air was just so heavy, and I was lost for words. I tried to stir up a conversation, asking her where she was heading to, but she merely looked at me, then continued to browse her phone. The warmth of her towards me when we first met that morning had all but vanished. I alighted at Kashiwagicho without saying even a single word of farewell to her. It was a bit peculiar that Ka-chan continued to sit on the tram instead of getting off with me, but then again, she did say she was going off somewhere, so I guess she was heading somewhere more to the east than Kashiwagicho.

Before I headed home, I stopped by the grocery store and bought some frozen unagi, sauce, as well as some baby carrot. In addition to that, I also bought a black bento box as well.

Once I got home, I took out the nicest piece of paper I could find, and took out my assorted collection of glitter pens. I was torn between violet or magenta, but in the end I decided to go with violet. I then wrote, for Adam-kun, his birthday letter. I remembered I had made one for Hayate-kun last year, but I supposed I didn’t really put in much thought into it. Once I was done with the letter, I folded it and placed it in the nicest envelope I could find, and sealed it with a heart-shaped sticker. For his present, I found a small little box when I was rummaging around in my stationary drawer, and I also happened to have some wrapping paper with me. Coincidentally, it was the balance from the paper I used to wrap Hayate-kun’s birthday present last year. Inappropriate, but well, that was the only wrapping paper that I found in my drawer. But well, I guess it wouldn’t matter anyway, I doubt Adam-kun knew that I had an ex-boyfriend, much less knew who he was in the first place.

I hope Adam-kun would enjoy what I’ve prepared for him, my heart whispered. I giggled at the thought of Adam-kun’s shy wiry smile he would give me when he was to receive his present.

I hadn’t told him anything, of course.

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That morning I took forever to decide how my hair should look like and what clothes I should wear. The first thing I did was to wish him happy birthday via text message. He didn’t reply, but that was fine, since he was most probably asleep anyway. Well, I messaged him at six am, which was probably no wonder why I received no reply. I was too nervous, I couldn’t return to sleep.

Seeing that I wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway, I decided to head down to the kitchen to prepare the lunch for Adam-kun. I took out the new lunchbox I had bought him yesterday and placed it on the countertop. The frozen unagi I had taken out of the freezer and left by the sink to thaw. While that was happening, I decided to cook some rice, and boiled some water in the kettle for my morning cup of green tea. I boiled the entire kettle full of course, so the whole family could use it for breakfast later on. After all, it was a Sunday, and usually my family would sleep in until about nine.

I took about until six-thirty, sipping away my green tea watching drama replays, before taking a bath for another thirty minutes. I realised I still had more time, I decided to watch another episode of drama before I went on to prepare the lunch for Adam-kun.

I let the unagi sizzle in the pan for some time, while I scooped out the rice into the bento box. The rice came out fluffy and soft like I wanted, but I guess it wasn’t that hard of a thing for me, since I was rather used to cooking rice, as mother would ask me to help out with meals sometimes. Preparing the side salad for Adam-kun’s bento was also a piece of cake, as all I had to do was wash and cut the vegetables. I only had to skin the carrots and potatoes, before slicing them into small strips. Mother had recently bought some fresh corn cobs, a bag of one of the season’s freshest, so I chipped off a small bit and sprinkled some of them over the carrots and potatoes. I grated some cucumber and cabbage to finish it.

The rice and salad were the easy parts, so much so that whenever neither parent were home and there was no food to eat, I would prefer to just cook rice with a small salad at the side. It was pretty convenient, and besides, salad and rice weren’t that fattening. If I truly felt like I needed to cut down my calories that day, I would just prepare myself salad, without the rice. I honestly prefer my salad chilled, after all that was how it was to eat salad anyway.

On those days where lunch was entirely up to me, Akio-kun would grumble and immediately opted for a quick fix at the supermarket. He would always come back with a bento that he bought, usually meat. He hated salad. Nevertheless, he seemed to eat all he could yet never grew any fatter. Well, I guess he must have been training hard at basketball then, he was the captain after all. He was in the last year of junior high school already, I wonder what senior high school would he go to next year? Probably mine, I guess.

Once the unagi was done, I took it out from the pan and placed it on top of the rice, before drizzling sauce all over it. I guess the unagi was done from the looks of it, but I wasn’t too sure about it since I have never attempted it before. Nevertheless, I let the steaming rice air for a while, since I was scared that if I shut the lid of the box the vapour will all collect inside and the food might turn bad.

I looked in my wardrobe again and again to find the perfect outfit to wear today. I glanced at the selection of sweaters, skirts, dresses and skinny jeans, and just couldn’t decide what to wear. I got tired of standing, so I fell back on my soft, fluffy bedding. I pouted, for no reason in particular. It wasn’t like I didn’t have any clothes, I guess I had too many. I had no idea what to wear.

I tried to think of what Adam-kun would like to me wear. I supposed he liked it when I wear adorable clothes, since he’s always so sweet to me. I guess he would compliment me on whatever I wear regardless to whether or not I find it cute or not. In the end, I decided to go with a white blouse and a black-and-white chequered skirt. I hope Adam-kun would truly find it cute, but I wanted to look my best too, after all, this was the first birthday I would be celebrating with Adam-kun, and I wanted it to be a memorable one for him. Also, it was a surprise him, a cute outfit would make it even more pleasant, but a horrible outfit would only serve to give him a shock.

I then proceeded to apply my make-up in the bathroom. I powdered my face slightly, and put on some eyeliner to make my eyes look bigger. This was what the girls in Harajuku did anyway. Then I put some peach-flavoured lip gloss on my lips for the extra shine, and to top that off, mascara. I then pulled out a box of contacts from my drawer, large, hazel, with some sparkles in them. Ka-chan had recommended them to me a while back, but I had only gotten them rather recently, since I wasn’t really in a rush to get them in the first place. I carefully placed them over my iris, careful not to scratch my cornea with my nails. Feeling slightly uncomfortable, I blinked my eyes a few times, before finally I was able to take a good look at myself in the mirror. My eyes were more sparkly and larger. I hope Adam-kun notices.

For my hair, I decided to go with a ponytail, tied right at the back with a black, frilly lace bow. I swept my fringe to the left, but still left most of my forehead uncovered. I sprayed some Atlas Rose-scented fragrance mist on, and just did a bit of touch-up to soften my face. I took a step back from the mirror and looked at myself.

For me, I felt that was the best look I’ve put on since the start of the year, I hope Adam-kun felt the same. I took out my phone and snapped a photo of myself in the mirror, before sending it to Ka-chan, hoping that she would say the same to. She always had good fashion taste, //so perhaps she had something to say.

“I feel so pretty today, don’t you think so too? (* w*)/ www”

I felt like I was done, but I still scrutinised my face for any flaws in case I missed out anything. I had thoroughly washed my face before applying any make up. My cheeks had been thoroughly scrubbed with face wash and moisturiser, and it emanated a youthful glow. I touched my face with my fingers, and was satisfied by how soft my skin felt.

All your hard work has not gone to waste, I told myself, grinning sheepishly with satisfaction. Adam-kun would surely be stunned. Well, that was what I hoped.

I guess I would’ve continued admiring myself in the mirror if not for the sudden knocks on the bathroom door that knocked me out of my self-praising reverie.

“Can you hurry up?” I heard Akio-kun say, “You’ve been in there forever!”

“Shut up!” I shouted back, picking up my phone to snap one last picture.

“Can you just get out already?” my brother yelled again.

Fine, I shall. Feeling slightly irritated that my beauty time had been ruined, I opened the door and left the bathroom. Akio-kun seemed slightly confused seeing me all dressed up like that, but well, that annoying kid could be surprised by how amazing I look as much as he wants to.

I went downstairs and seeing I was left with more or less an hour, I decided to complete the entire look by dolling up my nails. Sitting at the dining table, I painted my nails fuchsia while I heard mother toil away in the kitchen, preparing breakfast. Father was not at home, he was probably out for his morning jog, like he usually does on Sunday mornings. It was ten in the morning, I wasn’t planning on leaving for Adam-kun’s apartment until eleven.

“What’s the packed lunch for?” mother asked as she poured me a cup of green tea, “And you’re all dressed up.”

“Ah, I’m going out today,” I told her.

“What for?” she asked.

“Well, remember Adam-kun, the boy who sent me home the other day and he got all drenched?”

Mother nodded her head in response, taking a sip from her glass of tea.

“Today’s his birthday, so I thought I wanted to give him a little surprise,” I said, “I’m going to pay him a visit.”

“He must be really glad to see you all dressed up like this at his doorstep. You’re so pretty, I wonder who you inherited your beauty from?” she said, giggling.

“Okaa-san!” I responded to her joke, laughing.

I left my house at eleven o’clock sharp, having eaten a light brunch of toast and eggs. I brought along a plastic bag carrying the lunchbox, along with my handbag. I reached Kashiwagicho station after a short walk, and took the eleven o’ five tram eastbound, alighting just one station away, at Fukaboricho station. In fact, I could have just walked, but I just didn’t want to make the effort. Besides, I just wasn’t in the mood for a walk so I opted for the tram instead.

I reached Fukaboricho a few minutes later and alighted. Adam-kun’s apartment complex was just a stone’s throw away from the station, just like he said it was. The tall white building stood out, towering above the other two to three-storey buildings dotting the neighbourhood. After the short walk from the station to the building, I entered the lift and pressed the button for the eleventh storey. As the lift began to rise, I felt my heart beat faster and faster. As a matter of fact, I was quite nervous. Showing up uninvited like that, I hope Adam-kun wouldn’t get angry. He could still be sleeping for all I know, I knew for a fact Hayate-kun used to stay up until 3 AM at times and would sleep like a log until noon.

The lift door opened at the eleventh storey and I stepped out into the corridor. Adam-kun told me that his family lived in the second unit to the left of the lobby, so I didn’t really have much trouble looking for his apartment. Besides, all the units had the names of the families inhabiting them, so I didn’t have any problem at all.  I stopped at the second door, the one with “Nakayama” written on the board, and took a deep breath. Nervously, I pressed the doorbell.

I heard the sound of the doorbell from the other side of the door, followed by silence. I pressed the doorbell again, and yet again, no reply came. My heart sank, perhaps nobody was at home. Nevertheless, I still stood there, waiting for an answer from inside, my heart beating fast in anticipation, waiting for Adam-kun to open the door.

Thankfully, I soon heard the rushing of footsteps, and the door slowly creaked open.

“Ah, Ayano-san,” a soft voice said, “What are you doing here?”

Behind the open door stood Adeline-san, looking at me with a smile on her face. It actually took  quite a while before I recognised who it was. Her hair was returned to black, and her hair was let down, not like the half-beehive she donned when we first met at the festival a few months back. Her accent had also disappeared entirely. We exchanged greetings, and she apologised for answering the door late, as she had some things to settle.

“Is Adam-kun at home?” I asked politely.

“He’s in his room,” Adeline-san responded, “Do you want me to call him out?” she offered.

“Ah, it’s fine,” I replied, “I want to surprise him.”

“I see,” she said lowering her voice, “His room is down the hallway, on the right.”

I thanked her, and quietly slipped out of my floral-print sneakers and placed it beside the shoe rack, before stepping into the house. She excused herself, and once again thanked me for coming, before returning to whatever she was doing, but not before complimenting me on my look. I could only thank her, feeling slightly embarrassed.

The apartment was rather average-sized. The main entrance immediately led to the living area and kitchen, and to the right there was a hallway. I met Ms Nakayama as she sat on the dining table, doing some paperwork, from what I saw, and greeted her. She politely smiled at me, and nodded her head, before returning to what seemed like documents in front of her with a serious face. I guessed she must have had a day off today, besides, it was a Sunday.

I slowly made my way to Adam-kun’s room, the room down the hall with the door open. As I approached I caught the smell of paint in the air. My heart thumped louder and louder in my chest with every footstep I took. Inhaling deeply, I slowly peeked into the room.

Adam-kun’s room was relatively neat. His bed was made, and the books on his desk on the other end of the room were stacked. His room was free of clutter, for the most part. On the far side of the room hung five guitars of various sizes and types, and on the wall adjacent to his bed were some posters of the bands Adam-kun liked. At the foot of his bed, there was a small bookshelf, where he placed all his files and worksheets, albeit in a rather messy way. His haversack was slumped on top of the shelf in a rather lacklustre fashion. Other than the small area at the foot of the bed, his room in general was actually pretty neat.// Attached to the ceiling was an iron ceiling fan, switched off at the moment.

Adam-kun was in the middle of the bedroom, squatting, his back facing me. I could see the legs of the chair behind him and the neck of the guitar. He was working on something, which I could tell from the smell of the paint.

“Excuse me for intruding,” I greeted softly.

I must have scared Adam-kun, as his shoulders jerked up for a bit. He turned around and saw me.

“Ah, Ayano-chan!” he exclaimed, “You really scared me there,” he continued, scratching the back of his head with his right hand.

“May I come in?” I asked him.

“S-sure, make yourself at home,” he replied.

I made my way to his bed and sat down. I placed my handbag on my lap, and the plastic bag with the lunch box beside me.

Adam-kun wore a navy blue baseball jacket, his sleeves rolled up to his sleeves. His hazel eyes seemed focused on the guitar on the chair in front of him, with newspaper covering the seat. He held a slim paintbrush between his teeth. He was painting his guitar I supposed. Then, he stood up, folded his arms and looked at his guitar.

“What are you doing, Adam-kun?” I asked, skirting up to him.

“Painting my guitar, it’s a nice colour don’t you think?” he said, his teeth still gritted, paintbrush still resting between his canine and incisors.

“It’s not finished yet,” I said, trying to continue the conversation.

“Yup,” he replied.

This was certainly going nowhere. . .

I looked at Adam-kun, then I looked at the guitar. Then I looked at him again. His eyes were still looking at the guitar.

“How about I help you with some of the painting?” I offered sweetly.

He looked at me, his hazel eyes lighting up with excitement like a little child being offered some candy.

“Really?” he said, “That’s great! Thank you so much!”, he closed his eyes, tilted his head, and smiled, revealing his teeth.

I had to admit, to be honest I was getting impatient and was slightly annoyed after he seemingly ignored me like that. However, after seeing his sweet smile, I couldn’t help but feel happy, so much so that I even giggled and returned him the smile.

You just lost to an inanimate object who can’t even cook his favourite meal Ayano, congratulations.

“I think I have an extra paintbrush here somewhere,” Adam-kun said, walking towards his desk.

I followed suit. I couldn’t help but steal some glances at what he had on his desk: some books, a light novel with a bookmark sticking out from between the pages, a Chemistry file and a stack of score sheets. I was about to lose interest when I spotted something interesting at the corner of his desk.

“Adam-kun,” I called out to him, as he was rummaging through his drawer.

“Yeah?” he replied.

“Can I take a look at that box over there?” I asked, extending my finger towards the corner of the desk.

He grunted in approval. I doubt he even knew what I was talking about, since not even for a split second did he look up from the drawer. Nevertheless, I was given the green light, so I reached out and examined the box. Carefully I held the box in my hands, turning it over, before turning it back again.

It was the exact same box of butterfly picks I saw at the music shop yesterday with Ka-chan, right from the size, to the colour, and even to the design of the butterflies. The blue-and-black butterfly pick that I was fond of was smack dab in the middle. At first, I heaved a sigh of relief, had it not been for Ka-chan, I would’ve bought the exact same thing for Adam-kun, and he would have wound up with two exact sets of butterfly-shaped guitar picks. Funny though, Ka-chan’s advice on boys not liking butterflies seemed to have totally fallen through, it seemed. Maybe Adam-kun liked butterflies.

Upon closer inspection, I began to start to have my doubts. The box seemed to be unopened, its cover all intact. I had the impression that it was recently bought. With Adam-kun grumbling away while still looking for a certain misplaced casket of art supplies, I decided to casually cook up a conversation.

“Say. . . Adam-kun?” I asked, breaking his monologue of mumbling complaints.

“Yeah?” he replied.

“Do you like butterflies?” I asked him.

“Not really, but I find them quite pretty though,” he replied in a cheery tone.

I found his answer to my question rather vague and since I couldn’t make any conclusions, I decided to probe in even further.

“//Would you buy products with butterfly designs for yourself?” I questioned him, my hands supporting me from behind as I leaned on the desk behind me.

Adam-kun looked up at me, cringing his eyebrows, perplexed. His hazel eyes looked up at me with confusion. The new, clean paintbrush was held in place between his teeth. He was just too adorable, my heart instantly melted into mush.

I don’t know what got me then, but either way, I did it. Slowly, I reached my palm forward towards him, all the while his nervous eyes following my every movement. My fingers then ran through his smooth, silky hair. They were very soft for a boy’s, and my fingers tickled every time a strand brushed against my skin. His hair even made the hair that I was so proud of seem like matted hay, regardless of all the hair care products I used daily. His soft hair, innocent face, the way he childishly held the paintbrush between his teeth, these are just the little things about Adam-kun that I have grown fond of. My chest felt fuzzy and warm. I truly forgot where I was, being absorbed with- what am I doing again? I must have been giggling and smiling to myself for a good minute or so, before Adam-kun spoke up.

“You know,” he said, breaking the silence, “You can get really strange at times.”

His words knocked be straight back into reality. I felt my cheeks getting red and felt ashamed as his eyes now looked back at me.

“I-I’m sorry,” I stammered nervously, my cheeks flushed.

He laughed, a sweet laugh, his right hand on his chin. I quickly turned away to avert his gaze out of embarrassment. I could have just died.

“It actually feels kind of nice,” he said, chuckling, “It’s not every day where you get your hair stroked by the girl you like.”

I giggled nervously.

“You think I’m some cat or something?” he teased, handing me the paintbrush, taking out of his teeth’s grasp and placing it in my hand, “Meow.”

“Gross,” I said, teasingly.

“How mean,” he said, standing up.

The both of us then went over to the guitar on the chair. Adam-kun dipped his paint brush into the plastic palette, coating the nylon bristles with cyan blue paint. He passed the palette to me, and I dipped my brush in the paint as well.

“I’ll paint the front, and you’ll paint the side, okay?”  he said.

“Sure,” I replied, eager to help him.

Well, I was only eager with the painting because I was helping out Adam-kun. Under normal consequences, I didn’t really like painting as it was quite a hassle to clean up after a painting job, as well as the risk of painting dirtying my clothes. Nevertheless, I painted the portion Adam-kun assigned to me without complaint.

I observed Adam-kun from the corner of my eye as he dipped his brush in the paint, and lapped the surface of the guitar with the wet brush. He was really focused, but once in a while he still managed to break out into small bits of conversation every time the atmosphere got too silent.

“So, for the school festival, what do you think we can do?” he asked me.

“Well, I’m not really sure, Yamamoto-san hasn’t confirmed anything with us yet,” I replied, dipping my brush in the blue paint.

“You have any ideas?” he asked me, “You’re really smart, so I’m sure you’ll be able to come up with something brilliant,” he praised me, reaching me out with his other hand and patting me on the other head.

I giggled nervously.

“N-no, I’m not that clever, that’s not true,” I replied, “But for the festival I was just thinking of making decorations to sell, you know, fold paper stars and place them in glass jars, or some things like that.”

“That’s nice,” he said, “I was thinking of doing some sort of busking, or something of that sort,” Adam-kun continued.

“Busking?” I asked in surprise.

“Well, yeah, like me playing the guitar and people drop some tips” he replied, “Since for us seniors we get assigned a classroom each so we could basically do anything we want, once we get approval from the organising committee.”

“But aren’t you a little too shy for that, not like I’m one to say, but still, you know what I mean,” I said, doubting him.

He chuckled.

“True, I may be unable to relate to others well,” he said, “But when you’re there, I’ll be sure to try my best!”

I smiled, looking at this boy looking so cheerful as he talked on and on about what he would perform on the day of the school festival. As we continued painting, I accidentally got some paint on my fingers, so I excused myself to go to the kitchen and wash the paint off.

I got up, leaving Adam-kun’s room behind and went down the hallway into the living room, where Adeline-san had disappeared from the desk where she had been roughly twenty minutes earlier. Ms Nakayama had also left the dining table, and the documents that she was working on had also gone, presumably stored away by her.

The kitchen was slightly hidden away at the other side of the apartment, and I entered. I didn’t realise Ms Nakayama was inside as well as I initially stepped in. I stopped myself in my footsteps, when I heard the sound of tearing foil, as I felt rude for disrupting her.

Ms Nakayama had now changed into a black blazer and black knee-length skirt. Even from behind, she looked very professional. She stood in front of a counter, facing away from me. In front of her, I could see a box, as well as a glass of water. I heard a few light plops and then I saw Ms Nakayama lifting the glass gracefully to her lips with her right hand, gulping the water down in soft glugs.

I supposed I had been standing there for so long that she noticed me. The lady turned towards me, her shoulder-length hair swaying, empty glass held in her right hand. She politely looked at me and smiled. A calm, soothing smile, like that a new mother would give to her newly born child.

“Is there anything you need, Ayano-san?” she asked politely and slowly, a little too slow and calm, in fact. She sounded almost dreamy-like.

“Ah, I just came here to wash my hands,” I replied, “May I borrow the sink?” I asked.

“Please, by all means,” she responded, stepping aside from the sink.

I thanked her and went up to the sink and washed my hands, getting rid of the blue paint which was already somewhat drying up on my fingers. As I got rid of the paint stains with some hand wash, I glanced behind to look at Ms Nakayama and noticed the empty glass of water in her hand. She must’ve been waiting for me to finish before washing her glass.

“Why not I wash the glass for you?” I offered, extending my free right hand to her.

“Thank you,” she replied, handing the glass over to me.

“It’s nothing,” I responded.

As I washed her glass, I noticed that she was beginning to walk away towards the kitchen doorway, but she stopped just before exiting into the hallway.

“Ah, Ayano-san,” she called out to me, in her soft voice.

“Yes?” I said, as I wiped her glass with her paper towel.

“There’s a tub of mango sorbet in the freezer that I bought yesterday, why don’t you share it with Adam?” she offered, “Adam really likes mango, it’s his favourite flavour.”

“Ah, t-thank you,” I said, “That’s really kind of you.”

“It’s the least I could do as his mother,” she responded, her tone a sweet melancholy, staring into emptiness in front of her, before seemingly snapping out of her daze, “Please share the mango sorbet with him, and please help me tell him that his mother wishes him a happy 17th birthday, and that no matter what, I’ll always love him. Even though I may be too preoccupied with my work, please let him know that he holds a special place in my heart.”

“I sure will,” I tried assuring her.

“Ah, I have to go to meet a client now. Even though it’s Sunday, I still have a lot of work to settle on this case,” she said, her lips curling up into a gentle smile.

What she said next stayed with me forever.

“You’re a really sweet girl Ayano-chan,” she said softly, the slight traces of a smile still on her cerise lips, “I hope life is kinder to you than it has been to me.”

She excused herself, then left the kitchen, presumably to prepare to go out. I stood there for a few minutes, her pitiful words resonating through my mind. Only when I remembered about what Ms Nakayama said did I move out of the spot I was at. I opened the freezer and saw the container of mango sorbet sitting in a corner and was about to take it out, but I thought about saving it for dessert, since I already had made lunch for Adam-kun.

I went inside, where Adam-kun was still painting the guitar. He looked at me, as I stood there in the doorway.

“What took you so long?” he asked, “Did anything happen?”

“No, it’s alright. I’m fine,” I replied.

Adam-kun didn’t seem too convinced. He tilted his head and looked at me.

“You seem slightly off tangent, you know?” he said, “Are you alright?”

“Are you hungry, Adam-kun?” I said, quickly changing the topic.

“You didn’t answer me,” he responded, “Are you seriously alright?”

“Yes,” I said.

Adam-kun looked at me and broke into a smile.

“That’s all I needed to hear,” he replied, “And yes, I am starving,” he added.

“Well, I brought along some lunch,” I said, “It’s in the plastic bag on the bed.”

“Ah okay,” he said, getting up, heading over to his bed, picking up the bag, “You made it yourself?” he asked.

I nodded my head.

“Great,” he remarked.

We both walked out into the dining room, Adam-kun bringing the lunch box along with him. He sat down at one seat at the four-seater dining table, and I took the seat directly opposite him.

“Do you want anything to drink?” he asked, getting up from his chair.

“No, it’s fine,” I denied him politely, “I’m not thirsty.”

He got up, pushed in his chair and disappeared into the kitchen. A few moments later he came out with a mug.

“What’s that?” I asked him, gesturing with my chin towards the mug.

“Milk,” he said, grinning.

He took a sip from the mug, before placing it on the table in front of him. He had milk stains at the edges of his lips. I couldn’t help but giggle to myself a little.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I said, trying to stifle my giggling, pointing to the corner of my lip with my index finger.

“A-ah,” he said, his cheeks growing red, “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, as he quickly wiped away the milk with the back of his palm.

I giggled at how adorable he was, before he proceeded to open the lunchbox. As soon as he lifted the lid and placed it aside, I noticed his eyes lighting up as he looked at the lunch I had prepared for him. To me, I wasn’t very proud of the lunch, since I wasn’t that great at cooking, but to Adam-kun, it was altogether different.

“Ah, you made unagi,” he said, “That’s great!”

“Why don’t you taste it first?” I offered, “Go ahead.”

“Ittadakimasu,” he said, before picking up a piece of unagi from the box and biting into it.

I could only watch on nervously as he chewed the piece of unagi in his mouth, before scooping up a clump of rice with his chopsticks and chewing once more.

“It’s delicious,” he complimented me.

“Well, I’m sure it isn’t that good,” I replied, downplaying his praise.

“Now that you mentioned it, the eel is kind of overcooked, but just slightly though,” he said.

“I told you it isn’t that great,” I responded.

“But this is the first time you’ve attempted cooking this right?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said.

“It isn’t bad for a first try you know, it’s still rather nice,” he said with a smile.

“Thanks,” I mumbled softly, fidgeting with my fingers, “I’m glad you like it.”

We ran out of things to talk about, and Adam-kun ate the rest of his meal in silence. When he was done, he said he was going to wash the box and return it to me, but I told him it was a gift for him to keep.

“Well, thanks I guess?” he replied, before disappearing into the kitchen.

The two of us returned to the bedroom where we continued to work on the guitar. We were nearly done, when I suggested we take a break.

“Do you want to go have some dessert?” I asked.

“Dessert?” Adam-kun asked, “Are you suggesting we go out and buy some ice cream or something?”

“No, no silly,” I replied, “We’re staying right here.”

At that moment, Adeline-san appeared at the doorway. She had changed into a long-sleeved blue cotton shirt and long pants. Her hair was clipped up, and her long hair was tied into two low ponytails.

“Adam,” she said, “Have you seen my wallet?”

“I’m not really sure,” he said, getting up, “Where did you last see it?”

“I placed it at the dining table when I came home yesterday, but today it seemed to have disappeared,” she said, “If I don’t find it soon, I might wind up late.”

Adam-kun looked at me.

“I’m really sorry, if you don’t mind I’ll-”

“Sure, it’s not a problem,” I said.

“Thanks for being so kind, Ayano-chan,” Adeline-san apologised, “I know it’s wrong for me to disturb you two like this,” she continued.

“No, no, it’s alright,” I replied, smiling.

Adam-kun nodded at me, and he followed her into the living room, presumably to look for his sister’s purse. I continued painting by myself, the entire instrument’s body now nearly covered in a pretty cyan blue.

I soon finished my side of the guitar, and seeing that Adam-kun hadn’t returned from helping his sister, I got up and decided to take a look at the collection of guitars on the wall. I was pretty intrigued by Adam-kun’s little collection, I had always found musical instruments interesting, how such objects could produce such melodious sounds was always somewhat of an eloquent mystery to me. Nevertheless, I had not a single clue about music, save for some basic notes.

I scanned the small area and took a good look at all his guitars hanging on the walls. On one corner I saw the ukulele he had played on the day we first met. The shiny black surface and small size made me remember that early summer afternoon, by the lake in the park in the shade of the overhanging trees, Adam-kun strumming away at his guitar, and the paper crane I had folded floating serenely on the surface of the gleaming water.

Beside it, I recognised the acoustic guitar that Adam-kun brought along with him when we went to Mount Hakodate the other day. The surface was shiny as well, the wood polished to near-perfection. If I wasn’t wrong, I remembered that he had taken it back from servicing on the evening we went up the mountain. With that, I remembered his sweet voice and the glow of the city lights, as we sat there, just the two of us, in that lonely hidden corner, looking down onto the entire city.

The other guitars only differed slightly from each other, I couldn’t really tell the difference much, just that the size and the number of strings were slightly differing, I supposed. But there was one similarity that was shared by all the guitars. They were all shiny, polished and clean. It was evident that Adam-kun spent a lot of time and effort in maintaining the guitars that he loved so dearly. After realising the time I had spent admiring Adam-kun’s guitars I chided myself silently to get myself to return to work.

I turned around and was about to return to the guitar being painted when I spotted something poking from underneath Adam-kun’s bed. Now, I knew it was rude to be snooping around, but I guess you could say that my curiosity got the better of me.

Seeing that he Adam-kun hadn’t returned, I quickly went in front of the bed and knelt down. Checking the doorway once more to see if Adam-kun wasn’t there, I quickly reached out under the bed and pulled it out. I found myself to have an extremely dusty guitar in my hands. Under the thick coat of dust was a layer of black paint, with a few accents of red here and there. I dusted the clouded surface with my finger, only to reveal that underneath the layer of dust the surface was still rather shiny, so I guess it was coated in expensive quality lacquer, for it to be able to last so long, judging from the thick layer of dust. It seemed to have been abandoned, quite an anomaly for all of Adam-kun’s guitars, where he took pride and took care of each and one of them. I could understand if the guitar was worn out or broken, but it was otherwise a perfectly good guitar of a rather sleek design. I was about to return it back to its original position when I heard footsteps nearing the door, so I quickly tried to chuck it back under the bed. Nevertheless, I was too late.

Adam-kun stood at the doorway, looking at me with tired eyes. Embarrassed, I quickly averted my gaze, hoping that he didn’t see me snooping around under his bed. From the corner of my eye, I saw him walk over to his haversack on the shelf, and fished out his wallet. Taking a few notes in his hand, I heard the ripping sound of the zip piercing the silent air, before Adam-kun left the room yet again.

By the time he returned the second time, I was already starting work on the parts of the guitar that he left unpainted, nearly finishing the entire thing myself. I was scared that he was going to ask questions on why I was snooping around in the room, but thankfully, he did not.

“You were talking about dessert just now, no?” he asked, “Woah, you’re nearly done with the entire thing already!” he exclaimed once he set his eyes on the nearly complete guitar.

“Yeah, I was,” I replied.

“So, you were thinking of heading out for dessert or something?” he asked, taking hold of his paintbrush.

“No, we’ll stay right here,” I replied.

Adam-kun seemed a little confused, his eyes widening.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Well, there’s a little something for you in the freezer,” I said.

His eyes lit up for a moment, but then he looked at his guitar on the chair.

“I guess we should finish this up first,” he said.

I silently agreed, nodding my head and moved on to help him finish up the side he was working on, together.

We finished painting the guitar soon enough, and Adam-kun and I just left it there on the chair to dry.

The two of us then went to the dining table, and I told him to wait at the table while I retrieved the surprise. I took out the tub of mango sorbet as well as two spoons and placed it between us on the table. It was about enough for two or three people, so I guess we could share.

“Ah, you bought this?” Adam-kun asked me, his lips curving into a fleeting smile, “How did you know I liked mango sorbet? I didn’t tell you did I?”

“No, you didn’t,” I replied, “Actually, this is from your mother. She told me to share it with you.”

“Ah, I see,” he said, “When she comes back, I mustn’t forget to thank her then.”

“She told me to tell you that she wishes you a happy seventeenth birthday, and that she’ll always love you, no matter what,” I told him.

Adam-kun’s wide cheerful smile toned down to a narrow melancholic grin.

“Ah,” he said softly, “Well, I love her too.”

Seeing that I was silent, he quickly diverted our attention to the sorbet in front of us.

“What am I saying,” he jested, chuckling to himself awkwardly, “Let’s eat now shall we?”

I couldn’t agree more. Adam-kun opened the lid of the tub, revealing the frozen yellow sorbet. We each took a spoon and dug in. I noticed Adam-kun scraping the surface of the sorbet, the sorbet curling into thin layers onto the metal spoon. I also took small scoops myself, and brought a spoonful to my lips. It was sweet, slightly sour, and had a smooth and light texture, melting on my tongue.

We ate in silence, until we reached nearly half-deep into the tub, when Adam-kun spoke. He had been looking rather mellow ever since we started eating. The joy in his eyes as he was painting the guitar with me just now had all but faded, like a fire having been put out, its glowing embers a remnant of its former self. Adam-kun suddenly let out a long sigh, his right hand toying with his spoon in the sorbet, his cheek resting on his left.

“You know,” he said softly, so softly that at first I didn’t realise he was talking to me until he raised his gaze to me.

“I feel kind of guilty, like there’s this just dreadful knot in my chest,” he said again, “Do you know that feeling?” he asked me.

“I do, actually,” I replied, rather curtly in fact, “Especially when things go wrong because of your own actions, or inaction.”

Adam-kun leaned back into the chair, and looked far towards the window on the far side of the room.

“Mother’s working very hard, and so is onee-san,” he began, “They’re working so hard, and here I am.”

“Then, go get a job or something,” I suggested.

“I could,” he said, still looking into the distance, “But both of them don’t want me to. They just tell me to stay put, and work hard with my studies, but I’m not doing a good job am I?”

“You could work harder you know?”

“There’s no point,” he cut in.

I fell silent. Adam-kun slowly took another spoonful of sorbet and slowly brought it to his lips.

“That’s true,” I said softly.

“It’s really exhausting,” he said, “I’m such a disappointment.”

I couldn’t say anything to reply, and he seemed to be growing rather distant in his own convoluted thoughts, so I just fell silent, and the two of us finished the sorbet in silence. Once we were done, Adam-kun took the empty tub and threw it away. The two of us then returned to his room, and he went over to his bed. He invited me to sit beside him, so I went over to his side.

“You saw the guitar under the bed didn’t you?” he asked me.

“Yeah, I did,” I whispered, embarrassed that he caught me snooping around.

“What do you think of the guitar?” he said, leaning back against the wall behind the bed, his arms folded behind his head.

“Well, it looks like a rather pretty guitar, I mean the lacquer work seemed very expensive,” I said honestly.

Adam-kun paused for a while, before speaking again.

“I was thinking of selling the guitar,” he said.

“Why?” I asked him, “It looks really expensive and barely used. It just needs a good cleaning, that’s all.”

“Exactly,” he said, “It could fetch quite a sum.”

“But then again, don’t you love your guitars?” I asked again, curious that he was willing something he would normally cherish, “You spend so much time and effort on them.”

“I do,” he assured me, “But I don’t really treasure that particular guitar actually, that’s why I placed it under there, so I don’t need to pay any attention to it. It’ much better that way.”

“But why?”

Adam-kun sat up straight and shot me a glare. Then his gaze softened and he chuckled to himself.

“You’re actually pretty talkative you know, Ayano-chan?” he said, a smirk forming from the corner of his lips.

“I am?” I asked, surprised.

“I’m pretty sure,” he said.

Then, he got up, and walked over to the other side of the room, and brought down his acoustic guitar from the mount. I felt like I was sitting on a fold of fabric, so I stood up and adjusted my skirt. The chequered black-and-white skirt that I thought Adam-kun would have found cute. I chose the outfit with him in mind, and now come to think of it, never once did he even mention my outfit.

He came back and sat down beside me, the guitar laid on its back on his lap.

“This is the first guitar I got when I was twelve,” he said, his eyes focused on his instrument, his lips curving up in a minute smile, “It’s quite old, but it’s still in pretty good shape.”

I said nothing, but just smiled.

“I really like the sound of this one,” he said, strumming the strings with his fingernails, “It has a different ring to it.”

Indeed, as he picked the strings the guitar produced a rather different sound than most other guitar notes I’ve heard, be it the ukulele Adam-kun played the other day by the pond, or the other guitar he brought along up Mount Hakodate. This guitar was orange, the paint slightly faded, but I noticed the glint of the polish was still strong, so he must have recently applied some fresh polish to it. When the strings vibrated, the sound was deep and mellow. Sorrowful, even.  Adam-kun strummed a few more notes, not playing any piece in particular, his eyes not really focused on anything, before he spoke again.

“My parents bought this for me after I finished elementary school. The both of them brought me to this store all the way in Sapporo, and they let me choose which one I wanted,” he said, “We were all so happy back then.”

Adam-kun turned his entire body to face me, his torso propped against his pillows. He was facing directly towards me, who was at the lower edge of the bed. I toyed with my ribbon, in hopes of him noticing how I look, which all the while I had been hoping to be the first thing he said when he saw me.

Instead, he continued with his musing, which I just decided to bear with, even though my heart was filling to the brim with impatience. He sometimes mumbled, that he was inaudible, but that didn’t seem to matter to him. It didn’t make a difference nevertheless. Whatever he said to me entered one ear and came out of the other.

I should have listened carefully to what he said. Only then, when whatever he said has become all but a lingering fragment of a faraway memory had I began to notice his words with pristine clarity. Funny, since I could not have done anything now, and what has happened, happened. Memory sure is a peculiar thing, replaying idiosyncrasies with such perfection and accuracy, leaving not even a single detail out, as if to make oneself feeling even guiltier than one already was.

Nevertheless, I did not pay much regard to them when he said them in the bedroom on his seventeenth birthday.

“The other guitar you found under my bed,” Adam-kun began, “Was a gift from my dad last year, mailed from Hong Kong.”

“Oh, I see,” not really paying much attention to his words.

“In fact, it is quite expensive, I forgot how much he bought it for, but I really didn’t really care much. As soon as I saw who it was from, I just chucked it under the bed. I totally forgot about it until you took it out, and now I’m planning on selling it. It’s probably worth quite a sum,” he said, plucking another couple of random notes.

“Very well,” I replied, my cheek resting on my right palm.

There was a long silence following that, no notes being played, no words being said, just the still air between us, hanging heavily. Silently in my heart, I was wishing that the next time he spoke, he would compliment me on my attire, or my hairstyle, or my nails. I just wanted him to notice how I cute I looked, and after all that effort on my part to look perfect for him. We faced it each other, saying nothing. I saw Adam-kun’s chest rise as he let out a mellow sigh. His face seemingly crestfallen, he sat up, cross-legged, and leaned his head against the wall.

I did the same, imitating him for the fun of it, in hopes of getting him out of whatever he was so down about after realising how adorable I am. I deliberately placed my two palms on my lips, my right palm over my left, in hopes that Adam-kun would notice my hard work I had put in on my nails, and the light shade of pastel nail polish that I had painstakingly put on. I looked at him, widening my eyes on purpose, to flaunt my light hazel contact lenses.

Adam-kun finally spoke, but as soon as I heard his tone, my heart sank.

“Well, now mother is just working by herself, and onee-san is doing part-time work as well. Mother has been losing most of her cases recently, and once she loses a case, the rest of the cases all seem to fail as well,” he said softly, as if speaking to himself.

I decided not to respond.

“And I’m here being a useless son. If I wasn’t so weak back then, maybe I could. . .” he said softly, before trailing off, his words disappearing into thin air.

I decided to give it one last shot. My right hand pinching the fabric of my blouse, and my left touching the ribbon on my left ponytail, I tilted my head slightly and forced myself to smile, despite my overflowing impatience.

“Adam-kun,” I called out as sweetly and delicately as I could.

The boy effortlessly dragged his gaze towards me, unsmiling.

“What do you think of my outfit today?” I asked, trying to sound as cute as I could.

Adam-kun looked at me, then he looked away at the far distance. Under his breath, he gave me a low grunt. Not even a “that’s cute”, or “I think you look great”. Just a mere, wordless grunt he gave me.

That was it.

Suddenly, at the same moment, Adam-kun seemed to snap out of his reverie-of-sort, and returned to his former self.

“A-ah, Ayano-chan,” he said, his voice louder and sweeter now, “Where was I just now? The guitar wasn’t it?”

I quickly grabbed my handbag at the side of the bed, quickly unzipped it, and rummaged through it. I fished out the small box, sheathed in wrapping paper, with a small ribbon on top, as well as the letter sealed in an envelope and placed them in front of me. Adam-kun seemed confused at what the things I had laid out between us were supposed to mean. In my mind, I told myself to keep my cool.

“Um . . . Ayano-chan?” he muttered, obviously bewildered.

“Well,” I began, slowly, “Happy birthday,” I said, a sardonic smile involuntarily curving up from my lips.

“This is from me,” I said, picking up my handbag, “And I look forward to seeing you at school tomorrow, Nakayama-san.”

With that, I got up from the bed, and walked out of the room.

“U-umm, at least let me send you home,” he called out from behind me, his voice growing frantic.

As I ignored him and walked out into the hallway, I heard him jump on his feet and was quickly approaching me from behind. He then slipped out from behind me and stood in my way, his hands against both walls of the hallway.

“Please?” he asked, his hazel eyes wide in panic.

“No thank you,” I said, turning my head away, “I can get home just fine.”

“I’ll ride you home,” he offered.

This time the timidity and franticness which were in his eyes were now replaced with determination. I nearly gulped, but I kept up with my façade.

“No, I’m going to walk.” I said, which was an outright lie, but in the midst of things, I couldn’t have cared less.

Adam-kun  was adamant, and kept blocking my way, so I reluctantly agreed. He let go of his hand on the wall, and led me to the front door, where he told me to wait while he got his keys. In the corner of my eye I saw him rummaging through his drawers to take his keys, when he stopped and went inside to his bedroom. That was then that I found my chance.

With him not keeping an eye on me, I quickly unlatched the door and slipped out. I silently giggled to myself since Adam-kun did not hear me, and most likely I could get out without him noticing. My footsteps light against the concrete floor, I hurried to the lift lobby and pressed the button heading down to the ground level. The panel above the door showed the lift crawling up from the ground floor. A lift had never seemed to be so sluggish in my entire life.

In the background I heard a door burst open, and the sound of jingling keys.

“Ayano-chan!” Adam-kun called out, and the sound of his footsteps seemed to be getting louder and louder, approaching the lift lobby.

Fortunately for me, the lift arrived, announcing its arrival with a ding, which also at the same time alerted Adam-kun. My heart raced as I quickly hopped into the lift, amidst the sound of Adam-kun’s heavy footsteps. I pressed the lift button rapidly and it shut just in time as Adam-kun reached the door, looking at me through the glass window. I saw him attempting to open the lift door by pressing the button on the outside, but to no avail. He could only watch me as the lift started descending.

To add insult to injury, when our eyes met, I pulled down my eyelid. I watched as the lift descended and Adam-kun disappeared from view.

When I went up earlier, I noticed that only one lift was working, the other had been under maintenance. I smirked to myself, and when the lift reached the first floor and nobody was using it, I got set to work. With my left thumb on the button holding the lift door open, I started pressing every single button between the first and eleventh floor. Looking around to see if anyone had seen me, I quickly exited the lift as if nothing had just happened.

The sun was high in the sky now, but it wasn’t very hot. The shadows of the electric cables and unlit streetlights were starting to slant to the east. I slowly made my way to the tram station, and stood waiting for the tram at the platform. I waited for a few minutes until I saw the westbound tram in the distance down the street. Out of habit, I liked to take out my transit card early, out of anticipation, but when I looked into my handbag, I realised the blatant void left in the total absence of my wallet. It finally dawned on me that I must have misplaced my wallet when I hastily took out Adam-kun’s present to give it to him just now.

I sighed, and watched the tram pull into the station, just standing there not doing anything. A few junior high schoolers alighted from the font door, which was wide open in front of me. The driver looked at me politely, as if to ask if I was going to board or not. I smiled shyly and shook my head. The doors closed, and the tram departed.

I supposed I had to walk home then. Getting home without my pass was no problem, but I was more worried about getting to school tomorrow. Without my pass, I had to pay the fare ride, and for that, I had to use my own money from my savings. Nevertheless, there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t go back up shamelessly and sweetly asked Adam-kun for my wallet, after what I had done. A wave of guilt overwhelmed me for how I selfishly acted earlier. With heavy footsteps full of dread, my mind running with whatever excuses I could give him when we met tomorrow, I slowly made my way home. I was walking, my head lost in my forest of thoughts when suddenly, I felt something cold and wet on my right cheek.

“This one’s for you,” a voice said from behind me.

Without turning around, I took the bottle with my right hand and brought it in front of me. I felt the cool bottle in my hands and took a good long look at it.

Matcha latte, chilled. The green liquid swirled in the bottle as I held it with my quivering hands. My heart melted, and I felt guiltier than ever. I turned around and bowed.

“I’m r-really, really, sorry,” I stuttered, my cheeks blaring red.

“N-no, I’m sorry,” he said, “The gift’s an apology.”

“Thanks,” I said nervously, unscrewing the cap and bringing the bottle to my lips.

We didn’t dwell on the matter any further. I didn’t even ask Adam-kun if he knew what I was angry about. After I took my first few sips, Adam-kun took out something that he had been apparently holding in his other hand and held it in front of me.

“You were looking for this weren’t you?” he said, “You left it on my bed.”

I awkwardly bowed and thanked him, to which he chuckled again, his right hand on his lower lip, telling me I needn’t need to be so formal with him. After all, we were a couple weren’t we?

He told me he would take me home, so I followed him down the sidewalk as we both headed over to the ground floor of his apartment complex where his bicycle was parked. I took sips of the bitter liquid as we walked.

“I’m so thirsty,” Adam-kun said all of a sudden.

“I could offer you some of this green tea if you want, but you hate it, so there’s no point,” I replied.

“That’s true,” he said, chuckling, “There’s a water fountain up front, mind if we stop for a while?” he continued, pointing ahead to a water fountain down the pavement.

“Sure,” I agreed.

Adam-kun walked over to the water cooler, and bent down. He was rather tall, so he had to bend quite a deal in fact. With his thumb, he pressed on the metal button near the snout, and a jet of cool water shot out gently in a small arc. He slurped on the water, his lips getting soaked. He stood there for about ten seconds, and we were about to leave, when a cat, its silky fur brown with white splotches, started rubbing itself against Adam-kun’s leg, meowing.

I saw Adam-kun look down, and a smile lit up his face. He quickly lowered himself down to a squat.

“Ah, you’re not sleeping now?” he said, scratching the cat’s chin, “Not lazing around in the lobby like you usually do eh?”

The cat just purred softly. The cat was adorable, but I was still quite cautious. I remembered when I was five I was scratched by a cat on my arm, and I jolly well wanted to keep that incident from repeating itself.

“You must be thirsty,” Adam-kun said again, “That’s why you’re at the cooler aren’t you?”

The cat looked at Adam-kun with its grey eyes and yawned, revealing its teeth.

“Ayano-chan,” Adam-kun said suddenly, finally addressing me, “You still have your bottle cap don’t you? Hope you didn’t throw it away.”

“Yeah, I do,” I said, slightly confused, “Why?”

“Can I have it?” he asked.

If I wasn’t mistaken I thought I saw a glimmer of excitement in his yes.

“Sure. . .” I said, passing my bottle cap to him, still not really sure what he was going to do with it.

After he took the cap from me in his right hand, he slowly stood up. He then went up to the cooler, and I heard the sound of the water splashing. Meanwhile, the cat he was busy playing with just now, seemed to have taken an interest in me and have crept up to me. I took a step back, but the next thing I knew, the cat started to rub itself against my legs. Its soft fur felt ticklish against my shins and I supposed I must have squealed or made a noise of some sort, because Adam-kun turned his head around to look at me.

Adam-kun then came back with the small cap filled with water, and placed it on the ground in front of the cat.  The cat quickly went up to the water-filled cap, lapped at the surface of the water for a while, before walking off, losing interest in the little water dish Adam-kun had made for it.

“I guess it doesn’t like green tea,” I said.

“Yeah,” he replied, “Seems like it.”

“That’s exactly like you don’t you think?” I said.

He chuckled. Indeed, the cat reminded me just now when I started rustling Adam-kun’s soft hair.

“Why don’t you come here and touch it?” Adam-kun invited me.

Nervously, I took a few small steps towards where Adam-kun was tickling the cat, now on its belly.

“It’s quite tame,” he said, reassuring me, “Everyone here at the apartment spoils it, the old lady on the second floor even cleans it every other day.”

I squatted beside him, legs together, the hems of my skirt brushing against the concrete ground. I looked at Adam-kun as I extended my hand in an attempt to brush the cat’s fur.

“Go on,” Adam-kun said, encouraging me.

I inched my hand closer to the cat’s belly, the cat’s eyes following wherever my hand went. I was still hesitant, when Adam-kun enveloped my palm in his, and brought it down onto the silky fur. I felt my cheeks going red as I felt the warmth of his hand. The cat purred in delight as its fur got stroked. Adam-kun let go of my hand and I continued stroking the cat on my own.

“Do you like cats, Adam-kun?” I asked him.

“Well, yeah, kind of,” he said, his eyes still fixated on the cat.

“I see,” I said, not really knowing what to say to continue the conversation.

For the next twenty seconds or so, we remained silent, me stroking the cat, while Adam-kun watched. The only sounds initially were the cat’s purrs of delight, but I supposed it read the atmosphere as well and silence also got the better of it.

“Ah, Ayano-chan,” Adam-kun suddenly said, turning to face me.

“What?”

“Say,” he began, “Have you ever kissed a cat before?”

I shook my head.

“Well, do you want to try?” he asked, picking up the cat, scooping it from the ground with both hands.

The cat meowed in surprise.

“It’s just a quick peck on the nose,” he said, smiling.

How childish, I thought to myself. I was hesitant, but since the poor cat was already being held in mid-air by Adam-kun, I decided to go along with it. Besides, it was just a quick peck on the nose by a somewhat adorable cat, what harm could possible befall on me?

“Okay, close your eyes,” Adam-kun said.

As I closed my eyes, the last thing I remembered seeing was Adam-kun holding the cat out with his arms, a mischievous smile on his lips. I expected the cat to come closer with each second, and I expected a short peck on the bridge of my nose with the cat’s snout, but none of that happened. I closed my eyes there for roughly about five seconds, with nothing happening.

Then I felt it. His lips were on mine, cold and damp. It tasted sweet, which was probably remnants of the sorbet we had together just moments earlier. With the shock, I instantly opened my eyes, and there he was, his eyes closed, his face a hair’s breadth from mine.

Without warning, the cat meowed uncomfortably and broke free from between our two bodies, driving us apart slightly. Adam-kun had to let go, and lean back a bit, and the cat soon slipped out and proceeded to lie down on the pavement again. We both giggled awkwardly.

Adam-kun then went in for a second kiss. Tender, gentle and sweet, just like the first one. The fragrance of his shampoo seemed to have overwhelmed me. His lips were still cold and wet, but they were in total contrast with the warm, fuzzy feeling I had like a winter cloak enshrouding my entire body.

This feeling I had . . . it felt as if I was floating.

Floating, a magnificent feeling.