Origami Girl

2- Paper Cranes of Desolation

"I will write peace on your wings and you will fly all over the world"-Sasaki Sadako, Hiroshima bombing survivor

"Thanks for breakfast," I thanked my mother as I walked past her, on my way to the kitchen, to which she nodded, her mouth still full of rice.

I hummed a lullaby as I washed my dishes under the tap when I bumped into my younger brother, who was retrieving his uniform from the laundry room and was walking through the kitchen.

"Oh, Morning Akio-kun!" I greeted my younger brother.

"You seem to be in a pretty good mood today," he remarked as he walked past, his eyebrows raised.

Yes, why was I in such a good mood? I had no idea but just carried on acting cheerfully. My heart felt so at ease, without any given explanation. The memory of the cherry blossoms yesterday still resonated in my mind, like an echo of sorts.

Remembering that I have not finished packing my bags for today, I headed up again to my room where my bags and books were. As I fished out which textbooks were needed and which were not, I suddenly remembered what day it was.

It was Friday, yes. But that also means it was the first day of track and field training. I sighed, well, if that's what it takes to be able to be together with Ka-chan, then I'll bear with it. It's not like I'm much of an asset to the team, I laughed to myself. I was only there because of Ka-chan, to put things in cold, hard, concrete fact. I sauntered over to my chest of drawers and pulled out a set of folded physical education uniform, flattened it out, before placing them in a plastic bag. I placed the plastic bag in the front compartment of my schoolbag, and intended to take it out afterwards when I reach school, to be placed into my locker, so that I wouldn't need to carry the uniform everywhere and let it take up space in my bag.

Checking the digital clock placed huddled in a corner of my desk, I realised I still had about roughly half an hour before I was going to meet Ka-chan to go to school together. I searched through my shelf for any interesting novel for me to fill my time as I wait out the minutes. I took out a light novel from the shelf, couldn't particularly remember which one, and with that, I put on my bag and headed downstairs to the living room. Downstairs, I sat on the plump sofa, placing my school bag on the seat beside me. With the novel still in my hand, I put on my new clean pair of socks which my mother just passed to me as she exited the kitchen. She then reminded me to take my lunch box, which she had already prepared, from the kitchen. I quickly followed her instructions. After clothing my feet, I immediately went to claim my lunch that my mother had already prepared for me. It was, of course, in the same lunch box as yesterday, and beside it was my brother's lunchbox, to which he still have not claimed yet. I couldn't see what was for lunch for today, since my lid wasn't see-through and I couldn't be bothered to open it until lunch time, so I just brought it to my bag without even knowing the contents. I'll let that be a little surprise for me, I thought to myself. Surprises were always nice.

Only after I packed my lunchbox in my bag, then did I find the freedom to lie back on the sofa, all relaxed and flipping through the pages of the light novel which I arbitrarily picked. I was only at a few paragraphs, intently reading, absorbing as much detail as possible, when my mother called out to me.

"Ayano-chan, aren't you leaving for school yet?" my mother asked, while descending from the staircase.

"Not yet, I'm waiting for Kameko-chan to meet me in front of the house later at seven," I replied.

"Oh, she's back already?" she asked.

"Yeah, just recently," I replied, still scanning through my book.

"Well, you still have some time before you're going to meet her," my mother said. "So, could you help me water the plants outside?" She continued.

I snapped my book shut and chucked it into my open, unzipped bag, disappointed that my reading time had been interrupted, and headed towards the front door.

I took my keys and unlocked the gate. I slipped into my shoes and stepped outside, exposing myself to the shine of the sun. The sun was shining ever brightly, just like any other typical summer morning, its rays spreading its cheer and radiance over the entire coastal city of Hakodate. I went over to the tap near the side of the house, and filled up the watering can I was holding there. I then walked over to the flowerbed of pearl white marigolds and graceful bluebells, all rejoicing when I poured the streams of water on them. Certainly, they looked beautiful, in full bloom like this, a miniature sea of white, green and violet-blue, I thought to myself. Ah, summer.

I slid my shoes off and returned to the sofa. I didn't even bother closing the front door, since I knew I was going to leave for school rather soon anyway. It was about eight minutes to seven, and knowing pretty well I couldn't read much in such a little period of time, I decided to keep the book in my bag and probably read it in school later. When I did that, a slip of paper fell out and ended up on the floor. I bent from the sofa to the floor and picked up the slip of paper. It seemed to be a receipt of some sort, albeit all the text, printed in black ink, had all but faded away into obscurity. Feeling slightly bored and noticing that I wouldn't have enough time to read, being the slow reader that I am, I decided to fiddle around with the slip of paper, out of boredom. I folded a white paper crane, making creases here and there, inversing portions, folding and opening. As an end result, I ended up with a small albeit imperfect white crane. I didn't have the time to enjoy what I had created, for I realised that the hands of the clock mounted on the wall have already shown the time to be seven o'clock. I grabbed my haversack, swinging it onto my shoulders and rushed for the door.

"I'll be going of then!" I wished my mother as I opened the front door and closed it behind me.

I locked the door behind me, fumbling with the jiggling keys. I turned around and walked towards the street. I opened and closed my front gate and looked for Ka-chan. For a moment, I panicked, since I thought that Ka-chan had left without me, since she was nowhere to be seen. The street was empty, save for the occasional car or van that rumbled past.

Then, I saw her. I heard the constant and loud ringing of a bicycle bell from the other end of the street. When I turned to look around, there she was, Ka-chan, riding down the hill on a bicycle. Her long black hair fluttered as the morning breeze blew against her. Her feet were on the pedals, but she didn't pedal at that moment.  She just kept on moving with the energy of the downhill motion. She squeezed on her brakes and stopped exactly right in front of me, and giggled slightly. I laughed too.

"Morning," she greeted me.

"Morning." I replied in the same cheerful manner.

"Hop on." She beckoned me to the empty seat behind her.

"You know it'd be faster if we took the tram you know?" I asked, raising my eyebrows, questioning her.

Ka-chan giggled, and twitched her head ever so slightly.

I was perplexed on how she got the bicycle, but I just zipped my mouth and just sat at the back, where she offered to hitch me a ride. I seated sideways, removed my restraining haversack from my back and placed it on my lap. My feet dangling into thin air, we set off.

That morning Hakodate was bursting with life. The roads were populated with a menagerie of vehicles. The streets and walkways were full of people going about with their daily morning activities, housewives heading over to the provision stores to buy groceries and elderly folks out for a morning walk. A few businessmen, clad in coats of dark colours, walked hurriedly to their workplaces, suitcase in one hand, and in some cases, hand phone in the other, pressed against the ear. Schoolgirls walked around in groups, hands and eyes glued to their phone screens as they sauntered on their way to school. At that moment, the streetcar pulled into its station, a platform in the centre of the road, and a flood of people gushed out. Seeing the streetcar reminded me of something.

"Ka-chan," I called out from behind her.

"Mm?" Came her reply.

"I thought we were taking the streetcar today aren't we?" I asked. "And where did this bicycle come from anyway, I never knew you owned one." I added.

She giggled in response.

"Well, yeah. I was about to leave but then when I looked through my garage I found this bicycle that from the looks of it, hadn't been used for quite some time so I told my parents I'd like to borrow it." She replied.

"But then... that means this bicycle hasn't been serviced for quite some time hasn't it." I questioned.

"Well, what's the use of the bicycle if it was just sitting in the garage all day and not doing anything? Might as well use it then let it go to waste." Came her respond.

I sighed, knowing her character too well. I let her win the argument.

"So what did your mother pack for your lunch?" She asked me all of a sudden as we turned a corner.

"Hmm... I don't know actually, didn't check." I replied.

"Me too actually." She responded. "Anyway, it's the first day of track and field today! Are you excited?" She asked, although she most probably knew my answer.

"Not in the least. It looks boring." I replied apathetically.

"Come on, stop being so judgemental..." Ka-chan said, laughing.

"Anyway," I said, changing the topic. "About Sayaka-chan and Kashiwagi-san, are you thinking the same thing as me?" I asked.

"Hmm? Thinking about what?" She inquired back.

"Well, that they might for all we know, be a couple?" I replied.

"That's quite possible actually," she replied. "They look quite cute together." She added, giggling.

"Well, I guess..." I said. "Anyway, what do you think of him?" I asked.

"Who? Kashiwagi-san?" She clarified.

"Mm." I grunted in reply.

"Well..." she contemplated, "It's not right for me to judge him for only meeting him for a day, but I think he seems like a pretty decent person."

"How about Yamamoto-san?" I asked.

"Well, he seems like quite a nice guy, except he gets unnaturally and obviously awkward whenever he talks to me." Ka-chan gave her opinion.

"I wouldn't say he's a nice person- I'd rather-" I started to complain, but was cut short by Ka-chan.

"Nice hairstyle, it looks fresh," she said, talking about my hairstyle, obviously tired of my ranting of other people, yet didn't want to hurt my feelings by dismissing me. "Don't you usually tie your hair in two ponytails?"

"Yeah..." I replied awkwardly.

Ka-chan was indirect, but it became obvious to me how the two of them grew tired of listening to me talking about the bad points of other people, a habit since young. Sayaka-chan was more direct, and it could sting a little, but who am I to say that? Of course people would get annoyed listening to the same thing over and over again like listening to some broken tape recorder.

"Yes, yes. I know you hate half the world, so go and participate in the volleyball match now." Sayaka-chan once said to me when I started complaining about other people during physical education lesson.

Thinking back about it, that was rather comical. But old habits die hard.

Now, it was Ka-chan's turn to fuel the conversation and chart where it was heading. Thankfully, I delved into it straight away, and soon, any recollection of the conversation which so many people find unpleasing disappeared. Instead, we laughed and giggled about something else, a light-hearted conversation with a light-hearted topic. She told me about the new patisserie that opened in the neighbourhood and that we should go there someday, to which I agreed.

Suddenly, as we cycled past a corner, we thought we saw someone heading up to the corner, so Ka-chan swerved forcefully in a jerking manner to avoid the person, it happened so fast, I couldn't even tell if the person was male or female, young or old. The next thing that happened was that  we heard a loud clash of metal against metal, and the bicycle suddenly skidded, nearly causing us to fall off and hit the pavement. Fortunately however, Ka-chan managed  to regain control of the bicycle, and the bike stabilised. We stopped for a moment, to catch our breath and reel in from the shock of the incident, before setting off again.

However, that wasn't the end of our predicament. I saw Ka-chan try to step on the pedal, but it just wouldn't budge.

"What's wrong Ka-chan?" I asked.

"The pedal won't move at all!" she screamed back.

"Let me try." I requested, to which she got out of the front seat , and let me have a go at it.

I adjusted myself in the new seat, and tried pedalling. I stepped my foot down on the pedal, and yes, it wouldn't budge. The pedal was still stuck in place even though I pressed my entire body weight on it. I gave up, and got off the bicycle. I then brought the bicycle over to the nearby fence of a house, and leaned the heavy bicycle on it.

"Hey, ummm. I'm sorry for just now."

I turned around, and saw a boy, roughly around our age, wearing the same uniform as us. A white shirt and dark pants. His jet black hair was slightly curly, his hazel eyes peeking through between the gaps through his fringe. He had his school bag, unzipped and gaping wide, slung across his right shoulder. His face was sweaty, so it must have meant he was rushing off to somewhere. He must have been the person we nearly ran down, I supposed.

For a slight second I could see Ka-chan's face going slightly pale, but in the next split second she recovered her calm composure, and returned to her normal self again.

"Ah, no worries. It's alright." Ka-chan replied.

"Do you need help with that?" the boy asked.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Ka-chan replied, albeit in a slightly unnatural manner.

The boy went over to the bicycle, kneeled down, and looked at the back wheel of the bicycle. He contemplated for a while, before looking at Ka-chan for approval.

"Uhm, may I?" he asked, Ka-chan gave him the go ahead.

With one quick movement he yanked the bicycle chain with his right arm, causing yet another loud clang of metal to sound. Then, he pushed the pedal down and made it rotate fully, which caused the wheels to rotate, and the system returned to operating like clockwork again.

"Thank you so much!" Ka-chan thanked the boy, and she bowed deeply in gratitude.

"Ah, no. It's not a problem." The boy said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, see you then." He continued, bidding farewell before disappearing down the corner.

We were about to set off when I turned around and saw something on the ground. It seemed like a book of some sort, abandoned on the ground. It seemed interesting enough though, for me to put Ka-chan on hold and actually got up and went over to it. I picked it up, and returned to the bicycle. I flipped through the book, while seated on the back seat as Ka-chan continued cycling. The book was a guide about guitars, with notes on how to strum, change pitch, fingerings, and all of those. Whoever the book belonged to even scribbled down some notes on the margins of the pages. However, the one piece of information that the book didn't tell me was who exactly the owner was. Well, I assumed it was the boy just now, since he was the only other person there at the scene, and with his bag gaping wide just now, anything could have fallen out. After flipping the pages for another while, I closed the book and slipped it into my bag. Fortunately, the boy and I were in the same school, so looking for him and handing over the book to him wouldn't pose much of a problem.

I'll just need to know where to look...

We had now neared the school gates, and we were among the crowd of students who were strolling into the school, except that we were on a bicycle. The air was abuzz with excited conversation.

"Morning, Kameko-chan, Ayano-chan."

I looked behind me and saw Sayaka-chan rush up to us, her shoulder-length hair fluttering as she ran.

"Sayaka-chan! Morning." Ka-chan greeted, turning around slightly to see her newly-arrived companion even though she had to concentrate on steering the bicycle.

I uttered the same greeting in reply, and soon the three of us started talking, one of the spur-of-the-moment kind of girls' talk, that didn't matter anymore the second the mouths clamp shut. I forgot what we were talking about, but I was laughing. Sayaka-chan commented on how my mood was so wonderful that day, and Ka-chan agreed without hesitation.

"Ah, not arriving at the usual time aren't you?" Sayaka-chan giggled.

"Well, we took a bicycle didn't we?" Ka-chan jested in reply.

"Not taking the tram today?" Sayaka-chan asked.

"Nah, it's nice to cycle once in a while." Ka-chan replied.

"Well, not on a rusty bicycle that breaks down halfway through the journey." I remarked, giggling.

The other two laughed.

When we reached the courtyard, the both of us dismounted and Ka-chan went over to the bicycle rack to park the bicycle. Sayaka-chan and I walked to the lockers. I had to take some textbooks from my locker, and Sayaka-chan had to do the same too. I took out my heavy Biology textbook and Chemistry file, then, realising I still had the thick guitar book which the boy Ka-chan and I met just now dropped, I took it out and placed them in my locker. Ka-chan arrived not long after, and started unpacking some things from her schoolbag into her locker. The two of us waited for her to be done, before proceeding to class straight away. There wasn't any assembly at the parade grounds today, thankfully. Nothing happened much when we got to class, since Yowane-sensei was already there, inside the classroom. Well, Yowane-sensei sometimes had a habit of arriving early for classes especially if it was the first period, and today was one of the days. Well because Ka-chan and I decided to go by bicycle and because of all that hold-up, we didn't arrive at the usual time if we took the tram instead. On the other hand, Sayaka-chan was always arriving at the nick of time, since her house was rather nearby and she got out quite late.

As soon as the bell rang, precisely on the dot at seven thirty, Yowane-sensei started long homeroom. We had homeroom on both Thursdays and Fridays, with the longer period on Fridays.  Yowane-sensei then briefed the class on what we were supposed to do for that period.

"Okay, so for today, we'll be watching a video, and then we'll be doing a little group discussion and sharing." Yowane-sensei announced. "Quiet, class." She added, when the class started to get slightly noisy.

She then proceeded with showing us a video from her laptop through the projector, but I couldn't really say I was paying attention to it. Instead, I was, well, going about my daily habits. Observing things, observing other people. My seat, was also beside the window, at the edge of the class. With Sayaka-chan seated in front of me, and being slightly taller than me, she effectively blocked me from Yowane-sensei's view. How convenient. I folded my arms on the table, and rested my head on them. I turned my attention to the world outside of the classroom, aiming in absorbing every detail.

I squinted my eyes, the glare of the sun through the glass when viewing it for the first time was rather blinding. I watched as the orb of light rose up, higher and higher into the sky, ever so slowly, spewing rays of light onto the entire city. Our classroom was adjacent to the track, and I could observe every little feature of it, from the sun-beaten red rubber tracks circulating around the field, to the seats underneath the overhanging roof.

 That's where I'll be going later with Ka-chan, I thought to myself.

 I watched the group of students who had physical education for their first period running along the track as a warm-up. My eyes then shifted to the fitness stations, with its pull-up bars and all.

Thinking to myself and nearly giggling, I don't even know what I would do when I joined track. I'm not that fast of a runner, and I don't think I can hurl a discus that far either. Meanwhile, Ka-chan vould do a perfect pole vault and I couldn't even barely hop for nothing. Ka-chan was the only reason why I joined track and field.

I turned my head around, shying my eyes away from the sun's burning glare. My gaze scurried restlessly around the class, shifting from furniture to furniture, and finally shifting from person, to person. I noticed Kashiwagi-san, at his seat, looking ahead at the screen. I knew he wasn't really particularly interested, he was shaking his leg and pounding his thigh with a closed fist. At one point he also curled up his lip, pouting. But then, I suddenly remembered what happened yesterday, and feeling guilty conscious that he might have noticed me observing him, I averted my gaze to someone else.

Not long after, I ended up looking at Yamamoto-san and Hayate-kun, through the corner of my eye, since they were sitting in the same row of tables as me. I was bored, and there was nothing better to do, so I fell back on my habit of observing others like a creepy stalker. Yamamoto-san  was fidgeting with his fingers under the table, then, after getting bored of it started playing with his pen. He stretched his neck after some time, before proceeding to crack his knuckles. I soon got tired of him and started to look at other things instead. I noticed the black shoe bag slumped against the leg of his table. Only then I remembered that I'll be seeing him for training later on. I sighed, and rolled my eyes.

Then, Yowane-sensei ended the video, and then she split us t into groups to discuss about it, and write our opinions down on a piece of paper. I got grouped up with Ka-chan, fortunately, and Sayaka-chan got split into a different group. I didn't pay attention to the other groupings, since being with either Ka-chan or Sayaka-chan was the only thing I cared about. As soon as Yowane-sensei told us to get into our groups, I immediately rushed to Ka-chan, who was taking out a piece of foolscap paper from her file. She looked at me and giggled.

"You weren't paying any attention at all!" she laughed, teasing me.

I only managed a meagre smile in reply.

"So... I'm with you, Kameko-chan?"

I looked up, to see who it was. Well, what do you know? It was him. Hayate. He stood there, in his messy shirt, untucked on his right side, holding a file in his right hand.

"A-ah, yeah." Ka-chan replied, as Hayate-kun took his seat. "Ah, I already have paper, so you don't have to take out any," she added.

"Oh, sure," came his reply.

I squirmed in my seat. I still haven't gotten over it yet, I supposed. Even if I did, who wouldn't be awkward doing group work with someone that used to mean so much to you? He seemed acting as per normal, sitting with his legs outstretched, and writing on the paper together with Ka-chan. He wrote with his left hand, on one side of the paper, while Ka-chan wrote on the other side. We were supposed to make a mind map of sorts, but well, I couldn't contribute anything since I didn't pay attention to the video, so I didn't grasp anything useful.

Instead, I continued observing Hayate-kun. I don't know why, I just kept looking at him from the corner of my eye, fidgeting with my fingers. His presence made me feel very awkward. Deep down, I still felt a little scared. I wonder if he still hates me or despises me, after what I've done. I noticed how he scrunched his forehead as he wrote, which reflected how concentrated he was with the current task. He started tapping the pen he was writing with on the table whenever he was contemplating. These were just some of the little habits that he has, which I had observed. I guess somehow, he realised I had been watching him and he looked up, and glared at me.

"Can you not?" He said, slightly annoyed.

I stared at him, speechless. I'm sure I must have looked frightened at the moment, but then I realised that I must fix my expression. I told myself from a long time ago, that I should not show any expression to everyone if I wanted to protect myself. Emotions make other people able to read your thoughts, and pass critical judgement.

If I want to protect myself, then this is what I must do.

But this was Hayate-kun. He was different. He knew me too well, he knew my pain. But then, he left me. No, I made him leave me. He stopped looking at me after I offered no response, and he knew fully well that I wouldn't respond anyway. But somehow, I knew deep within his heart, he must be thinking badly about me.

 No, no. Please stop.

I could only cover my face with my palms, retreating behind the overlapping fingers.

"Ah, A-chan, what do you think about this idea?" Ka-chan suddenly budged in, breaking the awkward atmosphere and trying to get me out of this awkward situation.

I looked at her, then I looked to the piece of paper. Ka-chan was smiling at me, trying to comfort me.

"I-I'm going to the bathroom." I said, and left.

I ran down the corridor to the bathroom, my footsteps echoing in the empty hallway. I pressed the tap, splashing my face with the tap water. My face was wet with a mixture of warm tears and freezing tap water.

"I'm okay, nothing's wrong. I'm fine, I'm fine." Whispered my aching heart.

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The bell rang, signalling the start of recess. As soon as the teacher left the classroom, everyone moved about in the classroom, breaking the formal uniformity of what it had been only a moment ago to an impromptu gathering, cliques and groups of friends clumping together. I took out my lunch, and headed towards Ka-chan's table. Sayaka-chan probably went out to buy something in the cafeteria. Kashiwagi-san was at his seat with his own lunch, joking and talking with a few of his friends. My lunchbox in my hands, I walked over to my best friend, who was clearing the table of her belongings, so that the both of us can eat there.

"Hmm... I think my lunch for today would be oyakodon..." I said to Ka-chan.

"Well, I don't really know about mine..."  said Ka-chan in reply, giggling.

I took the chair in front of Ka-chan's seat, and turned it around so I'd sit facing her. In truth, lunch today for me was the usual, rice, with salmon. I guess it wasn't really the surprise I was expecting. I laughed to myself at my perceived inability to guess my lunches properly. I picked up my chopsticks, and took a peek at what Ka-chan had for her meal.

For today, she had rice topped with unagi, smothered with a generous amount of glossy brown sauce. It looked scrumptious, compared to my meagre rice and salmon. Ka-chan noticed me staring in amazement at her lunch and laughed.

"Ah, do you want to swap?" she asked.

"A-ah no, it's okay... I was just looking." I replied awkwardly.

"No, I'm serious! It's okay if you really want it. I haven't eaten salmon in a long time too, anyway." she replied, pushing her open lunchbox across the table towards me.

"A-ah, thank you..." I thanked her.

"No problem," She replied jovially, receiving my lunchbox with her hands.

I looked into the lunchbox, filed with rice and unagi, and a smile curled up on my lips, without me even realising it.

"You really haven't eaten unagi in a long time haven't you?"

I giggled and nodded my head.

"Ittadakimasu~" the two of us chanted in unison, and picked up our chopsticks.

I picked up a piece of unagi and placed it in my mouth. I felt the softness of the eel meat on my tongue, the delicateness which I had not tasted for so long. My teeth bit the piece of soft meat easily, and I soon swallowed.

"The salmon is delicious, I don't get how you can get sick of it," Ka-chan remarked, taking a bite of grilled salmon from my lunchbox.

"You will if you have it every single day," I said, "Anyway, the unagi tastes fantastic, your mum is a great cook," I returned the praise.

"Well, I helped her prepare it in the morning," Ka-chan giggled.

"You made the unagi?" I questioned.

"Yup," she said in reply, "I'm glad you liked it."

We continued eating our meals, and we had a small conversation about how geography was one of the most boring subjects ever. We were halfway through our lunches when suddenly the class broke out into commotion. I turned around, and saw how like about a dozen or so people have gathered around at Yamamoto-san's and Hayate-kun's table. They were talking excitedly, so something must have been going on over there.

"I'll go and take a look." Ka-chan said, and got off her seat to join the others.

I just sat on my chair, not even bothering to go over. I didn't see any need to, firstly I wasn't really particularly interested in whatever was happening over there, and secondly, they were loud enough for me to hear each and every word they said, and I also got a pretty nice view. Both of the boys were facing me, but they were too distracted by the flurry of people around them that they didn't notice me watching them. Or maybe they did, but they just couldn't care.

"Once you open it, you'll have to promise to use it all the time okay?" Hayate-kun said to Yamamoto-san.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure," the track captain replied.

Hayate-kun took out something from his pocket. From the looks of it, it was rather small, but was wrapped unprofessionally in quite some deal of wrapping paper. Well, that was just how he was. I remembered how he once gave me a birthday present, wrapped in so much paper, that I mistook it for something bigger than it really was. I wanted to laugh, thinking about back then, but then I remembered how much hurt the relationship cost me and I immediately shook out the sweet memories of us together.

"Hey, thanks," Yamamoto-san said, laughing.

"Open it!" Hayate-kun exclaimed excitedly. A bit too eager, in my opinion.

Yamamoto-san tore the wrapping off in a flash. Then he took the item and held it up in front of his face with his fingers. It was a red jersey keychain. I presumed, it was a Manchester United keychain at first, but that seeing Yamamoto-san's expression, it must have been otherwise. His expression was priceless. His eyes were wide in both shock and surprise, and it didn't seem to be a pleasant kind of shock. Hayate-kun tried to hold back his laughter but just lost it.

"Are you serious? Liverpool?" Yamamoto-san asked in a slightly irritated manner.

"Yeah! Happy birthday bro!" Hayate-kun wished his friend, patting him on the shoulder, while the rest of the audience clapped.

It was a basic and well-known fact that Yamamoto-san did not like Liverpool.

"Faggot." Yamamoto-san replied, but still, he was laughing too.

Soon, others came up to him to wish him happy birthday, and some even brought him presents. Ah, the perks of being Mr Popular. Then, I saw Ka-chan walk up to him.

"Happy birthday Kenji-kun! I'm sorry I didn't knew earlier, I would've made a card or something," Ka-chan wished him sweetly.

"Ah-" the boy replied awkwardly, blushing. "N-no, it's okay... Thanks!" He said, scratching the back of his head.

When Ka-chan came back to her seat to continue having lunch with me, I just giggled at her.

"What?" She asked me, perplexed.

I just sighed and shook my head, giving her a smirk.

"Hint, hint." I whispered, teasing her.

"Oh stop it, you." Ka-chan dismissed me, and continued stuffing herself with salmon, in a totally ungraceful manner, being totally not herself.

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"A-chan..."

I petted the furry Persian cat as it continued smiling at me.

"Aww it's so cute, it's calling my name..."

"A-chan..."

The cat purred adorably and reached out to touch me, I bent down, letting its outstretched paw reach closer and closer to me. My heart melted and the show of cuteness.

"A-chan!"

Why does this cat have such a familiar voice? And why is it shouting at me! Did I do something to anger it? To make something so cute abhor me, my hear is shattering into a thousand pieces.

I suddenly felt something jab my cheek.

"Wh-what..." I said, confused, opening my eyes slowly and lazily.

"You're finally awake!" Ka-chan exclaimed.

I lifted my head from the table and sat up straight. I looked around me, in a daze. There wasn't any teacher in the classroom, and there were only a few students left in class, mingling about. What on earth just happened?

"You're always falling asleep in geography," she laughed, "You know, we should get changed now, track starts in ten minutes," she continued.

I packed my things into my haversack, and we both left the classroom. I trudged down the hallway with Ka-chan, still half asleep, to the bathroom. When I reached the bathroom, I washed my face, which helped quite a fair bit. It was no surprise, it was already three. I'm always sleepy at three. Anyway, we then each went into a cubicle to change. I slid out of my uniform and put on my PE attire, folding my uniform as neatly as I could, before storing it away in the front compartment of my haversack. Ka-chan finished changing first, so she waited for me outside the bathroom. After adjusting my hair while looking in the mirror, I stepped outside the bathroom and into the corridor where Ka-chan stood, waiting for me. She was on her phone, so I guess I must have taken quite some time.

"Shall we go then?" She asked me when she looked up from her phone.

"Sure." I said, and we set off down the corridor.

I felt the heat of the sun streaming through the window as the both of us walked through the corridor. We walked past students and teachers alike, all hurrying with their daily activities. We bumped into Sayaka-chan, who had a black guitar case slung onto her back.

"Hey Sayaka-chan." I greeted her.

"Hi, heading for track?" she asked, "I rarely get to see you in a PE uniform," she jested.

I giggled, and we bade farewell to each other, as we walked down opposite ends of the corridor.

Ka-chan and I went down the stairwell and walked a few yards until we finally reached the stadium steps, where we were supposed to gather. There were already quite a few bags there, yet, there wasn't anybody to be found. We placed our bags in the corner and sat on the bench, waiting for someone, anyone to appear. However, after a while, Ka-chan got up.

"I'm going to fill up my water bottle. I'll be back in a while," she said to me.

"I'll go with you too, I guess," I said, getting up with her, almost instinctively.

"Well, just stay around here, what if anybody shows up?" she ordered me, before leaving.

With that, she disappeared around the corner, heading for the water coolers near the toilets. I sat there, alone for about two minutes, before Yamada-kun appeared, walking on the narrow tiled pavement between the track and stadium steps. He was in his PE attire, and was carrying his haversack. He didn't seem to be in a hurry, which means that Ka-chan and I probably arrived way too early.

"Oh hi," he greeted me.

"Ah hello," I said in response, smiling.

"I heard you joined track," he commented, snickering, "Didn't Kameko-chan join too?" he continued.

"Yeah, but she's at the water cooler at the moment. Anyway, talking about that... Do you know the shortest way to get to a water cooler?" I'm thirsty, I asked him.

He contemplated for a second, placing his hand to his chin.

"Ah," he said, after a while, "You could get to the coolers by walking behind the equipment store, you won't need to walk around the entire stadium steps and classroom block that way," He continued.

"Oh, thank you!" I thanked him. "I'm dying to get something to drink," I said, and walked down the stadium steps.

"No problem," came his reply.

I walked towards the equipment store, which was a small concrete shed on the far right side of the stadium steps. It had a green corrugated zinc roof, and it had huge metal doors. It was open slightly, and I could hear the sounds of someone rummaging and moving equipment inside. It was probably one of the track members setting up stuff, I presumed.

I treaded carefully on the small, narrow concrete, albeit moss-covered, embankment beside the shed, being adjacent to a small, shallow yet open, drain. The area was quiet, eerily quiet, that I could hear the sounds of the traffic from the road a few yards away.  Behind the shed was a grassy area, although it was slightly shaded and sheltered with all the trees around it, so the place was rather private. Since nobody ever passes there, it made a great spot to hang out by oneself, or if one needed privacy and wanted to be alone. There were also a few picnic benches there, which probably no one uses, but were surprisingly clean and well-maintained. I was about to pass through the place, heading towards the water coolers, when I saw something I supposed I shouldn't see. I stood in the corner of the shed where I came from, frozen on the spot.

I saw the boy, the one Ka-chan and I met just now on the way to school, changing. He was standing nearer to the back wall of the shed, so he would be rather well hidden, actually.  He had just done with unbuttoning his school shirt and had just slid him off, so he was there, without his shirt on. He was facing the wall, so he didn't really see me there. I could see the smooth line running along his spine, and his slightly protruding shoulder blades. He wasn't that fleshy, but was still rather well-toned. From the side, I could see his flat chest and his sharp left collarbone. His soft black hair nearly hid his eyes as he bent down. He had his haversack slumped against the wall, and he was just about to bend down to grab his t-shirt when he noticed me through the corner of his eye. He was kind of shocked, and turned his head slowly at me. To be honest, who wouldn't be.

"I-I'm really sorry!" I cried out nervously, "I-I, please forgive me. . . it was an accident. . ." I whimpered nervously.

I retreated shakingly, step by step I took, while still looking at the boy. He hurriedly grabbed his shirt and was about to put it on, when suddenly I felt like I lost my footing, and the next second I found myself flailing backwards, unable to stop myself from falling.

"Ka-chan!" I screamed, as loud and shrill as I could, not that I wanted to, it's just that I always longed for Ka-chan whenever I was scared and felt threatened, and this was one of those moments.

I landed with a thud on the hard, grass-covered ground behind me, yet I felt that my right foot felt slightly sticky. I tried to stand up, but I was too shaky and scared to do so. I looked ahead of me, and I realised that my right foot was in the drain. I took my right leg out of the drain, but I was still seated on the ground, my legs bent and outstretched.

The boy still hadn't put on his shirt, and had rushed up in front of me. I blushed, and looked away, albeit still whimpering.

"H-hey, are you alright?" the boy asked me.

I could only nod silently, my shivering arm covering my mouth. At that moment, from around the corner, I saw Ka-chan and Yamada-kun rushing to get to me.

"A-chan! Are you al-" Ka-chan initialy shouted, but then seeing the shirtless boy in front of me, she went "Oh my god."

She rushed up to me, who was still half-sprawled on the ground, kneeled down and held me in her arms.

"Ka-chan. . ." I whimpered, tugging my best friend's sleeve.

"Don't worry A-chan, I'm here. . ." Ka-chan whispered soothingly in my ear, calming the still-shaking me down.

"Nakayama-san! What on earth were you trying to do?!" Yamada-kun questioned the shirtless boy.

"Ah- Umm. . ." the boy began, awkwardly, not knowing what to say, "Um, I was just-"

"You were what?" Yamada-kun demanded.

"What is going on here?"

I looked up and saw Yamamoto-san standing at the corner, walking up to us. I could understand how the scene he ran into would lead him to make very grave misjudgements on the situation. A boy arguing with a shirtless boy, in front of a long-haired girl hugging and comforting a whimpering smaller girl. At that moment, all of us froze. Yamamoto-san looked at us questioningly. His gaze moved from Yamada-kun to the shirtless Nakayama-san, then to Ka-chan, then to me. The instant he looked at me, somehow I just snapped, and the timidity, fear and shock which were about to overwhelm me just now disappeared in an instant. I glared at him, because he was probably the last person I would like to get involved with in this whole entire dramatic mess. He gulped, and averted his gaze. I instantly stood up, dusting myself with my hands.

"Let's go, Ka-chan." I said, and left the scene with Ka-chan for the stadium steps, leaving everyone there confused.

The two of us walked back to where our bags were, and I gulped down some water, after the entire tiring episode. Great, starting off my first day of my new club with a huge misunderstanding.

"A-chan. . ." Ka-chan said, taking the seat beside me, "Are you okay? Did that boy do anything to you?"

"Nah, I'm fine," I said, trying to reassure her, "Really," I continued, after seeing that she wasn't really convinced.

"Well, if you say so. . ." she sighed, which gave it away that she didn't really agree to me dismissing her concern.

At that moment, Yamamoto-san and Yamada-kun walked back in. They walked up the stairs to where we were, and sat with us. Yamada-kun sat beside me, while, not surprisingly, Yamamoto-san sat beside Ka-chan.

"Ayano-chan, did he do anything to you?" Yamada-kun asked me.

"No, no. He didn't. Well, it was just a misunderstanding," I replied, laughing awkwardly.

"But you were screaming at the top of your lungs," he said again.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me!" I replied.

Yamada-kun cringed his eyebrows.

"But if he ever tries to do anything funny to you just tell a teacher okay?" he said, concerned.

"Don't be ridiculous," I laughed, "What was his name again?" I asked Yamada-kun.

"Nakayama Adam." He uttered under his breath.

And speak of the devil, the boy just now appeared from behind the corner, and totally walked past us, as if we weren't there. He was wearing his t-shirt now, and had changed out of the chequered school trousers into shorts. He climbed the stairs a few metres away from us, and placed his bag there. He slumped his bag onto the seat beside him and sat down, an entire aisle away from us. Ka-chan and I looked at him, seated all alone, leaning forward punching his thumbs on his phone. Meanwhile, Yamamoto-san and Yamada-kun didn't really seem bothered by Nakamura-san's behaviour. Well, to be honest, I supposed that was how I looked like in class every day. Suddenly Yamamoto-san got up, and went down to a lower row of seats in front of us. He stood facing us, and had a clipboard tucked in his hand.

"Okay guys, since we're at full attendance already, so why don't we start our activities for today?" he said.

Full attendance? This? Well, Yamamoto-san sure wasn't joking when he said that track 'currently at quite a few members'.

"You don't have to be so formal, there's only like. . . three, I mean, four of us," Ka-chan said, although I didn't know whether her blunder was really a mistake or intentional.

"Ahahaha. . . So um. . . Murakami-san," Yamamoto-san said awkwardly, averting his gaze sheepishly. " Which event are you joining? We have vacancies for. . ." he paused for a short while, scrutinising his list, "Everything."

Ka-chan giggled, daintily placing her hand over her mouth.

"I'll do high jumps then!" she said enthusiastically, "A-chan, what about you?"

"I don't know, actually," I replied.

"Can you sprint?" Yamada-kun asked me.

"Not really. . . Maybe I could be the manager or something, I don't know," I laughed.

"Nah, you should totally take part in an event, A-chan!" Ka-chan nudged me.

They continued talking and laughing, and I joined occasionally too, but most of the time I was observing Nakayama-san, the boy who was sitting all by himself, appearing uninterested to us. He seemed totally different that the boy Ka-chan and I met this morning. He noticed me, but before I could even react he turned away, and his back faced me.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————-

"Ah, that was tiring," I remarked to Ka-chan, as I trudged my feet across the courtyard, towards the main school building.

"Yeap, it sure was!" Ka-chan said cheerfully and energetically, as though she just woke up, "So, how do you find discus throwing?"

"It's okay, I guess. You just fling the disc and watch it fly," I said, kind of apathetically.

"You make it sound so easy," Ka-chan giggled in reply.

"How about you? You're in long jump aren't you?" I asked her.

"Yeah, it's fine. But you know, it's kind of uncomfortable with Kenji-kun insisting on trying to show me everything, and about setting up equipment and stuff," she said, "Well, I know he's trying to help me since I'm new, but. . .  sometimes. . . it just feels weird," she continued, whispering.

"Hmm, that's so unfair, he should've treated me the same way too. You know, fawning all over me, like how he does to you. I'm new too, you know?" I teased her.

"Who would? Your face just now especially, looked like you wanted to murder someone," She retaliated, "But seriously, smile more."

I opened my mouth and was about to give a witty reply, but then the wind blew so strongly, my voice would be drowned out anyway. And so, the conversation kind of ended there. We walked past the pool, where the water polo team had just finished their training, and which was separated from the pathway past the courtyard, where we were walking, with a see-through, steel wired fence. We could see the pool very clearly where we were, its surface gleaming with reflected sunlight. Down the path, yet still behind the gate, was the pool store, which was slightly larger than our equipment store back at the stadium, but it was still a shack that stores equipment nonetheless. It was already six, yet the sun was still rather high in the sky, making it seem like it was just mid-afternoon. Well, it was summer after all.

I was walking along the path with Ka-chan, past the shed. There was a hidden behind the shed, but well, it was in a blind spot so I guess we didn't really see it, until it was nearly too late that is. All of a sudden, the gate swung outwards, only an inch away from hitting the both of us. Ka-chan shrieked involuntarily in shock. Of course, we didn't know that the gate swung outwards, since we didn't even know the gate existed in the first place. We were fortunate that the gate reached the maximum it could swing, dictated by its hinge, just so near in front of us.

"Oh, sorry."

He was there, Hayate-kun, standing in front of us. His haversack was slung onto one shoulder, and his uniform shirt was all crumpled and shoddy. His hair was still damp, having just finished training. I glanced away, in a bid to avoid any eye contact with him. Not to my surprise, he just apologised to Ka-chan casually for the gate incident, and walked off.

I observed him, walking, alone down the path, towards the main building, without him even once turning back, to look behind him. His chequered haversack was precariously slung onto one shoulder, and his shoe bag held in his right palm casually swung from front to back as he walked. He didn't seem to care. He didn't even acknowledge my presence, he simply walked off, turning his back to me.

He's moved on, I thought to myself.

Why can't I?

We continued walking on, towards the main building. Throughout the entire time, neither of us said a word. I was too caught up in my thoughts and feelings, and I guessed Ka-chan could read the mood. I have told myself to move on many times, repeating it over and over again to myself, but somehow, I just couldn't let go. Instead, I kept lamenting on how I'd lost someone who genuinely cared about me, when I was at the lowest of lows. So there I was, half-torn in a suspended state, both wanting to let go, while still wanting to hold on to him. I couldn't foresee any end to this, but at the moment, I was still jaded by the events that happened to me.

Ka-chan and I walked past a bench, it was an ordinary bench to the usual passer-by, but to me, that bench held many memories. The memories were still crystal clear in my head, refusing to go away, refusing to disappear, refusing to be forgotten.

I guess it was during the autumn of our first year in high school when it happened. We had been dating for about roughly two months, and as per usual, I waited for Hayate-kun to finish his water polo training. I finished gymnastics slightly earlier than usual that day, so I decided to wait for him, before going home together. If I wasn't wrong, Ka-chan went home earlier that day, since she had something on, so Hayate-kun and I were left alone, instead of having Ka-chan going home with us, which was how it usually went.

I sometimes wish I could return to those times, the second half of the first year. Back then, everything was perfect and fine. Back then, I was content. Back then, I still had him by my side.

It was autumn then, the temperatures were dropping yet water polo still conducted trainings, since they had a full season ahead of them, just around the corner. It would be much better if we had an indoor pool, I thought to myself. I sat on that very same bench, waiting for him. The sky was a deep red by the time I spotted him walking down the path from the swimming pool. At that time, there wasn't a fence separating the path from the swimming pool, so moving around was much easier. I saw his face as he approached me, the deep hazel eyes which were now apathetic to the sight of me, seemed so bright back then. He was exhausted, but sure, his face lit up when he saw me. He was slightly shorter than me at that time, having about two centimetres in height difference. Well now, he was slightly taller than me, of course.

"Hey, have you waited long? Sorry for ending so late," he asked, smiling.

"No, not really. . ." I replied bashfully, standing up, "Shall we go?" I asked.

"Ahh, I'm tired," he sighed, "Why don't we sit down first?" he said again, and before I could reply he had already ended up on the bench.

I had no choice but to return to my seat on the bench.

"Training is really tiring," he sighed, stretching his arms back.

"Well, it can't be helped, you have a competition don't you?" I asked him rhetorically.

"Well yes... but still-"

"Nopey. No buts," I retaliated. "You have to try your best you know?"

If the me now were there, listening to me saying those words, me out of all people, I would have laughed so hard in the most sardonic manner ever. The me now was radically different from the me from before. But Hayate-kun didn't do anything like that back then. He just looked at my face and smiled.

"Sure," he uttered gently, "You'll be there at my match, won't you?" he asked.

"Of course," I replied, smiling back.

"I'm glad," came his response.

We sat there in silence for the next few minutes, enjoying the autumn breeze, the red sky, and the sheer silence of everything.

"Aren't you cold?" he asked me.

I shook my head, but even then, I felt his hand on my palm. He held my smaller palm in his for a while, and I could fell the warmth of his hand palpating my skin. We hadn't held hands for quite some while, so it came as a pleasant surprise for me. He then pulled me closer to him, still holding my hand, so that I leaned on his shoulder. Blushing, he then wrapped his arms around me. I did not restrain, and just went with whatever he would take me. My face was to his chest. I could smell his scent, he smelled of soap and chlorine. I could feel his chest rise up and down as he breathed, pressed against my cheek. I could hear his heart throbbing, beating in sync to the heart in my tightening chest.

Nothing up to that point to could compare to the happiness I felt when I was on that bench, Hayate-kun's arms delicately holding on to me gently. I grew limp, overtaken by the rushing feeling of bliss. At that moment, I felt that he would protect me, with his arms shielding me from the evils of the harsh, cruel reality of the world around us.

"Thank you," I muttered, unconsciously.

He looked at me and blushed.

"It's okay, as long as you're happy," he replied awkwardly.

I giggled, and closed my eyes, taking in every detail of the moment.

"A-chan. . .You're very special to me, you know?" I heard him whisper softly in my ear.

"You too," I whispered back, propping my head up, just to look at him, while his arms continued to hold me tight.

I don't know what caused what happened after that, but I had to confess that was one of the greatest moments in my life up till then. It felt as if it came naturally, and to me, it did seem natural, the way things unfolded that autumn evening. It didn't seem forced or anything, it just. . .happened.

Hayate-kun leaned in closer to me, bending his head down towards me. I closed my eyes. I could sense him getting nearer, I could hear his nervous breaths at first, but then I could feel the warm air of his exhalation against my face, then, finally, I could feel the warmth of his face, before our skins even touched. The both of us must have been blushing really hard back then, since I felt my cheeks warm and reddening, and I could also sense the warmth of his. Finally, my long awaited longing had been answered.

I felt our lips touch, entwining with each other, tightening each other's grasp. His lips were soft, albeit cracked and parched, and they tasted of chlorine, and the slight sweet tinge of sweat. I was in heaven. My first kiss, the first of any such experience I had. He took my first kiss from me.

Forget about it, just let go, Ayano.

I kept telling myself this, yet it was futile. The memories of me with him would always come back, no matter what I tried. Yet, that side of me remained stubborn. I snapped out of my flashback, and back into reality.

"Live in the present." Sayaka-chan once told me, and I've tried to adhere to the principal ever since, in hopes of being able to move on.

Ka-chan and I finally reached the lockers. Ka-chan told me to wait while she went to fetch the bike, so I did, at the porch. But not after finishing taking out some books I needed for homework that night from my locker and transferring them to my bag.

After a while, Ka-chan arrived, with her bicycle. Again, she was at the helm, and beckoned me to get on behind her, which I did obediently. We then set off.

"Well, A-chan, is it okay for me to drop you off at the park a few blocks away from our street?" Ka-chan asked me after we passed a pedestrian crossing, "I'll need to drop off the bike for some servicing at a shop near there. You can go off first if you want." She continued.

"It's okay, I'll wait for you at the park, then we can go home together," I replied. "It's not like I'm in a rush or anything," I added.

"Great!" Ka-chan exclaimed, while cycling, "I'm really sorry for not being able to cycle you all the way home, the bicycle is in a really bad shape, so I really have to send the bicycle for servicing," she apologised.

"Nah, it's fine," I replied.

Ka-chan cycled down the busy streets of Hakodate, its people out and about for the evening. Families were out, eating out for dinner, while office workers streamed out of the streetcars whenever it stopped at a station.

We finally reached the park after some deal of cycling. It was silent and peaceful, a sanctuary in the middle of all the chaos of urban life. A few young people were out on a quick jog, while others were just out for an evening stroll, unwinding in the calm and quiet of the park. The trees had a canopy of a mixture of light to dark green, from the tall aspens to the drooping willow tree to the left of us. To our right, there was a small, quiet pond, right beside a pavilion. Shaded by a few large, overhanging trees, not a single ripple was present on the pond surface.

"Would you mind if I dropped you off right here?" Ka-chan asked me.

"Nah, not at all," I replied.

Ka-chan brought the bicycle to a jerky and bumpy halt, squeezing the hand brakes tightly. She stopped directly in front of the pavilion, and I got off.

"Well, I'll see you in twenty minutes!" Ka-chan shouted at me from her bike, as she cycled down the park, disappearing down the path.

I looked around me. Well, I had around twenty minutes more to spend in this park. Seeing that I couldn't do anything at the pavilion, I walked out of there and decided to take a look at the immediate surroundings. I decided to check out the pond for a while, it being the nearest interesting feature of the park to me.

It didn't take me long to get there, it just being a stone's throw away. I placed my haversack on the ground, and knelt down on the soft grass, not far from the edge of the pond. The blades caressed my knees as they danced in the breeze. I observed the pond, in all its calm and serenity. I saw my own reflection, but I quickly turned away. My heart ached.

In the end, I was the ultimate cause of this.

I shook that thought away, and continued sitting there, not really doing anything. I still had quite some time before Ka-chan would come back to get me, and I wasn't really sure how to spend it.

"Hey,umm . . . You're Furukawa-san aren't you?"

I turned around, albeit still kneeling down, and looked up. I saw the boy just now at training, the one that I saw shirtless and kept to himself. Nakayama-san, wasn't it? He was still in his PE attire, and he was all sweaty. He had his haversack on both shoulders, and in his right arm he carried a miniature-looking version of a guitar case. The shape sure looked like it contained a guitar, but it was too small to be considered a guitar, so I wasn't really sure what it was.

"Y-yeah?" I responded awkwardly.

"Umm, about just now. . ." he mumbled, blushing, "I'm really sorry about that, it's my bad," he apologised, his left hand scratching his right arm out of awkwardness.

"A-ah!" I managed to mutter. "It's alright, I'm fine. What was your name again?" I asked, just to confirm.

"J-just call me Nakayama. Ah, I'm really glad you forgave me I thought I was in really big trouble back there," he said, laughing nervously, "You know, I could be charged for harrassment or something."

"Ah, Nakayama-san, I'm really sorry too, for causing such a scene just now. It wasn't intentional," I apologised to him.

"Well, it won't be a problem," he said, before trailing off on his words.

The both of us fell silent out of words to say. I was still kneeling down, while he was still on his two feet. Then, he broke the awkward silence, his face reddening.

"Ah I hope you don't mind, but, is it okay if I join you?" he asked.

"Um-sure. . . Please do," I said, and I could feel my cheeks getting warmer.

He slumped his haversack onto the ground, and placed the guitar case thing beside his bag, before sitting down beside me. He sat with his arms on the ground behind him, and his legs, bent at the knees, outstretched in front of him. His shorts dropped to his upper thigh, revealing his muscular thighs and rather well-toned calf. He did look like a sprinter after all. After all, he was pretty fast when he was training just now. He was there on the grass with me, all laid back, albeit a little awkwardly, with his feet, clad in sneakers, pointing towards the heavens.

"What were you doing just now?" he suddenly asked.

"N-not much," I replied, still kneeling down on the ground.

He shifted around easily, before unzipping the miniature guitar case, or whatever it was that he brought with him. From it, he pulled out a miniature guitar, which was what I thought at first. It was wooden, and was smaller than an average guitar which made it very portable and convenient. It was glazed in  shiny black oil paint, and I could see the reflection of the blue clouds on its surface as it lay on the ground, while he rummaged through the empty casing, searching for something, apparently.

I saw him look up, frowning in disappointment, before suddenly moving on to his school bag, unzipping the front compartment of it and inserting his hand inside. He ran his hand through the entire compartment, rummaging, when suddenly his face lit up.

"I found it!" he exclaimed.

I giggled awkwardly, and he blushed. Funny, this wasn't how I usually reacted to strangers, especially teenagers, who I often greet with distrust and caution, not showing any emotion in fear of exposing any signs of weaknesses that can be exploited by the other party.

"You can play the guitar?" I asked shyly, breaking the ice between us.

"I-it's actually a ukulele," he laughed nervously, correcting me.

"Ah, that's cool," I complemented him.

"Do you want to me hear me play?" he asked.

"Sure, that'd be great!" I replied, smiling at him sweetly.

His face turned slightly beetroot, and he cleared his throat. He held the pluck between his fingers, and started strumming the strings of the ukulele. He went slowly at first, but seeing me silent and not saying anything, he continued on confidently, strumming faster and more naturally. The wind blew gently, kissing my hair as they flew to the side.

I suddenly had an idea, and unzipped the front pocket of my bag, and took out the paper crane which I had folded this morning while waiting for Ka-chan. I delicately placed the paper crane in my open left palm, before placing my open right palm beside my left, like a beggar seeking for alms. I carefully shook my palms slightly, so that the crane fit perfectly between my two palms. I turned around to look at Nakayama-san, who was paying close attention to his playing that he didn't notice what I was up to. With that, I trudged on my knees nearer to the edge of the pond, not giving a single care about the dirt that grazed and dirtied my knees and calves.

I bent down, lowering myself nearer to the water's surface. I saw my reflection once more on the mirrored surface, but I did not cringe, nor did I falter from my position. Inhaling deeply, I placed my two open palms hovering ever so infinitesimally above the water surface, my fingertips nearly in contact with the pond water.

With that, I arched both my palms outwards, resulting in the paper crane gently sliding off my outstretched fingers, and landing into the water with a soft plop, sending a few minute droplets of liquid into the air, while also causing a series of ripples, resonating throughout the water.

Taking a deep breath, I then blew at the floating paper crane gently, controlling the amount of air released, so as not to tip the fragile creation of mine over, preventing it from capsizing into the water. The paper crane then floated, carried by the water and pushed by my breaths, heading slowly towards the centre of the pond. I continued blowing air at it, until it was out of range and afraid too strong of a breath might capsize it, I ceased doing it. I could only watch as my paper crane sail daintily above the water, cutting the surface in a headstrong line, as if it were a sharp knife. It began to decelerate as it reached the centre of the pond, until finally it stopped.

I observed the minute paper crane, cradled on the surface of the water. It seemed desolate, its neck bent down low, as if in silent prayer. The breeze started to blow again, and the paper crane drifted gracefully, in circles, orbiting the centre. 

With only the strumming of Nakayama-san's ukulele in the background, accompanied by the movement of the gentle breeze, the sight seemed magical.

I turned around again, smiling. Nakayama-san was still intently plucking at his guitar, his forehead scrunched in concentration. His soft, black fringe nearly casting a shadow over his eyes. He looked up, having noticed me smiling at him, and gave a shy wiry smile in reply, his fingers still strumming the strings of his instrument.

The events of that day shall forever be etched in my memory, never to be erased, never to be forgotten. The encounter of two broken, desolate souls.