Origami Girl

5- The Magic Mountain

"The days began to fly now, and yet each one of them was stretched by renewed expectations and swollen with silent, private experiences. Yes, time is a puzzling thing, there is something about it that is hard to explain."

-Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain

I took out the two sets of outfits from my wardrobe, still on their hangers, and placed them onto my bed. One was a polka-dotted collared long sleeved cotton blouse, slightly baggy, accompanied with black tights. The other was a baby blue short-sleeved dress that reached until the thighs, and I also planned to wear a pair of tights with them, just that I couldn't get to an agreement which pair of tights it would go well with. I took a step back and sighed.

I sauntered over to my bathroom, and decided to put on my makeup before I made up my mind on which outfit to don. For that afternoon, I decided to just go with a simple look, so the amount of powder I dabbed on my face was minimal. I brushed on a near-skin-tone beige eye shadow onto my eyelids, and applied a little mascara to complement it. I hesitated before applying some blush, but in the end decided that it would overdo the look.

That day I decided to leave my hair as it was, just letting it hang loosely past my shoulders. Examining my image in the mirror, I suddenly had an idea. With the side of my right palm I delicately swept my fringe away, revealing my forehead. I naturally had an almost-centre parting, just shifted to the right a little. Most of the time I would sweep my fringe down, but for some reason I felt like not doing so that day. Looking at myself in the mirror, I noticed how different I looked. I giggled to myself, and was about to pull down my fringe, but something in me told me not to, so I left my forehead bare and exposed.

In the end, I decided to go with the baby blue dress. For the tights, I chose one with a white and green striped pattern. Returning the blouse into the wardrobe, I picked out a white leather handbag for myself to match the frills and accents on my dress.

Twirling in front of the full-length mirror, I giggled at my prance. I felt good that afternoon, that was for sure. Ka-chan and I were to meet for tea first. She invited me to meet her at the Old English Consulate building at five, where she mentioned was near to a western-style patisserie that she really liked, and she wanted to bring me there, to have some tea and chat, before meeting the rest at the ropeway station. Only when I was at the doorway did I remember that I had forgotten something.

I quickly rushed back into the bathroom, tossing my handbag onto my bed as I ran past. Pulling out the drawers underneath the counter one by one, I frantically searched.

Then, I found it. The fragrance set Ka-chan bought for me, was all along, right in front of my eyes. The three bottles, arranged neatly in a triad, had been sitting on the counter, just beside the sink. Sighing at my carelessness, I grabbed the smallest bottle. Rose, I think. Pouring a slight dab of the fragrance onto my right index finger, I rubbed the scent onto both my wrists, and underneath my jaw. Then, seeing that there was still some liquid left on my finger, I smeared them all off on the nape of my neck.

The entire bathroom filled with the aroma, and the scent of rose wafted into the air. It was a really pleasant smell, I really liked it. Although I guess I might have put a little too much but it wasn't overwhelming, so it was fine. After all, it wasn't that much of an overbearing scent.

Picking my bag up where I left it, I went downstairs. Scanning the shoe rack beside the front door, I had some trouble deciding on what to select, before settling on a pair of white high-cut sneakers, decorated with floral prints.

"I'll be going now, mom!" I said, fishing the keys out of my handbag.

"Wait a minute, will you?" I heard my mother shout from the kitchen.

A few moments later, she walked briskly out of the kitchen, a shopping bag in her right hand.

"Here, take it," she said as she passed it to me.

Receiving the bag with both hands, I took a peek inside. In the midst of the bag was a lunchbox, and an umbrella, all folded up.

"Onigiri. Made them just now," my mother said.

"Thanks mom . . ." I thanked her, "You didn't need to," I continued.

"It's fine, just in case you get hungry or anything," she replied.

With that, I exited the house, shutting the door behind me. From there, I walked along the houses lining the street to Kashiwagicho station. The westbound tram arrived soon, and I boarded, headed towards the Motomachi district. The tram, having just returned from the airport, was surprisingly filled today. I supposed it coincided with the time where a flight just landed, I supposed. An entire group of people were carrying large luggage bags, and that made me think so. Fortunately, I managed to get a seat, it was a rather long ride from Kashiwagicho to Jujigai, the station in the heart of the historic district.

It was already summer, and school had closed down for the holidays. Personally, I was glad that the trip was going to be in the evening, since the sun wouldn't be so relentless and unforgiving. The entire morning had been hot, sweltering in fact. When I went out at noon earlier to run a quick errand at the grocery store, I was drenched in sweat when I returned. Thank God the weather was more bearable now.

I popped in my earphones, and switched on some music on my phone. I played some soothing piano music, which were on my classical playlist. I placed my phone into my bag, and my bag onto my lap. My arms wrapped around my bag, I dozed off.

Suddenly, I was awoken by my phone vibrating. At first I thought it was just a message, but the vibration went on, and immediately I knew it was a call. As quickly as I could, I unzipped my bag, grabbed my phone out, and pulled out my earphones. In my rush, I forgot to check who the caller was, but then again, the only people who would call me was either Ka-chan, Sayaka-chan or my mother.

"Hello?" I said the moment I accepted the call and placed it to my right ear.

"Um . . . Furukawa-chan?"

I was shocked to hear the male voice on the other end of the line. I quickly pulled the phone away from my ear, and looked at the screen, to see who it was. I squinted my eyes to see the words on the screen, since the sun was behind me, and I couldn't really see with all the glare. After a few seconds, I saw it, and nearly gasped out loud.

It was Nakayama-kun.

" . . . Anyone there?" he asked, after receiving no response from me earlier.

I panicked, and quickly brought the phone back up to my ear.

"Ah . . . Hi!" I replied awkwardly, shaking.

I got rather self-conscious and nervous. My heart was throbbing hard in my chest, and my hand was trembling.

"Ah, Furukawa-chan, this is N-Nakayama," he said, stuttering slightly.

I could sense that he was nervous too.

"Y-yeah," I managed to reply, nearly choking on my words.

"Umm. . . I just wanted to tell you-" he said, before stopping abruptly, "You're coming today right?" he continued.

"Mhmm," I said.

"Well . . . I just want to inform you that I might be slightly late, since I have to collect something," he stated.

"Um, okay . . ." I replied, not knowing what to say, really.

"Ah- It's okay, I'll make it on time, I won't be late! See you!" he suddenly cut in, before hanging up.

I was left there, staring at my phone screen, before I broke out into an awkward giggle. I felt the stare of the other commuters and immediately stopped. They must have thought that I was crazy, giggling in the middle of the tram all by myself like that.

But the truth was, I really did find what happened just now rather adorable.

The tram pulled up to Jujigai, and many passengers alongside me alighted. After all, Jujigai was also the station which you got off if you wanted to transfer services, since the tram service that goes to the south end of the peninsula also departed from there. Leaving the station, I walked down the street, past the rows of low-rise office buildings and apartments. The cyan tiled-steeple of the Russian Orthodox Church stood out in contrast with the monotonous concrete buildings. I crossed an intersection, and entered into the more colourful and greener Historic District, right at the foot of Mount Hakodate.

Walking past the gates of the Russian Orthodox Church, I soon reached the front of the Former English Consulate. The building was painted mainly yellow, and the railings and window panes were white. Built in colonial architecture, it stood on a slope, surrounded by gardens.

Heading over to a bench underneath an elegant iron-cast lamp post, I sat down, placing my hand bag on my lap. I watched as people walked past, going about with their daily afternoon business. It was nearly five, and some office workers have already started to return home from work, the occasional throng of people heading down the street in both directions. I checked my wristwatch, attached to my wrist with a thin strap of leather, coloured in an elegant shade of violet. It was about a minute to five, meaning that Ka-chan would reach sooner or later. But according to experience, she would arrive nearly on the dot, since from all the meet-ups I had with her since middle school she was always punctual.

Soon enough, she arrived. I was unaware of her presence, since I was looking down at my phone screen, until she greeted me.

"Afternoon, A-chan," she said pleasantly.

I looked up, and there she was, smiling sweetly. Ka-chan was standing right in front of me, right on the dot at five o'clock.

"You look great today! I really like your hair," she said to me, after I stood up and greeted her in return.

"Ah, you too!" I returned the compliment.

Indeed, she looked rather good in her outfit. She wasn't overdressed, she donned on a pretty simple outfit that day, yet it still looked very sweet on her. She wore a plain light cotton white long-sleeved blouse, tucked in over a black skirt with floral prints, ending just above her knees. Pink suede heels adorned her feet, and white stockings wrapped around her slender legs. She carried a fuchsia leather purse in her hands, both of them placed in front of her. Her overall simple yet sweet look went well with her hair and face. That day, she wore a butterfly hairpiece to clip her fringe to the left, and her hair seemed more wavy than before, she must have went to the hair salon recently to have them curled to appear less straight. She applied minimal makeup, just a bit of powder, and a dash of cerise lipstick on her lips. She had always beaten me in fashion sense, no matter what she wore, she would always look better than me. But it wasn't like I was jealous of her or anything, I just sincerely felt that she was the more better-looking one out of us two.

With that, we set off for the patisserie together.

"I smell rose," she said to me, smiling as we waited at a pedestrian crossing.

I looked at her, and we both broke out into slight giggles.

"Yeah, today's the first time I'm wearing it," I replied, "Thank you," I continued.

"It's no problem," she answered, "I'm wearing peach today!" she pronounced.

"Ah . . . No wonder you smell so different, what was it that you usually used . . ." I pondered, "Lavender, was it?"

"I finished that one up already," she replied, giggling.

Not very long after, we arrived in front of the patisserie. It was housed in the storefront of a two-storey building, a few streets away from the Consulate, tucked away in a quiet alleyway, amongst the rows of private residences.

We entered, and took a seat. The place was rather well-decorated. It had a cutesy theme, with striped pink-and-white wallpaper. The atmosphere was warm and cosy, it was no wonder that Ka-chan loved to come here.

"You really should try the lemon cheesecake here, it's really nice!" Ka-chan recommended.

"Nah, it's fine. I'm not really hungry," I replied.

"Well, it's up to you," she said to me, smiling sweetly.

In the end, Ka-chan ordered a slice of lemon cheesecake accompanied with a glass of iced milk tea, while I just had a cup of espresso. Placing the rim to my lips, I blew the surface of the coffee, before taking a sip. It was rather hot, so I placed it back on the table for it to cool.

Ka-chan in the meanwhile, cut into her cake, her fork sinking deep into the soft cheese cream, before stopping at the base of the slice, clinking against the porcelain plate. I guess it was just like her, to start from the edge of the cake, before slowly making her way to the rim. She told me once, back when we were in the third year of middle school, that the sides of the cake were her favourite part. Well, I guess she had sensitive taste buds and refined taste, compared to me, who just considers every part of the cake the same. I guess she beats me in both fashion taste and dining tastes as well.

We had small talk, not that I remember much of it. Once I finished my coffee, I placed it back on the table. Meanwhile, Ka-chan took her own sweet time, besides, we weren't in a rush, we still had about forty-five minutes before the scheduled meeting time. After finishing her cake, Ka-chan handed me her phone, apparently to show me something.

"Cute, isn't it?" she said, before proceeding to take a sip out of her straw.

"Yeah, I guess. . ." I replied, "I like the colour."

The picture she showed me was of a small little backpack, with Hello Kitty motifs on it. It was made of shiny glazed leather, and was baby blue in colour, just like my outfit. Adorable. From the picture, it seemed to have been taken through a glass display of a store, so I was curious to find out where she found it.

"You found this at the mall?" I guessed.

"Yeah, the one near Jujigai station, I was there just now," she said.

"Well, you didn't invite me!" I exclaimed jokingly.

She giggled and apologised.

"I thought you wanted to stay at home," she remarked.

"I've never been to the mall in such a long time," I said.

Ka-chan finished up her iced milk tea, and looked at her watch.

"We still have some time, do you want to walk around?" she asked me, "The weather's cooler now," she assured me, after seeing me hesitate for a bit.

"Sure, not like we have anything else to do," I agreed.

Ka-chan offered to pay for my espresso, but I interjected, and told her I would like to pay for myself. After all, it was just an espresso and it didn't really cost much. I guess it wasn't right for me to let her pay for me.

However, before I could do anything, she already paid the full bill to the waiter, my espresso included.

"Well, I was the one who invited you here, so please, let me pay," she said sweetly, as she fished out the notes from her wallet.

I kept quiet. Well, I knew that it was no use arguing with her, and let her pay the bill for me. Nonetheless, I felt guilty.

We stepped out of the patisserie into the street, after Ka-chan had settled all the payment. The sun was still in the sky, although the temperature seemed to have dropped a little, as the day neared its end and as night was about to be born. A light, cooling breeze blew, the salty scent of the sea thick in the air. I adjusted my hair as strands of hair flew onto my face, brushing them away with my left palm. The two of us walked down the street, now bustling with people.

"Do you want to stop by at the gardens by the Consulate?" Ka-chan asked as we walked, her heels clattering against the concrete pavement.

"No, it's fine, let's just head over to the Ropeway Station, they might be there already," I replied.

"Huh, but it's still early," Ka-chan said, "Let's go look around at the shops around here first!" she beckoned.

I agreed.

We soon decided to browse through the shops around Jujigai station, and I was surely not disappointed. There was a wide array of shops, most of which I have never seen before, since I rarely visit the historic district. There were souvenir stores, drink stalls, boutiques and florists. It was certainly fun window shopping, and we spent about half an hour there. I would have gladly stayed on, but we decided that we had to get going to the Ropeway Station so that we would be there on time.

It wasn't that far from Jujigai, so we decided to walk. We knew well that the Ropeway Station was down the street, and from where we were, we could see the cable cars ascending and descending alongside the slope of the mountain, looming just a stone's throw away from us.

However, as we passed a bookstore, Ka-chan suddenly stopped.

"A-chan, what date is it today?" she asked me all of a sudden, as she gazed into the glass doors of the bookstore.

"It's the fifth of August, why?" I replied.

"That means it's the first Thursday of the month," she said, seemingly uttering to herself, "Just a minute," she said, addressing me.

Then, she walked into the book store, pushing the glass door open. I had to rush in and follow her suit. Ka-chan walked briskly down the aisle, her heels clattering against the floor. With me following behind her, she led me to the magazine section. She stopped in front of the magazine rack, and I observed her. She stood there, her right palm curled up , her index finger resting gently just below her lower lip. Only then did I realised her nails were manicured, coated in a layer of shiny cerise nail polish. She must have went to the beauty parlour recently without me, which explains her wavier hair and treated nails.

Ka-chan continued scanning the rack of fashion magazines. Seeing that whatever she was looking for wasn't on the top shelves, she squatted down, legs tight together, the hems of her dark floral print skirt sweeping the floor ever so slightly. At last, she grabbed a magazine from the lowest shelf and stood up. She turned to me, having noticed me observing her, and bided me to come to her side.

"It's out!" she exclaimed to me, unable to hide her excitement.

"Ah, is it the latest August issue?" I asked.

"Yeah," she replied, flipping through the glossy pages.

I peeked over her shoulder, intent on looking at the magazine too. It was just the usual fashion magazine, but I guess it must have had something interesting about it, since Ka-chan liked it so much.

"Here, you take a look," Ka-chan said, passing the magazine to me.

I received the magazine with both hands. The cover was a picture of a member of one of the more popular girl bands in the country. She had minimal make-up on, in trend with the more 'natural' look of summer, which is in the season recently. Her hair was dyed a light shade of ochre, and her fringe was swept to her side, revealing her forehead. I guess foreheads were the 'in' this season. I don't know.

"Her hair looks just like you doesn't it?" Ka-chan teased me.

"Well, mine is all black, which means I'm more 'natural' than her," I replied.

We both giggled. I passed the magazine back to Ka-chan.

"I don't know if I should buy it . . ." Ka-chan contemplated, before catching sight of the time on her watch.

Her eyes widened as she comprehended the reading on her analogue watch. She quickly returned the magazine to wear it came from.

"We're going to be late," she said to me hurriedly, "Let's go," she added, before turning around to leave.

I followed her as she left the bookshop, but not before I caught sight of the 'Classics' bookshelf. I left the bookshop with my mind contemplating whether I should pick up a classic, well-known author's work for a change.

The two of us reached the Ropeway station not long after. Slightly tired and thirsty from the brisk walk, we decided to rest for a while at a bench, near to the entrance of the station. Ka-chan went over to the vending machines, and bought the two of us some drinks. I thanked her, and gulped down the chilled milk tea, the cool silky liquid quenching my thirst. Relief.

"Oh, hey guys, we were looking for you!"

I looked up and saw Yamamoto-san standing in front of us. The tan boy was wearing a white long-sleeved T-shirt with dull indigo sleeves and plain white three-quarter pants. Not very fashionable, but I guess it was suited with the weather I guess. Well, I couldn't be bothered about it, really.

Ka-chan stood up, carrying her purse in front of her.

"Ah, hello! Sorry for being late!" Ka-chan said to the boy.

"Ah, no problem, you should have told me earlier! Then you didn't need to rush here," Yamamoto-san replied.

"Well . . . I don't have your number," Ka-chan answered.

"That's right! Uhm- I meant, well . . . I-I could give you my number now if you want," he stuttered, his face all flushed and his right placed behind his head, rubbing his hair.

"N-no, it's fine!" Ka-chan said, trying to dismiss him politely.

"Nevermind, I-I can write it down for you!" the tan athlete offered.

Ka-chan only stood there not knowing what to say, looking at him awkwardly, and he did the same. They seemed frozen, and the atmosphere that hung around them was as dense as a badly-baked chocolate brownie, thick and demoralising. Yamamoto-san blushed even harder, and averted his gaze. He knew he just blundered, big time.

I observed the two of them, standing there awkwardly like statues. They seemed rooted to the spot, not knowing what to do, oblivious to their surroundings.

Accidentally, I giggled, unable to control myself. The awkwardness was so intense that I found it rather comical.

The both of them turned to look at me, my sniggers snapping them out of their weird trance-like state, whatever you wanted to call it. However, saving us all from an increasingly awkward situation was Yamada-kun.

"Oh, hey guys," he said, breaking the deathly silence.

As if by clockwork, the three of us adjusted our positions, as if to bury any evidence of the awkward blunder Yamamoto-san made just now, and how my laughter came in at the wrong time. I stood up from the bench, handbag slung on one hand, the handles of the shopping bag clenched in the fist of the other. Ka-chan sat down, her purse placed on her lap. Her right palm sweeping her fringe, adjusting it as the wind blew. Yamamoto-san took a few steps back, both his hands buried deep in his pockets. Yamada-kun stood there, in his short-sleeved buttoned chequered shirt and jeans. He held a cup of ice coffee firmly in his hand. He studied us three, with an inquisitive look on his face.

"So . . ." Yamada-kun said, his voice a stark contrast to the silence.

"Ah! Yamada-kun! Hello!" I replied, trying to hide my awkwardness.

"Ah- didn't see you there, where were you?" Yamamoto-san addressed the other boy.

"Oh well," Yamada-kun replied, taking a sip of his coffee, "Went to buy something to drink, it's really hot today isn't it?" he said.

"Yeah. . ." I replied.

"Well, we should go get the tickets now," Yamamoto-san said, and the four of us went up to the line in front of the counter.

There was already a line forming, a few families in front of us. We decided to buy a two-way pass, so we wouldn't need to buy tickets down again when we were at the top. After all, the two-way pass was actually cheaper than two one-way trips, which makes it more economical to purchase.

"Nevermind, I'll pay for all of you guys," Yamamoto-san said, taking out his wallet as we approached the counter.

"Aww, thank you so much!" Ka-chan thanked him sweetly, her lips curving up into a gleeful smile.

He blushed, and smiled sheepishly. With that he walked up to the counter and paid for the tickets. His wallet was leather, and shiny. I wondered how much money he had in there.

We left the queue and he handed us the tickets. I thanked him awkwardly, before I realised that he bought only four tickets. Didn't he say that he was going to buy tickets for all of us?

I guessed that didn't include Nakayama-kun.

We showed our tickets to the lady at the entrance to the platform. She inspected them, took a stamp from her pocket and stamped something on one side of the ticket. I guess it was a way for them to double-check that people were not abusing the tickets to get a free ride. After clearing her, we proceeded to the platform, only in time to see the last cable car set off. Yamamoto-san sighed, and the four of us took a seat on the long benches that were on the platform. The platform had a rather open concept, and a gentle breeze blew past.

"So . . . do you guys have any plans for summer?" Yamamoto-san asked the three of us, well, to be more exact, he was probably talking to the other two.

"No. . . I don't think I'm going anywhere," Yamada-kun replied.

"Me too," Ka-chan said.

"Well, how about you?" Yamada-kun asked Yamamoto-san.

"Hmm . . . I'll be going to Italy and Austria next week," the tan boy replied.

"Austria?" Ka-chan asked.

"Y-yeah . . ." Yamamoto-san replied awkwardly.

"Don't you go back to Singapore for summer?" Yamada-kun asked him, after a rather prolonged period of awkward silence.

"No, I only go back during winter break," Yamamoto-san replied, "I really can't stand the winter here, it's so icy and cold. . ."

I wanted to grunt in disapproval. Autumn and winter were my favourite seasons. I loved the snow especially, and the pristine sight of the snow-covered city and mountains. Winter in Hakodate isn't exactly bitter and icy, it was near the coast, so it wasn't as bad as winter in the inland areas. Again, geography at work.

The memories still lingered in my mind. It was the middle of winter, nearing the end of the school year. February, when the snow was still thick, but the fresh winds of spring would be coming soon, in March. The weather was not really great that day, the sleet kept falling the entire morning. Exiting the school building, I took out my umbrella and opened it. My bag slung on one shoulder, I held the clear, transparent plastic umbrella in the other hand. I could hear soft crunching underneath my feet as my boots trudged over the ice crystals scattered all over the pavement. A chilly breeze blew through the street, loosening my tartan scarf nearly causing it to slip of my shoulders and onto the frozen ground. The skin on my neck grew increasingly uncomfortable as the cold bit into it. I wanted to adjust my scarf really badly, but found it really inconvenient to do so since my bag was rather bulky and my other hand wasn't free.

"Oh hey, I was looking for you,"

I turned around. Behind me, haversack slung on his shoulders, hands buried deep in his pockets was Hayate-kun. He had a teal woollen scarf wrapped around his neck, and had a few snowflakes caught in his short black hair.

"Ah, I thought you had club activities, it's Wednesday today right?" I asked him, curious that he was suddenly behind me.

He laughed.

"It's winter, A-chan. Do you want me to freeze to death in the freezing water?" he joked.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" I apologised, "I forgot," I added, trailing off with giggles.

He walked up to me, the ice underneath his feet crunched as he walked.

"Let me hold that for you," he said, taking my umbrella with his left hand, holding it right above the two of us.

"Ah, thanks," I thanked him.

I dropped my bag onto the frozen ground, and with my two hands adjusted my scarf. The cosy warmth returned to my neck. Relief. Looking back, I could have just placed both the umbrella and bag on the ground, and adjusted my scarf by myself, but oh well.

As soon as I was done, I turned around to look at Hayate-kun. He noticed me looking at him and turned his gaze towards me. I extended my right arm and dusted all the snowflakes off his hair, neck and shoulders. He looked slightly uncomfortable closing his eyes and squirming, and I could see his cheeks reddening but he let me do it anyway. I stopped once every, or most of the snowflakes have fallen off.

He opened his hazel eyes, and we gazed into each other for a while. I smiled at him, and in reply his lips curved up into a sweet little grin, revealing a row of white teeth, tucked in place by retainers.

It may seem awkward for someone who might be watching, two sixteen-year olds, the girl slightly taller than the boy, in the middle of the snow-covered street gazing into each other's eyes, indulging in each other's company, hidden by a semi-transparent, snow- covered umbrella. But we were in love, and wasn't it only natural to do what our hearts told us to do, whenever we felt like it?

"I forgot to bring my umbrella today," he said, chuckling.

"Well, you better should," I replied sweetly, "The weather's rather unpredictable nowadays," I continued.

"Yeah . . ." he replied.

As if it was the most natural thing to do, we held hands. I felt my palm resting in his, his warmth escaping into my hand. A warm and fuzzy feeling enveloped my chest at the sensation of his touch. We walked past the row of buildings, veiled in sheets of frost, our lips sealed. I didn't feel like speaking, his presence was merely enough. In the pristine wordless silence, we made our way to the tram station.

When we reached Matsukazacho, we found that the covered section of the platform headed eastbound was closed for maintenance, so the both of us had to wait for the tram underneath the open skies, the snowflakes raining on us. I held the umbrella with my right hand, sheltering us both from the frozen precipitation. The silence between us still remained. I still found no reason to talk.

Suddenly, Hayate-kun turned around and looked at me. I looked at him in return. We fixated our gaze at each other, and I smiled. He chuckled awkwardly. Then without warning, he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled himself towards me, closing the distance between us. My eyes widened in surprise at the suddenness of his action. His chin rested on my shoulder, streaks of his hair gently caressing my cheeks, ear and neck. I could smell the aroma of shampoo in his hair. His eyes were closed, and his face was calm and soothing.

"Drop the umbrella," he whispered softly in my ear.

"But-" I protested, my voice coming out whimper-like.

"Just drop it," he whispered again.

I did as I was told. I let go of the umbrella in my left hand, which was uncomfortably between our two chests. The umbrella fell to the floor of the platform, and my left arm fell limp to the side.

He pulled in closer to me, our chests in contact. My heart beat faster and faster, my anxiety escalating with every beat. I could feel the beating of his heart, thumping in his chest, and he probably felt mine too.

"Don't be scared," he said reassuringly.

With his warm breath against my neck, I slowly calmed down, my heart rate slowly returning to normal. My anxiety was replaced by the familiar warm fuzzy feeling.

I wrapped my arms around him in return. I held him tight, like how he held me. Closing my eyes, I tried to savour the precious moment, the rumbling of the passing traffic in the background, the soft snowflakes melting on my hair, the sound of his breath against my ear, his warmth against mine.

"Please stay with me," he said.

"I will," I replied back.

He stayed silent before speaking again.

"Promise?"

"I promise," I said, my voice faltering.

A promise. I promised him.

Such was a promise, the very one thing that could tie down humans. Just like how cattle were bound by the ropes on their noses, humans were bound by their promises that they make. The obligation to fulfil a guarantee was strong, failure to do so would lead to dread and guilt. Only those with blackened hearts would feel nothing after destroying the trust of someone who had put up so much hope and expectation. Such was the nature of humans.

We stood there, in each other's arms, until the tram arrived.

"What? Seriously?" I heard Yamamoto-san say, his loud voice breaking me out of my thought.

I turned around to take a glance at the three of them. They seemed to be engaged in another lively conversation, with me uninvolved. Seeing that I had nothing to do with the conversation, I stood up and decided to walk around the platform. The platform has already begun to fill with two dozen or so other passengers, tourists holding maps or locals who just go up for the thrill of the view. I'd heard of the view before, but I'd never actually been on top of Mount. Hakodate at all before this. On the far side was a wall, with notices and advertisements plastered over a large notice board. Feeling bored, and realising we still had time to spare before the next cable car arrived, I stood up and walked over to the board to check out whatever was there.

To my disappointment, I realise there weren't any interesting reads on the board, just the usual commercials, tuition services, cleaning services, rooms for rent . . . those sort. I scanned the notice board and seeing nothing of note, was about to walk off. Although I did see a notice stating the dates where the ropeway would shut down early for maintenance repairs, the seventh of August included. The last cable car would leave at eight o' five sharp from the station at the peak, but I wasn't too worried, since it was only six-thirty, and I was assuming we wouldn't be staying there long. I decided to take another look at the notice on the maintenance dates but Ka-chan called for me.

"It's here A-chan, hurry!" she called out to me.

I ran up to her, and the two of us joined the crowd of people entering the large cabin, which can fit about fifty people comfortably, ushered by a station manager. Ka-chan and I both took seats right beside the door, while the two boys decided to stand. The station manager was about to close the door, but hearing the sound of rushed footsteps, decided to open the door a little longer to wait for some passengers rushing to catch the car. First, two young teenage girls stepped in, then followed by a family of three, and finally behind them, was Nakayama-kun.

He turned his head as he entered the cabin, and because I was sitting right beside the door, he saw me first, naturally.

"Oh, hey," he said to me, "Sorry I'm late, I had to collect something," he added, still looking at me.

"Y-yeah, sure," I replied, "We've only just arrived too."

Nakayama-kun wore a long sleeved light-blue denim shirt, the sleeves folded up to his elbows, with white shorts. He wore high-cut black leather sneakers with white laces. He wore a different hairdo today, his fringe was swept to the left instead of the right. On his back, was his large black guitar case, strapped onto his shoulder.

"Y-you look great today, Furukawa-chan!" he said, stuttering, trying to compliment me.

He seemed pretty nervous, and was blushing. It seemed pretty awkward, but I returned the favour anyway.

"You too, Nakayama-kun!" I replied, trying to sound confident, to hide the fact that I was shaking in my boots.

But I said that not out of gratitude, or as a return gift for his compliment. I somehow felt that his look suited him, especially his new hairstyle. It was cute.

"I like your hair," he told me, sounding more confident now, "I really do," he continued.

"Thank you," I replied, "I like your hair too," I added.

I probably shouldn't have done that, because instantly he blushed and returned to his bashful self. Nevertheless, we did manage to get a conversation rolling somewhat, while looking out occasionally to admire the view of the forests and city below shining in the afternoon light as the cabin went higher and higher, nearing the peak.

For some reason Nakayama-kun seemed to only be acknowledging my presence. The other three somehow didn't bother about him either. They seemed to be having their own conversation, which I only managed to capture glimpses of. Although I did realise Nakayama-kun occasionally looking at Ka-chan during our conversation, and I thought perhaps it was because he was nervous and had to look around, but I wasn't too sure about that.

We reached the peak soon enough. As the doors opened, the passengers all flooded out into the platform, and so did the five of us. The other three walked ahead while Nakayama-kun and I trailed them from the back.

"Well . . . I had to collect my guitar for servicing just now from the shop, so yeah . . ." Nakayama-kun said all of a sudden, "Sorry for that," he continued.

"It's fine," I replied.

We both fell silent after that. We exited the station and walked out into the wide open plaza that was at the peak of Mount Hakodate. A large four-storey building stood to one side, adjacent to the station, housing restaurants, souvenir shops and cafes. Two radio towers, tall and pointy, loomed at the far edge of the platform, behind the shopping mall and station.

The first thing that I noticed was the air. The air smelled really fresh, a huge difference from the air I was used to. The cool afternoon sea breeze smelled purely of salt and mist, undisturbed by the urban scents of the town.

People were mingling about, taking photos, enjoying the view. Yamamoto-san and the rest had already walked off somewhere, disappearing into the crowd, leaving the two of us alone.

"Want to go take a look at the view?" Nakayama-kun asked me.

I agreed. The two of us found an empty spot along the railing amidst the crowd of tourists snapping pictures, and walked up to it.

I was in for a pleasant surprise. I have never been up to the mountain before, even though I had been here, in Hakodate for my entire life. The view was absolutely beautiful, I could see all the way from the mountains up north, to the port, with the occasional vessel leaving the harbour, to the tall apartment complexes in the downtown area.

Nakayama-kun bent forward, leaning against the metal railings. His light hair swayed in the breezed.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Nakayama-kun said to me.

"Yeah," I replied, "I've never been up here before," I continued.

Nakayama-kun chuckled.

"Seriously?" he asked me.

I nodded my head shyly.

"Oh well," he said, "You haven't seen the view at night, it's even better," he added.

After a while, we decided to take a walk for a while, enjoying the afternoon. It was already nearing evening when Nakayama-kun said he wanted to use the restroom. So the both of us walked over to the stand-alone public restroom building, and I waited for him outside the gents and he disappeared inside.

A few seconds later, Yamada-kun appeared, having just come out of the gents apparently. His hands were dripping wet; he must have just washed them. I wondered if he had bumped into Nakayama-kun.

Yamada-kun looked slightly surprised when he saw me, not that I wasn't surprised either.

"Oh, you're here?" he asked, "We were wondering where you went off too!" he continued.

"Well, the both of us were just walking around," I replied.

"Oh, you're with Nakayama-san right?" he asked, "I bumped into him while I was walking out," he continued.

"Ah, I see. . ." I answered.

"Well, let's go," Yamada-kun said, "Murakami-san was looking for you," he added again.

"Ah- but I was waiting for Nakayama-kun-"

"Oh yeah, we'll all go together then," Yamada-kun said suddenly, cutting me off.

A few moments later, Nakayama-kun stepped out of the bathroom. He didn't seem at all surprised by Yamada-kun's presence, as if he wasn't there.

The three of us then set off, Nakayama-kun and I walking beside each other, trailing Yamada-kun. We walked across the plaza, filtering through the crowds. None of us uttering a single word.

Suddenly Yamada-kun turned around to face me.

"Ah, Kenji wanted to apologise to you," he began, "He said he's sorry about the other day," he continued.

"Ah . . . okay," I replied, not knowing what to say.

Nakayama-kun didn't react to anything Yamada-kun said. Of course, why would he? He didn't even know what happened. After that, we continued the walk in awkward silence.

I looked around as we walked. The reddish glow in the sky had gone, so I supposed sunset must have passed. The sky was now an indigo canvas, the shadow of lone clouds dotting it. The lights on the lamps switched on all of a sudden simultaneously, which probably signalled that it was already seven in the evening sharp. I observed as the shadows of people changed and shifted in shape as they moved about.

Then all of a sudden Yamada-kun stopped. I was kind of curious, so I walked up beside him to see ehat caused him to suddenly stop in his tracks. Then I saw it.

The glowing lights of the city below as a backdrop, Yamamoto-san and Ka-chan faced each other, unaware of our presence. Both of them were eerily silent.

"I have to say something important to you, Murakami-san," Yamamoto-san said, "I hope you'll hear me out," he continued.

"Sure," Ka-chan said softly, both of them still oblivious to our presence.

Yamamoto-san paused for a while, before taking a deep breath.

"I-I" he began.

He started blushing really hard at his stuttering voice, but then exhaled and took another deep breath.

"I really like you Murakami-san!" he blurted out, and in his nervousness, a little too loudly.

Ka-chan was silent, a shocked expression on her face. Yamamoto-san waited nervously for a reply. The sound Ka-chan clearing her throat cut through the tense air

"Kenji-san," she began.

"You're a really nice person," she said, before turning her head and noticing the three of us standing at the side.

"I'm sorry but-" she said again, turning around once again.

For a moment I saw her glance at Nakayama-kun, then, averting her gaze when they made eye contact, she turned back to Yamamoto-san . I noticed Nakayama-kun turning away too.

"I cannot accept your feelings," Ka-chan said to Yamamoto-san.

The both of them stayed silent for a while. Yamamoto-san then looked down, slightly crestfallen, before looking up, facing Ka-chan again.

"Ah," he said, "Th-that's fine," he continued, his face flushed.

Then he turned to face the three of us. He gave us an awkward glance before breaking out into a run, away from all of us, disappearing into the evening crowd, seemingly swallowed by the throngs of people, walking about, together with their dancing shadows.

"I'll go with him," Yamada-kun said suddenly, and gave chase.

That left the three of us, Nakayama-kun, Ka-chan and I, standing there amidst the crowds. Ka-chan turned around to face me.

"Sorry that you had to see that," she said, smiling sweetly, the evening breeze causing her hair to flutter.

Adjusting her fringe, she walked over to the railing, looking over the city. She looked far, her sights fixated on the mountains in the distance, north of the city. She just stood there, saying nothing to the two of us. Seeing that she probably wanted to be alone, the two of us walked off.

"Hey, Furukawa-chan," Nakayama-kun said suddenly as we walked.

I looked at him in reply, showing him that I have my attention on him.

"Do you mind if you . . ." he began, before slightly hesitating, "Follow me for a while?" he asked me.

"Sure, where to?" I asked.

"Well . . . I just wanted to show you something," he said again, a shy wiry smile across his lips, his hand rubbing the back of his head in awkwardness.

Without another word, we set off, the two of us. Nakayama-kun walked in front, while I trailed him from behind. Both my hands clutching to the handle of my handbag, I felt my heart beat faster as I followed the boy with the guitar strapped on his back. My footsteps light against the tiled terracotta flooring; I followed him as he walked past the entrance of the station and the glass doors of the building, slipping past throngs of people. The further we strayed from the crowd, the harder and faster my heart beat.

We ended up at a small hidden strip behind the building. It was empty and dark, devoid of any activity. The dark shadows of the looming radio towers stood tall beams of dim light shining from their apexes. The only source of light, a small lamp along the side of the building, seemed to have been put out a long time ago. However, it wasn't all dark, the lights of the city still shone bright, and you could literally see the entire peninsula, from the ports on the left side, to the fishing pier on the right, without any trees obstructing the way, or the crowds pushing against each other to get the view. The bright lights of the street shone brilliantly, leaving the dark sky glowing slightly. I'd never seen the city like this before. I noticed the lights shining just now when Yamamoto-san confessed to Ka-chan, but I didn't really get the chance to view the city in all its glory over whatever happened just now, with all the crowds and such.

"It's beautiful," I said in a soft voice, oblivious that I was talking to myself aloud.

"Ah-" Nakayama-kun replied unexpectedly, causing me to be slightly surprised. "Y-yeah it is," he stuttered.

I turned around to face him, out of surprise that he actually heard me talking to myself. Our gazes met for a while, before he blushed and averted his gaze to somewhere else. Out of embarrassment, I did the same too.

We stayed silent for a while, feeling awkward at each other's presence, each not knowing what to say to each other. Then, he turned away, placed his guitar case down and leaned on the railing, this time, his back faced the city lights, his arms outstretched behind him, holding on to the railing.

"I used to come here a lot," Nakayama-kun said suddenly, his face illuminated by the city lights, leaving half of his face in shadows.

"Really?" I asked, my curiosity aroused.

"It's really quiet here, and the view is amazing," he replied, "Especially at night," he continued.

"I wanted to show this to you," he said again, after I failed to give him a reply.

"Thanks," I answered him, "I appreciate it," I continued, turning around to face him.

I think I must have been smiling back then, for he blushed and turned away when we made eye contact. He then stood up straight, and walked off towards the wall of the building, picking up and carrying his guitar case along with him.

I watched as he took the few steps to the wall, his footsteps dragging against the dusty floor. He then sat down, his back leaning against the wall, his legs spread out in front of him.

"You want to sit down?" he asked me.

I thanked him for his offer, and walked up to him. I had already covered half the distance between the two of us, about to sit down on the floor beside him, but he did something that surprised me.

"Wait," he said, as I approached him.

Wondering what was keeping him from letting me sit down, I stood there, my handbag on my right shoulder and the shopping bag my mother gave me in my left hand. Then, Nakayama-kun took out his guitar, shedding the unzipped casing and placing it on the ground beside him.

"Here, sit down," he said, "Ah, the ground was very dusty so I thought I'd put something over it," he continued, after seeing me hesitate.

"But . . . Y-your guitar case?" I asked nervously.

"It's fine, I can just clean it when I get back home," he said reassuringly, "I'll just wipe all the dust off, it isn't that hard," he said again.

Taking slow steps forward, I walked closer towards Nakayama-kun.

"M-may I?" I asked, out of politeness.

"S-sure," he replied, equally as nervous as I was, as evident in his voice.

As carefully as I could, I bent over, trying to kneel down as gracefully and carefully. I noticed Nakayama-kun turning his attention to his guitar, picking it up from the ground, fiddling with it in his arms. I silently thanked him in my heart, for he probably knew how embarrassed and self-conscious I was, and had the courtesy to turn away for a while, leaving me to only face an imaginary audience.

As soon as I managed to kneel down, my legs tucked underneath, I placed my handbag on my lap, together with the shopping bag. His guitar case made me feel like I was sitting on a picnic mat, or even a carpet perhaps. In all honesty, I wouldn't have kneeling on the floor, or even sitting down, but since he already took the trouble to lay down the casing for me, I guess I would just have embarrassed him even further if I rejected and insisted that I sat on the bare floor.

"I'm sorry if it's uncomfortable," Nakayama-kun said all of a sudden.

I looked at his face, half-covered in shadows, and smiled.

"You spoil me, Nakayama-kun," I replied.

"Actually . . . I'd really like it if you'll call me by my given name," he said, slightly hesitant, "I hope it's not too big of a request," he added.

Adam-kun. . . I thought, that was rather unusual for a Japanese name. But that didn't really hit me then. I only came to know the truth in the summer of my third year.

"No, it isn't . . ." I said, trying to hide my awkwardness, "Right, Adam-kun? I'll let you call me Ayano-chan ,"

The unfamiliar word felt slightly peculiar on my lips. Even I myself felt a little different once I mentioned his name directly like that. Nonetheless, I tried my best to ignore the strange sweetness on my lips.

"Ayano-chan huh?" he said, "It sounds nice . . . Ayano-chan . . . " he continued, looking upwards towards the dark sky.

I smiled shyly as I heard his words against my ears. He fell silent after that though, and the atmosphere grew increasingly awkward. He probably felt the awkwardness too, because all of a sudden, out of the blue he started strumming his guitar. The melodious notes seemed to echo off the walls, escaping into the night. He then strummed it again, before strumming it again, soon turning into successive waves of strumming.

"What songs can you play?" I asked him, intending on striking a conversation.

"Well, quite a number," he answered, before returning to strumming his guitar, killing the conversation.

"Which one is your favourite song to play?" I asked.

He looked up from his guitar at hearing my question. His right hand on his chin, he gazed afar into the starless sky, contemplating.

"Well, there's this song that 'm really fond of . . . Not sure if you've heard of it before though," Adam-kun began, "I've just learned it though, it's a song from Triple A,"

"Ah!" I exclaimed, surprised, "I listen to AAA too! Their songs are really nice!" I added.

"Well, you know the song 'The Sound of Love and Rainy Skies'?" he asked me.

"Yeah, I just bought the single a few weeks ago," I replied.

"Yeah, that song. I just learnt it recently," he answered awkwardly.

I picked up his cue, and fell silent. I watched in the dim light as he adjusted his fingers, getting into position for the first note. He cleared his throat. Then he began.

He plucked an A, then a G, then an A again. He continued on, the notes forming a string of melody, matching each other in harmony. Then he took a short, shallow breath, something like a starting push I supposed, and his lips parted.

His voice was sweet, soft and slightly hoarse, suitable for the slow tone of the soothing sentimental song. His face, dimly lit by the faraway lights was evidence enough of his deep focus and concentration. He soon finished the song, but continued strumming. Whether the notes were random or not, I did not know, but it still blended in a smooth harmonious way. The words on his lips were long gone but I still heard them, his sweet voice still clear in the night. He continued plucking and strumming, and I just let him be.

The lights in the city still seemed like a distant world. The bright street lights of Hakodate alien to that of where Adam-kun and I was. We seemed to be in a world of our own that evening, Adam-kun and I.

"What time is it?" Adam-kun suddenly asked me.

I was about to check my watch, but suddenly, as if on cue, my phone rang.

"Please excuse me," I said to him, apologising.

"Sure, go ahead," he replied.

Getting more and more self-conscious with every ring, I frantically unzipped my handbag, fiddling inside it for my phone. I quickly picked it up, without even looking at the screen to see the caller identity, for I couldn't stand the thought of him having to listen to some more of the cutesy bubble gum pop tune I used for my ringtone without being further self-conscious.

"Hello?" I answered the phone.

"A-chan?" I heard Ka-chan say, "Where are you?" she questioned me, before I could even reply, concern and anxiety evident in her voice.

"I'm at uh . . ." I replied, hesitating, stealing a glance at Adam-kun, who was looking at his phone.

"The last cable car is leaving right now! Where are you?" she seemingly yelled into my ear.

"What!?" I exclaimed, shocked.

"You better hurry," Ka-chan said.

"I'll be there in an instant!" I replied, panicked, and ended the call straight away.

I tossed my phone into my unzipped handbag, and quickly got up. My handbag on one shoulder, and shopping bag slung on my other elbow, I had nearly took off, hadn't it been for Adam-kun who stopped me.

"Wait," he instructed me, the tone of his voice the total opposite of my jittery heart filled with anxiousness.

The slightly assertive tone of his voice made me stop in my tracks.

"B-but we'll miss the last-" I tried arguing.

"Just give me a moment," he said, as he slipped the guitar into the case.

Zipping the case up halfway, just enough to keep the guitar safely lodged in its leather casing, he strapped it on his shoulder. Then seeing that he was almost ready, I took off, worried that I might miss the last ride down. I had to get onto this last cable car heading down, I told myself, or I'd be stranded here the whole night!

The fear of being left here for the entire night spurred me to run, slipping out of the shadows and into the brightly-lit plaza. I was kind of surprised that there were still a few groups of people up and about, some still admiring the view while others were just having a stroll. Perhaps they had cars, so they needn't worry about the ropeway closing early, I thought to myself.

I managed to run for about half the distance of the plaza, the wind blowing into my face, in a desperate attempt to reach the station on time. I was glad that I decided to wear sneakers that evening, for if I had sported heels like Ka-chan, I would have easily snapped my ankle, what with all that frantic running. But alas, for me being me, I ran out of breath, and slowed down to a stumble. Adam-kun easily caught up with me.

His face seemed to suggest that he was about to laugh, as if he had seen something comical. Politely enough, he managed to hold back his laughter, and just smiled at me. It still ticked me off nonetheless.

"You know . . . We could just-" he said, but he didn't manage to finish his sentence.

"We have . . ." I cut him short, catching my breath, "-to go. Now."

Without waiting for his reply, I set off, half-stumbling using whatever burst of energy I had left. I soon reached the entrance of the station, where I had to stop, leaning against a concrete pillar to catch my breath.

Only then did I hear a sound above me. Slowly, I looked up, only to see the gondola carriage starting to move down the rope, towards town. I gasped in horror, and froze. Now Adam-kun and I would be stuck here, or we could walk down the winding road back down, which would take who-knows-how-long. The thought of walking together down the long winding road down, cutting through the forest with Adam-kun, a hormonal teenage boy, gave me butterflies in my stomach. I know it wouldn't be polite to think badly of a boy as sweet as Adam-kun but. . . who knows what can happen! A chill ran down my spine as my imagination ran wild.

"Ah, it left already," Adam-kun said as he approached me from the back.

Probably out of wariness after my episode of sheer paranoia, I turned around swiftly to face him, just in case he did anything. I was perspiring profusely, which probably made my face a total mess. Noticing his perplexed expression, I tried to smile, which came out as a rather crooked, unnatural grin. He too, noticeably feeling as physically uncomfortable as I was, returned the favour with the usual, awkward wiry smile of his. We stood there, facing each other, until I broke off into soft, muffled giggles, a habit that I usually do to try to shake off awkward social situations. He apparently must have misinterpreted it, for he started blushing, and averted his gaze away.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," I began, apologising, "Please don't get it wrong, I wasn't laughing at you," I tried saying in the calmest way as I could, intent on hiding the fact that I still felt rather awkward.

"I know," he replied.

His reply came as a surprise for me. I certainly didn't expect it. If he knew I wasn't giggling at him, then why would he still get self-conscious? The question was burning in my mind, but something within me just instinctively buried out any thoughts regarding it.

"Well, I wanted to say that we could take the bus down you know?" Adam-kun said suddenly.

I let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness," I replied, to which he chuckled awkwardly.

He told me that the bus service servicing the mountain road only departed once every thirty minutes, and since the next bus would be arriving at eight-thirty, we still had around twenty minutes. He asked me if I still wanted to take a walk around, but I was feeling pretty exhausted so I told him I'd like it if we just waited at the bus stop.

I sat on an empty bench at the seemingly abandoned bus stand, save for the one or two lone passengers standing around the long shelter encompassing the bus bay. In the dimly lit parking lot for buses stood a few private coaches, seemingly run by the same company by the look of the similar blue logos painted on the sides on the otherwise white buses. Their lights were switched off, their engines dead. At the sheltered booth by the fringe of the bus shelter, a few men were gathered, some having a conversation, while others were having a smoke. They were bus drivers, by the look of their uniforms. Adam-kun left his still partially-unzipped guitar case with me, leaving it leaning against the bench beside me, for me to watch over. He then went over to the booth, and came back with a pair of tickets. He handed one to me.

"Thanks," I muttered, still visibly exhausted.

"It's no problem," he said, "And you don't have to pay me back either," he continued.

I only managed to utter another word of thanks, and he just nodded in reply. A conversation failed to come up, and there was probably a heavy atmosphere setting in, as I noticed in the corner of my eye that he was fidgeting with his fingers uncomfortably. Nonetheless, I was too exhausted to actually bother about the awkwardness. I was just kind of glad that I managed to get a rest after that unfulfilling sprint to the ropeway station, only to end up with me witnessing the last cabin depart.

"Yeah . . . I wanted to tell you not to worry so much since there was always the bus service, but you already ran off," he said all of a sudden, "Sorry," he added, apologising.

"N-no, it was my fault!" I exclaimed in reply, shifting the blame to myself, "I shouldn't have run off like that," I continued.

"Well," he began, starting to blush, "If I had just spitted it out earlier than you wouldn't have to force yourself to run," he apologised, returning the blame to him.

In an effort to stop ourselves from falling into a situation where we were endlessly arguing over who should take the blame, I took a look at our surroundings to find something else to talk about. That was when I noticed that there was a full moon that night, illuminating the entire bus bay with its ghostly, pale light.

"The moon's really beautiful tonight," I said, trying to reel out of the increasingly awkward conversation.

"Yeah," he agreed, his gaze focused on the night sky.

"I wonder how the moon always looks smooth from down here but when you look at close-up pictures, you see all the cracks and craters on it," I remarked, trying to get a conversation going.

Adam-kun chuckled.

"It reminds me of some of the actors and actresses you see on television, when the camera's far away their faces look all smooth and pretty, but when they zoom in, that's when things look very different," Adam-kun replied.

"Especially on High Definition," I added to his jest.

The both of us laughed, and the seemingly heavy atmosphere that seemed to dominate the air just now had all but gone. I took a glance at my watch and realised we still had about fifteen minutes before the bus would start allowing passengers on board. Then I remembered the lunch box my mother packed for me when I was about to leave just now, earlier in the afternoon.

"Adam-kun," I said, out of the blue.

Calling him by his given name came rather naturally to me, for some apparent reason. It was kind of funny, since I usually only referred to people who I have grown close with using their given name, but now here I was, calling a boy I only met a few months ago his real name, not forgetting to mention at his request. Why I adapted to it so comfortably when it came to Adam-kun still puzzled me, even after all these years.

I saw his cheeks reddening in embarrassment at hearing his name being called out by me, but nevertheless, he still turned his head around and looked at me.

"Have some," I said to him, handing him the lunchbox full of onigiri, the lid removed, "You must be hungry,"

"Thanks," he said as he took one of the rice balls with his hand.

I secretly watched him eat his rice ball, all the while pretending to be busy with my own. He slowly put the clump of rice to his lips, and bit into it in a kind of shy manner, then he would lower his hands again to around his chest level and he would look at the onigiri in his hands. He did this a couple of times, and I found it rather cute and amusing at the same time. He finished his rice ball and dusted his hands. Then he turned around to look at me.

"It's really delicious," he said.

Our gazes met for a while, and he started blushing. He probably realised the weird face I was making, in an effort to stop myself from giggling after watching his behaviour while eating the rice ball. Now that he had realised it, I couldn't help but let it out.

"I'm sorry," I apologised, "It's just that . . . yeah," I said, not even bothering to mention it since he probably knew what I was referring to anyway.

"Ah," he muttered, his cheeks still rather rosy, "It's just that I rarely eat these kind of things,"

"I see," I replied, not really knowing what to say.

"Well, did your mother make these for you?" he asked me.

"Yeah, she always does," I answered.

At that moment, Adam-kun sighed, and leant back on the backrest of the bench.

"It's just that . . ." he began, "My mother's always too busy to pack lunch for my sister and I, she's always preoccupied with work. It's just work, work, and work," he lamented, in a rather melancholy tone.

"Well . . . Doesn't your father work too?" I asked, more of a filler-question to fill up any gaps in a conversation.

I instantly regretted what I had said.

Adam-kun looked at me for a moment, our gazes fixated at each other for a moment, before he turned his head slightly and set his eyes on the moon, its pale light illuminating his face.

"Let's not talk about that, shall we?" he said suddenly.

His words filled my heart with guilt. I shouldn't have just blurted out like that. In the corner of my eye, I watched Adam-kun, who was now gazing afar into the dark sky. I then continued with my own rice ball, finishing up within seconds. I looked down at my lunch box, intent on grabbing a second one, eating to pass through the time in silence, when suddenly, everything around me seemed to go a shade darker, as if someone had dimmed all the lights. I heard a few coos of amazement from people in the background, and that prompted me to look up, to see what was happening.

What I saw came as a rather huge surprise to me.

Up in the starless night sky, the once pearl-white moon, gleaming with shimmering light, was now an ominous crimson red, casting dull shadows all over the land, as if someone had just threw a bucket of paint all over the moon, or there was a lunar massacre. I gasped in amazement and shock, the blood-red moon was beautiful, yet terrifying at the same time. I knew it was a lunar eclipse, but I was rather taken aback by the suddenness of it. Nothing was announced on the news, the weather reports or the articles dealing with astrology. The lunar eclipse came as a surprise for everyone.

"The weather forecast didn't say there was going to be a lunar eclipse did they?" Adam-kun asked me, all of a sudden.

"No, I don't think they did," I replied.

He didn't reply. The world seemed to have frozen after that. It seemed like everyone on the mountain had their full attention on the bloody moon, to the extent that they would not get their eyes of it. After all, this was such a rare event, and astronomers would claim that we were very lucky to have witnessed a probably once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.

After a few minutes of silence, the moon then slowly returned to its normal colour again, the redness gradually shifting to the right every few seconds, until it disappeared altogether. As if a spell had just been broken, people began to go about with their usual business again, albeit with loud and excited chatter. Then, as if on cue, a coach also pulled up to the bus bay. I looked at my watch. It was already eight-thirty, and that meant the arrival of the bus was on the dot. Adam-kun and I picked up our belongings and boarded the bus together with the dozen or so passengers who had already gathered at the bus station.

The bus had many unfilled seats, but nonetheless Adam-kun and I sat beside each other. Adam-kun placed his guitar up on the rack above the seats, before proceeding to seat at the exterior of the two seats, for I had already occupied the one nearer to the window.

The air-conditioned bus set off down the winding road, neither of us having managed to say a word to each other ever since the eclipse. Adam-kun sat up straight in his seat, fiddling with his hand phone while I looked out into the dark, unlit forest outside the window as the bus progressed downhill.

Then suddenly he spoke.

"A-Ayano-chan," he began, stuttering.

I turned around and faced him. He was blushing.

"Do you mind if you would . . ." he said, hesitating.

"If I would . . .?" I questioned him, slightly confused after he paused for quite a while.

He took a deep breath.

"Do you mind if you would go to the Port Festival with me?" he asked, his cheeks reddening.

I was slightly surprised at his question. It wasn't like I disliked him or anything, it was just that I usually attended the Port Festival with my family, since Ka-chan would go with hers and so did Sayaka-chan. I remembered only once when the three of us went together without our families, well not really, since our families were there too, but still, we went off, the three of us together. It was back in the second year of middle school, if my memory hadn't failed me. It was absolutely fun, just the three of us. It wasn't like the Port Festival wasn't enjoyable with family members, heck,-I remembered how much fun I had with Akio-kun when we fished out small floating water balloons with miniature hooks- but the feeling of enjoying something with your peers was vastly different from enjoying something with your family members. I don't know how to explain it, it's just . . . different.

I hesitated for a while, before answering Adam-kun.

"Sure, I'll ask my family if I could go," I replied to him, trying to be as careful as possible with my words.

A smile lit his face up. He thanked me. We fell silent again after that.

"Hey, why don't I send you back home tonight? It's already dark. . ." he offered.

"No," I replied, my mind already beginning to get foggy, "It's fine. . ." I continued, accidentally dragging my words.

I should have remembered one crucial fact that evening. Coffee made me sleepy.Trying hard to fight my sleepiness, in the end, I nodded off.

My head leaning on Adam-kun's shoulder.