Origami Girl

Chapter 9: The Floating World I

"Living only for the moment, turning our full attention to the pleasures of the moon, the sun, the cherry blossoms and the maple leaves, singing songs, drinking wine, and diverting ourselves just in floating, floating, not caring a whit for the pauperism staring us in the face, refusing to be disheartened, like a gourd floating along with the river current: This is what we call the Floating World, 'ukiyo'."

-Asai Ryoi, Ukiyo Monogatari

It was lunchtime, so I made my way to the cafeteria and got myself a seat. After an entire morning of boring lessons, I sure needed a break. I made for myself fruit sandwiches that day, slices of white bread, brown crust trimmed off, filled with a thick layer of blueberry yoghurt mixed with small bits of strawberry and kiwi. I had placed them in the fridge overnight, but it didn't really serve a purpose really, since by the time I wanted to eat them they were already warm. I might as well just prepare them right before I left for school. Sandwich in one hand, I held my phone in the other.

I scrolled down the page on my phone screen, reading the highlights of the Tokyo Girls Fall Collection that year. Once again, they held it at the Yokohama Arena, which was quite a disappointment for me. I've always wanted to attend the biannual fashion event, but they always held it in places so far away. Nevertheless, I still kept track of the event through the official website, and I had totally no regrets about it.

"Look! This outfit is so adorable!" I squealed, thrusting my phone into Adam-kun's face, bidding him to take a look.

"Oh, okay," he replied, nodding his head and smiling awkwardly, obviously not really interested.

"But it's cute don't you think?" I remarked, "Baby blue looks great on her! And her shoes! They're just heavenly don't you think?"

He just grunted in reply, so I stopped showing him anything. I continued with my sandwich while Adam-kun had a curry bento. I supposed it was one of the rare occasions where his mother made something for him, as most of the time he always bought food from the vending machines. His mother was a working mother after all. Once before, he told me that his mother was a practicing lawyer at a medium-sized law firm in Sapporo, and had to wake up really early to catch the first train, and she would only come back late at night, sometimes past midnight even. I then, instinctively without thinking, asked him what his father's occupation was, but he kept silent. I regretted immediately at what escaped my lips.

"Ah, you'd brought your own lunch today?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he replied, slightly muffled, his mouth full of rice, "My mom packed it for me."

"That's rare," I said, "That's really nice of her, with her busy schedule and all."

"Yup," he replied, curtly, before stuffing another clump of rice in his mouth.

Seeing his hasty replies, I stopped talking. I wasn't mad or anything. It was just that I felt that he must have been so absorbed in his food, which I kind of understood, since he rarely got meals made by his mother's own hands. He was way different when he just had a sandwich he bought from the vending machine, he would listen attentively to me and look at me in the eyes. Now, he only took glances at me before returning to his food. I couldn't get mad. How could I ever get mad? He even made me smile as I saw this boy relishing his precious meal.

Other than that, you could also say that I lost to a home cooked meal of humble curry. I must have been such a terrible conversation partner.

 "What's wrong?" Adam-kun asked all of a sudden, looking up at me.

He looked at me with his hazel eyes. I noticed that there were smudges of brown curry on his lips and I couldn't help but snicker a little. That made the poor boy even more confused.

"You know," he said, his lips curved up in an awkward, wiry smile, "You're really making me kind of worried here. First you just fell silent, and now suddenly out of the blue you're just giggling away."

"Oh, it's nothing. I just thought you looked adorable when you were eating just now. Like an adorable little boy," I said, giggling.

Adam-kun blushed, and he smiled, exposing his teeth.

"There's meat stuck in your teeth," I whispered to him.

"Ah!" he said, quickly growing rather embarrassed.

His cheeks reddened. His lips slightly parted, he felt around with his tongue before finally managing to locate the strips of meat wedged between his front row of incisors. His turned his head to face away from me a little. His right palm covering his mouth, his left hand quickly swooped in, and underneath the shadows, he plucked out the loose fibres of meat. Saliva dripped from his fingers.

I squirmed in disgust, albeit involuntarily. This probably sent Adam-kun into a panic.

"I-I-I'm sorry," he stuttered, his face turning beetroot, "I didn't mean to."

He seemed to be about to wipe his finger on the table, but he somehow noticed me still staring at him uncomfortably, so instead of the table, his finger appeared to be headed to his navy blue blazer. He mustn't have realised it, so I coughed deliberately. He stopped, his finger in mid-air, about to reach his sleeve, looking at me with a slightly bewildered expression. I quickly fished out a packet of tissues from my skirt pocket and handed it to him.

"Ah, thanks," Adam-kun said nervously, taking out a piece of tissue paper and cleaning his fingers.

I took the packet of tissues from the table and put it back where it belonged. I realised the bow on my collar was slightly misaligned, so I adjusted it.

"Aren't you cold?" Adam-kun asked me, "You're still wearing your summer uniform in this kind of chilly weather?"

"Well, it isn't that cold," I replied, "Well, and I haven't ironed my blazer yet, I'll probably do it over the weekend."

"So you're willing to just live out the cold for the entire week?"

"I don't really feel cold actually," I replied, "A blazer makes me feel stuffy and all."

"That's kind of strange," he said, returning to his meal.

Indeed, it seemed like I was the only person who was wearing the summer uniform. Before, just when the second trimester started, there were still some students in their short sleeved blouses and shirts, but now, three weeks in, it seemed like everyone had their navy blue blazers donned. I found it rather strange too, actually. Last year, I remembered jumping on the first opportunity to cloak myself in the blazer, even though I didn't really feel that of a chill. Once I saw a few students already putting on their blazers on the first day after returning from summer break, I came to school the following day in mine. I remembered Hayate-kun's perplexed expression the morning he met me outside the school gates. Usually most students here made the swap of uniforms in the third to fourth weeks of the trimester, Hayate-kun pointed out to me. I told him that I already saw some students coming to school in their blazers, but Hayate-kun shook his head and said that he hadn't seen any.

This year I also wore my blazer when the school made the announcement that the students are allowed to swap to their summer uniform, until it really got too stuffy for me and I was sweltering underneath the thick layers of clothes. I don't know, but then, it just made me feel safe, hidden and buried underneath those layers of clothes, like it was some sort of protective barrier. I finally took it off when I noticed the curious stares as I walked down the corridors, a pile of books huddled to my chest.

But thankfully, now I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, wherever I want, probably because I had the two most important people to me close by, who really cared about me and never made me feel all alone. Being all alone is a scary feeling.

Forget about the terrible things, I told myself, You're with Adam-kun now, can't you appreciate the good things in life just for once?  

"So what classes do you have today?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"History, and math," he replied.

"Ah, talking about math, how much did you get for the last math test?" I asked him, curious.

Adam-kun laughed nervously.

"Well, five out of twenty," he said, "How about you?"

"Sixteen," I replied, not really proud of my score.

"Woah," he said, amazed, "That's quite good! I heard that the test was quite hard, but who am I to say that anyway," he continued, trailing off with an awkward snicker.

"No, it's not that impressive," I said, finishing off my second-last sandwich, "I aimed for seventeen. I fell short. There's nothing to be proud about utter failure."

"That's true," he nodded his head, agreeing.

That remark of his kind of took me by surprise a little. Hayate-kun, Sayaka-chan and even Ka-chan would usually react in the opposite manner whenever I voiced out negative opinions about myself. But this time, Adam-kun agreed with me. Which was rather strange.

"Again?" I asked, not really believing my ears.

"It's true, there's nothing to be proud of about failing," he said, reassuring my opinion.

I giggled to myself, which made him confused, but he didn't seem to bother asking anymore. I really liked that part of him. Later I found out he was reassuring my views not because I was his girlfriend and he wanted to make me happy, but that he and I shared the same mentality. All the more that drew us closer.

There was one more fruit sandwich left in my lunchbox, and I realised that Adam-kun had finished off his entire lunch, up to the very last grain. I thought that he might probably be hungry, and of course, he would need the energy for track later after all. I pushed my open lunchbox towards him, and gestured for him to take the last sandwich.

"N-no!" he stuttered, "I can't take this," he said.

"Why not?" I asked.

"You'll need the energy for track later don't you?" he replied, seemingly concerned.

"Not really," I said, "I don't even try. I just toss the disc in the air for about five minutes, and sit under the shade for the rest of the time."

Adam-kun chuckled. Of course, he must've seen my behaviour at track at least once or twice. I couldn't stand the hot afternoon sun, so once it got too hot for me to bar, I would just go and sit under the shade and watch him train on the track.

"Then I'll take it then," he said, taking the sandwich, "Ittadakimasu"

I sealed my lunchbox with its cover as I watched Adam-kun bit into the sandwich that I made. He nibbled at it slowly at first, but then he began to take larger bites and finished the entire sandwich altogether.

"I've ate a fruit sandwich before, and the yoghurt was rather sour, so I didn't really like it," he remarked, "But yours is different. Maybe it's because you made it," he teased me.

How cheeky.

"I guess you could say I used blueberry yoghurt," I replied, "That's why it's sweeter. I can't really stand the taste of plain yoghurt, it's rather strong in my opinion."

"Me too," Adam-kun said, "But it was pretty delicious anyway. Thanks."

After he finished packing his empty lunchbox and placing his chopsticks into its casing, we both decided to start making our way back to class. Besides, the bell demarcating the end of lunch break was going to ring in about ten minutes anyway, so might as well be early.

"So. . . I'll see you in track later?" Adam-kun asked me as he dropped me off in front of my classroom door.

"Sure," I replied.

With that, he waved and gave me one of his shy, wiry smiles.

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The bell rang, signalling the end of the last period of the day for me, which was Japanese. I chucked my books in my sling bag, and was about to rush off to get changed for track practice. I was excited to meet Adam-kun. I guess it was the first few exciting days of a newly-budded mutual love.

"Ah, Furukawa-san," I heard someone call me.

I turned around and saw the teacher, Nakamura-sensei. She was a pleasant woman, her soft hair, slightly permed, fell to her shoulders. She carried a clear pencil box in one hand, and her small leather purse in the other.

"I'm sorry to trouble you, but could you please help me take the stack of exercise books to my staffroom desk?" she asked me politely, "I'm really sorry, I'm running late for a meeting."

I stole a glance at the teacher's desk behind her. Indeed, there was a small stack of exercise books on the table. I agreed to help her, albeit reluctantly, worried that I might be late in meeting Adam-kun. Sensei thanked me, apologising profusely for the trouble she'd caused, before walking briskly out of the classroom, looking at her wristwatch.

Stack of exercise books in my arms, schoolbag hanging from my shoulder, I walked down the corridor, filing past other students. I stood out, obviously, the only girl in a summer uniform, carrying a stack of books. I felt the students' stares on me, but I wasn't really noticing it that much. My mind was kind of preoccupied. I was more anxious of making Adam-kun wait, than the judgement of other people. I hoped he was held back in class or something, so I had enough time to change into my PE attire and meet him. I also wondered why sensei didn't just nominate Kashiwagi-san to just do the job, since he was the class monitor in the first place. I guess she was in such a rush, and I was probably the nearest student there and then. Then again, thinking again, making my way to the front door, I remembered walking right by the teacher's desk, so I guess that was why she asked me in the first place.

I was too preoccupied with my thoughts I didn't realise that there was a corner in front. The next thing I knew was, I walked into someone and all the books were then scattered all over the floor in front of me. In a panic, I hurriedly, bent down and started picking up the books, taking account each and every one of them as I picked them up. As I was halfway down the stack, I saw someone kneel down, picking up the remainder of the books alongside me.

I looked up, and saw Hayate-kun, aligning the books he had collected properly. He then handed it to me, and I accepted it with both hands, thanking him, before standing up again.

"Whatever," he replied, scratching the back of his head with his right palm.

Hayate-kun then walked off. For some reason, I stood there, watching him walk, his bag hanging from his left shoulder constantly bouncing back and forth. I stood there even long after he had disappeared.

That was the last time he ever talked to me. His last word to me wasn't at all romantic, just a simple 'whatever'. Thinking back about it, that was slightly comical, yet also reminded me how mundane life, in its true, raw form, can actually be. It was one of the things that kept repeating in my mind when I was in university. Whether I was working on assignment or just reading a novel, my mind sometimes asked: "What if I had stayed with Hayate-kun?". The answer, I found, was fairly simple. Of course, my life would have been vastly different if it had taken that course. But of course, we humans are merely planners, not everything in life goes according to what we expect. That was the harsh reality.

Realising that I had to be quick, I hurried the rest of the way to the staff room, scolding myself for having delayed for so long. Adam-kun must be waiting already, I thought.

After delivering the books and placing them neatly on sensei's table, I quickly got changed and made my way to the track. As I walked, I noticed the sky had grown eerily dark, and clouds as black as ink hung precariously low over the rooftops. I could smell the scent of the rain. It was Autumn after all, and the occasional heavy downpour wasn't all that rare. I realised too late that track was probably cancelled, and was about to return to the bathroom to change back into my school uniform, but the thought that Adam-kun might already be there waiting for me caused me to quickly brisk walk to the stadium steps to see if he was there.

I saw Adam-kun waiting for me by the stadium steps, alone, with his phone. He sat with his legs straight out, propped above the top of the plastic backrests of the seat in front of him. He didn't change out into his PE attire. As soon as he saw me, he stood up.

"Ah, track's been cancelled," he told me, "It's about to rain soon. From the looks of it, it's going to be quite heavy."

I placed my bag on the seat beside him , and took out my uniform, which I had just folded and placed it there just now.

"I'm going to go get changed first, would you please wait for me?" I asked him.

He agreed, suggesting that I meet him in front of the lockers near the entrance, and he'd bring my bag there as well.

I quickly changed out of the track pants and t-shirt to my tartan skirt and blouse. I heard the loud claps of thunder as I folded my clothes. At that moment I realised that I had forgotten to bring my umbrella, and if the rain started, I didn't want to trouble Adam-kun by borrowing his, if he had one. Worried that the rain might began falling, I quickly made my way to the lockers, clutching my folded clothes to my chest.

"Sorry, to keep you waiting," I apologised.

He handed my bag to me, and I quickly placed my folded clothes inside. I quickly took a peek into the depths of my bag, to see if I might have actually brought my umbrella along, and that my memory might have been playing tricks on me. Indeed, I had left my umbrella at home.

"Ah, Ayano-chan," Adam-kun said all of a sudden, "Do you happen to have an umbrella with you?"

I gulped. I was about to ask him the very same question.

"No," I replied, nervously, adjusting the strap of my bag on my shoulder.

Adam-kun looked outside of the glass door.

"Well, we better hurry if we don't want to get wet," he beckoned me.

The both of us exited the school building. Closing the glass door behind me, I felt a gust of wind caress my hair, slightly misaligning my fringe. Adam-kun was already quite far ahead, halfway across the courtyard. I quickly caught up with him, and we got out of the open gate and into the street.

Another clap of thunder resounded through the air, and I looked up. The skies were darker than ever, and a flash of lightning illuminated the sky in the far distance. The smell of rain hung in the air. Adam-kun slowed down all of a sudden, which puzzled me a little.

He turned around to look at me, and suddenly grabbed my hand. My small palm was enveloped in the warmth of his. My heart thumped in my chest, and my cheeks reddened. He then sprinted, and I was forced to follow. As he dragged me along with him, my bag bouncing against my side, I noticed the pavement we were treading on starting to be filled with dark circles. I looked up, and felt the cold, light droplets fall on my cheeks.

Well, I shouldn't have done that. The next thing I know, I was on the ground, face first.

"Ayano-chan!" Adam-kun exclaimed, hurrying to my side, "Are you all right?" he asked.

I lifted myself from the ground. Adam-kun helped me up.

"Are you all right?" he asked me.

"No," I answered, checking my arms, "I'm fine,"

"I'm s-sorry," he replied, "If I didn't-" he added, before trailing off, visibly embarrassed.

He must have finally realised what he had done just now. I suppose he didn't really realise it at first when he just grabbed my hand like that. Even I didn't expect it.

"S-sorry," he said again, "I got too carried away just now," he continued, his cheeks reddening, his clenched fist covering his mouth.

"I-it's fine," I answered him, dusting the dirt off my arms.

I noticed Adam-kun looking at me, but then his face suddenly became worried, his eyes widened.

"Y-your elbow," he stuttered, pointing to my right elbow.

I looked down and examined my right elbow. At first I didn't really realise it, but in the end I noticed a small gash on my elbow. It wasn't bleeding, and it didn't even hurt, but Adam-kun seemed so worried, I felt a little bit bad.

"No, no. It's fine, it doesn't hurt at all," I replied, running my finger over the scratch, "See?"

Adam-kun seemed convinced and calmed down. With the droplets of rain starting to come down, Adam-kun beckoned me to start making our way to the bus stop. I expected him to take my hand again, his warm hand blanketing my tiny fingers, but he didn't. The both of us walked briskly to the tram stop in awkward silence. The very moment we got under the shelter of the tram stop, it started raining cats and dogs, the loud dense rainfall thumping loudly on the metal roof of the station. The two of us sat side by side on the bench, and I hugged my bag on my lap out of awkwardness, while Adam-kun toyed with his phone.

I didn't bring my watch that day, and was dying to look at the time, wanting to know when the tram will arrive. It was 15.38; the tram would arrive in two minutes' time.

"Hey," Adam-kun said all of a sudden, "It's the keychain I bought for you the other day," he remarked, pointing with his chin the shiny silver butterfly keychain attached to my phone.

"Yeah," I replied, not really knowing what to say, "Thank you."

"No problem," he said, scratching the back of his head with his right hand, "I'm glad you like it."

"I'll treasure this," I said, feeling the cold intricate metal on my fingers, "It's the first thing Adam-kun bought for me."

I saw Adam-kun blush, his cheeks reddening.

"I'm glad," he replied, chuckling nervously.

The tram then arrived, and the both of us got on. We went to the back of the car, and sat side by side. I'd always liked sitting at the back, since the last three or so rows of seats at the back of the car were two-by-two, and faced the front of the tram, a vast difference from the front half of the car, where the seats were against the walls of the tram, and you had to face another row of passengers. The seats at the back, however, came with more privacy. The rain was still pouring outside. We approached the first station without much incident, just the two of us talking occasionally.

When the tram pulled over, the driver opened the doors, and some passengers dropped off and alighted. Among the few passengers that got on at that station, I recognised two of them almost instantly. Ka-chan, her hair tied in a ponytail over her right ear, and her fringe swept to the left, together with Kashiwagi-san. To my horror, they walked past the front row of seats and made my way to the seats at the back. I gulped, and sank deeper into my seat, my back stretched out at an awkward position, so that they wouldn't be able to see me, hidden by the seat in front of me.

Adam-kun looked at me, a perplexed expression written on his face. I asked him to lend me his blazer, to which he complied, without any questions. I threw the blazer over myself, which was also at a rather good timing, because Kashiwagi-san and Ka-chan sat at the two seats right in front of us. I lowered the blazer slightly to take a peek at the couple in front. I could see the backs of their heads. Kashiwagi-san sat at the seat nearer to the window, while Ka-chan sat at the seat nearer to the aisle, before concealing myself under Adam-kun's blazer again. The blazer smelled like deodorant, which I didn't really mind. Well, at least it was better than body odour.

Surprisingly, at the next stop, Adam-kun shook my shoulder.

"They're gone now," he said, "You can come out now."

Slowly, I lifted the blazer and peeked out. The two of them, boy and girl, weren't occupying the seats in front of us anymore. I was a bit puzzled. I sat up properly, and looked outside. The rain was still pouring on relentlessly. If I wasn't wrong, the tram had only reached Chitose-cho. Ka-chan's stop was at Kashiwagi-cho while Kashiwagi-kun's was at Showabashi. Chitose-cho was a stop before Showabashi. I was confused, but there wasn't going to be any way that I could ask Ka-chan about it in the first place.

I thanked Adam-kun for the blazer and handed it back to him. He put it back on, while I continued to observe the scene outside the window. The unforgiving rain and wind kept on beating against the entire city, blurring the view of the outside with intense downpour.

"Ah, Ayano-chan," Adam-kun said all of a sudden, against the muffled noise of the rain, "When is your birthday?"

"April 23rd," I responded, "How about you?"

Adam-kun fidgeted with his fingers for a moment before answering me, hesitating slightly.

"September 25th," he mumbled.

That gave me a slight shock for a moment. I checked my calendar in my phone, and realised that Adam-kun's birthday was on that coming Sunday. I gulped as I realised I hadn't had anything prepared for him for his birthday. Even though I was only his girlfriend for two weeks or so, at the end of the day, I was still his girlfriend. I should at least prepare a present for him in the least.

"Ah, I see," I said, before returning to my thoughts.

Seeing Adam-kun looking through his phone, I took the opportunity to ponder on what to get him for his birthday. Even after racking my brain for the entire tram ride, I still couldn't think of something suitable. I knew he liked guitars and music, but to buy a new guitar for him would be far too expensive. Nonetheless, I settled for getting him something guitar-related, even though I had no specifics set in mid yet. I hoped whatever I would come to get him would make him happy in the least. I hope he would treasure whatever I would come to gift him, like how I treasured the keychain he bought for me at the carnival the other day.

"It's your stop next right?" Adam-kun said to me.

"Yeah," I said, snapping out of my reverie, before turning to look out of the window beside me.

It was still raining as heavily as ever, and I wondered how on earth was I to get home from the tram stop. Without an umbrella, I suppose I had no choice but to get soaked. Kashiwagicho wasn't like the tram station near our school, there was not even a roof to shelter the platform, thus if I stepped out of the tram to alight without an umbrella, I would be drenched straight away.

"I'll get off with you," Adam-kun offered, getting off his seat and walking up to the exit as the tram pulled up to the station.

I quickly followed, even though I was rather worried about leaving the tram in this heavy downpour. Adam-kun told me to stand in front of the door. I was already mentally preparing myself to be drenched to the bone, but suddenly, I felt something on my head. From the scent of the deodorant, I knew for sure that it Adam-kun's blazer.

I turned around and I saw him smile at me reassuringly. With his blazer now on top of my head, Adam-kun had stripped down to his white long-sleeved shirt and red tie.

"It should be good enough," he said, "You won't be so drenched like that," he continued.

"But what about you?" I asked him, feeling a little bit bad for using his blazer as protection from the rain while he used nothing.

"I'll be fine," he said, pulling his sleeves up to his elbows, "Don't worry about me!"

As soon as the door opened, I got out, walking briskly in the direction of my house, together with Adam-kun. The rain was still battering down on the city, but the blazer did help a bit at least, draped over me like a hood. I was rushing, my brisk footsteps splashing water in puddles, soaking my shoes wet.

Adam-kun was different though. He didn't seem to mind the soaking. At one point he even told me to slow down.

"You might fall down and hurt yourself," he added, with concern in his voice.

So in the end, the two of us walked side by side down the road, in the thick of the rain, until the both of us reached my house. After locking and unlocking the front gate and having gotten the both of us inside the porch, the two of us ran to the shelter of the small overhang in front of the main entrance. I wasn't that drenched, but my blouse and my shoes were still wet nonetheless.

As I unlocked the front door, I managed to steal a look at Adam-kun. He was drenched from head to toe. Droplets of water fell from his fringe to the ground, and his white shirt, rather see-through now, was clinging onto his torso.

I was about to ask him inside, but he spoke first.

"I'd better get going now," he said, his fingers combing through his soaked hair.

"I can't let you do that," I replied, "You're all drenched! At least let me dry your clothes for you."

"It's fine," he refused me, smiling, "I don't want to trouble you and your family."

"It won't take long," I said, kind of pleading with him.

Yet he still refused.  I gave up, and told him to wait a while for me to go and fetch an umbrella so I could go and unlock the main gate for him.

"Don't trouble yourself," he replied, "I'll just jump over the fence."

I stared at him in disbelief. He could not be serious. The stone fence that separated my yard from the street outside was at the height of a typical man's shoulders. Well for me, I have always found the fence rather tall, I have never been able to look in even on tiptoe, much less climb over the wall altogether. Then again, I was only a measly 158 cm, but still, I still felt that Adam-kun wouldn't be able to make past it.

Fortunately, he hadn't need to do it at all. The noise of our arrival had alerted my mother, who went over and opened the door to check out for herself what was going on. Adam-kun was kind of shocked to see my mother in front of us, and with widened eyes and a stuttering voice, deeply bowed to show his respect and introduced himself to her. I supposed by how flustered he was, it kind of gave away our relationship to her. Yet again, I didn't remember any time where she mentioned about Adam-kun and I during the course of our relationship, so I was really confused whether she knew about us or not. Perhaps she didn't, or that Adam-kun left such a good impression on her that she was secretly glad a boy like him was dating her daughter. Then again, there was also the possibility that she did not care at all, which after much pondering, I realised to be highly unlikely, as what mother would care less about her child?

Examining him, my mother commented on how drenched he was and invited him inside for a quick shower and a fresh set of clothes. I took that opportunity and joined in.

"You could borrow my brother's clothes," I interjected.

"It's still pouring," my mother said to him, "Why not stay a while?"

Adam-kun gave in.

"T-thank you," he stuttered, and bowed again.

Mother quickly excused herself, saying that she would go brew some tea for our unexpected guest, and told me to lead Adam-kun (who she referred to as 'your friend') inside, before disappearing back into the house, supposedly into the kitchen.

"Excuse me for intruding," he said as he entered the front door.

Well, he was visibly awkward and shy, which I could understand. I felt the same when I first met Adam-kun's mother as well, that day on the way to Hakodate airport. Now come to think about it, on that day it was raining heavily to, and I was drenched when I met her as well. What a coincidence don't you think?

I led Adam-kun to the living room, and I invited him to take a seat at the low table in the middle. Adam-kun sat cross-legged at the longer end of the table, and I quickly found myself sitting beside him, not really sure what to do. The living room wasn't messy that day, but I quickly grew self-conscious over the few magazines that I had left open at one end of the table. I was about to make a move and quickly straighten out the mess before Adam-kun noticed, but I was too late.

"You like dressing up, Ayano-chan?" he asked me, after seeing the magazines.

"Y-yeah," I replied, my cheeks getting warmer, "I guess you could say so."

At this, I saw, from the corner of my eye, Adam-kun chuckling. All the more I grew more embarrassed, my fists clenched out of sheer nervousness.

"You're really cute you're embarrassed," he said, his fist on his chin, "And why are you sitting like that in your own house?"

Now that he had mentioned it, I realised that I was in seiza, my feet tucked in, my arms straightened and stiff, with my fists clenched over my knees.

"You should relax a bit," he said.

I grew even more flustered, and not knowing what to do, I got up, and excused myself. As fast as I could, I rushed out of the living room and into the corridor.

It was funny, how he made me feel so unbearably uncomfortable like that. My heart was racing in my chest. I supposed that was what love was like. You get embarrassed for no reason, you feel happy for no reason. Love doesn't make sense. It defies logic.

As I paced down the hallway, I ran into mother. She had a folded towel in her arms.

"Lend this to . . ." mother said, trailing off because she had obviously forgotten what my boyfriend's name was.

Perhaps it wasn't her fault. Adam-kun was barely audible with all his mumbling and stuttering as he introduced himself just now. The background noise of the heavy relentless downpour did nothing to alleviate the difficulty.

"Nakayama-kun," I said.

"Ah yes, I'm sorry," mother said, shaking her head like she usually does when she realises her mistakes, "Lend this to him, and go and prepare the bath water if you need to."

With that, I took a deep breath to calm myself down before making my way back to the living room. Adam-kun was still there, of course. I saw him reading through my magazines, but I tried my best to hide my embarrassment.

"Here, my mother lent you this to you," I said, passing the towel to him.

He took the white towel and slung it over his right shoulder.

"Thanks," he said, getting up.

"Ah! I'll go and prepare the bath water-" I offered, but he cut me short.

"It's alright," he told me, smiling, "I'll just take a shower. Thanks a lot though."

I led him to the bathroom and before he entered, I told him that he should pass me his uniform so that I could dry and iron it for him. He seemed a little awkward and uncomfortable when I mentioned it, but he said nothing. After he closed the door, I waited for him to undress, before I heard a knock on the door and turned around. The door was opened slightly, and a split second later, I saw Adam-kun's bare arm, his muscles slightly toned, holding out his shirt and trousers. Without saying a word, I took the clothes from him and left for the kitchen, the door closing behind me.

I brought my clothes to the kitchen where the laundry area was. The moment I stepped in I heard the loud whistle of the boiling kettle, and mother rushed to get it off the stove. As I loaded Adam-kun's clothes, smelling of rain and sweat, into the dryer, I saw in the corner of my eye mother brewing green tea. As she strained the tea into the teacups, I could almost smell the aroma. Green tea was the best tea to have ever existed, I didn't really fancy oolong.

"Ah, I nearly forgot," she said, when I was about to exit the kitchen, "Go lend Nakayama-kun some of your brother's clothes. There should be something he could wear."

Only then did I realise that mother had her apron donned on, which was rather bizzare, because usually she didn't even bother wearing it when she was just brewing tea. She seemed to notice me looking at her apron, and seemed to have read my mind through her observation. Like mother like daughter, I supposed.

"Well, the Tanokuras are coming over dinner later at six, so I'm preparing something for them," she said, "It's not like every day you get them coming over for dinner."

Indeed, it was nearly about five years since I last saw the Tanokuras, they came over for Obon if I wasn't wrong. Ms Tanokura and mother were very close, mother would drop her a call every other week or so, going about with her housework, with the cordless telephone pinned between her ear and shoulder, chatting until they ran out of things to talk about or the headset ran out of battery. Sometimes it was Ms Tanokura that would call. As close as they were though, they rarely met up. My aunt had such a busy schedule with her work, she never had a chance to make a day trip down south from Sapporo here. The Tanokuras used to live here in Hakodate, near the Goryokaku, but they moved to Sapporo once my aunt's husband managed to secure a position at some electronics company there.

I had quite a few childhood memories with the Tanokuras, although not all of them rather pleasant. When Akio-kun and I were younger, my aunt would once in a while drop her children off at our house, and mother, a full-time homemaker would babysit them. They didn't stay long in Hakodate before they moved to Sapporo. Before that my aunt had moved to Tokyo after she had married, then she was at Nagoya, then Kagoshima, then somehow on the 16th anniversary of their wedding, the couple and their children ended up back in Hakodate where their entire family saga had begun. The Tanokura couple had two children, Momoka and Shuuya.

Momoka-san was this sweet and polite girl, and was two years older than me. She was still a junior high school student when I last met her, so I supposed now she should be in university. I wonder what course she would have taken. Although she was very nice to me and we had a rather good relationship, I didn't really know her too well.

Shuuya-san on the other hand. . .

Oh, don't make me mention him. He was such a prick, a real thorn in the flesh. Even at twelve years back then, he was just so childish, it made me wonder how boys as childish as him could even exist. Mean, snarky, and purely pesky, it was no wonder that he and I did not get along at all. I dreaded the times where I had to deal with his nonsense and childishness, and Momoka-san had to apologise to me over all his silly and irritating pranks, which were seriously not funny at all. I wonder how a sweet and mature girl as Momoka-san could get such an idiot of a brother. It bewildered me, seriously.

I accepted the news with a mixture of excitement and dread.

I soon got to Akio-kun's room and acquired a folded pair of basketball shorts as well as an orange t-shirt. Akio-kun wasn't home yet that afternoon. I supposed he had basketball practice then. After all, the basketball court at his school was indoors, so his basketball club surely would have practice even though the weather was so terrible.

I knocked on the bathroom door and told Adam-kun that I had some clothes for him. I heard the pitter-patter of the water from the shower end, and a short silence soon followed.

"Wait a moment," he said.

Then, the door creaked open. The aroma of shampoo and body foam filled the air around me.  I could feel the humidity on my face.

Adam-kun stood there in front of me, shirtless with droplets of water over his hair, neck and chest. He had a towel tied around his waist, barely covering half his thighs. I stared at him, and our gazes met.  Awkwardly, I took a step back, and out nervously laughed. I supposed that now since I was his girlfriend, this kind of thing was not really that much of a big issue. Besides, this wasn't the first time I'd seen him shirtless. Nevertheless I still blushed, handing over to him the clothes that I had taken for him.

"T-thanks, Ayano-chan," he stuttered, looking down at the floor, his cheeks turning beetroot.

"It's not a problem, besides, it was my fault you got so soaked," I replied, trying to sound as normal as I could, "And after you're done, please come back to the living room, my mother made some tea for you."

"Sure, thanks," he replied, before closing the door.

I made my way to the living room again, and found two cups of hot green tea waiting for us on the table, steam still escaping the tops of the cups. I sat down, this time in a more relaxed position, my legs to the side, and sipped some piping hot tea casually. It was quite a nice feeling, sipping hot tea on a cold and rainy day. Not long after, Adam-kun arrived in the room, having put on the orange t-shirt and white basketball shorts I had lent him from Akio-kun's closet. He had the towel hanging loosely around his neck.

"What tea is this?" he asked as he sat down beside me, pulling his cup of tea nearer to him.

"Green tea," I said, just after taking a sip, "Brewed from the leaf."

Adam-kun looked at the cup and seemed like he lost interest. Perhaps he didn't fancy green tea. I guess he didn't mean to react in that way to make me feel bad, but I still noticed nonetheless.

"Ah, okay," he replied.

I went on with my tea, until Adam-kun spoke again.

"So, when would the drying end?" he asked me, referring to his uniform.

"Well, I set it to forty-five minutes, so we still have half an hour to go," I replied, "And no, it's not like I did it to force you to stay here, i-it's just that the settings on the dryer wouldn't let me dry anything for less than that time. Silly, don't you think?" I added, to address his concerns just in case he thought of me as such.

Adam-kun chuckled again.

"You've got a really funny way of perceiving things," he said, grinning, "And even if you forced me to stay, I wouldn't mind anyway."

I blushed, feeling really embarrassed.

Adam-kun suggested that we switch on the television, so I got the remote control from underneath the table, and switched on the television screen. An interview with a celebrity was on air at the entertainment channel that the television was at before I switched off the previous time. I asked if he would like me to change the channel, since I was afraid that the show was slightly girly for his tastes, since it was the type of talk show discussing youth trends in Harajuku and such. He said he didn't mind, and leaned back, his arms straight, palms on the floor behind him. We watched the show together, which I found rather interesting that day. All the talk about the latest trends really caught my attention, yet I still found myself stealing glances at Adam-kun occasionally, especially from behind the shadow of my teacup as I sipped my green tea.

"That model," Adam-kun remarked, as the show proceeded to its fashion segment, "She reminds me of you."

I took a good look at the model as she struck up a variety of cute poses, amidst the gasps of the crowd, marvelling at the model's beauty. She had porcelain skin, smooth and silky, with contacts on her eyes to make her iris appear larger. It was the trend nowadays. In fact, I myself dreamed of getting myself a pair of contact lenses.

"That can't be,"  I replied, dismissing his comment, "She's so cute, that certainly can't be me."

"That's why I said you look like her," Adam-kun said, smiling, "She's adorable, just like you."

I blushed at his comment, and muttered a soft 'thanks'. The both of us returned to watching the show, but I found myself unable to concentrate, and my interest shifted to my boyfriend.

I stole a glance at his teacup, and realised that the tea was barely touched. I took the opportunity to tease him a little.

"You know if you leave it there for too long, the tea will get cold," I said to him.

Adam-kun shot a nervous glance at me, and immediately picked up the teacup. I noticed him squirming involuntarily as he began chugging down the whole teacup worth of green tea, his Adam's apple moving up and down with every gulp. It was obvious that he didn't like it, and I felt bad for making it drink it.

"Y-you don't have to drink it if you don't want to," I cut in.

Adam-kun looked at me with relieved eyes as he returned the cup, half-empty now, back onto the table.

"I'm sorry," I apologised, "I didn't mean to force you."

"N-no! It's okay! I mean, your mother made this for me and it would be rude for me if I didn't even touch it," he replied, his cheeks reddening with embarrassment.

"You don't like green tea do you Adam-kun?" I asked, trying hard to subdue my laughter.

It didn't work I suppose, for I noticed he grew even more embarrassed.

"I-I don't really fancy it," he said again, "But if you want to, I-I'll help finish the whole thing."

"You don't have to force yourself," I replied, trying to calm him down.

Adam-kun calmed down for a while, before suddenly looking at me with an anxious pair of eyes.

"B-but then later your mother would realise that I didn't finish the tea," he stuttered nervously, "What would she think of me then?"

I couldn't help but giggle a little. He was so cute when he was nervous. Adorable in fact. Vastly different from the scary, silent, problematic child that most other students seemed to have taken him for. Especially with him not really talking to anyone else save for me. I was kind of curious to why he didn't really interact much with other people, but hey, who am I to ask?

"Well. . ." I said, "I can finish it up for you."

"S-sure, thanks," he muttered.

With that, having already finished mine to the last drop, I started sipping the tea from Adam-kun's cup as well. Of course, I supposed it didn't occur to any one of us that we were sharing the drink from the same cup. It was different when we were on the plane together the other time, on the way to Nagoya. Perhaps it was because we were now closer to each other, now that we had both acknowledged each other's feelings.

"You like green tea, don't you?" Adam-kun suddenly asked me.

"Yeah," I replied, "It's bitter and plain, but I like it that way. It helps calm me down, and it's full of antioxidants."

For a moment I thought I saw Adam-kun's eyes widen slightly. In the end, I dismissed it as a mistake on my part. My eyes were probably playing tricks on me. Why would he look so shocked at me mentioning antioxidants?

"I prefer sweeter things," he added with a laugh.

I noticed that the time for Adam-kun's clothes was near, so I excused myself, carrying both our cups as I headed out to the kitchen.

"I'll iron your clothes too," I said, "Do you mind?"

"N-no! Please go ahead," he stuttered nervously, "It's just that it's been quite a long time since somebody had ironed for me other than myself," he continued, blushing.

"It's no problem," I replied, "I iron my own clothes too. . . sometimes."

After I got to the kitchen, I rinsed the cups and headed straight for the dryer as soon as the beeping sound came from it, indicating that the load had finished drying. I immediately took out the // now-dry, albeit crumpled clothes, out from the front-load dryer and threw it on the ironing board. When every last crease I could see was pressed and the shirt, pants and blazer were straightened out, I hung them on a hanger and returned it to Adam-kun. But not before I took in the smell of the freshly-ironed fabric though, I really liked that smell. It's a really weird habit of me to go sniffing at clothes after having just ironed them, but hey, it smelled nice, and I liked the smell. It wasn't like the clothes were dirty or anything.

Adam-kun thanked me when he got his clothes back, all dried and ironed. He changed out of Akio-kun's clothes which I quickly threw into the washing machine. The rain had stopped, so Adam-kun decided to return home. After he said goodbye to mother and thanked for the tea, I then walked with Adam-kun to the front gate, which I unlocked for him, before sending him off.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," he said before he left, a shy wiry smile on his lips, "Thanks for today."

"It's my pleasure," I replied, smiling sweetly.

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Tanokuras arrived not long after Adam-kun had left. It was six in the evening sharp, just the perfect time for dinner. Hearing the bell at the gate ring, mother told me to open the gate for them, since I was the only one free, lounging about watching television. Mother was busy in the kitchen, and Akio-kun had just returned home and had hit the shower.

I walked over to the gate again, and was surprised not to see the familiar yellow Nissan of the Tanokura family, but the Tanokuras themselves, standing there at the gate. There were three of them, my aunt, Momoka-san and Shuuya-san. Usually they would have driven, but that evening since their vehicle was absent, I supposed they must have taken the train.

I quickly unlocked the gate, and led the three of them in. My aunt hadn't changed much, except the signs of ageing were more obvious now, her face had more wrinkles than the last time I saw her. Not like they were ugly or anything, but for her age, wrinkles were perfectly normal. They actually kind of suited her as well, it made her look wiser, in a sense.

Momoka-san had grown taller, and her hair, dyed ochre, was tied into a neat French braid. She wore a violet knee-length dress, with a white fleece jacket covering her upper half. She also had earrings on, which complimented her round face perfectly. Nevertheless, her face hadn't changed much, and I recognised her instantly. She was a fair young lady now, from the sweet fourteen year old girl I last met five years ago.

In all honesty, if I had seen Shuuya-san then down the street, I wouldn't even had recognised him. He had changed so much. His jaw had become more defined and longer, his shoulders were broader, and he had grown much, much taller. So much so that he was now taller than the other two women. His black hair was ruffled, and he had gelled it up to make it appear spiky at the top. I nearly assumed that he was the same childish prick he was five years ago, but then I stopped myself.

It's been five years already, surely he can't still be childish can he?

Or so I thought.

Mother and Aunt Tanokura embraced each other as soon as they met, asking how each other was doing in cheerful voices. I heard my aunt offer to help out in the kitchen, and soon the both of them disappeared. I was left there alone with my two cousins in the living room.

"Ah, I'll go get some tea," I offered, getting up.

At that instance, Momoka-san interjected.

"Ah, it's fine," she said, "I'll go make the tea, don't trouble yourself."

With that, Momoka-san got up, and left me there in the living room alone with Shuuya-san. He sat there, leaning against the wall, his mobile phone in one hand and lollipop stick protruding between his lips.

"Oh, it's you," he said as soon as his sister left, in such a snarky tone, obviously directed at me.

"Well," I replied, "How may I help you, Shuuya-san?"

"You're still quite short, don't you think?" he commented, the stick of the lollipop moving as he talked.

"With the lollipop in your mouth, you sound very stupid," I replied.

I supposed that shut him up for a bit, and he returned to looking at his phone and sucking on his candy. As soon as Akio-kun came downstairs to the living room, I took it as an opportunity to excuse myself to help out the other women in the kitchen, leaving my brother with this idiot.

After preparing the dinner, the six of us sat at the dining table. On each side was a mother and her two children. We had sukiyaki that evening, with beef and vegetables and tofu. I hadn't eaten it in a long time, so it felt rather refreshing for me. Shuuya-san and Akio-kun seemed to be rather silent, while the remaining four of us actually managed to have somewhat of a proper conversation. When mother asked her what course she was taking in university, Momkoa-san politely replied that she was in bioengineering at a private university. Mother praised her hard work and said that she hoped that I would excel in my studies as well. I could only nod shyly.

We were done with dinner at 7:30, and the four of us started washing up all the cutlery and cooking ware. As I cleared the table along with Akio-kun, mother decided to send me off for an errand.

"Just let Akio finish clearing up the table," she said, "Could you go to the store, you know, the one I usually go to, and get some soya sauce and rice?"

"When I questioned her why I had to get groceries so late in the evening, mother frowned.

"Your father have not eaten dinner and he had been at work the whole day," my mother replied, slightly irritated, "The least you could do is to be more sensitive."

Reluctantly but obligingly, I got changed into a pair of track pants and wore my pink hoodie, the one with the picture of a cat on it, over my blouse. Mother gave me the money I needed to buy the groceries, and I then set off, on foot, down the road for the shop near the south-eastern side of the Goryokaku. The shop in question was in the neighbouring district of Yanagimachi, nestled between a cluster of quaint houses as well as a small clinic. It was a rather long walk down the two-lane road from Kashiwagicho, past rows and rows of houses, the older one with zinc roofs while the more modern ones had roofs made of terracotta. Some houses had stone fences, covered with moss and adorned with low-growing bushes, while other houses had none at all. It was an anachronistic mishmash of houses, not really as uniform as the machiya I saw in Kyoto the other time during the class trip.

The evening was cool, and the street did have some people about, going up and down the street with their daily business, be it jogging, grocery shopping, or just taking a stroll to enjoy the evening breeze. The sky was getting dark, and the streetlights have all been switched on. I noticed the silhouettes of a flock of pigeons perched on the overhead power lines.

Feeling rather bored, I decided to drop Adam-kun a call as I walked.

He answered after a few seconds of ringing.

"Hey, Ayano-chan," he said, "What's the matter?"

The warmth of his voice made my lips curl up in a smile.

"Nothing," I replied teasingly.

"Oh, well. If that's the case then, umm. . ." Adam-kun trailed off at the other end, "I'll end the call if that's okay," he said rather awkwardly.

"I just wanted to talk to you, silly," I cut in, before he could do anything.

"Ah! I'm s-sorry!" he said, sounding rather flustered.

"So, what are you up to?" I asked.

"Well, I just bought myself dinner," he said, chuckling, "From the supermarket. Now I'm heading over to the clinic at Kashiwagaoka, to get something."

"You're outside right now?" I asked him, my heart leaping with excitement.

"Yeah, you too?"

"On my way to Yanagimachi right now, going to buy some rice, and soya sauce."

"You're walking?"

"Nah, flying," I replied sarcastically

"Come on,"

I giggled at the slight irritation in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm walking," pressing the button at the pedestrian light.

"Well, where are you now?"

I looked around. To be honest as I was talking to Adam-kun on the phone, I didn't really pay much attention to my surroundings like I usually do. It took me a while to register where I was.

"Umm. . . At the intersection between Matsumi Dori and Kashiwagaoka Dori," I told him.

"Just wait there, I'll be there in five minutes," he said hurriedly, "I'm at the clinic now, I'll just get the things and leave. I'm cycling."

Before I could say anything, he hung up. In truth, I was already three-quarters done with the leg from my house to the shop, but since Adam-kun wanted to meet me, I decided to stay and wait for him. Perhaps he would even give me a lift to Yanagimachi.

Adam-kun arrived not long after, riding his bicycle down the street, from the eastern side of Kashiwagaoka. He was cycling at the side of the road, and as soon as he neared me, he got off and began pushing. Adam-kun wore a light blue long johns with white khakis. I spied him as he approached me and immediately got embarrassed that I hadn't chosen my best clothes to wear, since I wasn't expecting to meet up with him in the first place.

"Hey," he said, "You've been waiting long?"

"Nah," I replied.

"Let's get going then," he said, and invited me to sit at the back of his bicycle. I gladly agreed.

We spent the next three or so minutes – the amount of time it took to get from the intersection to the shop- in silence. It wasn't one of those eerie silences, and neither was it awkward nor heavy. It just felt natural, like it was supposed to be there, and neither of us made any real effort to start a conversation. I merely sat there, facing the side, my legs suspended in the air, while Adam-kun cycled much slower than when I saw him approach.

Adam-kun waited outside the shop, resting his bicycle against a streetlamp, while I went in to shop. I tried to do so as fast as possible, and came out of the shop, with a plastic bag filled by my groceries.

"You can put it in the basket in front," Adam-kun said as he saw me, propping his bicycle back up.

"Thanks," I said.

Indeed, it was too heavy for me to carry, and I was secretly thankful that Adam-kun had arrived and offered me a hitch. There was no way on earth that I'd be willing to lift that load all the way home, on foot.

He helped make space for me in the basket, and that was when I realised that there was only one packed lunchbox in there.

"Unagi?" I remarked.

"Yeah," he said, "It was on offer, so I took it."

"What about your mum and sister?" I asked, "You only bought one set."

"Well, tonight my sister has some party to attend, so she told me to just buy dinner for myself. Mom usually comes back late."

"If you don't mind me asking," I said, "What's your mom's schedule like?"

"Well, she takes the first Hokuto train at five from the station, so she has to get up at four and leave by four-twenty. She'll drive and park outside the station then she'll commute to Sapporo. Her job officially ends at six or seven, but sometimes she has a lot of work to do and finishes at nine. Then she'll take the same express back down: The earliest she'll reach home is nine, but usually she reaches home at ten or eleven, sometimes midnight," he told me.

I arranged the groceries in the basket, careful not to disturb any of his items. As I placed the packet of rice, I noticed in the corner was a plastic bag from the pharmacist. I was curious about it, but I didn't ask him, for fear of sounding too intrusive.

When I was done, I got back on the back of the bicycle, and Adam-kun began cycling south towards Kashiwagicho. In the silence, I decided to start a conversation.

"Do you like unagi?" I asked him, "I thought you liked chicken."

"I do, but I like unagi more," he replied, "Anyway, you know about next month's school festival?"

"Yeah? What about it?" I asked.

"This year, we second and third years would be split according to our classes instead of our classes like last year," he tols me.

"Well," I said, "I'll look forward to working with you then."

"Me too," he said, turning around to me and smiled.

Suddenly, I had an idea.

"Adam-kun, where do you live?" I asked sweetly.

"Fukabirocho," he replied, "But didn't I tell you already?" he asked, his face slightly confused.

"Well, I meant your address," I clarified.

Adam-kun stopped his bicycle in front of the red light. I took down his address on my phone as he told it to me.

"Anyway, why do you need it?" he asked again, raising his eyebrows.

"Ah, it's nothing," I replied, giggling.

Adam-kun decided to pursue the matter no further, and continued cycling. We were nearly reaching my house now.

I hope you have a happy 17th birthday, Adam-kun, my heart whispered, while the cool wind blew its melancholy against us.

Against the cold breeze, I leaned against Adam-kun's back and closed my eyes. I could hear him breathe, and I could feel his warmth. With Adam-kun I had nothing to worry about, with Adam-kun I was happy. With just the two of us, we seem to be in a world of our own, floating, drifting, carried along by the gentle current.

In this transient world we float, a world for the hopeless and unwilling.