2
AUGUST 2009.
The Jinta Shrine, where Miyaka lived, hosted a yearly festival on the fifteenth of August. The festival was quite popular, with several stands setting up shop every year, but that also meant there was a lot of garbage to clean up afterward every time. The stalls at least cleaned up their own trash, but there was always some stuff left over, and going around and picking up that trash was a yearly practice.
The mid-August sun was dizzyingly strong, even before noon. The heat certainly didn’t make trash-collecting any more fun.
“I’ve finished up over here.”
“We’ve used up quite a few trash bags. I’ll go bring some more.”
At least Miyaka had some extra help this year. A school acquaintance had offered to help. She had refused at first because she felt bad, but her parents insisted it’d be a waste not to take them up on the offer, so she was half forced to accept.
She was thankful for the help, but she felt like she was always on the receiving end of things with Kadono Jinya. He didn’t seem to mind, though. He claimed he was acquainted with her parents and wanted to drop by to say hello anyway. It wasn’t clear whether that was the truth or just something he said to stop her from worrying, but at any rate, it seemed like he didn’t want her to mind, so she tried not to.
“Thanks for the help. Things are looking a lot cleaner now,” she said.
“No problem. Looks like we’re almost done.”
“Yeah. Why don’t we take a short break first before we tackle the rest?”
After two hours, they had collected a fair amount of the garbage and moved under the eaves of the shrine to take a breather. The heat weakened as they entered the shade, making her exhale a sigh.
Even after working under the blazing sun for hours, Jinya didn’t look tired in the slightest—there wasn’t even a bead of sweat on him. His stamina surprised her, but when she really thought about it, this kind of work was probably much less taxing than all that leaping and jumping around with a sword that he did.
She realized then that it would be impolite not to give him something as thanks, so she had him wait while she went inside her home and dug around her refrigerator. They were out of juice and only had barley tea, but that would be a bit uncool to serve. She checked the freezer, thinking there should be some ice cream there, but only found some cheap soda-flavored popsicles. She remembered that her dad had eaten the expensive ice cream yesterday. Still, popsicles were better than nothing, so she took two and went back outside.
The sun was still going strong when she stepped out. She heard the ear-splitting cries of cicadas and smelled the thick scent of greenery. It was so humid that the air shimmered. Summer was in full swing here at the temple, and it was blazing today. She sped her pace up to return a bit faster to the shady spot where Jinya was waiting, then handed him one of the popsicles.
“Sorry, this was all we had.”
“I don’t mind. Thanks.”
“It’s the least I can do when you’re helping me out.”
The two sat eating their popsicles in the oppressive heat, and the cold treat chilled them nicely.
Jinya’s expression didn’t change at all, but he was probably enjoying himself. He gave a long, comfortable sigh, as though to exhale the heat in his body. “These kinds of things taste a lot better in summer.”
“They sure do. Oh, but I’m sure you’d still rather be eating isobe mochi, huh?”
“Ha. I do like mochi, but it isn’t all I eat.”
Could’ve had me fooled, she thought. He was so crazy for isobe mochi that he even brought it to school for lunch. It was comforting to see such a childish side to an otherwise overly serious person.
He rubbed his cheek sheepishly, which made her giggle.
“Well, what about you? What’s your favorite thing to eat?” he asked.
“Huh? Me? Well… Nothing really leaps to mind. I’m not really particular when it comes to food.” Of course, she would hesitate if she was served something like seasoned grasshopper, but she could eat anything you’d see on a normal dinner table with no problem. She wasn’t averse to particular vegetables like some people were, and she enjoyed the strong flavors of mutton and black carp. There was little she couldn’t eat, but also not much she could recall especially liking.
“What about gyuudon?” he asked.
“Mm, I do get the urge to eat some every now and then, but I wouldn’t call it a favorite of mine. Oh, come to think of it, we got gyuudon not long ago, didn’t we?”
“Yeah. I assumed it was a favorite of yours or something.”
“Nah. I guess I could say Japanese food is my favorite? Or rather, just rice. I can’t work up much of an appetite without rice.”
“I feel the same way. Bread tastes good, but it just doesn’t fill the stomach.”
“That comes first, huh? You’re such a guy.”
They kept up their trivial chat. Miyaka wasn’t the social type, but she enjoyed talking to Jinya. The only other person she could talk to like this was her best friend since junior high school, Azusaya Kaoru.
“Oh…” Then she remembered that there was something she liked eating, though it wasn’t exactly a favorite of hers.
Seeing her go stiff all of a sudden, Jinya gave her a questioning look. Feeling bashful from being stared at, she quickly smiled and said, “Oh, sorry. Going back to what we were talking about earlier, there is this one thing I remember I liked eating, though I wouldn’t necessarily call it a favorite.”
“Oh?”
She was a bit hesitant to say it. The girls in her class had told her it was weird to like something like that when she mentioned it before—which was likely why it hadn’t come to mind earlier.
Somewhat interested, Jinya waited for Miyaka to speak. She could change the topic if she wanted. She had only known him for a while, but she knew he was considerate enough to let it go. But she decided to say it anyway, even though she was a bit embarrassed.
“Um, it’s something called…”