“Yeah? What’s up?”
“It’s about an older friend of mine. He has some worries on his mind that he won’t share with me. Is there anything I can do for him?”
“…Worries?”
“Yes. He says he has thoughts that lead nowhere stuck on his mind, and I’m not sure what I can say to help him.” She was vague about what her friend’s exact issue was, but the pain she felt from her inability to help was clear. Tears welled up in her eyes.
“I see. It hurts when you can’t do anything to help, doesn’t it?” Keito himself was struggling to figure out how he could help someone who thought about things with no clear answer. That was why his reply wasn’t one of cheap sympathy but of understanding. He knew what it felt like.
“It does…” she replied.
“I’m sorry, Yayoi-chan. I don’t have an answer for you there. I may look like an adult to you, but I’m not. High schoolers are really just children too. I was made painfully aware of that recently.”
He didn’t know what to say to ease the worries of the woman who was his first love. He wished he had the life experience to know what to do.
“Maybe if I were a little older I could be of some help,” he said.
“…Maybe.” Sharing his sense of helplessness, she hung her head.
He gently patted her head, which made her look up curiously. “Y’know, there’s probably not much you and I can do for others, and that sucks. But even if you can’t fix their problems, when you care about somebody you want to be by their side and make them smile.”
It wasn’t to the extent of being a lingering regret in him, but he wanted to help Aoba somehow, even if it was just a tiny bit. And if he couldn’t do even that, then he at least wanted to make her smile.
Perhaps that was a silly thing for him to want for a woman close to his own mother’s age. He thought about it somewhat wryly and felt foolish all of a sudden.
But then Yayoi smiled. “Like you did for me?”
“Y-yeah, I guess. Maybe you could play with this friend of yours and help them forget their worries for a bit too. I’m sure they’d be happy with that if they’re as sweet of a kid as you.”
The sudden compliment made her bashful. His heart was warmed by her reaction, and he found himself smiling.
He meant it half as a joke, but perhaps that was really it. He didn’t know what he should do for Aoba, and thinking about it would probably lead nowhere anyway. He couldn’t be sure he’d ever have an answer to that question, even as an adult. Maybe, then, it’d be better to find something he could do while he was still a child. Those were his honest thoughts as he looked at the shrine basking in the light of the setting sun.
✦ ✦ ✦
3
THE YOUNG BOY AND THE DEMON
THIS YEAR’S SUMMER was special to Keito.
“Oh, hey, Keito-kun. We’ve been running into each other quite a bit lately, haven’t we?”
“Hello. I’ve come to keep our conversation going from last time.”
Aoba giggled. “You’re not one to give up, are you?”
“When something grabs my attention, I stick to it.”
“Like natto beans?”
In the mornings, he met the woman he admired at the shrine and chatted with her. He wasn’t so conceited as to think he could understand her worries, but if he could at least make her smile with a dumb joke or two, then it would be enough.
“Yayoi-chan, let’s go. Oh, and you too, Kei-chin.”
“Coming.”
“Wait, am I an afterthought?”
He played more with Yayoi and Nanao too. They were fairly far apart in age but still good friends. They ran under the blazing sun and played late into the evening.
This year’s summer vacation was more fun than usual. Not just for Keito but for Yayoi as well.
“Thank you for today. I had a lot of fun,” she said as usual.
Time flew when one was having fun. Before they knew it, summer vacation was almost over, and Yayoi would be heading home the following day.
This was to be Yayoi’s last night.
After the sun went down, Nanao paid a surprise visit to the Takamori home. The moment Keito came to the door, she grabbed him and said, “Kei-chin! Has Yayoi-chan come by?!”
“Uh, no? Whoa, be careful! What’s going on?”
She almost fell over in her panic, but Keito caught and steadied her. She seemed on edge, talking without even stopping to catch her breath. “It’s Yayoi-chan! She’s gone!”
“Gone? What do you mean gone?”
“She didn’t make it home after we split up! What do we do?!”
“W-well, let’s calm down, for starters.”
The three of them had played during the day, but Yayoi hadn’t arrived home afterward. Her parents and Kamei-san were searching everywhere for her as well.
The clock showed it was already ten, late into the night. A little girl still not being home at this hour was worrying indeed.
“Nanao, you’d better go home.”
“But—”
“Don’t. You’re a girl too; you shouldn’t be out this late. I’ll help look for Yayoi-chan, so just sit tight.”
“O…kay.” She seemed reluctant but backed down.
He was just as worried about Yayoi as she was. He hurriedly got ready to leave and rushed out of the house. “Yayoi-chan…”
He first planned to check the places they had gone to play. He prayed she was safe as he ran through the night, trying to calm his anxious heart.