“Oh, I know. We could—what if we…studied…together?”
Classic Adachi, stumbling weakly over her words. “Sure, let’s have a study party.” It was something I’d never done before, and the prospect sounded exciting. Frankly, I rarely went to any sort of party. Last one was probably…something to do with Girl Scouts. “Okay, I’ll be here. Take your time and don’t rush, or you might hurt yourself.”
“Okaybye.” She answered so quickly, and ended the call so abruptly, I could tell she hadn’t listened to a word I said.
For a moment I set my phone down and spread my arms out. But I could tell I was in danger of falling asleep if I kept lying there, so I swung myself into an upright position. In the past I would have closed my eyes and fed myself a line about how I needed to “think for a while,” so clearly some part of me was different now.
Indeed, a lot had changed since I met Adachi. And when I summed it all up, it gave me the motivation I needed. She was my energy—and it was pretty amazing. Now that I understood what I had been living without all this time, I had a newfound respect for that little fireball.
But anyway, uh…not to ruin the whole “motivation” thing I was just talking about, but…a study party…at my house…with Adachi…
“Hmm.”
Yeah, that’s not gonna happen, is it?
I sat in front of the electric fan, watching a penguin float in midair right in front of me. It was a testament to summer’s devastation that I couldn’t even find the energy to be shocked. Though I will say, it was pretty surreal when she did it as a jellyfish.
One time, when I asked her how she did it, she actually gave me an answer. To be totally honest, it was so complex, I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. All I could recall was that she said she wasn’t technically floating, just…rewriting her positionals, or something to that effect. It made me think perhaps this alien was actually galaxy-brained and beneath her usual veneer of innocence was a cunning monster watching vigilantly for her opportunity to take over the world. So I brought her a bag of Sakuyama Chocojirou, and she ate them with the same old dopey smile. And that was the story of how I saved Planet Earth…maybe. But I digress.
I listened closely, hoping I could develop a special skill, too. But I didn’t have a clue what I was supposed to be sensing, so the most I could do was wiggle my ears. The longer I sat there in silence, the more I began to focus solely on my own slow heartbeat.
Am I doing it right? Maybe I should think about Adachi a little more…
As idle thoughts shook the darkness in my heart, the penguin gently landed next to me, then pointed a wing stiffly in the direction of the hall. “Adachi-san is approaching.”
“…Man, I couldn’t tell at all…”
I really wanted to perceive her arrival like Yashiro could, but it just wasn’t possible. Maybe if she was out there singing as loud as the cicadas or something. Too bad it wasn’t a matter of simply sensing her love, because in that case, I could probably feel it from the dark side of the moon. No, yeah, definitely.
That said, love didn’t have one specific feeling assigned to it, so what the heck was it, anyway? I wanted to figure out a non-scientific answer eventually. It certainly wasn’t going to happen if my only hope was some alien’s mystery organ. But I kinda suspected Adachi might just find it one day.
“You’ve got some weird talents for a kid who can’t even wash the dishes.”
“Ha ha ha! If you can’t feel it, then simply go and wait for her outside.”
“Mrgh… I can never tell if the things you say are deep or not. Now go find my sister.”
I gave the penguin a little push from behind, and she ran off down the hallway. Why had this bizarre creature decided to live with a family that was mostly ordinary, save for my mother’s extreme open-mindedness? She could have chosen Hino’s house, where there was a big backyard and plenty of room for an alien or two. So why here? Was her beloved “destiny” involved?
In pursuit of my own destiny, I headed for the front door. My old basketball was still sitting on the shelf like a decoration, gathering dust; I ran my hand over it, then put it back in the corner. Whenever I touched it, it felt like I was in junior high all over again.
Before she could ring the doorbell, I unlocked the door—and when I stepped outside, I was greeted by sunshine and the shadow of a bicycle.
“…Shimamura?”
“Yup, that’s me. And you are Adachi Sakura.”
Adachi stared at me, eyes wide, as she stood beside her bike. Wow, she really is here, I thought, impressed by the alien’s superpower.
“Wh…um…were you just waiting there the whole time…?”
Her eyes sparkled hopefully, like two miniature suns. If the roles were reversed and I was going over to her house, she’d probably wait at her front door for me in the exact same way. Not that she ever invited me! I once jokingly hinted that I’d like to see her room, and in response, she shook her head vigorously. What exactly was she hiding in there? A Shimamura shrine she prayed to every night?
“Well, I kinda sensed that…someone was telling me you were here.” I started to tell a lazy lie, then fumbled my way through it. Now I sounded like a crazy person…and yet Adachi’s face lit up with a beautiful smile.