Senpai pulled over to the edge of the sidewalk and came to a stop, then ran around to the back to help us get out, still dripping sweat from head to toe. This time Adachi got out first, pulling me by the hand. Once we were back on solid ground, I closed the parasol and returned it.
“Did you enjoy the ride, madam?”
“Considering all I did was sit in one spot the whole time, there was a lot going on.”
“Great! Now if you could just circle all 5s on the survey…”
“What survey?”
“All jokes aside, Shimamura, I gotta talk to you real quick. And you gotta pay.”
“Oh, okay.”
If she wanted to speak in private, then I would need Adachi to wait here, and yet…
“And yet…”
The pretty lady showed no signs of relinquishing her continued grip on my hand.
“Look, I gotta go pay for the ride, and apparently, she wants to talk to me about something. Is that agreeable, my dear Adachi-san?”
“Talk about what?”
“Well, that’s the thing. I won’t know what it’s about until I talk to her.”
Her fingers poked at mine like she was scolding them. Even when it was just an old acquaintance we’d bumped into by chance, Adachi never let her guard down. Perhaps the secret to her hard work was that she didn’t allow herself to grow complacent.
“I’m telling you, it’ll be fine. Okay?”
“Okay…”
I knew she wasn’t doing this puppy dog act on purpose, but it was still so evil.
After I somehow managed to get Adachi to wait out in front of a nearby second-hand clothing store, I walked over to Senpai.
“Like I said earlier, it’s 3000 yen.”
“Yeah, yeah.” While she was getting her wallet out, I noticed Adachi looking at us and offered her a smile.
“What’s her problem, anyway? She’s not worried I’m gonna put my paws on you, is she?”
“More or less. Let’s just say she can be a little jealous gremlin.”
“Right, right.” As we spoke, Senpai held her palm out in my direction. I paid the full 3000 yen, no friends-and-family discount in sight. “Y’know, she’s really something. Let me have her.”
“Ha ha ha…”
“No, seriously. With your blessing, I’ll make my move on her ASAP,” she pressed with a straight face as she pocketed the cash.
“Senpai…?”
“Real talk, I’m super into girls, too. She’d be perfect if only she was a little shorter.”
There was no indication that she was joking, either. You, too? I looked up at her. There seemed to be an awful lot of sapphics in my life. Maybe there was something about me that drew them in. But I digress.
Could I relinquish Adachi to someone else?
My current life, minus Adachi, would equal…a version of me on the verge of collapse.
Yeah, that’s not happening.
“Well, you don’t have my blessing.”
In this world, we could only give permission on our own behalf and no one else’s. With that understanding, I rejected the concept of another person touching Adachi. For my own benefit.
Senpai heard the edge in my voice and nodded in satisfaction. “Then I guess I’ll make my move without it. In a world without permission, the ultimate seductress reigns supreme. Her name—”
“Hey!”
“I’m just messing with you. While I do enjoy stealing people’s girlfriends, I can tell that one’s a challenge I can’t handle,” she muttered with a self-deprecating sigh. “Loyal girls like her are never interested in me.”
“Well, duh. They wouldn’t be loyal if they cheated,” I answered a bit too seriously.
Then she pulled out a towel and started wiping her sweat. “All right, I’m gonna say something selfish.”
“What? Uh…okay…?”
“Never take your girlfriend for granted, Shimamura,” she warned me as she mopped up the product of her labor. It reminded me of the times she’d casually strike up a conversation with me after basketball practice. “Not that I’d ever take my own advice, of course.”
“What?”
“I can’t be that kind of person anymore. But you need to be, got it?”
“Senpai…”
Was it somehow connected to the faint scar on her forehead? Selfish indeed, to demand of me what she couldn’t do herself. But the fact that she warned me ahead of time was itself a vestige of her past self.
“It appears that this is where our paths must diverge.”
“I didn’t pay for an extension, so yeah.”
Was it me, or did she just roll her eyes? “From here on, the two of you can go anywhere! As far as you like!”
“Sheesh, quit shouting!”
“And if you get tired along the way, don’t hesitate to grab a rickshaw, all right?” As she grasped the shafts, her wrists bent like she was gripping a steering wheel. “Ideally at least four more times before your vacation’s over.”
“Do you only get paid commission, or…?”
“I’m just saying, it can get boring to walk alone. Now, time to find my next rider.”
She began to pull the rickshaw, and judging from the direction, I could tell she was headed back to the station square. As I gazed at her hair, shining brighter than the light absorbed by the big, silver wheels…
“Take care, Senpai.”
I withdrew my usual goodbye in favor of another. She had only carried us fifteen minutes forward, and perhaps that was apt for a connection as tenuous as ours. But when she looked back over her shoulder, I saw a hint of junior high in her smile.
“Thanks for the ride! Have a good trip!”
In the end, she played the role of driver to perfection, ending the moment on a high note. With a pretty face, it was easy to cut things short; this was something I’d learned through my relationship with Adachi. And as I watched her walk off into the brilliant blue sky, I finally remembered her name.
“That’s right. I’d only ever seen her name on paper, so I said it wrong the first time. She gave me such a dirty look…”
But today, I could look back on that memory with a smile.
When I walked over to Adachi, she glanced at the retreating figure in the distance. “She sure was weird.”
“Yeah, I guess.” I already had two family members a lot weirder than her, so it didn’t really resonate. “I’m just happy she’s doing well for herself.”
This time I didn’t say “have a good life,” and yet it felt like a permanent goodbye. But on the off chance I saw her again, I’d probably recognize that blonde hair anywhere.
“Now, where to first? Souvenirs…? Eh, that can wait until we’re headed home.”
For once, we were actually tasked with bringing gifts home. Before we left, a tanuki came running through the house to smugly offer me a 500 yen coin. Naturally, she wanted junk food. As with any money accepted from a tanuki, I kept checking to see if it had transformed back into a leaf, but so far it hadn’t.
“Where do you wanna go, Adachi?”
“Wherever you are, Shimamura,” she answered without a moment’s hesitation, and once again I found myself admiring her conviction.
“But I’m already here.”
When I offered her my hand, she took it gently, like it was a prized treasure. As usual, we both started walking at nearly the same time, each hoping to guide the other.
“I’m kind of disappointed that there’s fifteen whole years of Shimamura I’ll never get to meet.”
This was apparently her review of the rickshaw ride. It felt like she was more or less saying she was too busy looking at me to care about the scenery, and it made summer’s color gather in my cheeks.
“Even though you’ll have all the decades ahead?”
“Two separate things.”
“Typical Adachi.”
She was so greedy, she wouldn’t be satisfied until she tasted every last bite of me. And since all it evoked from me was a smile, it was clear that I was a terminal case. Be it a familiar town or brand-new territory, she was right there by my side every step of the way. She was my Polaris, my guiding light, making my whole world sparkle… No, she was my whole world.
“Lately, I’ve started to wonder if maybe I love you a lot more than I realize.”
As I spoke, without looking at her face, I made a decision. I started walking quickly, bent forward slightly so her voice wouldn’t reach my ears. Obviously our joined hands wouldn’t allow this, but nonetheless, I tried my hardest to escape.
Roasting in the summer sun, my limbs felt so light. Where would we go? What would we see, and what would we remember? As we walked, it all began to pile up. Simply being with Adachi was enough to bury me in memories.
Praying that these memories would one day resurface, like bubbles filled with joy, I raced with her through a string of summers, each of them finite, yet seemingly boundless.
Because I’d decided the two of us could go anywhere—as far as we liked.