I heard the click-clack of the train approaching from afar. I raised my voice so I was sure Nazuna could hear me from beyond the bathroom wall.
“Hey, the train’s coming!”
“I know. I just finished…”
I turned with my eyes toward the ground, and a pair of bright-red pumps suddenly entered my view. When I looked up, Nazuna was standing before me—a trace of embarrassment on her face.
She was in a black cocktail dress. The neck dipped down far enough to reveal a slight amount of cleavage. Her wavy hair hung around her shoulders, and her lips were faintly red, indicating a trace of makeup.
She was a different person from the Nazuna I’d walked into the station with moments earlier. But at the same time, I felt like I had seen her that way before.
“So? Do I look eighteen? …I do, right?” As if disconcerted by my stare, Nazuna kept looking away as she mumbled her question.
“Uh…well…um…”
I racked my brain but wasn’t coming up with any real words. I had no idea what to do. I merely stood there, whipping through my own thoughts like I was beating an egg in a mixing bowl.
Nazuna, still refusing to look at me, pulled something out of her pocket.
“Look at this.”
“Huh?”
Nazuna held out the mysterious orb from before.
“…Yeah, you showed me earlier at the pool…”
“I found it in the ocean this morning. For some reason…when I found this, my mind was set. I decided to leave.”
“…”
Nazuna peered at the orb in her hand as she continued.
“No, wait… That’s not quite right…”
“It was when I won the race. Right?”
Nazuna lifted her face, clearly startled at how I’d just finished her thought.
But I’d surprised myself even more. The moment I’d seen her in that dress, something had felt strange. At first, I’d thought I was just bewitched by her appearance. But there was something more.
What was strange was that I’d seen it all before.
I’d stood on this lonely platform at Moshimo Station, under this same mix of orange, yellow, and still-just-barely-indigo sky, and I’d seen Nazuna before me, with the orb in her hand. I remembered this scenery. I remembered having these sensations.
It was that feeling of reliving the same moment over again…déjà…
No, it’s not that…
I was pretty sure… No, I was certain that I’d stood in that exact spot before. And something was about to happen… Something really bad…
Whoo-whoo!
We heard the sound of the train’s whistle.
“Come with me,” Nazuna said, gazing right into my eyes.
I looked back. I knew those pleading, tear-filled eyes.
“…”
The click-clack of the train was now accompanied by the screech of its brakes. The train slid slowly into position alongside the platform.
Soon, it would be completely stopped, and the doors would open.
What was I supposed to do? If I boarded the train with Nazuna, how far away would we go?
I thought as hard as I could, but no answer was forthcoming. I only knew one thing: A premonition so strong it bordered on total conviction was warning me that if we stayed as we were, something bad was going to happen.
“Hey, does this seem familiar to…?”
“Nazuna!!”
A shrill voice emanated from the direction of the ticket gate, ripping apart our shared moment.
That was it. That voice. That was the voice that heralded all the bad things that would happen.
When I turned around, I saw exactly what I thought I would: Nazuna’s mother and a middle-aged man running past the ticket gate. They were heading toward us with anger written all over their faces.
Though their expressions surprised me, I wasn’t scared. Nazuna dashed for the fence at the end of the platform, slamming into me as she went by.
“Nazuna! Get back here!!”
The woman continued shouting as she and the man passed in front of me. I watched them, trying to figure out what I should do. Next, Nazuna would be…
“Nazuna! What were you thinking?!!”
Before Nazuna could clear the fence, she was caught by her mother.
“Stop it! Let me go!! Stop it!!”
The girl struggled desperately, but it was to no avail. Nazuna was pulled back toward the ticket gate, her mother and the man each gripping one upper arm.
I’d seen this entire scene play out before. But even though I realized exactly what was going on, I still found myself unable to move.
“Norimichi! Help me!!”
I heard her voice. I’d heard it however many times before. Last time, I’d remained frozen. But even this time, I still had no idea how to act.
My mind was getting even more mixed up. The only thing I knew was that I had definitely seen this happen before.
“No! I won’t go! I don’t want to go!!”
Nazuna’s voice began to fade as she was dragged away. I had to save her…but my feet wouldn’t move, as if they were glued to the ground.
“Don’t touch me! Let me go!!”
The voice was getting farther and farther away.
What should I do? I…
“Norimichi! Help!! Norimichi!!”
Nazuna’s voice resonated around me, and my head shot up. She tried to shake the man off her right arm, and the sudden movement caused the orb to sail into the air from her hand.
The instant I saw it hit the surface of the platform, I felt as if my body had been released. I burst into a run.
I won’t let them take her!!
I caught up with them just as they reached the ticket gate. Without thinking, I seized the man’s arm.
“What do you think you’re doing, kid?!”
“Let her go!”
I pulled as hard as I could, but his firm, muscled limb wouldn’t budge. The man jerked his arm, trying to shake me off.
His elbow… That’s it…! Next, the elbow’s going to hit me in the face!
I instinctively drew my head back, and the man’s elbow sliced through thin air.
When the miss threw him off-balance, I launched myself forward and tackled him. I felt my right shoulder dig into his side.
“Oof!”
The man let out a short yelp, and our tangled bodies both tumbled to the ground. The rough gravel of the platform bit into my left palm. It stung, but I kept pushing firmly against the ground and raised myself back up.
“Nazuna!”
I’d never shouted her first name like that before. But we had no time for delicacy. Nazuna’s mother had released her grip in shock after witnessing my scuffle with the man. I saw our chance and reached out my right hand toward Nazuna.
The door of the train began to close.
“Let’s go!”