The setting sun had painted the sky and surrounding area in shades of red. Wispy, torn clouds of pale pink were scattered across the sky. The evening breeze carried the scent of fresh greenery from the short-cut grass. People were jogging, walking their dogs, and young mothers were pushing baby carriages along the embankment. Lively voices could be heard from the playground below, where children in white uniforms were practicing baseball.
“I’m sorry,” Yuuya murmured, his gaze absentmindedly on the scenery as we walked.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, observing his profile.
“For making you say those things,” he replied without looking at me.
A month ago, I’d received a message asking how our date had gone, but I didn’t reply. Without blaming me or pressing further, Yuuya sensed that something was off with me and took me shopping. It was his kindness. And yet, I’d ended up confessing my rejection in front of everyone.
I didn’t think Yuuya had wanted me to do that. He was a big guy with rough movements but also gentle. Sakura must have been drawn to that side of him.
“Getting rejected doesn’t mean you need a new love. You’re different,” he said.
“Yeah,” I replied.
The vermilion sky was beginning to transition into a light purple hue. Even in this world of violet, the one person I remembered most vividly was Saki.
I had thought my feelings would easily fade if I were separated from her. I imagined my love locked up in a small box, withering and dying without sunlight or water. That’s what I had believed, but… no matter where I went or what I did, thoughts of her consumed me.
My daily life, as I remembered her, was filled with brightness, but when my thoughts were interrupted and I couldn’t see her, my daily life instantly lost its color, leaving me feeling alone in a sepia-toned space.
Questions plagued my mind as I longed to see Saki, the girl I still had feelings for. Where was she now? Did she stay in Kyoto or move far away to her foster parents’ home? Since she didn’t have a cell phone, I had no means of contacting her. I wondered if she was happy in her new life.
Even though I knew the sky wouldn’t answer my inquiries, I found myself pondering while gazing at the faintly floating white moon in the violet sky.
“What kind of girl was she?” Yuuya suddenly asked, breaking the usual norm of avoiding such questions that could reopen the wounds of a broken heart. It seemed like he genuinely wanted to know. I wanted to share with Yuuya the story of my beloved girlfriend, whose mere existence filled my heart with overwhelming love.
“She was cute, beautiful,” I began, struggling to find the right words. “But it’s not just that. She was kind, reliable, but…”
“But?”
“She cared more about others than herself.”
“Just like you.”
“No, I’m not that good,” I responded, realizing I often placed myself above others. It was her selfless and genuine compassion that had drawn me to her. Her love extended far and wide, just like Grandma’s.
Oh, what should I do? Every time I thought of her, my love, locked away in a closed box, trembled and yearned to be set free. The swelling emotions threatened to break the lid, surging through my chest and causing my eyes to well up.
It seemed like the sky was on the verge of shedding tears.
“Anything else about her?” Yuuya probed further.
“Mmm… she likes soccer. She knows a lot about it,” I shared, attempting to divert the rising intensity of my emotions by revealing an unexpected aspect of Saki.
“Oh, that’s cool,” Yuuya responded, showing genuine interest.
“She’s a passionate fan of Purple Sanga.”
“What’s Purple Sanga?” Yuuya questioned.
“Huh?”
“Isn’t it Kyoto Sanga?”
Ah, I assumed she was a Kyoto Sanga fan. But Saki always referred to it differently…
“I wonder if they won. Today is Purple Sanga’s game day.”
“Do you have a favorite team?”
“Kyoto Purple Sanga.”
She said it with such clarity. I had been mistaken because the locals referred to it differently.
“Come to think of it, wasn’t Kyoto Sanga called Kyoto Purple Sanga in the past?”
“…”
“Well, when we started following soccer, they had already changed their name to Kyoto Sanga, so maybe those familiar with the old name still refer to it as Purple Sanga.”
A sense of discomfort washed over me. Saki’s way of speaking wasn’t merely a nostalgic reminiscence. She had distinctly said Purple Sanga.
“Keiichi, watch out!” Yuuya’s loud voice suddenly startled me, and I saw something hurtling toward me. I tried to dodge it, but my body only managed to tilt diagonally.
“Oh, no!”
The world spun around me as I slid down the steep slope, finally coming to a stop below the embankment.
“Sorry!”
As I lay there on the ground, covered in grass and dirt, a group of boys in white uniforms gathered before me. Their faces displayed a mixture of panic and concern. It finally became clear what had flown in front of me — a baseball.
“Are you okay?” one of the boys asked, worry in his voice.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry, just keep practicing,” I reassured them, offering a smile despite the pain.
“We’re really sorry.”
“Thank you very much.”
The boys quickly took off their baseball caps, bowed apologetically, retrieved the ball, and swiftly ran away. I called out to them, their small figures receding into the distance. “Good luck, boys!”
A sharp pain shot through my little finger as I attempted to stand up, causing me to wince in discomfort. “Ow.”
“I think it’s broken.”
“You’re stupid, big brother.”
“Shut up.”
When I arrived home and saw my swollen pinky finger, I was immediately taken to the hospital. It was revealed that my finger was indeed broken.
“Could easily breaking a bone mean you have a calcium deficiency?”
Not wanting to hear my sister’s annoying comments, I headed up the stairs and entered my room. I casually turned on the TV, but only the news was on. Since I wasn’t interested, I sat at my desk and gazed into space.
After a few news segments, the announcer on TV mentioned, “Today is the second blue moon.”
Ah, so the next blue moon has already arrived.
I stood up and approached the window. The full moon visible through the window had a faint bluish tint.
It truly was a blue moon.
I shifted my gaze to the small box on my desk and slowly opened the lid, revealing a tiny star inside.
On the final day of the first blue moon, I’d embraced Saki by the fountain. While cradling her small head, my finger had slipped into her silky hair. Then, when I gently let her go, a thin thread attached to a small star hidden in her hair broke and remained on my fingertip.
It wasn’t until I returned to Grandma’s house that night that I’d realized it. I couldn’t bring myself to throw away that small star. I’d brought it back to Tokyo and placed it in a small box I happened to find.
“You wanted to be by Saki’s side, too, didn’t you?” I murmured to the glittering star in the box.
Before we knew it, summer vacation was over, and school had started. The first day consisted of a shortened schedule, with only half a day of activities, including an opening ceremony. From today, the second day, real school life began.
Although my classmates, who had also finished their summer vacation, seemed familiar, they appeared a bit more grown-up. In one corner of the classroom, various summer memories were shared, such as “I got a boyfriend” or “The summer festival we went to together was so fun.”
Certainly, envy shined in my eyes. It was heartening to know that the innocent love I experienced during the summer still continued.
After several hours of soccer practice, I changed out of my sweaty T-shirt into a blue one and boarded the bus.
“It’s been a while since I last rode a bus.”
“Really? I ride it every day.”
“That’s nice.”
“No, it’s not.”
I closed my eyes and allowed the bus’s movement to sway me, recalling the memories etched into my mind from summer. Holding a strap, I looked out the window and saw a faint moon hanging in the sky, casting a dim light. It was a full moon. And today, just like before, it was blue.
As the bus slowed to a stop, I looked up at the sky and saw the blue moon spreading its blue glow across the darkness. I was well acquainted with this blue light and the big blue full moon. Come to think of it, on the day I broke my right little finger, the announcer on TV had said, “Today is the second blue moon.” So, today was the fourth day of the second blue moon. Once today was over, would the second blue moon also be over?