The calendar is still hanging on the wall. Saturday, August 17.
Movers coming 4 PM.
I’ve seen that scribbled note many times by now. I wrote it myself, in fact. But now the day is here.
I remove the thumbtack holding the calendar to the wall. It leaves a small hole. I rub it a bit with my finger, but it doesn’t go away. Ah well. It doesn’t matter. I’m leaving anyway.
Now the packing process for the move is all done. I wrapped up everything after I left Smile yesterday. The packing was finished before I knew it; it was hard to believe I couldn’t get it done before then. I fold the calendar in my hand twice, then toss it into the trash. I can hear the plastic liner rustle a little against the floor. I can always buy a new one.
Slowly, I look around the room. The evening sun is shining through the balcony, stopping right at my feet. It isn’t a big room, but when it’s empty like this, it sure feels spacious. I’ve been living in this complex for as long as I can remember, but now this barren room feels like it belongs to someone else. It’s sweltering and humid because I just turned off the air conditioner. The sweat is making it feel like the headphones around my neck are sticking to my skin. I grab them with both hands and gently put them over my ears.
“Oh…”
Smile’s voice is echoing in my head. The headphones’ noise canceling only makes it clearer.
“Well…good luck.”
The refrain of our separation booms in my brain. She didn’t say good-bye. She didn’t, which makes the sense of separation even stronger. Even though moving shouldn’t make much of a difference, given our phones and all. The more I fell in love with Smile, the more difficult it was to tell her about the move.
…It wasn’t that I couldn’t. I just didn’t want to. If I put it into words, that would make it come true. What was the point of that? It’s not like that’d undo the move.
“Do you want to see the fireworks…with me?”
I’ve known I was moving out on the day of the Daruma Festival, but I still wanted to see the fireworks with Smile…but in the end, I couldn’t give her more than some halfhearted pleasantries. I hurt her. It came out the wrong way to her… Or not? I really did want to join her. If I could have told her about the move earlier, maybe it wouldn’t have worked out that way? …But now I’m just thinking about things that’ll never happen. It’s a waste of time.
…Then I hear the intercom from the hallway.
“Hello?”
Mom answers it from the dining room. The movers are here.
I take my phone out of my pocket and check the time. They were supposed to come at four, but the time is 5:23 PM. I guess they are a little late, but that’s fine. We aren’t due at the new place until tomorrow afternoon anyway. So I close my phone case and tuck it into my pocket.
The sunlight that used to be at my feet is now barely covering the toes on my left foot. I pull my left leg back and walk out of the room, that haiku dancing in my mind.
“Sakura petals, they fade on the wind without a word of farewell.”
By the time we finish loading the moving truck, it is already dark.
The truck speeds off, and Dad follows it in our car, Mom in the passenger seat and me alone in the back.
The scenery passes by listlessly outside the window, one view giving way to the next without any input from me. The people on the sidewalks of the main road are dressed in yukata and jinbei short jackets, smiling and walking excitedly, having all kinds of fun. They are heading for the mall…to join the Daruma Festival.
My heart beats normally, thanks to my headphones. I’m not hearing any of the excitement from everyone going to the mall. The view passes me by. It’s just normal scenery.
Ba-ding…
Suddenly, my headphones come to life, startling me. It’s a notification, and it rudely pulls me back to reality. My field of vision narrows, my attention turning to the phone in my pocket.
I sit up a little and take out my phone. Opening the case, I press the side button. The screen lights up brightly in the dark car, the words jumping into view.
[Curiolive]
Smile has begun streaming.
I have no words. It’s too surprising.
Smile has begun streaming? The time on my phone is 7:24. They should be dancing the Daruma Ondo right now. My heart is racing. Like I’m running the 100-meter dash… Hurry, hurry!
Quickly, I swipe the notification bar to launch Curiolive. The familiar user interface appears on the screen, showing a two-story festival tower decorated with red and white ribbons and lanterns, a crowd of spectators surrounding it. The sky is dark, but everything around the tower is brightly lit by the lanterns and food stalls. She is streaming live from the Daruma Festival.
Oh, a festival!
Smile’s at a festival?
Summer festival stream!
The viewers are just as excited.
The first floor of the tower has been raised a few feet, allowing people to see all the dancers lined up behind it. There are old men and women in yukata, a girl with bouncy blond pigtails, one with a short haircut… Everybody from Sunnyside. Some girls with glasses and hair buns, too—Julie and Marie.
Atop the tower’s second floor is an old man next to a big taiko drum, hair like a cotton ball. He is small, but I can see him clearly. It is Mr. Fujiyama.
“All right! Next up, Sunnyside Day Service will perform our favorite dance!”
Through the headphones, I can hear an announcer talking from the loudspeakers.
“It’s time for the traditional Mt. Oda Daruma Ondo dance! Enjoy, everybody!”
I’ve heard this voice before. Oh, right, it’s the woman who emceed the crawling-baby race, isn’t it? The one with the false start.
The audience starts clapping in unison even before she finishes her spiel. It is a big crowd, so the volume is pretty deafening. The visuals on-screen, paired with the sound, really bring the excitement home for me. Then the applause gradually grows quiet. A soft buzz fills the venue. Everyone is waiting for the “Daruma Ondo” song to begin on the loudspeakers.
…I start to suspect something. My mind is racing. Smile is choosing this moment to start streaming. A stream directed entirely toward me. I can’t be sure of it. But this feeling… Is it true? I’ve got to hear it. Just play it. Play it!
…The sound gently envelops the mall rooftop. Through the headphones, I can hear the sound of a guitar—an acoustic guitar—playing slowly and gently. It isn’t the “Daruma Ondo” music at all… It’s that song, isn’t it?
After the soft guitar intro, the singing begins to flow out—a clear, light female voice that seems to dance softly in the air. I close my eyes. No visuals are needed. I focus all my attention on my ears, as I receive this gift from Smile.
Do you remember those days
we were so absorbed in our lives
Then a miracle happened
I ran into you
On that day, at that music hall,
I fell in love like a bolt of lightning hit me
The key that opens the door to my heart
The one and only key
It’s the wings of freedom because
dreams you let go turn into rainbow bridges
This song is all for you
not for anyone else
And I hope it reaches you
not someday, but right now
Then we’ll meet again next year
and see the cherry blossoms together
My searching heart
is filling up with words
With a melody that still won’t fade
The fleeting vision of Cherry Coke lives on with me
I slowly open my eyes.
On my phone screen, everyone from Sunnyside is doing their ondo dance to the song. The tempos of the two songs are wildly different, but they are adjusting for it. Even Mr. Fujiyama. He is too small on-screen to really tell, but I think he is smiling. Does he remember it? This voice, this song… This is it, right?
“Your record?”
I look out the car window. Ahead of the main road and the rice paddies, the mall and its brightly lit rooftop are getting closer and closer. The record was broken. I saw it. So how? Was there another copy? Did Smile find it?
Suddenly, my body is pressed against the backrest. My view of the mall moves from left to right across my window before it can only be seen out the rear glass. Then the car turns left at the intersection. Through the back window, I can see the mall getting smaller in the distance. Smile’s over there. My heart is aching. We are growing farther apart. I didn’t want that. But we’re moving out…
I don’t want to go. But I can’t help it. I want to reach Smile. But what would I do with her? Emotions surge and recede in my head. What should I do?
Suddenly, I feel a presence alongside the car. It is someone on the sidewalk… Toughboy?!
He is running frantically toward our car, eyes trained on me. Tom is on his shoulders, hanging on for dear life. There’s no way he can outrun the car, so he quickly disappears from sight, but he’s clearly making a run for something or other, and our car is heading for it right now.
Then I see the signs at the side of the road, illuminated by streetlights. The car passes by each one at regular intervals, large words are scrawled out on each sign.
Teeth…hidden…among…the…boundless…mountain…blossoms… I…love…you…so…much…