Beaver, and the much sign next to him, pass by. He grins and gives a thumbs-up as I go past.
…I love you so much. The mountain cherry blossoms. Smile. Love. I love you. The words bubble up. I love you. I love you. I love you, Smile.
“Dad, pull over!”
The car pulls over to the shoulder and slowly comes to a stop. I’m sure Mom and Dad are shaken by this sudden outburst.
I immediately jump out and run toward the mall.
“Hey, Yui! What’s wrong?”
I hear my mother’s panicked voice behind my back.
“I forgot something!”
I’m sorry, Mom and Dad. There’s something I’ve forgotten to give Smile… Oh. My phone. I left it in the car… Who cares. I’ll tell her in person.
“Hurry up, Cherry!!”
Beaver is shouting at me as I approach. Toughboy is right next to him, panting and looking exhausted. I run between them without stopping, but I do have something to tell Beaver.
“It wasn’t teeth, you idiot!”
I point out the sign reading Teeth as I pass by.
“Toughboy wrote that one!”
“I wrote exactly what you told me to!”
I turn around, still running, and see Toughboy grabbing Beaver by his shirt.
“It wasn’t wrong, though!” I shouted. They both smile back and give another thumbs-up. It’s wrong, but also not wrong. It was probably an honest mistake from Beaver, but for me, this is the right answer. I need to talk to Smile about those feelings, too.
As I run, Sakura’s voice playing through my headphones suddenly cuts out. I am finally out of range from my phone in the car. The connection gets unstable as I approach the mall, and once I reach the turnoff, it is completely dead. But I can hear it anyway. Not from my headphones, but in the air. It’s reaching me all the way from the roof.
Crossing the intersection, I look up to see the brightly lit rooftop. Sakura’s voice is coming from there. I go as fast as I can. I have to get up there.
The mall rooftop, the venue of the Daruma Festival, is crowded with people. I almost bump into some of them as I run through the stall-lined aisles, before my field of vision finally opens up. Ahhh, there’s the tower. That’s where Sakura’s voice is coming from.
I recall the angle the stream was shot from. It showed the entire tower at once. Smile must be around there. My breath is ragged, my legs heavy. Sweat streams into my eyes… I’ll see her soon. Tell her how I feel. Hang in there a little longer.
With all the strength I can manage, I continue to run.
There are more people around the tower than I saw in the video. Smile, where are you?
The stream was shot from the front, but because the tower is square, it looks the same from all sides. Now that I’m here, it’s actually tough to find Smile. I regret leaving my phone behind.
The Sunnyside gang continues to dance, not noticing me. Where are you, Smile? Oh, right. A mask. I start looking for a girl in a mask… There aren’t any. I just can’t find anyone in the throng. I came all this way, and now I can’t see her? Shit. Don’t give up. You have to tell her how you feel…
“Emotions welling!”
The loud voice tears through the venue, through the screeching speakers and Sakura’s music. Then:
“As the young man rises up! Above the oceans!”
The voice cuts through my headphones. I turn around and look up at the second floor of the tower. Mr. Fujiyama is looking right at me, a microphone in his hand. He leans over the railing, holding it to his mouth. The audience is all watching him, along with everyone below him.
“…Emotions welling, as the young man rises up above the oceans.”
This time, he is quieter, his voice weaving itself into the audience’s mind with Sakura’s singing. That’s from Yukihiko Settsu, isn’t it, Mr. Fujiyama? Emotions welling, as the young man rises up above the oceans—wait. I got it. The mike! I got it, Mr. Fujiyama!
I make my way through the crowd to the tower. When I get to the foot of it, I see a ramp on the opposite side. I run up the slope. Everyone from Sunnyside looks at me funny. “Cherry!” Nami shouts. “Cherry!”
Pushed on by everyone’s cheering, I put my hand on the ladder leading to the second floor and climb up. Mr. Fujiyama is waiting for me there, holding out his wireless mike. He is smiling. He got through to me loud and clear.
I grab the mike, accepting it. Walking deeper in, I stop at the railing and close my eyes. No need for headphones now. I hang them around my neck, so I can hear Sakura’s music even clearer.
…Okay, here we go. I’m gonna start composing haiku through the mike, just like Mr. Fujiyama did for me. I’ll bare my emotions for Smile, who I know is somewhere out there.
I open my eyes and look down at the audience… All those gazes. I can see them all from this high up. They are all looking at me. My face reddens. So does my hand holding the mike. I can’t speak. I want to, but I can’t. Say it! Loud! Words are how you communicate!
I grab the mike hard, taking a big breath. Then my voice comes out, loud, straight to Smile as I weave the words together.
On fated July of my seventeenth year here, I ran into you
Burgeoning summer, the white of the mask prevailed, piquing my interest
Summer’s lustrous sheen, there’s a false start in the wind and the evening dusk
Amid the croaking frogs, I saw how little I know about “cute”
The braces were gleaming. She was covering them with both hands, ever so shyly, blushing hard. I’m sorry I said, “Braces…” out loud, but really, there was nothing to hide. From the first time I saw her, I thought she was cute. I want to see more. Show me. You don’t need a mask.
Sunflowers asking what “cute” means, looking it up in dictionaries
Amid daylight shade, all I want to discover is the true reason
The summer clouds rose, hoping to find a way through the half-inch wide wall
With the evening sun, words fall and intermingle, segueing into dark
All the fireworks in the world, and all the words, couldn’t be enough
Ever since I met Smile, she has been the sole muse of my haiku. When I think about her, the words just won’t stop coming. I want to express my feelings. I want people to know them. I want to get them across. I want them to find their target. You see now? I can’t stop. They just keep on bubbling up. I want you to hear me. Isn’t my voice cute? Listen to it harder.
Misunderstandings breed words that refuse to stop chasing after you
Summer butterflies, learning about the pain of not reaching their home
Much like the thunder, words exist only so that you can hear them roar
The evening rainbow frames the words I simply must impart to you now
Fragments of the wind, blazing down hot upon you—right there, in your hand
Feelings of summer I must let you know about before the season’s through
Let the hot wind blaze, as it wills itself into the palm of your hand
The end of summer, my soul shouting ever strong for the sake of you
Suddenly, things grow dark. Did someone dim the lights? And almost at the same time, a beam of light rises up from the rice paddies in front of me.
With a roar, a large, flaming flower blooms in the night sky. All the spectators turn their heads, taking their eyes off me as they watch the fireworks shoot up, one after another. Their backs are turned to me, but a single girl in a mask keeps on looking at me, right at the foot of the tower.
—Smile! There she is!
I take a deep breath and hold up the microphone again. Listen to me. My voice. My feelings. Everything!
Leaves hidden among the boundless mountain blossoms; I love you so much
Those cute teeth among the boundless mountain blossoms; I love you so much
Those cute words among the boundless mountain blossoms; I love you so much
Those fireworks among the boundless mountain blossoms; I love you so much
That cute laugh among the boundless mountain blossoms; I love you so much
That cute smile among the boundless mountain blossoms; I love you so much
Who cares if I’m stomping all over haiku norms! Keep it simple! Keep it straightforward!
“I love you!!”
I put it all out there. All of it. I am shouting with all my might. I am out of breath. The smell of gunpowder stings my nose. The fireworks continuously shoot into the sky, drenching the roof, the audience, and Smile in a rainbow of color.
Smile is staring right at me.
The fireworks continue to shoot off, coloring the venue, the audience, and the smiling faces.
Smile is staring at me. The fireworks illuminate her from behind, but even in the glare, her eyes seem to sparkle.
Her eyebrows seem to be furrowed in pain. Her hand slowly reaches up to her mask. Then she takes—or rips—it off with a single swipe.
…That smile. She is smiling. Her face is tensed up and tears are in her eyes, but her mouth is turned up and out, and she is giving me a cute smile. I can see all of her white teeth.
Then, ever so slowly, her eyebrows go back up. Her face softens, turning into a beaming, unadulterated smile. She opens wide and smiles as hard as she can, just like Sakura on the record.
Her front teeth are gleaming.
“That smile… It’s so cute!”