With the otter gone, there was just a single shiny, glimmering star left. Keppi returned to his original form. His voice had a dignified tone as he cried out, “The time has come. Cross! Pass over the river of desire!”
Their awareness of themselves seemed to melt away as easily as chocolate in the sunlight.
Whether it was reality or a dream, who could say? It was a strange feeling—as if becoming one with the universe, as if his body wasn’t his own. He wasn’t sure if he was Yasaka Kazuki, Kuji Toi, or Jinnai Enta. Their consciousnesses harmonized perfectly together. It was as if they were molecules drifting in a hot, primordial ocean, smacking against each other’s thin membranes before combining into one. The heat made him want to scream. The energy was like nothing he’d ever felt before, and the pleasure felt like purifying water welling up beneath his skin.
There was just one thing the three of them did understand: this would be the last leak they would share together.
“The future is leaking!”
Scene 3
“WE WANT TO BE connected!” Their voice rang out together.
Their voices echoed together as Japan’s athletes, the representatives of their country, all dressed in blue uniforms, stepped forward. The setting for this dream was the first match in the World Cup. Kazuki and his teammates were forced into a tough battle. Time was running out. If this pass didn’t make it, the game was over. They had to score.
Kazuki ran forward.
I want to steal this victory from them!
“We want to be connected!”
After injuring his right leg, Kazuki was fed up with the extensive stint he’d spent in rehab. No one close to him would say as much, but he could tell the prospects of recovery looked grim.
Even if I keep going, my efforts won’t be rewarded.
“We want to be connected!”
Toi crouched down inside a jail cell. He confessed to all of his sins.
I will never be forgiven for this.
“We want to be connected!”
Snow fell on the Azuma Bridge. Enta was dressed in his practice uniform, his eyes on the ground as tears flowed down his cheeks. Kazuki’s footsteps were gradually receding into the distance.
If he leaves now, we’ll never see each other again.
“We want to be connected!”
Kazuki was on his crutches, glancing down at a picture of him and Enta in their soccer outfits—the Golden Duo. He threw it and his cleats into the stadium’s trash can.
I want to lie about how I really feel.
“We want to be connected!”
A blue friendship bracelet was abandoned in the locker room. Toi voluntarily left the team.
I’d rather betray them before they abandon me.
“We want to be connected!”
The three were in their uniforms, bickering amongst themselves in the waiting room.
We can’t be connected anymore.
“We want to be connected!”
Enta was alone, bashing his fists against the wall.
No matter what I do, it doesn’t get through to them.
“We want to be connected!”
Toi was overwhelmed with agony at how much he had lost.
I’m alone. There’s no one by my side.
“We want to be connected!”
The three raced across the field, their gazes focused on what lay ahead of them.
We’re not giving up yet!
Enta’s pass made it to Toi.
One of them had once shouted, “I’ve had enough!”
Toi immediately passed the ball.
One of them had once told the others, “I’m through with you guys!”
Kazuki ran on ahead of them.
One of them had even said, “I never want to see you guys again!”
They had hurt each other so many times—too many to count.
And yet…
Still…
Despite it all…
Kazuki slammed his foot into the ball, his friendship bracelet swaying with the motion. The ball blasted through the air toward the goalpost.
Even so, we…!
The kingdom’s remaining people were gathered in the Kappa Plaza.
“The dish is a vessel of life. Things are given shape, but someday will be shattered and lost…” said Sara. She was sitting on a pedestal, with Reo and Mabu standing before her in their military uniforms.
“What the boys saw was a glimpse into the future,” said Reo.
Mabu added, “One of the possible futures that await them.”
Prince Keppi drifted down from the air above. “For the moment, this world’s circle of connection endures. However, there is no guarantee that the future ahead of them will always be a bright one.”
The two broken halves of the cosplay headdress floated through the air, shining with light as they transformed into a crown and tiara. Reo and Mabu respectfully placed these glimmering objects on the heads of their king and queen.
“Hope and despair come hand in hand with life.”
Haruka’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the divine forms of the Kappa Kingdom’s king and queen. “Wow! It’s the Little Prince and his princess!”
Queen Sara, who’d regained her original form, said, “Do not forget. Only those who can connect to their desires, even after knowing the pain of loss, have the ability to grasp the future in their hands.”
All of the “A” signs across the city twinkled in celebration.
“I won’t forget,” said Haruka. “I’m going to choose, and I’m going to believe in the choices I make.”
The long night would soon be over.
There were three figures strewn across the collapsed Azuma Bridge as dawn colored the sky above. Whether unconscious or merely sleeping, they showed no signs of waking. Kazuki lay there with a new scar on his right ankle. Nearby, Enta had bandages wrapped over the gunshot wound he’d sustained. Toi was close to them as well, his Tokarev abandoned on the ground beside him.
“The people in my life, the people I care about—I experience happiness and sadness because of them. That’s how I know we’re all connected.” Haruka and Nyantaro sat close to the river, gazing up at the sky.
As Keppi and the others left, light seemed to fill the space between them, connecting them. They lit up the sky with a constellation in the shape of an “A” before they disappeared entirely.
And so, our summer was over.