Chapter 07
I AWOKE TO THE SOUNDS OF CHAOS all around me. As I opened my eyes, I came face to face with another girl just waking up. I had no idea who she was, but apparently we had passed out on the subway platform while holding hands. I was wearing a white nightgown, and she was wearing the uniform from the local all-girls’ school.
“Hey! They’re hurt! Somebody call an ambulance!” shouted a distant voice.
“Are you girls all right?”
Who? You mean her and me?
I closed my eyes again. I was really, really tired; I didn’t have the energy to sit up and find out who this other girl was. Plus, my forehead ached, which suggested I was indeed injured.
It felt like the two of us had held hands the entire time we were unconscious. In reality, however, we were probably taken to the hospital in two separate ambulances.
When I finally awoke, it was just before dawn. I moved my stiff limbs and took stock of the bandages applied to my body. My forehead stung again, and when I reached up to touch it, I could feel gauze taped to the right side. Beside the bed, there were signs that I’d been put on a drip; on the bedside table was a bottle of green tea.
I sat up slightly. I was in a four-person hospital room, but the bed across from mine was curtained off, and the other two were empty. My gaze followed the streaming moonlight to the window. It was dark outside, save for the cherry blossoms glowing white.
How long had I been asleep? I hopped down out of bed and walked to the window. It was faintly chilly; I wrapped my arms around myself and gazed out at the cherry blossom petals falling like rain.
I had distant memories of a world blanketed in pure white snow—or was it just my imagination? Was it snow or ice? Was it chiffon or lace or satin? All I remembered was that everything was white and not nearly as cold as it looked.
The round yellow moon shone brightly against the faintly warm canvas of the night sky, illuminating my entire body as if I were in the process of photosynthesis.
“You’re going to make yourself sick, you know.”
My heart skipped a beat, and I whirled around. A girl with a bob cut was standing there in the moonlight, wearing pajamas and a pair of fuzzy slippers. It was the occupant of the bed across from mine—the same girl who was found lying unconscious next to me. Under her thick bangs, her defiant eyes glittered in the light.
“I was just distracted by the cherry blossoms,” I told her, averting my gaze. “I’m sorry… Did I wake you?”
“No, no, not at all. But when I woke up and saw this girl with super-long hair standing at the window, I was like, ‘Is this a dream?’ Glad to know you’re not a ghost, at least.” She laughed amiably. “I’m Oginome Ringo.”
“Ikebe Himari. Nice to meet you.”
Truth be told, this introduction was a little belated, considering they had already technically “met” at Ikebukuro Station…although it still wasn’t clear why they had both passed out next to each other.
“Do we know each other?” Oginome Ringo-san asked, tilting her head slightly as she stood beside me, gazing out the window.
“No, I don’t think so.” Out in the chilly night air, the cherry blossom petals looked like warm feathers.
“Yeah, I don’t think I know you. But the funny thing is…for some reason, I’m glad that I woke up next to you. I don’t know why, but it came as a relief.” She was smiling so brightly, I couldn’t help but smile along with her.
“Call me Himari.”
“Okay then, you can call me Ringo.”
After that, the two of us stood side by side, absently gazing out at the flowers in full bloom. In my mind, I tried to retrace the memory of that biting cold winter, but again and again, I kept losing the thread partway through. And I probably wasn’t the only one trying to piece it together, either.
We stood there for a long time, admiring the big cherry blossom tree from the safety of our dark hospital room…until a nurse came and scolded us, that is.
“Good night,” I told Ringo-chan as I climbed back into bed.
“Night night. See you tomorrow.”
She felt like an old friend—the kind of close friend whose hand I wanted to hold while I was falling asleep. In the end, I fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.
Tokikago Yuri was at peace, bundled up in the blanket Tabuki Keiju brought for her. They sat in a living room far too large for just the two of them, but nevertheless, it was furnished with comfort in mind. Here at the top of the high-rise condo building, they could get a clear view of the entire city through the windows.
“It’s been a long time since I last had the chance to sit back and enjoy the cherry blossoms,” Tabuki murmured absently.
Compared to Yuri, who had spent her adult life swamped with acting gigs, Tabuki surely would have had plenty of opportunities to go on a hanami picnic. She gazed at his unremarkable face—his tacky thick-rimmed glasses, his shaggy hair that he refused to go have cut, and his kind, hardworking vibe. But it was precisely that unremarkable quality that they truly needed in their lives.
“Same here. I’m glad we have this condo.”
Soft orange light enveloped the living room, and as they sat there next to the tall windows with their custom-ordered curtains, Yuri fit perfectly into Tabuki’s arms. They weren’t just embracing each other—they were keeping each other upright, like any other married couple. Meanwhile, the cherry blossom trees glowed ghostly white, their petals falling here and there. It was then that they both remembered the promise they made with Momoka to one day look at the cherry blossoms as a trio.
“Yuri, I finally realized why we were the only ones who survived.”
She could feel his large, warm hands through the blanket as he wrapped his arms around her.
“And why is that?”
She breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps she belonged here; perhaps this was where she was meant to be. The thought made her feel secure…and drowsy.