I cocked my head to one side as I read it.
Yeah. Are you already there?
The moment I answered her, my smartphone started to vibrate. She was calling me.
“What now?”
I tapped the screen to accept the call.
“Did you get to the station already?”
“I’m walking home now.”
“Oh, okay! That was quick. You haven’t bought dinner, have you?”
“I was just gonna throw something together at home. Did you want some?”
“Oh, sure! That works for me! Just head on back, then. I’ll wait for ya!”
“Okay… Huh? …She hung up on me.”
I frowned and tucked my phone back in my pocket, mildly irritated that she’d cut off the call with no warning. This wasn’t the first time, either. She often got in touch just to say her piece, without sparing any thought for what I might want to ask.
I’d hoped to find out if she was already at my apartment…but in the end, it didn’t really matter. If she was there, she was there; if she wasn’t, I could take my time getting changed.
As I pondered these possibilities and made my way through the neighborhood, I spotted something so strange that it made me stop in my tracks.
Not too far in the distance, I could see somebody huddled beneath a telephone pole.
Without thinking, I sucked in a deep breath.
I’d seen this person before.
It was a beautiful woman dressed in a smart, grown-up outfit. Her silky dark hair—almost chestnut—glistened in the lamplight. She wore only light makeup, but that was more than enough to accentuate her pretty face.
She was totally different from the girl I remembered, and yet I knew—I knew it was her.
Everything felt surreal as I slowly made my way toward the telephone pole.
Then I called out to her.
“…What are you doing out this late?” I asked, and the woman immediately looked up.
“You’ve got a bit of a beard now, huh?” she replied with a smile.
“…I shave it in the morning, but it grows right back by the end of the day.”
“I see. So you’re shaving every day, huh?”
“Yeah. Someone once told me I didn’t look good with a beard.”
She chuckled. “I bet they did.”
Her shoulders shook with laughter for a moment, then she looked straight at me.
I looked straight at her, too.
“That outfit looks good on you.”
“Right? It’s my favorite,” she said, pinching the hem of her mature, stylish dress. She was dressed like a woman, and she looked the part, too.
Things were totally different from when we’d first met. And yet, I was gripped by overwhelming nostalgia.
“Mr. Yoshida,” the woman slowly began.
“We’re together again.”
I felt a warmth in the depths of my heart. Part of me had probably always been waiting for this day to arrive.
We’d met by chance, then gone our separate, solitary ways.
Now we’d met again.
This meeting, though, wasn’t a coincidence.
We were able to cross paths once more. But this time, we knew where we were going in life.
I never imagined that would bring me so much joy and so much pride.
“That’s right… We’re together again, Sayu.”
When I called her name, she smiled shyly.
Then, with a mischievous look on her face, she said, “Let me stay with you, Mister.”
I burst out laughing, then I nodded.