Episode 10: Fragments of the Past

「Ah, it’s Onii-chan!!」

A kid suddenly ran up to me while I was on my way to school. For a second, I wondered who it was, but then I realized it was that girl who got lost in the shopping district before… Mio-chan.

「Onii-chan, morning~」

「Yeah, Mio-chan, morning.」

Her friendly smile is adorable. She is a little girl still in daycare.

She came right up to my feet and looked up at me with a grin, raising both hands. I knew immediately she wanted to be carried, so I just picked her up.

I run into Mio-chan like this every now and then during my commute. Picking her up like this every time has just become a routine.

Right then, her mother caught up.

「Good morning, Takanashi-san. Sorry about this, Mio is always…」

「No, it’s fine.」

Looking at Mio-chan made me remember that other person from back in the day.

The first time I met this kid was in the shopping district, on my way back from a regular supply run (buying cup ramen by the box at Don Ki).

A little girl was wandering around, looking lost, and she came right toward me. Naturally, I tried to step out of her way, but she stepped in the same direction, and we ended up bumping into each other.

She only wobbled a bit and didn’t fall or anything, but she burst into tears.

「Mama!! Where are you~!!」

I expected as much, but she was definitely lost. Since she was right in front of me, I couldn’t exactly just walk past her, so I decided to speak up.

「Hello. Is your mom not here?」

I spoke as gently as I could, but she didn’t show any sign of stopping.

I looked into my shopping bag to see if there was anything useful, and I spotted a cat mascot for a bottle cap that came as a bonus with some bottled tea.

I slipped it onto my finger, held it up in front of her, and started talking in a cat voice. Back in the day, I spent a lot of time cheering up that person with stuffed animals, so I am actually pretty used to this.

「Nyan-nyan, is your mama not here?」

「…Yeah.」

Thinking it worked, I kept the conversation going, found out which store she’d gotten separated from her mother at, and headed there with the kid.

Watching her walk while holding my hand, I couldn’t help but overlap her with how that person used to be.

「Sniff… hic… Kazu-chan.」

「Hey, stop crying already.」

This person walking and crying while holding my hand is「Sasagawa Yuzuha」.

She was my childhood friend.

Our houses were right next to each other, so we played together a lot when we were little.

She was always smiling and happy when she was playing with me, but she was such a crybaby that even though we were the same age, it was common for me to have to comfort her.

Even after starting elementary school, Yuzuha stayed shy. She couldn’t make friends with other girls and was always with me, so naturally, I didn’t make many friends either. Because of that, my childhood memories are almost entirely of her. Also, it seems she got bullied in places where I wasn’t looking.

I didn’t feel like it was a bother or anything; if anything, I was always worried about her since I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

If I’m not watching her, Yuzuha will be all alone…

From someone else’s perspective, they might wonder who I think I am to feel that way, but I was so worried that I made sure to stay involved with Yuzuha as much as possible.

After starting middle school, Yuzuha finally made some female friends.

At that age, we were often teased for being of the opposite sex and hanging out together, and just when both I and Yuzuha were starting to distance ourselves because we hated being made fun of.

Yuzuha, who gained even more friends, started interacting with them quite aggressively, maybe as a reaction to not having had female friends before.

…Conversely, she almost stopped interacting with me entirely. I truly thought it was fine as long as Yuzuha was having fun… but a part of me felt a little lonely too.

We became third-year middle schoolers. I had friends too, but in the third year, we ended up in different classes. I can’t really say I am that close with my current classmates.

And Yuzuha… She got so caught up in her friendships that she started being influenced by her group. Her hairstyle changed, her hair color changed, her way of speaking changed, her skirt got shorter, and she became「modern」… which sounds nice, but before I knew it, she had honestly become the type of girl I don’t like.

Worried about how much she had changed, I tried talking to her.

「Hah? Why the hell are you saying that to me?」

That reaction got under my skin, and we almost got into a fight.

Even so, because I’d spent so much time worrying about her, I had no intention of ending our relationship.

Until that day came…

「Onii-chan, I’m going now~」

Mio-chan seemed satisfied as she climbed down from my arms and headed toward her kindergarten.

「Have a good day!」

I saw her off with a smile. Mio-chan turned back halfway, gave a big wave, and then held hands with her mother.

Well, I should head to school too.

I started walking down the usual path toward school.

Without noticing that there was someone who had been watching me the entire time…