”I don’t know… I don’t see it.” Sato stared at the picture for a single moment longer before passing the magazine back to Rento. The resemblance between Hitomi and Mina-Michan just wasn’t there.
”It’s all in your head. Not offence, but there’s no way anyone can think that a Warakuma girl is as cute as Mina-Michan.” Rento scoffed.
”A ’Warakuma’ girl? Whaddya mean by that, city boy?” He leafed through the magazine again despite his earlier confession that he’d already read it three times over. Sato scooted up to the edge of Rento’s bed, stretching his legs out onto the floor.
”You need to live in Tokyo for a month to get that the girls from a place like that have a much higher average beauty level than a backwater like Warakuma.” The slender male rose and made his way over to the closest stack of magazines. He shuffled through the periodicals until he found an issue with a catch-line that interested him. Though, as he tried to slide it out, he toppled the whole tower, scattering the organized papers about in a mess. As Sato scrambled to restack all the magazines, a woman’s voice called from downstairs.
”Rento! That Moriyami girl’s here for you!” Rento bolted over to the door, shoved it open, and leaned out to yell back.
”Tell her we’ll be right down, Mum!” The boys got whatever they needed together before heading out to meet Mika in the foyer, dodging Rento’s snotty younger siblings as they flew down the hall and stairs. Though, as the two passed through the house, Sato couldn’t help but slow down when he saw the piano positioned by the corner. Considering their house wasn’t the biggest around, and that they were practically connected to their restaurant, he was a little surprised about it being there. The teen flipped open the cover to the keys before being interrupted by Rento’s sister tugging at his sleeve, begging him to come play with them. Sato looked around helplessly for Rento’s mother to take the child away from him.
”You interested in it? It’s just been gathering dust for years so we wouldn’t mind pawning it off to ya.” Rento rested his hand on Sato’s shoulder as he observed the old piano with a lukewarm smile. Mika gave a greeting to Sato, who returned it.
Sato slipped Rento’s arm off of him before replying.
”Oh, no, I had no intention. It’s just a little odd seeing it in a household like this.” ”We’re not getting rid of it just yet, Rento.” Rento’s mother interjected, sending the girl bothering Sato off to go back to playing with her brothers.
”Yamazaki’s wife used to always play this old thing, but after her passing, he couldn’t bear looking at it any longer, so they gave it to us to take care of. My husband and Rento have been trying to sell it for a long while now but I just can’t bear to part with it quite yet. It’s like a part of her, to me.” Sato ran his fingers over a few of the keys, imagining a phantom woman playing next to him and the quiet sound of the notes. He’d no idea Hitomi’s mother had passed away. Though, it had been a long time ago apparently, so it makes sense that she’d not bear an obvious burden from it.
”Say, Sato, didn’t you say you used to play the piano when you were younger? You could play us a song while we wait for Hitomi to get here.” Mika set her bag down next to the piano bench and sat down on the very edge of it.
”She might be a while.” Sato took a seat next to Mika, twisting to turn back to the others.
”I… could try. I haven’t played in some time though, so don’t expect anything spectacular.” It took him a moment to realise he didn’t remember any of the songs he’d used to played. There was a stack of sheet music resting on top of the piano, so he grabbed the first one from the top of the pile.
”Thank God I was good at sight-reading” After taking a deep breath,
Sato began to play the notes he read. He was at first painfully sloppy, though, as he went through the song, the muscle memory flushed back and he was soon playing without much mistake. The trail of notes leading Sato’s eyes across the sheet soon ended, and the room was filled with the absence of sound, a rarity for the Nakai household. The children that had gathered behind him clapped, the others complimenting his playing as well, and the teen couldn’t help but blush a little. He hadn’t performed for anyone in so long that the feeling was almost uncomfortable.
”Hehe, you’re pretty good, city boy, even if you have no swing.” ”Thank you,” He merely uttered.
It was only after it was over did the front door open with a shutter. Sato whipped around to see Hitomi entering with an almost astonished look.
”I-I’m sorry for coming in without asking. It’s just been so long since I heard that piano. It’s out of tune, so you’ll have to play it again after we adjust it.” Sato waved away the idea with an embarrassed smile while the other two teens walked over to the door, slipping into their shoes as they greeted Hitomi. He remained seated until the children ran off and Rento’s mother started cleaning up the mess of sheets about the piano.
”Thank you for letting me play, Mrs. Nakai. It was an honor.” Sato gave a weak bow to the greying woman.
She stifled a very light laugh, easing the male’s tension.
”It was very nostalgic to hear that old tune. You play almost exactly like her, skill level and all, haha. I’m sure Mrs. Yamazaki wouldn’t want this piano to rot in this corner. …It’s almost like you brought a little bit of her back today...” Rento called out to him from outside, urging Sato to catch up or they’d leave him behind. Sato turned back to the woman as he rose from the bench with an apologetic look painted on his features.
”Ah, don’t let this old woman’s ramblings keep you! Go have fun with your friends, and tell Rento not to get into any trouble! He’s almost as much trouble around here as the young ones…”.
Sato nodded slightly.
”Thanks for having me. Take care.” …He hadn’t noticed it at first, but the voices of his friends actually were getting more distant, so he rushed into his shoes, and, with a bound, dashed after his friends. They were already over a hill, and when they saw him catching up, they started to run too.
Hiking was not his forte. And as the four walked up the inclined dirt path up the small mountain, Sato couldn’t help but be out of breath. Mika seemed to be feeling the same as they both were playing catch up with the other two teens, Sato and Mika passively supporting each other on the particularly steep parts of the trail. It wasn’t until he ran into some kind of wall did Sato look up from the ground and stop walking. Well, not a wall. Rento’s back.
”Look at that,” Mika whispered. Sato stepped around the boy in front of him and gazed out over the cliff they stopped at. The rest point overlooked the entire town they had taken a train to, the tracks leading in and out of it, the whole area really. The male gave out a quiet gasp in response to the sights. The hike was worth it just to see it.
They made their way over to the bench fixed a little ways away from the cliff’s edge, flopping down and catching their breaths. The wind blew freely once they cleared the trees covering the mountain’s slope.
”So you two have really never been up here before?” Hitomi asked before taking a long swig from the water bottle Rento passed her. Sato and Mika nodded, both deciding to save the air at the moment.
”A shame you haven’t ‘till now. Heard they were closing this place off soon.” Rento snatched the bottle back from Hitomi, wiped it off with his shirt, and chugged down half of it. Sato merely watched the clouds go by, covering and uncovering the sun as they went. It was more tranquil than he’d imagined it would be.
”Who’s that?” ”Huh?” Sato followed where the others’ were looking and spotted a figure emerging from the underbrush that lined the woods’ edge. A girl. A familiar one. Her light brown hair fell down to her shoulders, her bangs sticking to her forehead a bit with sweat.
Why was she so familiar? She set down her backpack, oblivious to the pack of students staring at her, and took out a camera as another girl emerged from the woods. At that point Sato snapped back to looking out at the distance.
Rento scratched the back of his head.
”I’ve never seen other people here before. they’re pretty cute though hehe” Sato fidgeted in his seat as he tried to remembered where he knew her from. It was weird, the feeling of recognizing that face but not being able to recall any kind of memory attached to it. It was as he contemplated it Rento jabbed him in the side, motioning back towards the girls.
”She’s coming towards you, man…” ”Excuse me,” A voice said. Sato turned in his seat to look at who spoke.
”Are you Hashimoto Sato?” He was surprised that this girl knew his name, though he felt it only confirmed the fact that he should know who this woman was.
”Ah, yes I am. I’m very sorry, but I can’t seem to remember who you are…” ”I’m not surprised. I was a classmate of yours back in junior high, and I only recognized you because you haven’t changed much since then, haha…” Mika interposed,
”I hate to interrupt, but aren’t you Chiba Naomi, from Class 3-2? I believe I’ve seen you in class before.” The girl looked a little confused for a bit before flashing with recognition.
”You’re Moriyama, right? You always answer the teachers perfectly when they call on you…” Chiba supplied a warm smile to accompany her compliment before returning to Sato.
”I transferred here a couple month ago, and I found it hard to adjust, so I started hiking every weekend… It’s weird, right? That a city girl would find solace in the countryside?” Rento was right. She was right. She was beautiful. Or at least as the sun beamed down on them, casting a shadow over the cliff, the rays hitting her back and carving her figure into the blue sky, she was. And he was blushing as he stared at her face. In a fluster, Sato jumped up from the bench, pulling Rento with him and by extension causing the other two to rise as well.
”I hate to part as soon as we met, but we need to catch our train shortly or we’ll be wasting the rest of our day at the station. Until we meet again,” And Sato was gone, rushing down the hill. Why was he in such a panic over this girl he barely knew? Well… at least he wasn’t wrong about the train thing. Looking at his watch, they had to practically fall down the hill to make the next train on time.
[. . . . .]
Back at the train station, Sato, Mika, and Hitomi waited nervously for Rento to catch up. What had happened to him, they were unaware, but it was rather concerning considered that Rento was the one with the tickets back. It got uncomfortably close to the departure time when they spotted Rento barreling towards them. They boarded the train, finding seats with ease, and waited for the short trip back to Warakuma to begin. Sato shifted a little closer to the wall of the train car when Rento plopped down next to him, still panting for air.
”Here city boy,” He handed Sato a folded piece of note paper.
”I got her info for you. She said she wanted to keep in touch with you, since you two are in the same boat and all. Whatever she meant by that.” ”That’s a little weird that she wanted to give me her number...” Sato stared at the slip of paper for a while as Rento immediately switched back into conversing with the girls. His fingers held onto the paper for a long moment first before opening it, just to check if it was real. Sure enough, there was an email. The teen shoved the paper into his pocket before he could think about that sun-kissed girl again. The ride home felt a little boring as he watched the country go by from behind the window. Soon enough they were back at the Warakuma station, and the group parted, Rento and Hitomi heading back to the Nakai residence, Mika going to check out the stores one more time despite her personal bankruptcy. There wasn’t anything else he wanted to do for the rest of the day, and the sun was already falling, so Sato simply went back home.
As he laid on his bed, thinking about nothing, one of the last things Sato expected was his phone giving out a chime to alert him of a text message. The boy lazily rolled over and off his bed to grab his phone from the nearby desk. A text from Rento. Sato briefly considered not answering and pretending like he didn’t just get out of bed to check, but he figured it was some type of plans Rento wanted to make and it would be best to make sure that he wasn’t going to wake him up in the early morning to check.
hey city boy didja hear? idol group is playing at ferroro. hitomi and mika are both busy the rest of the week with family and im ALREADY BORED come check out the girls with me please Thinking back on it, Sato recalled reading about the performance in that one magazine they were discussing earlier. He couldn’t remember who was performing but, along with the various advertisements in town, the event stuck out in his head. His mother was working the whole week and any of his other relatives were on the other side of the country and/or out of touch. There wasn’t anything else for him to do for Golden Week so hanging out with whoever was available seemed to be the only good option. And so he texted back.
what’s you deal with idols? But yeah sure, I’ll go w/ you. Meet me at the foodcourt Friday whenever I guess (´ω｀ ) Sato tossed his phone back onto the desk before flopping back down on his bed. It was already getting late, and all he’d accomplished after coming home was having dinner and lying down on his bed, trying to muster energy to go do something. There wasn’t anything preventing him from just sleeping though, so the teen decided to give up trying to be productive in any way and simply closed his eyes, waiting for the sweet embrace of unconsciousness to take him away to dreamland.
