Chapter 1 Part2 (2/2)

“Takuya-kun, could it be that you actually didn’t want to come?” she asked. “Maybe the teacher forced you to?”

I felt like it would be insensitive to be truthful and say, “Actually, Kayama was supposed to come.” I remembered the phrase, “Circ.u.mstances may justify a lie.”

“No,” I said. “I came here of my own will.”

“Really? That’s good,” Mamizu said, looking truly relieved.

She seems smart, but she’s the type who expresses her emotions in a way that they’re easily understood, I thought.

“What is this?” I asked, wanting to change the topic.

A gla.s.s sphere that looked like a crystal had been placed on the bedside table. Looking closely, I could see that there was a miniature house inside it. It was a western-style log house. The light trickling through its windows made it look like someone was living inside it.

“Ah, it’s called a snow globe. I really like that. Give it here,” Mamizu said, letting go of the colored paper and extending her palm towards me, so I handed it to her. “Look. There’s snow here.”

I looked and saw that the ground surface around the house inside the gla.s.s sphere was covered in something like confetti that imitated snow.

“I see,” I said.

“That’s not all. If I shake it like this…” Mamizu shook the snow globe. As she did, the confetti inside the gla.s.s suddenly began to dance. Through some trick, the confetti scattered around and fell slowly. “What do you think? It’s like snow, isn’t it?”

Indeed, it was like snow.

“My father bought it for me in the past… I can’t meet my father anymore, though. That’s why I treasure this,” Mamizu said.

So, her parents are divorced after all? I thought, but I couldn’t ask her.

“I look at it and imagine,” Mamizu continued. “I imagine that I’m living in a snowy country, and when it becomes winter, it snows. My breath is always white. I spend my time reading books while staying warm by the fireplace. I enjoy imagining that.”

Snow continued to fall inside the gla.s.s sphere.

Mamizu continued talking. Could it be that she had been hungry for someone to talk to? The way she spoke made this thought occur to me. But I didn’t really dislike it. The conversation wasn’t that boring, and I didn’t dislike the way she talked.

The conversation finally stopped when it became evening. I decided that it was time to go home.

“Say, Takuya-kun,” Mamizu said as I was leaving. “Will you come to play again soon?”

I was bewildered. But looking at her lonely-looking expression, I couldn’t say, “No, I don’t have any intentions of ever coming back.”

“Soon.”

I gave her that vague reply instead.

“And I have a request,” Mamizu said.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I want to eat Almond Crush Pocky,” she said, looking a little embarra.s.sed.

“Pocky?”

“Actually, I’m supposed to eat only hospital food. And my mother is a strict person, so she won’t buy it for me even if I ask. They don’t sell it at the store in the hospital. I don’t have anyone else to ask.” Mamizu looked at me with slightly upturned eyes. “Is it too much to ask?”

“Mmm, well, alright,” I replied without thinking about it too deeply, and then left the room.

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