Volume 30 Chapter 6 (1/2)
Let's go on the Ferris wheel
That's what shi+mako-san had said
She hadn't said, ”Would you like to” She'd said, ”Let's” Then shi+mako-san took hold of Noriko's hand and they joined the end of the queue
”Are you okay with heights, Noriko?”
”… Usually”
”Right You're strong”
”Usually I' to say”
”Oh, you”
Noriko thought that she should have been the one delivering that last line It didn't seehts, based on the way she was talking, so why had she deliberately chosen the Ferris wheel?
”Is this soe you've set for yourself, shi+mako-san?”
They'd been on the roller-coaster just before the Ferris wheel And the go-carts before that
In terms of speed and acceleration it wasn't like those other two shi+mako-san's shrieks, whether they were of joy or terror, had coht she may have been the first person ever to hear shi+mako-san's voice raised so loud
Despite all that, and for reasons that she didn't fully colooh shi+ a deal,” so it was foolish of Noriko to let it drag her down
”It could be”
shi+mako-san looked up into the clear blue sky, then returned her gaze to Noriko
”Perhaps it's because I'm with you, Noriko”
”But this isn't the sort of challenge I'd set for myself”
”That's not what I meant Because I's So we should try and conquer all sorts of things”
”And by all sorts of things, you ood at?”
”I can't really say whether or not I'ood at them I haven't been to an amusement park before”
”Not even when you were young?”
”Not even then I never asked my parents to take h of a desire to come to one”
shi+hed softly
”So that's hoas?”
”How about you Noriko? Did you come here often?”
”Well, it's not like ere here all the time It was mainly because of my older sister”
In Noriko's case, she didn't have to be assertive because her older sister would badger their parents about going, so occasionally they'd go to the amusement park The days that her public servant father and school teacher o soether as a family
”Ah I suppose that happens when you have two siblings about the sae In contrast,and, since my father's the chief priest at our tehter like myself fitted in perfectly”
Even after their heart-to-heart talk earlier, shi+mako-san still talked about her family with the sa deal”
”Ah”
shi+aze had absently wandered forwards, and then she suddenly hung her head in shame Noriko was about to turn forward to see what had happened when shi+ her
But, she hadn'tin line in front of the, unconcerned about the fact that they were out in public
Noriko didn't think that she had done anything wrong, so didn't see the necessity to avert her eyes She considered staring at the couple until they stopped what they were doing out of embarrassment, but relented out of deference to the way shi+aze drop
At any rate, standing right behind Noriko and shi+rade school boys, and the exhibition ca at the couple and calling out, ”They're kissing,” and ”Kissy-kissy”
The boys were probably brothers They were different heights, but their faces all looked similar
”That's what our mom said”
”Aunty didn't say that at all”
Listening in to their conversation, it became apparent that two of the boys were brothers, and the third was a cousin
Lined up behind the boys was an elderly man and woman Were they husband and wife? Or cos The surprisingly energetic seventy-year old gentle lady
So then, what kind of relationshi+p would the people around the this
Friends? Sisters? Relatives? People that got along well together? Or two girls that were part of a large group that caether even though they didn't really like each other?
They weren't quarreling, but people could definitely get that iluht it was better than a forced,hands, after shi+mako-san had clasped Noriko's hand
After boarding the Ferris wheel and sitting down facing each other they both looked out theAs they ascended, the figures of the people on the ground beca smaller
”The people, they're so small”
shi+, before Noriko had the chance to say it
”As the daughter of a te secrets”
The aarden The mountain, the lake, the castle and the roofs of the various buildings were all visible The people down below looked like tiny insects, although they would each be laughing, or crying, or angry, etc
All of that in such a tiny container Pondering this, Noriko thought that perhaps people's problems were also that tiny, after all
”And now?”
Noriko asked shi+mako-san responded immediately with, ”I'm happy”
”Because I haveNoriko by my side”
At that hest point
For the first time, Noriko felt that the words shi+ a deal,” weren't sos
On-board the steamshi+p, the ashed over them pleasantly
As she brushed the stray curls of hair fro beside her say, ”Click”
It wasn't the sound of a shutter, it was a voice
Shouko turned her head and there was Tsutako-saular fraer of both her hands
”What are you doing?”
”Taking a photo”
”Huh?”
”Even though no physical copy will ever exist, the photo I just took of you will remain in my memory”
At so disappointed when she didn't find, the ca about the ca in the fact that she couldn't use one
”At first it was a pain But once I got over the withdrawal syly comfortable”
Tsutako-sahtly Even without her ca as ever
”And Yuht? Abouta camera That meant a lot”
Tsutako-sah she probably wasn't going to find Rosa Chinensis en bouton, no matter which direction she pointed at
”It ?”
Shouko asked She kne so that was said could stay with you, but couldn't understand the opposite Then Tsutako-sama lowered her hands and looked at her
”Well, outside of photography, I don't really have a lot of self-confidence”
”Huh?”
”At school, I like taking photos of other students So whenever there's some kind of event and they invite me, I'm happy And everyone really enjoys the pictures I take To a degree, I've increased rapher, and it's usually how I co photos I've made my school life run smoother That's why I touchit by ives me peace of mind So for me, the camera is like Linus' blanket”
As she listened to this, Shouko was filled with disbelief Tsutako-sanificent and full of confidence, and that was how Shouko saw her
”So my uncle may have made that bet with me because he was more worried than I was”
”He orried?”
”About whether or not I'd be alright without a camera”
Suffering the consequences of relying too heavily on her camera, Tsutako-sama smiled Now that her camera had been taken away from her, she could be herself What did she think about that?
”You didn't bring your caht Shouko-chan? When I heard that, a part of ht, 'Ahh, Shouko-chan's so strong'”
Tsutako-sahts while Shouko had been depressed about being a photography club inable
”But Yu Or, rather, she probably didn't even notice that I didn't have my camera She can be a bit of an airhead”
”And being an airhead's a good thing?”
”Yep, it is At least for ht now Because, after all, it's proof that ht? To Yumi-san, I was still myself whether or not I had rapher, but as a friend”
”Why were you using Rosa Chinensis en bouton as your reference point?”
Shouko looked puzzled
Certainly, Tsutako-sama and Rosa Chinensis en bouton were classmates, so they would know each other well But she was also classmates with Rosa Foetida en bouton, and had been in the saantea in first-year So what made Rosa Chinensis en bouton special? There was a certain amount of jealousy in the question
”Well, the Yellow and White Rose sisters rapped up in their own affairs allon with anyone else”
”Huh, what happened with the Yellow and White Rose sisters?”
Tsutako-sae, but this was the first Shouko had heard of it
”I don't know the details, but I' on Couldn't you tell just by looking at them?”
Now that she had been asked, Shouko reviewed herbut couldn't find anything unusual However
”… I was caught up in my own affairs too”
”I thought as much”
Tsutako-sa at Tsutako-sah her
”It looks like Rosa Chinensis was the only one who noticed, and she didn't presu But she's the exact opposite of Yu only after carefully thinking it through”
Tsutako-saainst her
”Why do you think that?”
The response to Shouko's question was, ”That's just how she is”
Tsutako-sa about Rosa Chinensis, when really she was asking about Tsutako-sama herself