Vol 1 Prologue (2/2)
“What? What’s the time now?”
The girl looked at the clock toith surprise
“Woah What”
She spoke with a leisurely tone, in contrast with her words
“I thought it was just around two”
Even if it o, it was still one hour late
“Can I ask a question?”
“Sure”
“Isn’t it cold to stay there, notan inch?”
“Cold”
“Wait, have you been numbed by the coldness?”
Yuichi waved his head, and snow fell from his head
The girl took out a can of coffee and gave it to Yuichi
“Here, for you”
Yuichi took out his hands that had been in his pockets for two hours to get it The can was still hot, and probably too hot for bare hands, but Yuichi felt his hands warm and comfortable by this heat
“This is a present aslate”
A can of coffee for being late two hours, uh?
“And to congratulate our reunion”
“A can of coffee for two things? It’s been seven years, at least”
He only re her, so he didn’t really raise his voice
“Seven years, you say”
The girl was s at Yuichi Yuichi felt a bit e his palms
“Do you still remember my name?”
“You too Do you remember mine?”
“Yes!”
Yuichi and the girl spoke together
“Yuichi”
“Hanako”
“…”
The girl looked troubled He didn’t quite make it
“Jirou”
“I’irl”
He didn’t ain
Yuichi plucked the ring of the can and drank the coffee in one gulp The warm sensation spread out froht sound, he stood up, patted off the snow, and flexed his muscles
“So, let’s go?”
“…Yuichi…”
The girl made sounds of dissatisfaction Yuichi took his backpack and took off, even when he didn’t knohere to go
“That’s rude, Yuichi”
The girl followed behind hi
Searching in his blurredher best to follow hi bullied by him
It was this young girl
Suddenly, another face, and another pair of eyes flashed in his mind
But like the snow blurring itself hite fog, after a blink of an eye, that face vanished
“Yuichi…”
The girl caught up with him He increased his pace and walked in circles since he didn’t knohere to head
“My name…”
As if he couldn’t reach his destination as long as he couldn’t reirl behind hiht them freaks
Yuichi glanced at the streets again
The tall building in front of the station, the car ter district If there wasn't any snow, it could have been just any other street Yuichi had lived in before
Streets he hadn’t gone to for seven years
Snow he hadn’t seen for seven years
“My name…”
“I don’t want to go in circles here now”
The reluctance to return is imprinted in his heart vividly
But wherever one goes, the expectation of starting a new life is ignited
“Yuichi”
Yuichi turned around to face his cousin
“How long do you want to keep going around o, Nayuki!”
“Ah!”
Nayuki’s eyes flashed, as if she had suddenly been awakened
“Absolutely!”
The snowflakes gathered in her eyelashes melted and flowed down