Vol 1 Chapter 4 (2/2)
Nayuki spoke quietly, as if she knehat I was having in mind
“Sorrowful things happened They crush your heart when you put them into your heart They are too sorrowful that it pains you to the point to shut your memories”
“Nayuki…”
Did she reall knohat happened to me the last year I came to this town?
“These sorrowful things may have happened”
Nayuki started to make them unclear, in a certain way
It’s your job to recall the for you to remember them, Yuichi
During a short silence, I could hear her heart speaking
“Work hard in your exams”
Nayuki returned to her original face and smiled
“Yeah I have to”
“So good night”
“Good night”
Though sleepy, I couldn’t really sleep when I returned to my room
They are too sorrowful that it pains you to the point to shut your memories
Still, I need to res they were
During daybreak, it seeain
The school in the day glittered by the white and shi+ny snow
Nayuki and I ran on the snoith a speed ould almost collapse
“Pant…pant…”
“We…seeht…”
“…yeah…”
I couldn’t really speak while panting For working too late yesterday night, the two of us both slept overti
The first lesson is physical education today As we had to change our clothes before the lesson, the time alloas even shorter than usual I scurried to the entrance, but Nayuki kneeled at a corner of the school
“What’s wrong? Does your stomach ache?”
“No”
Looking closely, I saw Nayuki playing with a snow rabbit on the grass field
“Do you even have time for this?”
“I didn’t make this, but…”
The snow rabbit see, unaware students, recked it appearance Half of its white body was sed with dirt footprints
Nayuki reether
“Do we still have time for that?”
“But this is a poor snow rabbit”
Nayuki didn’t wear any gloves, so her hands beca at the snow makes one feel cold, but Nayuki worked with them as if she didn’t mind
Even when it was artificial, Nayuki couldn’t let herself to leave it alone
“What a bother Let me help”
It was even bothering for me to have no resistance to Nayuki when she looked like that
“Thank you, Yuichi”
“I’: at your own pace the first lesson will be over when you have finished it”
Then the two of us gathered the snow into a hill, made it into an oval, and inserted a leaf as its ears, as well as putting a red fruit on it as its eye
“Okay, we’re done”
“But it’san eye on the other side”
The other fruit may have been kicked far away
“I know!”
Nayuki reached into her pocket and took out a red glass pebble
It was the one I bought her at the shopping district
“Yuichi, can we use this on the little rabbit?”
“Do you rock around with this wherever you go?”
“…Because you bought it for me”
Nayuki bit her lips in eot elated, yet I wanted to run off and hide myself
“So even when it’s so important…the little snow rabbit…”
Nayuki stopped in the middle of her speech
“It doesn’t bother me”
I understood Nayuki’s personality, I should say
“It’s a poor rabbit if it only has one eye”
“Absolutely! Thank you, Yuichi”
The snow rabbit we made was finally complete with the new flashy eye
Snow rabbit
Speaking of which, there was a red-eyed snow rabbit in my last memories of that day
But it didn’t felt like a depressing memory
No, it entleness that cures
No way My ain
“The size doesn’t really match Don’t you think so?”
Nayuki said, looking at the snow rabbit
“Meh, don't care about those things”
I said
“You’re right”
Then a sound ca room
“Hey, Aizawa What’re you doing?”
It’s Kitagawa having changed his physical education uniform Oh, no
“Quick, Nayuki!”
“Absolutely!”
We dashed to the classroo to school, we dashed around the school, spent three seconds to change our clothes and ran back to lesson
“You look energetic, Aizawa Have you finished your warm-up exercises already?”
After the physical education teacher’s rehed, but I was too tired to even reply
“By the e’re having a , Aizawa”
For real?
The painful memories of thethe lessons
“Yuichi, you had been sleeping through class the entire day”
Well, you can put it like that too
“Because I didn’t sleep well yesterday night, and I got tired fro”
“So what should we do about staying here and studying today?”
Asked by Kaori, I considered it for a while and replied, “II’ll pass for today Please do help me tomorrow if I can make it”
“Sure thing”
Kaori seemed jovial to pretend a strict teacher “So let aho looked obviously helpless, along with her
“I’ off to my club”
“It’s really tiring to have club activities even before the exams, isn’t it?”
“The exams came so suddenly, that is…”
Biding me farewell, Nayuki also left the classroom I then left school by myself
Although I was tired, I didn’t want to head directly home and rest
My legs guideddistrict
I could feel it already on the first time we met
The girl there was the key to call upon my memories
“Two taiyakis…no four”
“Sure It’s just been baked”
I took over the brown bag from the old man in the shop
“Your taiyakis are great”
“It’s great if you like it Thank you”
“I only know this place because of the girl who always caht taiyakis foron her bag”
“Yes I’irl”
The old man nodded his head incessantly Anyone would re
“She usually coh”
“Is that so?”
“That child says the taiyaki I make has the taste in her iven by her good friend when they were small I’m happy to hear her say this”
Feeling good upon hearing that, I nodded and left the taiyaki shop
Chilly wind coursed across the shopping district I took out a taiyaki fro and had a bite
At this moment…
“It looks delicious, Yuichi”
As if su from nowhere
“Of course,Ayu[1] with Taiyaki worked”
“Is there such a way of saying that?”
“Don’t care about the details Do you want one?”
“Sure!”
Ayu took the taiyaki with herits delicious
As we ate, alked naturally to the end of the shopping district, an open space
We also ate our taiyakis there e first met
“Is Nayuki-chan not with you today?”
“She has club activities”
“What kind?”
“The track team Her looks don’t seem so, but she’s the captain”
“Sounds awesome”
“But exa, so I don’t think she can really put her heart into running”
By the way— before I could switch the topic, Ayu struck first
“The name Nayuki sounds nice”
“Who do you thinkedible?”
“Ugu…you bully”
“Why do you keep on saying stuff about Nayuki”
“Because…”
Ayu gave a complicated look of embarrassment and helplessness
“You seem to cherish her, Yuichi And whenever you talk about her, you look cheerful…ouch”
I lightly hit her head
“You don’t seem to be a person ould trouble yourself with other people”
“Ugu…but you don’t have to hit me for that…”
“You’re noisy”
I wanted to end this topic quicker because I noticeda bit red
“So to speak, we firstof this month, for you stole taiyakis and I was your accessory after the fact
“Accessory after the fact? What is that?”
“A person who could only join because he got himself involved in a crime”
I explained for myself
“Ugu…I have got in good terms with the old man”
“I know So what I wanted to say wasn’t that”
I returned to the topic anew seriously
“We should only have known since thisof nostalgia”
“Yuichi…”
Ayu’s eyes widened I took the last two taiyakis in the bag, gave one to Ayu, and one for myself
“This taiyaki…this sirl…and the colour of this sky”
I lifted rey winter sky in this snon At the evening, however, the cloud layers would separate and reveal the beautiful setting sun The tilted light rays during dusk painted the sky a faint red
Ayu’s cheeks and the white wings behind her were also dyed with a faint orange
“Ayu, I have seen you before, haven’t I?”
I stared at her
A door deep in my heart was opened at the spot
During the winter I came to this town for the last time…
Idistrict
When I went to buy things with Nayuki, I saw a girl crying and called towards her And I bought taiyakis to coot angry
“You told me several times you would wait for me”
Right
Why couldn’t I reirl from then on, and I left Nayuki alone in that year Didn’t I play only with that girl every day? Didn’t I look at the dusk of this town every day? But this girl…along with Nayuki…
“I once said I’ht?”
Ayu didn’t answer my question
“Ayu”
The door to rabbed her by the ar extreh it is at a direction different from my school, I still come to look for it”
“I…”
I let go of her arms
I wanted to recall those past events Nayuki said it was painful memories, so I had to retrieve them myself and not from others
“It’ll be great if you can find what you looking for”
I said
“Yes”
Ayu setic one It was illusory, as if it was going to vanish eventually in the dusk
Translation Notes
Jump up↑ Ayu is a homophone of fish in japanese; Taiyakis coincidentally resemble fish