Tattered bonds, p.14
Adachi and Shimamura, Volume 8, page 14
Table of Contents
Color Inserts
Table of Contents Page
Copyrights and Credits
Title Page
Chapter 1: Setting Off
Chapter 2: Our First Trip Part 1
Interlude: Hino and Nagafuji
Interlude: Yachi Comes Calling
Chapter 3: Our First Trip Part 2
Chapter 4: Headed Home
Afterword
Newsletter
Chapter 1:
Setting Off
“WHENEVER I GO VISIT my parents, they always wanna talk about the past, you know?”
“Yeah?”
“I didn’t get it at first, but after I thought about it, I realized it actually makes a lot of sense. Like, in terms of their age, their past is a lot longer than their future, so yeah. No wonder they’re always talking about old memories.”
“Right…”
“Maybe we’ll end up reminiscing all the time, too. What do you think, Adachi?”
“Hmmm…” She paused to think for a moment. “That might be nice.”
“Right?”
This was the conversation we had as I packed my suitcase. As for Adachi, she said she wasn’t going to pack until later tonight; for now, she was sitting on the sofa, watching TV. Onscreen, I could see some sort of educational program, with a child in a familiar-looking spacesuit wiggling idly as a man in a white lab coat gave a lecture about something. But if I had to guess, Adachi wasn’t really paying attention.
The faint heat of May drifted in through the open window. Compared to summer in full swing, the humidity wasn’t quite as oppressive. This was probably how I felt the last time May rolled around too. But that suited me just fine. If my opinion of the seasons changed with every single year, I’d probably wear myself out before long.
Together, the two of us had picked out an apartment and moved in. We went shopping together, used the same household supplies, slept in the same bed, and breathed the same air. Everything in the house was just enough for two. This was the year Adachi and I turned 27—and at least for now, the future ahead still felt longer than my past.
After checking the contents one last time, it was time to zip my suitcase shut…shut…SHUT! I leaned my body weight down onto it to force it closed. If I unzipped it even a little, it was liable to spring open like a jack-in-the-box, so hopefully, I wouldn’t need to open it until we made it to the hotel. Briefly, I contemplated whether to slap a post-it note on the front so I wouldn’t forget.
Tomorrow marked the start of our big trip overseas. For the first time in my life, I was going to leave Japan—partly to keep a promise, partly as a celebration, partly as a reward for working hard, but mostly to step outside my comfort zone. In other words, this trip held a lot of significance for me. A deep sense of sentimentality flooded my chest.
“How long’s it been since the last time we went on a trip, anyway?”
“Um…since high school?” As far as I could remember, anyway. If I was right, then it had been eight or nine years—eh, roughly ten years, let’s say. Nearly the same length of time that I’d known Adachi.
“Oh, yeah, the school trip… That brings back a lot of memories,” she murmured.
“Do you even remember what we did on that trip?”
“Nope.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you just say it brings back memories?”
She didn’t respond. Normally, I would have stormed over there and pinched her ear or her cheek or whatever I could get my hands on, but right now I was busy packing my other bag. Unlike her, I didn’t have time to sit around and wait for tomorrow. I had promised my parents I would visit at some point during Golden Week, and since we were using the rest of it for the trip, today was the only time I had available. Hence, I was scrambling back and forth.
As previously mentioned, I didn’t generally do a lot of traveling, so I kept belatedly remembering things and stuffing them into my carry-on. Then I’d realize they weren’t essential and take them out again…but then I’d remember something else, and the cycle would continue. It wasn’t fun, to say the least.
“So you’re not gonna go see your mom before we go?” I asked.
“Meh… No need.”
She changed the channel to something about a deserted island. Then it started talking about these little birds I’d seen before in the mountains nearby, and that was when I finally learned what they were called. From now on, perhaps I would make a conscious effort to look up at the birds whenever I went for a walk. For me, learning was always a good thing. It was only after I learned Adachi’s name that she rose to the forefront of the nebulous category labeled “classmates.”
She had yet to visit her parents’ house a single time since the day she moved in with me, but…given their strained relationship, maybe it was for the best. To me, it was sad, but in this case, the only opinion that really mattered was Adachi’s.
Becoming a legal adult didn’t magically solve anything. In fact, it only made me feel like more of a screw-up for constantly putting my problems on the backburner. Every now and then I thought to myself: With age comes wisdom, and wisdom is a curse.
Slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I walked to the fridge and opened it, just to check. We were planning to be gone for quite a while, so we’d emptied it as best we could. Thinking back to the ketchup udon stir-fry that Adachi threw together last night, I closed the door. A pleasant gust of chilled air brushed past the left half of my face.
All we had to drink was the water from the thermos I’d refrigerated in advance. I never could get used to this stuff. Unlike the well water at my parents’ house, the city water smelled of fluoride.
Once my suitcase and backpack were finally ready to go, I hurried to the front door; Adachi heard my footsteps and got up from the sofa to see me off. Her hair was longer now than when we were teenagers, which made her look all the more adult, and her previously aloof attitude had softened considerably in the time since then. Sometimes I liked to reminisce about that panicky passion she used to have, but…frankly, with a little teasing, I could see it again anytime I wanted.
“Well, I’ll see you at the airport.”
“Okay.”
Once I left, I wasn’t coming back here until after the trip was over. “Pretty exciting, don’t you think?”
“Is it?” she blinked, tilting her head in mild puzzlement. At some point our roles had reversed, and now she was the calm, rational one—at least, on the outside. “Personally, I don’t like anything that gets in the way of us spending time together.”
“…Hm.”
“But it’s just one measly day apart. I have faith that our trip together will more than make up for it.”
“…Hmmm…”
Gah, so cheesy! I tried to play it off, but on the inside I was squirming bashfully. Then, as the seconds passed, Adachi started to boil until her ears were as pink as the flowers she was named after. Ah, just like the good old days. For a split second, she had gone back to the faltering teenager I once knew.
“Come on, Shimamura, now it’s your turn to say something cringey.”
She had hoisted herself with her own petard, and now she was trying to hoist me.
“…Gosh, how can I possibly choose?”
“You have a lot?”
She looked at me in surprise. Naturally, I was bluffing. My gaze darted to and fro until finally, mercifully, I thought of something.
“The other day, I accidentally wore your underwear to work.” I’d slept through my alarm, and as I rushed to get dressed, I didn’t take a close look at what I was pulling on.
Adachi froze. Then, belatedly, she repeated: “To work?”
“Yeah.”
She didn’t really react to this. “And that’s…cringey?”
“Well, it was for me!”
At first, I was sincerely confused as to whose panties I was wearing. Then it hit me: I recognized them from the laundry hamper. Such a relief. When I got home that day, I snuck them into the dirty laundry and vowed never to let Adachi find out…and yet here I was, confessing my secret. Not that she seemed to care.
But after a long moment, she finally chuckled. “I swear, you have no class.”
“Say wha?!” Sometimes, it really felt like she could read my mind.
After this somewhat long goodbye, I started heading out for real.
“Well, see you tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
This exchange wasn’t much different from the one we had earlier, but we went through the motions regardless. Honestly, I loved making overly optimistic promises with her. It was so much fun to plan for the future with someone else.
As I opened the door, a voice called out hastily from behind me: “What pattern—er, what color were they? The panties?” For some reason, Adachi was as stiff as a board.
“Dare I ask why you want to know…?”
Starting tomorrow, we were embarking on our first-ever international adventure. If I said I wasn’t excited, I’d be a total liar.
***
When I arrived at my parents’ house, I was baffled to find that the front door was unlocked. You’re getting lazy, Mom, I sighed silently to myself. I started to ring the doorbell, but as my finger hovered uselessly in midair, yet another lazybones arrived. It was a little shark, holding a rice ball and walking on two legs.
“I had a feeling it was you, Shimamura-san,” she called with a grin over the pitter-patter of her little feet. “Welcome home.”
“Great to be back.”
It was Yashiro, welcoming me into my parents’ house like she was part of the family. For fun, I picked her up and lifted her into the air. She weighed practically nothing.
“Wheeee!” She swung her arms and legs in sheer delight.
Over the past decade, absolutely nothing had changed about her. Her height, her hair, her bright smile—they were all just as I remembered. The one difference was that she had gone from lion PJs to shark PJs. Now she was both the king of the jungle and the ruler of the seas…but in both cases, her head always wound up in an animal’s mouth.
“It’s been so long!” she exclaimed.
“No, it hasn’t,” I corrected her. After all, we just saw each other two days ago. Every now and then, she would show up at my apartment out of nowhere, eat my food, and leave. By this point, Adachi had gotten used to having her around, and on rare occasions, I would even catch a glimpse of her sneaking Yashiro a treat.
But my apartment was a considerable distance from my parents’ house, so I was amazed she could make the trip without breaking a sweat. She seemed to defy every law of physics, time, and space. In a sense, I envied that about her…assuming there were no downsides, of course.
“What’s with the rice ball?”
“It is my snack. It contains kelp,” she informed me, not that I really needed to know. “Would you care for a bite?”
“Hmmm… Okay, maybe just a bite.” I opened my mouth wide.
“Remember, you only get one bite.”
“I know, I know.”
I nibbled one corner. It tasted exactly like the salted rice balls my mother would always make for me to take to field day at school. Not sure about junior high, but when I was back in elementary school, I eagerly took part in all the school events. I could still feel the lingering traces of that passion like a scar on my skin.
Then Yashiro ate the rest of her rice ball in a single bite. For a little kid, her mouth was huge. “This large rice ball has filled 10 percent of my hunger meter!”
“That’s practically nothing!” I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to get hungry again after a hundred steps. “So what’s the story behind those pajamas, anyway?”
“They were a gift from Little.” She flapped her fins.
“You’ve got some weird taste, sis…” Looking back, my little sister always did love to take care of aquatic animals. Not that she ever owned a shark.
I lowered Yashiro to the floor and readjusted my backpack straps; she slurped the stray grains of rice from her fingers, then ran off. So I followed that tiny beacon all the way to the living room, where I found the aforementioned sister lounging in front of the TV with her legs splayed. She looked up at the sound of Yashiro’s footsteps, then looked at me without even batting a lash. “Oh, hey, you’re here.”
“Just got here, yeah.”
“I was wondering where Yachi ran off to. Thought maybe she went to get some candy.”
She spread her arms wide, inviting Yashiro to join her. Sure enough, the little girl ran up and settled between my sister’s legs. She was then given an animal cookie, as if in greeting; it made a pleasant crunch as she bit down. Surely, a shark wouldn’t eat something as cute and fanciful as animal cookies.
But now I had to wonder: How did Yashiro sense that I was at the door if I never rang the doorbell? It was reminiscent of the way a dog or cat would randomly stare into empty space.
“Where’s Mom?”
“Kitchen.”
If I listened closely, I could hear the sound of a kitchen knife tapping against a cutting board.
I set my luggage in the corner, then sat down a short distance away from my sister, behind her and to the side. From behind, she reminded me of me when I was her age, particularly the long hair and the posture. Of course, I’d never actually observed myself from behind, so I couldn’t say for sure, but still. It was weird.
I was kinda hoping you wouldn’t turn out like me, but oh, well. The cue ball of fate had sent me flying and nudged her into my place instead.
Her fingers curled around Yashiro’s shark hood and pulled it down, revealing her sky-blue hair in a torrent of sparkles. Smiling, my sister stroked the girl’s head, her pale fingers cresting the waves like white foam. Meanwhile, she periodically brought a cookie to Yashiro’s mouth, and Yashiro was more than happy to oblige. These days there was a significant height difference between them, but their friendship hadn’t changed one bit. If anything, they seemed closer than ever.
“Don’t spoil her too much, now,” I cautioned her, even though I knew this warning was ten years too late. But my sister shrugged it off.
“What do you mean? Look at her. She’s so cute! Right, Yachi?” She peeked at the little girl’s face.
Yashiro blinked back, mouth full of cookie. “I beg your pardon?” she asked, her eyes round and innocent. To this day, the two of them really seemed like siblings, even as the gap in their ages continued to widen every year.
“Besides, Mom spoils her a lot too.”
“I guess when you’re that cute, you get everything handed to you…”
Upon further consideration, maybe it wasn’t much different from owning a cat or dog. Especially dogs. So dang cute.
“The neighbors all think she’s an international exchange student.”
“What, from overseas?”
“Yes, I come from over the sea! Ha ha ha!” Yashiro declared thoughtlessly. A sea of stars, maybe. As she crunched on a frog-shaped cookie, her molars glittered pale blue like her eyes. You, my dear, are a creature beyond mortal comprehension.
“Over the sea, hm…?”
Tomorrow, I too would travel to the other side of the ocean. What would it feel like? Like being teleported to the other side of a TV screen? The longer I thought about it, the fuzzier I felt. Were there more of Yashiro’s kind waiting for me over there?
“Would it kill you to let me know you’re here?”
Just then, someone flicked my head. When I tried to turn and look, she did it again. Then she started tapping on my skull over and over until finally it pissed me off so much, I whirled around aggressively. There stood my mother, stooped over slightly and tormenting me with both hands. She froze for a moment, then started smacking my forehead next.
“Hey!”
I slapped her hands away. She promptly stopped and straightened her posture. The earthy smell of onions wafted to my nose.
“Now, what do you say?” she demanded, palm up. Her entitled attitude did not encourage me to cooperate. But I couldn’t think of a good comeback, so in the end, I was left with no other choice.
“I’m back, Mom.”
“Good. Welcome home. If you had any common sense, this is the first thing you’d think to do when you got here! You really ought to learn some manners.”
“I was just about to come find you, okay?”
“Keh!”
She stormed off back to the kitchen. If anyone was rude here, it was her. But, setting her bratty behavior aside, I was technically supposed to let her know I made it here safe.
“You really haven’t improved at all, have you, Nee-chan?”
All my life, my little sister would always point and laugh whenever I got in trouble. In the past I would have punished her for it, but now that I was sitting down, it would take way too much effort to get up again. That’s how I knew I was officially an adult. At some point, I had lost the energy needed to chase her down.
“Okay, no more cookies for today.” She gave one more to Yashiro, who crunched it into dust within seconds. “When I was in high school, I must’ve spent at least a third of my allowance on snacks for Yachi,” she continued wistfully. “But hey. Sometimes, money can buy happiness. And when you can get it for cheap, that’s a bargain.”
She tugged Yashiro’s cheeks, and they stretched like mochi as the girl in question grinned. Both of them seemed so content.
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
I could see where she was coming from. In the same vein, I spent my hard-earned cash to put a smile on Adachi’s face.
***
For dinner we had okonomiyaki, tamagoyaki, and yakisoba.
“That’s a lot of yaki.”
“You like these things, right?”
“Well, yeah…”
