ItwasawindydaywhenHitomileftherapartment。Windyliketwoyearsago。ThebitingwindstungHitomi’sfaceasshetriedtoretieherscarf。Rinhadkhatscarf。ItwasherfirstgifttoHitomi。
Hitomiwonderedwhatwouldhappen。WouldRindemanditback?Andthencutitupintopieces?WouldshewantHitomitokeepthescarfbutpromisetoneverwearitagain?。。。
Hitomiwalkedpastseveralbenchesalongtheshoreofthelake,untilshearrivedatwheretheyhadsattwoyearsago。Hitomisatdown,ratherresolved,andwaitedfortheiable。
Therewerefootsteps,hurriedfootstepsofsomeonerunning。ExpegRintoebyonacoldday,inaypark,Hitomistooduptogivehergreeting。
“Kagami!”RinranherselfrightintoHitomi,andcriedoutthehatHitomididnotexpect。RinhuggedHitomi’shead,pressingittightlyagainsthersoftchest。“Kagami-。。。”
“ArashiOneesama?!”Hitomilookedupindisbelief。“Rin!Youhadadream,too?”
“No,notadream。ThismasIwoke,Isuddenlyhadafloodofmemoriesrushingintomymind。Ievengotaheadache。Idon’tknowwherethememorycamefrom,orehefloodgate,butIhadthememoryofsomeonenamedArashi,andyouareArashi’sKagami。”
“Soyoudidn’tlivethroughanyofit。Iwasinalongdreamlastnight,andspentfouryearsinit。ApparentlyI,asKagami,lostafraofmysoul。Somaybethat’sthe‘somethingmissing’inourrelationship。”
“No,Ididn’tgettoliveit。ButIiedallofArashi’smemory,aswellasheremotions。Arashimournedforyoudeeplyinherheart。Ifthere’sanysubstaoyourdreamandmynewlyobtainedmemory,ImightbetheinationofArashi’ssword。”
“Theywouldn’tevenwritenovelslikethat,Rin。Lifeisweirderthanfi。”
Thetwosatdown。
“Rin,well,nowweknowwhatmightbemissing,Iguesswesayafriendlyfare。。。”
“Hitomi。”RincoveredupHitomi’smouthwithherrighthand,andheldittightwhileputtingherleftarmaroundHitomi’sshoulder。“Ithink,nowknowingwhatArashiandKagamidid,andknowinghowArashifelt,itdoesn’tseemtomatteranymore,thisso-called‘somethingmissing’。Here’ssomethingI’vehadsincejunih”,andRinopenedherlefthand,andinit,wasariwithanenormousobsidian。“It’sofficiallyclassifiedasacocktailring,forwearingtoacocktailparty,Iguess。SorryIdon’thaveanythingmoresuitable,asjewellerystoresdon’topenthisearly。”
Hitomi’seyeswerewide-open。(“Ohmy。。。IsthiswhatIthinkitis?。。。Isshegonna。。。Willshegetdownononeknee?”)
[Rindidn’t。]
RindrewoHitomi’sear,andsimplywhispered“willyoubemine?”
RinwithdrewherrighthandfromcHitomi’smouth,andlookedexpetly。
Hitomididn’tanswer。Shestood,wide-eyed,withherthoughtsalltangled。(“Isthisit?Like,justacasualquestion?Like,really?But,Iguesswearegoodagain。Rin,theperfectRin,wantstobewithme,witharingonmyhand!*giggles*。。。”)
Rinwasstillwaitingforananswer,andarchedherlefteyebrow,wwhatwasgoingoniomi’shead。
Hitomiloweredherhead。Rin’sheartsank。
HitomiputherarmsaroundRin,putherheadbatoRin’sbeautifulandsoftchest,swayedslightlybadforth,andwhisperedwithsweetness,longing,andjoy:“。。。Oneesama。。。”
Rinsmiledandchuckled。“That’sagoodname。Ilikeit。”
Itwasstillmwhentheyleftthepark,sotheyvisitedabreakfastrestaurant。Hitomiwasgigglingrandomlyoutofhappiness,andRindidmuch。ShespentmostofhermeallookingatHitomilovingly。
RinandHitomiarraheirlivessotheycouldmeetforluncheverydayunlesssomethinguedhappened。
Summercame。
“Wanttovisityourself?”HitomijokedwithRin。
“Whatmischiefareyouplanningthistime?”RinhuggedHitomifrombehind。
“WeshouldpayavisittoAtsutaJin’gūinNagoya熱田神宮。YouaretheinationofArashi’ssword,right。Seeifyoucallouttotheholyswordintheshrine,woulditansweryou。”Hitomicarelesslysaid。“Attack!”ShereachedbehindandtriedtotickleRin。
RintooktrolofHitomi’shandsahembehindHitomi’sback。“Thenwhat,gotothegrandshrineofIse伊勢大神宮 andhaveyouyellatthemirror?MyKagami?”
“Thatremindsme,Oneesama,wouldsomeohejewel?”
“Idoubtit,Hitomi-。YoursoulandArashi’sswordcametothisuniverse。Idon’tthinkanythingelsecamealong。”
“Wouldn’titbefunnyifthere’ssomeotherewhoisthejewel?”
“Andthenwhat,Hitomi-?PerformaskitinfrontofHisMajestytheEmperor?TheSagaoftheImperialRegalia???”
“Hahhahhah!OathofSisterhoodinthePeachGarden!Hahaha!Ohmy,mystomachhurts!Hahaa!”
Timewentbyfast。Bythesedsemesterofherthirdyearatuy,Hitomihadherfirstpracticumasateacher。Havinglunchtogethereverydaywasnolongeranoption。Asschooltypicallyendedinmidafternoon,wayearlierthaimethatRinwouldcludeherstudyfortheday,planningforspendingtimewitheachotherduringtheworkweekwasbeingdifficult。
“Airesomeweek。。。”Hitomiplainedasthetwotooktheirseatsinarestauranttoenjoysomeself-servegrilledmeat。“Havingtomeetonlyonweekendsdrainsmyenergy。”