A/N: Parts 1 and 2 Theme: 新居昭乃 (Arai Akino) – ばらの茂み (Bara No Shigemi) / Gulistan [from RGB]
Part One
Akemi-san and I
She called her "Homura-chan". Hence, I shall from hereon out refer to her as "Homura-chan", and not as "Akemi-san", "Akemi Homura", or anything else. It is not because I intentionally want to call her with a term of endearment. Neither is it that I wish to record her through Kaname-san's eyes. For some reason, I think it would be wrong of me to remember her by any other name. I know it is strange, but I think she is, has been, and will always be "Homura-chan". Though I have never once called her in this manner, when I look back now, I cannot help but think of her as "Homura-chan", with the twin French braids, and the red glasses she so loved.
I met her there, in Kazamino, during the winter holidays before I was a third year. Being almost a graduate, faced with all sorts of possibilities for the future, limited only by my imagination and my good fortune, I was lost and dazed with regards to my further destiny. At my friend's, Sakura-san's, insistence, we were supposed to meet at the train station to depart for Kazamino. She was planning to take Miki-san to see her parents for a post-New Year's visit. A family visit is usually a must before betrothment, she implied, and she invited me as a long-time friend to visit as well, saying that her sister must miss me. However, our plans fell apart. At the last minute, she called to say that an emergency had occurred. Whether that emergency was brunch or breakfast, I'm afraid I'll never know. Hence, I, who took the trouble to free my schedule over a week, was left alone.
Thankfully, we did not reserve any accommodation in advance, so I was free to either linger around in Kazamino or to go home. I chose to stay for a short while. Nagisa, who lived together with me, was in Kaname-san's good care. I could have gone back and spared Kaname-san the trouble of looking after the little girl, but I had the impulse to simply lounge about and relax for a few days in that old, scenic city. Even greater was how temperatures on the nearby coast were exceedingly warm that year such that people were already out in their spring apparel.
In the end, I decide to reside in a respectable little inn deep within the districts of Kazamino, sheltered away from the tourists and hubbub. The drawback was that if I wanted to get my hair styled or have high tea, I would have to travel a long distance down into the main road, where an uphill climb awaited me before reaching the city centre. And if I flagged a taxi, the distance would be far too short to be good value for the fee, roughly 1000 yen. Secluded as the place was, however, many villas and artisan houses were built around here – residences of rich families, no doubt, who could afford the cost of the land but not fill up its space. Also, it was only a stone's throw from the sea, so I made plans to get a nice tan there.
I leisurely walked there every day at noon, on a path lined with humble topiary gardens and traditional residences. Having come to savour the abnormal weather, the beach was always packed with families who had come to unwind and celebrate the New Year. Sometimes, the sea would bob with a mass of multi-coloured heads, like so many lines of seaweed on the shore. Alone in the happy, noisy crowd, I enjoyed myself thoroughly, dozing under the sun and playing in the water with children who roped me into their games. Very occasionally, a few brazen men would ask for more than my acquaintance, to which I had the best replies.
It was in the midst of all the hustle and confusion that I met Homura-chan. I remember how there was a lone teahouse that caught my eye. It sold regular beach fare, overpriced and plain yakisoba, bland and skimpy katsudon, fritters doused with so much oil that one could use them as Molotov cocktails. In addition, despite the unusual heat, they still held special menus for nabe. But on the second level, it housed a simple tea shop that overlooked the sea and the city. In the adjacent bathing complex, I rinsed my body of the salt and sand and proceeded towards the tea shop to sample a few cups of ocha.
Homura-chan was just about to exit the teahouse when I first laid my eyes on her, wearing a modest, dark swimsuit. Immediately then, I recognized her as a fellow student of Mitakihara Middle School and thought it to be a wonderful coincidence that we had met there. Since I was already tired out, I seated myself on the upper level and let the strong breeze blow against my untangled hair as I watched Homura-chan from above.
Surprisingly, she was not alone. A green-haired lady accompanied her. With her pale skin and remarkably well-maintained figure, she had already drawn my attention. In fact, if she had not been by Homura-chan's side, I'm not confident I still would have noticed Homura-chan. Then, I realised she was probably also a student of our school. The way she carried herself was noteworthy. Though she folded her hands in front of her, her strides were fast and resolute. And her attire was also well-picked, a green one-piece, just a few shades darker than her hair. If Sakura-san were there, she would have likened her to a sea cucumber, I remember thinking.
While I watched them, a small child dashed into Homura-chan and fell onto the sand. She helped him up and spoke a few words before tussling his hair and sending him off. I watched Homura-chan walk on towards the sea. Then, the green-haired lady parted ways with Homura-chan and headed towards a gray-haired boy in swimming trunks. From afar, I could not tell if he was Japanese or a foreigner. They disappeared into the crowd before I could decide. Homura-chan flitted into the water, making her way past the lines of people wading about, and stopped upon reaching a quiet part, far from the shore. Then she began to swim out until she had momentarily disappeared from my sight, beyond the horizon. She must have turned around at some point, as I could see her swimming back towards the beach.
I followed her with my eyes until she arrived back into the teahouse and came up to the tea shop. She shuffled away to one of the side lockers and retrieved her belongings. Removing herself to the ladies' changing room, she left in a long white sundress and a straw sunhat covering her long black hair, shading her eyes. So, she walked down and away.
After she departed, I noticed only then that my tea had gotten cold and proceeded to down my drink, over-steeped. As I idly gazed out into the sea, I began to wonder about the black-haired girl. For some reason, I felt a surge of familiarity. I felt like I had met her somewhere else before, as acquaintances or friends. But my memory drew a blank.
Urged on by this and a vague sense of interested boredom, I went to the tea shop once more the next day at the same time, hoping to catch another glimpse of her and maybe, befriend her. And there she was, but alone. Having changed and deposited her belongings in the lockers, she left for the sea. When I saw her wading around amidst the crowd until she was stranded, but swimming at an easy pace, I suddenly thought of following after her. But before I knew it, I was so caught up in myself that when I looked back down, I had lost all sight of her.