"What do you want for dinner, Yukari?" her mom smiled at her as she pushed the grocery cart down the aisle, Yukari in tow. Now that Yukari was seven, her mother had started giving her more agency in what happens in the kitchen. It was nice. Whenever Yukari helped her out with stuff like picking ingredients or washing the rice, she felt proud and important, like a big kid.
"Oyakodon!" Yukari said happily, looking around. The grocery store always seemed so big and endless; all the labels, all the meat, all the vegetables, all the snacks…each product seemed bright and promising to Yukari's eyes.
The sunny smile on Yukari's face, however, stopped once she saw Ia, who was curiously peering at some of the cans in the canned food aisle.
Seeing Ia out and about in public was always uncomfortable for Yukari. She could never get used to how people just…ignored her presence, as though she wasn't even there. How people's eyes would just pass straight through her, as though she was made of nothing. Whenever Yukari and Ia played together on the playground, people passing by would always smile quizzically at Yukari, the weird girl who always played by herself.
But Yukari hated that, how people would just assume that she was alone. After all, she wasn't. She was with Ia. But she knew that that wasn't what it looked like to others, and she wasn't even sure what she thought of it herself.
Yukari glanced over at her mom, who was currently examining some spices, before sidling over to Ia, tapping her on the shoulder and startling her out of her reverie.
"Oh!" Ia said, smiling. "Yukari!"
Yukari wondered how Ia could be so surprised to see her, if she was imaginary. "What're you doing here?"
Ia shrugged, a light, graceful movement of the shoulders. "I was bored, and there's a lot of interesting stuff here. Like this!" Ia picked up a can of tomato soup. "What even is an….'acidity regulator'?"
Yukari blinked. She wasn't sure how an imaginary being in her head could get bored. She wanted to ask, but Ia always got a little quieter and a little sadder after Yukari asked those questions, and always would protest that she wasn't imaginary, but Yukari was never really convinced. The evidence was against her, even though Yukari wished it wasn't. "Oh. Um…do you want to play later?"
Ia's eyes lit up. "Yeah!"
"Yukari…" her mom's voice loomed over her, and the smile that was on Yukari's lips dropped.
"Oops," Ia said quietly as Yukari turned around.
Her mom was wearing that weird expression again, the one she always wore whenever Yukari ran out to play with Ia, whenever she catches Yukari in mid-conversation with Ia, whenever…anything relating to Ia happened, really. "Were you…" her mom paused, "talking to Ia again?"
"N-no," Yukari said.
Her mom's eyes grew stern, and the feeble lie crumbled. "Y….yes," Yukari said, avoiding her mom's gaze.
"You're too old to have an imaginary friend, Yukari," said her mom, letting the words hang in the air before she spoke more gently, "Why not play with some of your real friends?"
Yukari looked down, biting her lip. She didn't want to admit out loud to her mom that she didn't have any.
Her mom, sensing the meaning behind Yukari's silence, only sighed and turned around. When she next spoke, she affected a tone of cheerfulness that was so fake, it made Yukari feel even worse. "Well…I still need the chicken for the oyakodon. How about you pick some out for me?"
"Okay," said Yukari, trying to sound happier than she felt. She wanted to look at Ia before she left to mouth a good bye, but her mom was here, so Yukari couldn't even have that. Ia seemed to understand, for as Yukari walked over to the poultry section, she felt Ia's hand tightly squeezing hers before letting go.
-xxx-
That night, as Yukari sat at her desk doing her homework, she heard a knocking at her window. Puzzled, she glanced up, and there was Ia, her face pressed against the window.
Yukari's eyes widened and she quickly ran over to the window, opening it. "Ia!" she practically shouted, before she realized that her parents were still in the house and she toned her voice down to a whisper, "what're you doing here?"
Ia fidgeted. "I….I didn't get you in trouble, did I?"
"N-no, of course not," Yukari said. In truth, she did - after coming back home, Yukari's father had a stern talk with her, all disappointed looks and quiet explanations that she couldn't live in her head forever - but Yukari didn't want her friend to worry.
Ia brightened up, though not by much. "Can I come in?"
"Yeah…be quiet, though," Yukari said, though she wasn't sure how much it mattered. Ia quickly clambered in, though she seemed to have some trouble lifting her body high enough, so Yukari helped her in. Ia tumbled in onto Yukari's bed, breathing heavily from the effort.
Despite herself, Yukari giggled a little. Ia looked so tired out, her limbs splayed from the effort, that it was kind of funny. "Can't you just appear in my room?"
Ia frowned. "It doesn't work that way. I'm just like you – I have to walk here."
Yukari's grin shrank a little. "Oh."
"Anyways…" Ia picked at her clothes, "I'm sorry I got you in trouble. I got…lonely, sitting by myself at the library all day."
Whenever Ia said stuff like that, Yukari couldn't help but to wonder if she was actually imaginary. It was always weird to her how Ia could remember events that happen when Yukari's not around, but not know a single thing about where she came from. She couldn't remember her last name, or where she lived, or where her parents were, and whether or not she had any siblings…but she could remember reading books at the library while waiting for Yukari to finish school, and wandering the streets at night while waiting for Yukari to wake up.
The last part had always disturbed Yukari, a little. After all, real people slept.
"It's okay," said Yukari, pushing away those thoughts and taking Ia's hand. "I'm not mad at you."
Ia smiled a little, but only just. "I wish other people can see me."
"Yeah…" said Yukari, looking down. If just one other person could see Ia, that would make all the difference. "I don't know why only I can."
"I'm glad I have you, though," said Ia. "You're the only one who can see me, so you're special."
Yukari smiled. Hearing that warmed her heart, and she decided to be bold. "Sometimes…" she said hesitantly, glancing up at Ia every so often as she spoke, "sometimes I'm happy I'm the only one."
To Yukari's surprise, Ia seemed to brighten up at that. "Really?"
"Yeah," Yukari admitted. "I don't have to share you."
Ia's smile grew wide, and she quickly clambered up to give Yukari a tight hug. "I don't want to share you either! Oh," Ia pulled back, all smiles now as her eyes looked all around the room, "you should show me your room!"
Yukari laughed. "It's not very big. You can see everything."
"So? You can still give me a tour!"
Well, Yukari supposed, she could. It was hard to refuse Ia when she was smiling at her like that, and with a wry grin Yukari got off the bed. "Alright, alright. So I keep all my toys over here…"
-xxx-
It was the weekend, and Yukari and Ia were laughing as they ran down the trail that overlooked the lagoon. It had started out with a simple game of catch, but now the ball was abandoned in the nearby playground for an impromptu game of tag. Ia was nimble, but Yukari was taller, and she used every bit of her height advantage she could to gain on her friend.
In times like these, Ia looked so happy and carefree, the wind whipping through her long hair, her blue eyes alight and sparkling with undeniable life. Her cheeks were faintly flushed from the exertion, and she ran with such energy that it was impossible to think of her as being imaginary. After all, how could it be that Yukari's mind came up with a being like Ia? She was so full of life, and ran and jumped and played just like any other kid. How did it matter, that Yukari was the only one who could see her? Why did that have to mean that she was imaginary?
"You're too slow!" Ia called back behind her shoulder, laughing.
The words spurred Yukari on, snapping her out of her thoughts. She was undeniably gaining on Ia, and was already imagining reaching her hand out to tag her.
Then, with a sharp yelp, Ia tripped and fell on the rocky trail.
Yukari's eyes went wide. "I-Ia!" She sprinted towards her, running faster than she did during the game, and quickly caught up to her, crouching down so that she could examine her friend. "Are you oka..."
The word died in her mouth when she saw it – a big, ugly, bleeding scrape down Ia's leg, and Yukari swallowed as her head went dizzy. She had never been good with blood, but Ia needed her, so Yukari worried at her lip and tried to remember what the doctors on TV did. They usually tore off some bit of their clothes to make a bandage, or something like that…but no matter how hard Yukari tugged at the cloth of her hoodie, it didn't rip off like it did on television.
Worry was beginning to fill her mind. Whenever Yukari got hurt, she had her parents, and she knew that for when she gets sick or really hurt, there were doctors and hospitals. However, what would happen when Ia got hurt? No one else could see her…so it was up to Yukari to take of her.
"Don't worry, Ia," said Yukari, even though she was quite worried herself. "I'll…I'll take care of you," her hands were already out, and the words were coming out in a rush, "I can carry you back home, I have a lot of bandaids and stuff and—"
"No," said Ia quietly, staring down at her leg. "I'm fine."
"Wh-what are you talking about?" The gash was still there, bleeding freely. Yukari swallowed. Maybe Ia hit her head, too.
Ia closed her eyes and sighed and placed a hand on Yukari's shoulder. It seemed like she wanted to get up, and Yukari tried helping her, but Ia stood so quickly and with such strength that she nearly bowled Yukari backwards instead.
Then, Yukari saw Ia's knee again, but the gash was gone. All that remained was unbroken, milky skin, as though nothing had ever happened.
"What…" Yukari gasped, staring at the perfectly unbruised knee. She then drew her gaze back up to Ia, who was still standing, eyes half-hidden by her bangs. "You're…it's gone."
Ia nodded.
"I-is it," Yukari stuttered, "is it because you're…"
"Imaginary?" Ia finished, voice a dull monotone.
Unable to speak, Yukari nodded.
Ia sighed and abruptly slumped down to the ground again, so fast Yukari feared that she might really hurt herself. But Ia was fine, physically, even though her voice became more and more fragile the more she spoke. "I don't know. I still don't feel imaginary."
"I…I guess you wouldn't," said Yukari, not knowing what else to say.
Ia bit her lip then, and her eyes became cloudy with tears. "Y-Yukari," she looked imploringly up at her, "does it matter? If I'm…real?"
Yukari swallowed. Ia was asking her so seriously that Yukari couldn't give anything other than a serious answer. So, Yukari stayed quiet, thinking over the question, even though her prolonged silence made Ia cry harder. It did matter, right? After all…Yukari knew how other people looked at her. Both adults and kids stayed away from her now because she was weird. And she knew how her parents felt about it too, bewildered and helpless and disappointed in her, because she couldn't make any real friends.
But here was Ia, and the memory of Ia's clear laugh and cheerful expression was still fresh in Yukari's mind.
Yukari knew that there was no way she could give that up.
"You feel real to me," said Yukari.
A slow, tremulous smile broke out on Ia's face at that, and she threw her arms around Yukari, burying her face in her shoulder. Even though Ia was still all teary and snotty, Yukari didn't care, only hugging her friend back tightly.
It mattered…but Ia was so real to Yukari that somehow it didn't matter either. Yukari closed her eyes, and sunk herself further into the hug.
A/N: This one's a short chapter, so here's a quick update!
