Prettyinpinkgal: I had to look up whether it was "twelfth" or "twelvth". I am a failure.

Disclaimer: I don't own AIR.

THE LAST FIFTEEN SUMMERS

THE TWELFTH SUMMER

This summer was another step towards that ever-present door. Misuzu felt it deep within her heart...no, not even her heart. Her soul. Its strange grasp on her made it seem as if the world, for a season, was nothing but a dream. In autumn she woke up, but with spring's arrival Misuzu always felt herself drift off to somewhere new.

None who saw her thought anything was different about her, although, granted, there were few who really took the time to pay attention. Misuzu's only real noticable difference is that she spaced out a bit more, but again, few paid particular attention to her. And any who did probably attributed it to nothing more than sleepiness from studying for exams.

And that was anothing thing. Elementary school had passed by in a flash. Now she was about to enter junior high. She felt so old and grown-up!

...Although this thought frequently occurred to her when she was lying in her room, playing solitaire with her dinosaur cards and her dinosaur plushies scattered around her and on the shelf.

She was studying, too, of course, although she would just use the escalator system and attend the junior high here at home. It was too far to travel to one of the neighboring towns, which, despite having the title "neighboring", were actually quite a drive away from her remote little town. Her grades were good, considering her, er, health issues. As long as she had the strength, she needed to attend school and then get a good job to help Okaa-san pay the bills, even though they were now pretty well off. Misuzu never forgot her early years when having an extra mouth to feed put such a strain on Okaa-san's bank account. She needed to make it up to her. Plus, if she did, maybe she would get the added bonus of having Okaa-san hug her maybe?

And by that time, maybe Misuzu would be old enough to have outgrown her attacks? In that case, she might someday be able to hug back!

This was the dream Misuzu held on to, the dream where she could hug her mother and tell her "thank you" from the bottom of her heart. Because even though Okaa-san kept her distance, and Misuzu had grown up learning to do the same, she believed that Okaa-san really did like her somewhat. And Misuzu patiently awaited the day when they could act like a real mother and daughter.

Although...Misuzu realized with a bit of surprise that she'd never realized it before. That she'd never realized that Okaa-san had never really adopted her. Misuzu would have had to sign some papers, wouldn't she? Well, probably not, since she was still just a kid, but Misuzu figured she would have been told if she'd been adopted. It had been her own choice to call Aunt Haruko Okaa-san, and Okaa-san had told her not to after her attack. She wouldn't have minded so much if she'd actually adopted her, right?

Misuzu absently hugged her T-Rex. Did this mean Otou-san was going to come back to her? Although she felt like a bad girl for thinking this, she hoped with all her heart that she never saw him again. He brough back too many sad memories, and while things were kind of sad here, too, Misuzu was also happier here than she had been anywhere else. Plus, she knew Otou-san disliked her, while she was pretty sure that Okaa-san liked her.

"Nn, I must be wrong," Misuzu told herself, looking out the window. "Papa-I mean Otou-san was supposed to drop me off just for a little bit. He hasn't come back in...seven years now." This startled her too; she was shocked at how fast time had gone by. "Yeah, it'll be okay. He doesn't like me, so he'll leave me here. He won't get mad at me again, or ignore me. It'll be good."

Misuzu needed to distract herself, even though she was pretty sure she was right. Grabbing a popsicle from the fridge, she sat on the porch in the backyard. The sky threatened rain, but bugs still flew about on their business, bees stopping by the sunflowers and butterflies darting from here to there. As she licked her treat, a sudden gust of wind rolled up, causing her to cry "Wah!" and pull her hair back in a hurry in order to keep it from getting messily tangled into her ice cream.

In that sudden gale, a hat came rolling over the fence and drifted just above Misuzu's head, landing with a gentle thud against the wall on the other side of the room. Misuzu got up and picked it up, blinking in confusion.

The wind died down, but the storm was still on its way. Misuzu needed to be quick. She darted outside, nearly falling but not quite. "Um, hello?" she called, running to the other side of the house and opening the gate.

There was a girl her age-Misuzu assumed she had been in a different class from her throughout elementary school-with beautiful dark hair. Misuzu thought she looked so pretty.

"Ah," the girl said, her hand stretching out to point at the hat.

"Wah!" Misuzu quickly thrust her hand out. "Here you go!"

A moment went by, and Misuzu realized that she had stretched out her hand that held her popsicle. "N-nihaha," she laughed self-consciously, pulling that hand back and stretching out the other.

The pretty girl smiled just a little. "Thank you," she said quietly, taking it and putting it slowly on her head.

Ah, Misuzu realized with a start. This is a perfect chance!

"Th-that's a really pretty hat!"

The girl bowed a little. "Thank you."

Silence...

"Um, does it keep you cool? It looks like it would. I-it's big, and pretty...I said that..."

"It works well."

"...Oh."

The girl gazed at her evenly, and Misuzu felt a compelling urge to go hide somewhere. "Would you like me to tell you where I got it?" the girl then asked.

"Eh? Ah, mm, sure." Friendship! Misuzu cried in her head. This is how friendship is born! Ah, but careful, me! Careful, careful.

"I got it...in Tokyo."

Misuzu blinked.

"That was a joke."

"Ah-Aaaah, I see! Nihaha!" Translation: "She's so serious! I can't tell if she's kidding or not!"

"I got it in the shop a few blocks down from school. I was ultra-happy when I got it."

"That's...good..." I'm no good at talking! Keep it together, keep it together...

Within a second, a downpour began. The two girls jumped slightly.

"Did you want to come inside?" Misuzu called over the roar, believing this would both keep them dry and break the awkwardness, introducing them to the world of card games and chatting and TV-watching, but as she said this, the girl opened an umbrella Misuzu hadn't realized she was holding.

"Thank you, but I will go. Thank you for giving my hat back to me."

"N-not at all!"

"Bye-bye." The girl walked off, her damp hat drooping a bit under the umbrella.

"Ah, bye-bye!"

Misuzu entered the house, sneezing once before she took off her shoes. As she entered her bedroom to change into dry clothes, she looked at her ruined popsicle and sighed miserably.

Despite how horrible she felt, and the fact that this encounter resulted in a nasty fever that lasted the rest of the week, Misuzu couldn't help but decide that she wanted to get a hat just like that girl. Maybe they'd never be able to use it as the common topic they apparently so desperately needed, but maybe...

It's only because it was pretty, Misuzu told herself resolutely, taking off her dripping ribbon.