Sunshine rolling over his face, Hisao turns to the two girls walking on his right. Emi is as cheery as usual, her seemingly impossible jumping steps giving off a sound that can only be explained as metallic legs hitting the ground through the soles of shoes, while Rin is carrying her usual nonchalant demeanor. It's a contrast so abstract that it would be impossible for an outsider to think they were friends unless they saw them walking together like this.
"Tell me again why we're having a picnic in the end of November," the boy says and switches the hand he's carrying the picnic basket in. The basket is, as usually when Emi and food come together, filled to the brim and heavier than it would appear from just looks.
"We're celebrating, uh..." Emi tries to remember whatever reason she had come up with for their picnic, but apparently fails. "Well, we're celebrating something. I think. Maybe... Let's just enjoy our picnic!" An extremely enthusiastic runner, a nonchalant artist and a boy that's more or less a combination of the two. The perfect team. Hisao sighs.
"You're not giving much of a choice, are you?"
"Of course not." Emi still has her cheery tone as the three continue their way to the closest of three parks in the small town down the hill from Yamaku. The slight wind blowing through the boy's hair is a surprisingly pleasant feeling, which he realizes as his gaze moves to the sky. It's gotten quite cloudy since lunchtime, but there doesn't appear to be any risk for rain since all the clouds are bright white.
As the park enters their field of view Emi rushes ahead, apparently wanting to get started as fast as possible. Of course, she seems to have forgotten that the other two won't do the same thing, and as she gets to the entrance she turns back to first show surprise and then annoyance. Rin and Hisao walk side by side at a quite slow pace, if just to annoy Emi, and they make their way towards the park.
"Took you long enough!" The blonde girl acts as if she's been stuck there for the last few hours without any means of getting away. The thought of not having rushed ahead of the other two doesn't even seem to have stricken her.
"I almost died this morning, I'm pretty sure that's enough of an excuse." Hisao's answer seems to be enough for him to go free from his companion's wrath.
"What about you?" the blonde asks as she turns to the artist.
"Someone had to watch over me." The boy puts his free arm on Rin's shoulder, the redhead seemingly without reaction to the action. "None better to do it than her. Right, Rin?" He turns his face to the redheaded girl with a smile, which seems to result in the girl's lips going up into something that at least resembles a smile of her own. It also seems to satisfy Emi, who goes back to her usual, cheery self and starts walking into the park followed by her companions.
The blonde girl decides on a place for them to have their picnic at and the boy fishes through the basket he's carrying for a blanket which he places on the decided location. The three of them sit down and Emi immediately starts unpacking the basket; it's not unexpected that what's placed on top of the blanket has a closer resemblance to a feast than a regular picnic for three. No one has any complaints about it, though.
Emi eats, as usually, as if her life depended on her finishing within the next minute. Hisao's not much better, but at least he appears to have some form of control over his intake while Rin mostly sits looking around the park, taking a bite every now and then. It's peaceful, extremely so when compared to the crowded hallways of their school. A relaxing picnic in the park after a stressful day, what more could three high school-students ask for?
Having taken away his hunger through the food packed by Emi, Hisao lies down on the blanket and starts watching the clouds as they move across the sky. To think that he could come close to dying and watching the sky, relaxing, both in the same day. Such variety, all in the life of a Japanese high school-student. The thought scares the boy slightly, but with his circumstances it's not something he can get rid of; his condition isn't one that can get fixed.
"What will happen after this? Another four months and then school's over. I barely got ten months to be here, and yet I feel as if it's the perfect place to be at. It all ends in another four months. I'll go on to become a science teacher, hopefully, Emi will probably go professional with running if I know her correctly, and Rin's most logical choice would be to go with art. Three so different lives. It wouldn't surprise me if we're not able to keep contact; the only message I've gotten from my old life since I got here is Iwanako's letter, and even that wasn't much more than a badly disguised goodbye."
Hisao lets his gaze off of the sky and instead lets it over the two girls he's with, Emi still eating as if it's her first meal in years and Rin still mostly observing her surroundings with the occasional bite. The wind blowing through their hair, the sunshine playing across their faces... "No, I can't let go of this. Even if we walk down different paths I won't let us get separated. Emi, Rin, I'm not letting such a thing tear us apart. You two are the only reason I've been able to come to live with my circumstances, you're the reason I've been able to start my life anew. A simple thing like going to different schools and whatnot isn't enough of an obstacle to take it away."
"Wait, what time is it?" Emi says with a voice that has a hint of what can only be called nervousness. Hisao checks his wristwatch as Rin seems to get interested in the situation.
"Twenty past four, you got anything else planned?" the boy answers as he sits back up.
"Shit, I forgot, I'm supposed to be at the track in ten minutes!" Getting up, Emi gives a questioning look to Hisao.
"Don't worry, we'll take care of it." As the boy says it the blonde girl almost immediately starts running away. "Besides, you already ate half of what was in the basket!" She seems to want to respond at his tease, but doesn't have time for that and instead continues running on legs not meant to run on.
"Seems important," Rin says as the two watch their companion run away towards the school. Hisao, focused on Emi and almost forgetting about Rin still being at his side, get slightly surprised at her saying something.
"It does. Maybe they're having some important meeting or something," the boy responds, still looking as the silhouette of the third member of their group leaves the park. Lying back down, his gaze again turns the sky. "I don't feel like going back yet. Do you?"
"Nah," the redheaded girl responds as she follows her companion and lies down herself. They just lie there, watching the clouds move across the sky, both of their minds entirely empty excluding the presence of the other. The white clouds slowly roam across the two's vision aimlessly, the boy and the girl just enjoying the simplicities of life.
"What do you plan on doing when this is over? School, I mean," Hisao asks and breaks the silence. The clouds continue their ways along the sky as Rin remains silent, either because she didn't hear or because she's thinking about the question. Turning his head slightly to the side the boy can see that her gaze is stuck upwards.
"Don't know," she answers after some time. Hisao turns his face back up, going back to his earlier position as Rin still seems to be stuck in thought. "Do what has to be done."
"'Do what has to done.' I like that idea. I wish I could live like that," Hisao responds after thinking for a while. It would be a nice way to live; always walking forward, only doing what is necessary to take the next step.
"Then do it. It's easy, just take what's difficult and push it down, make it seem like less." Rin's voice seems to carry something that Hisao can only relate to as experience.
"It's not that easy for me. Maybe I'm just not smart enough," the boy answers, sighs, and pushes himself up with his arms. Looking over to the girl, he sees that her attention has now been put on him instead of the sky. "I've made a promise to myself that I won't let us split up; you, me and Emi. Both of you are important to me, and letting you go would hurt."
Rin's eyes seem to get a glimmer to them at the boy's words, something he's learned to recognise as something that can is at least related to happiness. It's nice to see her like that, at least close to being happy. It increases the determination to not let the three of them split up he already had by quite a lot, now that the girl there with him has shown her support. A slight relief gets to him at the realization that the redheaded girl made him feel more determined.
Hisao takes his eyes off the girl and starts looking around the park, watching the leaves being pushed around by the wind, the rare bird walking around on the ground... To think that a year ago he probably wouldn't be able to enjoy this peace, that he wanted things to be lively as they always were in the city. In hindsight he realizes that he might have gotten more enjoyment out of his earlier life if he had learned to appreciate these moments.
"If I could go back to before my heart attack I'd take the time to appreciate the few moments of silence there were... Regrets, there's so many. What do I regret?" His gaze turns back to the girl who's still lying on the blanket, looking at the clouds moving across the sky. "I regret having ever been angry at you. Those times I were more of an idiot than what should logically be possible, and that's coming from a guy who's an idiot most of the time."
"Do you have any regrets?" Hisao asks the girl. Her eyes lock onto his with a questioning gaze, as if she doesn't fully understand the question. "Anything you would different if you could relive it? I think I have many of them, but when I try to think about it the only thing I can think of is having been angry at you." His eyes return to watching the park. "But there's nothing I can do about that but say that I'm sorry. And I am. I am sorry for having lost myself like that, and thinking about it I realize how much of an idiot I was."
"I don't think about the past. Too much thinking. But..." The last word carries another, heavier tone than the other two sentences, as if she's trying to create the confidence to say what's to follow. Hisao turns to face Rin and their eyes again lock onto each other, her deep green eyes and his light brown. "At that art school, I thought it would just be good if I continued painting, but it didn't work. I felt like I had to get back here, so I did."
They stay there, Hisao sitting and Rin lying, keeping eye contact as the clouds above them fly away. They almost fail to notice the sun starting to set to let the moon and stars to take its place.
"We should probably get going, it's going to get dark soon." The redheaded girl nods at her companion's words and gets herself up as the boy starts packing everything left in the basket they came there with. They then start making their way back to the school as the sun sets on the sky, the chill night air of late November enveloping them and nothing there but the other. A wonderful way to spend an afternoon, Hisao determines.