"Interlude!"
Chapter lll
Mamimi isn't going to lie, Mamimi was nervous. How much had Mabase changed since I had last been there? Did Ta, no not Takkun, Naota-kun, did Naota-kun still remember me? Was Canti-sama still there? Did Shigekuni still hate me?
….
I told myself I would never go back. I told myself, "Never knows best", I guess I was wrong.
….
I was scared about going back, not just a little bit either, a whole lot. A lot more than when I left Mabase and went to a totally new country, going back after I left everything behind was making me sick. All these thoughts were going through Mamimi's head as she was on the plane. It was shorter than I had expected because the next thing I knew the captain was telling us to buckle up as we're about to land. I did as I was told, but I didn't want to. Couldn't the pilot just circle the world another couple of times before we landed?
I guess not, because before I knew it we hand already landed in Mabase's airport. "Cantido-sama, have mercy," I muttered under my breath and exited the plane. Maybe I wouldn't have to see anyone from before, Mr. Tate never did specify what I had to take pictures of; it just had to relate to Tasuku-sempai's early life. Maybe I wouldn't have to see Naota-kun at all. That brought up my hopes a lot, but I still felt pretty awful. The faster I finish this job, the faster I can be back home eating pizza.
…
There was a mix-up at the airport with my bags, so I had to stay there for a few hours waiting for my bags. Which had apparently been mixed up with some other plane and gone to Tokyo, and I had to admit, I was a bit grateful. Maybe Cantido-sama had heard my pleas after all. When the guard finally came to me with my bags he apologized and said something about how I could take my camera and its equipment with me when I returned home. Home, hehe, L.A. is my home now and Mabase is just a small city I'm visiting. That relaxed me a bit more. I thanked the guy, putting on my best fake smile and left the airport with my backpack and bags.
I had no idea where to go from there, I didn't even know if I had any reservations at a hotel here. Looking back at it, maybe running out of my boss' office wasn't the best idea. I sighed. Couldn't do anything about it now, I'd just need to find a place to stay. With that in mind I went into town looking for a place to stay.
…
These past couple of years in L.A. totally made me forget where everything in this town was. I had to ask to ask for directions twice, and I still ended up getting lost. Well, not really, I knew where I was, but I hadn't meant to get there.
I recognized the place as soon as I got there. It looked exactly the same as when Takkun and I used to hang out there. The river under the bridge...The River was as blue and depressing as ever, and for a moment, I thought I saw a shoe floating down it, but that was silly. I couldn't help myself, I ran straight to the spot I used to take my sexual frustrations out on Takkun in. Whenever he asked me why I did it, I would just say I would "overflow", and he bought it, but looking back on it, maybe it was true. After all, the day Canti-sama came out of Takkun's head I had said I was overflowing and something amazing did happen.
I couldn't believe how unchanged this place was. Everything was exactly as it was years ago. For a moment I was back in the past holding the bat swinging away at nothing with Takkun doing his homework on the grass. I felt something in the corners of my eyes then, I don't know when I had started, but I was crying. Mamimi was crying! I lit up a cigarette and I lost myself in my memories…
…
Looking back on my final months in Mabase, it seems to surreal, did it really happen? Then I remembered how amazing Takkun had become, and realized it had, it was all because of her…all because of Haru-san. I was just there pushing Takkun away and more towards Haru-san. Maybe it wasn't Haru-san's fault that Takkun became so amazing, maybe it was my fault. Maybe I was the reason he left me in the rain that day without ever looking back. I couldn't help but cry.
…
I don't know how long I had been there but it was dark out already and my cigarette had become nothing but ash. It must have been a while. My face was stiff and I could taste the dried salt of my tears on my lips. I must have had some cry, huh? I was getting up and dusting myself off when I saw a girl looking at me with a bag of groceries in their hand. She was wearing a brown jacket and had her hair down, so I couldn't really see her that well. I had to move closer to see who it was. That's when I saw it was that purple-haired girl that always hung out with Takkun. She must have recognized me too because the look on her face was one of recognition and shock; she dropped the bag and stared straight at me.
"HEY! You're Samejima, right? You're the girl who was always hanging around Naota and stuff?"
She said it with a look of resent in her eyes; she probably didn't like me much. I nodded to her and said, "I'm Mamimi. You are?" I knew who she wasn't but I didn't know her name. Tak – Naota, he's Naota-kun now, stop calling him "Takkun", Mamimi! Naota-kun was the only grade-school I hung out with at the time.
"Ninamori Eri, one of Naota's classmates. I was just heading over to his place; he was in an accident or something." She looked worried when she said "accident", was it bad? Was Naota-kun hurt really bad? I ran up to where she was standing; by now she was picking up some of the stuff that fell out of her bag. I helped her. She had grown up to be quite pretty, I noticed, was she going out with Naota-kun now? She always seemed kind of interested. I was going to ask but decided I shouldn't. It'd be kind of awkward. Instead I asked, "What happened to Naota-kun?" She looked thoughtful for a second, "I'm not sure, but yesterday I found him knocked out against his wall, his forehead was bleeding. He still hasn't woken up."
…
That sounded bad. I had left my bags under the bridge, but it didn't matter, I had my camera in my backpack anyways. I ran towards Naota-kun's house as fast as I could, leaving Ninamori behind; I had forgotten where everything in this town was, but for some reason I knew exactly how to get to Naota-kun's house. I reached the house in 15 minutes flat and was amazed at how much it looked like it had when I had left. In this town, nothing seemed to change, did it?
Canti-sama was outside with a broom. I would normally have gone up to him and given him a great big hug, but I resisted the temptation and rushed into the house. There was a big "?" on Canti-sama's screen as I rushed past him.
I could hear Shigekuni and Kamon having an argument in the kitchen, but I ignored them and ran up to Naota-kun's room. When I got there I was surprised, the room looked a lot different than the last time I had gone in. The room was a huge mess; some magazines and stuff were spread out all over the floor. It wasn't at all like it was before. Then I noticed he had gotten rid of the bunk-beds! It probably had something to do with Haru-san. When I saw him I started to cry again, jeez, Mamimi was sure crying a lot these days. He had gotten taller, his hair was a little longer than before, but he was still the same Naota, I was sure of that.
He even had one of those bandages on his head, just like old times.
I lit up a cigarette and stayed by his side, I wonder what he'd think we he woke up and saw me…
…
The next day I was still there with him, I don't think I slept much that night either, but it didn't matter. I lit up another cigarette. That's when I noticed he was waking up. He was waking up! Mamimi was very happy and very relieved. He hadn't seen me yet and was touching his forehead, it must've hurt because he shuddered a little.
"You've been out for three days, Naota-kun."
That was all I could say. It would have been pointless to say more. He was rubbing his eyes now, guess he still didn't know who had just talked, I decided to let him figure it out by himself.
"M-mamimi?"
"Click!"