Chapter II: Someone Next to Me
Summer vacation will soon end in two more days. Tomorrow is the end of it all, and also, the Summer Festival for Twilight Town.
When I reach the Usual Place, Hayner and Pence are already there, ready to go wherever. It looks like Pence was saying something funny, and it made Hayner to laugh. We decided yesterday that we would finish the last of our summer homework so that we wouldn't have to worry about it today and tomorrow. But somehow, even with all the work done, it seems that this place… doesn't feel all that… complete.
"Morning"
"Hey"
"Hi Olette"
When I raise my voice, Hayner responds, with his laughter still echoing the room, and Pence raises his hand as a greeting. Once Hayner calmed his laughter, he got off from where he was sitting from and started out to the exit, "Well now that Olette's here, let's go"
"Huh? But there's still---"
Still…?
I accidentally say the word, and then immediately shut up, having my hand placed over my mouth. 'Still' what? What did I want to say? It just felt like just the three of us wasn't the complete package. But wasn't Hayner, Pence, and I originally the complete package?
Hayner turns to look at me, "What's wrong?"
"…No, nothing, nevermind"
"Well then, let's go!"
"It's already two more days left, and we finally get to go to the beach!!" Pence says excitedly, as he rounds his eyes up and fills them with glittering joy.
"……The beach…?" We were going to the beach…? "Weren't we supposed to explore Twilight Town?" When I ask, Hayner laughs out loud. He says things like, 'What's wrong with you? Hit your head?' It may have seem like a joke to him, but it wasn't for me. I really thought we were heading out to investigate the seven---… ……Seven…?
"Why would we explore the town for nothing and for no reason?"
"What are you talking about, Hayner? We were going to investigate on that lady with her cat, right?"
"Oh yeah! We were going to rescue that little kitty of hers by just looking at the roof top! That's right!" Pence answers Hayner's question with a joke and Hayner played along, then a chain of laughter going along with it.
"…I'm sorry, I must have been thinking of something else… Forget that, let's go to the beach! Let's eat yakisoba!!"
"Right!! The beach is waiting for us!"
"Yeah, it may not be waiting for Hayner… but let's go!"
"HEEEEYYYY, that was low"
"Hey, you're not retorting back!"
"Again, you're bei----"
"I'm going to leave you two behind if you guys don't shut up!!" I was the first one to escape from our Usual Spot to our dreams to the beach. Once I go outside, the orange light immediately hits my eyes. It's really fun to be with them, the three of us together. I love Hayner and Pence to death.
But.
What is this feeling of emptiness? It's as if my subconscious is telling me that something is missing. That something isn't right here. But… I can't figure out what that is…
I suddenly stop on my tracks and stare at the sundown. It never changes, the sun. It's always this beautiful and wonderful to look at. It never changes, ever.
"? What's the matter Olette? Why you just standing there?" Hayner came out from the Usual Spot and raised his voice towards me.
"Nothing's wrong"
"Hey, who ever reaches the train station last is going to treat us to sea salt ice cream, okay?" Hayner suddenly makes a bet.
"Huh?"
"What? Hey! Wait a second!!" I start chasing him, and Pence follows suit. On the way to the station, my eyes caught a sight of a skateboard. I wonder whose it is… ……I don't know whose it is. But then again, out of the three of us, there's nobody in it that rides a skateboard, so it doesn't matter.
But the object caught my eyes. I wonder why…? The orange sun is shining down on us as always so perfectly, but somehow, it's different.
There's something missing. But I don't know what that 'missing' thing is. I can't think up what's been omitted, but in my heart, I know that something's lost. I don't understand.
"Olette?" Pence, who was chasing Hayner, stopped, for he caught me just standing around. He started walking towards me but I faced him and smile.
"I'm coming"
Yeah, I have no time to be thinking about this. I don't even have a reason to why I'm thinking about it. There's only two more days of summer vacation! I have to enjoy it while it lasts! I have to go to the beach! I'm going to eat sea salt ice cream. I'm going to have a lot of fun. And then tomorrow will be the Summer Festival. It's always crowded and like every year, it's enjoying. The white kimono I bought at the mall, that cute one. I'm going to wear it and with the three of us…
No…
That's not right…
It's not Hayner.
It's not Pence.
Who did I want to show my kimono to…?
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A/N: Slowly trying to remember what was forgotten. Just to let you know, in Japanese, kimono would be called 'yukata' in this case. There's not much of a difference, but I'm guessing that a kimono is more formal and has more stuff added to it. Yukata is something worn often in festivals (matsuri). It's light and easier to move around with.