Epilogue - Promise
Riku-kun,
On the way to school today, I saw petals of frost
spreading on the ground.
They were glittering under the morning sun and looked
really cute, so I knelt down and gazed at them for quite a while.
Winter is coming.
It has been four months since the summer vacation
ended, when I bade farewell to you for the final time, Riku-kun. It is shocking
how fast time has passed.
Last week, Father’s new wife gave birth to a child. My
little brother, it seems.
I have yet to meet him but I am sure he is cute.
Three months ago I have started to live on my own. I
am starting to get used to it.
When I go to school, a helper cleans my room and
prepares dinner, so I am living well.
I make my own breakfast and lunchbox, however. The
recipes printed in the newspapers have really helped me a lot. My repertoire
has increased tremendously.
How many letters have I written to you, Riku-kun?
I am a high school student, but here I am, writing a
letter I cannot post. One might think I am being childish.
But whenever I write to you, Riku-kun, my heart feels
warm and enthusiastic.
All my letters to you are well hidden inside my
favorite cookie jar. They are my treasures.
I do take another look at them from time to time, and
though my heart may ache, I do get that warm fuzzy feeling within. I do feel
blessed.
Now I finally know why Shiori-san would keep her love
diary from when she was sixteen years old at the bottom of her sewing box.
Surely, she read it over and over again, and it made
her happy.
Oh yes, yes. I believe someone took a photo of the
firefly swamp you brought me to, Riku-kun. The caption beneath the picture,
‘Cowherd and Fairy’, was based on a
novel. I finally managed to read it a few days ago.
I started looking for it using the title ‘Cowherd and
Fairy’, but I could not find it.
The real title is ‘A Midsummer’s Night Dream’.
The author is Kanoko Okamoto-san, a female writer
active from the Taisho to the Showa period.
There was a princess called Toshiko-san in the story.
She had a fiancé but ended up spending a wonderful few short days of summer
with a friend of her older brother, a man called Masase-san. It is a short
story, but the night the two spent together was so alluringly pretty, their
relationship so pure, so warm.
Like the fairy and the cowherd, they spent the summer
night together and went their separate ways.
Toshiko-san’s fiancé felt it was a wonderful memory
and titled it ‘a Midsummer Night’s Dream’ so that she could treasure it in her
heart and occasionally share this intimacy with him.
Her fiancé really was a nice man.
Surely, Toshiko-san would have a wonderful life.
Shiori-san never got married, but since she had such a
wonderful memory, I suppose she was happy regardless.
She really liked that person and had to break up with
him, but, despite that, she was still happy.
What I received from your hands that summer was that
special, Riku-kun.
Every morning, I looked forward to receiving your
newspapers, Riku-kun. You brought me to the firefly swamp and I rode on the
bicycle with you. You called me by my name. I treasure these memories dearly.
Looking at me with those determined eyes of yours, you
said that you were going to finish the painting of me, and hoped that I would
see it. I think I should not have made that promise back then.
But if time were to be rewound back to that summer, to
that farewell scene, I definitely would still have answered ‘yes’.
Even though I now know this promise will never be
fulfilled, I would still smile and answer ‘yes’.
This would be my answer, no matter how many times I
were to be asked.
Even if the promise will never be fulfilled, I will
not feel sad, nor will I feel disappointed.
◇◇◇
The seasons
passed slowly.
In the morning,
Chise would always head down to the first floor of the apartment block, where
the postboxes were located. Cold wind would sting her cheeks when she would
open the door, and she would tremble.
(If it is this
cold, Riku-kun too will have difficulties delivering newspapers...)
She was worried
about him.
Surely, it was
snowing there during winter, no?
If the snow
cover got too thick and the roads could no longer be seen, could he ride on the
bicycle safely? Or would he walk and deliver instead...?
Chise took out
the newspapers from the postbox, and gently embraced them, ostensibly to warm
them before returning to her room.
Even after all
this, she continued to read the newspapers.
And she was on
her second sticker book too.
Whenever she was
sad or lonely, she would flip the sticker book. She would instantly feel a lot
better, as though she was back reliving those dazzling summer days.
Her father’s new
wife was just ten years older than Chise and since, as Chise had accidentally
overheard her relatives discuss, she did not wish to meet her step-daughter,
Chise’s father had his daughter move out of the house.
Chise did not
know when they would let her see her little brother.
She had agreed
to have a meal with her birth mother outside once, but it was cut short when
someone called her mother, who then left Chise behind.
—“I’m not opposed to you taking my family
name. But right now, I am starting my new life, and I’ll be too busy to spare
time for you. And I definitely can’t live together with you.”
There was no
concern for Chise in the tone of her words.
She would never
respond to any of Chise’s letters or messages.
Her classmates
and her seniors at the tea ceremony club were worried for her when they heard
about her parents’ divorce. Yuina especially looked guilty when she faced Chise
at school.
“I didn’t know
your parents were facing such a situation, Chise-chan… Sorry for sending such a
message carelessly,” she said apologetically.
Chise pretended
to not mind, cheerfully saying that she had already been prepared for it, and
had been relieved to hear Yuina’s news instead. Everyone was relieved to hear
that and envious that she could live in an apartment alone.
Chise kept her
smile up whenever she was in school.
If she looked
gloomy, everyone would be worried about her.
Back in her
apartment, she would place the dinner that the hired help had prepared into the
microwave. After dinner, she would do her assignments or read some books. This
was how she spent her days.
And during this
time, she would be thinking about Riku.
Thus, her heart
felt very warm, even in this very cold morning.
(How is the
serialized novel developing? Did Saburou-san manage to get Wakako-san back
after barging into her wedding?)
Chise knew she
really should prepare breakfast first, but she was really curious about the
next events in the story, so she knelt on the carpet in the living room and
opened the newspaper first.
(I’ll just have
a peek... Hmm... The page number is...)
Chise flipped
through the dull, crude, thin pages, and suddenly, that thing appeared in front of her eyes.
“!”
Chise’s hands
held the edge of the page, her breath held as she remained still.
She widened her
eyes, staring in utter disbelief.
There was a
large color picture printed on the page.
It was filled
with warm orange tones and showed a girl wearing a pure white straw hat that
was standing by the edge of the brook next to a copse of trees. Her long black
hair was flowing with the breeze, and she appeared about to turn her head away
from the audience.
The sky blue
dress wrapped around the slender body, and one could see a hint of a smile on
the edge of the lips.
Black-framed
glasses rested upon the bridge of the girl’s nose.
Her hands were
holding the frames in place, and she looked really cute.
The painting was
filled with vibrancy and warmth, the light of the sunset was gently flowing
down the pure white ribbon and the dress...
The girl’s
facial features looked very indistinct.
But this...
This painting
was...
It was a drawing
contest organized by the publisher.
And in the
outstanding award section of the student category, the title of the winner was
written as, “15-year-old – 9th grader, Riku Arimura”.
When she saw the
name, tears rolled down her cheeks.
(Riku-kun
fulfilled our promise!)
He drew a
painting of Chise.
The colors he
used were so tender, so warm... and amidst the genial, beautiful scenery, he
depicted Chise so adorably, so happily...
He fulfilled the
promise that could never be fulfilled.
He showed Chise,
who was so far away, such a beautiful painting.
She lost herself
in those days again.
The morning sun
that gradually rose above the hilltops, the cool breeze, the approaching
bicycle, the sound of the tires, and the lingering warmth of the newspapers on
her fingertips.
With her heart
racing, she watched the skinny, tanned face and the mature eyes. The bicycle
slowly departed, and with a blissful heart, she watched the silhouette of that
back depart.
The day he first
talked to her.
When she was
wearing only one contact lens, stumbled, and he embraced her carefully.
Finally, the
night when both of them witnessed the swamp...
The clusters of
stars that filled the sky and reflected in the waters.
The world
belonging only to the fairy and the cowherd, the most beautiful of all secret
places in the world...
Riku, who always
scowled before, finally beamed upon seeing the smile bloom on Chise’s lips.
The treasured
memories appeared one by one from the depths of her heart.
The tears Chise
was shedding were like a warm rain landing on Riku’s painting.
“Riku-kun...Riku-kun...th,
thank you...Riku-kun, Thank you. Riku-kun...Really, thank you.”
There was only
gratitude on her lips.
She was so
happy, so blessed...
She was choking.
Her heart was shaking.
She could only
cry in agony, whispering her thanks over and over again.
The tear-stained
picture was captioned ‘First Love’.
Thank you for translating this story!!!
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