Epilogue

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

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.

For that promise itself is

the best memory you have left for me Riku-kun.”

◇◇◇

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’.