After dinner, and after our introspective conversation about the internal and external world, Olympia and I paid for our food (well, I was the one who paid, though, but that's besides the point). We then set out to do what we had been planning to do all along: a witch hunt.
As interesting as such a thing may sound (or may not), we don't do anything of much interest. We don't chant any sort of voodoo, nor do we make ourselves seem like targets to a witch's hex. Are these things one would do to attract a witch? Hopefully, we are not offending anyone.
All we do is walk around in the middle of the night, hoping that we'll happen to come across this rumored witch. As boring as this may seem, I find this experience rather enjoyable, but that's only because I'm sharing this time with Olympia. Without her, if I were the only one searching for a witch, I'd probably need to be put in a mental institution. Hmm, is this act only normal because I'm not the only one hunting for this witch? Or would an outsider think that there's something wrong with the two of us? Pfft, they wouldn't need to see here to tell that we need serious help.
"Kiyomi?" Olympia calls out to me.
"Yes?"
"Please don't downplay what we're doing; you're hurting my feelings…" Olympia seems genuinely distraught. I'm starting to feel a little bad—only a little. "What makes you think you shouldn't take this seriously!? Fine, I guess you don't want you're reward for when we do catch this witch."
"Okay."
Oww.
"I'm sorry, I'll take what we're doing more seriously." Olympia right-hooked my face. I think I may have swallowed a tooth or two.
"Don't tell lies to make the readers think I'm a bad person!"
"Sorry, sorry. By the way, Olympia, this is our second night we're spending searching for this witch, but I don't think I've asked yet: why do you want to find this witch?"
Olympia freezes once I ask this question. I hadn't wondered about her reasoning for this; this whole thing is rather childish, so I'd just assumed she was bored, but based on her reaction, there may be more hidden under the surface.
"Oh…why? I guess I hadn't given it too much thought myself. Umm…" Olympia swirls her hair with her finger as she gives my question thought. Did she not have a reason in the first place? She must have a reason. Why else would she want me to spend two days with little to no sleep with her in search of something that may not even exist?
A few more moments pass with her not answering my question. I begin to grow impatient, but instead of pressing for an answer, I wait. I wait for her to respond, to think of an answer to my question, even if it's a reason she's coming up with on the spot. I'd feel better if she had one. I'd honestly be rather upset if she doesn't have one.
You need a reason to do anything. You need a reason to eat, to sleep, to use the restroom, to study, to tutor your classmates, to carry the weight of your peers, to spend time with someone you claim to consider a friend, to harbor someone who wanted the worst for you in your home, to search for a witch, to seach for something you don't know exists or not. Whatever it may be, you need a reason to take action. Even if that reason is minuscule, you need one. You need a reason to want to spend time with me. Right?
After what felt like an eternity, Olympia's voice softened, but there was a sharpness beneath it. "Are you happy, Kiyomi?"
She waited, watching me closely. "No need to answer out loud—I think I already know."
I'm sorry that I keep answering your questions with more questions, but this question is important. Are you happy? No need to answer out loud, I believe I already know the answer to that question. You're not. You're the farthest thing from being happy. You hate that even though there are plenty of people that exist within your life, you never took the chance to grow closer to them. You tell yourself that it's your fault for never reaching out your hand, but do you seriously expect everyone to do that for you out of pity?
"I didn't know you were so lazy. Just kidding, of course I did. I know what type of person you are and have been; we've spent our high school years in the same classes for roughly four years. I've seen how you are. You watch people from a distance, never interjecting yourself into their lives because you tell yourself that you'd be a burden. What a piss-poor excuse to not have friends.
"I know you sometimes ask yourself Why did Olympia choose me? But the truth is, I didn't choose you. I just happened to come across you at the bleachers. Why did I just so happen to head to the bleachers the same day that you occupied the same space? It's not that I don't know. It's because I didn't have a reason. I just happened to do so.
"There's no deeper meaning behind why you and I one day became connected. But there doesn't need to be. You don't need to worry about the reason why, at least, for the most part. You didn't need to wonder why your right foot was the first of the two to get out of bed. You don't need to wonder why your dear little sister takes the time to drag you out of bed. You don't need to wonder why Kumiko, just like you, had trouble reaching out to others. You don't need to wonder why you and I are friends. For the time being, it doesn't matter.
"Why do I want to search for this witch? I guess there's only one reason I want to: I want to ask her a question. It's a silly, stupid one. But I feel like it's something that I want to ask, so I will. Does this answer satisfy you?
I hesitate to answer her question. I'm uncertain whether or not her answer satisfies me. Honestly, I still have questions I want to ask, that I need to ask. But, for the time being, I'll refrain from asking those questions.
Instead, I'll ask her this:
"Olympia, care to explain why Kumiko told me that you spent the previous night with her, even though you were with me?"
Olympia doesn't answer my question, at least in the typical way. What she does instead strikes fear into my heart.
She grabs my hand, suddenly and firmly. I expected warmth. But her touch was cold—colder than the night air, colder than I thought she could be.
Her gaze locks onto my eyes—not me, not my face, but something deeper. Her smile is soft, but her eyes glimmer like glass warped by heat—beautiful, bright, and not quite right.
"Shall we have some fun?" she says, her voice light—almost too light. And then, as if nothing at all is wrong, she adds, "Let's search for happiness."
I felt a chill snake down my spine, a warning I couldn't shake.