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In other words—
"If you dare to tell anyone, I'll kill you," and "Help me, quickly!"
Kiyono instantly understood the message the girl was sending. He stopped teasing her, smiled, and crouched in front of her. "Come on, I'll help you treat your wound when we get back."
After all, they were childhood sweethearts who had grown up together. Through countless springs, summers, autumns, and winters, they had faced both the ordinary and the extraordinary. This was just one more common scene on the road to growing up.
Yukino silently shifted onto his back.
Even though she was slightly taller than him, the body he carried felt like fragile glass, like thin snow that might melt at any moment. That delicate, frail presence made him keenly aware that Yukino was, indeed, a girl.
Moreover, the unique sweetness of her scent and the softness against him made him a little shy. It was embarrassing to admit, but this was his first time having such intimate contact with Yukino.
"Kiyono, what are you thinking?"
"Is this what they call a lucky, soft, unexpected incident? But somehow, what's on my back doesn't feel soft at all—it's rather…"
"…"
"I'm terribly sorry, Yukino-sama. Please don't choke me with both hands. I'm… I'm going to die."
"If you don't change that nasty personality of yours, even bugs won't like you in the future, you know?"
Yukino sighed helplessly.
Kiyono painstakingly carried her to the garden gate. Just then, a voice made them both freeze.
"Kiyono, Yukino? What are you two doing?"
The kimono-clad beauty who had just stepped out looked puzzled.
Time and environment are constantly changing. The things taken for granted in daily life will one day shatter.
The kimono-clad beauty recalled the intimate scene she had just witnessed; her eyes flickered, thoughts surging… Yukino and Kiyono were reaching middle school age.
Middle school is a complicated time. They haven't yet formed a stable worldview like high schoolers, nor are they as innocent as elementary schoolers. As their bodies develop, they harbor strong curiosity about many things, including the opposite sex. The ignorance of first entering puberty, the innocent recklessness of believing oneself the center of the world…
And for Kiyono and Yukino—who had helped, understood, and grown with each other under the same roof—what had been fine in elementary school might, by middle school, quietly accumulate until it transformed into a trembling romance.
Because of her past experiences, Yukinoshita's mother was actually an open-minded parent. She didn't object to Yukino exploring love in middle school. However, the heir of the Yukinoshita family was ultimately Yukinoshita Haruno. For a talented, excellent young man like Kiyono, whom she had watched grow up, she still favored her eldest daughter—this was a kind of partiality. She also didn't want to see Haruno end up with an unsatisfactory partner.
Of course, she would never break up a settled couple. If Kiyono and Yukino had already secretly pledged themselves to one another, she could only reluctantly approve. But now, their feelings were at most vague and nascent. If she gently asked them to part for a while, she didn't need to be overly concerned.
"And… Yukino's situation at school is still the same."
Yukinoshita's mother rubbed her forehead lightly. She had originally planned to send Yukino abroad after elementary school to change her environment, but Kiyono's actions had given them a glimmer of hope. Unfortunately, nothing had changed.
She pondered in silence, recalling the small moments she had shared with the two of them. Finally, she pursed her lips and dialed an international call.
"What? You're sending little Yukino abroad to study? She just started middle school and we're already forcing a separation? Big Sister, Big Sister, I'll miss you so much…"
In the tatami room with the paper door half-open, Yukinoshita Haruno dramatically dabbed her eyes upon hearing her mother's words.
Beside her, Kiyono was slightly taken aback and couldn't help recalling memories from another world line. He realized that Yukino did, in fact, have an experience of studying abroad. But why? Was it because of bullying?
"But… will Yukino feel lonely? If she truly doesn't want to go… maybe we should just forget it?"
The kimono-clad beauty's usually elegant, dignified voice softened, and her expression turned unusually hesitant. In that moment, she was like any mother, worried about a child about to embark on a long journey.
Just then, Yukinoshita Haruno spoke.
"Oh, yes, exactly. Little Yukino is just a girl who's only just entered middle school. How can she live alone in a foreign country? Right, Mother?"
Haruno's bright eyes shone. Like a peerless actress, every syllable danced cheerfully—but when the notes assembled, they carried a sharp sarcasm.
"In a couple of days, your aunt will accompany Yukino to England to live with her and take care of her daily needs. That doesn't count as living alone, Yukinoshita Haruno."
The kimono-clad beauty's reply was calm and unruffled. Kiyono watched mother and daughter lock gazes as usual and felt like a small seal in the Antarctic, observing two giant icebergs collide in slow motion, shards of ice flying.
The boy lamented his humble status in the household, didn't dare look further, and quietly shifted his gaze to the small iceberg off to the side.
In the end, Yukinoshita Haruno huffed and glanced sideways at her sister.
It was a signal for a truce. Yukinoshita's mother turned her gaze to Yukino and asked softly:
"Yukino, what are your thoughts?"
Becoming the center of attention, Yukino paused, then turned her head to the side—toward Kiyono's usual spot. Speaking of which, don't look at me! No one's going to listen to my opinion anyway!
Catching their small gesture, Haruno-nee-san let out an amused, "Eh."
"I… Mother can decide."
Yukino pursed her lips and answered softly.
Is Yukino leaving…?
That night, after the conversation, Kiyono returned to his room. Without turning on the light, he lay down on the tatami he'd grown accustomed to and stared at the familiar ceiling, a little lost.
The Yukinoshita family's Japanese garden looked antique, but it wasn't really suited to modern youth. Perhaps when he was older he'd want to live in an elegant garden, watching fish in the pond and maple leaves fall to cultivate his character. But before that, used to modern apartments, he'd needed time to adjust to life here—and had slowly grown to like it.
It was like his relationship with Yukino. At first glance, she was incredibly beautiful; after truly knowing her, fantasy gradually became habit, and with the passage of time, that habit intertwined into something more complex.
She had once been an extraordinary presence in his life; unknowingly, she had become part of his daily routine.
Only when parting draws near does one recognize the truest feelings in one's heart.
On this lonely spring night, he counted on his fingers how long they had been together.
Fifth grade, sixth grade, first year of junior high.
And after that, would Yukino spend two or three years in England?
They had been together less than three years.
Three years… Perhaps nothing earthshaking had happened, yet the memories were vivid: going to school together, eating together, watching cats in the sunset together, being dragged out to write observation diaries during summer vacation…
Is this what "daily life" is—slowly accumulating, bit by bit, into rivers and mountains?
Even when you think such a life will continue, the reality of time's swift current will crash in without warning.
What would things be like after Yukino went to England?
Their contact would slowly decrease. She would tell him about her new life abroad by phone, at least once a week, and occasionally they would video call.
Practically speaking, he probably wouldn't go to England. But if someone dared steal her shoes again, he would chase them to the ends of the earth and stomp their filthy hands with his shoe.
Of course, if he did fly there, the girl would surely act like a true older sister—showing him around everywhere, personally cooking delicious meals.
Is this what it feels like to live apart…?
Unable to sleep, Kiyono put on his jacket and stepped onto the wooden veranda.
The Yukinoshita family home was far from the city center—almost rural at night. People were long indoors; there were no noisy cars, no bright streetlights, only a quiet night where even time seemed to slow.
The night wind slipped through the corridor, carrying petals from cherry blossoms soon to wither. Leaves rustled. In the clear sky, a white moon hung high; dense stars seemed close enough to touch.
Kiyono turned his head instinctively—and saw a beautiful fairy.
It was a sight that defied reality, no matter how long he looked.
A woman with flowing black hair sat on the veranda's edge, bare feet swinging as she gazed at the moon and stars. Bathed in soft moonlight, her snow-white skin seemed to glow. A gentle breeze teased her hair; her blue skirt rippled like a piece of sea set ashore.
Forest, pond, veranda, girl, bright moon, bluestone path dusted with petals.
It was as beautiful as a meticulously crafted painting, he thought.
"How beautiful."
He sat beside the girl and slowly stretched out his hand. Moonlight poured through his fingers like tilting mercury.
"Yukino is like the moon."
It could mean many things: praise, longing, beauty, distance, unattainable…
Yukino turned to him, her eyes in the moonlight bright and crystalline.
"The moon doesn't actually emit light. It only looks beautiful by reflecting the sun. The real moon is just cold rock and dust."
"Splitting hairs," Kiyono chuckled.
Then he asked, "Do you want to study abroad?"
"There's no particular reason to refuse," Yukino replied coolly.
"But you don't really want to go, do you?" Kiyono ventured.
"Mother is very strict. Whatever she decides, both my sister and I can only obey. Besides, I'm just a child right now." Yukino looked down at her hands.
"I actually think that if you told her what you truly think, Mother would support you," Kiyono murmured.
"But I don't particularly want to stay home either… You're already calling her 'Mother'?" The girl's voice was clear and calm as pond water.
"If you stay home, you can see my and Haruno-nee-san's smiling faces anytime, you know."
"Is this hell? Decision made—I'm definitely going to England."
They traded glances. Yukino's lips seemed to lift slightly, but she quickly smoothed her expression, as if it didn't suit her image.
She looked up at the vast starry sky.
"I heard you plan to submit to the Akutagawa Prize. Challenging the highest level right away? Be careful—the gap between ideals and reality can be so great it leaves you unable to stand."
If it were anyone else, Yukino would have used subtler barbs. But she inexplicably trusted that Kiyono would reach his goal—even if he was still very, very far from someone like Haruki Murakami.
"By then…"
Kiyono smiled gently, his voice bright.
"I'll be counting on you to grab my hand again and pull me back up."
This guy… Yukino turned her head in silence, picked up a small pebble, and tossed it into the distant water, ripples spreading.
"Is becoming a writer your ideal?" Perhaps influenced by the atmosphere of parting, she initiated a topic she normally wouldn't.
"I guess… not really. It's just a goal I'm destined to achieve."
Kiyono mused, a quiet confidence in his words.
"Then what is your ideal?" the cool girl asked under the night sky.
"To become the most excellent, handsome young man in Tokyo—able to face all things honestly, and to lend a hand unconditionally to anyone in trouble…"
Just like you did back then.
Kiyono gazed into the distance. She studied his profile; perhaps sensing the deeper meaning, her usually sharp, cold eyes softened.
"But I'm not as strong as you think. You're projecting an ideal onto me. As you saw today, I'm just a child who follows Mother's wishes."
Admiration is the farthest distance.
Yukino was, in truth, just an ordinary high school girl; only her unusual experiences had shaped that twisted yet resilient side.
Had he forced his fantasies onto her?
Perhaps part of his feelings was like that. But the noble, beautiful side even she hadn't noticed—the gentleness hidden beneath the frost—that was also truly her, like deep snow beneath the surface.
He would tell her these things—eventually.
For now, he simply returned her question.
"Then what is your ideal?"
Ideal, huh…
A cool breeze brushed her cheek. Yukino tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, tasting the word silently.
An ideal is the moon's reflection on water; reach for it and it shatters into ripples of reality.
She had two life goals, for now.
The first was what she had once told Kiyono: to change society and help those in need.
But she also knew it was an impossible task. Her social skills were terrible; she wasn't good at communicating. She would probably let it go after college, and then study, work, and marry like anyone else…
The second was more realistic—a vision extended from the name "Yukino," a long-held desire she wanted to realize.
I…
Could she really say it? Would he laugh at her for overestimating herself? After all, she had that perfect older sister, and her personality didn't seem suited…
Yet they were about to part. If it was tonight, she should say it.
She looked Kiyono straight in the eyes.