Just a Little Bit Today
Twirling a flower about in her hands, Hirate Yurina sat at her dining room table alone. The short haired girl had already changed into her school uniform, but she didn’t feel like going to school today. Her apartment was lonely.
After all, this was the month anniversary of Neru’s death. Neru, who had always been by her side, who she had selfishly fallen for, who she had confessed to too late, had gone ahead too early.
Just like that, Neru had gotten into an accident. Just like that, the stem of the flower in Yurina’s hands bent irreparably.
Ding. Dong. Yurina dropped the flower in her hands. She wondered who would be bothering her right now with the chime of the doorbell. Yet, for an odd reason, she got up from her seat and walked to the door. Not peering through the peephole, she opened the door.
Yurina found a girl wearing the same school uniform in front of her. The stranger had her hair tied in cute pigtails and appeared at a loss for words, fidgeting.
Suddenly, that stranger’s aura changed to one oddly familiar, and that stranger said, “Techi, it’s me, Neru.”
An ugly feeling filled Yurina’s heart. “Leave me out of your pranks.” She coldly replied to ‘Neru,’ starting to close the door.
“Wait!” Yet, ‘Neru’ called out, flustered, with the same gesture that Neru would always do when troubled. She tried to convince the short haired girl, “I’d told you about the ghosts I kept seeing.”
That was right. Yurina pursed her lips. Neru had some sort of spirit sense, and the short haired girl had been the first one let in on that secret. In truth, Neru had often talked about a youkai girl by the name of Risa who Yurina could never see. A flood of memories started leaking past the dam Yurina had painstakingly built in her heart.
“All of Neru’s friends know about that sort of thing.” Yurina still responded.
Neru tried again, “On the day we met, you had been hiding under the slide in the park during a game of hide and seek.”
“That’s…”
“On the day of the accident, you had me deal with a spider in the bathroom, ate pancakes for breakfast since it was my turn to cook, and-”
“St-”
“Confessed your feelings to me.”
Yurina’s breath hitched at that regretful look on Neru’s face. She couldn’t find the proper words to say, so she just said, “Come inside.”
Sitting in the living room, Yurina listened to Neru explain what happened up until the events of just now. Neru had gotten into a car accident to due a convoluted supernatural incident, but by chance, her soul had failed to move on. She had been lucky or unlucky enough to have found herself anchored to the high school girl beside Yurina.
Silence quickly followed Neru’s explanation.
Neru seemed awkward as well. She took a deep breath as if deciding to wrap up something, and she smiled, “Thank you for the confession.”
Neru leaned forward in that girl’s body and gave Yurina a light kiss on the forehead, her cool hands brushing aside Yurina’s bangs.
Neru’s next words felt ice cold, “But, I can’t accept it anymore.”
“Why?”
“I’ve already died, Techi.”
“But, you’ve come back. Even though it’s like this.”
“This body is Memi-chan’s body. It’s because she was kind enough to lend it to me and because she had took my cowardly self along to here that I could meet you again.”
“Neru-”
“I’m sorry.” Neru placed her index finger on Yurina’s mouth, shushing her, “I’m glad I could meet you again.”
“I still love you.”
“I can’t accept your feelings that way.”
Yurina knew that she had lost at that moment, so a bitter sigh escaped her mouth before she knew it. “You were always looking somewhere else, huh.”
“Yea. I guess I was.” Neru sheepishly smiled as if asking for forgiveness. “Please fall in love with someone else, someone better than me.”
The short haired girl reluctantly made a noise of agreement. She felt that Neru’s willfulness hadn’t changed even after death. Jumping as she was broken out of her stupor, Yurina felt Neru’s hand on her cheek, still cold.
“Close your eyes for a second.” Neru murmured.
Yurina closed her eyes. Then, she felt Neru’s arms wrap around her in what felt like a last hug. Warmth, there was a bit of warmth, then the hug started to pull away.
“Neru…” The short haired girl finally opened her eyes.
The stranger who greeted her this time appeared apologetic, softly telling Yurina, “Ah, Neru-san’s gone.”
“I see.”
“She said, ‘Thank you. The last thing I wanted to do was to talk to you again, so this is our last farewell.’” The stranger seemed disgruntled. She hissed to the air, “What? Please say it properly,” before sighing, finding no one there anymore.
“She couldn’t have said to my face.”
“Please don’t get mad at Neru-san.”
“I don’t know how to feel about this.” Yurina shook her head. She wasn’t mad. Running a hand through her hair, the short haired girl choked out a dry laughter. “I’ve finally gotten closure. I guess… it wasn’t my fault that the accident happened? But, somehow, I also got my heart broken all over again.”
The stranger rummaged through her skirt pockets and drew out a handkerchief, extending it to Yurina.
Yurina seemed surprised at the gesture, but she shook her head. She wasn’t crying; even if she felt like she was, she wasn’t crying. “Thank you, but it’s okay.” The short haired girl gazed at the stranger, noticing the differences between her and Neru. “What’s your name?” A question spilled out of her mouth. She wanted to know who this stranger was, why Neru had attached to her.
The stranger responded, “I’m Kakizaki Memi.”
“I’m Hirate Yurina.” Yurina reciprocated.
Ultimately, they skipped school. Exchanging words about the girl who had passed away, Yurina and Memi bought flowers to offer to the dead. Memi, who had only known Neru for a month, and Yurina, who had known Neru for years, found themselves talking about different sides of one person.
They found themselves in a graveyard.
Placing down her flowers and praying for Neru’s next life, Memi said to Yurina, “Neru-san talked about you a lot.”
The short haired girl made a noise of surprise as the conversation turned toward herself for a moment, “Huh?”
“Good things, of course.” Memi stated, almost teasingly. “Like about how kind you are, Yurina-san.”
“She likes to exaggerate.”
“I don’t know about that.”
Yurina then turned the conversation around to Memi, “How did you meet Neru?”
Memi fiddled with her fingers as she responded, “Her ghost accidentally attached to me. No, maybe it’s that I saw her.” She made an unique thinking expression. “Or that she had reached out to me when I was troubled even though she was in more trouble than me.”
The short haired girl nodded, gesturing for Memi to continue.
“How do I put it… Her ghost was how she was after the accident.”
Yurina stiffened at the memory of Neru’s body after the accident. She shook her head, however, to inquire, “What about you?”
“It’s nothing much. I wouldn’t want to trouble you with my situation.”
“It’s no bother. Not when I’m the one troubling you. Here we are, even skipping school.”
“I would have skipped anyways.” Memi said, putting on a weak smile. “I don’t know how to face my classmates after saying something that I shouldn’t have said. A month ago, I caused something bad to happen.”
A month ago was when Neru died. A month ago was when Neru met Memi.
“I can see ghosts, just like Neru-san. Because I revealed it at the wrong moment, I caused my best friend to be injured and scared my classmates. After all, my spiritual sense isn’t the same as just seeing like Neru-san. I end up causing the other world to interfere with ours.” Memi looked down. She didn’t want to meet Yurina’s eyes.
Yurina wondered if what Memi said was strange. The short haired girl had no spiritual sense, and often, she felt sad that she couldn’t see what the person she loved saw. Yet, for Memi to be so desolate and alone over that gift, Yurina felt that there was something wrong with the world.
“Do you not like seeing that other world?” Yurina asked.
“To be honest, not really.” Memi shook her head.
Neru had said something else before. Neru had said that the other world was scary at times, but it was also beautiful. She was just unsure if others would accept it, so she kept it a secret.
“It’s a bloody world?” Yurina mused aloud. Unconsciously, she had started to lead Memi out of the graveyard, remembering that Neru had said ghosts congregated in places of the dead.
“Yes.” Memi affirmed. “But, I’m glad I met Neru-san and you.”
“Yea, me too.” Yurina said the same, tasting the meaning of those words in her mouth.
Suddenly, Memi moved. Pulling Yurina closer to her with her small, warm hands, she pushed out against something unseen. A vengeful-looking ghost appeared for a split second before bursting into nothingness again.
Memi bit her lower lip in frustration. She let go of the short haired girl and gasped, apologizing, “I’m sorry. I got you involved in this sort of thing too...” She felt that she should have left as soon as Neru had gone.
“Don’t apologize.” Yurina took Memi’s hand again. It was still warm, alive.
Memi looked Yurina in the eye hesitantly. Yurina’s hand was warm. “Yurina-san, you’re really a kind person.”
Yurina made a face as if she still disagreed with those words.
What else was there to be said?
They shared a moment of silence before Memi saw someone in the distance who Yurina did not. Memi’s eyes widened in surprise before she murmured under her breath that that person had become a youkai.
Memi turned, almost reluctantly letting go of Yurina’s hand.
Yurina felt Memi detach, and she realized that their moment was perhaps over. The short haired girl noticed where Memi’s eyes had suddenly darted over to, and her mouth dropped open, Yurina unsure what to say.
Thus, Memi knew that Yurina had seen.
“See you later.” Feeling that she had no longer a role here, Memi waved goodbye softly to Yurina. Perhaps she wasn’t expecting a response.
“See you later.” Yet, Yurina still called out. Her eyes were looking at Memi. “Memi.”
Topic: Discord (Keyakizaka OS) Her Name is Spelled with Love <BeriMona> [Feb. 14, 2019] (Read 6940 times)