Volume 6-7: Kotono learns her lesson with paizuri

“Did Mukaishima have a fight with Minoya-san?”

“Fight?”

Suddenly, Mukaishima fell silent. Behind the silence, the host and announcer of the music show are introducing the performers.

–The first time on the show, it’s the guys from Edogawa Panorama Island!

　I’d never heard of this band before. This must have been their debut.

“Hello?　Mukaishima?”

“Oh, sorry, I was just thinking. fight, isn’t it? So far, no, because Minoya-san is very kind to me”.

Well, it is like that, I guess.

“Hey, let’s say Mukojima had a fight with Minoya-san. And then you get a letter from Minoya saying he’s sorry.”

“Uh-huh.”

“What would that letter say about you that would make you forgive him?”

Again Mukojima falls silent. On the TV, a female announcer and her Edogawa Panorama Island were talking about how they made their debut.

　–So, please stand by. The song is “Ni sen douga”, the second single released today. Here you go. ♪

“Did you have a fight with Kotono-chan?”

Mukaishima asked.

“Umm, yes. Sort of.”

“Hmm. That’s unusual.”

“I don’t know.”

　When you think about it, apart from when we first came to the house, we probably haven’t had any serious fights. The pattern was that Kotono got angry on her own and I apologized.

“But I couldn’t just say something like that out of the blue. Let me think for a minute.”

“Okay.”

　The song “Edogawa Panorama Island” is sung to the accompaniment of loud rock music. I can’t understand the lyrics.

　–Da, da, amida, amida↑ Na, na, namida, namida↑ Gokencho↑ Shojikido↑

Hmmm, is this a new generation of rap? It’s like a monk talking in his sleep.

“You know, I’m just talking about me.”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t want to hear you say you’re sorry too much, It’s too late for that. The most important thing would be for you to write about your honest feelings.”

　-Kunnichiwa, Shojikina Kimochiup

“You don’t have to be good at writing and it doesn’t matter if its short. Just write about what you want to do in the future. I don’t know why I have to say this in the first place, it’s ridiculous.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night.”

Finally, Mukaishima hung up the phone in a somewhat angry tone.

　I folded up the phone, took out the postcard Izumi had given me from the back of my bag, and lay on the floor staring at it like it had holes in it.

　If my wish had come true, I would have loved to walk along a faraway beach like in this postcard with Kotono. No, it doesn’t have to be that far away. We can go to a nearby beach and walk along the beach holding hands, picking up shells and catching crabs.

　Kotono may not be able to see the sea. But if she wants to know, I can describe its freshness and clarity with all the words I can muster. And we can feel the wind, the smell, the coldness of the water together. I can catch a hermit crab or a crab and put it in the palm of Kotono’s hand. If she’s happy with that….

I go to my desk and write on a postcard the address of her stay in Switzerland that Anna gave me. I checked the international postage rates and put a stamp on it. In red pen, I wrote “Airmail” in English and put a square around it.

Then in the bottom half of the postcard I wrote

　 Let’s go to the beach together next time!

That evening I dropped it in the mailbox in front of the convenience store, a five-minute walk away. The first pickup in the morning was at 10:15. I clasped my hands together, hoping that the red box would be delivered safely to Switzerland.

　It was eight days later, in the middle of the night, that I heard from Anna that the postcards had arrived safely.

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