Certain Event on April First

Chapter 02 – Certain Event on April First

Sakura caught her breath as she stood there, staring at him. He did not move either, his eyes meeting her gaze. The fire crackled.

“Pfff—haha!” The boy cracked a laugh. He raised his hand after releasing the Sakura’s own and bowed his head down. “I’m sorry. That was a joke.”

“…Eh?”

That was all she could make out.

But he said earlier that he would burn me. A joke? …Eh…eh?

She was still flustered with the sudden shift of the situation. But she also felt relieved. He smiled at her; A genuine one without any ill intention. Perhaps also a bit apologetic?

“Sorry about that, really. I looked at my phone and saw the date. It is yet to be midnight, you see.”

“…What do you mean…?” The girl recalled a certain event in April first. “April’s…Fool?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

She stared at him, quite shocked because she was fooled, that this person had the guts to tell that kind of joke to a stranger. Does he not care about first impressions or something? Since…he was quite creepy earlier…

However, that joke felt real to Sakura.

Probably it was because of what she had done. 

“…….” She could not find the right words to say, nor how should she react. Just dumbfounded.

It seemed that he didn’t want to speak either, so he simply looked away and put his cigarette in his mouth instead. He took a few puffs of smoke before he hurriedly discarded the stick as if remembering something.

“Right. I’m Kitahara Sho. I’ve been living here until four years prior and I am visiting my hometown.”

“…I’m Kawada Sakura, I like books and games.”

The conversation was cut off again, but that didn’t matter. Her thoughts had been practically organized now. She breathed; she had calmed down. It was not as if he knew about her. It would be best to leave now and forget about him.

“I’m sorry when we just got to know each other but I have to go soon, I was on my way home when I came here, actually.”

Sho turned his face to the campfire. The fire was no more but some of the embers were still glowing. She could barely make out his face now. “Yeah, I’ll be going later. Be careful on your way home.”

She retreated from that place slowly, walking away as if natural. She saw the boy walk to the campfire turning his back on her. At that same moment, Sakura hastened her pace. She practically skipped through the steps and jogged the rest of the distance. She unlocked the front door, closed it, and raced to her room. It was only then that she noticed that she was breathing heavily.

The girl entered the bathroom and took a shower, hoping to clear her thoughts. She wished for everything to remain buried and that all her bad premonitions would be washed away in the drain. But as she stared at the mirror, the lingering feeling still remained. She lay down on her bed and forced herself to sleep.

Morning came.

She was walking warily as she proceeded onwards. Watching her surroundings, she approached the cherry blossom near the river. She could see its pretty, pinkish flowers in the branch swaying with the breeze. For some safety measures, she made sure to wear jeans.

There were no people nearby. It was still early and there was a mist like it did yesterday. It would take some time before people would start appearing to work in the fields. She touched the tree trunk and then examined the creek below. She leaned her body forward, carefully checking the bank. The steps down were mostly visible except for a part where a big rock was placed.

Walking over, she tensed up a bit. She looked behind the rock, and then she sighed. That person wasn’t here.

The girl smiled, looked upward, and fixed her bangs so that they wouldn't obstruct her vision. She walked back to the tree. Now she could enjoy her time under the shade…

“Never expected to see you here again, Kawada-san.”

“Ah—eh!” She frantically turned to her side. It was the young man from yesterday, the last person she wanted to see right now. She took a step back.

Sakura forgot. She forgot that behind her was a slope.

She lost her footing and as she was about to fall, she stretched her hand to the tree trunk—a hand grabbed hers and pulled her forward into the level ground. She looked down and kept looking down. She could see his hand releasing hers, the same one he grabbed last night.

Slowly, the girl faced upward, looking at his face. He spoke, “That was close.”

“…Y-yeah. Thank you.” Although she’s expressing her thanks like this, she was still careful around him.

“No, it’s okay. It was my fault for startling you as well,” Sho said. “The truth is I’m about on my way to the train stop.”

“Are you…going home?”

“Yeah, but I’ll be…” He stopped. He looked at Sakura with concern. “Uh, why do you look so relieved?”

“Wha!—I am? Gosh.” Sakura didn’t realize that she was making a subtle smile. It seemed that her feelings showed on her face when she heard the good news. She cleared her throat. “I-I see.”

Sho continued, a little uncertain. “…So anyway, I have to tell you something before I go.”

“W-what is it?” She was still quite nervous, but it was fair to assume that he didn’t know about her. And whatever he was going to say now, he would leave soon after all.

“Do you always go out at night like you did yesterday?”

“Sometimes, when I feel like it. What about it?”

“Just asking. I will be back here in the afternoon, and around the same time yesterday, I’ll burn something again in the mountain tonight. So the thing is if you feel like going there again, can you bring something nice to burn as well?”

She caught her breath for a moment.

“…S-sure?”

Sho smiled at her response. On the contrary, she felt worse. She felt stupid for being relieved at her misunderstanding. He would leave but he would be back…

“That’s all. See you around.”

He waved his hand before walking away through the morning mist.

All Sakura could do was watch his back…

~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . . . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~

The smoke entered my mouth. It was hot. I expelled it right away and coughed several times. I looked around. To my right. To my left. I walked there.

Sakura woke up. Her eyes were wide open in shock as if she had seen something terrifying.

She was breathing heavily, and she was sweating. If not for this season’s chilly weather, her clothes might have been already sticking to her skin. It felt like since yesterday, she had more cases of irregular breathing.

She reached for her phone placed on her bedside table. The time was just past midnight.

Her thoughts went into the invitation she received earlier. She didn’t want to go. Right now, the boy was probably burning things in that clearing. She didn’t want to see him again.

Right, she definitely felt that way. Sakura pulled her blanket over and tried to sleep. However, it was no use, she had tried closing her eyes for 15 minutes, but she could not feel sleepy at all. She tried looking for a comfortable position but to no avail.

She opened her eyes again to look at the phone. It illuminated her face, and in it, the time showed “00: 19.” She stared at it for several moments and then decided to rise from her bed.

She put on a jacket she took from her closet, combed her hair, took the keys, and headed out once again.

Her pajamas consisted of a button-up top and long loose pants. With the jacket on, she was able to fend off the cold. Sakura walked at a slow pace. This morning—yesterday morning, there was news that there was another female victim in the next town, making it two. Both were killed after being raped and the criminal is still on the loose.

But it didn’t concern her. That was over there, not here. If she feared news in other towns, she wouldn’t have gone out last night. But maybe if she did, she wouldn’t have to meet Sho.

If she had something to worry about, it would be that boy.

Sakura walked through the long residential area and ascended the stairs up the hill. She knew it was a bad idea to meet him again, but she also knew that she would not be able to sleep even if she tried. Most of all, she felt like she had to go.

Was it out of curiosity again?

“Why am I even here…? Should I just go home like this?”

Even though she said that, Sakura continued on, finally reaching the stairs landing.