Sports Day

For my therapy session, I told Doctor Shizuko about my two outings with Hara last week. Without revealing too many details, I talked about Hara's personal and somewhat similar circumstances that brought us together. Following that was my Proust effect moment with the vinyl.

He asked, "Did you investigate the pawn shop for answers?"

"I did," I responded, "last Saturday. I checked out the shop but didn't discover much when I asked around. Bein' a lowly pawnshop, they don't really keep digital records. There was only one worker who worked that day and he told me the girl that sold the record had a ponytail and cried."

Doctor Shizuko noted and asked, "Do you recall any girl with a ponytail?"

I searched my memory of fellow orphans and classmates, though I didn't pay much attention to their features anyway.
"Nope," I replied. "Just that little girl who popped up when I first heard the song."

"And you haven't a clue who she is? A facial feature or anything?"

"No. Even for people I know now, if I think of their face, it's hard to imagine it perfectly. Like, I'll be able to see it, but I can't focus on it like a camera lens. Not even the name of the girl comes to mind."

"No one has come forward about this?"

"The only girl I talk to is Ringomori-san, and she doesn't have long enough hair for that long of a ponytail. Plus, when I told her about the vinyl, she didn't say anything about ownin' one herself. I'm sure when we first met, she'd say something about knowin' me before."

I figured there would be nothing gained today about the topic and simply left the case cold for the time being. Though there was a second case going to be studied.

Doctor Shizuko said, "Tell me more about your memory with the CLARIS logo on the to go box."

"I messaged Akio-kun and asked him when his uncle opened the shop, the year he replied was the same year as my accident. It seems I've apparently been there in my old life for my mom's birthday, which was in June. Still, in my first memory at the hospital, it was my birthday when I saw the logo, so I might've been there a few more times in between."

"It couldn't have been frequent if you didn't feel a strong connection to it from the times you've been to now."

I agreed with him dishearteningly.

"That being said, Chamaru-kun, you're showing improvement at a gradual level."
He took off his glasses to get a more natural look at me.
"Keep trying your best and hopefully one day these memories won't be so troublesome. Stay the course with these peer outings."

I gave a light scoff.
"All these outings do is give me discombobulated memories. Am I just supposed to keep goin' to random places until one gives me an answer?"

Doctor Shizuko repositioned himself, clasping his distinguished hands over his lap.
"Well, sure, if you want. But remember, it's not always about where you go, but who you go with. The experience and emotions you felt in Maruyama and the mall were because Yoru-kun was with you; same goes for this Hara person. In lieu of them, if you had gone with someone else, or met someone different in school, would you still be sitting here discussing what you've found? It's about the bonds you make, think of what those people mean to you when you're out and about."

After another edition of a therapist's confusing words of wisdom, we did our concluding assessment and the session's end promptly followed. As usual, a post-therapy craving built in my stomach with the absence of breakfast. For no special reason other than convenience, I messaged Ringomori to see if she'd like to meet at the pie shop.

We arrived at the same time; 10:22:58. We didn't do anything special. We sat at a table and studied for the upcoming midterms while being absolutely silent—not from awkwardness this time. Maybe that and the reason for the invitation were special.

The month of October was important for two reasons, the first I had only recently learned about. It was the prime month for apple harvesting, as the weather here and in Aomori were perfectly cold and warm for the trees. The balance provided the orchards with just the right conditions for juicy and sweet fruits.

The second reason was because of school. It wasn't midterm exams—though they were this month—but the preceding event: Sports Day. Sports Day was a national holiday celebrated by the entire country every second Monday of October. Themed around cultivating and nurturing a healthy mind and body through physical exercise, Sports Day was like a mini-Olympics for Japanese schools. Some schools held their event from morning to noon whilst others did from noon to evening, and it was compulsory for students to participate.

I wore my beige and gray P.E. uniform and class coded green Hachimaki, though I was only a substitute player for my class. Whilst everyone was heading to their designated stations with high spirits and eager smiles, I walked the opposite way to a lowly bench away from the action. The brisk autumn winds accompanying the rising sun pulled my hair strands away from my eyes, maybe on purpose.

As aforementioned, this was a national holiday with emphasis on providing a bit of respite in our daily lives, which meant that families were given the day off and welcomed to spectate the students during the games. A common sight before the games started was almost every student with a relative being given words of encouragement and love, almost every student. Though, this year would be different since the bench I sat on had a partner.

Ringomori and I watched the games from a distance and chimed in with a bit of commentary from time to time. We had a decent view, seeing all the tents and picnic blankets distributed along the perimeter of the field. She seemed to agree.

"I wish I could draw as well as you," she said.
She was dressed, not in plain clothes, but her school uniform.
"This spot, coupled with the scenery before us seems like it would make a beautiful painting."

That gave me an idea. I briefly left her at the bench to head to my locker where my schoolbag was kept and grabbed a notebook and pencil. I gave them to her upon my return.

"Vieira-kun, why...are you giving me this?"

"Since I'm not playin' today, I thought I could teach you how to draw, at least a little bit."

Downcast with embarrassment, she uttered "Not again" under her breath.
Hunched forward to try and meet her eyes, I asked her for clarification, and she responded with, "I...am a greenhorn at drawing..."

I had to think of a plan to convince her.
"Hey, did you bring your camera?"

"Yes...however I was not planning on using it."

"Good, can you take it out?"
I pointed towards the field.
"I'd like for you to take a photo of that. Then, you can use that to retrace onto the paper. It'll be an easier start than directly drawin' real time movement."

She seemed dubious at first, but eventually took the camera from her schoolbag, snapped the photo, and showed it to me for confirmation. In order for this to work, we had to scoot closer to each other, which wasn't easy for social outcasts. I misjudged the distance between us and accidentally nudged her leg with mine, but it seemingly didn't elicit a response. Still, I put some distance between us, but then she filled that gap, nudging my leg in return. Her focus was on the camera, but mine had shifted from wanting to question her movement to a scent that even my nose managed to pick up.

I hadn't known many perfume smells, but maybe because it was her, I was able to discern the scent. I had heard cinnamon was quite a popular scent, more so when embalmed with honey. Apple pie with a dapple of cinnamon was her order at the pie shop, so there wasn't a shock for it also being her perfume—or natural odor. I was glad to know this was what she smelled like.

I opened the notebook to the next blank page and started doing an outline of the landscape. I told her a few tips about what to draw first and how to properly gauge people's proportions at a distance. Once she had a general idea, I gave her the materials and held the camera for her as she filled the sketch on her own.

She was making steady progress as the games in the background continued. Some events were team-based and some were individual efforts, alternating the spotlight throughout the day. One team game was the school's soccer tournament between classes. I was specifically invested in this event because Hara became the protagonist of the sport, netting the most goals—and girl fans—today. His class made it to the finals against another, but before that was the relay race.

As the participants were racing, my left ear twitched at the sound of stomping. Turning left, I saw Hara rushing in full sprint in my direction; evidently heavy-breathing and sweaty. I furrowed my brow as he abruptly stopped before us. He stared at Ringomori, who cowered behind me.

Her voice disguised as a whispering breeze.
"Vieira-kun, is this...the boy you were talking about? From CLARIS?"

I turned my head and gave reassurance to her uneasiness.
"Yeah, he's a friend. I'll properly introduce you two later."
I turned back to him and asked, "What's up, Akio-kun?"

"Akio-kun?"

He used a towel around his neck to wipe his face as he caught his breath, "Senpai, your class has a problem. They need you as a substitute for the soccer final 'cause of an injury. The game is start'n soon, so we need t'hurry."

Wait, my class is who he'll face against? Am I'm playin' now?!

Being called up for the team was unexpected, and turned into a hassle since it interrupted a perfectly fun and much preferable activity. I faced Ringomori with a crestfallen gaze.

"It cannot be helped, Vieira-kun. Your class needs you."

I sluggishly stood up from the bench.
"Sorry to leave you here."

She sent me off with a wave and small cheer of good luck as I followed Hara to the field. I would be playing the soccer final as a striker against his second-year class. While the relay finished and the teams were ready to take the field, I was chatting with him when his mom approached us.

"Vieira-kun, compared to Autumn, how good of a soccer player are'ya?"

"I'm far from a good player, but I'll probably be a joy to watch as I mess up."

"I wish you boys the best of luck!" she exclaimed. "Be careful not t'hurt yourselves, okay? I'll be rooting for you both, so it's a win-win for me!"

"Thank you," I replied.

"You know I'm your son, right ma?"

Since the first time, I had visited Hara's home a few more times and also talked more with Miss Hara, mainly about school. I didn't count them as extra peer outings because we did the same thing each time and I felt like that was a bit of a cheat. Plus, I wanted my outings to involve someone else.

She said, "I'll give pop rocks to the winner."

"I'll share with'ya, senpai."

"No thank you."

She gave the two of us a hug; her son complained about being embarrassed, but I didn't personally mind the pampering. Before we entered the field, Hara gave me a pat on the back and wished me luck. I couldn't help but smile, imagining this being some event between top-class rivals.

The game started and I didn't really do much in the striker role. I had never played soccer before and didn't know what to do. My positioning was so bad that whenever the ball was passed to me, it was taken before I could get a touch. I felt like I was nothing more than a burden to the team as our team trailed by one goal to nothing. The halftime whistle blew and I sank my head and moped off the field.

Our teacher was giving a team talk looking to inspire a winning drive, but it was in one ear and out the other for me. It wasn't on purpose, but I had been staring off into the distance at the bench where I left Ringomori. She was still sitting there, looking down at her lap.

I wonder if she's been drawin' on her own or watchin' the game. I hope she's been drawin', I'm curious to see how she does. I'm sure she'll do decent, but it'd be funnier if she was as bad as I am with soccer.

A lot changed during the second half. The score was 3-3 with only a handful of minutes remaining—there was no extra time nor tiebreaker. I managed to touch the ball a few more times, but the goals came from our midfield rather than me. It wasn't difficult to deduce who scored the goals on the other team.

At the death of regulation time, a corner was given in favor of my team. I didn't want to cause unnecessary problems from within the forest of players inside the box, so I waited around the halfway line as defense. When the ball was kicked from the flag, it was cleared by the opponent and landed close to me. I rushed towards it to prevent their striker from launching a counterattack, but I hadn't actually planned what to do with it now at my feet.

I could feel all eyes on me, with people roaring names from the field and crowd. I figured my team wouldn't settle for a draw, and the opposite team had the same energy. This was the final play, whether it ended with a goal or out-of-bounds. I felt the hairs on my neck stiffen and my arms tingle as if suddenly shocked. I took in the field around me from the players rushing and shouting to the sweat on my face dripping to my laces. The hairs on my nape stiffened with adrenaline, not even bending to the wind. At that point, something snapped.

I was a kid again.

The ball was kicked from the corner flag, families supporting on the sidelines shouting to their kids where they should be positioned to score or clear the ball. Around this field were others also entertaining their own game. It must have been some sort of kids league due to the proper kits, referees, and high stakes.

The ball was cleared by the defense, their families urging for a counterattack. Their top striker was in defense for the corner, so the highest midfielder charged for the ball, and would have gotten it too if it wasn't for me. I was roughly in the same position, but this smaller version of me didn't dither.

When I replayed memories in my gray hell, there was always a drab energy around me because the memory wasn't anything worth looking back on—it was just all I had. However, this time the dullness was absent. I felt adrenaline because I knew how this ended.

Using my left leg to step over the ball, I dribbled past the midfielder and propelled forward to meet two more pressers. The hopes for a counter were still high, but I managed to dribble through via nutmeg and entered the forest of players with the ball glued to my feet. My teammates moved out the way and lured defenders away to create an opening for me to charge into. I could hear it clearly, the building cheers of the supporting crowd—my parents must have been amongst them.

Looking up, I saw one more defender between me and the goalkeeper. I feinted left to trick him into putting all his body weight into one side and cut right to open some space for me to shoot. My left ear twitched as a specific cheer was shouted.

"Bang it in, Maru-chan!"

That gave me a new impetus. With all my power and zero hesitation, I struck the ball just underneath its equator to give it some air. It careered towards the top right of the goal. For a second's moment, the only sound on the field was the sweet sound of the swishing net. It was then followed by the deafening roars of celebration. I turned to see the scoreboard and saw that it had changed from 3-3 to 4-3 at the final whistle.

The whistle brought me back to Sports Day, I found myself being tossed in the air as my team chanted my name. When I was set down, my head was patted by the coach and a few classmates, and even an astounded Hara celebrated the victory.

"Senpai, what kind of skills were those?! You kept that hidden in your locker this whole time?!"
His exclamations were resounding.

While I was happy with the win, I was preoccupied in thought.
Skills? Did I just…? Like in my…? What even was that memory? What triggered it? How did I execute those skills like that?

I couldn't—and wouldn't—find any answers. My fruits of thought failed to be harvested when I walked with Hara to see his mom and Ringomori was standing next to her.

"Congratulations, Vieira-kun!" Miss Hara triumphantly yelled. "What amaze'n skill you have, you must've been play'n for a long time."

"It definitely seems that way," Ringomori concurred.
The strap of her schoolbag was over her shoulder and she held my notebook in her hands.
She shifted her eyes to me and said, "I'm glad you were the reason for victory again."

I happily took the praise I was getting, especially when I had the honors of lifting the trophy to conclude our school's Sports Day. Once the ceremonies were done, Hara and I changed into our normal uniforms and grabbed our bags to meet his mom and Ringomori at the front gate. A grumble in my stomach was loud enough for Hara to hear and prompted him to ask if I was hungry.

"I wasn't expectin' to burn so much energy playin' the final game. Ringomori-san and I planned on gettin' lunch before headin' off to her school."

"Ooh true. Since she's here, that must mean her Sports Day starts at noon."

"Yeah, there isn't much time until she has to check-in, so we're goin' to find a place to snack."

We found the two at the gate, Miss Hara carried an opaque bag with her.
Hara turned to me and said, "No need t'look for food, I gotcha covered."

Miss Hara said, "I see you've returned."
She raised the bag and grinned.
"I had my brother make these a while ago and he just delivered."

She opened the bag and reached inside and pulled out a to-go box from the pie shop.
"Here, it's your favorite."

The bottom of the box was warm and contained something dense, so I splayed my fingers to get a firm hold. I could see through the plastic window a limey green encrusted in golden brown. She pulled out a second box and handed it to her son.

"Lucky you," said Ringomori.

"You didn't eat anything either, want to share my pie?"

"How generous of you, I don't think I've had key-lime pie."

"Not so fast, Ringomori-san," said Miss Hara. "Here you go."

I couldn't see the inside of the box but based on Ringomori's expression consisting of relaxed doe eyes and a whitening smile, I could only infer it was apple pie.

"How did you know I loved this?"

True, I told Hara-san key-lime was mine, but never told Ringo—

I was nudged from behind and turned around to see Hara staring up at the gray and blue sky with his hands behind his head. His lips were pouted and sort of twitching, and I realized he was trying to whistle.

It was him, huh?

"Well, Autumn and I should get go'n now. National holidays like this draw in hungry bellies at the shop, so we're in for a long shift."
She bowed along with her son.
"It was a pleasure t'see you again, Vieira-kun, and it was lovely meet'n you for the first time, Ringomori-san. Hopefully I see the both of you more often at CLARIS!"

Ringomori and I bowed in response and thanked their generosity for the pies.

"We should get going too," she said, "the buses are probably more crowded."

"At least we don't have to worry about gettin' food and can go straight to your school. Hopefully you have nice benches because my legs are killin' me."

We ate our pies as we walked to the station that led to Ringomori's school.

She said, "I can't believe you lied to me," and I gave her a muddled stare. "At the mall, you said you didn't remember playing soccer as a kid but then you show off all kinds of deft footwork two months later?"

I put down my fork in the box and shook my hand.
"No, no, no, that was the truth." I clarified, "I genuinely didn't know I played until that moment back there. It's just...I guess the atmosphere around me, the chills and pressure all around, just kind of made me remember."

"Is that all you remembered?"

"At that moment, I don't really know how I managed those skills on a whim, but I guess my body remembers more than my mind. I don't remember how old I was, or what day or year that memory took place, but there was a happy feeling inside me that just said, 'This is a precious moment.'"

Ringomori assessed my plea while staring at me. She gave no verbal response and instead sharply turned away and stuffed her mouth with another bite of her pie. I hoped she believed me.

We arrived at the nearest bus stop to my school, the specific line that would take us to our desired destination was on its way. Our pies were fully consumed beforehand and I volunteered to throw away the boxes. The area was filled with parents and other girls with Ringomori's uniform.

"Did you hear the news earlier today?"

"I did. Of all days, I can't believe they hit it today."

"It's amazing how they got away."

The chatter intrigued me, and I took out my phone to scour social media for answers.
Found it.
There were multiple articles stating that a police chase down Sapporo's highway occurred this morning. As I speculated, it was the doing of the bank robbers who took advantage of the holiday and continued their unbreakable streak.

Ringomori asked, "Are you full?"

"I could go for another slice, honestly."

"Good, there's something I want you to try at school."

The bus came and we were on our way to her school. I started to get tense the closer we got because it was my first time visiting an all-girls' school. I was a maturing boy going to watch a bunch of maturing girls play games.

No, I'm goin' for Ringomori-san only. She's only in one game so we're likely not watchin' any games until then.

My worries were right to not linger long once we arrived, because she left me at a polished wooden table sequestered from the action while she checked in with her class. The only event she'd participate in was the final relay race because she "won" a class lottery and was chosen for it. She showed up in her P.E. uniform frazzled, setting down a plastic box and taking a seat to my right. Until her event, we passed the time by going over her art from earlier and eating homemade apple chip cookies.

"It's...not my best work… I'm still a bit rusty, plus...it's a new recipe I'm trying out… So, I'm sorry if—"

I engulfed a cookie and covered my mouth as I chewed.
"These smell really good, and they're delicious too. I can taste these more than the pies. You're quite the savant."

She briefly paused, then giggled—either from relief of my opinion or my chipmunk cheeks. Her hand was over her left shoulder again.

I swallowed the cookie and reached for another.
"So you took home economics this year? What motivated you to bake again?"

"I thought it could be a good segment for my videos. I can show my parents that I'm keeping myself busy again. I've been getting some help from my doctor too, whenever I go for a check-up. More importantly...I've been experiencing a few nightmares that used to be sweet dreams."

I chewed slower, giving her my undivided attention.

She continued with a choked voice, "Sometimes I'd find myself cooking dinner...with my parents assisting. Other times...they'd take videos of me baking a pie or cake on my own. Then I'd wake up in the middle of the night and cry so I didn't go back to sleep...because I'm scared of having those dreams again. The bliss of baking with them was only a castle in the sky, never to come true. But mayhaps...they were telling me that while I can't be with them, I can still learn to cook and bake...for myself."

Cheers from parents and groans from others echoed in the back, I wished they'd stay quiet.

"Have you experienced any sleepless nights due to hopeless desires?" she asked.

I pondered. Yes.

I said, "Back in my old orphanage, I had a family set up an adoption appointment with me. I slept so soundly the night before, but then I woke up late and despite my rushing efforts to arrive at the meeting point, I was told that they pulled out at the last minute for unknown reasons. For the next few months, I excoriated myself and had dreams about a reality where I made it on time and was adopted by that family, only to wake up to real life where I was rejected."
I tilted my head back until my eyes connected with the gray lid above the city.
"I'd stay up for nights to avoid that dream again, and that habit kind of stuck with me now, at the cost of havin' these bags under my eyes."

She also tilted her head back and said, "With every single day that goes by without an adoption appointment, I lose more faith and hope. Kids our age are destined to not be adopted and be kicked out into the real world without parents. It's like they say, the F in orphan means family."

I flickered only my eyes towards her, she had sunk her head and stared at the ground. She twiddled her thumbs and I lowered my head a little further to see her feet shuffling too.
Shifting my gaze to the landscape ahead, I said, "It's crazy, criminals like those bank robbers are wanted more than us."

That sprung some puffiness in her cheeks as she covered her mouth to prevent a giggle, but it slipped out anyway. She didn't mind vocalizing it as she continued aloud.

She sighed, raising her head.
"I shouldn't complain too much. Even if they aren't my real parents, the Shizuko couple are prominent adults in my life. I think I've developed a close bond with them as they treated me, even if it was just their job. We got naturally close as our time together progressed."

"I've been with Shizuko-sensei for nearly six years and I think I'm only kind of close with him."

"I think I'm closer with his wife. Sakura—ah, that's her name by the way—took assiduous care of my parents when they were in poor health, so we've known each other for a decade now. A part of me sometimes wishes she'd adopt me, but I know it's too burdening, selfish, and late to ask, plus she has a child and a demanding job."

Is it? I thought. Timing isn't late, but the possibility of it happenin' is a different question.

"Besides you, Vieira-kun, they're the only other people that know about my video recordings. They've only seen the ones my mother made, though I would sometimes talk about the ones I made. I've been trying to see them more often outside of appointments, but it's quite nerve-racking to request something like that, I think."

Internally, I was satisfied knowing she had other people in her life because I was under the impression she had been going through everything on her own. Even in my brief time with Hara and his mom, I already felt the ease their presence had in my otherwise lonely life. Though I understood it wasn't enough as having a new family, or to create close bonds, it was a start.

The talk about having other people to turn to in our lives reminded me how she was the first person in my life who got to see my true self, or at least the closest to my true self...since the amnesia prevented me from knowing myself completely. Nevertheless, it was still the two of us in the canoe, but it seemed like now we were able to dock at a few piers. Maybe my Buddha in hell was becoming more than one person, but still, I'd want Ringomori to be specific.

In the canoe face-to-face, I noticed the actual gap between our two seats.
I want to close this, I want to be closer. I wonder—I hope—she feels the same.

The sky during the duration of this Sports Day was splitting into two prominent colors. The east was becoming darker, with a purple tint emerging from the mountainous horizon. The west was quite the opposite in color, with orange hues gradually setting through the thin ends of the clouds. Before we realized it, it was time for Ringomori's event to commence. She packed the remaining cookies while I gathered crumbs into a napkin and crumpled it. Just before entering the field, I found a trash can and disposed of the trash in my hand. When I returned, I saw her standing with a few surprising guests.

A familiar little girl shouted, "Matcha-chan's here too?!" and dashed towards me as if she was participating in the race herself.
I raised my right hand and received a strong high-five from Etsuko. I approached Doctor Shizuko and his wife, who went by her maiden name of Itō.

Ringomori said, "I wasn't expecting to see you here. I know Etsuko-chan had her Sports Day in the morning, but I was under the impression you two would spend time together at home for this holiday."

"I must admit that was the original plan," said Doctor Itō, "but because Etsuko's class won the trophy at her school, she decided her reward was to see you."

"Hehe, I single-handedly won all the events for my class," bragged the little girl.

"Remember sweetie, you used your reward to come here, which means you still have to do the unfinished homework that's due tomorrow on your own."

Etsuko immediately frowned, causing her parents and Ringomori to laugh. A student from the school peered her head through the field's gate calling for Ringomori to join the rest of her race participants.

"I will be there momentarily," she responded softly.
She turned around and told us to find a spot together near the fourth section of the track, since she was the last runner, then left.

The Shizuko family and I did just that. As we waited for the race to begin, I thought about her again.
Her bond with them must truly be close if they agreed to come here to support her. I mean, even Itō-sensei is recordin' with the camera. Wow, if only they did adopt her.

The race began. I knew Ringomori was academically intelligent—more so than me—but I wasn't well-versed in her athletic ability. She didn't seem overly excited to be randomly drawn into the race, but she never said she was opposed to it. Her class had fallen behind after the runner had a delayed start, and it would continue that way as the baton slowly made its way around to her hand. She took off.

The other classes were more than three meters ahead of her, but she appeared focused, determined, and adamant on going further than just catching up with them. It was as if her feet didn't even touch the ground with how hastily and also graciously she soared to surpass the others, their attempts to match her pace were quickly shut down. Sweat usually made people appear tired or unappealing, but out of everyone on the track, it only accentuated her belle. I was infatuated.

She's the person closest to me in my life, and yet I'm always findin' out more things about her. I don't really know her, do I? I want to know more about her life before entered her orphanage, about the Ringomori Yoru she once was. There weren't many people who knew that version, so I want to be one of the ones who did.

The checkered flag swayed at the finish line, orchestrating the cheers of the winning class. She won the race, and with that, her class won the overall tournament. After the formal celebrations, I congratulated her on her victory.

"Tryin' to outdo my speed from this morning? You really impressed me."

"It shouldn't be much of a shock," she responded, grinning at the confused look on my face. I truly didn't know her.

"Go big or go home, right?"

"All we can do is go big."

We chuckled, which caused a bit of confusion for Etsuko.
"What's that mean?"

Ringomori and I met eyes, then she answered the question with, "You wouldn't understand, thankfully."

I gave Ringomori a friendly wink.

Etsuko shrugged it off and turned to her parents to translate her stomach growls into words.
"Can we celebrate her win with dinner together?"

"I'm sorry sweetie, but these two still have duties to fulfill. Also, did you already forget about the homework? I think you've had plenty of rest now."

Once more, Etsuko frowned and crossed her arms.
"Curse my past self! If I could've negotiated more, I could've come here and skipped homework!"

Ringomori changed into her normal uniform and met the rest of us at the school gate. The Shizuko family waved farewell to us as they headed to their vehicle. They had offered us a ride to the orphanage, but we elected to walk—though our legs begged otherwise.

Etsuko shouted, "Bye Matcha-chan! Bye Yasumi-chan!"

My eyes widened upon hearing that name.
She's 'Yasumi'? That actually makes so much sense since Yoru and Yasumi relate to nighttime. That's quite befittin' for her, and also kind of cute. Unfortunately, Matcha is superior, so...

Luckily the journey to the orphanage from her school was shorter than if we had left from mine, so we would still make it on time for dinner duties without completely melting our legs. The reason we went to each other's Sports Day—apart from just hanging out—was to count it as a peer outing for the month. It was the topic of conversation we chose as opposed to the typical silence.

I asked, "Do you think we'd be able to submit two outing forms since we had two Sports Day events?"

"It doesn't seem likely, since it is pretty much the same thing that happened on the same day. Mayhaps it's worth a shot, still."

"If it isn't accepted, we'll need to think of another place for our second."

We crossed a few intersections brainstorming ideas in our heads, but none of them were good enough to suggest them aloud. I was fresh out of ideas and ceased thinking as we turned to the street of the orphanage. She, however, had an idea worth mentioning.

"How about the public library? We both have midterms in a couple of weeks, and studying there is the same as CLARIS, but we can count it as a new place for the outing. Good idea, bad idea?"

"Ingenious. Actually, even if today's outing is accepted as two, there's nothing stopping us from goin' for three. We've always settled with the minimum, but I wouldn't mind goin' for more from time to time."

"I wholeheartedly agree. That being said, there's still a chance we'll end this month with two."

We entered the orphanage and separated into our rooms until it was time for our dinner duties. When submitting our peer outing form afterwards, we asked about the possibility of separating them into two. The therapy session that followed mainly consisted of my Proust moment, revealing that just the right atmosphere and situation was enough to harken back a memory.

After Sports Day, we chose another day to head to the library to study. I had also found a great opportunity to introduce my two friends properly at Hara's home. Ringomori's timidness and politeness reminded me of the start of our friendship, it was difficult to believe we'd known each other for less than a year.

We had done four outings this month.

The midterms were stressful and tiresome, but I knew I was at least average in all of the subjects, so I needn't worry about the results. The therapy session that followed was split between the leisure outings and demanding exams.

I was excited to enjoy a bit of respite.