Chapter 7: The Day of Parting

When Misaki woke up, the two of them were clinging to the cloud, fast asleep.
Once it had grown to a certain size, it had become a sight she saw every day.

After washing up and finishing the cleaning, she prepared breakfast.
And then, she sprayed water onto the cloud with a spray bottle.
Over these past two weeks, it had completely become part of Misaki’s daily routine.

After finishing breakfast, just as she was about to open the cap of the isshōbin, the two of them woke up.
However, without letting go of the cloud, they buried their faces in it and hugged it even tighter.

After a while, Shinobu let go of the cloud.
“Cloudy has to go now, after all…” Shinobu’s side profile as she looked down was hidden behind her long black hair.

“I’ll take you as high as I can, okay…?”
Sayuri’s voice as she said that was faint, and the smile she offered was clouded.

Opening the window, Sayuri, holding the cloud in her arms, placed both feet on the window frame.
“Okay then… I’m off…”

Hearing Sayuri’s lonely words, Shinobu lifted her face.
As she stepped closer to the window, she watched the two of them rise into the sky without a word.

When Sayuri let go of the cloud after soaring high into the sky, the cloud rose even higher.
Once it blended into the other clouds and disappeared from sight, Shinobu hugged her knees and quietly began to cry.

As Misaki searched for words to say, Sayuri returned as well.
Seeing Shinobu in tears, Sayuri’s expression faltered.

“Hey, Shinobu… don’t cry… okay…?”
She floated down lightly and crouched beside Shinobu.
Even so, Shinobu would not stop crying.

“…Please… don’t cry…”
When she had said that much, Sayuri, too, began to cry out loud.

Misaki could do nothing but stop what she was doing and quietly watch over them until they stopped crying.