The Next Day

I woke up feeling a bit better but not as great as I used to. It was summer break so the best I could do was take Lilac out as much as possible. She is a really playful dog and gets into all sorts of things if I don’t keep an eye on her. Fortunately I love Lilac too much. She’s the most adorable puppy I could ever have and losing her would break my heart.

When we went out today towards my private space, I immediately stopped when I saw someone with a picnic blanket sitting over near the breezy trees. They seemed to be resting in front of where my memorabilia was. I knew only one person that had seen what I had made.

I didn’t want to interrupt Izusaki sleeping. The moment I tried to go back home to go play in our backyard though, I felt Lilac strongly tugging in the opposite direction.

Then she ran straight for Izusaki.

No matter how much I tried to tell her to stop, she kept going.

And going…

And going…

Until I accidentally rolled in front of Izusaki while Lilac woke her up.

“Ooh, a puppy! Why hello there cutie. Where did you come from?” she said while patting Lilac on her back.

Lilac turned to face my direction and I already felt a bit embarrassed when Izusaki saw me like this. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I just landed right in front of someone who I never talked to before.

The moment I tried to stand up by myself, Izusaki pulled my hand up with hers unexpectedly. I was on my feet, but felt extremely stiff knowing that Izusaki was suddenly turning me around awkwardly while lifting my arms and examining them.

“Uhh, what are you doing?” I asked her.

“I’m checking to make sure you didn’t get hurt. That fall looked brutal.”

“Oh, um… Thanks, but I’m fine.”

“Hold on! I see something,” she said out of nowhere.

I was extremely confused until I saw a scratch on my right forearm. I started to freak out a bit until Izusaki grabbed something from out of her pocket.

It appeared to be a heart-shaped band-aid. Using her fingers to place it over the scar, I started to feel a bit strange when I noticed the same type of band-aid on her left forearm.

“There! Now you don’t need to worry about it bleeding or anything.”

I was flustered by this encounter as it felt too coincidental. Why did Izusaki keep band-aids in her pocket? Why did she also have one of them on her arm?

“Thank you Tanase-chan. I was wondering something else though. A lot of things actually. Like why did you come over to this spot specifically? Do you come here often?”

Izusaki didn’t say too much at first as she seemed to be mesmerized by the fact that we both had scratches covered by band-aids on our arms now. I guess the coincidence was starting to get to her as well. She shook her head in disbelief after trying to come to terms with what I was saying.

“Right about that… Don’t get mad but… I was stalking you because you are always so quiet.”