When I woke up, I felt my head resting on something incredibly soft. I opened my eyes and saw Sakura's face; she was staring at me and smiling. I realized that my head was in her lap and she was gently rubbing my hair. I became so nervous that I quickly sat up on my own.
"Please go to your room," I said. "If anyone saw you in my room, they would get the wrong idea". She started laughing. "You dummy, there was no problem with us being seen together," she replied. I insisted that since I was a boy and she was a girl, anyone would assume the worst. She laughed even more at that, making me feel incredibly awkward. "Did I say something wrong?" I asked. "No, no, you didn't say anything wrong," she replied, though she couldn't stop laughing "Then why were you laughing just now?" I asked. She managed to control her laughter slightly and said, "I was laughing because you were acting so weird". I questioned her immediately, "I wasn't acting weird at all. What exactly did you mean by that?" She stopped laughing, though a lingering smile remained on her face as she gazed at me.
"You've become so formal with me. When we were kids, you never acted like this," Sakura replied. My expression grew serious. "But we aren't kids anymore, Sakura. We've grown up," I said politely. At those words, her eyes welled up with tears. Blushing even as she smiled, she replied, "To me, you were still my Estival... my childhood friend whom I used to play with when we were small". "Yes, I am your best friend," I answered in a solemn voice. Yet, a nagging question lingered in my mind about what she had told me the night before... "I want to see you before I forget you." I was determined to ask her about that specific line. I finally asked her directly, "Sa-Sakura, what did you mean when you said you wanted to see me before you forgot me?" Her expression and voice turned mischievous as she replied strangely, "Ah... th-that was nothing. It meant nothing at all". I could sense that she was lying, but I didn't want to press her and make her feel sad or scared.
Just then, her mother opened the door. "Are you guys awake?" she asked. "Yes, we are, Mom," Sakura replied. I noticed that her mother didn't seem shocked at all to see Sakura in my room. I glanced at the clock; it was 6:30 AM. My school started at 10:00 AM. I began to hurry, knowing I needed to get home quickly to prepare for school. However, when I glanced outside the window, the weather had turned treacherous. The rain was torrential, accompanied by an aggressive thunderstorm. I sensed right then that I would have to be absent from school that day. Suddenly, Sakura's mother asked, "Are you two ready for breakfast?" Both Sakura and I replied in an overjoyed mood, "Yes, we are ready!" She added seriously, "First of all, both of you need to freshen up".
Sakura and I left the bed to get ready. Even after we had finished our breakfast, I saw that the rain was still falling at the same aggressive pace, if not faster. I attempted to leave the house, as I usually carried an umbrella for long-distance travel, but Sakura's mother stopped me. "If you go out in such heavy rain, it will be dangerous," she said in a stern voice. "It means you must stay here until the rain stops". I was left with no other choice.
I didn't want to disobey Mrs. Umi's instructions, so I stayed until the rain stopped. I played video games with Sakura, and later, she showed me her room. "Aside from my parents, you were the first person to ever visit my room," she said softly. Surprised, I asked, "W-What? Don't your friends ever come over to your house?" Sakura replied, "That's because I don't actually live here".
I was stunned. "Then where were you living? And why would you live somewhere else, leaving this beautiful house behind?" I questioned. Sakura explained, "I'm currently living in a rented room near our school. An elderly couple owns the house. I stay there because the distance from here to school is just too great; it took nearly three hours to commute". I felt a strange sense of familiarity, as I knew of an old couple who owned a house near our school. I was completely shocked by the coincidence.
I asked a sudden question: "Does that elderly couple have a granddaughter? There's a girl named Glacia in our school, studying in her second year". Sakura responded with pure joy, "Yes! How did you know? Wait... don't tell me you live there too?"
"Yes, I did," I replied. "I see. So, that one room that had been locked since I started living there—was that yours?" Sakura's eyes lit up with excitement. "Does that mean we were living in the same room?" she asked, overjoyed. I quickly corrected her, "No, we were living in separate rooms". She began to stammer, "Y-ye-yeah, you're right. My tongue slipped in the heat of the moment". I glanced at the clock and saw that it was already 4:00 PM. I began getting ready to leave... As soon as the rain stopped, I hurried to say my goodbyes to Sakura and her mother. Sakura told me she would see me at school the next day, and I caught the 4:30 PM train, arriving in Tokyo by 7:20 PM. I had planned to take a bus from the station, but luck wasn't on my side—I realized I had lost my wallet.
With no other choice, I began the forty-five-minute walk home. On my way, I spotted a beautiful girl lying unconscious by the side of the road. I tried desperately to wake her, but she remained unresponsive. There were no houses or shops nearby to turn to for help. I couldn't bring myself to leave her there alone, so I decided to carry her on my back to my place. As I walked, I couldn't help but wonder who she was and how she ended up there.
I couldn't help but wonder what such a beautiful girl was doing lying out on the street. Once I reached home, I gently placed her on the bed. When I touched her forehead, I realized she was suffering from a high fever. I immediately placed a damp cloth on her head to bring the temperature down. Exhaustion from the long day finally overwhelmed me, and I decided I needed to rest as well. That night, I slept on the floor with just a pillow and a blanket, and it didn't take long for me to fall fast asleep.