Chapter 13: The day Comets come
Narumi completely ignored her and tossed his jacket to the passenger seat Yukino gasped slightly but caught it, her fingers tightening around the soft fabric.
"I appreciate your kindness," he said lightly, "but you need to rest well so you won't hold me back."
Driving from Tokyo to Miyazaki was no small trip. For someone with her condition, the exhaustion alone could easily become overwhelming.
"...It's rude," Yukino muttered after a pause, "but also very insightful."
Still stubborn, she awkwardly accepted Narumi's gesture and clumsily draped the thick jacket over herself.
The jacket carried that faintly warm, familiar scent unique to youth soap, coffee, and something like faint cologne. It was strange how comforting it was.Unfamiliar, yes. But warm.
It was the scent of the only person she could rely on right now.
The black-haired girl lowered her head and quietly buried her nose against the collar, letting the faint smell wrap around her.
"We're going to Miyazaki to see the comet, aren't we?"
Her voice was soft, almost drowned out by the hum of the engine.
Then, with her usual composure, she raised a question:
"Are you the kind of person who believes that making a wish when a comet streaks across the sky will make your dreams come true, senpai...?"
"Putting those aside," Narumi replied, one hand lazily on the steering wheel, "isn't it romantic to elope just to see a comet?"
"Hmm," Yukino mused, her tone sharp but amused, "it feels like the kind of third-rate plot you'd find in a cheap romance movie. The ending's predictable they get caught up by some powerful force, and it ends in tragedy."
"You predicted the most likely destination of this elopement with such calm words, Yukino-san."
The corners of his lips lifted slightly.
As dusk deepened, Narumi switched on the low-beam headlights as they entered the highway. The sky beyond the windshield burned faintly gold, the sun slowly sinking into the horizon.
"But sometimes," he said, "you don't have to be too fixated on the destination. Otherwise, eighty percent of all road movies would be boring, wouldn't they?"
The soft melody of Streetlights played from the radio, blending with the steady hum of the car's engine.
"Even in life," Narumi continued quietly, "I don't think death is necessarily the end. The myths and legends about heaven, hell, or the underworld they've existed for centuries, and even if they can't be proven, they're... comforting to think about."
He gripped the steering wheel with both hands, his eyes fixed straight ahead on the long, dimly lit highway, as though he could see something far beyond it.
"But the most interesting theory," he said, "is that after you die, you go to a movie theater."
Yukino blinked. "...?"
"After death," Narumi went on, a small smile playing on his lips, "you'll find yourself sitting in a theater, holding popcorn and an ice-cold Cokebor maybe it's not iced, who knows and you'll have the best seat in the house. You'll watch one fascinating movie after another. It'll never stop. Just one film after another, forever."
He exhaled lightly. "If that's where we go after we die... I think I'd accept it gladly."
"...Somewhat far-fetched," Yukino replied, though her tone was softer than usual.
But she didn't deny it either. Imagining such a quiet, eternal theater it didn't sound too bad.
She turned her head toward him, her voice quieter now.
"...I've been meaning to ask you this for a while, senpai. What kind of movies or TV shows do you like to watch?"
"Hmm? There are quite a few," Narumi said, scratching his head. "If I had to pick, I'd say I'm fond of films from the 80s and 90s the Golden Age of Hollywood. Citizen Kane, 8½, Pierrot le Fou... Those are the ones that come to mind. If we're talking animation, it'd be Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo for sure."
"Quite an old-fashioned taste," Yukino remarked, her lips twitching faintly. "It's almost like..."
She trailed off, her gaze drifting out the window. The moonlight shimmered faintly on her pale face.
It all felt so real. Like a world with real people, living real lives.
Labels and symbols those things humans created to categorize and understand each other had always fascinated and frustrated Narumi. They were efficient, yes, but suffocating.
He was someone who existed awkwardly between labels, never belonging fully to any.
Not quite normal, not quite broken. Not politically correct, not entirely offensive. Too detached to fit in with "ordinary" people, too rational to belong among the eccentrics.
A person in-between.
A mudfish crawling through the cracked mud of an African savanna during the dry season alive, yet unseen, slipping through the cracks where no one cared enough to look.
Still, the quickest way to "understand" someone was to slap a label on them. It wasn't accurate, but it was easy. That was why, at school, people were told to introduce their hobbies on the first day it helped everyone find a box to fit in.
But people like Narumi? They didn't fit anywhere.
"Actually," he said suddenly, "everyone's just a label male or female, whatever. No one's inherently superior to anyone else. What's laughable isn't Quentin Tarantino, or Penicillin, or Borges it's the awkwardness of people eager to flaunt their niche interests like peacocks. But still, if I can find someone who enjoys the same kind of film, that's... nice, I guess."
"Are you trying to change the subject with such nonsense, Senpai?" Yukino said sharply. "Anyone else would have been fooled, but I won't."
"Uh... I have absolutely no intention of doing that, Ms. Yukino."
———
———
Late at night, near a quiet roadside rest stop, Narumi stepped out of the car to stretch. The chill in the air bit through his shirt as he leaned against the railing, gazing out at the endless highway.
The phone in his pocket buzzed. Haruno.
Unsurprisingly, it was to check where they were.
"It seems you and Yukino are getting along quite well," she said, her tone laced with faint amusement. "We spent a long time together before we started discussing those boring, pointless topics you seem to enjoy so much."
Narumi frowned. "It doesn't sound like you called just to check our location..."
He sighed, turning to glance back at the car. Through the window, Yukino was fast asleep in the passenger seat, Narumi's jacket still wrapped snugly around her shoulders.
"Getting back to the point," he said, "I have nothing to say, and I haven't told anyone our destination."
He leaned back on the guardrail, lowering his voice. "So don't make things difficult for those two kids in the Service Club they don't know anything about it."
"You don't actually think you can hide forever, do you, Narumi?"
"Of course not," he said softly, his eyes drifting toward the faint glow of the highway lights in the distance. "I know it's only a matter of time before I'm found."
He paused, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
"So I'll just delay it as long as I can."
The girl's sleeping face, glimpsed from the corner of his eye, was still pale and sickly but tonight, it was unusually relaxed and serene.
"You really do whatever you want..." Haruno's voice echoed faintly in Narumi's memory. "But it's true this is the Narumi I know. Sometimes you just suddenly go crazy and leave everyone completely baffled."
Of course, the level of madness must have raised his synchronization rate to over eighty percent.
"My mother has already noticed," Haruno had warned. "Even if you're lucky enough to avoid a direct confrontation with her this time, you never know when you might run into her again. Well whatever the outcome, we'll definitely meet again. In the meantime, please take good care of Yukino."
The call ended with a soft click.
Narumi returned to the car quietly. He tried to move as soundlessly as possible, but the faint rustle of his clothes was enough to stir Yukino awake. Wrapped snugly in his jacket, she blinked several times before murmuring:
"...It must be my older sister."
Her intuition was, as always, painfully accurate.
"Hmm. It was discovered in less than half a day," Narumi admitted, smiling wryly. He noticed the phone on the dashboard its screen flashing with dozens of missed calls. The caller ID alone told him why she'd switched it to silent mode.
"A family member's number?"
"Yes. It's my mother calling," Yukino replied simply. She turned the phone off completely and tucked it into the storage compartment on the passenger side. Then she leaned back, covering a small yawn with one hand.
"My sister's asking where we are right now, isn't she?"
"She didn't say it outright," Narumi answered, "but I guess that's what she meant."
"If you think I'm a nuisance now," Yukino said softly, closing her eyes again, "you can abandon me here or turn back. I'd understand, Narumi-senpai."
Her tone was calm and distant resigned but there was a faint tremor beneath the words. Narumi's decision to bring her here, defying the family's control, had already far surpassed anything she'd expected of him.
"If this continues, it's too much of a strain," she murmured. "And there's no need for it."
The fact that someone had chosen to help her escape that suffocating environment recklessly, almost foolishly was something Yukino Yukinoshita had never imagined possible.
I'm actually content with this, she thought quietly.
"That won't do," Narumi said, leaning against the steering wheel. "We haven't even seen the comet yet."
He pursed his lips. He wasn't the type to stop halfway.
"Make a wish when the comet comes," he added. "You never know when it might come true."
"You actually believe those completely unscientific claims, senpai...?" Yukino asked dryly, though her tone was softer than before.
"Whether it's credible or not," Narumi said, glancing at her with a grin, "it's okay to make a wish first. Anyway, I definitely hope that you, Yukino, get better soon. What if my wish comes true?"
"...Won't it not come true if you say your wish out loud beforehand?" she muttered, turning slightly to the side. The faint blush dusting her cheeks betrayed her feigned indifference.
"Then just pretend you didn't hear it," Narumi said lightly. "When we get there, I'll silently repeat it again in my head."
The curly-haired youth chuckled, his voice low and warm. After a brief pause, he pressed the clutch, started the engine, and the car slowly merged back onto the highway toward Miyazaki.
Streetlights streaked past in orange and white ribbons. Yukino Yukinoshita stared blankly out the window at the blur of motion and at her own reflection in the glass.
Her face was bloodless. Her expression haggard and tired. The sharp, confident aura that once surrounded her was nowhere to be found.
She had no idea when this nightmarish "simulation" would end.
But one thing she was sure of: the young man sitting beside her was the only one in this nightmare who made her feel at ease.
Perhaps… he was the one who could lead her out of it.
"...If only that were the case."
With that thought, Yukino slowly closed her eyes. The long journey should have made her dizzy, nauseated even but instead, a quiet sense of peace washed over her, soft and slow. A drowsiness she hadn't felt in ages began to lull her into sleep.
"If wishes could really come true," Narumi asked softly, "what would you wish for, Yukino?"
His voice sounded far away, muffled by the hum of the tires and the steady rhythm of the highway.
"If it could be achieved..." she whispered faintly, "I think—"
But before she could finish, she was already asleep.
Narumi glanced sideways at her resting form, smiled faintly, and said nothing more. He reached over and turned the car's radio down until only the faintest notes of music lingered in the air.
The journey truly came to an end when Yukino Yukinoshita made her wish.
---
> [Having made a rebellious decision, you and Yukino Yukinoshita headed south, ignoring the Yukinoshita family's objections, driving from Tokyo to Miyazaki.]
Of course, along the way, you encountered many of the usual troubles found in road movies. For instance, the oblivious rest stop staff couldn't help staring at you both, suspicion plain in their eyes.
Well, it was only natural. Anyone might be wary of an adult man traveling cross-country with a delicate, sickly teenage girl.
"May I ask about your relationship with that girl over there?" one sales clerk asked cautiously as you paid for your snacks and drinks. "She's undeniably cute, but—"
Narumi met the clerk's gaze with a calm smile and nodded.
"Oh, that girl? She's my girlfriend."
The clerk blinked, clearly skeptical. Narumi could almost read his thoughts a sick girl and an older guy on a secret trip? Suspicious.
But instead of defending himself, Narumi leaned casually against the counter and smiled wider.
"Let me explain my philosophy of dating," he said in a tone that sounded halfway between self-deprecation and lecture.
"One—find someone who makes you laugh.
Two—find someone with a stable job.
Three—find someone who enjoys housework.
Four—find an honest person.
Five—find someone you can have fun with.
Six—don't let all five of them meet. So…"
The poor clerk froze mid-swipe, staring at him like he'd just confessed to a felony. Narumi simply shrugged, took the receipt, and added, "Relax, it's just a joke. Mostly."
He left the store with a faint grin tugging at his lips, the bewildered cashier still watching him through the glass door as he walked back to the car.
---
[After nearly a day and a night of driving, you finally reached Miyazaki. Unlike the campers gathered in open fields, waiting for the comet to streak across the sky, you found a secluded coastal road and parked near the beach.]
"Looks like we'll have to spend the night in the car tonight," Narumi murmured.
As soon as he closed the door, a gust of salty sea air swept in, carrying the faint scent of damp wind and brine. He grabbed a spare blanket from the back seat and draped it gently over Yukino's shoulders, who was already bundled in his jacket.
"I have a feeling we'll see the comet tonight," he said softly. "Don't catch a cold, Miss Yukinoshita."
"Don't call me that in that sarcastic tone," Yukino muttered, half glaring at him.
Her tone held that familiar edge of annoyance but behind it, a rare trace of warmth.
"...Just call me Yukino."
That small admission lingered quietly between them.
They stepped out together, the crunch of sand beneath their shoes echoing faintly in the wind. The beach was empty only the moonlight, the sea, and the faint sound of waves.
"I have a feeling we'll see the comet tonight," Narumi repeated, looking out at the horizon. The surface of the sea shimmered faintly in the distance.
He felt a small pang of regret. In reality outside this simulation Yukino had probably never seen this view.
"If we can't see it," she said, pulling the blanket tighter around herself, "then this was all a wasted trip. And our wish won't come true."
"But at least at that moment," Narumi said, lying back on the sand, "you'll know what kind of wish you really want. Like flipping a coin you don't actually care if it's heads or tails. The moment it's in the air, you already know which result you want most."
He pulled off his coat and spread it behind him, using it as a makeshift mat, then laced his fingers behind his head and looked up at the endless sky.
"How about we chat to pass the time?" he suggested. "Like in my favorite romantic movie the one where the man and woman spend the whole film just talking. Their conversation's interesting enough that you never get bored. You end up seeing how they gradually come to understand each other's values... and fall in love."
"I don't want to act out any romantic scenes from a love movie with you," Yukino said flatly, turning her face away.
"So that's your only objection?" he teased.
"...It doesn't matter," she replied quietly, resting her chin on her hand. "There's nothing wrong with killing time by chatting."
Her voice softened. The corners of her lips curved faintly upward.
Yukino Yukinoshita fought to stay awake as the sea breeze brushed through her hair.Somewhere above them, beyond the clouds and the night sky, a comet was waiting to be seen.