Episode 16

I have come to understand that Takamine san and Hina chan’s likeability seems to be due to my past behavior.

If that is the case, it is natural to assume that Shirakawa san’s [Unmeasurable] is also due to something in her past.

The fact that she called my name in her sleep.

She seemed to be obsessed with my belongings.

Based on these actions, I would guess that there was a more personal, deeper connection between her and me.

For example…..childhood friends?

No, no, no way.

I don’t recall ever having a childhood friend who was that cute.

To begin with, my childhood memories themselves are pretty vague.

I moved around a lot, and I don’t have much experience with a particular friend for a long time.

“Hmmm……”

After school.

I sat alone in my seat in the classroom, trying desperately to retrace my old memories.

Shirakawa Yukino…….

Had I met her somewhere before?

Her distinctive light pigmented hair.

Her large, sleepy eyes.

Her petite physique……

The more I try to remember, the less clear it becomes, like a haze hanging over my head.

Did I really first meet her in high school?

Suddenly, I remembered an old album I had tucked away in my desk.

It must have contained photos of her up to early elementary school age.

Perhaps there might be some clues there.

I went home and pulled out the dusty album from the back of the closet in my room.

On the cover, “Kazuto’s Album” is written in my mother’s rounded handwriting.

I flip through the pages.

Me as a baby. Me at the festival day for children. Me at the kindergarten entrance ceremony……

Wow, I look as plain as I do now……

And the picture of my elementary school entrance ceremony.

Me standing there with a nervous look on my face, wearing a fugly uniform.

Next to me…..nobody is there.

Ah, come to think of it, I had already started to be shy around that time.

I turn the page further.

Pictures of sports events. A picture of a field trip.

There are pictures of me with my classmates, but I’m always at the end of the line, feeling like a loner.

I couldn’t find a girl who looked like Shirakawa san there.

I” guess it’s all in my head……”

With a sigh, I was about to close the album.

A photo fell through a gap in the album to the floor.

“Hm?”

I picked it up and found that it was not a group photo of my class, but a more private snapshot.

The date is…when I was in the first grade of elementary school.

It shows a young me playing in the sandbox at a nearby park, covered in mud.

And next to me.

There is a girl making a pile of sand with me.

She has light pigmented, fluffy hair.

Her eyes are bigger, younger than they are now, but still with a face.

……Shirakawa san?

No, no way.

But she does look like her. They look so much alike.

The girl in the photo is smiling happily.

It’s a smile that I can’t imagine from the lethargic Shirakawa san now.

What is this picture…..?

Was I playing with this girl like this?

I don’t remember at all.

On the back of the photo, my mother’s handwriting said.

[Kazu kun and Yuki chan, playing in the sandbox at the park♪]

Yuki chan……?

Don’t tell me Yuki is……Shirakawa Yukino?

If so, me and Shirakawa san used to live next door and play together……?

We were childhood friends…..?

How could I have forgotten something so important !?

My head is getting confused.

If this is true, it might explain Shirakawa san’s [Unmeasurable] and her obsession with me.

She has special feelings for me, as an old friend…..?

Should I ask Shirakawa san about this photo tomorrow?

No, but what if I’ve mistaken her for someone else?

And if we really were childhood friends, how could I have forgotten about her?

The mystery only deepens.

I felt the presence of Shirakawa Yukino rapidly growing inside me.