Origami Girl

Chapter 25.5: Never Let Me Go

Origami Girl

Chapter 25.5: Never Let Me Go

"My children! My children! You make me weep again. I see them sleeping soundly, happy in ignorance that their father is about to die."

- Chikamatsu Monzaemon, The Love Suicides at Amijima

"I really hope Ayano-chan is all right," the girl said as we both walked to Furukawa-chan's house.

"Yeah," I replied.

I was at a loss on what to say. I had no idea what to say to the grieving girl, yet I still came along. Well, if it wasn't for us, who else was there to help her? I certainly wouldn't expect Kameko-chan to be doing anything. Kameko-chan probably was too busy dealing with herself to care about her friend. I tried to think of what people told me after Nana-chan died, but my mind came up with nothing. I took a deep breath and exhaled.

The sky was dark and dull, casting a heavy shadow over the city. It was strange, truly. One would expect a snowstorm in a winter as cold as this, but this was rain that we were getting. A clap of thunder roared in the distance. The wind, a freezing winter draft brought with it the heavy smell of an impending downpour. There had been really some strange that year.

"That poor girl," Sayaka-chan said as we headed down the street, looking for her address. "She shouldn't have had to go through something like that."

"She was the one who found his body wasn't she?" I asked. "That must be hard."

The both of us kept quiet as we walked down the street devoid of pedestrians.

"Sorry I dragged you along," Sayaka-chan said. "I mean, you have your own things to deal with."

"Hey," I told her. "Don't worry about it. Well, I've already accepted what happened with Nanako. She got what she wanted, and at least I still managed to spend her last moments together with her. But to find a body already dead. . . That's different."

"I can't imagine how Ayano-chan must have felt," the girl said to me, adjusting her handbag. "It must be so difficult. Today when I called her she said that they were just done with the cremation. . ."

Nana-chan was also cremated, two years ago. But it wasn't the time for me to get all sentimental. Sayaka-chan and I had an objective for this visit, and that objective did not include feeling sorry for myself. Sure, it had been two years, but it still hurts nonetheless. But for now, the focus was on Furukawa-chan.

We reached the house not long after. It was a modest house by the street, with a stone fence enclosing the front yard. The front door was open, so I guess Furukawa-chan had probably only arrived. Sayaka-chan pressed the bell by the gate and we both waited.

A woman walked out of the door and opened the gate for us. It was Furukawa-chan's mother, I presumed. We exchanged greetings hurriedly before the rain got worse. The lady led us inside to the living room where Furukawa-chan was.

The girl was seated on the floor, dressed in black from head to toe. She hadn't even changed out of her funeral clothes yet. Our arrival seemed to have startled her and she looked up. Her eyes were glassy. Sayaka-chan sat in front of the girl while I awkwardly made my way to sit beside her.

"We're really sorry about what happened," Sayaka-chan began, looking at the grieving girl. "I'm sure it must be really hard."

The girl said nothing in reply. Sayaka-chan shot me a glance, as if asking me for an input to make the situation less awkward and dreary than it already was.