: Holiday and Two People Suddenly Breaking In

The July wind, carrying the chirping of cicadas, swept away the last bit of dampness from the plum rain season in June.

The graduation ceremony ended in the morning.

The principal was on stage giving instructions for summer vacation, his voice coming from an old loudspeaker with a whirring sound that made people drowsy.

The fourth-grade children sat on the auditorium floor with their knees pressed tightly together, some of them already secretly counting how many candies they had left in their pockets.

Asuka sat at the very edge of Class 2, Grade 4, staring straight ahead, but not really looking at anything.

Her fingers were still rubbing a small piece of paper in the pocket of her school uniform skirt, on which were written a few lines that Xia Mo had written to her yesterday—

July 21 (Friday)

6:30 p.m.

Keisei Shibamata Station Plaza

She looked at that piece of paper no less than twenty times from yesterday to today, and the edges of it were already a little soft from the sweat on her palms.

"—That concludes my message. Have a wonderful summer vacation, everyone. Stand! Salute!"

"Goodbye, teacher!" The voices of hundreds of children merged into a torrent, drowning out the cicadas' chirping. This was followed by the sounds of chairs clattering, footsteps, and voices. The entire auditorium was like a pot of miso soup being stirred, boiling in a surprisingly orderly fashion.

Feiniao stood up and walked out with the crowd. When she reached the door, she saw Xia Mo.

He stood by a pillar in the corridor, his backpack only on one strap, his other hand in his pocket, looking like he was waiting for someone. The wound on the corner of his mouth had long since healed.

But Asuka always felt that there should be a pink strawberry band-aid stuck there.

The two looked at each other, neither smiling, but their eyes held a warm light. Fei Niao walked over, and the two walked out of the school gate side by side, with a half-step between them, just like always.

The sun was blazing, and the asphalt road surface was softened by the heat, giving it a subtle elasticity when stepped on.

The two walked along the road they had walked countless times, passing the convenience store, the slope lined with cherry blossoms, and the beverage shop where they had once argued about strawberry milk versus milk tea—

It was closed today; a white sign that read "Closed for Summer" was pasted on the glass door.

"The fireworks festival is tomorrow," Xia Mo said.

"Um."

"You...haven't forgotten, have you?"

Asuka turned to look at him, her expression carrying just the right amount of disdain: "You've reminded me more than twenty times since last month. You say you remind me to do my homework more often than my mom does."

Xia Mo touched her ear sheepishly, but still stubbornly said, "I was afraid you'd forget."

"I'm not a goldfish."

The two walked a few steps in silence. Then they spoke at the same time.

"That--"

"you--"

They both stopped at the same time and said at the same time, "You go first."

Feiniao chuckled. Xia Mo scratched his head and laughed too.

The afternoon sunlight flickered between the two of them, as if something transparent and shimmering had gently bounced in the air.

"6:30."

Xia Mo said, "Keisei Shibamata Station, the plaza in front of the station. I'll be waiting for you and Ikuta-senpai."

"Is Ikuta-senpai... sure she'll come?" Asuka asked.

"She started planning what clothes to wear last month," Xia Mo said with a weary tone, as if she had been through it all.

"The night before last, she sent me seventeen photos and asked me to help her choose the pattern of a yukata. I said every single one looked good, and she said I was just being perfunctory. She was right."

Asuka imagined the scene for a moment, and a smile curved her lips: "What kind of yukata is she wearing?"

"She wore a pink foundation and large, blooming peony flowers. She said she wanted to be 'the most dazzling woman at the fireworks festival.'"

"...This person sounds terrifying."

"It's not scary," Xia Mo thought for a moment, "It's just a little noisy. You'll see when you see it."

The two reached that familiar intersection. The light turned red, and they stopped. Feiniao pulled the worn-out piece of paper from her pocket and glanced at the words on it one last time.

"6:30, Chaiyou Station, the square in front of the station." She read it aloud, as if making a final confirmation to herself.

"Um."

"What if I'm late?"

"Then I'll wait."

"What if I get lost?"

"You can get lost at Shibamata Station? Aren't you from Katsushika Ward?"

Feiniao choked, and angrily bumped him lightly with her schoolbag. Xia Mo didn't dodge; instead, she laughed after being bumped, a smile as clean as a glass of ice water in the July sunlight.

The green light is on.

"See you tomorrow," Asuka said.

"See you tomorrow."

The two parted ways at the crossroads, one going left, the other right. After walking a few steps, Fei Niao suddenly stopped, turned around, and called out, "Summer's End!"

Looking back at the end of summer.

"My mom said it might be very crowded on the night of the fireworks festival, so she told me to leave early. She'll be coming with us and watching from the sidelines. I arrived around 6:10."

Xia Mo paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Okay. Auntie's coming too... Um, should I say hello?"

"Of course I'll say hello, you idiot." Asuka turned around, her steps much lighter than before. Her light pink backpack bounced on her back like an excited little rabbit.

--------

July 21st. Friday.

evening.

At the plaza in front of Keisei Shibamata Station, the setting sun painted the entire sky the color of orange marmalade. The station's red sign stood out prominently in the afterglow, the most iconic color of this street.

The old bus station at the entrance to the Indra's pilgrimage route is usually bustling, but today it was even more crowded.

Young girls in yukatas, parents holding their children's hands, and students in twos and threes with their arms around each other poured out of the station's turnstiles, gathered in the square, and then dispersed to the various paths leading to the Edogawa River embankment.

The air was filled with the aroma of yakisoba sauce and the sweet scent of candied apples, and in the distance, the faint sound of taiko drums could be heard, one beat after another, like the heartbeat of summer.

Xia Mo stood next to the Tora-san statue in the center of the square, holding her phone and checking the time every ten seconds or so.

5:55. Fifteen minutes until 6:10.

Today he wore a light blue cotton shirt with one button undone at the collar, dark gray shorts, and a pair of clean white sneakers.

Before leaving the house, he stood in front of the mirror for almost ten minutes, changing three outfits—first a white T-shirt, which he felt was too ordinary; then a dark blue one, which he felt was too dark; and finally, he chose this light blue one.

I spent another five minutes debating whether to button the top button. Leaving it unbuttoned would seem unprofessional, but buttoning it would seem too formal.

In the end, he chose not to deduct the penalty, but he regretted it the whole way.

He stood there, watching the crowds come and go, trying to spot Asuka among the colorful yukatas and summer clothes.

It was still early, and he knew he was early, but he just couldn't control himself—starting from four in the afternoon, he couldn't sit still and paced around the house, opening and closing the bedroom door seven or eight times. Finally, his mother chased him out with the words, "If you keep pacing like that, you'll break the floor."

6:05.

A person in the crowd walked towards him.

No, it wasn't just one person.

There are two people.

A tall man, much taller than him, was wearing a black stand-up collar uniform from a nearby high school. He carried a shoulder bag, had his hands in his pockets, and walked with an air of nonchalant nonchalance, as if he owned the street.

Hmm, he looks like Jotaro Kujo.

The other one was shorter, but still a head taller than Xia Mo. He was wearing a black T-shirt with "SUPER DRY" printed on it, athletic shorts, and basketball shoes that looked quite fancy.

His face had deep contours, with prominent brow bones, and his eyes appeared exceptionally pale in the sunset, like amber encased in a thin layer of gold dust.

The color of those eyes.

Light-colored, amber-like eyes.

Xia Mo's heart skipped a beat.

He had seen this color before.

In the afternoon sunlight in the music room, under the sunset on the basketball court, and every time a bird looks up at him.

The boy in the black T-shirt walked over. His gaze swept across the square, then lingered on Xia Mo.

He tilted his head slightly, looked at Xia Mo for two seconds with an expression that said, "Let me see what this is," then turned his face to the tall boy next to him and said something.

The tall boy's gaze also fell over.

The two of them walked together toward the end of summer.

Summer's legs suddenly felt weak. He instinctively took a half step back, and the cool touch of Tora-san's arm against his back sent a shiver down his spine. Several thoughts flashed through his mind—

Who are these two people?

Why are they walking towards me?

Am I standing in the wrong place?

Is this bronze statue a gathering place for a certain gang?

No, this is Katsushika Ward, not Ikebukuro.

"Are you at the end of summer?"

The one in the black T-shirt spoke first. His voice was deeper than Xia Mo had imagined, but he spoke very slowly, as if he were confirming the pronunciation of each syllable.

Xia Mo opened her mouth, trying hard to keep her voice from trembling: "...Yes."

The tall boy and the boy in the black T-shirt exchanged a glance.

"It's you." The tall boy spoke, his voice even deeper, like the low strings of a cello being slowly pulled.

He tilted his head and looked at Xia Mo, a half-smile playing on his lips, a smile that reminded Xia Mo of a certain angle of a bird's mouth when it was angry.

A thought suddenly exploded in Xia Mo's mind.

He looked into the eyes of the boy in the black T-shirt.

Light amber color. Like melted honey, it shimmers with a faint blue light in the sunset.

The sounds of late summer suddenly softened.

"...Asuka's older brother?"

"Um?"

The boy in the black T-shirt raised an eyebrow.

The tall boy smiled.