Toshie — 利江

Toshie snapped her mirror shut. She had just spent the last 25 minutes applying eyeliner and lipgloss. Her mascara was just a little clumpy, but it would do. The conductor announced that her stop was next. She pulled her left sock up again, thinking that she'd have to reapply the glue when she got to school.

As the train shuddered to a stop, she stepped out and joined the push and rush of commuters. It was a little cold this morning, so she hunched down a little more in her cream-colored pullover sweater, the too-long sleeves down around her fingers to keep her hands warm. She snapped open her keitai and looked at her email. Haruka said she was waiting by the combini at the end of the street, and Yuuki was apologizing for ignoring her message yesterday afternoon. Toshie closed the phone and pushed it into the pocket of her skirt. The pink plush Snoopy charm bounced on her hip.

The street to school narrowed quickly, barely wide enough for even one small car. Though it was a clear, bright morning, this particular street was always shaded, always dark and chilly. Halfway to the first intersection, about 100 meters away, was a shrine. It wasn't a common shrine, wasn't comforting or even easily ignored. Something always seemed even colder there. Toshie tried to hurry past without even glancing, but a stray slash of sunlight across the swastika on the roof caught her eye. The brightness was unusual, and seemed to alter the ancient symbol, as if cracking it open, like a fracture or revision. She glanced too long, and nearly walked into the edge of a cigarette vending machine. Toshie shook her head and hurried down the street.

Haruka was there, a drink box of Royal Milk Tea in one hand and a half-eaten onigiri in the other. She popped the last bit of nori and rice in her mouth and waved to Toshie. Her smile was flecked with specks of green seaweed, and Toshie laughed and called her a fool. Haruka laughed back and washed away the nori with the milk tea. Together, the two girls headed up the road to school.

Haruka asked about Yuuki. "So did you ever hear from Yamada-kun yesterday?"

"This morning."

"He's an idiot." Both girls laughed at Haruka's apt assessment.

Toshie frowned slightly, though. Haruka noticed something in her friend's eyes that hadn't been there before. "He's not so stupid, sometimes. Yuuki-kun can be really smart and sweet when it's just us. But when his friends are around, he forgets about me all the time." She looked at the ground, letting her long, auburn-lightened hair fall across her face.

Haruka adjusted her hairclip, pulling her hair out of her own face. She just nodded agreement, letting Toshie know that she was listening. Haruka never really spoke to Yuuki now, even though he had been her next-door neighbor since his family moved to town ten years ago. As children, Yuuki and Haruka had played together, along with Yuuki's younger brother Tetsunari and younger sister Mao. But since second year of junior high school, Yuuki had avoided Haruka almost completely, except for the occasional hello or harassment in the hallway at school. He had even stopped using her first name. Now that he was dating her best friend, it was strange to have this other perspective on how he thought and what he was like.

The two girls waited for a taxi carrying other students to the school to pass, then continued across the road and up the hill. Mist clung to the mountains like gauze. Haruka hunched down into her blue blazer. "Cold." The two girls spoke in unison and smiled. A motor-scooter purred by them and then stopped at the gate of the school. It was Yuuki. He turned off the bike and stood next to it, waiting for Toshie. Haruka nodded to him, a slight bow, and waved to Toshie.

"Bai bai."

Toshie waved back with a similar farewell and turned to talk to her boyfriend. Haruka looked back over her shoulder once at them. Sunlight filtered through the mist and backlit the couple, fuzzing out their edges and nearly blending them into one indistinct being. She turned and saw Eri and Ayaka, and rushed to catch up with them.

"Ohayo!"