Chapter Text
Under the light of the afternoon sun, I sat underneath the shade of the cherry blossom tree. As it hadn’t fully bloomed yet, it offered little shade from the dimming but still bright sunlight. Its petals occasionally fell from its branches, swept by the wind, and some, I felt, even landed on my dark purple hair. However, none of those were truly the center of my attention for the time being—for the light blonde girl beside me hummed a happy tune. I wasn’t familiar with the song, but it was music to my ears.
It certainly helped fill in the tranquil silence we had at the moment. She wore a smile on her face, eyes closed as if she was enjoying the moment. I opened my mouth with the intention of starting a conversation, but in the end I didn’t want to interrupt her peace.
I feel very awkward now. Is this what other people really feel about social interactions? I am so sorry if I ever said anything too offensive or awkward…
Wait. Am I actually invading her personal space? How did I get myself in this situation in the first place? I really just wanted to relax under this beautiful cherry blossom tree. To think that another girl would be under this tree too…
I closed my eyes as those questions swirled in my head. I guess all of this started yesterday at around the same time today too.
School had just begun a few days ago and I was a freshman, so naturally I was curious about what the school had in its grounds. No better time than now to start exploring the place , I thought! Although it might get boring since there aren’t a lot of students now. All my classmates already went home or went to their clubs. I guess a solo stroll wouldn’t be too bad.
I was already familiar with the rooms inside the school building. There were classrooms, of course. Mine was Class 1-C on the second floor. There was a gym, a clinic, faculty office, clubrooms, all the usual stuff. Behind the building were the track and field, the pool, and the school yard. None of it really caught my interest. I guess this is just a typical high school.
Or so I thought. As I continued my exploration, something caught my eye; something that looked like a tree. The tree was by its lonesome—still part of the school grounds but far enough that I had to squint even with my blue-framed glasses on.
“Weird. Why would they plant a tree that far away?” I whispered to myself as I walked closer. With the setting sun shining beside it too, it was really hard to see what kind of tree it was.
Now that I was closer, my eyes finally adjusted to everything and realized that the tree was a cherry blossom one. The tree was big… It looked like it towered over me even from this distance, and I’m not even that short! The tree didn’t seem in full bloom yet but flowers had grown, petals were falling and being swept by the wind and it looked pretty old. One thing was for sure though: The tree was beautiful. As if its presence alone calmed me down and told me to relax under its shade… “Come lie down on these fields of greens…” I could almost hear it say to me. I was in no rush to go home anyway, so that sounded like a great idea. Looked like no one was around anyway.
As I approached the tree and my eyes kept on adjusting, I was surprised to see someone had been underneath the beautiful tree all along. It was a girl… She had long blonde hair, held only with a pink headband with a ribbon on it–long strands swayed with the wind. She seemed focused on drawing on her sketchpad, though I could not tell what exactly she was drawing. Blue ribbon. I caught a glimpse of the blue ribbon around her neck. So she’s a freshman like me. It seems that she hasn’t noticed me approaching though. Curiosity got the better of me, pressing me to come closer.
The curious girl sat under the tree’s shade peacefully. Not even the falling petals of the tree seemed to bother this girl. Careful not to startle her, I walked on light footsteps as I got closer. It’s okay to talk to her, right? I mean, we’re in the same school anyway.
I cleared my throat, and said to her with my brightest smile: “You must be the curious type, finding such a remote spot during your first week.” That seemed to catch her attention. The girl looked up from her sketchbook, her green-pink ombre eyes widened a bit. She seemed a little shaken. Please tell me I didn’t scare her…
“I-I could say the same to you…” She said in a soft, almost soothing voice. She wore a small smile on her face, hiding her sketchbook in her bag.
I chuckled as I slowly set down my own bag. “Is it alright if I…?” I trailed off as she gave a nod. “I’m sorry if I’m interrupting you or anything.”
“It’s okay,” the girl calmly told me. “It’s not like I own the tree or anything.” She giggled at her own joke, bringing a small smile to my face too.
I carefully sat down on the opposite side of the tree, being careful not to look like a creep or anything. I laid my back on the tree’s trunk and sighed in relief. Just as I thought… This tree was very relaxing. It was like every stress and concern were lifted from my shoulders by the tree itself. The grass felt nice. It wasn’t too itchy or dirty. Whoever’s tending these fields should get a raise. The falling petals looked like decorations on the grass. The wind helped cool me down from all that walking. And the afternoon sun wasn’t as hot anymore. This was nice…
But then I remember that someone was with me. The girl just behind me. It was very quiet. I looked behind me to see if she was still there. And sure enough, she still was. I guess she stopped drawing for today, huh. I wonder if I really did interrupt.
The silence continued for what seemed like another long minute. Finally, I decided to break the silence. I truly can’t help myself in situations like these.
“So what brings you here, uh…” I remembered that I didn't even know her name. “Colleague?”
I heard another giggle escape her mouth. “Matsuda. Y-you can call me that…”
“Okay, let’s do that again,” I joked. “So what brings you here, Matsuda-san?” I reiterated as my hands started to play with the grass.
Matsuda-san hummed, probably not sure how to answer my definitely weird question. “Not much really. I didn’t want to go home yet, so I explored the school, and found this beautiful tree…” She answered, understandably leaving a few details. “How about you, um…”
“Aoki,” I inserted, and answered: “Pretty much the same reason.” I chuckled to myself and closed my eyes. “You don’t mind if I come here every other day too? Because this tree is sooo comfy.”
“I-I don’t mind it at all, Aoki-san,” she said with a rather nervous but happy tone. "It doesn't seem like you have bad intentions… Do you?"
My eyes widened from the sudden question. Without thinking, I turned around to look at her and exclaimed: "I-I don't! I know it's a lot for someone you just met, but you can trust me! Really, I just think the tree is beautiful!" I could feel my face heat up as I explained myself. I probably scared Matsuda-san more...
I opened my purple-blue ombre eyes that I didn't even notice were closed. My light purple fringe was covering my face from my sudden outburst. I fixed my hair and adjusted my glass, wiping off the sweat from my face. Matsuda-san herself looked flustered, eyes wide, her cheeks tinted with red.
"I'm so sorry…" I apologized quietly. "I didn't mean to scare you or anything."
Matsuda-san shook her head quickly, shaking her hands in front of her. "No, no, it's me who should apologize. I…shouldn't have asked such a question." She smiled awkwardly but still looked really…cute. "I'll trust you then, Aoki-san."
Releasing a sigh of relief from the breath I was apparently holding, I sat back down my spot and calmed myself. "Thank you, Matsuda-san. I will trust you too since you trust me." I smiled at her. Looks like we're getting somewhere manageable now!
A comfortable silence filled the space between us once more. I could not see what she was doing but I assumed we both just had our backs against the trunk. My eyes focused towards the school building as I mindlessly collected the fallen petals from my side and silently counted how many I could feel. Ten, eleven, twelve…? I lost count.
"Matsuda-san?" I called, mindful not to run my mouth. My back was getting sore so I decided to lie down on the grass.
"Yes, Aoki-san?" She answered.
"Um… How's school so far?" I asked, mentally slapping my face for asking something that might be personal. "You know, since you're a freshman like me."
"To be honest," she paused, "not too eventful yet. School's beautiful and there's a lot to do, but I'm not really that active." She chuckled. "I'm just happy I'm in the same class with my friends. How about you, Aoki-san?"
I hummed, thinking about my answer. "Well, I joined the track and fields club. No activities for today though. But yeah, I'm overjoyed that I'm in the same class as my friends too. Isn't it the best feeling?" I asked.
"Mhm," she continued, "it really is. I..I hope I can stay friends with them forever. But that isn’t always a guarantee, right? That’s why…” She trailed off, her tone becoming somber.
“That’s why you always treasure your time with them together, right?” I guessed, only getting a quiet “yeah” for confirmation. Why are you not with your friends right now though? I guess I shouldn’t press further. A brief silence fell between us once more…
“Say, have you tried the school’s special bento? You should definitely get it next time. It’s the best! Would seriously recommend it!” I broke the ice that I felt was starting to freeze us over.
Thankfully, Matsuda-san went along. “The school’s special bento?” she wondered. “The one with the octopus hotdogs?” Her tone attained the serenity again that I heard the first time.
“Yeah, that!” I exclaimed, throwing my hands in the air and making them mimic the swimming of an octopus. “They call it the Seabed Special! Which is ironic because there’s absolutely no seafood in it, now that I think about it.” I laughed as I now realize the absurdity of the name.
She giggled with that pleasant voice of hers again. Oh, I am definitely not gonna get tired of her voice, I thought. “Why do they call it that, then?”
“I guess it’s because the items are shaped like deep sea creatures? And the ‘bed’ of the lunch itself is made to look like the seafloor, I guess,” I answered with little certainty. “Gonna be honest, I have no idea. Maybe the cook just likes the deep sea?”
“I’m interested,” she said. “I guess I’ll have to check it out myself.”
“Yeah!” I exclaimed, pumping my fist in the air. “You will love it! I just know it!” I chuckled, putting my arm down.
Afterwards, I heard Matsuda-san behind me move and shuffle. Then I saw her walk towards me. She looked down on me with a warm smile and bowed her head a bit.
“I think my mom’s looking for me already, so I guess I’ll see you around, Aoki-san.” She waved her hand a little as she turned around and walked away.
I sat up to wave her goodbye too. Ah, hold on a sec… Reaching my hand forward, I called to her again as I remembered: “Ah, Matsuda-san! Are you sure it’s okay for me to come here again?”
She nodded once with her bright smile, her eyes happily closed. “And next time, you can sit beside me too. I would like to get to know you more!” She chuckled. “Goodbye then!”
“Y-yeah! See ya…” was all I could utter. All alone, I laid my back against the trunk of the tree, wondering what else to do before going home myself. I guess I’ll see Matsuda-san and this tree again tomorrow. I wonder what else we can talk about. Oh, right.
I’m still curious about what she was drawing before…