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Matsuri lay on her bed, watching her phone buzz waiting for her call to be picked up. On its screen showed a picture of her friend, Ecchan.
C’mon, just pick up
Matsuri thought to herself. Ever since that weird encounter outside of the restaurant, Ecchan has been avoiding her. Matsuri didn't know why her best friend would avoid her like this.
She's not mad at me is she?
Matsuri thought about the last few times they interacted. Each time, Ecchan seemed normal about it. Well, as normal as their interactions can get. She couldn’t think of any reason she would be mad but the thought still lingered.
I'm not getting anywhere laying here and waiting. I'll just ask her in person!
She had made up her mind. To Ecchan’s house! Suddenly showing up to someone’s house unannounced? Nothing weird about that, they’ve done it plenty of times both ways.
Matsuri grabbed her phone and got up. She got her bag and headed out.
“Dad, I'm going to Ecchan’s!”
She shouted as she made her way towards the front door.
“Alright, have fun!”
Her dad shouted back as she left.
As she made her way to Ecchan’s house, Matsuri toiled in her mind as to what she would say. Should she confront her about ghosting her or should she just act like nothing happened at all. Should she be mad or try to understand her?
Her train of thought was interrupted as she turned a corner and bumped into someone.
“Ahh. I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going!”
After profusely apologizing and bowing, she looked up to see a black haired girl with a bucket hat on.
“Ah, Izumi-san!”
“Oh, hello Matsuri! What are you in such a rush about?”
Wako looked at her with a curious look. Matsuri embarrassingly realized that her walk to Ecchan’s house quickly became a jog, which then quickly became a dash.
“Oh, I'm just going to my friend's house.”
“Eri-chan, right?”
Matsuri was a little surprised but at the same time she knew that Ecchan was the only person she hung out with outside of her family. It doesn't take a genius to guess where she’s headed. Nonetheless, she was still a little embarrassed that Wako read her like a book.
“Yeah, I wanted to see her today.”
The two began walking together as it seemed like they were both going in the same direction.
“So, if you don't mind me asking, did something happen between you and Eri-chan? I haven't seen you two together in a while.”
Matsuri hesitated before answering.
“Yeah, a lot has happened… Ecchan is moving to England. I wanted to spend a lot of time with her before she left but for some reason she’s avoiding me.”
The middle schooler looked down.
“I'm afraid she's mad at me or something. I don't know why and I'm scared that I won't see her again before she leaves.”
She began tearing up a bit at the thought.
“Well if you don't know why then she’s probably not mad at you.”
Wako tried to comfort her.
“I mean, it doesn't make sense for her to be mad about something you don't know about, does it?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Whatever is going on inside your head, it's probably nowhere near as bad. Just talk to her and I'm sure everything will be fine.”
“Yeah, you're right. I'll just talk to her and it’ll probably be fine.”
With Wako’s reassuring words, Matsuri began to smile and wiped the small tears around her eyes. The pair came to an intersection and stopped.
“Well I guess this is where we split. Good luck with Eri-chan!”
“Thanks, see you at the restaurant!”
As the two parted ways, Matsuri couldn't help but notice Wako going back the way they came from.
What an odd lady.
She made it the rest of the way to Ecchan’s. As she stood at her front door, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous. After all, something was about to happen and it could be anything. She inhaled and braced herself. After some hesitation, she finally worked up the courage and stepped forward to knock on the door. Right as she was about to knock, the door opened.
“I’ll be right back, I'm going for a walk.”
Ecchan stood in the doorway looking away before turning her head forward. For a brief moment, Matsuri locked eyes with a bewildered Ecchan before the door was slammed shut in front of her.
A just as bewildered Matsuri stood in shock for a moment before awkwardly knocking on the door to no reply.
“Ecchan, I know you're in there… I just want to talk to you.”
Still no reply. Matsuri sat down with her back against the door.
“Please. I don't know why you’re avoiding me but I'm sorry.”
Silence. Matsuri pulled her knees up. She waited for a response for what felt like hours but in reality was probably a minute or two.
“I just want to see my best friend one last time before she leaves…”
With that, she began to sob. She covered her face with her hands and attempted to wipe away her tears as all the emotions she tried to suppress came flowing out.
Is this it? Is this how their friendship ends? With having an emotional breakdown to someone who might not even be there? The thought of it only made it worse.
Suddenly, Matsuri found herself falling on her back in a now open doorway. She wiped away her tears and looked up at an equally teary eyed Ecchan. For a moment, the two stayed there with their eyes locked as they both did their best to stop the flow of tears. Eventually, Ecchan broke the deafening silence.
“Come on.”
She said with a shaky voice. It was clear that this hurt her as much as it did Matsuri.
Before long, the two found themselves sitting on Ecchan’s bed. Matsuri spoke first.
“Ecch-”
She didn't even finish a word before she was interrupted by Ecchan leaping forward and wrapping her up in a tight hug.
“I'm sorry!”
Ecchan almost shouted as she spoke, muffled by Matsuri’s shirt. She was crying again.
“Ecchan, it's ok, you have nothing to apologize for.”
Matsuri knew that was a lie but she wanted to comfort her best friend. She began to tear up again too as she returned Ecchan’s abrupt hug.
“No, that's not true!’
Ecchan retorted. Her grip tightened.
“I ignored you, I avoided you, I betrayed you! I was being selfish.”
Ecchan seemed to calm down a bit. Matsuri could only listen to what she said.
“I was afraid. Afraid that seeing you would only make it hurt more. Reminding me of saying goodbye. I didn't want to think about it.”
Ecchan pulled back and looked Matsuri in the eyes.
“I didn't realize that not seeing you would hurt you as well.”
Ecchan looked away
“I'm sorry for hurting you.”
She began to cry again but Matsuri pulled her back into another hug.
“It's ok, I know it hurts. I wish we didn't have to seperate but there's nothing we can do about it. The only thing we can do is make sure that until that moment, we’re still best friends. And even then, after you leave, we can still be best friends. We can talk on the phone and send each other messages or pictures. There's nothing stopping us from continuing our friendship.”
Matsuri did her best to comfort her friend. It wasn't often that she had to do this much emotional labor but it was for Ecchan so she didn't mind.
“Yeah you're right.”
Ecchan admitted.
“But it won't be the same. We’ll have an entire world between us. My days will be your nights. We’ll live in completely different worlds. I won't be able to see you at school. We can't hang out anymore or go on anymore adventures. We’ll have to disband the Go-Home club.”
Ecchan’s voice began to shake again.
“I won't be able to feel you next to me, always with me. I won't be able to touch you. No more rejection tosses.”
With that last statement, the two let out a little giggle.
“You remember that?”
Matsuri asked while laughing through her tears.
“How could I forget? You asked me to marry you and I replied with my rejection toss… as much as I wanted to say yes.”
With that, Ecchan let out a sigh while Matsuri held her breath for a second as she felt blood rush to her cheeks.
Wait, what does she mean by that? Does she actually…
Matsuri’s thoughts were interrupted by Ecchan’s elaboration.
“When you asked me that, I thought about what it would be like to live the rest of my life with you. I thought that sounded nice but then I remembered I was moving and the thought became painful. The more I thought about it, the more it hurt.”
Ecchan pulled back and put her hands on Matsuri’s shoulders. They looked each other in the eyes.
“I love you Matsuri. I love you so much. I have always loved you but I only realized after it was too late.”
Ecchan began to tear up. Matsuri did too, she knew the implications of her words after the debacle with her brother.
“So please, don't cry over me. Don't let my absence hurt you. As long as you’re happy, I'm happy.”
The two were on the verge of tears. Matsuri only had one response.
“I love you too.”
With the revelation of mutual feelings, both parties began to cry. Harder than they ever have before. They embraced in another hug, holding onto each other tightly as if it would stop fate.
They both knew this knowledge would only make the inevitable separation hurt more, but not knowing would hurt even more. But for a brief moment in their embrace, it didn't hurt anymore.