uma yelled.

Then, he gently tapped my head and ran off into the night streets. “Haru, you traitor!!! Explode already!!” echoed his booming voice in his wake. When he vanished from my sight, I turned to Shiina-san who had been laughing the entire time.

“That was on purpose, right?” I asked.

“What are you saying?”

She put her hand under her chin, playing the fool.

“You’re really a criminal who believes she’s in the right.”

“Fine, fine. You don’t like that, Segawa-kun?”

“Eh?”

“The idea that people may think you’re in that kind of relationship with me? Do you hate it?”

“..Not really.”

“I see. Then no harm was done, no? More importantly, I’m a little shocked that you’d address a classmate by name directly, Segawa-kun. You don’t give that sort of impression at all..”

“I call those I’m on good terms with by name.”

“I see. In that case, call me ‘Yuki’, Segawa-kun. And I’ll start calling you ’Yoshi-kun’.”

“You’re not calling me Haru?”

“Well, I hate the Spring for ‘Haru’, but I like the ‘Yoshi’. We both have the same kanji, so I’ll call you Yoshi-kun.”

“You hate spring? Why?”

“..When Spring comes, the air warms, and the snow ( Yuki ) melts away, disappearing. Everyone then forgets the snow, right? It’s still there, but everyone ignores it. I just really don’t like that.”

Though the kanji was different, her name did sound like ‘Snow’ in Japanese.

Shiina-san had probably experienced the feeling of being forgotten.

It was just a hunch, though, not something I could easily deny or affirm. After all, I knew nothing about her.

All I knew was that when I heard “I hate the Haru ( the Spring )”, my heart ached.

For I had the feeling she was saying that the snow and the spring could never be together.

“Hey, Yoshi-kun. Call me Yuki.”

But even so, if she wished for it, I would call her Yuki.

“Got it, Yuki.”

At that moment, her face turned red.

“Woah, being called by name is a lot more amazing than I thought. This might be the first time a guy other than my dad called me that.”

I watched Yuki point her face with her finger, and found it a little funny. However, her words repeated themselves countless times in a corner of my mind, echoing deep within my heart.

——I hate the Spring.

On the only rest day in spring vacation for club activities, I went to Yairo Park with Yuki.

The park built around the lake was 5km in perimeter, and it was said that different scenes could be seen from eight different points, thus the name Yairo Park.

The park was built around a lake. It boasted of a perimeter 5km long and it was said that each of its eight sides offered a different view, hence the name.

It was a working day, meaning the place was a lot quieter than usual. Later, at night, it would probably be bustling, full of adults eager to admire the flowers. But now, in the daytime, that was not the case.

Somehow, Yuki was a lot happier than I had expected, though.

“Wow, there’s such a place too.”

She was looking all around her with much curiosity while I followed behind with hands in the pockets of my coat. I fumbled for the feel of the little item in my pocket, checking if it was there. It was something I could easily fit in my palm, but I just felt that it was weighing a ton. Not in a physical sense, though. There was an additional emotional weight to this particular item.

I brought Yuki here was because I wanted to gift her something I had bought yesterday at a place where nobody would disturb us.

The other conditions were fulfilled.

All I needed now was the right mood and timing. It was frustratingly difficult to get them to align though.

We had made it halfway around the park already and the gift was still bouncing in my pocket.

Ever since I met Yuki, I found myself to be curiously useless. I thought I could have handled many more things perfectly, only to end up fumbling in front of her. I wasn’t sure why that was the case.

The light of the sun shone on the leaves and filtered through them. The resulting pattern of shadows formed a stark contrasting interplay of black and white on my face.

Under the gentle sunlight, I waited for a moment to talk. Instead, I was approached by someone instead.

The voice was deeper, different from Yuki’s.

“Ah, the two of you there. Hold on a moment.”

“Eh?”

We turned around to see who was calling for us and found a large, bear-like uncle sprinting in our direction. I could almost hear a rumbling sound effect straight out of an anime. He had a look of such panic on his face that we just stopped in our tracks.. A very wrong choice.

That man was huffing so hard, he was almost dying. He went behind me, and suddenly grabbed me by the elbow.

“Ahh.. I’m saved. Please come along.”

“Wh-what’s going on?

“We’re filming a movie, but at the last moment we find ourselves short on actors. It’s causing us lots of trouble.”

“Nonono, hold on. I don’t get what you mean.”

“Don’t get.. what I mean?”

The uncle turned towards me in clear bewilderment. This gave me a close up look of his face, and I found him to be still somewhat young. Probably in his twenties actually, at the age when I could still call him a big brother at a stretch.

His eyes were fixed upon Yuki behind me, and those round eyes hidden behind a fringe of hair were on fire.

It was obvious what he was thinking. To be honest, I wanted to run immediately, but my arm was in his vise-like grip and I couldn’t break free. After about three seconds or so of spacing out, he spoke to me again.

“Boy.”

“Don’t wanna.”

If I had been alone, I might have been overwhelmed by this guy’s force of personality and throw in the white towel. However, since Yuki was behind me, the situation was different.

“But I haven’t said anything?”

“I know what you want to say. You want Yuki to appear in the movie.”

“Please reconsider.”

“Not happening.”

And at this point, Yuki, who had been watching the entire development quietly thus far, raised her hand.

“Why are you deciding for me, Yoshi-kun?” she asked.

Both of us looked towards Yuki.

“..You want to act?”

“It sounds fun. It’s a great way to commemorate today too.”

The man didn’t let the chance slip him by and immediately chimed in loudly.

“Yes. Yes! Don’t decide on what the girl wants, boy.”

If he believed that, he should have asked Yuki instead of me. Speaking of which, it seemed like this guy never intended to negotiate with her to begin with. I was confused.

“Hey, let’s go, Yoshi-kun.”

The whole process was a little unpleasant, but in the end I was forced to go along. All that I could say was “Understood.”

“Really? Yosh! It’s decided then. Both of you shall perform then. Thank goodness.”

And so, the guy forced the conclusion, probably to stop us from changing our minds.

I lost.

But since I wasn’t happy with this conclusion, I decided to struggle for a little longer.

“Mind letting go for my arm now?” I asked.

The filming ‘set’ was located by a bench in the park.

I wasn’t very sure of the plot before and after, but it seemed we were going to film a scene of a quarreling couple reconciling.

The guy who had called us over was apparently the director of this movie, judging by the fact that when someone called “Yo, director!” he responded and the aura around him instantly changed into something completely unlike what we had witnessed before.

Calling for him was a slightly plump big sister. She approached us, looked back and forth between Yuki and me, and finally fixed her eyes on Yuki.

“What’s with this girl? Isn’t she a real cutie?”

“Yeah. I want to get her in our movie.”

“Nice, nice. In the next one?”

“Nope, right now.”

“Huh?”

Suddenly, the atmosphere turned frigid. “Nononononononono”, started the big sister and she kept repeating those words for a while. “No, no, no, no, no, no, and no!”

Eventually, she managed a coherent question. “What are you thinking? This won’t work.”

“Really? I want to see how she performs though.”

“Look, I get how you feel. I want to see her act too. But think of this movie maybe? I don’t know what role you want her to appear as, but the moment you put her on set, you may as well scrap the whole thing.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll get this film done properly. But well, I might have to cause you guys some trouble..your efforts won’t be wasted. Trust me.”

The director slapped his chest without hesitation.

“..Is that so?”

“Absolutely.”

The big sister gave up and sighed, probably because this short conversation allowed for them to exchange more than these few words.

“Haa. I got it. It’s pointless for me to say anything for. Anyway, I’ll leave you to do the follow shot with Kazuha-chan. She’s a sharp one, and she’ll know when we aren’t taking this seriously enough. If that happens, she’ll kick up a fuss, and there won’t be any other scenes to film. We can’t allow this to happen.”

“Got it. I’ll do that. Sorry, but I’ll leave guiding these two in your hands.”

After saying that, the director hurried off.

We watched his back as he went along with the big sister that still wasn’t introduced to us.

Once he was gone, the tense atmosphere vanished in an instant. There was just the big sister smiling as happily as the director had before, and the two of us, completely out of the loop in regards to the conversation that had just taken place.

“Erm, just now, what you two just talked about,”

“Ahh, don’t worry about it. You’ll understand. But well, I’ll say this first. That guy’s really selfish and stubborn, so just say what you want to him.”

Yuki and I exchanged looks, tilting our heads.

In the end, we were imprisoned for almost four hours.

It was just a single scene, but there were multiple retakes.

It seemed these would be edited into the finished movie later on.

The roles we were assigned were passers-by A and B with me being the former. The reason being that if Yuki walked in front, she would attract too much attention, so the director instructed that I be a shield to obscure her.

But even so, when he saw the freshly completed short, he just went “Hmm..”

“I guess she attracts too much attention anyway. My eyes just end up being drawn towards her,” he muttered, making sure the lead actors couldn’t hear him. Yuki and I were close by though, so we could understand him clearly. Then it struck us that he wanted us to hear that.

“Wanna look?”

He waved us over and we did as he said, looking at the laptop screen. He replayed the 10 minutes of footage.

A college couple took the center screen.

And behind them were two passers-by.

Those two extras had no lines, no introduction, and they were just talking. But before we knew it, we found that the scene had changed in our eyes. Suddenly I couldn’t remember what the protagonists were talking about and Yuki’s face was the only thing left in my memory. All that I could recall from the scene was Yuki smiling and chatting with me. And this little thing on its own was like a miracle.

If this were to make it into a completed movie, surely I would not want to spend time watching any other scenes. Even after seeing entire such movie, in the end, what would remain in my mind might only be Yuki’s smile.

As the big sister had said, the story was all wasted.

“Hey, boy. Don’t you find it a pity? It’s rare to see such a pretty human around. You’d want to see more stories involving the girl, right?”

I finally understood the full meaning of the conversation between the director and the big sister.

The director knew this movie would be a write-off, but he spent the time and effort anyway just to get Yuki as the actress.

But Yuki just shook her head.

“Ah, it’s fine. Don’t worry, it will turn out okay.”

“Nonono, girl, you don’t understand. We can’t use this material. Everyone watching it will just look at you.”

The director seemed taken aback by Yuki’s response. Honestly, he panicked. Before I knew it, he was talking to Yuki directly. Either out of extreme anxiety or, maybe, succumbing to his nature as a director.

“Shall we have a bet then?” proposed Yuki, her face looking as if she was set on something.

“If this scene causes the movie to be scrapped, I’ll listen to anything you’ll say, director.”

“So that means you’ll agree if I say that I want you to appear in a movie?”

“Yup. But that will be impossible without a miracle. A miracle is not something that just happens every day.”

“What do you mean?”

“..If you think about it, a miracle that occurs once is pure luck, and there won’t be a second time. No, it’s not even down to luck, because for every miracle, an equivalent price has to be paid.. ”

I couldn’t get what Yuki was saying.

The director too probably felt the same. After some thinking, he just replied with a simple “I see.” He was probably content just to have Yuki appear in the movie.

The remainder of the day was gone before we noticed, and the night loomed large.

The director and the others began to pack up hastily.

I stared at all that blankly. The director noticed me, and approached.

“Good work there.”

“It’s been a long day.”

“You really helped me out. Well, you only appeared for like 10 seconds or so though. Acting’s fun, right?”

“Guess not. I had enough of it. I’m not too suited to standing out.”

We talked at a place some distance from Yuki while looking at her.

An old adage said: three women make a market. We had five here, making for no end of words. Girls were creatures evolutionarily predisposed to talking. I had grown up with my mother and little sister talking my ear off until they got their way, so I had no choice but to wait for the conversation here to end.

“Say.. Be honest, though. Can the scene from today be actually be used?”

“Well, to be honest, it’s impossible to use it as is. I made a bet with the girl, so I’ll try to edit it, but if our internal critical review turns out bad regardless, we’ll just have to scrap the whole thing, bow down to those guys, and get them to replay it.”

“I see..”

That was all I could say. Everything left was up to the director to decide, since the bet was between him and Yuki.

“Oh, yeah, here. These tickets are for you. There’ll be a public screening of the movie during the culture festival next Autumn, so do come by to watch. I’ll deliver the best story possible for everyone to watch.”

“Next year? Not this one?”

“The production’s probably won’t be finished in time. Once this is done next year, I’ll be graduating.”

I received two tickets from the director’s hands.

They were crumpled, probably because he just shoved them into my pocket and the red words ‘Yasaka University’ were a little worn out. When I tried to flatten them in my hands, I couldn’t even straighten them up.

“Eh? Why two?”

“Invite the girl to go with you. I’m dumb at such things, but I can understand a little through the camera. Do your best. Normally, it’s the guy who asks the girl out, right?”

Having said these vague words, he patted my back hard with a smile.

My organs were hurting.

We bade farewell to the director and the others. Our steps eventually took us to a large cherry blossom tree.

Unfortunately, the sakuras had finished blooming a long time ago, and the tree looked a little forlorn. The white flowers had scattered to four sides of the world leaving only lush leaves on the branches. The next season was coming fast.

“What did you talk about with the director?”

“A few words about nothing in particular. What about you, Yuki? What did you chat about with the big sisters?”

“Secrets.”

“Secrets, huh?”

“Secrets are absolutely important to a girl, you know?” She said demurely, and ran towards the sakura trees. The breeze rustled, and the petals danced. The skirt fluttered. Her fluffy hair shook.

Suddenly, I felt my back flare up with heat and pain. The director’s large hand shoved me onwards.

I made up my mind.

“Yuki!” I shouted over the not-so-great distance that separated us.

“What.. is.. it?”

“I got something for you!”

I pulled out the thing that was inside my pocket the entire time. There was no turning back. I approached Yuki. It was barely a few meters, but I found myself gasping for breath. My heart was beating faster than after a 100m sprint.

“If you don’t mind, will you accept this?”

I handed over the finely wrapped box to her. My pocket was finally a little lighter. It was the first time I gave a gift to a girl that wasn’t a member of my family and I was really nervous.

I gulped hard, and said, “Open it.”

Hearing that, Yuki opened the box and retrieved a little pink bottle from within.

“A sakura perfume?”

“Yep. You said that you hate the spring because everyone forgets the snow. If there’s the smell of sakura around you, maybe people will think of snow as well.”

Yuki had said that she hated the Spring.

So I had been thinking.

I had been thinking hard about how to make her feel like the snow would not be forgotten after it melted, when winter ended and spring came. This was the answer I had arrived at after much deliberation.

“I see. So this is the smell of spring.”

“Yes, and that’s why..”

“..I hope that you won’t say that you hate the spring again,” But even though I swallowed the second part of my answer, even though I didn’t say anything like that, my thoughts probably reached her anyway.

After waiting for a while, Yuki knew that I wouldn’t continue to talk, so she asked a question instead.

“But will it be as you say?”

“I guess..”

“Ah.. You aren’t confident then.”

“I will remember, of course. Or rather, I definitely won’t forget. I can’t say the same for others though.”

“That is enough then,” said Yuki. “If you can remember, then it’ll be good enough, Yoshi-kun.”

We looked up at the rows of sakura trees. We inhaled their sweet smell. I figured that whenever I would encounter that smell in the future, I would think about Yuki. Honestly, how could I even forget?

“I guess there’s something else you want to give me too, right?”

I was momentarily confused. Something else?

While I scrambled to recall what could it be, Yuki sighed deeply with impatience.

“You’re not giving me what the director gave you?”

“So you know?”

I reached my hand into my other pocket, and took out the two tickets. I wanted to invite her out another day, but well, might as well do it now. I handed one of the rather crumpled bits of cardboard to Yuki.

“It’s a movie ticket. If you can, do you mind watching it with me?”

“Not at all,” she said with a nod. “But,” she then added, “I want you to invite me again in a year.”

“What?”

“I’m trying to see if you will remember me. Next year, I’ll come by wearing this sakura perfume, and I want you to invite me to the movie again then. You should hold on to these two tickets until that time.”

“Okay.”

“Make sure you do it, Yoshi-kun.”

“Yeah, it’s a promise.”

My words made Yuki really elated but, at the same time, she seemed to mutter something. The words were icy cold and completely unlike the expression on her face.

“..Liar.”