Three Days of Happiness

121
filled with people carrying umbrellas. Looking over the plaza from
the second floor, umbrellas of all colors moved around as they
pleased.
I waited in front of the bookstore until 5 PM, but ten minutes past
5, Himeno hadn’t showed up.
No hurry, I told myself. Everything’s congested because of the rain,
and unlike me, she’s probably busy.
Even so, I was checking my watch three times every minute.
Twenty minutes passed that felt like an hour or two. Was I waiting
in the wrong place? Was Himeno? She said in front of the
bookstore, and this was the only bookstore here, so I didn’t see
how.
After twenty-seven minutes, just as I was about to leave and look
for Himeno, I saw her waving and walking toward me. I’d been
starting to think her promise yesterday had just been a polite
excuse for her to leave, so I was relieved beyond belief.
Even if Himeno hadn’t been someone I’d been waiting to see for a
decade, I still would have said she radiated beauty that day.
Every curve that made her up seemed to be created with careful
consideration. Nothing was too excessive; it was like every part of
her knew its duty.
If I were someone who had no connection to her, I’d probably feel a
pain in my chest with just one look. She’d leave a hole in my chest I
was dying to fill.
“She’ll never be mine, will she. ...So then isn’t my life pointless?”, I
might even think.