Three Days of Happiness

126
“I think I was childish,” Himeno told me with a strained smile. “I just
couldn’t move on accepting things as they were. I guess I couldn’t
stand the slightest imperfection and messed everything up from the
start. Nothing’s changed in my head since that summer ten years
ago, when I changed schools and separated from you. ...I’m sure I
was a smart girl back then. But that made me think that I didn’t
need to mature any further. And so I’m still not much different from
that ten-year-old dreamer, while everyone else keeps changing.”
Himeno stared at her hands on the table with the eyes of a
wounded little girl.
“So what about you, Kusunoki? I’m sure you’ve changed in ten
years, too?”
Around this point, I began to lose my calm.
“You’re not the only one who hasn’t changed, Himeno,” I said. “I’ve
been the same since the day we separated, too. Years with nothing
to live for, passing pointless, lonely days. It felt like the world
existed just to disappoint me. Maybe I was already dead, more or
less. That’s why just a few days ago -”
I knew what I was saying. I predicted how it would sound to
Himeno’s ears. And I understood how foolish it was to do this.
But that wouldn’t stop me.
“...I sold my lifespan. At a mere 10,000 yen for each year.”
Himeno face went pale and looked bewildered, but it was