Chapter 81
August 13, 1989.
It has been just over two weeks since the prefectural Agricultural College where Ryosaku is enrolled went on summer vacation.
On this day, Ryosaku felt a sense of foreboding for some reason, and after browsing a novel in a bookstore, he got on his bike and headed to Mieko's house, which he missed.
As he was passing in front of the house, he suddenly looked into the garden and saw a white car parked there.
...It's an "Omiya" license plate!
No doubt.
It must have been Mieko's father's car.
Ryosaku had previously heard from the female owner of a nearby candy store that Mieko would return to their small house only during Obon in a white car with Omiya license plates, likely driven by her father.
For nearly three years afterwards, not a single car was parked in the garden, and when Ryosaku passed by at night, all he could see was the light of the house kept on by Yamada Setsu, the resident, and he did not sense even the slightest "trace" of Mieko.
And today...at this very moment.
Mieko's presence once again began to shake Ryosaku's heart and entire body as a "living sensation."
However, Ryosaku was worried.
On his previous visit there, he had been subjected to harsh rebukes from Setsu and warned never to come back.
(... Should I just leave without doing anything? Or should I knock on this door again, knowing that I'll be turned away? What on earth should I do...?)
Ryosaku thinks for a while.
Then, the sliding door opened and someone came out.
It was a tall, attractive man with a refreshing aura like the crisp May breeze.
