Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko:Volume5 Chapter6
Epilogue - Cradle at Twilight[edit]
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The bus ride back home was even more uncomfortable. The seats rattled and shook violently. As a result, the scenery outside the window changed so quickly that I felt like I was having a bad dream.
Yet, after sitting for just a few minutes, the vibrations acted like a cradle, and I fell asleep.
The bus interior was bathed in the evening sunlight and was filled with the quiet and lively chatter of the elderly people in the front seats. It seemed they were discussing where they would go for drinks once they were back in town. I could occasionally hear the voices of Maekawa-san’s parents, their business acumen evident, urging us to visit their ‘’izakaya’’. Come to think about it, I suddenly remembered, my mind hazy, that Maekawa-san’s family owned an ‘’izakaya’’.
I was sitting in the middle of the last row. I had the widest seat, but my shoulders were cramped and I could barely move. Eriowas sitting to my right and Ryuushi-san to my left, but both of them were now breathing heavily in their sleep and leaning on my shoulders. To add to that, Maekawa-san, who was supposed to be sitting next to Ryuushi-san, was also asleep, and her position had shifted so much that she was somehow lying on Ryuushi-san’s lap and mine. So, there was hardly any part of my body I could move freely. Whether it was a blessing or a curse, I didn’t know, but my heart was surprisingly calm despite being surrounded by three girls.
Anyway, I was incredibly sleepy myself. My head has been nodding off repeatedly, and I’ve drifted off to sleep many times. The phrase “Youth Points” has also fallen apart, sounding more like “blue, spring, points.”
My pulse was so high for about five minutes after getting on the bus. Could I really call myself a “youthful man” when I’ve succumbed to sleepiness like this? Well, I mean, where did I even begin to call myself something so embarrassing?
In the back seats, strangely enough, people who were exhausted from all the excitement and overcome with sleep were sitting together. Ooi-san’s daughter was one of them, and so was Meme-san who was sleeping with her mouth open and drooling, showing off her blissful sleeping face to everyone around her. Thinking about it, it seems that those sleeping in the back, with one exception, were mostly young people.
Princess Kaguya and Yashiro went home again on their moped. “What? Going home so soon? After all that trouble?” she grumbled. I wish she would stop asking me to decide right and left.
“It was so lively…”
I mumbled my thoughts about the trip. But my teeth and tongue were all limp right now, so I wasn’t sure if I was actually speaking. The four of us in the back seat were like a pile of luggage, and our breaths all sounded almost the same, which meant I realised I was also on the verge of falling asleep. I couldn’t resist it.
The bus got caught at a traffic light and braked a little roughly. Erio and I both were hurled forward. Erio’s hair flowed smoothly like sand being carried away by the waves, tickling my shoulder and profile. When it fell in front of my right eye, I felt as if I were still looking up at the surface of the water from underwater.
“But it was fun…”
My mouth moved as I mumbled something. It had been years since I’d been on a trip like this. Both my parents were out working, so we didn’t have many holidays where the whole family could be together. And on top of that, this time, cute classmates came along too.
As I grinned, my eyelids naturally began to droop. My bangs covered my eyes, and it gradually became dark. When I closed my eyes completely, I could keenly feel the air from the air conditioning in the bus and the body heat of the three people around me. Ah, I wonder if this warmth was why I was so sleepy.
My skin, which had been chilled from splashing around in the sea, gradually warmed up, and I was enveloped in a warmth like holding an animal. I could feel Maekawa-san wriggling as she rested her head on my lap. I knew she probably didn’t like the summer sea, but if she was able to have so much fun that she fell asleep, then I think it was worth coming.
…… Or rather, maybe it’s because of the drinking we did last night? Ah, that might be it.
The feeling of being gently rocked by the waves still lingered in my body. Combined with the vibrations of the bus, it was creating a pleasant, swaying motion. The slightly exaggerated sound of the engine now seemed distant, as if it were on the opposite shore. A corner of my mind went blank, a pleasant state of stagnation similar to when alcohol takes effect.
The feeling at the end of a trip was strange. It was lonely, yet there was a beautiful lingering feeling. The lingering enjoyment of the trip is balanced by the sadness of heading home, creating beautiful ripples. Thoughts of returning to my usual routine tomorrow filled me, as well as the experiences of being in a different place. Fatigue was probably an important element in creating that feeling. I think I could sleep deeply now.
I felt the vibrations on my back as the stopped bus started moving forward. It was as if it were carrying us away from the sea, a symbol of summer, towards the next season. School started next week; the second term would begin.
This summer vacation, filled with encounters, unknowns, and miracles, would surely come to an end when this bus arrive in town. I had a feeling that would be how it would end. And just like the end of a trip, it was a little sad.
I was sure I would feel the same way once my high school life came to an end. Being in this town now felt like a long journey, and eventually I would return to the home where I truly belonged.
And in the town where I was born and raised, there were no aliens anywhere. It was ordinary. There are no people wrapped in blankets, no wonderful classmates, and well, no adult-childs either. And that’s where I would end up going back.
Strange, interesting, and poignant. I saw a tagline like that a long time ago, and the town everyone was returning to was filled with that kind of atmosphere. I was starting to feel at home here, but one day I would have to leave. And that was when I would have to part ways with the people here and with this town.
I would probably be on the train thinking about what a long, long journey it had been, feeling a bit more lonely than I did now. That might be a much more acute pain than travelling all over the world and visiting different lands.
……But that was a story that was still a little ways off.
Like everyone else, I was going back there now.
Let’s go back to town.
Summer vacation was ending. The lingering summer heat and the autumn season were beginning.
And as the bus sped towards autumn, I gazed at the light, drifting into a drowsy state.
In the end, this summer,
“…Hahaha”
Before I could say the rest, I was sure I would picture a peaceful sleeping face in my mind.
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