松岡 凛
RIN MATSUOKA
The first time we met was the summer of our first grade in elementary. My father brought me to her grandparents' house to look at the old pictures they took in their swimming club since her grandmother used to act as their coach. The first time we met, Hiro used to be the young girl crawled up in a corner, reading a book as if she was too mature for her age. Everything about Hiro used to seem as if she want to tell everyone to leave her alone. Then again, I might as well be different from everyone else, seeing as I was naive enough to approach her.
I stared at her long enough until the maiden noticed me. "What?" the young girl asks and almost immediately I stammer.
"H-Hey. I haven't seen you around here" I say. T'was a poor excuse of a conversation starter.
"I'm from Tokyo. I'm here to visit my Grandma and Grandpa for the summer since Mama and Papa are always at work" she explains.
"What? Isn't that lonely?" I ask her and the girl shrugs as if she doesn't care.
"Mama and Papa are never home" she says bluntly. "Staying with Grandma and Grandpa would always be the better than staying in Tokyo alone".
"What's your name?" I queried.
"Akiyama Hiro" she answers.
"I'm Matsuoka Rin" I introduced myself.
"Can we be friends?" I add, stretching out a hand, which she reluctantly accepted.
"Okay" she mutters a second after thinking carefully. "That makes you my first friend then".
"Eh?! Don't you have friends in Tokyo?"
"Mhm" she nods. "Everybody leaves after all. Besides, no one bothers to approach me".
"I'll come by every summer! It's a promise!" I declared.
"Swear?" the small girl shows me her pinky, waiting for my own.
"Mhm" I wrapped my pinky around hers as I promised.
And every promise was always special since Hiro always took them seriously. She always claimed that it was the only thing she could count on.
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The first time I realized I liked her was in the summer of our fifth grade. We exchange letters every month and it's become normal for us. I also made it a habit to surprise her during the first day of summer break. But on the summer of our fifth grade it was her that surprised me.
I was walking to Hiro's grandparents' place and Gou decided to come along with me as we bought fireworks from the convenience store. It was then we caught sight of a girl, nearly drowning in the river.
"That idiot!" I immediately put the bag down, and jumped from the bridge as soon as I realized that it was Hiro.
Seeing as she was from the city, she always claimed that it was normal for them to not know how to swim. She always claimed that "swimming is just a hobby for us city folks".
Even if our views were different, for once, I was never so glad to actually know how to swim.
"You're so stupid!" I told her as soon as I brought her to dry land.
"But I got to save the cat" she said, as she held it in her hands as if to save it from the water.
"You risked your life to save a cat?" I looked at her wondering if it will ever enter her head that her life is more valuable than a stray cat's. But knowing Hiro, she always put others first.
"You're like a hero, Hi-chan" Gou tells her as soon as she runs towards us.
"Gou, don't encourage her" I tell my younger sister, giving her a flick in the head.
Hiro always had that habit of putting others first. She never complained to her parents about how lonely it was to stay alone. She listens to her grandparents' requests in a heartbeat. She made it a priority to save others, no matter what the consequences was for her. Heck, there was a time she saved a girl who was getting bullied. This time, she saved a stray cat. Last but not least, a few years after, she saved me.
It was the part of her I feared, but it was also the same part of her I fell for.
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The first time I called her was the summer of our sixth grade. She finally earned a cell phone and she gave me her number in a letter she sent for the month. It was the summer she couldn't return to Iwatobi, the summer she found her passion and the summer I told her about my plan to transfer to Australia. At the same, I told her about how I wanted to swim a relay with Haru an that I was going to transfer to Iwatobi for the sake of it.
「There's no way I can watch your relay. Send pictures, alright, Rin?」She says over the phone.
"Ehhh. None of them will ever be good as the ones you take" I tell her over the phone.
「You flatter me too much」 she laughs.
"That's only because it's true" I counter. "I visit your grandparents sometimes, I've seen the pictures you take, Hiro. They're amazing".
「You should see yourself swim, Rin. Your talent and the way you chase your dreams. That's what's amazing. Mine is just a hobby, but yours is a passion」
"It starts with a hobby" I tell her.
「As if Mom and Dad would allow me to turn it into a dream. I'm not a prodigy like my grandfather」she sighs.
"But it's worth the shot".
After a few moments of silence, the girl averts the topic,「Hey, about your flight. Can I see you off? I can skip school for once 」
"Skipping isn't good, Hiro" I scold her. "What would your parents say?"
「Psh. They won't know. They're never home」she assures me.「Besides, I want to see you one last time.」
"It'll take a few summers for us to meet again" I agree sadly.
「Promise me one thing, Rin.」
"What?"
「Don't forget me」
YOU ARE READING
𝐒𝐄𝐀 𝐆𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐒. rin matsuoka
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