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Tanegashima, to most— is a tiny southern japanese island that happens to launch rockets from time to time. Nothing more. But to Kanae, it’s home, where she learned to surf, where she goes to high school, where her family lives.
Where she met Takaki.
She had seen him for the first time in middle school, when he introduced himself to the class. The boy from Tokyo with silky chestnut hair that usually covered one of his eyes was different, she noticed. She picked up on little things like the reserved but clear way he spoke, the glint in eyes that were clearly holding onto something from the past.
Kanae fell for him the day she saw him. She studied hard at home to get into the same highschool Takaki was trying for. Every day Takaki treated her like a friend was agonizing, but at the same time, she was happy around him. Sometimes she worried she wouldn't be as happy around anyone else.
By the third year of highschool, she had even stopped surfing often.
“I bet’cha he left his girlfriend in Tokyo,” her friends had said. But she pushed on.
She came to school early to watch him shoot arrows. She waited long after school ended to ride home with him. She tried surfing to take her mind off things, but she was rusty, and couldn’t keep her feet on the board for the life of her. It took some convincing from her sister, but she tried again— and this time she got it.
For Kanae, riding a wave for the first time in six whole months should have been the most uplifted she had ever felt. And in a way, it was.
But something was still missing. She hadn’t told Takaki how she felt— and as her friends chatted idly next to her about recent school drama, the sun pouring in through the windows, she was a little on edge, despite the glowing smile on her face.
“I heard Yamada confessed to Tasaki.”
“No surprise there...”
Her friends seemed to notice the smile that had formed on her face, and stopped their chatting to address Kanae.
“-Kanae, you sure seem happy ‘daday,”
“Did something happen with that Tohno boy?”
Kanae simply smiled wider. Her friends postured up.
“No way—!”
Today, I’m ‘gonna tell Takaki how I feel about him, She convinced her blushing reflection in the mirror, If I don’t tell him today, after riding that wave — I’ll never be able to.
She waited for him, leaning against the same wall she always did, constantly peeking around the corner to see if Takaki was in the bike shed or not.
“—Kanae,” Takaki caught her peeking glance, walking over.
“Taka—!” Kanae gasped, blushing harder and nearly dipping her head back around the corner in surprise, but Takaki’s warm gaze drew her in, and she stepped out.
“Hello, Tohno…”
“Heading home now?”
“...Yeah.”
“Really. Let’s go home together, then.”
Next thing she knew, Kanae was in the corner store, Takaki by her side choosing something to drink. She was glad the pop music playing from a radio at the register filled the heavy silence between them. Her heart panged when she thought about the silence only being heavy on her end of things.
Takaki picked out his drink, and uncharacteristically, she quickly picked out a smaller version of the same one.
“Oh— you decided already?”
“Yeah.” She nodded stiffly, ignoring the concerned glint in his eye at her one-word answer.
Kanae realized, as her and Takaki walked back to their mo-peds, that this would be a perfect chance to confess. All alone, crickets chirping, next to their favorite corner store, with a sunset as a backdrop.
No tears, no avoiding, She grabbed his shirt. Just say what you need to say.
But as Takaki turned around and the surfer met his gaze, any ounce of determination she had became lodged in her throat.
“What’s the matter?”
She put one foot behind the other, ready to run. Don’t be so nice to me!
“Sorry, I-it’s nothing…” She said with a shake of her head, hiding her blush.
They got on their bikes in heavy silence that now was on both ends, and as if the gods had forsaken her;
“Something wrong?”
“Yeah, that’s strange…” Kanae stepped off her bike as it stalled.
Takaki leaned down to check the bike as Kanae took her helmet off.
“No good?” She asked.
“No… I wonder if the spark plug’s dead. Was this a hand-me-down?”
“Yeah, from my sister.”
“Was it cutting out on ya’ when you accelerated?”
“It might’ve been…”
Takaki stood up, a grin on his face. “Well, let’s leave ‘em both here. Someone can pick them up later for us. Let’s walk back today.”
“Ah—! I can walk by myself, Takaki! You just head on home.” Kanae said, her pulse quickening at the thought of walking home with him after what she had failed to say.
“I’ve only got a little ways to go. Besides. I kinda’ feel like walking.”
The birds sang almost obnoxiously as they walked, and Kanae did her best to follow her guideline of no tears as she stared at Takaki’s back.
But the further they walked, the closer she came to breaking, and the lump in her throat was getting harder and harder to keep down.
Tohno, please...
To her chagrin, a sob escaped. Then another. And another. She started wiping at her eyes furiously, but Takaki had already turned around.
The concerned glint in his grey-blueish eyes damn near killed Kanae right there.
“What’s wrong?”
“Sorry! It’s nothing, I-I’m sorry…” She faltered.
“Kanae…”
I’m begging you… don’t be so nice to me!
Suddenly, a rumbling sounded in the distance, and after a couple moments, a bright light was thrown across the sky, leaving a streaking cloud in its wake. The rocket climbed high into the sky, putting whatever conversation Kanae and Takaki were about to have in the back of their minds. The cloud left by the rocket cut through the wavering sunset like a knife, and Kanae was left speechless, staring up at the sky.
To Kanae, the rocket was humanity's way of desperately reaching towards something so overwhelmingly far away.
And she realized that maybe she was doing the same thing.
It had gotten darker by the time they got to Kanae’s house. And by then, Kanae had all but given up hope on confessing to Takaki, and she had stayed silent on the walk home.
“Goodbye, Tohno. Sleep well. Thank you lots for walking me home.”
“‘Night, Kanae.” He said turning his back.
Kanae was about to turn back towards the house, but she noticed Takaki pause and stand still, like he was considering something. He slowly turned back around.
“...Before I go— did you have something to tell me earlier?” He tilted his head in concern, “I’m sure it’s not nothing if you were crying over it.”
The surfer froze. Her dog was jumping on her leg, but she barely felt it. The lump in her throat physically hurt to keep down by this point, and she knew she was blushing from the heat tingling up her face.
She took a deep breath, intending to simply belt out the words and high-tail it inside, but what came out was something she didn’t even expect.
“ — You’re waiting for someone,” She blurted, “Someone who you know doesn’t feel the same way about you anymore,”
It shook Kanae to see the calm, cool, witty Takaki crumble like a wad of rice at her words, and she instantly got the urge to apologize. Takaki’s eyes went wide, and she noticed a hand flew to his watch instinctively. His breath started to fall out of him in pieces.
“I—I uhm…” He faltered, trying to regain his composure, “How did you know?”
“I can tell… that someone’s always on your mind. ‘Just by the way you look at the sky sometimes, or how pained your smile can be.”
“H-How did you even notice all of that?”
“ Guh —” She cast her gaze away, her hand shooting up in front of her chest, “Because I…”
-No tears. No Avoiding. Just say what you need to say.
“Because you love me…” Takaki breathed, apparently coming to a realization.
Kanae’s eyes went wide for a moment, before she cast them back to the ground and nodded softly.
Takaki sniffled and took a step towards Kanae, outstretching his arms. Kanae found herself sprinting into them.
They stayed like that for a while, clinging to each other like they would fall if they didn’t.
“I don’t know how I feel about you…” Takaki started, speaking to Kanae’s hair, “But I do know that you’re very special to me, and that I care a lot about you.”
“So what you’re saying is…”
“You’re more than a friend to me.”
They pulled away from each other, eyes glistening, and now with her confidence restored, she spoke;
“‘Wanna go inside and talk this out?”
“Of course.”