Chapter Text
Falling. I could feel my body quickly plummeting to the ground at a scarily fast speed. The wind that formed around me made my ears ring with their high-pitched squealing, but behind that, I could hear something else— no, someone else. A familiar voice. And seeing as how I don’t know too many people to identify as a familiar voice, it must be…“Adachi!” I heard Shimamura call my name. I had to try real hard to understand what she was trying to tell me. The wind was really hurting my ears. “How are you?”
The casual conversation attempt shocked me at a time like this. Although, I hate to admit that I’m not too surprised hearing this come from Shimamura. She was always far too casual about things.
“Adachi?”
“I-I’m okay! Just, uh… falling?”
“Yeah, same.”
Same? Really? That’s… all you have to comment? I could even tell we were getting closer to the ground. When I looked down before, all I saw was a weird fog, but now I am able to make out some colors and figures. Well, some isn’t really the word. I can see the green trees we have below. That’s about it.
What were we going to do when we hit the ground? Can we prevent this? Why would I fall this fall without a parachute—and while we’re asking questions here—how?
"You have a weird look, Adachi. Whatcha thinkin’?”
“I don’t know how I ended up here! I also don’t know how we’re gonna get down safely!”
“Huh. Yeah. Now that you mention it, I don’t really know how I ended up here either. Weird.”
Maybe that was the difference between her and I. She’s so calm about even the worst of situations, and here I am, freaking out. It makes me wonder who the weird one of us is?
The ground was getting way closer now. Birds, deer, and other animals were visible now under the trees. It wouldn’t be much longer until we slammed across the ground. If I die, would we go to Heaven together? And how is Heaven? Would we have to share it with a bunch of others, or do we get our own private rooms?
Either I’m working myself up too much, or my adrenaline is kicking in. My heart is pounding really hard now.
“Shimamura, what’re we gonna do?!”
“I dunno. Didn’t really think about it.”
“We’re so close to the ground. I— oh god!”
I looked at her for comfort, watching her merely yawn, rubbing her eyes. Seriously, this is worrying. You should be more worried.
As we were ready for impact, I closed my eyes, wanting to have a sense of denial. If I can’t see it, maybe I could just say it didn’t happen.
Then, there was a sudden shift in the way that the fall felt. All of the wind around me slowed down. It was the same amount of wind, enough to make a nice blanket out of, yet it didn’t move around me as fast. Plus, the sound of it was far slower. It’s way more annoying now.
Then, I heard Shimamura. “You should calm down, Adachi. You’re way too nervous.”
“We—we’re gonna die! I don’t wanna die! I’m not ready to stop hanging out with you! When I die, if I get reincarnated and don’t get to see you again, then what?! Or— or what if I’m bad and I go to Hell while you go to Heaven?! Or… or…”
“Is that really what you’re worried about…?” Shimamura questioned, just the sound of her voice calling me over dramatic. “What about yourself?”
“What about myself?!”
“Aren’t you worried about yourself dying?”
“Of course, that’s what I’m trying to say! If I die, then we can’t see each other—“
“Not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is— there’s more to life than me. Really, I feel you put me on too high of a pedestal. So much so, I think it’d be smarter if I found a way to knock myself down a couple pegs.”
More to life than you?! Before you, I wasn’t living a life! I was miserable. Every day went by the same, and that same day over and over was so boring! Now that you’re here, I can’t live without you. I can’t live without you… I can’t.
I found myself crying. I opened my eyes to see my tears flying upwards, shining like crystals underneath the moon we fell under. We were near the ground, yet I felt we were so far from it.
“I’m sorry, Adachi, but..” She sighed, and she spoke quieter, making it hard to hear. “If you keep getting more attached to me, I think I may just have to pull you off of me entirely.”
No. No, Shimamura, you can’t do that! “Re-really?”
“What else can I do? A mother bird has to let their little ones leave eventually.”
But I’m not ready yet! I haven’t even been told how to fly yet! “I-If that’s what you really think…”
“You sho… so.. oth… fri..nds..” Her voice became distant in the wind. “Forg.. ab… me.”
That moment, everything stopped. Everything stopped entirely. The screeching wind, the cold blanket that wrapped around me, and all movement entirely. Not even my breath continued. I’m surprised my brain moved enough to let me think.
The only thing that moved was Shimamura. Since we were so close to the ground, she managed to float down a small ways and plant her feet down. Calm and relaxed, she yawned again. “Goodbye, Adachi.”
I couldn’t physically respond. But I guess the look in my eye was enough to make her understand what I wanted to say. Don’t go. Please, don’t go.
She frowned and walked away. Hopping over stones and crunching frozen branches, she began to blend into the night. She got so far away, she merged with the darkness entirely.
Then time began to move again. I resumed my high speed plummeting, smashing my back against the ground followed by the most pain I had ever experienced in my life.
“Adachi, wake up… you’re scaring me.”
“Mm?!”
I felt myself breathing way too hard. My lungs couldn’t even contain the amount I was trying to bring in, pressing against my ribcage.
My body urged me to sit up, but I denied it that right. The pillow I laid on was way too comfortable to simply move off of. Opening my eyes to see why, I instantly figured out. Shimamura watched me from above, a nervous expression.
I’m resting on her thighs… wait, I fell asleep on them.. how long have I been asleep for?!
I couldn’t even ask before she answered. “Just an hour… or two.”
She waited that long for me to nap?! I can’t believe I allowed myself to do that!!
Shimamura saw me face-palm myself, waving her hands dismissively. “Ah, it’s okay. Really. Watching you relax for once was nice… well, while it lasted. You got pretty scary near the end.”
“Scary..?”
“You just started muttering my name and moving around… and, uh, crying.”
Huh…? I put my hand to my face to discover there were, in fact, tears there. Most had tried, but a few laid dormant in my eyelid. I quickly rubbed them out of there and tried to play it cool. “W-Weird.. that never happens.”
“I figured..” She responded. Initially, she was smiling, but it morphed into a frown. “Can I ask why you were crying?”
Well you see; I had a dream that you and I were falling. In that dream, you were totally calm and I totally wasn’t. Then we nearly hit the ground and then time paused and then you told me we couldn’t be friends anymore. After that you left and I died and— “ I dunno why…”
“Are you sure? I feel like you’re lying to me.”
I shifted my gaze, my poker face breaking into a sad puppy-dogish frown. “Um.. I..”
She placed her hand on my forehead, brushing hair off my face to more properly see my eyes. “You can tell me.”
“I.. I..” Words, come out! Please! “I… ca-can we lay down in bed together?!”
…huh?
“Huh?” Shimamura reacted in much the same way to my blurted out response. My mouth wasn’t functioning properly anymore.
“I want to lay down in bed with you! Th-Then I’ll tell you a little about it!”
From hesitant, to reassuring, to accepting, Shimamura gave me an expression that read “ classic Adachi.”
“Sure. Just try not to suffocate me when we lay down.”
“Ye-Yeah…”