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The bookstore has been quiet. It usually is, which gives Kimi plenty of time to work on practicing her guitar and writing songs, though today she hasn’t done much of either. She’d attribute that to the undercurrent of excitement flowing through the air around her—Totsuko had sent her a text this morning that she’d be back from visiting her family today.
Kimi opens her phone to look at the message again, “I’m on my way to see you!!!” lighting up the screen. She smiles softly and sets the phone back down on the counter, eyes flickering between her guitar and laptop.
She truly doesn’t mind the quietness, usually. But today, as she awaits Totsuko’s arrival, she keenly feels the absence of her two bandmates. Between Rui going to college and Totsuko traveling between home and helping out at the school, the pair rarely—if ever—gets the chance to visit Kimi at the bookstore like they used to do.
Of course, they message often, and Totsuko drops by when she’s available. Kimi will never take that for granted, though she does miss the days when they would work on music in the abandoned church and hang out on the pier. When the three of them are together, she thinks, there is magic in the air.
Just as she goes to reach for her guitar, her phone vibrates on the counter. She quickly picks it up to see a new message from Totsuko that reads, “Five minutes out!! Hope you haven’t eaten lunch yet!”
As it goes, she hasn’t. She had packed a lunch this morning, but will gladly substitute it for whatever Totsuko is bringing her. Knowing that Totsuko is near, Kimi stands from behind the counter and heads outside to sit on the bench and wait. The white kitty that hangs around the bookstore approaches Kimi, jumping up onto the bench beside her and sitting patiently, like she is also awaiting Totsuko.
A few quiet minutes pass, Kimi listening to the sound of the wind rustling through the trees. Then, the cat jumps from the bench, trotting to the entrance of the pathway that leads to the bookstore, as Kimi hears Totsuko’s voice calling out, “Hey there, kitty, kitty, kitty!”
Kimi stands from the bench and smiles as Totsuko leans down to pet the cat on the top of her head. Kimi walks towards them, and when Totsuko sees her, she sets down the plastic bag of takeout she had been holding and rushes towards Kimi, enveloping her in a hug.
It hasn’t been that long since they’ve seen each other. Still, Kimi revels in the feeling, wrapping her arms around Totsuko’s waist. It could have been one day since they last saw each other, and she wouldn’t turn down a hug from Totsuko.
When Totsuko pulls away, though, she has an excited glint in her eyes. “Besides lunch, I may have… another surprise,” she says, glancing over her shoulder.
Kimi tilts her head curiously, looking around Totsuko to see a familiar face peaking out from around the corner.
“Rui!?” Kimi says in shock, as Totsuko laughs and exclaims, “C’mon out, Rui!”
Rui doesn’t hesitate another moment before running at the two girls and tackling them into a bear hug. “It’s so good to see you!” he says, jumping up and down.
“What?” Kimi’s voice is muffled against the fabric of Rui’s sweater as they continue to embrace. “When did you—?”
Totsuko continues to laugh, her joy as infectious as ever as the trio pulls apart, though still holding hands. “Rui and I planned it!” she says, “I really wanted to tell you, Kimi. It was so hard to keep it a secret!”
Kimi grins, her gaze flickering between the faces of her two companions, who both beam so brightly she thinks she might be blinded by their light.
“I just had a few exams,” Rui explains, “So I have some days off classes. I thought I could use the break to… well, come see you two.” He pauses for just a moment, a light pink blush settling over his cheeks. “I’ve missed you guys so much.”
“We missed you too, Rui,” Totsuko says, “Even if we text every day.”
“It’s different, though, right?” Rui asks, to which Kimi and Totsuko both nod.
Totsuko’s stomach growls loudly then, and she blushes, hands covering her stomach. Rui smiles and says, “Shall we eat?”
Totsuko nods sheepishly, leaning down to unwrap the plastic bag of takeout and passing the containers out. They sit in a circle in the grass, ripping apart their single-use chopsticks and digging in.
It isn’t the first time they’ve seen each other since Rui’s departure to college, but the surprise of it makes it feel just as special to Kimi. She can’t wipe the grin from her face even as she eats, surrounded by two of her favorite people.
Once they’ve finished eating—Kimi only being interrupted by customers once—she casts a glance down to the clock on her phone, relieved to see that her shift is almost over, though Totsuko and Rui have definitely hung around the bookstore longer waiting for Kimi to get out of a shift before. The time passes swiftly, and Kimi’s replacement takes up the post before the trio heads out.
Content just being in each others’ company, they walk aimlessly around downtown, stopping to gawk at window displays or look in secondhand stores. Totsuko cheerily tells the others about her trip to visit her family, and Rui stresses a bit over the grades he’s going to receive on his exams.
“What about you, Kimi?” Totsuko asks, tilting her head curiously. “What’s new?”
Kimi laughs a little. “Totsuko, we text all the time. I don’t really have anything interesting. I’m just—” she stops herself, then remembers who she’s talking to and commits, “I’m just so happy to see you two.”
Totsuko hugs Kimi’s arm as they walk.
“It doesn’t matter how mundane,” Rui says then, “If there’s anything you want to talk about, we want to hear it.”
Kimi shrugs, suddenly feeling a little lackluster. “You guys are out doing, well—I guess I just feel,” she pauses, then says, “Never mind.”
Totsuko and Rui look at her with concern, and she wishes she’d never opened her mouth. “Do you need to talk, Kimi?” Totsuko asks, so gently.
“It’s really okay,” Kimi responds, mouth a little dry. “I just feel a little boring. I’m still working at the bookstore, living with my grandma, and—”
“Kimi Sakunaga, boring?!” Totsuko exclaims like Kimi said something outrageous. “Kimi, listen to me. You’re, like, the coolest person ever.”
Kimi lets out a sharp laugh.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Rui says, resting a hand on Kimi’s upper back. “You’re getting through the day-to-day, and that’s hard enough sometimes.”
With Totsuko clinging to her arm, and Rui rubbing gentle circles on her back, Kimi doesn’t think she could stay upset for very long. She sighs, “Thanks, guys. I didn’t mean to bring the mood down.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Rui smiles softly.
“You’re allowed to feel how you feel, Kimi,” Totsuko says, “You don’t have to hide it.”
Kimi’s chest feels tight. How did she get so lucky? To have these two in her life? She’d spent so long pretending—pretending to be the perfect student, the perfect granddaughter, the perfect Christian girl. It had taken the two of them, imperfect and wonderful in their own ways, to show her that she could be herself, really herself. It still feels impossible, sometimes. But…
Kimi swallows the lump in her throat. “I love you both,” she says, and even though it’s difficult to be so vulnerable, it feels so natural coming off her tongue.
Totsuko and Rui stop in their tracks and then break into their blinding smiles once again. “I love you too, Kimi, Rui!” Totsuko cries, throwing her arms around Kimi’s shoulders. Rui isn’t far behind, hoisting both girls into the air for just a moment in his excitement. “I love you both!”
Kimi’s laughing, then, so enraptured in the joy of her companions that she almost forgets that they’re standing in the middle of the sidewalk. Almost.
“C’mon, let’s get out of the way,” she says breathily, pulling Totsuko and Rui to the side. They step into an alley that leads to who knows where just to be out of the walkway. “Sorry to, uh, spring that on you guys. I just—”
“Don’t apologize, really,” Totsuko says, face flushed. “It’s really nice to hear. It’s really… I… I love you guys so much, it makes my heart feel like it’s going to burst.” Kimi lets out a breath as Totsuko wrings her hands together in front of her. “Is that weird?”
“Not weird,” Kimi answers.
“How many times can I hug you both in one day before you get tired of it?” Rui asks playfully, “Because I really want to hug you again.”
“Like, a million times, or more,” Totsuko laughs, and Rui takes the chance to wrap his arms around the two girls again, nuzzling his head into their hair.
Kimi feels loved, loved, loved in their embrace.