A Warm Reflection

The next weekend arrived.

Verónica, Yoichi, and his two friends pulled up to a campsite. They had been lent a van and organized the entire trip on their own, while Yoichi helped them with money.

The proposal had come out of nowhere, but aside from the danger of their mutated diseases, there was no reason to refuse. They would be far from civilization and with people used to their diseases.

That included Manami and her best friend, who approached on the sidewalk in front of the parked van.

"There you are," Manami said as they climbed out.

Ayako replied, "Apologies. Getting through the city's morning traffic took longer than we expected."

Yoichi smiled at Manami. "You really managed to get here." He then looked at her best friend behind her wheelchair.

"What you looking at?" she glared.

"Did you make up?"

"Let's see. I'm letting her use me as an excuse to meet with the guy that left her paralyzed and I also drove her here. What do you think?"

Manami scowled at her. "Stop—"

"I think you care about her a lot," Yoichi replied.

"Obviously. So don't go around taking advantage of her naivety, got it?"

"We wouldn't even if you weren't here. Also, I'd say she's the least naive of us all."

Manami questioned, "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing," he laughed nervously. "I do feel bad for lying to your parents."

"Me too, but I prefer to get a scolding over missing a fun outing."

"It won't be the last, but I know what you mean."

After a strange silence, Shin'ichi said, "We should start taking everything to our spot. It'll take several trips."

"Not if you use me as a shopping cart," Manami grinned.

Everyone deadpanned at her, while Verónica couldn't stop the air from growling in her throat.

Manami laughed. "She gets it."

They began to take as much stuff from the van as they could carry. Even though Manami delivered it as a joke, she was serious about her proposal and carried many things on her lap.

They managed to get half of the supplies in one go. Manami's best friend pushed her wheelchair through the hundreds of trees. Despite the paths being dirt and gravel, they didn't struggle much.

The rest walked behind. A mix of green and orange leaves swayed to the rhythm of the wind, while some branches remained lifeless. Verónica suspected they were cherry blossoms. She had been looking forward to seeing them in season ever since Yoichi mentioned them, but that was still one month away.

They left the supplies at their spot: a small clearing between the trees. Except for Manami and Ayako, who stayed to organize everything, they returned to the parking lot for the remaining things.

Only a few more things were left in the van afterward, which they could bring later in the day. Meeting again on the path leading toward their spot, Verónica saw a guitar case hanging around Manami's best friend's torso, who also glanced at the guitar case behind her.

"You play guitar?" she asked.

Verónica nodded.

"Cool."

They kept walking until arriving back at their spot. Ayako and Manami had set up the small, portable tables and were in the middle of setting up the chairs.

"What should we do first?" Yoichi asked Shin'ichi.

"Build the tents. We'll still have sunlight if we need to fix something."

"Alright. Where are the manuals?"

Along with reading them, they also searched for guides and tutorials on the Internet.

Verónica's guitar kept getting in the way while she moved around. She took it off and, with no safe spots to lean it against, she placed it on a patch of grass, careful not to run into someone.

Everyone continued building stuff for an hour and a half, helping out where they could.

Once Verónica's and Yoichi's tent was done, she went to grab her guitar, just to see one case lying on top of another. She identified hers on top by the holes, meaning the one beneath was Manami's best friend's. She grabbed both and took them to her and Yoichi's tent since Manami's and her best friend's tent wasn't ready yet.

Minutes later, Manami's best friend arrived at their tent.

"Hey, have you seen my guitar?" she asked.

"I haven't."

As Yoichi answered, Verónica rushed inside to grab it. She stepped out and gave it to her. She had already brushed most of the dirt away.

"Thanks," she smiled and walked to her tent.

Meanwhile, Manami said, "Seems like everyone's done. Now what?"

Ayako answered, "We brought enough food and snacks for everyone, but we could take advantage of the sunlight and go fishing as well."

"You know how to fish?" Yoichi asked with raised eyebrows.

"Only basic stuff my parents taught me. I can teach you if you want."

Manami beamed, "Let's go!"

Grabbing the empty portable cooler and the fishing equipment from the van, they all headed to the nearby river. It was narrow and shallow, yet there were no fish in sight.

Regardless, Ayako stood near a tiny cascade and began preparing the fishing rod with the bait while explaining how to do it.

A minute later, she asked everyone to back away and threw the hook in the water.

They kept chatting and asking questions while waiting. Verónica thought it was a waste of time with no fish in sight, when something bit the bait.

Despite having to focus on reeling the hook in, Ayako explained how to do it properly, never rushing.

The fish eventually became visible in the water. After what felt like an eternity, it reached the riverside gravel and then flapped in the air in front of Ayako. Shin'ichi approached to hold it in place. It was about the size of his forearm.

Once Ayako unhooked it, it was time for the most striking step: taking its life. She grabbed the necessary tools and did it in front of everyone, explaining it with no emotion.

As gruesome as it looked, Verónica was fascinated by the fact that they were taking a life to then eat it. That was how humanity had survived for millennia.

They stored the fish in the cooler after cleaning it.

It was someone else's turn to fish.

One by one, everyone managed to catch something with Ayako's help, including Manami, whose wheelchair almost rolled into the water when the fish bit and pulled. She had to be held in place by her best friend.

Verónica and the others performed all of the steps, while Yoichi and Shin'ichi preferred to skip the killing part.

An hour had passed by the time they returned to their camping spot. They enjoyed some snacks while they arranged everything to start preparing the food that would go along with the fish.

Verónica had made things in a kitchen before, but nothing well thought out. Despite that and her slow speed, everyone kept giving her instructions and aided her. Only a couple of times did they ask her to try something again.

They then began cooking the fish. Thanks to the grill fitting three at a time, they didn't take long and were able to wait for all of them to be done so they could eat together.

By the time they finished, the sunlight coming through the branches had turned a dark orange. Everyone sat in silence, looking around the scenery.

"Verónica, why don't you sing us a song?" Yoichi smiled.

Just as sudden as his request, her heartbeat accelerated.

She stood up and stepped into their tent. She kneeled beside the case to unzip it with shaking hands and take her guitar out. She turned it upside down to make the pick fall out through the strings. With it, she quietly strummed while tuning the pegs by ear.

After taking a deep breath, she stepped out and sat down under everyone's gazes.

She closed her eyes. She didn't have to be that nervous. They weren't there to judge her, they merely wanted to hear a nice song. So, she focused on giving them that instead of trying to be perfect for herself.

Her left hand's fingers pressed the strings against the frets that shaped the introductory chord to the song. She had been practicing it every day since she had played it in front of Yoichi and his parents. She could allow her focus to shift between the guitar, her voice, and the audience.

Guiding a deep breath into her diaphragm, she strummed the first chord and sang.

She kept everything in check throughout the whole piece: her volume and the delivery of the notes while gauging the audience's reactions. All while making only one simple mistake.

Ending on a high note, everyone clapped.

"That was awesome even though I only understood half of the words!" Manami grinned. "Wasn't it awesome, Tomo?"

"I didn't expect it at all," her best friend smirked. "Hell, she's making me wanna do it. I'll show you how it's done."

She stood up and headed into their tent.

Manami said, "Forgive her, she can't control her competitiveness."

"Forgive her for what?" Shin'ichi questioned. "We're about to witness a guitar battle."

Yoichi laughed beside Verónica.

She didn't know what was going on, yet she was curious.

Tomo returned and played a much heavier and more energetic song. However, what shocked Verónica wasn't how she played the guitar, but how stable her voice remained despite the loud volume. She was practically shouting.

After that, there wasn't any guitar battle. Verónica only knew that one song and small bits of others. Instead, Tomo strummed while everyone chatted.

…

Movement woke Verónica, followed by the sound of the tent door being unzipped and zipped back. She rolled around in her sleeping bag to see Yoichi's bag empty.

Confused, she unzipped her way out of her bag to sit up. Had he really gone out without neutralizing his mutated disease? They had agreed to accompany each other to the bathroom. Maybe there was an emergency, but the campsite was too silent for that to be the case.

The only other reason she could think of was that he wanted some time alone. She didn't want to bother him should that be the case, but it was the perfect opportunity to show him what she had been doing for weeks.

She put the translating glasses on and grabbed her guitar to step out of the tent. She looked in every direction. The only lights in sight were in the distance near the campsite installations.

Yoichi wouldn't have approached an area that was likely to have people around on his own. That only left one place in her mind. He'd gone in the opposite direction.

She was right. Yoichi stood on the riverside gravel, but Manami and Tomo were there too. She decided to listen from the darkness.

"So, what was your dream?" Yoichi asked.

Manami took time to answer, "Figure skating."

"Really? Then you're studying social sciences as a failsafe?"

"Kind of. I loved skating and competing, but I hated training for it as soon as I reached the bigger leagues. I only wanted the fun part of it. That's why I never saw myself becoming a professional. My parents never forced me to do anything, but I could see they wanted me to choose something more… proper. So, I chose social sciences because it sounded the most fun, and I was right."

Yoichi replied, "I see. You were very passionate while helping Verónica and I choose clothes, so I thought you were going to say something related to it."

Manami's eyes lowered.

"How about you?" Yoichi asked Tomo.

"Wasn't going to leave her alone, of course. And it's a great failsafe in case none of my bands take off, but it'll be a long time before I give up."

"You're in a band, then? You could've told Verónica, she would've been amazed."

"Really?" She smirked and looked Verónica directly in the eye. "Are you amazed, Verónica?"

Manami and Yoichi looked at her too.

Not knowing what to say, she walked to stand at Yoichi's side.

"We'll give you the alone time you wanted," Manami smiled. "Let's go, Tomo."

Tomo began walking away.

"Hey, aren't you forgetting something?" Manami said.

"Catch me if you can."

Manami rolled the wheels of her chair forward and scoffed, "You…"

Tomo turned around with a smirk and approached Manami from behind to push her. They disappeared behind the trees.

"Let's sit," Yoichi said.

She followed him closer to the river and sat down on the gravel with him. It was far from comfortable, but the sight in front and above her washed the pain away.

An uncountable number of stars sparkled in the night sky and reflected on the river as it snaked between two mountains.

"Beautiful," Yoichi smiled. "It's also weirdly warm for winter. It's perfect."

Only the murmuring water could be heard.

"Did you follow me because you were worried?" he asked.

She placed her guitar on her lap. "I couldn't make up my mind about the surgery, so I've been writing down my thoughts while strumming to see if that would help. I want to sing them to you."

He stared at her with widened eyes and raised eyebrows.

"Of course. But, before that, there's something I should tell you. When I got angry at you after the surgery, it wasn't only because I disagreed with you, but also because you said I had no idea what you had been through. It's true, I don't, but you also have no idea what I've gone through. We're polar opposites yet similar in many things, don't you think?"

He never stopped smiling, and it always felt genuine.

"Phew, I really needed to take that out of my chest. Please go ahead with your song."

She turned her guitar around to let the pick fall out from inside, but it wasn't there.

"Do you have a coin?" she asked him.

He patted the pockets of his pajama pants.

"I wouldn't have money in—Oh." He took a coin out. "How long has it been in there?"

He gave it to her.

The nylon strings vibrated with the swaying rhythm of Yoichi's coin. The released tension played a different note each time. They sang drowned harmonies that couldn't be expressed in any other way.

The softness harshened. The humming grew into reverberating echoes coming from her chest.

Mis pensamientos no coinciden con mis sentimientos.

My thoughts don't match my feelings.

Mi vida por fin está empezando

My life's finally beginning

y todo puede seguir así,

and everything can continue like this,

entonces ¿por qué quiero decir que sí?

so why do I want to agree?

La cura me dará el tiempo a solas que tanto anhelo.

The cure will give me the alone time I crave.

Ayudará a todo el mundo, incluyéndote,

It'll help the entire world, including you,

pero no vale la pena arriesgar lo que tanto soñé.

but it's not worth risking what I dreamed of so much.

Eso es lo que mi cerebro dice,

That's what my brain says,

pero todo lo demás me dice:

but everything else tells me:

Hazlo.

Do it.

¿Por qué?

Why?

¿Por qué quiero decir que sí?

Why do I want to agree?

The tip of her fingers burned while the other hand rushed to move up and down until she ran out of words.

"That's it," she said, the strings reverberating the last note.

Yoichi's smile widened into a grin.

"I hope you finish it someday."

They stared at each other.

Not knowing what to say, she merely nodded and looked away at the blinding reflection of the moon in the river.

In the blink of an eye, that reflection turned into the blinding light of a ceiling lamp.

They had agreed to the surgery to remove tissue from their brains.

After three weeks of preparation, it was time.

Despite the dread in the room, Yoichi smiled at her, lying on the surgical bed beside her.

Verónica could never bring herself to do that, yet the corners of her lips lifted at the thought of seeing the cherry blossoms on her birthday next week.

And then…

…darkness.

…

…

…

I woke up back in our hospital room.

The cold, white ceiling welcomed my eyes first, followed by my heart warming up my body with each beat.

My head was too heavy to move, and pressure crushed it from inside.

Knowing our beds were close together to neutralize our mutated diseases, I searched for consolation in his hand…

…but found nothing.

The door opened and closed.

After an eternity, Mrs. Kawahara stood in front of my bed at a safe distance.

With the weakest frown I had seen on her face, she said.

"There was an… unexpected complication during the surgery."

Her eyes lowered before looking back at mine.

"He… didn't make it."

…

…

…

It's weird being asked to write a will. Even though I'm sure everything will be okay, doing this reminds me of how real this is. Anyway. I'll just rewrite it in the future.

If you're reading this, it means I'm gone. I don't even want to think about the possibility, but I'm sure everyone else will be having a harder time than me.

Don't.

I know it can't be helped in the beginning, but please smile again as soon as you can. Genuinely. That's what I love seeing, after all.

Aunt Enko, I have no idea how you'll react. A part of me thinks you'll blame yourself for this. If that's the case, don't. It's no one's fault; please stop trying to find a reason for everything. Except for the cure. Please find it. Even if you don't, I'm sure all of this will be worth it sooner or later.

The other part of me knows you'll move on fast. Whichever way, smile.

Mom, Dad, I'm sorry for leaving you this soon, but you can be sure you gave me the best life I could've asked for in a situation like mine. Perhaps this fate was written long before I was even born.

No matter, you raised me with love and care despite not being able to get near me and treated me like a normal person. Thank you. I'm truly glad you were my parents, and I'm sure you'll find happiness again. Do it for me.

As for my stuff, you can keep anything you want, but I'd rather you donate it to charity, except for my phone and PC.

Verónica, please keep them, along with my accounts.

I'm not sure what path you'll choose, but you have plenty of time. Whatever you do, do it with passion, and never forget what we learned during our short time together: nothing is obvious, and not everything has an answer. That's the magic of life. Keep searching for its meaning while having fun, and you'll become an amazing woman. I can already see it.

I know this is too much to ask, but my last wish is for you to get out there and meet people. I don't know how long it'll take for the cure to be ready, so what better way to meet people than streaming?

Take all the time you need. Once you're ready, read this to my viewers:

"Sorry for leaving in the middle of three playthroughs. I hope you haven't forgotten where we left off because Verónica will continue on my behalf. She'll keep you company from now on, so please treat her kindly. I'm sure you'll love her. I wish you the best in your lives, and I hope you remember the good times we had. See you."

I spoke into the microphone.

"Those were his last wishes, so let's fulfill them."

I read the chat on the screen.

"I'm sorry for my bad pronunciation, I've only been practicing for a year. You can enable the subtitles if you can't understand me."

I maximized the Starworld Reversion window.

"Anyway. I watched him play up to this point, so I can continue with no problems."

…

…

…

The cool breeze swayed the few trees between the gravestones, including the pink leaves hanging from the branches of cherry blossoms.

Despite having a year to assimilate it, the weight on my shoulders was as heavy as it was the first time I had come.

That was no surprise, but what was a surprise was the group of people standing in front of Yoichi's family grave, Mrs. Kawahara among them.

Holding Kevin in his arms, Mr. Ishige said, "Enko, I didn't expect to see you here."

"We had to come this early because of work and to avoid disturbing you."

"You know you wouldn't have," Mrs. Ishige replied, pushing Manami in her wheelchair.

They smiled at each other.

Referring to the people behind her, Mrs. Kawahara continued, "They are good friends I've met during my CTCT research, including the first couple that had the disease. They've all had it and wanted to pay respects to one of the people who helped find the cure. Now they can thank the other half."

Kōji, the man who acted as a translator when I met Yoichi for the first time, approached me.

"It's great seeing you again. It's a shame it had to end like this, but you'll be remembered for many generations to come, if not forever." He looked at Yoichi's parents. "He'll be remembered."

A tall, dark-haired slender woman approached us.

"We'd like to meet you properly, but this is not the time. Let's hold a reunion another day."

Yoichi's parents nodded.

The group of seven people walked past us, except for Mrs. Kawahara, who gave one last glance at Yoichi's grave. Her lips trembled for a second, yet they curved up before she left.

Mrs. Ishige brought Manami in front of the gravestone. She gently stood up from her wheelchair and closed her eyes, holding a bouquet of red flowers between her hands. She then slowly bent down until her knees rested on the ground and placed the bouquet beside the one already there.

We all stared at it in silence.

Many things had happened in the past year that I wanted to tell him, and so I spent the following minutes doing that in silence.

Somehow, the weight lifted off my shoulders, and all the pressure was gone.

With a smile, I said,

"Let's go home."