When I was about three years old, five tract homes were put up for sale in this area as part of a new housing development, and my family moved into one of them.
Shortly after that, another family moved into a house two doors down.
That family had a girl named M who was the same age as me and ended up going to the same preschool, so it didn't take long for our families to become close.
By the time we started elementary school, walking to school together with M had become second nature.
However, around the time we entered middle school, our classmates started teasing us about our relationship, so even though M and I were in the same class, we drifted apart and stopped talking to each other.
Still, our families stayed close, and since everyone—including M and me—had exchanged LINE contacts, we could easily get in touch whenever needed.
In ninth grade, fearing that my classmates would tease us again, I decided against going to the popular high school where most students went, choosing instead a slightly higher-ranked school that was a bit of a stretch for me.
I had heard that M had better grades than me and was planning to attend an even higher-ranked, prestigious girls' school.
On the day exam results came out, thanks to all my hard studying, I managed to pass.
That day, I received a LINE message from M for the first time in a while.
"Congrats on passing the exam for [High School]! Now we can go to the same school again!"
"What do you mean, same school? I heard you were going to [Academy]?"
Confused, I replied right away.
"It's hard to explain over text, so I'll explain next time we meet."
"Got it,"
I replied, and after that, I didn't hear from M for a while.
A few days later, I got a phone call from M's mother.
Normally a message on LINE would have been fine, so it was unusual that she went out of her way to call.
"Hello?"
"[Name]? S-Something terrible happened...! M... M was in an accident...!"
M's mother sounded frantically panicked.
"Wait, what? What happened? Please calm down."
"We're at [Hospital] right now. Can you come over?"
"I'll be right there."
I answered and immediately headed to the hospital.
When I went to the reception desk to request a visit, I was told that non-family members weren't allowed to see patients right now.
Since I wasn't family, I couldn't visit her due to the ongoing pandemic restrictions.
Even though M's mother had called me, I couldn't just give up, so once I stepped outside, I called her to explain that I couldn't get in and to ask how M was doing, and she explained everything in detail.
Apparently, on her way home from shopping nearby, M got caught in a typical left-turn collision at an intersection near the store, swept into the crosswalk by the force of the impact.
Aside from hitting the back of her head and getting a small bump, M had no bleeding, and her face was completely unblemished and beautiful, but she had fallen into a coma.
From then on, messaging M's mother on LINE every day became my routine.
However, her replies were always the same: M was still in a coma.
When I messaged M's mother as usual,
"The doctor told us there's no prospect of an immediate recovery. Even if you contact us, I can only give you the same response, so you don't need to text for a while. I'll reach out if there's any change in her condition. I'm sorry."
came the reply. M's condition might have been gradually deteriorating.
I knew her family was utterly exhausted and I didn't want to be a nuisance, so I stopped reaching out after that.
Later, I attended my high school entrance ceremony, but naturally, M wasn't there.
From what I heard, M's enrollment procedures had been completed, and her uniform and bag were already prepared.
Thanks to the school's consideration, they had set things up so she could start attending whenever she recovered.
When I got home from school, relieved of the tension, I casually headed to a nearby park for a walk while still in my school uniform.
I bought a bottle of black coffee—something I wasn't used to drinking—from a vending machine, sat on a bench, and started sipping it.
The sky was overcast, almost as if reflecting my current mood.
As I slowly drank my coffee and looked up at the sky, the clouds were moving unusually fast.
Right then—
"[Name]! What are you doing in a place like this?!"
Turning toward the voice, I saw M standing there.
It was unmistakably M, wearing a brand-new high school uniform.
"A... Ah..."
I was so shocked that I lost my voice.
"I asked what you're doing!"
"...What do you mean? ...Wait, are you okay now?"
"...Not completely, but I snuck out."
"...Snuck out? ...Is that really okay?"
"Just for a little bit. But I have to go back soon. Ah, can I sit there?"
"A-Ah, sure..."
Leaving a little space between us, M and I sat on the same bench.
"Coffee? That's rare for you."
"Well, I'm a high school student now... Guess I'm trying to act like one..."
"Don't push yourself,"
M laughed mischievously.
"I'm not pushing myself."
Seeing M for the first time in so long, I wondered what I should talk about.
"Oh right, why did you choose [High School]? Weren't you going to [Academy]?"
"I went to tour [Academy], but a fancy girls' school like that felt too stiff, or maybe it just didn't suit me."
As M said this, she gave a light sniffle.
Whenever M sniffled like that, it meant she was lying. That habit hadn't changed since we were kids.
But at the time, I couldn't figure out what the lie was.
"Do you remember this?"
M pulled a handkerchief from her uniform pocket and handed it to me.
"Is this... wait..."
"Yeah, it's the gift you gave me for my ninth birthday back in third grade."
The handkerchief was pink all over, printed with a character from a popular yokai show in the corner.
Next to it was a faded "M" written in her own handwriting from back then.
And right above it, written in clear, fresh handwriting, were the words "Thank you."
Wanting to get a better look at the handkerchief, I unfolded it and looked away from M.
Over the handkerchief, I could clearly see my own shadow at my feet.
When I looked up at the sky that had been overcast until a moment ago, the sun peeked through a gap in the drifting clouds, its light feeling unusually bright and strong.
When I turned my gaze back to M, she was staring at me too.
But something was off.
M's body was translucent.
I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but when I looked down at M's feet, there was no shadow.
(What... is this?)
Looking at M's face again, she was even more see-through than before.
People speak of skin being clear and translucent, but M's body was literally transparent—so clear I could see the scenery behind her.
"...I have to go back now..."
M whispered in a voice that seemed ready to vanish.
Come to think of it, how many years had it been since M and I had looked into each other's eyes and talked like this?
As I thought about that while looking at M, large tears began spilling from her eyes before I realized it.
The tears vanished into thin air as if evaporating, brimming and dissolving, brimming and dissolving over and over.
M looked as if she still wanted to say something, but her voice was fading right along with her disappearing body.
I could only stare into M's vanishing eyes.
M stared back at me in the exact same way, but I couldn't hear any words anymore.
Right then and there, I finally realized how we both felt.
Even the reason why M had gone as far as to lie just to take the entrance exam for the same high school as me.
After a moment, M's body vanished completely.
For a while, I sat there dazed, wondering if I had just seen a hallucination.
Coming back to my senses, I noticed I was holding the handkerchief in my hands.
As I spread the handkerchief open with both hands, a sudden gust of wind caught it and carried it into the air.
Reflexively, I reached out, but fell just short.
The handkerchief shattered into pieces in midair and dissolved into the wind.
Settling back onto the bench, I finished off my coffee, and then a LINE message arrived from M's mother.