You s.h.i.+ne in the Moonlit Night +Fragments

Author: Sano Tetsuya (佐野徹夜)

Translations: Ren

Editing: Kani & my roommate

It was summer and we were in the desert.

“As expected, my throat is parched.”

We found a vending machine nearby after searching around and each bought a bottle of water to drink.

“Where should we go next?” I asked her.

“We’re at the Tottori Sand Dunes now, right? How about going to Kyoto next?” she replied as if speaking about somebody else.

“Let me rest for a moment.”

It was a hot summer and the temperature was 38 degrees. It wouldn’t be strange if someone died in this weather.

She had suggested we make a trip around j.a.pan despite the fact that we’ve climbed Mount Fuji and Mount Aso, and we’ve even been to Hokkaido. Even though I saved money from my part-time job, there’s not much available left to use.

We spent the night in a tent that we set up.

“Sleeping outdoors isn’t very pleasant,” she said, appalled.

“I’m jealous you aren’t getting bitten by mosquitoes.”

It’s almost exam season. I wonder why I’m doing this during the summer of my third year. I’m anxious.

“What do you want to do once you’re in college?”

“Study?”

She made a face as if to say she didn’t believe me.

“Well, what should I do then?”

“Maybe a women’s trip?”

I took out a journal and looked at it. Despite it being her list of “Things I Want to Do Before I Die,” there was a lot of stuff written inside. 

・I want to make a trip around j.a.pan

“Once you have completed all of them—”

A feeling of anxiety came over me as she said this.

“—Forget about me.”

“I won’t forget.”

I looked through the journal the next morning. Even though I flipped through it again and again, there was nothing left on the list for me to do.

I had finished all of them.

I felt a strange sense of loss at this thought. 

The truth is, I had already done everything on the list while she was alive.

I had only been biking for a while, but before long, I could see the scenery of a familiar town. I pa.s.sed by the high school, and I hurried due to the situation at hand.

I s.h.i.+fted gears and pedaled standing as I climbed up a hill. I waited for Kayama once I got to the top.

“Thanks for coming.”

Kayama brought along a girl I didn’t know.

“I don’t remember you being the type to spend the summer of your third year traveling alone on a bicycle across j.a.pan?”

“Shut up.”

What should I do from now on?

What is it that I want to do before I die?

Let’s do the things that I really want to do.