Grow Well
I scurried out and planted myself in the middle of the vegetable patch. Haru, taking in the sight of me, was already capturing it on her phone.
She probably wanted before-and-after pictures of the garden, which would explain the camera. Bora shrugged off the bag she'd been carrying, unzipped it, and started pulling out what was inside.
The bag was full of seeds for all kinds of vegetables. They were packaged, of course, so each little packet had to be torn open one by one.
I took up the trowel and accepted the seeds Bora handed me. Napa cabbage — an all-purpose vegetable, the sort you could wrap around a bite of anything, anytime, anywhere. Grinning, I carried the cabbage seeds over to the patch.
Dig with the trowel. Drop the seeds in, then cover them with soil again. A simple little sequence, and that was the whole of it.
Smiling, I planted seed after seed. Bora and Haru came over beside me and set to work just as hard, tucking the other seeds into the earth.
The patch wasn't all that big, so it wasn't the sort of job that ate up hours. I don't think it even took a full hour. Bora and Haru were spent, but I was overflowing with energy. Couldn't I give some of this extra strength to the plants?
The thought struck, and I instinctively stretched my hands out in front of me. Then, from deep inside, I prayed with everything I had. Grow. Grow! In that instant something seemed to drain out of my body, and I swayed.
"Hana!"
Luckily Bora caught me before I hit the ground. At least I wasn't going to fall flat and smash my nose. She gathered me up in her arms.
"You didn't push yourself too hard, did you? I've never seen you stagger like this."
She said it gently, all concern for me. Beside her, Haru looked me over, flicked her hair back, and spoke.
"You were practically bursting a minute ago! Let's stop here for today and head upstairs."
At Haru's words I nodded. That little stunt just now had burned through every bit of my overflowing energy. Better to get out of the garden before the dizziness set in. Even so, a pang of regret lingered, and when I said as much, Bora and Haru insisted going home was the better idea, scooped me up, and carried me back to the house.
"Hana, you can just do it tomorrow!"
Those words put me at ease. The garden wasn't far off — it sat right out back — and I could come again tomorrow, so giving in came easily. Back in my room I washed up quickly and lay down on the bed. I felt a little better than before, but my head was still swimming.
I slept like a log, and when I woke the next day my body felt incredibly light, as if yesterday's dizziness had been a lie.
I peeled off my dinosaur pajamas and changed into clothes for the garden. Today I took up a watering can and waited in front of the office. Bora couldn't come because of work, so I went with Haru, who was dressed in the same easy clothes as yesterday.
Showing up to garden work in expensive clothes would have been pure loss. Dirt and every kind of grime would stick, and the laundry bill would be a waste.
We toddled along to the patch, and an astonishing sight opened up before us.
"Whoa!"
We had only planted the seeds yesterday, and already the plants had grown enough to put out stems. An impossible speed. Beside me, Haru clapped a hand over her mouth, her face pure shock.
"No way!"
Haru pulled up the photo she had taken yesterday. The phone showed a garden with nothing in it at all. But the scene in front of us now was something we could never have imagined a day ago. How could plants grow like this overnight?
Even with cutting-edge fertilizer and the finest growing conditions imaginable, this would never happen.
I ran happily around the patch. Growing this much in a single day was wondrous, though some part of me had felt it coming, instinctively. Haru, though, wore a grave expression and started snapping photo after photo of the garden. Yesterday she seemed to have been photographing me; now the plants were the subject.
I watched her for a moment, then lifted the watering can and began to sprinkle the plants. It was high-efficiency, high-nutrient water I had secretly slipped a single strand of my hair into. Surely they would grow even faster than they already were?
I had realized that yesterday's draining little performance was what had sped up their growth. Even so, it wasn't something to do often. The moment I had given the plants my strength and felt that hollowed-out sensation, once had felt like enough.
If an ability came with dizziness and a headache, restraint was the wiser course. And whether they grew quickly or slowly didn't matter all that much to me anyway.
I was still watering when Haru came over.
"Hana. Did you do all of this?"
At her question I nodded and answered. I had no idea how it worked, but I had done it, and that much was certain.
"Yeah!"
"Really...?"
With that, Haru said nothing more. She simply stood beside me while I watered.
There was something Haru did almost without fail on her mornings, once she had come in to work: she went into Hana's room and breathed in the clear air. Fussing over Hana was its own kind of fun, too.
Today, the moment she arrived at the office, she set all her things down and headed for Hana's room. It was the reason she was nearly always the first one in.
"Hana!"
Haru opened the familiar door and stepped inside. Sure enough — perhaps because Hana had been breathing in here all night — the air in the room was wonderfully clear and fresh. If you condensed pine-needle soda five hundred times over and inhaled it straight through your nose, it might feel something like this.
"Haru, hello!"
Hana was sitting on the bed in her dinosaur pajamas, watching TV. Haru kicked off her shoes and scurried over. She scooped up the girl sitting there and pulled her straight into her arms.
Hana didn't particularly mind, so it had become a daily ritual. Haru buried her nose in the crown of Hana's head and drew a deep breath. A freshness like a drug spread through her whole body. She was certain that even if she chugged recovery tonics by the bottle, she could never feel a refreshment like this.
"Haru, that tickles!"
Hana twisted, squirming this way and that inside Haru's arms, but Haru wouldn't let her go. A moment ago some drowsiness had still been clinging to her; the instant she caught Hana's scent, it felt as if every last bit of sleep had flown away.
Was this that mental contamination people talked about in ghost stories? Maybe, because Hana's power was still weak, she gave off a scent that bewitched everyone around her. Hana's scent was addictive to that degree.
And so she held Hana close and recharged. These days Hana was completely absorbed in movies. The one playing now was about someone riding a bicycle and striking out on their own, and from Haru's point of view it wasn't fun in the slightest.
Hana, though, watched the screen with eyes shining bright, as if it were the most entertaining thing in the world, nibbling a snack all the while. Haru's eyes lit up, and she slipped a hand into the bag Hana was holding. Food always tasted better when it belonged to someone else.
Nom, nom.
She picked out a piece and popped it into Hana's mouth. Hana accepted the snacks the way a baby bird takes food, cheeks puffed round as she munched. It was a sight too precious to keep to herself. Something like this ought to be caught on video!
But the moment a camera came near, Hana hid, so filming was impossible. If she was in a good mood she would allow it, but on an ordinary day she rarely did.
"Hana, your hair looks a little damp."
Haru had noticed a bit of moisture in it.
"I washed it, and I'm letting it dry on its own!"
Hana announced it proudly: she was not using a hair dryer. Haru put on a stern face.
"Hana, you can't just leave your hair wet like that!"
As she said it, she went and fetched the dryer. She settled Hana on her lap, switched it on, and began to dry her hair.
Whirrrrr.
Warm air poured out along with the rush of wind. Fortunately, Hana sat still. After a few minutes under the hot blast, Haru could feel the hair drying. Once it seemed mostly dry, she switched the dryer off.
"Rawr!"
Hana lifted her hands over her head and let out a great roar. Perhaps she had taken it as the signal that her hair was done.
"What kind of hairstyle should I give you?"
Haru asked, fiddling with Hana's hair. There were far too many styles she wanted to try. Twin tails would suit her, and leaving it long and straight would be just fine too.
"Tie it up!"
Hana favored ponytails, so today's style was a ponytail as well.
With practiced hands, Haru took out a hair tie and gathered Hana's hair into one place.