The Coolest Pose Under the Sky
Having excitedly toured the academy with Appleton, the last place we arrived at was the faculty office. Ferman naturally took the seat of honor. Normally that spot belonged to Shandroi, but she didn’t say a word to him about it. Instead she prepared tea for us herself.
Appleton kept fidgeting, clearly uncomfortable in a place like this, so every time it happened I had to use my power to calm her down. “How was your visit today?” At Shandroi’s question, Ferman lifted the teacup in front of him. The simple motion looked so elegant that I found myself copying it. The rich aroma of black tea rose from the hot cup in my hands, tickling my nose.
He took a slow sip without answering for a long time, then gave a small nod. “Not bad.” “Then…” “But it’s not good, either.” An ambiguous answer that was neither good nor bad. Yet Shandroi’s expression darkened. She looked flustered.
“Of course you can put in more effort, can’t you?” “Yes…” “So what you’re saying is that you’ve been failing to do something that should be obvious.” Ferman quietly set his teacup down. It was already empty. My mouth fell open in surprise. He had drained the scalding hot tea in complete silence in the blink of an eye. It was incredible.
I wanted to blow on mine to cool it, but the atmosphere made me hesitate. The mood had grown stiff, and I felt like I couldn’t move freely, so I quietly stuck out my tongue and licked at the tea. My tongue touched it and pulled back again and again; it was hot, but not enough to burn.
“Jeff.” “Yeees?” I had been focusing on my tea when Ferman suddenly called my name, making me jump. I’d tuned out thinking the conversation would drag on, but it seemed to have ended faster than I expected.
Ferman raised his hand without a word. It was the same gesture he used at home to summon his subordinates. Just like magic, something hazy appeared where no one had been standing and approached him.
“C-Chen?” It was the bodyguard named Chen. He was someone I often saw while staying at Grandfather’s house. He greeted me with his eyes, then handed Ferman the large box he was carrying.
“Hmm…” Ferman turned the box over in his hands, inspecting it from every angle. I looked at it too. The surface had a beautiful printed image of a camera on it. It was the one Shine had asked for. He hadn’t forgotten. I didn’t know much about cameras so I couldn’t tell the exact price, but even the packaging made it clear this wasn’t an ordinary one.
“Here. Take it. It’s the camera you asked for.” I politely held out both hands to receive the box. Grandfather’s face stayed lit with a smile, as if my reaction pleased him greatly.
“And here, Appleton. This one is yours.” “Th-this is…” “I’m sorry for breaking your camera.” Even though we’d used Grandfather’s influence, this should make up for it, right? Appleton stroked the surface of the box with trembling fingers.
“By the way, I don’t see Rain anywhere.” Ferman looked around and murmured softly. “Ah!” His words reminded me of the person I’d completely forgotten. There was one little chick still fast asleep in the classroom. I wondered what she was doing right now.
Shine must have forgotten about her too; she gave a small nod as if something had just occurred to her. I immediately sprang up from my seat. “I’ll go get Rain!” “No, it’s fine, Jeff. There’s no need.” “Really? But wouldn’t Rain be happy to see you after so long?”
“I’m sorry to miss her, but I don’t have much time left.” “Aww…” I checked the clock at Ferman’s words. It had only been two hours since he arrived at the school, yet he already had to leave. It was ironic—Grandfather possessed the ability to control time, yet he lived his life constantly racing against it.
I looked up at him with eyes full of regret. Ferman gave a bitter smile at my gaze, checked his own wristwatch, and stood up. It was time to go.
“I must be on my way now.” We walked back toward the helipad again. The whole way there I didn’t say a single word. I simply gripped Ferman’s hand tighter, as if I never wanted to let go. As the helipad drew closer, my steps grew slower and slower.
Grandfather matched my pace until finally, with a small sigh, he scooped me up into his arms. “Ah…!” “I’ll come again next time.” Because I was no longer walking slowly, the helipad arrived in the blink of an eye. Grandfather carefully set me down in front of the massive helicopter, then silently stroked both mine and Shine’s heads.
The loud thump-thump-thump of the rotor blades battered my ears, but I didn’t cover them. The helicopter carrying Ferman rose high into the sky and vanished in an instant toward the direction it had first come from.
I stood there staring at that patch of sky for a long time before finally touching my cheek and turning away. “Are we leaving now?” “Yeah. We’ll see him again soon.” After seeing Grandfather off, we returned to the classroom.
Contrary to my worries, Rain was sleeping with an incredibly peaceful expression. She was even drooling, which meant no one had disturbed her the entire time. The sight sparked a mischievous urge in me, so I reached out and started poking her soft cheek repeatedly.
Rain’s face immediately scrunched up. She twisted her head this way and that, trying to escape my poking finger. But I was persistent. There was no way I could give up on her squishy cheek over such a small disturbance.
Just as I kept jabbing at the cheek that kept trying to dodge me, Rain’s mouth suddenly clamped down on my finger. She hadn’t bitten with her teeth, so it didn’t hurt, but her warm, soft tongue instantly wrapped around it.
“Eep!” I yanked my hand back in surprise. She must have been sucking hard, because the moment my finger left her mouth, a loud chuuup echoed through the entire classroom.
Appleton, who had watched the whole thing from beside me, turned bright red and couldn’t lift her head. A tingling sensation raced from the tips of my toes all the way up, and a strange itch tickled the corner of my heart. I clutched my startled chest and stared down at my finger. It glistened with Rain’s saliva, sparkling faintly.
In the end, it was Shine who woke the sleeping Rain. She looked down at her with a burning gaze, then spread her palm wide and rubbed Rain’s cheek without mercy. “U-ueeegh!” Rain let out a strange shriek and jolted awake under Shine’s ruthless rubbing.
She blinked sleepily with half-lidded eyes and looked around in confusion. “Wh-what’s going on?” Was this girl really an adult? I wiped away the drool with a handkerchief and told her, “Class is over.”
“Already?” Rain didn’t resist my touch, tilting her face up so I could clean it more easily. Her completely natural behavior made me let out a helpless laugh. “Yeah. It’s lunchtime now.”
That’s right—the entire morning schedule was already finished. We’d spent it enthusiastically touring the school with Ferman, so morning classes had ended without us noticing. Since she’d slept through the whole day, Rain had no idea what had happened.
I took the still-drowsy Rain’s hand and stood up. “Let’s go buy lunch!” For today’s bento we chose pork cutlet again, just like last time. The four of us headed up to the rooftop.
The spot Appleton had recommended for eating lunch was the rooftop itself. We stepped through the wide-open door and were greeted by a vast, empty space.
“Huh…” Rain looked around with a puzzled expression. I reacted the same way. Last time I came here with Appleton, the place had been packed with students, but now there wasn’t a single person in sight.
“That’s strange. Where did everyone go?” It was odd, but I decided not to think too deeply about it. Quiet was better than noisy, and having no eyes on us was preferable to being watched. I grabbed the hesitant Appleton’s hand and pulled her over to a nice spot under a large parasol. Last time someone had already taken it, but now it was free. Perfect.
“Appleton.” “Y-yes…?” Appleton lifted her head at Shine’s voice. She was holding the camera Ferman had given her. It looked much larger and heavier than the one she used before—almost too big for such a small girl to handle comfortably. Yet she seemed to love it; ever since unwrapping it, she hadn’t let go of it even once.
“Have you taken any pictures with it yet?” “N-not yet…” “Then take one of me and Jeff.” Appleton nodded blankly at Shine’s request. Shine walked over and stood beside me, striking a pose that would look good in a photo.
Come to think of it, I didn’t have any memories of taking pictures with Shine. A family that didn’t even have a single ordinary family photo… how sad.
“Shine.” “Yeah?” “When we get back, let’s ask Amy to take a picture with us too.” “Okay.” Shine answered and wrapped her arms around me from behind. Her face gently rested on my shoulder, and her hands softly held my waist. I relaxed my body and leaned back against her. A comfortable smile spread across my face. Shine looked at me and smiled softly in return.
“C-can I take it now?” “Yes.” Appleton lifted the large camera and snapped the photo. There was no shutter sound—just a faint crackle as a weak wave of energy was released.
“Did you get it?” “Yes.” At my question, Appleton nodded and showed us the screen. On it were two beautiful girls hugging each other. The twins looked incredibly close.
“Me too! Take one of me too!” Rain saw the photo and immediately clung to me, begging to be included. It seemed she wanted to be in the picture with me and Shine rather than alone. So Appleton took another photo. Rain was overjoyed and had the picture sent to her phone.
“Want to take one with us too, Appleton?” “N-no! I’m fine!” “R-really?” I suggested it while receiving the transferred photos, but she refused so violently she almost had a seizure. The unexpected reaction left an awkward silence hanging in the air. I poked at my bento lid, feeling completely deflated by her rejection.
“W-well… I guess it would be okay to take one…” “Really?” While I was still fiddling with the lid, Appleton stammered out the words. My face lit up and I jumped to my feet. There was no time to waste. Since it was a special photo, we needed a cool pose. I pulled the still-seated Rain and Appleton up with me.
“What are you planning?” “Hehe.” I answered Rain’s puzzled question with a laugh and found the right spot.
“Something familiar!” “Familiar?” “And something cool!” “Cool?” “And something that feels good to do!” “F-feels good?”
Rain’s face turned red as she seemed to remember something, and she hung her head. That’s right. We were going to strike a synchronized gymnastics pose for the photo.
“Okay everyone, get into the familiar rhythm.” Clap clap—clap clap—clap clap— I started clapping. As the familiar beat filled the air, Rain’s and Appleton’s bodies began to move. The same went for me and Shine.
The coolest pose in the size-order gymnastics routine. Right before the final highlight. We stretched our arms high above our heads to form a triangle, balanced on our right legs, and extended our left legs straight down.
“Appleton! Set the timer!” Appleton, who had been striking the cool pose with us, snapped back to her senses at my words. She quickly ran over, adjusted the camera, and set the timer. 5 4
As soon as she finished, she sprinted back and got into position again. 3 2 1
Click— The resulting photo was absolutely perfect. I set it as my phone’s wallpaper.