Episode 4
We browse a select shop for clothes, holding things up and debating what would suit each other. We duck into a gift shop and end up buying a small stuffed animal that somehow caught both our eyes at once.
We haven’t really decided where we’re going — we just follow whatever catches our attention. That’s all it is, and somehow it’s been fun the entire time. I want to fold this stretch of hours into a book and keep it closed.
There’s still time before the next plan, so we wander into a jewellery brand’s shop together. I’ve passed it before, but I’ve never been inside.
“I look in here sometimes, but I’ve never actually bought anything.”
“Me neither. I really like their pieces, but they’re a little —”
Rings. Bracelets. Necklaces. Earrings. An abundance of accessories surrounds us.
Among them, one display case stops me.
Earrings designed around the moon and the sun. I can’t tell if they’re actually a matched pair, but they look like they’re probably from the same series.
They’re tucked in a relatively quiet corner, nothing ostentatious about them. There are probably dozens of more popular pieces in this shop.
But they caught my eye, and they won’t let go.
I would be the moon. Seriha would be the sun.
I don’t know why I thought it, but it feels exactly right.
“Senpai, find anything you like?”
She reclaims the hand we’d briefly lost and leans in to look at me.
“No, it’s nothing. Are we okay for time?”
“Let’s see — we should probably head off soon. We can take our time.”
It caught my eye, yes — but it’s not something you’d buy on impulse at this price. That’s window shopping. That’s all it ever is.
“It’s a really amazing place, so look forward to it!”
◇
We move to a different building and step into another lift. She pulls me by our joined hands, bright and swaying, and the place we arrive at is nothing like the inside of a faceless office tower — it is something close to another world.
The light is low, but there’s nothing frightening about it. Strange, in a pleasant way.
“I’ll go get the tickets — wait here just a moment.”
She releases my hand and I watch her back as she heads toward a small machine. The newly freed hand doesn’t know where to put itself.
This is a planetarium, apparently. My image of planetariums had always been school trips or science museum annexes — I never would have guessed. It’s more like an art-house cinema, or a corner of a theme park. There’s something outside the ordinary about it.
The unfamiliarity makes me restless, and I find myself tracking Seriha’s back with my eyes.
Her clothes, her sandals, her hair slightly different from how she usually wears it. Did she put thought into all of it for today? I’ve never seen her out with friends, so I can’t tell whether this is her usual or something special.
It doesn’t matter, really, if it’s just how she always is.
But I hope it’s special. What an insufferable woman I am. I feel a little disgusted with myself.
Seriha comes back, two tickets in hand. She takes my hand immediately, and for a moment the breath goes out of me.
“Sorry for the wait. Senpai, you’ve been looking around with such big eyes — you’re adorable. But this isn’t the part to be surprised by yet.”
She leads me by the hand to the counter, where we hand over our tickets and continue into the facility. Our hands stayed joined the whole time, and I was acutely aware of the staff member’s gaze.
“Oh…”
Stars. Stars everywhere, across the entire sky. Small stars blanketing the vault above, and a moon visible in the distance. Dreaming music rises around us, and the edges of reality soften.
“This is…it really is…”
The large domed room holds rows of seats like a cinema. And at the front — enormous, low-legged sofas, like oversized marshmallows.
The dim light and the orderly rows of seats could belong to any cinema in the world, but half the sky above us blazes with stars, and that tells you: this place is something else.
“It hasn’t started yet. But I’m relieved you seem happy. Today I keep getting to see senpai do everything for the first time — it’s really fun.”
“Yeah. I was a little moved, honestly. I’d always thought of planetariums as more for children.”
“This one is a classic date spot. Even the most buttoned-up senpai is going to go weak in the knees under a romantic starry sky.”
She smirks at me with that deliberately provoking look, and I give her a flat stare, at which point she immediately pulls my hand and steers me toward the large white sofas.
“The seat is…here?”
“These are called ‘cloud seats,’ apparently. You take your shoes off and just lie down — that’s fine.”
“Your hair will get a bit messy, though,” she says, looking mildly troubled, and settles herself onto the huge sofa.
“Senpai. Come here.”
In this large dome there aren’t many cloud seats, and the neighbouring ones are far away. A couples’ seat, presumably.
We’ve been surrounded by people all day, and it feels — finally — like it’s just us. A warm shyness surfaces alongside the happiness.
If I hesitate now, the show will start without me. I make up my mind, slip off my shoes, and lie down beside her. My whole field of vision fills with stars, and my heart quickens.
“These are so fluffy and comfortable! The sky looks so real — it feels like we’re actually outside.”
Stars shimmering across everything I can see. Seriha beside me. Through our joined hands, her warmth reaches me. It really does feel like only the two of us exist.
“Senpai.”
She turns toward me and brings our joined hands to rest against her cheek.
“I’m so happy right now. What about you?”
There are still plenty of people in this dome, even if they’re out of reach. She must be whispering for that reason — just loud enough for me alone.
Her voice is tender, with a sweetness that dissolves something in me. My face grows hot. I’m probably a deep shade of red right now.
“…I wonder.”
I look away, and feel the press of her hand squeezing mine again and again. I commit it to memory.
Not yet. It isn’t time yet. She’s perceptive — she probably knows what answer I’m moving toward. Even so, until I can put it into proper words and give them to her, I need to stay ambiguous. By the time the planetarium ends, it will probably be past four o’clock. This in-between state doesn’t have much longer.