It had been a few days since I finished writing the Representative Friend's Speech.
Akari and I were being rattled along by the train, heading back to our hometown. We were taking advantage of her Saturday and Sunday off to make a quick trip home.
Today, we were scheduled to accompany I-chan for her wedding dress fitting.
She had asked me to come along this past Monday. Apparently, you usually go to these fittings with your husband or family, but since neither her fiancé nor her parents could make the timing work, she invited us to fill in.
"Eeeek! I-chaaan!"
"Ah, Akari! It’s been so long!"
I-chan met us in front of the local station in a White Compact Car.
"Sorry to make you pick us up, I-chan."
"Kyaaa, Meguuu!"
"Kyaaa! Kyaaa!"
"…Akari, why are you screaming, too?"
The car was a cacophony of noise. I climbed into the back seat with Akari and shot her a cold look. I’d always described I-chan as someone hard to pin down, but now that I thought about it, the girl sitting right next to me was just as elusive. I had completely forgotten.
"I-chan, you got your Driver's License?"
"Yep. Piece of cake."
"Is this your parents' car?"
"No, it’s mine."
I wasn’t used to seeing it because I’d moved to Tokyo, but the Countryside really was a car-dependent society. A vehicle was an essential tool for survival here. Still, seeing a girl my own age already owning and driving her own car gave me a strange sense of alienation.
"We’re here!"
"Thank you!"
"Thanks."
We stepped out of the car. That was when I noticed a scratch on the frame near the rear tire, looking like it had been scraped against something.
"I-chan, this…"
"Megu. Sometimes, not noticing is a form of kindness."
"Ah… right."
So she did scrape it. Looking at I-chan’s smug, "don't ask" expression was a bit annoying, but I decided to keep my mouth shut.
I-chan finished checking in at the shop and led us into the elevator. Once we reached the Fitting Room, she disappeared inside to start changing. While she got into the wedding dress, Akari and I waited outside.
"Do you have any longing for a wedding dress, Akari?"
"Eh? …Hmm, I wonder."
"I did when I was little," I admitted. "But when I heard I-chan was getting married, I really thought about it. I wondered if I still actually wanted a Wedding Dress or a Wedding Ceremony."
"You should have one. You’re beautiful, Megu."
"Don’t butt in. It’s just, a Wedding Ceremony seems like it costs a fortune. Apparently, just renting a Wedding Dress can set you back nearly a million yen. Thinking about that made me feel like it didn’t really matter either way."
"Aww…"
"Why do you look so disappointed?"
"Well, because I know you’d look amazing in a wedding dress, Megu."
"…You think so?"
"Don't you have any confidence?"
"I don't. Of course I don't."
If I were someone with a figure that everyone envied… would I have ever become a victim of Domestic Violence? Would Yamamoto have fallen head over heels for me?
For some reason, I’ve been struggling to have any confidence in myself lately. No, it wasn't just a recent thing. Even back in High School, when everyone called me The Queen, I probably never really had any. That was why I formed a clique and acted like the big fish in a small pond.
"High School Days were fun, though."
I hadn’t actually liked that time when I was in it. I was always aware that I was forcing myself to play a part. But only after losing it did I realize how precious that time had been.
"I want the three of us to hang out like that again."
"We can," Akari said.
"But I-chan is getting married."
"Getting married doesn’t mean you stop hanging out."
I fell silent at Akari’s words. She was right. The frequency would probably decrease compared to the old days, but still…
"I guess so."
"You’re surprisingly ditzy sometimes, Megu."
"No, I'm not."
"The other day, Yamamoto-kun was complaining about how you made onigiri and mixed up the Sugar and Salt."
"Wait a second."
"Hehehe."
"Why the hell are you even talking to Yamamoto?"
"…That’s your takeaway?"
Which one was it? Akari looked at me with a slightly troubled expression.