An hour and a half flew by watching fireworks.
“Already?”
“Yeah, it was just over.”
The end-of-event announcement played and we stood up. Then a giant migration — too packed to move.
I glanced at Suzuno and my brother in the distance — chatting happily. He’d recovered. As I was thinking it, Kano made a sound.
“Ow?!”
I turned. She was visibly hurting.
”…Someone stepped on my foot.”
“Worst.”
Geta sandals expose most of the foot — stepped-on damage is worse than in shoes. We moved to the edge and checked.
“Pretty red.”
“Yeah, throbbing.”
“Can you walk?”
“Long distances might be rough…”
Normally the station’s a 10-minute walk. With this crowd, much longer.
“Hop on my back.”
“Yuito — you’d actually do that?”
I crouched to piggyback her; she looked surprised.
“I’m not leaving you stranded.”
“Then — thanks.”
She climbed on and I stood. People stared — didn’t matter.
I walked with her on my back. I’d quit the soccer club at the end of middle school but I still had the stamina.
“First time you’ve piggybacked me, right?”
“Yeah, reverse has happened before, though.”
“Right, that time.”
When I was little I’d sprained an ankle and Kano carried me home. Suzuno wasn’t strong enough; my brother had said your fault, you handle it.
“You were smaller than me back then — you got big.”
“I’m a guy — would be sad if I weren’t bigger than you.”
The gap was actually only 4 cm — I was average for a guy, Kano was tall for a girl.
“Hmm — feel like I lost.”
“You’re plenty big.”
“Wait — big as in, this part?”
She pressed her chest hard against my back.
“H-hey, stop! And you knew I meant height.”
“What — really? Your big sister is bad at picking up nuance.”
“You are literally not.”
She got into Sahoda University — Japan’s most competitive private — straight out of high school. She is not bad at parsing.
”…Wait — we lost Suzuno and Ayato.”
“Yeah, this crowd.”
“Total losing them.”
I’d been completely in our two-person bubble.
“I already messaged them I’m injured and we’re slow, go on ahead — so don’t worry.”
“Quintessentially Kano.”
“I just scolded you and Suzuno for being out of contact — I have to model it.”
She’s as strict with herself as with others. I want to bottle some of that and give it to my brother.
I piggybacked her further, and as the crowd started thinning I stopped at a convenience store. (I let her down at the entrance — too embarrassing to carry her inside.) I bought bandages and treated her.
“How is it?”
“Way better, thanks.”
“You don’t need the piggyback anymore, then.”
“Aw — yeah it still hurts.”
“That was a bad-faith lie, please.”
How long was she going to enjoy this? We walked the rest, but she had a dissatisfied look the whole way.