Dozing Off Between Night and Morning

(I think this is the place.)

(I want to eat their soused mackerel again. But will they think I’m weird for coming back so soon?)

…Well, whatever.

Welcome. Take a seat wherever you’d like.

(None of the people who we met last time are here today. It’s pretty empty, and everyone’s keeping to themselves.)

Here’s a towel and an appetizer for you. Visiting from out of town?

Ah… Yes.

(Of course she doesn’t remember me. I’m sure a ton of tourists come in here every day.)

Plum wine again, I assume?

…!

Ah… I…drove here.

Got it. I’ll just get you some oolong tea then.

Miss.

Coming.

……

(She’s not going to ask me about what happened to the others? Ah, that makes me feel relieved…)

Here’s your soused mackerel.

…Thank you.

(…So good.)

(It doesn’t have the usual intense sourness you’d expect from soused mackerel. It doesn’t have an unpleasant odor or flavor either. You can actually taste the fish itself.)

(I like eating this a lot more than sashimi.)

And some fried kelp. On the house.

Huh…? Thank you so much…

(It’s nice and crunchy. Salty too… It’d go well with some sake…)

Pretty peaceful being on your own, isn’t it?

Huh? Peaceful?

Well, of course. You don’t have to go out of your way to worry about people and act nice towards them.

If you’re alone, it’s okay to just prioritize yourself.

……

I just want you to be kind to yourself. Like you were to us.

Being alone in a town where nobody knows you, where you’re not connected to anything, well, it’s just the best feeling in the world.

Maybe you go somewhere, and you meet people that you’ll never talk to outside of that place. You end up getting along, or just sitting there and listening to their conversations.

And if you happen to run into them somewhere else the next day, it’s alright to just ignore them. Nobody will blame you for that.

……

It’s always okay to live as the version of yourself you’re most comfortable with and just play things by ear.

(Play things by ear…)

What if I just started dancing then?

Oh, you can dance, kid? We can put on some music for you.

Oh, I’ll play some Itamoto Fuyumi.¹ I just love her!

……

Ugh… The wind’s so cold.

I guess it’s too late for anyone else to be here… And it’s way colder than it was last time…

The view’s amazing from up here! You should all take a look.

……

*sigh*

Back then, I thought that my mom might’ve been somewhere in this night view… But now…

(Now everything’s changed.)

Since I have this whole place to myself, I might as well send a picture to Sonia…

Right, my phone’s dead.

Ah… My weekly report tape…

Stay safe.

Um… I’m Hachinoya Nagi, a member of… A former member of the Night Team.

I’m sorry for leaving all of a sudden yesterday.

I’m in Hakodate right now. I drove about 900 kilometers here. It’s my first long-distance road trip. My butt and my back are both killing me…

I really liked the food from the burger place we went to before, so I ate there again.

I had something different than what I chose last time. Not that it matters, because I feel like all of their food is good. It makes me want to keep coming back to the city.

Oh, there were two other guys about my age sitting at the table we sat at…

I think they were college friends. I actually ran into them again at the hotel sauna later in the day. I felt really, really…connected to them…

I overheard their conversation, and it was pretty interesting. I was thinking, if I were a college student too, maybe I…could’ve…joined them…on their trip. But, yeah, I didn’t actually talk to them…

……

I went to Daimon Yokocho and met the owner of that izakaya again too. The lift to the observatory was closed, but I thought that I could drive up there with my motorcycle, so I did, but… It’s really cold here… My nose is all snotty…

…I thought that the owner already forgot about me, but she…actually remembered that I…liked plum wine, and…

……

(…The lights are so pretty when they’re blurry.)

The lights on that road might be stretching towards someone’s home. The lights beyond that might be where someone’s enjoying a warm meal.

Yeah. All of these people experiencing those little moments of happiness are contained in this single view…

(Ah… I had a dream that I’d reach them one day… But I never did… That light only ever belongs to someone else…)

(Nobody even knows that I’m alone right now…)

Huh…? Wow… It’s so pretty… I can’t just sit here and cry…

M-My phone… Ah, it’s dead…

Haha… Hahaha… Hahaha.

……

…Mother, Mom… Mama? I’ll call you Mom.

Mom, even though you’re not here, the sun still rises, and food still tastes delicious.

I’ve made new friends, and I’ve even become more positive. Good things have happened.

Even though…

Even though you’re not here… Even if I’m…alone in this world…

Even if I try everything I possibly can, and it…doesn’t turn out well…

(Just like how night and day melt together in this sky, tears and happiness will always find a way to intertwine.)

(So…)

…I am happy.