Create a detailed summary section and analysis of this extract from volume 6 chapter 3 of Adachi and Shimamura. It is from the perspective of Shimamura:

There wasn’t much left of summer break anymore,
and yet, much to my displeasure, the heat appeared to
be here to stay. I found it completely unbearable, and
that was without me stepping outside the house. I didn’t
even dare to imagine what that might be like. All in
all, this made sitting slouched over my desk the natural
thing for me to do. I was personally of the opinion
that those people who stressed about having to do this
and that during summer break had the whole thing all
wrong. Why? Well, that’d be because by their nature,
breaks were meant to be a span of time when you didn’t
do anything. Just relaxed, wasted away. Long live the
unproductive.
The complete opposite was my little sister, currently
busy with her homework downstairs. I suppose her good
behaviour directly correlated with how much homework
she had left. Then again, given that she was actually a
top student despite what her behaviour at home might
suggest, it was hard to imagine that it’d take her all that
long.
“Ah. I found you, Shimamura.”

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Yashiro then walked in. Her step was light, almost as
if she was happy to have found me. What immediately
caught my eye was the full-face helmet she was carrying
under her arm. Oh, right. She claimed to be an alien.
I’d almost forgotten.
“I wanted to cultivate my friendship with Shou, but
she told me that she was busy with her homework.”
“Oh, you got chased away too? Join the gang.”
That was the same reason why I was currently killing

time upstairs. The breathability of the air here was hor-
rible at the best of times, and the only thing that stopped

my heart from succumbing to the heat was the old, out-
dated fan. While the air it blew at me was lukewarm as

well, the fact that it wasn’t completely still at least offered
me some solace.
Having placed her helmet in the corner of the room,
Yashiro walked over to me and sat down between my legs.
There was a desk before me, yet somehow, she was able
to cram herself in. Her fluffy, unkempt hair tickled my
face. I couldn’t tell for sure if it was its blueish colour that
did or what, but simply staring at her, I could feel myself
cooling down. It really made for a great summertime
viewing experience, that much was for certain.

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“You don’t have homework, huh? I guess not if you
don’t even go to school.”
“Correct on both accounts”, Yashiro stated proudly,
pumping her chest. What did this say about her life
situation? Normally, kids of her age all went to school.
The whole thing bothered me greatly, although then
again, I didn’t expect her to give me an answer, not even
if I grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her head
from side to side. Maybe she really was an alien after
all? Not that it would make much of a difference.
“Shimamura, do you have any of this homework?”
“Of course.”
I just hadn’t gotten to it yet.
Speaking of, I wonder how Adachi was handling her
homework. Was she ignoring it due to her delinquent
background, or was she trying her hardest? She hadn’t
believed my joke earlier when I told her that we didn’t
have any, had she? No, probably not. Based on her
personality, I would imagine her to have approached
the situation with a strict plan and already be finished.
She was always so earnest, always taking everything so
seriously. Well, she did have a tendency to lose her
composure when in front of me, but that was a whole

241

other story.
Even when taking that into consideration, I had to
say, there was something refreshingly blatant about her

behaviour. Her lack of experience when it came to inter-
acting with others often left her panicking as if unsure

what was the proper thing to do, and yet, she was still try-
ing her hardest to better herself, to make other people—

or me specifically—think of her more favourably. That
was something that came across quite strongly in the
way she acted. Yes, it seemed that she really did love me.
A lot.
“......”
It kinda made me blush thinking about it. You could
say that perhaps I had misunderstood the situation, but
I really doubted that was the case. Sure, I didn’t know
exactly what sort of love it was, but the fact alone that
was a question worth asking kinda proved my point.
Usually when you loved someone it meant that you
wanted to be with them.

Was that a description which fit Adachi? Did she con-
stantly want to be with me? Yes. Yes she did. You didn’t

need to look any further than her eyes, her behaviour,
the very complexion of her face to see that to be the case.

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Making her feelings visible on the outside whenever she
got emotionally shaken was almost a trademark of hers.

Now, enough about that. Enough about simply want-
ing to be together.

Was it going to lead to something in the future? It was
difficult to say. If nothing else, I kinda doubted Adachi
would be making moves if she didn’t believe so herself.
That brought me to another question: What was it that
Adachi wanted from me? Did she want me to hold her
hand forever, to never look at other people, to forever
remain by her side?
That seemed to be the case. That was what she wanted.
And yet, personally, if I’m being honest, I thought it to
be a massive pain.
Completely shutting myself off from other people
was something that I might have been able to do, but
only ever being with Adachi? I wasn’t quite so sure.
Besides, I wasn’t sure whether Adachi would still love
me if I were to completely change my personality and
transform into someone else entirely. What part of me
did she even like? I had not the slightest clue.
I kinda felt like if I ever were to ask her that, she’d just
tell me straight up. I also felt like she might run away.

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Even if she did tell me, it wasn’t a given that any of
my questions would actually be answered. Or maybe
they would. All of them. These two outcomes seemed
equally likely to me.
“Is there something that is bothering you?” Yashiro
asked me all of a sudden, pulling me back to reality. I
lowered my gaze, only to find two stars made of water
twinkling before me.
Her pupils—so pure and without any spots—were
pointed directly at me.
“Oh, sorry. Did I let it show on my face?”

It must have been super obvious for someone as care-
free as her to be able to catch on.

“Hehehe. I possess the ability to see through people
and peer into their minds”, the girl claimed, her eyes
opened as far as they would go. What an obvious lie; the
only things that could be seen through here were her
own eyes. They were so pretty, so pure that everything
else felt almost frivolous in comparison.
“If you’d like, I could offer you advice.”
Yashiro’s eyes continued to sparkle as she said that.
Despite being opened far wider than was normal, they
didn’t appear the slightest bit bloodshot. The white parts

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were perfectly uniform, bringing to mind a calm pool of
water, and on their surface, there floated a pair of pupils
like blue stars. Despite looking like it, her eyes were in
fact not artificial, which was exactly why I found them
so enthralling.
Still, seriously? She was going to be giving me advice?
The whole idea of it kinda made me laugh. Looking at
her, it really seemed like the only thing she ever thought
about was candy.
“Surprisingly, that is actually not the case”, the girl
stated, her clenched fist raised in the air.
I was caught completely off guard. I was certain that
I hadn’t said my thoughts out loud, and yet, her rebuttal
clearly implied that she’d heard me.
“You see, I love rice as well!”
“Oh. Well, good for you”, I commented, all the while
patting her head. The blue particles that poured out
between her hair and my fingers proceeded to gently
flutter throughout the room.
Yeah. No way was this little creature going to give me
the answers that I was after. And yet, I decided to ask
her anyway.
“You’re always so friendly towards everyone, but

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why?”
She was clearly too innocent to have any ulterior
motives for her kindness. That lead me to wonder, how
then? How was she able to pull it off?
Showing not the slightest bit of hesitation, Yashiro
answered.
“That’d be because I quite favour Earthlings.”
“Hmm...”
Just like the time I’d spoken to my grandfather, it
appeared that I had once again chosen the wrong person
to ask.
“I especially love you, Shimamura. And Shou. Our
wavelengths match.”
“Oh.”
That was quite the thing to say to someone. I couldn’t
help but instinctively avert my gaze.
While I didn’t know exactly what she meant by our
wavelengths matching, there was something about the
way she said it, her unembellished naivety that caused
me to feel slightly embarrassed.
Then again.
The past me had said similar things without as much
as batting an eye.

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Was it the case that as you grew older, you were able
to do less and less things? No, that didn’t really make
much sense.
“What about you, Shimamura? Do you love me?”
“Huh? Hmm... Well, I don’t hate you, that’s for sure.”
I would likely have answered my sister the same way
had she been the one asking me.
“So, we’re friends then?”
A wide, carefree grin appeared on Yashiro’s face as
she leaned towards me.
Staring at her, I could feel both my shoulders and
my cheeks relax. Truly, there was no one out there who
could match her pureness. Its essence pierced right
through my very being. At the same time, it wasn’t like
you could normally live your life like that. I too had
changed massively compared to the past in terms of
both my personality and my values, and it was for that

reason exactly why seeing Yashiro take things so incred-
ibly calmly caused me to feel... anxious? Jealous? Nos-
talgic? I found it quite difficult trying to put the mix of

different emotions into words.

All I knew for certain was that her innocence occa-
sionally turned into a claw which brought me distress.

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Not that I expected her to be aware of it in any way.
“Hmph.”
I decided to grip her cheeks and pull on them just
for the heck of it, only to be shocked as I discovered just
how far they could stretch. They felt very nice to the
touch as well, so much so that I found doing it kinda
fun.
That lasted for a while, until eventually, my sister

came to pick Yashiro up, having finished with her home-
work for today.

“Oh, Shou.”
“You’re done with your homework?”
“Hmm...”
The girl stared at us with a slightly stern look in her
eyes.
“I choose Yachii.”
While I wasn’t quite sure what she meant, the end
result of it all was that, after comparing us two, she took
Yashiro’s hand and exited the room with her.
Were they going to “cultivate their friendship” now or
whatever? I could only assume so. The two really did get
along. Moreover, Yashiro was spending an increasingly
large amount of time at our house. You could even call

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her a stable presence. The days when she couldn’t be
seen in the kitchen were becoming increasingly rare.
“It’s almost like she’s planning on never leaving.”
What did it suggest that not a single member of our
family seemed to question this?
Had they all been hypnotized? Well, not that it really
mattered.
As far as colours went, I quite liked blue.

Assuming that my sister was done with her home-
work, then there wasn’t really a reason for me to stay

here anymore. I got up with the intention of going down-
stairs, when all of a sudden, my phone rang. I assumed

it was Adachi calling me like usual, but no, it turned
out it was actually Tarumi. How rare. Except not really;
she did call me relatively often. Slouching over the tiny
blades of the fan, I picked up.
“Hello, Taru.”
“Yo.”
“Yeah.”
Compared to my voice stifled by the room’s heat,
Tarumi sounded quite energetic. Did being a delinquent
ensure that she was in a state of perfect health at all times?
Who could tell.

249

“It’s been a while, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Lately, I’ve had some trouble calling you.”
“Huh? You have?”
“Yep. It always says that you’re busy.”
Her voice sounded a little timid, almost as if she was
blaming me in an indirect way.

Was that really the case? I thought back, and imme-
diately, I realised what she was talking about.

“Oh, but. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I’m trying to call
you constantly. I probably just got unlucky. Yeah, pure chance.”
“Hmm...”
Putting all the facts together, I was left to assume that
the fault probably lay with the immense amount of time
I spent speaking with Adachi on the phone, not anything
Tarumi had done.
Really? I talked with her that much, did I? It wasn’t
something I’d myself been aware of, and honestly, the
whole thing came to me as kind of a shock.
Yes. I was shocked.
I’d never seen myself as someone who would neglect
certain people in favour of others.
So then, that’s how it was, was it? The current me

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leaned towards Adachi?
“I see...”
It was honestly kinda novel in a way. If I had to put the
sensation into words, I’d say that it felt liberating, almost
like having your stuffy nose be opened in an instant.

Like pushing aside a wall and seeing a whole new land-
scape spread on the other side of it. Yes, the sensation

was a positive one, that much was for certain.
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Hmm...”
How should I explain it to her? My senses were telling
me that if I were to go into too much detail, that would
just make things unnecessarily complicated.
As it turned out, there was actually quite a lot that
went into maintaining a friendship.
While assuming too direct of a stance was a sure-fire

way of ruining the whole thing by leaving your finger-
prints everywhere, it was also true that if you were to

simply let go, the other person would eventually be cov-
ered in dust and vanish from your mind. Now, you could

use a display case or something like that, but the end
result of that was more often than not your friendship
drying up. The fact that you had to balance all of these

251

steps and apply them in moderation was exactly what
made the whole thing so difficult. I already found most
matters in life to be tedious, and honestly, there was a
part of me that felt like this was too much to handle.
“Well. That’s fine. Anyway...”
“Anyway what?”
“To tell you the truth... Well, I assume you know already.
There’s a festival next week. Yeah.”
“Oh...”
“We haven’t met in a while. Or really, since you came back.
Anyway, I just figured that we could... err...”
So, that’s what this was about? Although she hadn’t
actually said it yet, I could only assume that she was
about to invite me to go with her. It was kinda similar
to what had happened last time, only now, Adachi was
the one to ask me first. Still, it was also worth keeping
in mind that the personalities of the two were quite
different. If I were to ask her to join us, Tarumi might
actually accept, even if that meant that there would be a
third person besides us present.
In that case, how about it? Would it be fun enjoying
the festival with the three of us?
Hmm... There was something about that idea which

252

caused me to hesitate.

That something was Adachi. She would almost cer-
tainly be against it.

She might even start crying for all I knew.
These thoughts lead me to make my decision.
“Sorry.”
Softly, I pushed my finger into the damp dirt and
drew a line.
That was the image which appeared into my mind.
“I’m going with someone else.”
A sigh belonging to Tarumi could be heard on the
other side of the gap, hiding with it a great deal of shock.
It sounded so distant.
“Oh, I... I see.”
“Yeah.”
She hadn’t technically asked me to go with her at any
point, but based on her reaction, it looked like I’d been
correct regardless.
I reached for the fan and turned it off.
“Is that someone, err, your sister perhaps?”
“No. A girl from my school.”
Putting it that way made us seem quite distant. There
were so many other words I could’ve used instead.

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Friend, fellow class-skipper, weirdo, someone I find
funny. And those were just scratching the surface.
The year I’d spent with Adachi had presented itself
in so many ways, so many shapes.
I’d yet to get bored of any of them.
“Err, yeah... Umm...”

The way Tarumi replied brought to mind a bird chirp-
ing. Furthermore, it sounded very much like she was

about to say something else.
“So yeah. Can’t do it, sorry”, I quickly added before
she could suggest that she’d come too, digging the gap
between us ever wider.
I was fully aware of the implications, of what this
might lead to, and yet, I did it anyway.
“Right...”
Right.
In the midst of the chaos whirling around me, I felt
not the slightest bit of regret.
I quickly ended the call before letting out a large
sigh. The sigh was followed by another, and soon, my
shoulders sank.
As if scraping against the relationships I found myself
constrained by, the joints in my shoulders let out a series

254

of unpleasant creaks.
And yet, as I remained there, my head hung while I
pushed out all the air from my lungs, I could feel my
body gradually growing lighter. Truly, humans had a
tendency to pack themselves too full. It was for that
reason exactly why I had—against my better judgment—
ended up developing this horrible condition where I
found everything too annoying and too bothersome to
interact with.
I put my phone down and left the room. I then walked
down the stairs, and immediately, the sounds coming
from the kitchen caught my attention. I decided to make
a quick detour. Just like I’d hoped, I found Mom there.

She appeared to be busy cutting onions, but not let-
ting that stop me, I called out to her.

“Hey, Mom. When you have time, could you find me
a yukata?”
“Hmm?”
“There’s a festival next week. I want to wear it when I
go there.”
My words ended up coming out with a hint of glee to
them. Strange, considering that my intention had been
to speak in the most nonchalant way possible.

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The conflict which raged on in my head was one
between trying to express what it was that I wanted while
simultaneously feeling reluctant to expose my true self.
When was the last time I’d felt this way? Back when I
was ten? Or perhaps even younger than that?
“Sure, I can do that. But, why? You didn’t wear one
last time.”
“Hmm. I just feel like it.”
Still cutting onions, Mom squinted her eyes. It was
almost as if she didn’t quite believe me.
Why was it that she only paid attention when I didn’t
want her to?
Was that how all parents acted towards their children?
Perhaps.
They had their eyes on them all the time, and as such,
were able to pick out any and all changes, no matter how
trivial.

“I mean, last time, everyone else I went with was wear-
ing a yukata.”

“Haha. You really don’t know how to read the room,
do you? Ahaha!”
Quite the thing to say for someone who hadn’t even
been there.

256

“So, another festival, huh?”
“Yep. I was asked to go.”
“Oh.”
A strange sensation of guilt filled me, likely brought
about by the way I had declined Tarumi’s invitation mere
moments ago.
“Anyway. Get the yukata ready.”
Having said that, I quickly ran off.
There was no reason for me to run away from Mom.
There really wasn’t. I’d done nothing to be ashamed
of. And yet, the instant I turned the corner and was no
longer visible from the kitchen, I broke into a sprint. My
feet were restless, almost as if there was some invisible
presence pushing me forward.
I had not lied to Mom. The reasons I’d listed, there
was truth to all of them.
However, besides those, there was another reason as
well. It was one that I’d kept hidden, the most simple of
them all.
I’d thought it would make Adachi happy.