Kimi wo Ushinaitakunai Boku to, Boku no Shiawase wo Negau Kimi

Memories of Ramune Bubbles

I will never forget that clear blue sky and her smile.
Memories are always vague and hazy.
Just like the bubbles of ramune.
Like a fading carbohydrate.
The more time passes, the weaker and non-prominent those memories become.
That’s why I don’t remember when and during what situation that even happened.
But to contrast that, the sky and that smile are as fresh in my memory as if I’d seen it just today.
An entire row of sunflowers grew beneath the sky.
Something white fluttered in front of that sea of yellow.
A cloud—No, not quite.
It was fluttering and moving because of the breeze.
Ah, it was her one-piece outfit.

“Sou-chan! This is so cool! Look! So many sunflowers!”

Back during that time, we were in grade school.
I think in our third year, at most.

“Calm down.
Keep running like that and you’ll fall.”

Despite being just as much of a child, I showered her with cold words.
I just wanted to sound like an adult.
A child who wanted to seem mature.

“But look at how beautiful all of this looks! How can you be so calm?!” She said as she—my childhood friend Kazuhi—opened her arms wide to show off everything around her.

“Look! They’re so beautiful!” She screamed as she twirled around and ran further.

“Hey! Look ahead of you! It won’t be long until you—”

“Wah?!”

“Ahh!”

I couldn’t even finish my sentence as Kazuhi tried to twirl on t