It is said that a sleeping child is a growing child, and good things come to those who wait. But, no one knows to what extent they would still be true.

Iwanaga Kotoko is a young girl who likes to take a nap outside while listening to the sound of rain.

According to her parents, when she was still a baby, she never cries at night whenever it is raining, only swinging her body happily.

If she was only going to be napping inside the house it would not be much of a problem. However, once she was old enough to understand things around her herself, she realized that it is most comforting when she sleeps outside where there is nothing to block the sound of the rain.

Whenever it rains, she would be sleeping on a bench with a roof in the park or napping at a bus stop. If the weather forecast marked the day with a rain sign, she would spend her time thinking of a nice place to sleep since early in the morning.

At the present, her lifestyle has not changed even though she is a 17-year-old high school girl now, and her friends at school always said this to her while laughing “You’re a girl so you should be more careful although it sounds very much like things you would do” and they eventually got bored with saying it every time.

And the people who know her since elementary school often said while showing some hesitation “It was because you’re like that such accident..”.

The fact that even after something had occurred, her behavior or personality have not changed at all, is scaring some people.

After all, that were said, she did take them into her mind and refrain herself from sleeping at a place where almost nobody passes but she still does not feel anything dangerous about it.

“A sleeping child is a growing child, and good things come to those who wait. Isn’t people always said that?”

She always answers such every time and continues to sleep outside whenever it is raining.

But in her case, even if she had said so, her words did not have the needed persuading power which kind of troubles her.

Even today Iwanaga Kotoko was taking a nap. May 17th, Saturday, passed 4 o’clock in the evening, on a wooden bench at the terrace of H University Hospital’s rear garden which she came by taking a bus after finishing her shopping at the city.

It started raining today around noon, making a shito-shito sound as it continued to pouring down without anything to disturb the quietness. And she thought it as a bliss so she came earlier than the appointed time, about one hour early and took a nap there.

There was no sound of the siren of ambulance making a delivery to the hospital nor the voices of the hospital’s visitors or the sound of their footsteps while she closed her eyes and dozed off inside that quiet terrace.

She felt a feeling of something had pulled the lace-decorated hem of her knee-length one-piece from below so she opened her eyelids.

“Hmm, ah, is it time already?”

Looking at the watch with her sleepy eyes, it was 10 minutes before the appointed time.

Around her feet was something that looks like an irregular figure around the size of a puppy, and it seemed like it bowed to her right before it ran away in the direction of the green garden and vanished.

“Yeah, thanks.”

Iwanaga said to that direction and stretched once before putting on a cream-colored beret on her lap while still be seated. Then, she buttoned her cardigans and reached for her red cane before standing up.

It was not like she needs the cane to walk around, she can even run over a 50 m distance in 9 seconds but her parents seemed to be worried if she did not do that so she is walking with something that is very unusual for a high-school girl.

However, its handle was specially made; resembling a cute looking curling small cat as she had requested.

At first, she had thought of having a skull decorated one like one that an evil ruler would have but she does not want people to think badly of her. She still has the common sense within her.

The hospital that she is commuting once a week since she was 11, is located in the suburb and has the department of surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology, urology, maternity, and gynecology- anyway, it has almost all the departments and providing most of the medical needs of that region.

Within its ground are lots of greens, and at the entrance, there are rows of Yoshino Cherry trees that were blooming with pinkish white color up till not so long ago and also a few rows of fan palm tree.

Its rear garden is decorated with Flowering Dogwood and Azalea which covered pretty much of the area.

Inside the building, there are a convenience store, hair salon, cafe, and restaurant, and recently they had opened a bookstore too.

In this city at the heart of a prefecture with no specialty that could be sold nationwide, it can be said it has the best facility and environment among other medical care facilities and make one feels at ease to enter or go back and forth.

A good friend of Iwanaga’s father is working there and she also needs to take multiple medical checkups across many departments so a place where everything can be done is better, hence, she has been commuting the hospital for the past seven years.

“Iwanaga-san, I was about to go and wake you up but it seems you are right on time, as always.”

As she walked casually to the examination room, a nurse whose face she often sees reached out for her.

“Even though I look like this, I have a very firm personality after all.”

“No matter how I look at you, it does not seem to be that way..”

Her habit of taking a nap on a rainy day is well-known among the nurses but she has never been late for her checkup.

With height no higher than 150 cm, she has a small body figure that weighs less than 40 kg.

On top of that, she is wearing a beret while walking around holding a cane with elegance, and she speaks as if nothing ever troubles her in her life.

Thus, Iwanaga only looks like a daughter from a rich family that knows nothing about the world, if anything, it is the opposite of the firm personality that she said herself.

And she is indeed a daughter of a rich family.

“Ah, and there is this too.”

The nurse put her face close to Iwanaga’s and spoke with a low voice.

“It seems like Kurou-kun really broke up with his girlfriend.”

Hearing those words, although Iwanaga already predicted it she was nevertheless shocked.

“But they were already at the stage where they promised to get married?”

“I don’t know the details, but yes it is true. His girlfriend is one year older than him, so she graduated first this spring. It seems that she had found a job in another prefecture, maybe that’s the reason?”

Breaking up before it becoming long-distance relationship is not something weird to hear, but it made Iwanaga titled her head.

Since the girlfriend is one year older, it is a given that she will graduate first, and they would have of course, already considered about it.

Unless one is unbelievably thoughtless, it is not something that would become a reason to break up after a month or two.

At this point, Iwanaga does not think that [Kurou-kun] nor his girlfriend are that kind of thoughtless person.

“Anyways, Kurou-kun is here visiting his cousin today too. If things went well, you might see him. So, do your best.”

The nurse said as she smiled giving her some encouragement words. Then her face changed to somewhat sad as she said the following in a low voice.

“And also, that cousin of his, it seems she does not have much time left. She already had it tough for quite a while now, if you don’t act quickly it’ll be hard later on.”

If the person he keeps visiting is no longer in this hospital, her chances to meet him would be gone. It would be a problem indeed.

Afterward, Iwanaga gave a small bow to the sight of the back of the nurse who is returning to her work and headed to the examination room through the damp corridor with her cane.

Now, even if she told me to do my best, what exactly should I do? First things first, I need to get closer to him.

Iwanaga adjusted her beret and walked to the examination room while spinning around her cane.

The first time Iwanaga met [Kurou-kun], a young man named Sakuragawa Kurou was 2 years ago when she was 15. Not long after her last summer vacation as a middle-schooler had started.

That day, Iwanaga was visiting the hospital too, she was hoping for an evening rain as she walked along the corridor after her checkup ended. The young man who was walking in the same direction in front of her somehow managed to fall splendidly backward towards her. It seemed like a kid suddenly appeared from the corner and he lost his balance as he tried to avoid colliding with that kid.

Even though it could not be helped that he lost his balance, she thought there is a lot other safer ways of losing balance other than that. She could not just stay quiet there and do nothing so she moved forth a few steps to stop and support the falling young man.

The young man has a slender figure but he is about 30 cm taller than Iwanaga. Although he looked weak his weight would still be close to double that of hers.

Even then, she had a ‘third leg’ which is her cane as the third point to support her stand. In addition, she had made it a habit to train her arms so her arms are stronger than a normal girl.

She hugged him with her right hand to stop him, gracefully succeeded to prevent a horrible accident of young man hitting the back of his head to the floor to death.

“Are you alright?”

“Ah, this is… Thank you.”

The young man had braced himself for the fall but he was perplexed when someone had managed to hold and support him firmly from behind, and that ‘someone’ was just a young girl, or perhaps a little girl. On top of that, that girl was holding a cane.

As a man, his current position was somewhat nice and somewhat bad but it was not something that he could help. The young man immediately let himself go from Iwanaga’s hand and fixed his stand.

“You saved me, ah, and sorry.”

“Then, if you would remember me as someone who saved your life for the rest of your lifetime, it would be great.”

“I don’t think it was that kind of big deal..”

But he stopped there and then said-

“I see, in some cases it would normally be a dangerous situation. I’ll remember it.”

as he looked downwards to her and laughed.

That was Sakuragawa Kurou, 20-year-old at that time.

Iwanaga, at that time, felt that the young man was similar to a mountain goat.

Maybe it would be more correct to say ‘she had seen through’ rather than ‘she felt’.

A small creature that always spaced out eating grass real slowly, and it might had spent its entire life spacing out but it strangely gives a feeling of living.

That is right, you must not make light of a goat as just an animal that eats grass.

They are nimble creatures, and they can live easily on higher ground or wild land.

And, some species of the mountain goats have a pair of strong horns. Like those of Oni’s horn.

And the young man was giving not a simple feeling of sharpness about himself.

Is this what people called love at first sight. Iwanaga came to a realization as she looked up to the young man whom she did not even know the name, and was about to ask him if he had anything planned afterward when a nuisance entered the scene.

“What are you doing, Kurou-kun. How embarrassing.”

It was a woman who is slightly taller than Kurou and seemed to be at the same age as him.

She was wearing fit trousers on those long and slender nice-looking legs, her motionless black straight hair was grown up till the bottom of her neck.

The woman was giving a feeling of a great vigor. It felt like even if she were right in a middle of a typhoon her feet, no, even her eyebrows would not move a bit.

“Saki-san. I was saved by this girl.”

“Yes, I saw that. It was because you were spacing out again, geez.”

The woman called Saki interrupted Kurou’s words making an angry-like expression and then looked at Iwanaga with an apologetic face and lowered her head.

“Sorry for troubling you, and thanks.”

Why are you the one apologizing, was what Iwanaga going to say when she was about to raise her hand to complain but the woman put her hand on Kurou’s head making him lower his head, and as if not giving Iwanaga any moment to speak,  she casually put her hand around Kurou’s arm as if it was normal and pulled him away towards the corner and they were gone.

Iwanaga was considering the possibility of that woman being his older sister or his relative or possibly his younger sister, but when she thought about it normally, the woman seemed nothing else but his girlfriend.

Just when she had fallen in love on the first sight, an obstacle suddenly appeared blocking her from trying. What a bad development of a story, she thought.

She had never once mad or hate the vicissitude of fate her entire life but only that time, she was.

Later she tried asking about the young man to the nurses whom she had grown closer with after many years commuting the hospital and she found out some information that she did not expect.

His name is Sakuragawa Kurou and he is a second-year student at the faculty of law of H University, the same university that manages this very university hospital.

He often visits his cousin who was admitted for a long time. And the woman who always with him is indeed his girlfriend, who is his one-year-above senpai.

The both of them have been dating since high school, and he entered the same university to chase after her.

“Although I feel bad for you Kotoko-chan, but Kurou-kun is impossible I think. You see, he is quite good-looking and he seems like a good person so some of the nurses tried to make a small talk with him but all he ever talks is about his girlfriend with a happy face.”

“That wasn’t a pleasant thing to see, isn’t it?”

That said, even if he really likes that woman called Saki, Saki does not necessarily likes him the way he does.

“Oh and also, that girlfriend of his too, whenever she saw Kurou-kun is talking happily with the nurse, she went and got herself between them with a smile on her face, and without ruining the mood she grabbed him away and went off somewhere else. At first, they didn’t come here together, I think she realized that some of the nurses were going after him, so now she often comes along with him.”

“Well, she does look like a strong-willed woman.”

“Maybe because she has a strong sense to monopoly things to herself. If you think about it again, it feels like she also is quite in love with Kurou-kun.”

“So you mean I have no chance of winning?”

“Kurou-kun’s type is a girl like her so, I doubt he’ll even consider you as a love target.”

That woman called Saki is a woman with an adult charm, smart and tall. Although she looks slender but she looks like she exercises her body often, plus her slim well-grown hair, she is indeed a beautiful woman.

On the other hand, Iwanaga also has a slender body but her figure looks like a little girl.

Her hair looks fluffy and mostly curly at the end, and look-wise she does not look like someone with a good brain.

Although she has a small hope for the future as she is still growing phase, but looking at her family she could not expect much.

“Well, anything could happen, so maybe it’s fine if you don’t want to give up right yet.”

That nurse said that but from the way she spoke, what she meant was quite obvious, the complete opposite of what she had said, telling her to take her time to give up as she slapped Iwanaga’s back.

And, sometimes the ‘things’ that often appear around her also-

“Princess, please give up on ‘that’. ‘That’ is different one. ‘That’ is very fearful one.”

had repeatedly warned her.

And so, two years had passed from their met.

Iwanaga often sees Kurou 2 or 3 times a month at the hospital and observes him but she never did go and talk to him ( Saki was with him most of the times. Just when one thought she is not there, she will appear very soon after), but she occasionally heard about his current circumstances from the nurses.

About when the both of them graduated, they promised to get married, about that they already done meeting each other’s parents, and even about their engagement plan.

She could not escape from hearing such news and kept hearing them till the end of last year that she felt like throwing her beret hat to the wall and pouting in sadness.

And then, this April.

Kurou was alone all by himself at the hospital’s lobby when she saw him.

Looking down at the floor and seemed extremely down. There were eye bags around his eyes too.

Later, she went around asking the nurses a few times, to ask them to confirm whether if he had broken up with her girlfriend or not but without making it too obvious.

“Now that you’ve said it, he didn’t talk about her anymore since February I think. Wait, I think he didn’t even talk to anyone here that often anymore.”

So one of the nurses said while frowning her eyebrows.

And today Iwanaga had confirmed that her judgment was correct.

Although she could not say whether this means a chance for her or not.

But if she did not try to talk to him soon enough, the only one thing that would connect her with Kurou would be gone.

Given that Kurou is doing fine with his study, he should be able to graduate this year, and if he managed to find a job, that would put a limit on how many times he could come to the hospital later on.

And it would be even worse if he had to move away from the city or even the prefecture, just like the nurse had warned her before, he would not be able to come for a visit to the hospital anymore.

The truth is, she had heard that cousin of that person had repeatedly attempted to kill herself, and twice a month she is brought to the emergency room to be revived, and also about her being a key person in some sort of factional dispute which made Iwanaga wants to say “what the hell is that”. She had heard a lot of such rumors.

As for Iwanaga, she does not know whether the rumors were true or not.

And it would not be strange if one day, such person suddenly died from something unexpected.

Since the nurse had gone out to tell her to act quickly, so the situation must be pretty bad, she thought.

Then, this is a chance that she must not let escaped. After the check-up just to see whether her condition is the same as always had ended without a hitch, she thought of the place where Kurou probably be in the hospital.

The rain was still pouring when her check-up ended, and she would probably be sleeping on the bench outside till the time for the bus to arrive before going home like she always does but today she can not afford to do that.

She found Kurou without much effort. He had just sat on the very same bench where Iwanaga had about half an hour ago, watching the flowering dogwood that still blooming after the sakura season being hit by the rain with his leg crossed and a paper cup in his hand that he brought close to his mouth.

Within these 2 years, he did not get taller, or gain more muscle nor more weight like Iwanaga expected him to be.

Although he did not seem to have a mature look as an adult, his appearance did not change much since the first time she met him.

With hair just at the length enough to cover his ears, he looks like a tall guy that will try his best not to get in the way of other people.

Today he was wearing a deep blue jeans and white T-shirt plus a thin jacket with wilting grass color, without any decoration on his body. Just a plain-looking guy. And he does not look like a forceful person.

However, if one look at him closely, his face is not bad at all, and everything that he wears suits him quite nicely because of his balanced hand and leg proportion.

In school, class or workplace, this type of man is not the most popular type but looking at the reality, it is the most reasonable type to date. And it is rumored among the girls, dating such man is considered as hitting a jackpot, probably.

Saki had been holding him close since high-school. Although it is frustrating, Iwanaga had to admit that she has an eye for man. But now that they had broken up, she will have him instead.

Iwanaga, while trying to make less footstep and cane noises as possible, approached the bench.

“Hello, it’s been a while.”

She spoke to him from the side. Kurou turned his head and looked up towards the girl, he did not seem to be surprised at her appearance, instead, he was showing a puzzled expression.

“Uhm–m, who are you?”

“It looks like you have forgotten the face of the one who saved your life.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ve ever been in a life-threatening situation for the past 10 years.”

“About 2 years ago, at this very hospital.”

Kurou knitted his eyebrows, trying to bring out the memories.

“Ah, that girl told me if I might have died if I fell on the back of my head, but that girl wasn’t wearing a beret hat at that time.”

“Are you remembering girls by their hat?”

Forget the face, he did not even remember the most standing out point; a girl with a cane. It made Iwanaga questioned his memory.

Even though he said he will remember it, this is why men can not be trusted.

Kurou who could not make a good excuse to save his face lifted his hip a little and moved a bit to the left from where he was sitting.

“Sorry, I’m not good at remembering girls’ faces. When I did remember them, it put Saki-san in a bad mood.”

That woman’s desire to hog him for herself was really strong after all. Iwanaga felt annoyed hearing that name so she took off her hat as she sat next to Kurou and looked up at Kurou while still gripping her cane with her left hand.

“Well then, once again, please remember this. My name is Iwanaga Kotoko. It is spelled with “Gan” from “Ganseki” (rock) and”Ei” from “Eien” (eternity), “Koto” like the musical instrument and “Ko” of “Kodomo” (child). I’m seventeen-year-old right now. I’m a lively type of person.”

“Un, I won’t forget it this time.”

“You’d better do, since I heard you have already broken up with Saki-san.”

Kurou’s hand that was about to bring the paper cup to his mouth stopped mid-air.

“How did you?”

“I have been frequenting this hospital for close to 7 years now, and I am on good terms with the nurses, I’m doing them favors sometimes. So, I am able to get information out of them. Information like; your name is Sakuragawa Kurou, 22-year-old this year and you’ve been visiting your cousin in this hospital for more than 3 years now.”

“I wonder what happened to the protection of people’s personal information in this hospital.”

“They said their duty to protect it doesn’t extend to visitors, however.”

“Is that how it is?”

“It does sound suspicious right? But of course, they didn’t tell me your cousin’s name, which department and what block, or what reason she’s admitted for.”

She has an interest in knowing, but there are things people do not want others to know, and there are things that others should not pry into.

Kurou gazed off into the distance.

“It’s better if you don’t know. Reasons for long-term hospitalization is not a very interesting thing to hear.”

Iwanaga too thinks that the reason why she is commuting the hospital is not something interesting either. But, if they asked, she’d tell them what they want to hear.

“Speaking of which, I heard that cousin of yours won’t last any much longer.”

“Well, the person herself doesn’t seem to be wanting to live anymore.”

No matter what she said, this kind of topic probably would not get any livelier.

In the first place, it is not about his cousin that Iwanaga wants to talk about.

“So, about the story of you and Saki-san breaking up early this spring.”

“My personal information isn’t being protected at all, isn’t it.”

“That was because you were thoughtlessly responded to those young nurses when they asked you for a needless chat.”

However, Iwanaga still does not know much about that woman called Saki; not even her last name nor her kanji spelling.

She also has no idea about her position in society.

There is a limit to the information you can get from just rumors inside the hospital.

It is likely, that even if Kurou talked about himself, he would not irresponsibly talk about his friend or acquaintance as he should know what is safe to talk about and what is not.

It is not like he is that thoughtless.

But when one is talking to young and charming nurses cheerfully, personally she would see it as being thoughtless.

“Anyways, you are clearly in single-status right now. Are you interested in trying for another meeting for a fresh start?”

“Can you just say what your main point is?”

“Would you go out with me, with the purpose of getting married? I’ve been holding on this one-sided love for the past 2 years, and I’ve been waiting for this moment to come.”

For Iwanaga, choosing to stand still when the chance has come to her does not suit her, so just like Kurou had asked, she skipped to the main point and looked right into Kurou’s eyes as she said it.

Kurou himself finally showed some interest in the girl sitting next to him. It would be fine if he kept his guard strong, but he did not even try to make a distance, instead readjusted his sitting posture and moved his gaze to her, from the whorl of her hair to toes, and then to the tip of her nose.

“Didn’t expect you are a straightforward type from your look. And bad at letting things go too, for waiting for 2 years.”

“Destiny is something that you can wait for.”

“But dating a middle-school girl is forbidden by law..”

“I just told you, I am 17, a high-school girl! Next year, I’m planning to take the entrance exam at your university. Is your memory capacity is equal to that of a chicken?!”

Her growth has been in stagnation since middle-school, hence, it is not strange if she was mistaken as one, but this man might mean it for real.

“Oh, it looks like you often get mad the way normal people do.”

“How rude, only sometimes.”

Squids or octopuses change their body build according to the situation to protect themselves or attacking prey. Even human body does the same reacting to the current situation. Although, between that kind body change and this kind of body change, the things they indicate are somewhat different.

Kurou put the empty paper cup on the bench and tried to cover his mouth as he started to chuckle.

This person was laughing carefree, with a pleasant laugh.

Iwanaga who still a bit mad was charmed by it.

When she thought about it, this was the first time in her two years of one-sided love, she was standing so close to him and breathing the same air as him.

This time, it was not because of the body change that her heart was beating faster, so she played with her front hair to calm herself.

Kurou who was sitting beside her was still in small laughter as he turned his gaze to the dark distant sky.

“I was joking. That was quite fun. To be confessed by a high-school girl, I never thought someone would want me after getting dumped. It has been a while since I’m in this good mood.”

Hearing a positive-looking guy saying gloomy words made Iwanaga tilted her head.

“Saki-san must have said something really bad to you when she dumped you.”

“It is not Saki-san’s fault.”

“But still, she is the one who dumped you.”

Although she did not want to admit it, it seemed like Kurou still has some attachments left with Saki.

Two months had passed since they had broken up, so the only thinkable reason is either he is slow for a switch over or there is an inevitable reason for them to break up.

“We had been dating since around high school, and there was a time where we were in long-distance relationship but we managed to overcome it, I even went to met her parents at fall last year, and we’d talked about getting engaged next year too, and it felt like an avalanche just hit us when we had to break up.”

It was not a story that one would tell someone that one just met for the first time.

Perhaps he was trying to reject Iwanaga’s confession sincerely.

Or maybe he just wanted to clear up the feeling in his chest by turning them into words, telling someone his whole story which he had not been able to do before.

Since for him, Iwanaga who seems like a child is someone he would not meet anywhere else except for this hospital, so she would be a good listening partner for it.

Kurou put the fingers of his right hand on his forehead.

“There was nothing I could do. I mean, I get it in my head but there was a lot of things I still couldn’t come to believe. So, I don’t think I could date someone else for a while now.”

“Specifically?”

“Eh?”

Iwanaga suddenly lifted up the cane in her hand and pointed it close to Kurou’s nose tip.

“Specifically, what is the reason that made your relationship fell unseemly into collapse just before your engagement?”