Children's section.
Harumi stared at the shelves like someone facing an impossible math problem.
Shoes.
Small shoes.
Even smaller shoes.
Shoes that seemed to exist purely to humiliate unprepared adults.
Mei ran between the shelves holding a tiny pink shoe.
"Haru! This one!"
Harumi took it.
Turned it around.
Looked at the tag.
Blink.
Turned it again.
"…Takeru."
"Hmm."
"What does 'size 26' mean?"
"That it's size 26."
"BUT 26 WHAT?!"
Takeru sighed.
The sigh of someone who had already lost faith in humanity.
"Centimeters."
Harumi's eyes widened.
"BUT HER FOOT ISN'T TWENTY-SIX CENTIMETERS!"
"No."
"Maybe we could try it—"
Harumi was interrupted by a GIANT sign:
"Please DO NOT try on clothes or shoes."
"…Apparently not."
Silence.
Harumi pinched the bridge of her nose.
"We need to measure."
"We could look at the label."
"THE LABEL ISN'T HELPING!!"
Harumi turned dramatically and marched toward the school supplies section.
Five minutes later she returned with a 15-centimeter ruler.
Takeru looked at the ruler.
Then at Mei's foot.
Then at Harumi.
"…."
"We measure it in two parts," Harumi said with absolute confidence.
"That doesn't sound scientific."
"TRUST ME."
They sat on the floor of the store.
Right in the middle of the aisle.
Between unicorn backpacks.
Harumi placed the ruler on Mei's foot.
"Okay… start here…"
She marked the spot with her finger.
Moved the ruler.
Tried to align it.
"Wait."
The ruler slipped.
"Wait."
Mei giggled.
"That tickles!"
"DON'T MOVE!"
Takeru watched like a scientist observing a failing experiment.
"So how much is it?"
Harumi looked at the ruler.
"Fifteen."
"…."
"Plus another piece."
"How much?"
Harumi started counting on her fingers.
"Fifteen… plus… fifteen…"
"Thirty."
"NO WAIT!"
She measured again.
"Hold on."
Measured again.
"I think it got bigger."
"Her foot does not grow in thirty seconds."
"I'M UNDER PRESSURE!!"
A store employee walked past and saw the scene.
One adult.
Two kids.
One foot.
One school ruler.
She decided not to get involved.
Harumi took a deep breath.
"Okay. Last try."
They measured.
Again.
And again.
AND AGAIN.
By some statistical miracle, they finally reached a believable number.
"…I think it's 16."
"I think so too."
"It could also be 17."
"Don't buy 17."
"Okay."
They bought size 16.
A miracle.
Survival.
A victory for humanity.
Izumi reappeared from time to time.
"Have you guys seen a cute skinny Korean guy?"
"No."
"He was here!"
"Never met him."
"LIAR."
Takeru pretended he had never seen that girl in his life.
Mei spun around in her new clothes.
"LOOK!!"
"Very nice!" Harumi said.
"LOOK!!"
"Very nice!!"
"LOOK!!"
"VERY NICE!"
When they finally left…
Five shopping bags.
Twelve items Harumi didn't remember putting in the cart.
One lost sock.
And zero physical energy.
The sun had already disappeared behind the mountains.
The little house was quiet.
Still.
Cozy.
Smelling faintly of wood.
Harumi opened the door.
PLOC.
The light flickered.
Once.
Twice.
And died.
Silence.
"…Huh?"
Harumi pressed the switch.
Nothing.
Pressed again.
Nothing.
Izumi turned on her phone flashlight and pointed it at her own face like a ghost.
"Harumi…"
"—AAAAH!! IZUMI, YOU SCARED ME!!"
"Did you pay the electricity bill?"
Absolute silence.
Harumi blinked.
Once.
Twice.
"…I…"
Izumi crossed her arms.
"Harumi."
"…."
"Did you pay it?"
"I DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD TO PAY IT IN THE FIRST WEEK!!"
"OF COURSE YOU DO!!"
"I THOUGHT THERE WAS AN ADJUSTMENT PERIOD!!"
"ELECTRICITY DOESN'T RUN ON GOOD INTENTIONS!!"
Harumi took a deep breath.
Then another.
"…Okay."
Dramatic pause.
"We'll light candles."
"Harumi."
"Rustic atmosphere."
"Harumi."
"Like a samurai movie."
"That's not a style."
"Then what is it?!"
"Energy poverty."
Harumi turned to argue—
Tripped on a shopping bag.
THUMP.
"AAAH!!"
"HARUMI?!"
"I'M… STRETCHING MY BACK!!"
"ON THE FLOOR?!"
"YES!!"
Mei ran over.
"Haru, are you alive?"
"Only my pride died."
Takeru sighed.
The heavy sigh of a boy who had already lived too much.
"I'll go to my house."
Harumi froze.
"…Huh?"
"My grandpa's house."
"…."
"We don't have to sleep here tonight."
Harumi's heart STOPPED.
"Y-Y-Y-YOU'RE LEAVING?!"
"NOOOO!!" Mei immediately burst into tears.
In the darkness, Harumi tried to find the girl.
She tripped on the table.
The chair.
Her own dignity.
"WHERE ARE YOU?!"
"I'M HERE!!"
"WHERE?!"
"HERE!!"
"THAT DOESN'T HELP!!"
Takeru sighed.
"I'm just going to get blankets."
Silence.
Mei stopped crying.
"Blankets?"
"There are more there."
Harumi narrowed her eyes.
"Oh."
"…."
"You have more blankets?" Harumi asked.
"We do."
"Is the house warm?"
"…It's a house."
"But is it good?"
"…It's a house."
"BUT DOES IT HAVE ELECTRICITY?!"
"DON'T YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOU WENT THERE?!"
"…Oh. That house…"
He sighed.
"Let's go."
Grandpa's House
Also known as:
The place where hope goes to die.
The street was dark.
Windy.
Izumi lit the path with her phone.
"3% battery," she announced.
"GREAT," Harumi said. "A foretold tragedy."
They stopped in front of the house.
Old.
Very old.
So old it looked like even the ghosts had already moved out.
The door opened.
CREEEEEEEK.
Harumi's eyes widened.
"YOU LIVED HERE?!"
"Yes."
She pointed at the wall.
Mold.
A lot of mold.
"YOU BREATHED THIS?!"
"There wasn't anywhere else."
Mei spoke quietly.
"It was dark… but Takeru let us stay close together."
Takeru turned red.
Instantly.
The entire house got about five degrees warmer.
Harumi felt her heart turn into jelly.
"…THAT'S SO CUTE!!!"
She patted Takeru's head.
Took a deep breath.
"We'll grab what we can."
"…."
"And you two are never sleeping here again."
"Tch."Takeru was clearly annoyed.
Mei opened a chest.
Inside there were:
Two blankets.
One crooked pillow.
And an old patched teddy bear.
"KURA-CHAN!!"
Mei hugged the bear.
"YOU'RE NEVER RUNNING AWAY FROM ME AGAIN!!"
Plush silence.
Harumi blinked.
"His name is Kura-chan?"
"Yes!"
"Okay."
Pause.
"I CANNOT CONFUSE KUMA-CHAN WITH KURA-CHAN!!"
"They're different," Mei explained.
"THEY'RE BOTH BEARS TO ME!!"
Back Home
Total darkness.
Izumi placed candles on the table.
Harumi immediately tripped over one.
"HARUMI ARE YOU TRYING TO BURN THE HOUSE DOWN?!"
"THE FLOOR HATES ME!!"
"STOP BLAMING THE FLOOR!!"
Takeru placed the blankets on the tatami.
Mei sat down hugging Kuma-chan and Kura-chan.
Harumi sighed.
"Alright."
"…."
"No one's taking a bath today."
Izumi raised her hand immediately.
"PERFECT!"
Harumi narrowed her eyes.
"You don't like baths, do you?"
"I do."
"LIAR."
Harumi smiled.
"Sooo…"
In the darkness, she made a scary face.
"Let's all sleep together?!"
"No," Izumi replied.
Pause.
"But we don't have another option."
"EXACTLY!!"
Harumi pulled the blankets around them.
"Human burrito!!"
Mei laughed.
Takeru hated it.
But stayed anyway.
Izumi blew out the candle.
In total darkness…
Four breaths blended together.
The house had no electricity.
But it had never felt more lit up.
"Good night," Harumi murmured.
"Good night," Mei said.
"Mm," Takeru replied.
"Good night… but if anyone snores, I kick," Izumi added.
Harumi smiled.
And fell asleep there.
Hugging one teddy bear.
Another teddy bear.
And the beginning of a home.
Important observation:
Five minutes later…
The retired samurai who refused to lie down…
Was snoring inside the human burrito.