“What would happen if we met in real life?”

“... Maybe don’t ask those kinds of questions when I just woke up?”

Two weeks had passed since we first ‘lived’ together. I checked the clock, showing the usual time of seven in the morning. I brought my eyes from the bedside table where my phone sat up to the ceiling, my vision landed on a set of eyes before me, her cedar brown eyes looking back at me with a grin on her face. 

“Is that a question you’re supposed to ask with that kind of expression?”

“Is something wrong?"

"You look like a scammer trying to scam me." 

"With the question, I mean." 

"Yeah, that too." 

She pulled her body back, allowing myself to sit upright. I turned around, facing my bed’s upper end. My bed didn’t have a headboard, so what extended beyond the mattress were hard cold walls. Half of Emily’s body was hidden behind it, but her face appeared from behind. 

“Do you even have empty space behind there?”

She would occasionally wake me up that way.

“I pushed the bed forward.”

“You’re willing to go that far?”

She tilted her head. 

“I need some space to adjust my position, remember? Besides, it’s not like I push it into another room or something.”

Emily said and circled around. As usual, she already wore her outdoor clothes, ready for yet another day at college. 

"So, what do you think will happen if we met in real life?"

She asked as sat down beside me. 

"Why are you asking?" 

"Come on, just answer." 

She said while elbowing me playfully. Questions like these tend to be filled with hidden meaning, her rather sparkling expression not helping in deciphering them. I crossed my arms and turned the other way. 

"Not answering until you tell me your reasons." 

"Urgh, fine… I'm returning home next weekend for my sister's wedding." 

"Olivia?" 

I had played at Emily's home a few years ago. If I wasn't mistaken, she had a sister that at the time worked as an intern at a large company. It had been a few years since then, time sure passed by quickly. 

“... Isn’t there a better way to say that you simply want to meet me?”

“You’re so full of yourself. Now come on, go and get changed.”

She pushed me onto my feet. 

"Well, I wouldn't be Simon if I'm not full of Simon, would I?" 

"Stop making dad jokes, you don't even have a girlfriend." 

"Ouch." 

She stood up and pushed me toward the wall beside my bedside table, sandwiched between it and the wardrobe. I decided to not do anything and let myself stop at the wall. She tilted her head, looking forward, but she couldn’t see the obstacle standing in my way.

“...?”

“You’re pushing me in the wrong direction.”

“Ah, of course! My bad.”

She let go of me and stepped aside. She watched as I passed her, before turning and looking away. I really appreciate how considerate she had been so far. 

“So, when are you coming back?”

I asked as I undressed myself for my morning shower. Even after two entire weeks, I still felt a bit uncomfortable knowing that she always stood there. She probably felt the same.

“Next weekend.”

“Date?”

“Friday the twentieth.”

“Alright, looking forward to seeing you.”

I glanced toward her, who stood right before the bathroom door, her back facing me. Despite seeing her from behind, I somehow felt that she smiled. 

“Yeah, me too.”

 

I checked my clock, it was already three pm. It had been twenty minutes since she sent me a message telling me that she had entered the terminal. I stood right before the arrival gate, looking at the passengers that flooded the area. Some travelers headed straight toward the taxis or parking lot, while others had a reunion with their loved ones. As I looked past each person, looking for her light brown hair and short stature, I felt a vibration from inside my pocket. 

I brought my phone up and checked the message. 

“Why are you looking so restless?”

I was surprised at how she was able to see me, so I looked around the gate, my eyes jumping from one person to another.

Only to remember that she was literally behind me. I turned back, my eyes landed on hers. She looked surprised at my sudden gaze. Her fingers then moved quickly above the empty air. 

“Is something wrong?”

“Nothing. I just forget that I can just turn back to look at you.”

Emily didn’t reply and averted her gaze. She let out a cute hmmph sound. I wonder if she was angry that for a moment, I forgot she ‘existed’. Her eyes then caught something, and she lightly jogged toward it. She reached out her hand and pulled something. She pulled the thing up, I assumed her luggage, and set it down. She pressed a part of it and pulled something out. Holding the end of that thing, she continued her steps, dragging the thing behind her with her. She walked through the crowd, swerving left and right, although in my sight, she simply moved to my left, ending up inside a man. 

She then stopped and widened her eyes, prompting me to look at the gate. 

There she was, standing below the gate, a black suitcase in her hand. Our gazes met, and I felt the air caught in my breath. 

After three long years, we finally met each other again, directly. I glanced to my left, where her ‘shadow’ used to be. Emily, meanwhile, made a light jog toward me. She turned right and exited the metal fences that were used to divide the visitor area from the baggage area. 

“Umm… hi… long time no see.”

“Yeah… You look… good.”

It felt awkward. I wondered if offering myself to pick her up was the wrong move. 

“Should we… go?”

“Yeah.”

“Should I…?”

I pointed toward the suitcase. She looked away, clenching her left fist in her chest. She let me take the suitcase from her, looking timid for some reason. I turned around and headed for the parking lot, thinking that it would be better for us if we talked in the car, where there would be just the two of us. We navigated the wide airport hallways, which despite their size, were still filled with people. The suitcase's wheels let out noises as it cruised above the floor.

I took the suitcase and carefully let the suitcase down on the sedan’s trunk. This white sedan wasn’t mine, though. Emily’s family was busy taking care of the necessary preparations, and they were happy to lend me the car when they heard of my offer to take Emily from the airport. 

Emily didn’t say anything and went to the front passenger seat. I made sure the trunk was secured and made my way to the driver’s seat. I inserted the key and turned it to the right, turning the car on. The engine growled to life. I stepped on the gas and made a turn outside of the parking lot.

“So… how’s the flight?”

“Isn’t this a bit… awkward?”

“Straight to the point? I like your style.”

She covered her mouth and let out a laugh. 

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s weird to be awkward now of all times. I enjoyed the flight. It's a bit shaky when we depart, but otherwise, there's no problem.”

“Good to hear.”

Emily reached out for the air conditioning and turned the dial, reducing the temperature. 

“I don’t know you can drive.”

“Just because I don’t drive to university, doesn’t mean I can’t.”

“It’s a pain, isn’t it? Even if my parents offered me to buy a car, I think I’ll still stay with my bike.”

“So you can drive too?”

She glanced at me and snorted. 

“Of course, mr-grown-up. It’s just that unlike you, I don’t have a license yet.”

“You’re older than me, right, auntie?”

“By what, a month? Besides, I simply don’t have the time just yet.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.”

She tapped lightly on my arm. 

“Oh, by the way, did you see what happened back then?”

“You… disappear.”

“Disappear?”

“Eh, but does it count as disappearing when you reappeared right in front of me?”

“I see.”

In my case, the second I looked away from the ‘shadow’, I spotted the ‘real’ Chione, while the ‘shadow’ disappeared completely. 

“So I disappear from in front of you, and reappear behind the metal fence?”

“Yep, but you were beside me when you disappeared, and I didn’t exactly see you disappear. I mean, I looked away, then you’re gone.”

So I didn't see when she actually disappeared. I just happen to look away. 

“I see.”

I wondered about the possible triggers. Did it happen the second we went in range from each other, like maybe when we were a few meters from the other, the shadow would disappear, or was there something else? Since the shadow disappeared when we looked away, maybe when we saw the real one, at that very moment the shadow would disappear? Would we be able to catch the shadow disappearing right before us?

“Should we test it out sometime?”

I asked, but to my surprise, Emily shook her head. 

“I’m only staying till Sunday afternoon.”

“... And?”

“I want to spend time with you.”

She looked at me and flashed me a bright smile, before gazing back at the passing cars. I fell silent, my brain processing her words. 

Spend time with me?

“Well, if you say so.”

Seeing the limits of this phenomenon probably wouldn’t help us out anyway. If anything, it would only leave us even more confused. 

“So, where should we go now?”

Emily put her hand on her chin. Assuming she left for university just before the semester started, then she shouldn’t have spent that much time out of town. There wasn’t enough progress or change worth showing. 

“Do you want me to get you to the hotel? Or maybe your home?”

Emily’s family trusted me to the point that they were willing to give me the keys to their house. They were all busy with the wedding, though, so no one was home. If Emily wanted to go home to maybe look around or pick something up, I can go there, and if she felt tired from the trip, I could deliver her to the hotel for a good rest. She shook her head, however. 

“Let’s go on a quick date.”

“Date, huh? You’re not tired?”

“Nope. I didn’t do that much anyway.”

“Well, your suitcase is pretty light.”

I didn’t know much about a girl's routines. Emily always finished her stuff before I woke up, so I never got the chance to see what her mornings were like. Even if I had the chance, I needed to look away. I assumed that girls had a lot more essentials, though, thus why she needed to bring a suitcase in the first place, but when it came to clothes, I assumed that her family must have some spare in their home. 

I couldn’t ask her about it, though. Knowing what she packed and didn’t pack wouldn’t change a thing. I would rather not pry in private stuff like that, so I trusted her when she said she wasn’t tired. 

“Any place you wanted to visit?”

“There’s a cafe that just opened, saw it in ClockTock the other day.”

She pulled up her phone, which now I can see. It looked a lot cuter than I had originally expected, especially with the pink casing and tiny plastic diamonds embedded into it. 

“Should I set the map?”

“Sure.”

Emily put her phone on the dashboard. I parked the car on the side of the road and took a quick look at the location. After confirming where it was, we continued on our trip. 

 

“What do you want, Simon?”

Emily asked, the menu in her hand. I looked at the list of food items below me. There were a lot of options. I heard the sound of engines flying above me and looked up, finding a large airplane coming in for a landing at the airport. Its massive form glided slowly and disappeared behind the surrounding trees. After a few seconds, the air became calm once more. 

A gentle breeze hit my face as I chose my drink. 

“I’ll take the matcha latte.”

“Anything else? Food maybe? Don’t worry, I’ll be paying.”

“This fettuccine carbonara then.”

“Alright. Wait a bit.”

Emily got up and walked to the cashier. I kept my eye on her back as she stepped away. She made a turn, hiding herself behind a wall. That reminded me about something and I turned around, looking behind me. 

“Eh?”

I heard her voice, clear as if she stood beside me. I brought my eyes toward the direction of her voice. Sure enough, she was beside me, albeit from my eyes, she stood off the platform sitting above the lake, floating there. She gave me a wry smile. I shrugged and turned back toward the table. It didn’t take long for her to reappear in front of me, a receipt in her hand. 

“Guess now we know how it worked.”

She said as she sat down. Spending time with her did admittedly made me forget that I was still stuck with her, our lives were still connected like that. 

Emily reviewed the receipt before storing it in her bag. 

“Maybe I should consider getting a part-time job.”

Emily said. 

“Aren’t your parents paying for you?”

“I couldn’t rely on them forever. Besides, it came with experience.” 

“True. What job, though?”

Ideally, taking one that fits your interest or had something to do with your major would be the best. I didn’t really know what information systems students like her studied. I couldn’t see her writings, after all, so I didn’t really understand which job would be ideal. Another plane passed above me, its loud sound bringing my eyes toward it. As the area became silent once more, a waiter brought out our food. 

He put down my fettuccine and matcha in front of me, while he set down chicken cordon bleu along with black coffee in front of Emily. He bowed his head before returning to his position. 

“Wanna trade?”

Emily asked. I nodded and stabbed my fork into the pasta. I twirled it around and gave the fork to her. She looked taken aback seeing me. 

“Is something wrong?”

“Ah, uh, it’s just… never mind!”

She opened her mouth and chomped down directly on the fork in my hand. I was startled by her actions and held myself from pulling the fork back. I watched her as she chewed the fettuccine in her mouth. She glanced at me before averting her gaze. 

“It’s good…”

She muttered. I looked around. It was fairly crowded, but I hoped no one saw what she just did. I didn’t really get what she was uneasy about, though. I mean, from my eyes, it looked like she felt awkward about something, but instead of saying or talking about it, she chose to take the food directly from my fork, while I was still holding it. Wouldn’t that be even more weird?

Looking at her and how she glanced at me every few seconds, I got the feeling that she didn’t want to talk about it, so I pushed the issue to the back of my mind. I returned the fork to the plate. I twirled it again, picked it up, and brought it up along with the fettuccine to my mouth. I opened my mouth wide and was about to chomp down on it when I realized something. 

The fork hovered in front of my mouth. Emily folded her hands, and while still looking away, uttered something under her breath. 

“Now you get it? Dummy.”

She said in a barely audible tone. Back when we were children, we ate from each other’s foodwares all the time. Well, we didn’t know about indirect kissing at the time.

“Sorry.”

I whispered before sending the fettuccine into my mouth. I attempted to tear my mind away from the kissing part and focused on enjoying my food. 

“How is it?”

She asked, finally turning her eyes toward me. She still looked restless, I guess it must have been a big thing for her. 

“It’s good, really creamy, I like it. And… sorry about earlier.”

“It’s fine. It’s just surprising, that’s all.”

She giggled and let out a smug smile. 

“You’re such a child.”

“Those are my words.”

I sighed and took the matcha latte from the table. I let its sweet taste circle around my mouth. I then brought my eyes on her and thought of a way to take revenge on her. 

“You look cute when you’re laughing.”

I said with a teasing voice. My words did wonders, and I could see her face getting red. 

“That’s unfair!”

She declared before chomping down on her own food.