Perpetual September

The Nagase family was heading to a well known hot spring resort. Little Hitomi had never been to a hot spring in her short life, so she was far more excited than her parents.

"What's the first thing we should do when we get to the resort?" asked Shiro, carefully navigating the family car through the rain on the mostly empty forest road.

"We should unpack first then have dinner. How does that sound, Hitomi-chan?" asked Noriko, looking back at her daughter in the back seat.

"Can we have hot dogs?" asked Hitomi.

"I don't know if hot dogs are on the menu," said Shiro.

"We'll be having something a lot better than hot dogs for dinner," said Noriko. "But do you know what we're going to have after we eat dinner?" asked Noriko, a large smile on her face.

"What?" asked Hitomi.

"We're going to have a chocolate cake for your mom's birthday," answered Shiro before his wife could.

"I like chocolate!" exclaimed Hitomi.

"Your dad likes chocolate more than any of us," said Noriko. "But I like carrot cake more," she whispered to Hitomi as she playfully tickled her daughter. The ultra colorful bracelets on Noriki's wrist danced in sync with her arm's movements.

"You'll like it there," said Shiro. "Me and your mom went there for our honeymoon. We haven't been there since. I wonder what changes they've made since our last visit."

"There's a really nice old couple that runs the place," said Noriko. "I think they said they had been married for thirty years the last time we were there. I can't believe it's been such a long time since we were last there. We had such an amazing time."

"I wonder if they're still married," said Shiro.

"Of course they are," said Noriko. "A love like theirs can stand the test of time. They kind of reminded me of us."

"We were so young," said Shiro. "It was the only resort we could afford on my salary."

"It was only seven years ago," said Noriko. "We haven't aged that much since then. Well, I haven't aged that much."

Shiro ran his fingers through his hair. "I haven't lost that much hair since we got married, have I?" he joked.

"If you've lost any hair, it's because of that job of yours," said Noriko. "They work you so hard over there. I'm surprised they gave you time off."

"They do keep me busy," said Shiro with a chuckle. "But it's very important work."

"Why is it important?" asked Hitomi.

"Your dad makes machines that will help people do all kinds of things," said Noriko. "Your dad is a genius."

"Please, you're embarrassing me," joked Shiro. "But don't stop. Say more nice things about me."

"One day your dad is going to make a machine so amazing that it will help people solve any problem," said Noriko.

"Dad is amazing," said Hitomi.

"He is," said Noriko, now staring longingly at her husband.

Shiro took hold of his wife's hand.

It was immediately after the two had taken hold of each other's hand when an oncoming logging truck lost control and swerved into the opposite lane, hitting the Nagase family head on.

Hitomi's alarm clock began beeping, taking her from her dream and back to the waking world. She sluggishly reached for the off button and shut it off.

At sixteen years old, Hitomi had already come to the same tired routine that people many years older than her found themselves in. Up in the morning, off to school, then back home to prepare to do the same thing the next day. Day after day, her routine never changed.

After bathing and dressing, Hitomi headed for the front door.

"Hitomi-chan," said Shiro, suddenly appearing from the kitchen. "Do you want breakfast?"

The years had been unkind to Shiro, who looked far older than a man his age should look. It wasn't just the toll of working such a stressful job that had left him balding and wrinkled, it was the constant worrying about a daughter who had shut herself away from the rest of the world. The accident years prior had also left Shiro with a noticeable limp when he walked.

"I'm running late," said Hitomi, her voice gentle and difficult to hear. "I'll see you tonight." And with that, Hitomi departed, not once making eye contact with her father.

Hitomi got to school with some time to spare. She sat in the back of the class, which was just the way she liked it. Hitomi wanted as little attention on her as humanly possible.

Like every other morning, Hitomi stared blankly out the window as she waited for her teacher to arrive.

"Hitomi-chan," said a girl's voice.

Hitomi's concentration was broken after hearing the voice with which she was quite familiar. Kana was as close to what could be considered a friend to Hitomi. The two were much closer in their younger days, but as they got older, Hitomi began to distance herself from everybody more and more.

"You weren't at school yesterday," said Kana.

"I wasn't feeling well," said Hitomi, her voice as gentle as always.

"Keiko and me are getting ice cream after school. Come with us. Keiko's going to pay because I've been letting her copy my math homework, so she owes me."

"I don't know," said Hitomi.

"Please," said Kana. "We never get to hang out anymore."

Hitomi's teacher walked into the classroom, meaning Kana would have to head to her own homeroom class.

"We'll be waiting for you out by the front gate," said Kana before departing.

Hitomi gave in to Kana's request and joined her and Keiko after school. The three headed to a cafe Hitomi was very familiar with. Her parents used to take her there often during a much happier time in her life.

Though she didn't say much, Hitomi was enjoying her time with her classmates. She felt a little out of her comfort zone, however, as she was far more accustomed to spending time alone rather than with others.

The topics that night centered around which boys the girls hoped would profess their love to them to which teachers were the most likely to look the other way when turning in a late assignment to which anime characters they were the most like. For at least one night, Hitomi felt like a regular high school girl.

With Keiko seated across from Hitomi and Kana, she was able to take in the uncanny resemblance the girls shared.

"Why do you keep staring at us?" asked Kana.

"I can't believe how much you two look alike," said Keiko. "You could be sisters."

"We don't look that much alike," replied Kana.

"Maybe you two were separated at birth," joked Keiko.

"Some people believe that everyone has a double somewhere in the world," said Hitomi.

"Yeah," said Kana. "What's it called?"

"A doppelganger," replied Hitomi.

"That's what you are," said Keiko, pointing at Kana. "You two are each other's doppelganger."

Hitomi and Kana began laughing.

Kana wadded up a napkin and threw it at Keiko. "Let's hope we never meet your doppelganger," she said.

"My doppelganger would be amazing," said Keiko. "We would take over the world together."

With both of her arms on the table, Hitomi moved back in her seat causing her sleeves to roll up and expose her wrists, both of which were covered with colorful bracelets.

"Those are so cool," said Keiko before reaching across the table and attempting to grab Hitomi by the wrists.

Hitomi pulled her arms away with incredible quickness. "Sorry," she said gently. "They belonged to my mom. I never let anyone touch them."

Kana flashed Keiko a look, prompting Keiko to immediately give an apology. "Sorry, Hitomi-chan," she said. "I didn't know."

After their night of frivolity was over, the girls headed back home. Kana and Keiko headed home in the opposite direction, leaving Hitomi to travel home alone. It was one of the safer areas of the city, so she had no reservations about walking alone after the sun had already gone down.

For some reason, the city felt more quiet than usual on Hitomi's walk down empty city streets. The silence was broken only when she was forced to wait for a passing train.

Feeling as if someone was now behind her, Hitomi quickly spun around but found no one there.

When the train had passed, Hitomi continued with her journey, though with a little more urgency than before.

In only a few short minutes, Hitomi was back home. "I'm home," she announced, taking her shoes off.

"Welcome home," said Shiro, entering the living room. "Are you hungry? I bought a cake."

Hitomi looked down at the floor. "I'm . . . not hungry," she said.

"Are you sure? It's carrot cake."

"I'm sure," said Hitomi before making her way up the stairs and to her room.

With Hitomi having turned down his offer, Shiro sat alone at the dining room table to eat his slice of carrot cake. Placed before the seat across from his was a second plate Shiro had prepared for Hitomi.

Looking at the picture of Noriko beside his plate was enough to bring tears to Shiro's eyes. "Happy birthday, Noriko," he said.

Up in her room, Hitomi was sitting in the dark at her desk while staring at an old family photo. Hitomi was no more than four or five years old in the photo, so she didn't remember all that well where it had been taken. The thing she liked most about the photo was how big the smile on everyone's face was, especially her mother's.

Hitomi wiped the tears from her eyes before they could begin a descent down her face.

Sure that she had seen something move out of the corner of her eye, Hitomi immediately went to her window. There was nothing out of the ordinary on the dark street below. But just to be on the safe side, Hitomi closed the curtains.