nebulancer

Izumi Shu's Speech - "Sky-Blue Mug"

“Hyakunen Aoharu. Izumi Shu’s Speech: Sky-Blue Mug.

Please listen to this soliloquy.

There is a single mug in the kitchen in my room.

It has no special patterns or designs, and its shape is one of those simple ones you'd find anywhere.

If I had to give it a special characteristic, I suppose... It would be that the mug is colored a faintly warm, somewhat perfect tint of sky blue.

This mug, which is completely commonplace aside from its color, is a precious treasure which has watched over me for nearly twenty years.

Just by picking up the mug, I vividly remember the summer from when I was an elementary schooler in second grade, as if a switch had been flicked in me.

Until then, I had unconsciously been trying to avoid people. That summer... was when I tried approaching the rest of society very slightly.

My home circumstances were a bit complicated. I didn't understand how much distance to take with others. As a result, I'd felt cut off from those who were the same age as me.

I didn't want people to investigate me. I didn't want people to look at me with curious looks. I didn't want people to invade my personal space.

I suppose the fellow children around me were alert enough to pick up on my feelings.

Since I had mixed blood, even my appearance was slightly out of place. Luckily, it never escalated into anyone bullying me, but I do remember that they surrounded me at a distance.

I'd feel prickling gazes eyeing me, but when I looked where it came from, they'd look away.

If I talked to them, they'd respond to me, but they would rarely start conversations on their own terms.

After school, I'd read books in the library or take walks on the river banks and neighborhoods depending on my mood.

Ever since I started attending elementary school, I had been living like that for a long time.

The turning point for me was the summer vacation in my second grade of elementary school.

A neighbor, a woman who lived in the apartment next to me and my aunt who had been living with me at the time, invited us to come to Mie with her.

Mie was where her family lived, and she was going to return home for the Bon holiday.

She would be driving by car, so she had empty seats available. She would have free time while driving there, so would we like to come with? That was how she asked us.

‘There are mountains and beaches. That’s just about all there is, since it’s so deep in the countryside, but the atmosphere and the vegetables there are scrumptious.’

The woman was in her early thirties at the time. I didn’t know if she was married, but she lived alone.

She was truly big-hearted, with the aura of a virtuous person emanating from her entire body. However, she wasn’t pushy in the slightest. She was a kind person.

Even my aunt, who went out of her way to avoid interacting with others, would have small chats with her. I saw her in a positive light, and I remember thinking when she invited us, I had a twinge of anticipation in my heart. ‘It’d be nice if we could go.’

Perhaps she picked up on my feelings, but that night, my aunt murmured simply, ‘Want to go to Mie?’ She asked me that.

I returned with, ‘I’d like to go, if we can.’

Next morning, my aunt made the request by going through the proper formalities, and a week later, my aunt and I were riding in the car that our neighbor drove. We headed for Mie.

As far as I can remember, it was the very first journey I had ever gone on in my entire life.

My neighbor’s driving was the very same as her personality. She maintained the speed limit, paid attention to traffic lights, and proceeded in a relaxed manner. The other cars would steadily leave her behind, but without even a hint of getting irritated, she laughed, saying, ‘Nice weather we have today, isn’t it?’

The scenery outside of the window gradually shifted from the city buildings to residential buildings. Around the time I started to see fields, the car went on the highway. I remember... her bashfully chuckling that she didn’t want to get on it, since she found it difficult.

Music from all ages played from the radio. My aunt and I, who were already quiet people, typically kept quiet as we listened along. I heavily doubt our neighbor shared the same preferences as us, but even still, she seemed as if she was enjoying herself.

I had fun, too. I’m pretty sure my aunt did as well.

And thus, after a long time in the car, we reached our destination. Five days in Mie.

Even now, I vividly remember each and every single day I spent there.

The forests’ trees.

The richness of the grass.

The raised walking ridges in between the rice fields.

The evening sun setting in between the mountains.

The animal cries, chirping as they changed.

The comfortable morning wind.

My neighbor’s relatives were, like my neighbor, kind people.

They gave a warm welcome to their two rather odd guests, without a single look of unease.

They chopped up a watermelon that had been freshly harvested from the fields. They let me try out some edible wild plants and unusual freshwater fish.

I knew what a mosquito net cover was, but it was the first time I’d ever used one. And as it turned out, a curled anti-mosquito incense also wasn’t just something fictional.

Lastly... the sky-blue mug.

My neighbor’s father did ceramic art as a hobby. When I left, he gave it to me as a souvenir, saying that I could accept it if I wanted.

In the end, he smoothly handed it to me with a, ‘Take it with you.’

And now... Time has passed. Even at this moment, that cup remains in my hands, and I treasure it dearly as I use it.

Just looking at it makes a steady sensation of gentle joy spread throughout me. It’s a special article.

I can feel warmth from that watery sky-blue color.

If it truly were water, I suppose it would feel just as warm as a person.

It feels to me that this cup contains the warmth of another human.

It’s a precious treasure to me.”