When I returned, the apartment smelled as it had the first time I arrived. It was an empty smell, one of old wood and dusty walls. I didn’t know whether that smell had gone away and returned, or whether it had always remained and I had only gotten used

That day after school Misaki and I walked along the river carrying our leather school packs and talked about skipping stones and telling fortunes. She held out her arms and balanced on the wall. I held the straps of my pack and walked on the ground next to her. In