I Drink Every Night With a Lookalike of a Popular Idol on the Riverbank
It was Monday, the start of the week. I arrived at the riverbank early as usual and sat there waiting alone, and when it got dark, Nanase-san came and sat down next to me.
“How was the wedding?”
When I asked her, Nanase-san smiled and said, “It was really wonderful,” with a slightly distant look in her eyes.
“I see… Did you have a cake cutting ceremony and stuff?”
“Huh!? Oh, uh… yeah! They did! They did! But you know… it’s hot, isn’t it…”
Nanase abruptly changed the subject and pointed a handheld fan at her face.
“Well… it is hot, isn’t it… We don’t have to drink here at this time of year… Anyway, I brought something with me today.”
When I smiled and said that, Nanase-san’s eyes lit up and she asked, “What is it?”
“What do you think it is?”
“Oh, it’s one of those annoying questions like, ‘How old do you think I am?’”
“I’ve been asked, ‘What do you think my MBTI type is?’”
“Haha… That’s the final boss of the ‘How old do you think I am?’ series. No matter what you say, it can be taken as an insult depending on how it’s received.”
“Are you an INFP, Nanase-san?”
“What do you think my MBTI type is?”
Nanase-san said that with a slightly mocking tone, puckering her lips. As we both laughed, Nanase-san asked, “So, what did you bring?”
“Oh, right. Here it is.”
I said, taking out a small fireworks set from the convenience store bag. It was incense fireworks.
“Eh… incense fireworks?”
Nanase widened her eyes in surprise.
“Yeah. That’s right. It’s been hot lately, but I thought it would be nice to drink outside.”
“…Yousuke, you’re awesome.”
She smiled softly, looking truly happy.
We stood up with our cans of beer and moved to an open area where we could set off the fireworks, then crouched down together.
“Hey, Yosuke.”
“What?”
“Is it even okay to set off fireworks here?”
“Hmm… you’re right.”
We stood up again, unsure whether it was okay to light them, and looked for a sign. There was a sign that read, “Please refrain from setting off fireworks.”
“It says ‘fireworks,’ so does that mean handheld ones are okay?”
“Well, it’s hard to interpret.”
We both tilted our heads at the same time. When eyes met, Nanase smiled.
“But Nagi might get in trouble. ‘They were setting off fireworks in a place where it’s not allowed!’”
“It’ll go viral, just like fireworks…”
“Hey, that’s a good point. Hmm… there are people doing it over there. Isn’t that okay?”
Where Nanase pointed, a group of college students could be seen playing with handheld fireworks.
The two of us sat down with relief, and I lit the tip of a stick of incense fireworks with a lighter. The faint smell of gunpowder began to drift through the air.
“Hmm… Yosuke, can I share your fire?”
Nanase didn’t use her own lighter, but instead brought her firework close to mine. I gently transferred the flame to the tip of her other firework.
In the darkness, two small orange lights flickered.
“Firework kiss.”
“What… don’t say such strange things! Besides, a firework kiss isn’t like kissing while watching fireworks, is it? This is a kiss firework.”
“Well, that makes me imagine a firework with a kiss mark on it.”
“Then what about this one…?”
“Hmm. It’s a stick of incense kiss.”
“That’s a stick of incense… no, never mind.”
“Hey, Yosuke. Want to bet on which fire lasts longer?”
Nanase said with a mischievous look on her face, like a child who had come up with a prank.
“Betting… like an offline casino?”
“No, we’ll make sure it doesn’t count as gambling. How about the winner gets to ask the loser one question, anything at all?”
“Anything?”
“Yeah, anything.”
She smiled mischievously, as if testing me.
“Alright. Let’s do it.”
From there, a quiet yet serious moment began to unfold between the two of us.
Chirp, chirp…
Delicate sparks scattered in all directions like pine needles. Gradually, their intensity began to fade.
A orange ball fell to the ground with a thud.
My fire went out first. Her fire continued to emit its last light for a few more seconds.
“…Ah.”
Then her fire also quietly went out.
“I won… I guess.”
She said in a whisper, sounding a little proud.
“Yeah. I lost. So, go ahead and ask your question.”
When I said that, she didn’t say anything.
She just stared intently at the tip of the firework that had faded away.
What will she ask me?
My heart beats a little faster.
Eventually, she lifts her face and looks straight into my eyes.
“…If…”
She pauses for a moment.
“If I said I wanted to go somewhere… would you come with me, Yosuke?”
It sounded more like a confirmation than a question.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her serious gaze.
“Of course. We promised, didn’t we?”
I answered without hesitation.
“Anywhere you want to go, Nanase.”
At my words, she exhaled softly, as if relieved from the bottom of her heart.
“Nanase, is there somewhere you want to go?”
When I asked, she nodded slightly, looking a little embarrassed but clear.
“…Hmm. Somewhere not too crowded. If possible, somewhere far away… a quiet rural town where no one knows me.”
That modest request.
(I see…)
I immediately understood the reason.
The hardships of being a look-alike.
In the city, you never know when or who might mistake you for the real Nagi and cause a commotion.
That’s why she wants to go to a distant place where no one is around. Just to spend a normal day off, she has to think that far ahead.
“Well, you said ‘no one knows me,’ but what you mean is that no one knows Nanase-san… or rather, no one knows Yunagi Nagi, right?”
“Um… um? Um! Yeah, that’s right… ah… ahaha…”
Nanase-san suddenly smiled nervously.
“Hmm… A place where there are no people…”
I folded my arms and thought.
“How about just getting on a train with no particular destination? For example, take a train heading toward Izu and get off at a station with a nice view of the sea. That kind of trip would definitely have fewer people.”
She nodded at my suggestion.
“Hmm. That’s a good idea. It’s really good. I want to go to an unfamiliar station. I’ll clear my schedule for the weekend. The whole day.”
“But… can we do it? You said it might get dark…”
“Well, I think we can manage…”
“Then, let’s provisionally decide on that.”
“Yeah, provisionally. I’ll confirm the schedule tomorrow, so wait for it. I’ll report back here.”
We looked at each other and smiled.
We hadn’t decided which line to take or which station to go to.
But it was our first day date.
The smell of incense fireworks lingered in the summer night air. Nanase lit the next two incense fireworks and said, “What should I ask you next?” She handed me the one she had lit first.
Maiasa