The kindergarten garden looked almost the same every day.
There were swings lined up on the right, a slide in the center, and a horizontal bar a little further away. There was a large sandbox between them, and when it was time to play outside, I always sat near the edge.
“It’s over here!”
“Wait!”
A little way off, a game of tag had started again today.
A girl wearing a yellow hat chased after the others while laughing, and a boy with a red hat ran away in front of her. Just when I thought he was running as fast as he could, he fell, and then I thought he was crying, and then a few minutes later he was running again, laughing.
I watched them from a little distance and thought they were doing well.
It’s not like I couldn’t join in either.
Although I have the body of a five-year-old child, I still move my body regularly to avoid a lack of exercise, and in my previous life I trained my physical senses in order to operate a fighter jet. When it came to children playing tag with each other, running wouldn’t be a problem.
That wasn’t the problem.
I’m in my thirties on the inside, but I don’t think I could seriously play tag with a five-year-old…
However, I don’t think intentionally getting caught or holding back is right either.
When the other person is having real fun, isn’t it rude to hold yourself back from them?
While thinking about such things, I always ended up missing my chance to join the circle.
It’s not like I was being bullied.
It’s not like I was being left out.
If I was invited, they would talk to me, and if the teacher asked us to, we would do things together.
However, the one thing that was difficult for me was going up and saying, “Let me join.”
“Yuu.”
As I was playing with the sand thinking about this, my name was suddenly called.
When I looked up, a boy was standing there.
It was Haru from the same group.
Whenever I saw him, he was always wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt, and there was usually some kind of bandage on his knee. There was one on his right knee today too.
“What’s wrong?”
“Let’s look for insects.”
There was no introduction or anything.
It was so sudden that I couldn’t help but ask back.
“Why did you invite me?”
Haru didn’t answer right away, but tilted his head slightly.
Rather than looking like he had been asked a difficult question, his face looked like he was seriously searching for a reason.
“Because Yuu was the only one alone.”
“…That’s all?”
“Isn’t that enough?”
Instead, he gave me a strange look.
I was at a loss for words.
I’d thought there was some other reason.
Maybe it was because we liked the same games.
Maybe it was because we seemed like a good fit.
Because he wanted me to help him with something.
However, Haru didn’t seem to have anything like that.
I was alone.
That’s why he called out to me.
That’s all.
In my previous life, there was always a reason when I teamed up with someone.
To carry out the mission. To complement each other’s expertise. To achieve the most efficient results with limited personnel. Wherever people interacted, there was always a purpose.
At least, that was the case in the environment I was in.
“If you’re not coming, I’ll go alone.”
Seemingly unable to wait while I was deep in thought, Haru turned on his heel.
“I’ll go. I was just thinking.”
“Then hurry!”
Haru started running, as if he had forgotten all about his question from earlier.
I followed after him without rushing.
◇
Haru knew the inside of the garden in great detail.
Behind the flower bed. The base of the horizontal bar’s support. Under the flowerpot near the sandbox.
We went to one place after another where there were likely to be insects.
“There are lots of dumpling bugs here.”
When Haru lifted the edge of a large flowerpot, a number of small black insects appeared from underneath it.
“Look!”
“You’re right.”
“Do you want to touch one?”
“I’m fine with just this much.”
I picked one up with my fingertips.
When I placed it in my palm, the dumpling bug immediately curled up and stopped moving.
It was a strange feeling.
When it comes to my experience of seeing insects in my previous life, I feel like most of it was through research material videos or analysis data related to biological weapons. I can’t remember the last time I held a small living creature in the palm of my hand.
“It really curled up.”
“That’s what happens when they’re surprised.”
“Is this a reaction to protect itself from external threats?”
“External what?”
“…It curls up in a ball because it’s scared.”
“Ah! That’s right!”
I hadn’t chosen my words very well.
However, Haru didn’t seem to mind, and this time he was lightly rolling the curled-up dumpling bug with his fingertips.
After a while, his interest seemed to shift to something else, and he suddenly stood up.
“Next, let’s go see the ants. There’s a huge nest.”
“There’s something like that?”
“Over here!”
The two of us moved to the edge of the flower bed and crouched down on the ground.
A number of ants were busily coming and going from a small hole.
Ones heading in the same direction. Ones carrying something and returning. Some passed each other on the way, and their antennae touched for just a moment.
Haru rested his chin on his knees and looked at the line curiously.
“I wonder how these guys can walk properly in a line.”
“They use scent to create a path. They leave marks where their friends pass and follow them.”
“You mean they stink?”
“I think it’s a smell that humans can barely detect.”
“Yuu, you know a lot about insects, don’t you?”
“Just a little.”
“So, how far do you think these ants go?”
“Maybe we can figure it out if we follow them?”
“Good idea!”
Immediately, Haru started following the line of ants, so I followed along beside him.
It’s strange.
No matter how much odd knowledge I revealed, Haru didn’t try to pursue the matter by asking, “How do you know that?”
At most, it ended with “Yuu knows a lot.”
Five-year-olds may be surprisingly tolerant of people’s differences.
It was a blessing.
◇
After chasing bugs for a while, we returned to the sandbox.
Haru, wondering what he was thinking, began to collect sand with both hands.
“What are you going to do this time?”
“Let’s build a castle. A big one.”
“A castle?”
I also crouched down next to him and looked at the pile of sand that Haru had heaped up.
It was piled up at a pretty steep angle, and the edges would crumble if you just touched them with your finger.
As it was, if you poured water over it, it would easily lose its shape.
“Why don’t we also build a canal around it?”
“Suiro?”
“It’s like a river. If you let the water flow any old way, the base of the castle will collapse, so first we decide where the water will go.”
Haru looked serious for a few seconds while listening to my explanation.
“…I don’t really get it, but we’re going to make a river, right?”
“That’s pretty much right.”
“Then let’s make it!”
If you don’t understand something, move on without understanding it.
That seems fine.
Haru immediately grabbed a small shovel and started digging around the castle.
“Can I go around like this from here?”
“I think it’s better to make it curve a little more gently around there. Water flows from high to low, so let’s try to make it go this way at the end.”
“Then let’s dig all the way around here!”
“If you dig too much, the castle will collapse.”
“Then just a little!”
While adjusting the course from the side as Haru built with pure momentum, I dug a groove along with him.
After a while, a narrow waterway had formed around the sandcastle.
“Let’s add some water!”
Haru said impatiently.
I asked the teacher for some water, and I tried running it in from upstream.
The water began to flow along the trench we’d dug, split into two in the middle, went around the left and right sides of the castle, and then flowed downstream.
“Wow!”
Haru shouted out loud.
“It’s turning into a river!”
“I made it that way.”
“Awesome! Let’s do it again!”
It was a simple reaction.
Despite that, I didn’t feel bad.
In fact, I was a little happy that someone saw my ingenuity and was so delighted by it.
◇
As if the commotion had caught their attention, after a while other children started to gather around.
“What are you doing?”
The first to come over was a girl from the group next to ours.
Haru answered proudly.
“A castle and a river!”
“Does the water flow?”
“It does. Yuu made it.”
“We made it together.”
“Can I do it too?”
“Okay!”
Before Haru had even finished replying, the girl was already crouching down in the sandbox.
Next, another boy approached.
“Can I build a bridge?”
“Sounds great. Make it high enough for a boat to pass under.”
“There’s a boat?”
“Not yet.”
“Then I’ll build a bridge!”
It was quick from there.
When one child built a bridge, another child started building a tower.
Someone picked up pebbles and lined them up to make a path.
Some children collected fallen flower petals and leaves from near the flower beds and arranged them in the castle garden.
At first it was just Haru and me, but before we knew it, there were many children sitting in the sandbox.
No one had a blueprint.
It’s not like someone was directing the whole thing.
Each person was making whatever they came up with.
Yet, little by little, it was taking shape as a place.
(…I’ve seen this somewhere.)
Suddenly, I remembered the village from 《LITTLE FRONTIER》.
Villagers carry wood.
If they think they need a house, they build one. An old man finds ore and builds his own furnace.
It’s not like one person decides everything.
Each person moves for their own reasons, and as a result, the entire village changes.
What was happening in front of me right now was a little similar.
“Yuuu!”
I looked up when my name was called.
Haru was waving a shovel in front of the waterway.
“This bridge is going to collapse if the water flows!”
“In that case, let’s make the foundation a little wider. Also, it would be better to make the space under the bridge a little deeper.”
“Why?”
“Because I want a boat to pass under it.”
“There was a boat!?”
“I’ll make it now.”
I picked up a large leaf that had fallen nearby and stuck a thin twig in the center of it.
It was too simple to call a sailing ship, but for child’s play, it was probably enough.
“Done.”
“Hurry!”
“Let’s float it.”
Water was poured in from the upstream side, and the leaf boat was placed there.
The boat was pushed by the current and moved along the waterway, rocking slightly.
It passed under the bridge.
“Ooooooooh!”
“It made it!”
“One more time!”
The children all cheered in unison.
The leaf was simply being washed along by the water.
Still, everyone was really happy.
Before I knew it, I was laughing too.
Creating something together with someone.
Even in my previous life, I’d had many such experiences.
A new ship. Weapons. Computing devices.
I was able to complete things I could never have created alone by working with a large number of researchers and engineers.
However, that was a collaborative effort to achieve results.
There was a deadline, a role, and a reason to succeed.
Right now, there was none of that.
No one would be in trouble if it wasn’t completed.
Even if it failed, everyone might forget about it tomorrow.
Still, everyone was digging in the sand just for fun.
The noise was more comfortable than I expected.
This kind of thing isn’t bad either. No, it’s quite fun.
◇
“So you were playing with Haru-kun all day today?”
That day, during dinner, my mother asked happily.
Apparently she had heard the story from the teacher.
“Other children started joining us along the way. We built a castle in the sandbox, made a river, and built a bridge and a boat.”
“The teacher said it was like a big city. The teacher said it was the first time they’d seen Yuu playing with so many people.”
“At first it was just me and Haru.”
“Is that so? Did Haru-kun invite you?”
“All of a sudden he said, ‘Let’s look for bugs.'”
My mother couldn’t help but laugh.
“That’s quite sudden.”
“I thought so too, so I asked him why he invited me. We hadn’t talked much before.”
“What did he say?”
“‘Because you were alone.'”
Hearing that, my mother narrowed her eyes a little.
“What a good boy.”
“That’s all it takes?”
“It’s surprisingly amazing to reach out to someone just for that.”
“…I guess so.”
After that, my mother continued, looking a little amused.
“I’m glad you made a friend.”
“…A friend?”
I was a little taken aback by those words.
We’d only talked properly for the first time today.
We looked at insects and played in the sandbox together.
Is that enough to make us friends?
“We only played together for the first time today.”
“Isn’t that enough?”
Mother laughed.
It was a reply I’d heard somewhere.
I couldn’t help but fall silent.
“Are there any conditions for being friends?”
“Conditions, I guess… I think we need a little more time.”
“So, how many days do we have to hang out together before we become friends?”
“That’s…”
I couldn’t answer.
When my mother saw me at a loss, she laughed a little.
“You don’t have to decide now, do you? If Yuu wants to play again, and Haru-kun also wants to play, then that’s enough.”
“Is that so?”
“That’s how it is.”
She said it far too easily.
However, when I thought about it, Haru was the same way.
He invited me because I was alone.
It was fun, so we played together.
Maybe there was no need to make it difficult with reasons from the beginning.
◇
The next morning.
When I arrived at the kindergarten and entered the classroom, Haru was the first to run over to me.
“Yuu!”
“Good morning.”
“Let’s continue from yesterday! I want to make yesterday’s boat even bigger!”
Just like yesterday, there was no introduction and no hesitation.
But this time, I didn’t think to ask him why he was inviting me.
“Then let’s build a port today. It’d be better to have a place to keep the boat.”
“Minato?”
“A place where boats stop.”
“Okay! Let’s make a big one!”
Haru immediately started running.
I followed suit.
Until yesterday, I’d been thinking about how to make friends.
What should I say in order to get along better?
What can I do so that the other person doesn’t hate me?
Is it necessary to have a common hobby?
Do I have to prepare some kind of opportunity?
I thought there must be a correct procedure somewhere.
But maybe that didn’t exist from the beginning.
Calling out to someone who is alone.
“Let’s play together.”
It was fun, so we played again the next day.
A few days later, I found myself next to him, without even knowing when it happened.
What is a friend?
Maybe it isn’t something you make when you try to make it, but something that’s already been made by the time you notice.
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