Page 45 of Fumiko and the Finicky Nestmate
Zuzu giggled. “You don’t want a frisky fog?”
“They’re so clingy.”
“Cold kisses,” Zuzu agreed. “A rainbow?”
“Too late in the day.” Fumiko hid her face against her sister’s shoulder. “Maybe an evening star?”
“They are saying that the moon will visit.”
“Who? The stars?”
Zuzu kissed the top of her head. “All these males are watching for the moon. They’re saying it will come this evening, even though it’s already sinking into the sea.”
“I think they mean a person.”
“A man named Moon?”
“Not a man. They’re not reavers, Zuzu. And they weren’t sent for me.” She softly added, “I don’t have to worry about choosing yet.”
“You chose.”
“It doesn’t count. I haven’t been given a choice.” Which reminded Fumiko of the question Akira had raised. “Who’s in charge of us?”
Zuzu hesitated. “Is it us?”
“I’m not sure.” Had either of them ever lived as if their lives were their own? “I don’t think we are. When did we start letting someone else decide?”
“I don’t remember.” Zuzu cautiously asked, “Does it matter?”
“Probably.” Fumiko struggled to put her thoughts in order. “What if I wanted something?”
“What do you want?”
“A phone. Like Akira’s. So that we can talk to people we know even after they leave us.”
“I like that idea. We definitely need a phone.” Zuzu’s hug tightened, and she whispered, “But you know, they might not all leave us.”
“Everyone does eventually.”
Zuzu’s voice took a dreamy turn. “If we’re in charge of ourselves, we can change that.”
“We can’t keep people from leaving.”
Her sister swayed with the breezes, clearly pleased with her idea. “You’re right. He won’t promise to stay.”
“He?”
“Your favorite. He understands about trees. His father is twinned.”
Fumiko was curious and pleased and a bunch of other things, all at once. But Zuzu had said it herself. “Juuyu won’t promise to stay.”
“True. But what if he promised to come back?”
After hours of carting clutter upstairs and down, Akira was finally satisfied. Their room was so empty, it echoed. The bed—neatly made—now stood in a room that boasted nothing more than freshly-mopped floors and a fine view.
Akira took a snapshot and sent it to Suuzu.
It should be all right now
