[clum! '95 #17] The Miracle Shot

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1995. It was an era when digital cameras weren't yet common, and you never knew what was in your photos until you got them back from the developer in those yellow 'simultaneous print' envelopes.

It was a few days after the summer junior high school athletic tournament, after school.

In the art club room, I, Takafumi Nose, was spreading out the photos that had just been finished on the table.

“...Ah, this is it. I might be a genius.”

What I was pointing at wasn't an action shot with perfect composition and focus.

It was a shot I took on the emergency stairs behind the gymnasium, after the girls' first round had ended and before the boys' match began.

In the photo, Rikka Sano, her ponytail slightly disheveled, is sitting on the stairs, showing her profile.

Right next to her, a few steps lower, Kazuyori Hayasaka was standing, looking lost, yet firmly by her side.

Hayasaka wasn't touching Sano-senpai, nor was he offering words of comfort. He was simply, with the hem of his uniform, diligently wiping the condensation off a freezing cold sports drink can.

“...He had a match coming up himself, yet he was wiping the condensation off her drink and even opening the pull-tab to hand it to her so it would be easier to drink.”

I grinned, remembering the scene.

The reason this photo is a 'miracle' is because the intense midsummer afternoon sun shining from behind blew out the silhouettes of the two in white, giving them a divine quality like the final scene of a movie.

There was no sign of the usual 'noisy beauty' here; it was just Sano-senpai, a 'real girl' trembling with the frustration of having lost.

And the purity of Hayasaka, who wasn't her boyfriend or anything yet, but simply couldn't leave the person he had fallen in love with at first sight alone, doing the best he could to show his care.

“...This grainy texture unique to 'Utsurundesu' (disposable cameras) adds a nice touch. If I showed this to Sano-senpai, she’d probably yell at me, 'Don't take such an ugly picture of me!', but if I showed it to Hayasaka, he’d surely cry with joy.”

Just then, the art club door swung open.

“Nose, Muta-sensei is calling for you for basketball practice.”

“Oh, Oritachi-senpai.”

I hurriedly tried to hide the 'miracle shot,' but the senpai's sharp eyes didn't miss it.

“What’s that photo? Let me see.”

“No, this is my 'artistic work'.”

“Just give it here. ...Oh.”

When he took the photo, he fell silent for a moment.

Oritachi-senpai, who is also Sano-senpai's childhood friend, looked at the figures of Sano-senpai and Hayasaka shining white in the photo with eyes that seemed somewhat lonely, yet relieved.

“...I never thought Rikka would make a face like that.”

“It’s thanks to Hayasaka. He does surprisingly good work.”

Senpai handed the photo back to me and snorted.

“...Make a copy of this. One for me. I’ll show it to Itsuki and Okamoto so they can rest easy.”

“Yes, yes, I know. You’re not very honest, are you, Senpai?”

In the end, this photo was tucked away in my secret album without ever being seen by Sano-senpai herself.

However, because of that '0.01-second' moment I captured that day, I realized something.

I had a feeling.

By the time summer vacation ended,

the distance between these two

would be a little closer than it was now.

What was burned onto the silver halide film was

the light of the beginning of love,

where one girl showed her weakness,

and one boy tried to accept it.

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