Steam Miku Reverse Observation Diary, Episode 3

Episode 3: "The Outline of Steam"

Miku,
when I look at you,
it feels as if the steam itself is a living thing.

Today, Sakura-yu was a little lively.
The usual regulars were laughing together, towels draped over their shoulders.
The sound of a bucket popped, blending with someone's laughter.
From the men's bath, the butcher's resonant voice echoed.
"The cross-section of meat is a record of life!"
Beyond the steam, someone laughed, saying "He's started again,"
and hearing that, your shoulders moved ever so slightly.
Perhaps you were laughing.

However, that smile immediately dissolved into the steam.
You traced your notebook with your fingertips.
As if you were playing the piano, searching for a sound.
Bubbles in the water burst with a rhythm.
One, two—each time, your lips were counting something.
"...Before someone's sound disappears."
I definitely heard that small voice.

I instinctively leaned in through the glass.
In the space enveloped by white steam,
you alone looked like "steam with an outline."
Far from being blurry,
you were the only thing in focus.
I couldn't see anyone else.
The world around you was changing both its sound and its shape.

Perhaps,
the existence I see as Miku
might just be an illusion shown to me by the steam.
No, I thought, even that is fine.
It's okay to have nights saved by an illusion.
No matter how cold reality may be,
within the steam, there is still a memory of warmth.

"Observation, you see."
As you sat at the attendant's booth, you suddenly looked at me.
"It's not about looking at the other person, but confirming your own way of seeing."
You said that and smiled.
Before I could answer, the depths of my chest grew hot.
My words were absorbed by the steam.

When I went outside, the night air was still cold.
Yet, strangely,
somewhere in my body, something was glowing.
The heat left behind by your words
remains within me, unchanged in form.

—Miku.
Your laughter has the shape of steam.
Even after I am gone, surely someone else will find it.
That is why, tonight too, I will chase after your voice.

To be continued