#14 Fly Away

This week has been a disaster.

I made a careless mistake and got scolded by my boss, and
received a complaint from a customer.

And then,
the notification I received earlier that I had failed the certification exam.

I felt so frustrated and angry that I
threw my study guide into the trash can with all my might.

( What's the point of trying so hard... )

I curled up on the sofa without even taking off my makeup.

When I realized it, it was already bright outside.

It seems I had fallen asleep without knowing it.

My body feels heavy, and my heart feels even heavier.

I don't want to do anything.

That was when it happened.

Rustle, rustle.

Flip, flip.

When I turned around, he was there, just as I thought.

Kaupon is holding the textbook I threw away yesterday.

Come to think of it,
the sticker Kaupon put on it was still on that textbook.

I suddenly feel sorry.

"Kaupon... you know..."

Then, as if to interrupt me, he said:

"Pura-pura."

Huh?

"Pura-Pura."

It was a little stronger than usual.

Oh, okay...

A place called "Pura-Pura" that we went to together before.

It seems we're going there again today.

Unable to refuse, I lift my heavy body and follow along.

Passing through a simple door that wasn't there yesterday, a world of green spread out before me.

Kaupon walks with a waddle.

Walking without saying a word.

Then, he stopped on top of a small hill.

"Riiip, riiip, riiip"

A dry sound echoed.

Looking over, I saw Kaupon tearing a page out of the textbook.

Then another one.

And yet another.

(Wait... is he really angry?)

Kaupon, I'm sorry. Even though you put stickers on it for me, I failed the exam... I got frustrated and even threw away the textbook...

As I apologized in a panic,

Whoosh.

A paper airplane flew across in front of me.

"Huh?"

Kaupon holds out a torn-out page to me.

"Airplane."

It seems they want to play with paper airplanes.

"Oh, I'm supposed to make one too, right?"

"Hmm."

I fold and throw a paper airplane just as I was told.

...It doesn't fly at all.

Then, Kaupon launches their own paper airplane.

It catches the wind and glides away pleasantly.

And then, they give me a smug look.

"I'll have you know I used to be good at paper airplanes back in the day!"

Refusing to lose, I tear up the textbook.

I fold it.

I throw it.

"Ah!"

This time, it flew a little better.

"Kaupon, let's race!"

"Hmm."

"Fly awayyyyyyy!!"

I was absorbed in flying paper airplanes.

Textbooks covered in sticky notes
and filled with highlighter marks.

The paper airplanes made from them
were colorful and very beautiful.

Looking at that scene,
I felt, just a little bit,
that my hard work might not have been in vain.

For a while,
I watched the paper airplanes fly off.

"...Man, I'm hungry."

Then, Kaupon rummaged around, took something out,
and held it out to me.

"Hey, these are my favorite cookies I had hidden away!"

"Hmm."

Saying that,
Kaupon put a cookie in her mouth before I did.

I didn't want to lose, so I put one in my mouth too.

I savored it slowly.

After swallowing,
I took a deep breath.

Alright.

Beside me,
Kaupon had started flying paper airplanes again.