It was by chance that Saori Sakuragi met Koji Arisawa behind the north school building, near the bike racks. It was a lazy early summer day, during a break in the rainy season, when the air felt heavy and it seemed like the temperature was about to rise.
The moment she felt a soft, squishy sensation through the handlebar of her bike, a wave of dread washed over her. It was the kind of feeling that made her stomach turn. (No way… No way…) But that “no way” had come true—something had happened to the back tire. The sick feeling in her gut grew even stronger, and she almost felt like she was going to throw up.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” she shouted.
Koji heard the voice from a little ways off near the exit of the bike parking area. It was a girl’s voice. When he looked in the direction it came from, he saw Saori crouching down, her skirt tucked under her legs, staring at the back wheel of her bike. It happened just as Koji was pulling out his 125cc motorcycle.
He walked toward her, pushing his bike with the helmet swinging from both arms by its chinstrap.
As he got closer, the pale blue frame of her bike and its silver wheels caught the almost-summer sunlight, reflecting it so brightly it stung his eyes. But what shone even more was the pure white of the shirt she was wearing.
“Um… is everything okay?” he asked.
Koji saw everything about her turning around as if it were in slow motion.
Saori’s eyes met his, her light brown gaze locking onto his. Every time the breeze blew, a strand of her hair brushed across her lips, and it made it impossible for Koji to stay calm.
“I think I’ve got a flat tire,” she said.
Saori looked back down at the bike tire, now completely flat, and said,
“Looks like all the air’s gone.”
Then she turned her eyes back to Koji and said,
“You’re in Class C, right?”
“Arisawa,” Koji replied quickly, giving his name without thinking.
“Arisawa-kun,”
She repeated his name slowly, almost like she was trying to make sure she got it right, pausing a little between the syllables.
“What should I do… I really have to hurry to the hospital today.”
“Are you not feeling well?”
“No, it’s my friend. They’re in the hospital.”
“You’re going to visit?”
“Yeah. But now I’m stuck.”
Just then, a thought flashed through Koji’s mind.
“Have you ever ridden on the back of a motorcycle?”
“No. Why?”
The unspoken words “Are you going to ask me to?” whispered in Koji’s mind.
So he didn’t hesitate when he said:
“I’ll give you a ride.”
“But…”
“Is something wrong?”
Koji couldn’t ignore the part of himself that already wanted to take her on a ride.
“I’m wearing a skirt,” she said quietly, glancing down.
“Just tuck it under your legs—you’ll be fine.”
As soon as he said it, Koji thought, What did I just say? That was way too bold.
When he looked at her, her face had turned completely red.
Without missing a beat, he handed her the helmet that had been hanging from his right arm by the chinstrap.
“Here, put this on.”
“But… but…” Saori repeated, hesitating.
“Come on. I’ll take you there.”
Without waiting, he took back the helmet—as if to say this is how you wear it—and gently placed it on her head.
“Ah! Okay, okay. I’ve got it! I’ll do the rest myself.”
Saori’s slender arm reached toward Koji, her long, delicate fingers instinctively grabbed his wrist to stop him. Realizing what he’d done, he began to apologize,
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to—” but she softly interrupted,
“It’s okay. So, what should I do next? How do I tighten this strap?” she asked, looking directly into his eyes.
“Here, let me show you. First, you do this… then…”
As he demonstrated, Koji couldn’t help but notice her delicate, well-shaped lips right in front of him, making it hard to focus on fastening the strap. Time seemed to stretch, and he felt her gaze fixed on him.
“I’ll call home and have someone pick up my bike,” Saori murmured, still holding his gaze.
Koji felt his heartbeat quicken.
“Done. But isn’t it too tight?”
Without directly answering, she merely nodded her helmeted head slightly forward. Koji then donned his own helmet, moved to the left side of the motorcycle, gripped the handlebars, kicked up the side stand, and swung his leg over to mount the bike. He then twisted his waist to flip down the tandem steps on both sides with his toes.
“Come on, hop on. Don’t be scared. I’ll hold you steady.”
Saori looked at Koji’s motorcycle. It was mostly white, with light blue lines running across it. Every part of it shone like it was brand new. She had never been this close to a motorcycle before—let alone ridden one—and she was surprised by how big it was.
She placed her right hand on the back seat and tried to step up using the footpeg Koji had pulled down for her. But her body didn’t follow her will, and she ended up stepping back down onto the ground.
“Try putting that hand on my shoulder this time,” Koji said.
Saori did as he told her, placing her hand on his left shoulder. Then she braced her right foot again like before. Her skirt fluttered in the wind, but she didn’t care. With one strong push, she lifted herself up.
“I did it! I got on!” she shouted, tapping both of Koji’s shoulders with excitement.
Koji felt the extra weight behind him and knew Saori was really on. He turned to face forward again. Pressing the red button under the throttle grip, he started the engine. Then he twisted the throttle a couple of times, checking the vibrations. Everything felt fine.
He pulled in the clutch and tapped the gear into first with the tip of his left foot. Glancing back over his shoulder, he said to Saori,
“Here we go.”
“Okay,” she replied.
They started moving quietly. The front and back tires slowly bounced up and down. As they kept going at that same speed toward the school gate, they passed by a few of their classmates. When the classmates saw them, they called out loudly, teasing Koji and Saori, or whistling at them. Even students they didn’t know turned to look as they rode past.
Like sunlight shining through the gaps in the fresh green leaves, a smile Koji couldn’t hide must have spread across his face. Then, as they left the school gate behind, they picked up speed and began to ride faster.
“Arisawa-kun.”
Because of the engine noise and the wind rushing past them, Koji didn’t hear her. She tried again.
“Arisawa-kun, hey!”
She shouted while tapping the helmet in front of her.
Koji felt a light tapping on the top of his helmet and thought he heard someone calling his name from far away, so he turned around and yelled back, “Yeah?”
He was thinking about how he’d need to turn right at the intersection just a few hundred meters ahead to get to the hospital she was visiting.
“Do you know my name?”
Again, her voice was lost in the sound of the engine and the wind rushing around the helmets. Koji hooked his left thumb under the edge of his visor and pushed it up, then turned to look back at her again.
“What did you say?”
“My naaaame!”
This time, he heard her. Koji did know who Saori was—more than enough. But instead of saying that, he faced forward again and tilted his head slightly.
“My name is Saori Sakuragi. From Class B.”
The pedestrian signal at the intersection had started blinking green.
“Are you listening? I—”
Just as she was about to shout again, I yelled,
“Sakuragi-san! We’re turning right! Hold on tight!”
They entered the intersection while the light was still green, and Koji leaned the bike to the right. He gently extended his arm back toward her, urging her to shift her weight with him. Sure enough, she tilted her body to the right, and the bike turned in a smooth arc.
Koji noticed a woman in the driver’s seat of a car waiting at the red light. She seemed to say something to herself as she watched them. Taking that moment as his cue, he quickly shifted gears, matching the rhythm of his left hand on the clutch.
Saori could tell that Koji was trying to guide her to lean into the turn. So, she tilted herself just a little in that direction. For a second, she felt a jolt of fear as the asphalt looked like it was rising up toward where she was sitting, and she tightened her grip around Koji. But at the same time, she realized that her body was securely held in place—leaning in one direction, yet firmly supported from the other. The fear faded.
Instead, she felt something strange and floaty, like they had just ridden all the way around the inside wall of a huge salad bowl.
“Whoa…”
She let out a small voice.
Koji brought the bike upright again, shifted gears back up, and accelerated.
As Saori watched the scenery on both sides fly past—faster than anything she could ever experience on a bicycle—she wondered if this whole day might slip away just as quickly.
“Sorry. Was that scary?”
“No. I’m okay,” she replied.
The wind was still cool, after all.
In front of the hospital’s main entrance, Koji slowly applied the brakes and brought the motorcycle to a stop, putting his left foot out to steady the bike. As the bike halted, Saori felt her chest press softly against his back. It made her feel a little embarrassed.
Keeping the bike tilted slightly to the left and his foot firmly on the ground, Koji held the brake lever with his right hand and glanced back at her.
“You can get off now.”
“Okay.”
Even though she couldn’t see the ground, and it made her nervous, Saori placed her hands on Koji’s shoulder and carefully lowered both feet to the pavement. She let out a quiet breath.
Koji quickly flipped down the side stand and hopped off the bike. He stepped in front of her and gently pulled the strap under her chin to unfasten her helmet.
“Can you take it off?”
“Do I hold it here?”
She hooked her thumbs just above her cheeks and started to lift the helmet off. Watching her do that, Koji felt his heart pound again. Her hair spilled out from under the helmet like a wave, dancing in the air.
“Here. Thanks,” she said, handing it to him.
He took it from her and hung it on the opposite mirror, next to his own helmet.
“You’ve got helmet hair!”
“Oh. Want to see a mirror?”
“No, I’m fine. It’s not a big deal,” she said with a grin, running her fingers through her hair and fluffing it up.
“Arisawa-kun, thanks for today. Be careful with your bike.”
“Thanks. Say hi to your friend for me.”
“You’ve never even met her.”
“Oh, right.”
They both burst out laughing, raising their right hands in a casual wave goodbye.
Then Koji straddled the bike again and reached for his helmet. Saori watched him for a moment, then turned around and dashed toward the hospital entrance.
By the time Koji looked back, helmet now on, she was already gone. A mother and her little boy were walking out the door instead. The sun was starting to lower, its light stretching longer, softer, as the bright day came to an end.
Koji started the engine and rode off slowly. He briefly wondered how Saori would get home—but the helmet swinging from his arm reminded him of her, and the thought drifted away. He picked up speed, heading back the same way they had come.
And though the bike felt lighter than before, his heart was somehow fuller.
Saori sat by the hospital bed, telling her friend what it felt like to ride a motorcycle for the first time. When asked, “Was he your boyfriend?” she quickly shook her head, flustered. But the feeling of wanting to ride again hadn’t faded.
And with it, the hope that the wind would stay cool a little while longer.