The perspective is that of the chemistry club advisor.
“Shall we go cherry blossom viewing?”
When I suggested it, the response was surprisingly enthusiastic.
“Sensei! We’ve unearthed the plastic sheet!”
“Sensei! We’ll secure a spot!”
Toriumi and Hariu dashed out of the lab with great energy.
Today, the weather is nice, and the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. That’s why I suggested, “Shall we go cherry blossom viewing?”
I don’t usually make such suggestions, though. They seemed a bit stuck, and I thought, why not?
The experiments ended early, and it’s just about snack time, which is perfect.
Maito, Hagasaki, and Katori went shopping, while the rest dug up things like plastic sheets and paper cups for the cherry blossom viewing.
The spot for the viewing is planned to be behind the library.
That place has a big cherry tree and is pretty.
The ones who went shopping have returned, and the cherry blossom viewing has started.
“There are cherry blossoms.”
“They’re blooming.”
…That’s it!
These guys don’t have an ounce of sentimentality for viewing flowers; it’s more like they’ve just found a good opportunity to play.
While nibbling on the snacks they bought casually, their conversation about cherry blossoms begins.
“Isn’t this where a body is buried?”
“Motojirล Kajii, right?”
As Maito looked at the roots of the cherry tree and dropped a rather literary comment, Suzumoto responded.
“…I don’t think it’s unbelievable in terms of beauty. The flower has petals, sepals, and is attached with stamens and pistils.”
“It’s hard to believe that ‘a liquid as clear as crystal’ comes from a body.”
These two seem to be able to have such discussions, but the rest, being perfect science guys, can’t keep up.
“What’s that?”
“It’s ‘Under the Cherry Trees’ by Motojirล Kajii. The protagonist, feeling uneasy because the cherry blossoms are so beautiful, tries to rationalize the reason to reassure himself, ending up with ‘Under the cherry trees, there are corpses buried!'”
“Eh, what’s that about? I don’t get it.”
…Well, yeah, I guess it’s not something to think deeply about.
To them, a masterpiece might just be that.
“I don’t understand how cherry blossoms can make someone feel uneasy in the first place.”
Well, Hariu might not even know what unease is, to begin with.
If he did, he would start his homework much earlier.
“The idea of coming up with the notion that there are bodies buried underneath doesn’t make sense, does it?”
Katori chuckles, “Like a case of being too deep into a teenage phase.”
It seems that’s how modern kids see it.
“Finding reassurance in the thought that there are corpses buried underneath doesn’t make sense to me either.”
Yeah, well… It’s not really about the logic of it. Oh.
“But, isn’t it somewhat nice? The idea that under the cherry trees, bodies are buried, doesn’t that sound good?”
Kariya has a delicateness about him that I think is nice.
“…Eh, that’s kind of creepy.”
Kadomi has a different kind of sensitivity.
“I do think that if we were to dig under the cherry trees all over Japan, it wouldn’t be strange if one or two corpses were found.”
President says something rather ominous, but well, it’s not an entirely impossible story.
“Some people might be influenced by it.”
“But those people, unfortunately, might end up not being able to find comfort in viewing cherry blossoms.”
The one who buried them would feel that way, yeah.
Yes, they have quite the imagination, indeed.
“But you also need to be selective about the cherry trees. Somei Yoshino are quite susceptible to diseases, so if you damage their roots carelessly, they easily wither. So, I wouldn’t recommend hiding a body under a Somei Yoshino tree.”
Ah, now that you mention it, I’ve heard something like that too.
Even just breaking a branch can cause them to wither, right?
“Eh, then what would be President’s recommendation for hiding a body?”
“First of all, producing a body that needs to be hidden is where you’re going wrong. If you’re going to do it, it’s better to mess up the amount of insulin after inducing diabetes, or cause sleep deprivation by giving a lot of caffeine and then aiming for a traffic accident.”
Are you guys planning on killing someone?!
“I’ve heard that feeding the body to livestock is a good option when you end up with one.”
Hagasaki, where did you hear that?!
“They say if you bury it in a rarely visited mountainous area and dig a hole about 6 meters deep, it’s generally safe.”
“What about sinking it in the ocean?”
“It seems that even with a weight, it will float back up, so it’s probably not a good idea.”
“Burning it also costs for fuel and utilities, huh.”
…Where do these guys pick up such dangerous knowledge?
Despite it being a cherry blossom viewing, can’t you guys find something more poetic to talk about?!
After that rather alarming conversation, they started playing cards as usual.
“Kadomi-kun, you didn’t say ‘Uno’!”
“…Ah.”
Pointed out by Hariu, Kadomi sadly picks up two cards.
“I’m out.”
Hagasaki lays down a red and blue 4 to go out.
“You can’t say ‘Uno’ when going out with two cards of the same number.”
It’s easier to go out when you save two cards with the same number, isn’t it?
“Ah, nice, draw two.”
“Ah, good, here it is. Draw two.”
“Eh, ah… Sorry, Hariu, draw four.”
“Eh!? Me!?”
Ah… So one of the two cards Kadomi drew earlier was a draw four.
Such is life; everything is a matter of perspective.
I went back to the staff room for a bit and when I returned, they were up to something.
“Damn it! It was so close but got away!”
“You need to read the airflow to catch it.”
Holding chopsticks, they were battling falling cherry blossom petals.
…Seemingly trying to catch them.
“Ah.”
In the midst of it, Kadomi exclaimed.
“…Got it.”
And then proudly showed off the cherry blossom petal caught at the tip of his chopsticks.
Wow, impressive.
“I got it.”
President got one too. Stubborn, huh.
After sticking it out for a bit longer, as the wind picked up and it got colder, and as the cherry blossom petals became increasingly difficult to catch, it was decided to call it a day.
In the end, it seems only Kadomi, President, and Kariya were able to catch any.
“It’s beautiful, but I don’t find it mysterious or scary at all,”
Maito murmured while they packed up the sheet and stuff.
“Maybe we’ll understand when we’re a bit older.”
“Isn’t it happier not to understand such a morbid sentiment?”
Yeah, I think so too.
“…But, don’t you feel a bit like that when you see them at night?”
But I do get what Kadomi is saying.
It’s like, at night, you feel closer to something not of this world, more so than during the day.
Though, that might just be how everything feels at night.
“Nighttime cherry blossoms? Hmm, I don’t find them scary or eerie. I do think they’re mysterious.”
“They’re beautiful, nighttime cherry blossoms.”
“Next year, let’s delay the spring camp a bit so it coincides with the cherry blossoms.”
They seem excited planning for next year, but they’ll be exam students then.
I think it’s good not to study too hard all the time, though.
“…Well, somewhere in this world, there’s probably a cherry tree or two with a body buried at its base.”
Suzumoto said this, looking at a cherry tree.
“It’s romantic to think about.”
“Romantic, indeed.”
…I have a feeling that the romance Maito and President are thinking about is not quite the same. Yeah.
“I hope we can go cherry blossom viewing again next year.”
“Bringing our own lunch might be a good idea.”
“Eh, no, that sounds like a hassle.”
“Eh, Hagasaki-kun, such a complainer.”
Watching them head back to the lab, I suddenly wondered how many more cherry blossom viewings they’ll have together.
At least one more, I think, or rather, I expect they will.
…It’s hard to imagine whether they’ll graduate and go their separate ways or stay together for a long time.
They get along well and have a good relationship with each other.
I’d prefer the latter, if possible.
Cherry blossoms are only beautiful for about a week once a year, but if there’s meaning to it, it might be something like this.
…I hope you guys can go cherry blossom viewing again the year after next.
