The other day I went to a Hanami(cherry blossom viewing) with this girl. We’ve known each other for a couple of years, but never really hung out alone together except for the time when we both had just broken up with our ex’s. That time, we went to a museum together, which felt almost like a trial date… I was attracted to her, but there was something there that I couldn’t put my finger on about her… Even though she was really sweet and friendly, there was this darkness inside, which I could only guess that had something to do with her father, who passed away when she was young. Because it was difficult to get close to her, and I was always too shy to try anything with her then, nothing ever happened and then we continued with our own separate lives as friends.

For some reason, she asked me to go to a Hanami party last Sunday, which was being thrown by our mutual friend. Of all the Hanami invitations I had gotten, the only reason why I accepted hers was the chance to see her again because it had been too long.

I was late, and she met me at the station to take me to where everyone was camped out. I only knew two other people in the group of ten besides her, and sat in between them instead of next to her, so unfortunately I couldn’t speak to her for the first hour.

Afterwards we were supposed to go to this demonstration in Koenji against nuclear power plants in Japan, but we forgot the time, and then when we finally realized it, the demo was over. Actually I didn’t care much about the protest or have an opinion for that matter; I just agreed to go so we could hang out longer.

Since we were staying, I decided to go down by the river to take photos, and I asked her if she would like to join, which she did. We crossed the road, and then walked down the path leading to the water, talking and catching up on each others' lives. She told me the reason why she had cut her long hair was because it was a subtle protest against nuclear power. Anyways the weather was perfect, and the wind blew her short hair up, and I couldn’t have been happier.

When the picnic was over, we rode the train back together. It was hard to find something to talk about then, which I feel was often the case with us whenever we were alone, and then, when we arrived at our transfer point, parted ways.