Sae sighs, then sits beside him. Close enough that their shoulders almost touch. She smells like sunscreen and the cheap shampoo from the train station drugstore.

Montage sequence: The heat of the summer intensifies. Riku stops playing games. He wakes up at 5:00 AM. He begs his grandfather to teach him the basics of joinery. His hands blister; his back aches. He is exhausted, stripped of his arrogance.

August 15th. I’ll be there. Not because I’m brave. Because I’m tired of waiting.

The Summer the Boy Became an Adult