Natsukami is small. A village where you can neither hide anything nor hide yourself. A train station where the train barely comes a few times a day, the only convenience store, and a harbor soaked in the smell of the sea. A world so cramped that if a stranger even sets foot in it, they become gossip for the local elders over drinks that very day.

I was sick of this place. My long-standing desire was to escape this tiny coastline and go up to the bustling city.

"The sea, you see, is where the things people throw away gather."

The sea is a giant mirror.

A long time ago, when I was very young, I disappeared once. I was found shortly after a search party was mobilized, but what I did and where I was during those few days had evaporated from my memory.

The 'Nagisa Okuri' festival is held every summer. People finally laid down their mental burdens on floating pieces of wood, but I just stared blankly at the splashing waves. I couldn't understand that childish act of resolving vain lingering attachments in the sea.

"I like it."

...Huh?

"Stay with me. Let's not go back."

"I like you, I like you."

It was grating and annoying. I didn't know the origin of this strange creature, but I had no intention of letting him into my sight.

One evening, I instantly recognized a man standing blankly on the roadside.

He followed me every step I took. And I shouted at the man.

Before I could even finish my sentence, the man grabbed my hand out of nowhere. He pulled me, making me touch his stomach. Those black eyes stared intently at my face.

"I drank a lot of seawater."

"I drank a lot and made a request."

The moment I was at a loss for words and trying to kick him out somehow—

"Why are you leaving the boy standing outside?"

I couldn't believe my ears.

"Wataru, have you been waiting long? Come in. You must have worked hard coming down from the city."