Chapter 122 – My Own Universe

“A book cover, please. No bag needed.”

Even when I didn’t think about it, my body was able to respond to the customers’ orders without any hiccups. At this point, I was proficient enough for my part-time job to the point that they allowed me to teach the newcomers who came in during the summer break.

The customers rarely caused any troubles and my co-workers were all pleasant to work with. I enjoyed working here, listing up the new books gave me a huge amount of joy. If possible, I wanted to work here as long as I could.

The book the customer bought was a book about space, written by a rather famous astrophysicist that even I knew about. I scanned the barcode and put the book cover on. When I was done with everything, for some reason, there was no money on the tray. I took a glance at the customer.

“Ah…”

“You’re too slow to notice me, Arina-san!”

The customer was Ugin-san. It seemed like she was on her way home because she was still wearing her uniform and it was currently a weekday. It was the first time someone I knew visited me here, so I didn’t know whether to treat her respectfully as a customer or treat her casually as a friend.

The result of my inner conflict was a weird line in between.

“Can you wait for me? I’ll be done in an hour.”

She chuckled in response, paid for the book and left.

After an hour, I opened my phone and saw a text from Ugin-san. She said she’d be waiting for me at Starbucks on the second floor of the building. I changed my uniform, left the store and took the escalator up to the second floor. I thought she was waiting for me at the store front, but she was already seated inside. When she noticed me, she gave me a small wave.

“Had you waited, I would’ve bought you a drink.”

“Don’t mind it, I’m the one who invited you here, so it should be me who buys you a drink!”

“Still, I want to buy you one… Wait a moment, I’m going to order, look after my stuff, okay?”

There were people queueing up in front of the cash register. From adults going home from work to students in their uniform. I waited a little there, bought a cold latte when my turn came and returned to my seat. When I got there, Ugin-san was reading the book she bought earlier.

“How could you read such a difficult looking book?”

“I’m just really interested in it. There are so many unknown things in the universe, you know?~”

She closed the book and sipped her iced coffee. I followed suit and sipped my latte.

“You surprised me. I didn’t expect you to come to see me. Did something happen?”
“Nothing, really. I didn’t even know that you worked there, Arina-san, it was just a coincidence. You told me about your part-time job, but you’ve never told me where you work at. I was also surprised, you know? I was only planning to buy this book, after all.”

“I see. Well, thankfully, you came when my shift was almost over. I don’t have anything else to do for today, so we can hang out for a bit longer.”

“Really? Then, can I consult you about my career path? I’m going to be a third year next year, so I wanna start thinking about it.”

She became a second year this autumn, so it was natural for her to worry about her career path.

“Isn’t your career path pretty much decided already, Ugin-san? You want to study more about space, right? Then, going to the university is the only way to go.”

“Is there really nothing else to talk about for my career path?”

“I know you want an excuse to hang out with me longer, but you can just say so, you know? I understand your feelings, after all.”

“NOO! I can’t believe you saw through me like that!”

Until half a year ago, I was still afraid to have any kind of contact with her. She told me that what happened to Sui wasn’t my fault, but in the corner of my mind, I always had a suspicion that she was holding a grudge against me. I thought that she was a cunning girl who could mask her expression perfectly from me.

Honestly, it was possible that she actually felt that way, but I decided to stop thinking about that possibility and started thinking positively about her.

“Have you found a boyfriend yet, Ugin-san?”

“O-Of course I haven’t, jeez! I’m surprised that you can joke about this, Arina-san. Don’t you still love my brother?”

“Of course I do.”

“I wish I could love someone wholeheartedly like you do, I’m so jealous! Finding someone you could love like that is hard, you know?”

“Really? I don’t know much about other people’s love life, so I don’t know about that. My standard is probably skewed. Well, in any case, you don’t need to rush to get a lover, you can take your time to find that special person.”

“Yeah, I know. Arina-san, do you know this? One of the differences between humans and animals is that we, humans, understand love and we think that love is the best thing that happened to us. They said that loving someone is a sure way to reach happiness and I agree with that.”

Then, she went on to talk about her views on love. It was surprising to find out that she had the exact opposite view from Sui’s. Her view was pure and untainted, like that of a young child.

“Love is like magic! No matter how far apart you are from your loved one, you two are connected by love! It’s exactly what happened to you, Arina-san. My brother isn’t together with you, but your thoughts of him influenced your actions and you still haven’t given up on your love since a year ago! That’s what I call the power of love!”

“That makes my feelings for him sound like something really special somehow…”

“It is! The power of love is a mysterious power, it’s like something mystical. It has no form, but it can influence your actions and thoughts deeply… Well, what I’m trying to say is… Please don’t give up on my brother, Arina-san.”

She suddenly gave me a deep bow. Her action was unexpected. I couldn’t even form a sentence to respond to her.

“Lately, I started thinking that he might not make it and it’s better for me to give up… I kept trying to not think about it, but that thought kept on coming… Day by day, I’m growing more afraid that this daily life without him will eventually become something I’ll get used to… But then, I see you, Arina-san. Unlike me, you kept on going. Unlike me who’s trying to believe that he would make it, you placed your complete trust in him.”

That wasn’t something unthinkable. We both had different ways of thinking, after all.

Both Ugin-san and Sui had the tendency to think about everything rationally, so they tended to think about the worst possible situation. Meanwhile, I had none of that tendency. Unlike them, I saw everything in a more optimistic point of view. That was why I could place my complete trust in Sui. I believe that he will wake up one day.

This situation reminded me of something. I decided to bring that up to cheer her up.

“Ugin-san, do you know about the multiverse theory?”

“The theory that said there’s more than one universe?”
“Yes. I don’t know the details, but it was said that those multiverses are just various versions of our universe that went through different possibilities. When I heard about this theory, I thought that it would be more fun to think the other way around.”

“The other way around? Like, the multiverses are bull and there’s only one universe?”

“No. What I’m thinking about is that there’s a universe for each of us. The universe you’re seeing and the universe I’m seeing are different, even though it seems like we’re living in the same universe. We’re the main character of our own universes, so when we die, the universe will cease to exist.”

“In other words, you’re saying that the universe revolves around us?”

“Yes. Ugin-san, what you just said about love can be interpreted like ‘thoughts can change your reality’ and I agree. Since I’m the main character of my own universe, all my thoughts will definitely come true. So, if I think that Sui will wake up, he will wake up. So, Ugin-san, if you think that he wouldn’t wake up, then he wouldn’t wake up in your universe. Because of this line of thinking I could live without worry. I believe that he will wake up because that is my will and the universe will fulfill it because it’s my universe.”

Her expression gradually softened.

“You see, I’ve been thinking about writing a story.”

“Story? Like a novel?”
“Yeah. That’s why I did a little research on multiverses, I thought that it might come in handy later.”

“Does your story have something to do with that?”

“Um… Kinda, yes.”

“You made me curious, Arina-san! Have you thought of a title yet?”

“I have, but… It’s embarrassing…”
“C’mon, tell me, tell me~”

In the end, her passionate call won me over. I decided to tell her the tentative title of my story.

“My Beloved Comet.”