TFOA Chapter 7

Spring drizzle always came without warning.

Helen from the general store hurriedly gathered the acacia flowers she'd spread outside to dry because of the drizzle.

Gilbert, who had happened to come to the general store to buy pepper, ended up helping her collect the flowers.

"Speaking of which, about that new sunflower neighbor."

"Yes."

'You mean Niksi?'

Gilbert put a dry acacia flower in his mouth and looked up.

"I wonder why she came to such a remote place?"

Helen asked with a genuinely curious expression.

Gilbert scratched his nose.

He seemed to remember asking a similar question when they first met. She'd said she came because she wanted to eat violet sugar preserves.

He also remembered her despairing expression when she heard that Auvers' famous violet fields had already been destroyed during the war.

"Well, I'm not sure. Maybe she came because she likes Auvers' wheat fields."

"The wheat fields here really are beautiful. Green and beautiful in summer, golden and beautiful in autumn."

"Yes. Niksi often goes there to look around too. She says it's the best in Auvers."

"About Niksi."

Helen grinned mischievously.

Gilbert chewed the flower petal.

It had no particular taste, similar to chewing grass, but the sun-dried acacia flower had a sweet fragrance. It smelled like cookies baked crisp in the sun.

"You two seemed to get along well."

"What? Suddenly what... Cough!"

The flower petal didn't go down properly and stuck clammily in his throat.

Because of that, Gilbert was choked and coughed roughly.

Helen wasn't surprised at all, but laughed saying "Oh my" and offered him a cup of water.

Gilbert, whose ears had turned red from coughing, drank the water in one gulp.

"What do you mean all of a sudden, Helen?"

"Well, I just noticed you've been together a lot lately. You seem to get along quite well too. Aren't you around the same age?"

"Well..."

They had been together often lately.

Whether Niksi couldn't stand being alone or needed someone to share her chatter with, she was always looking for someone, and coincidentally, it was always Gilbert.

But that was all.

Maybe it was just because his house was the only one she'd visited so far, so his was the only house she could suddenly drop by...

"It's not like that. Niksi is..."

'Niksi is...'

Gilbert recalled her bright yellow hair and the way she ran around happily.

Looking at that face reminded him of his childhood.

His younger sister who played in the grass fields and Coco, a cream-colored Cocker Spaniel.

"She's like a younger sister. That's all."

Gilbert smiled, remembering those playful old days.

Helen couldn't tease him anymore after that comment.

His younger sister had died five years ago.

It was around twelve when Gilbert arrived home with the dried acacia petals and camellia Helen had given him in thanks.

Without an umbrella, he shook the rain from his hair as he entered the front door, then jumped to find his yellow-haired neighbor sprawled face-down at his entrance.

"Niksi? What are you doing here?"

"......Gil."

Creak, creak. Like a poorly oiled doll, she creaked as she turned her head and then buried her face again.

She didn't have an umbrella either, apparently, as her hair was soggy.

Gilbert judged that if he left her there any longer, mold would start growing on his front porch, so he helped her to her feet.

Niksi collapsed limply on the sofa like soggy bread.

"It's because of the rain."

Niksi said, sipping the black tea Gilbert had brewed for her.

"Rain?"

"Yeah. When it rains, my whole body aches."

"......You're saying that to a farmer."

For lunch, he'd have to make acacia flower tempura with the acacia flowers Helen had given him. Since it was raining.

Gilbert sat on the opposite sofa and sipped his black tea, thinking that.

It was true that people got depressed when it rained.

He didn't know the principle, but his younger sister used to droop like deflated bread dough, especially on rainy days.

According to Greta, the village's top intellectual, people get depressed when it rains because they can't see the sun.

Sunlight contains vitamin D, which makes people feel refreshed, but when it rains, you can't see the sun, so you get depressed.

He didn't go to school, so he didn't understand the principle.

"Speaking of which, Niksi."

"Yeah?"

"About your reason for coming to Auvers. You said you came because you wanted to eat violet sugar preserves, right?"

Niksi tilted her head with an indifferent expression. Did I say that? she seemed to be thinking.

"There aren't many violets left, but there are acacias. Should I make flower tempura for you?"

"Yes!"

She jumped up from the sofa.

His younger sister used to brighten up with sparkling eyes like that when he asked if he should bake her a carrot cake.

Coco, too, would droop next to his sister, but when his sister started chattering, she'd get excited for no reason and spin around chasing her own tail.

Just like Niksi, who was spinning around next to him now.

Gilbert told Niksi, who was asking what she could help with, her eyes sparkling, that staying put would be the most helpful.

Niksi sat obediently in the dining chair with her eyes still sparkling.

He picked up flour and salt to make flower tempura. Niksi was watching from behind when she secretly switched the salt container for the sugar container.

It made too obvious a clattering sound to pretend not to notice. Gilbert, wondering how to react to this situation, asked Niksi.

"That won't make it sweet. Should I make the tempura sweet for you?"

"Yeah."

Gilbert took out finely ground chocolate cookie powder instead of flour.

"This should do it."

"Wow!" Niksi cheered.

Tap tap, when the sound of rain hitting the window grew similar to the gentle sizzle of frying flowers, Niksi spoke.

"The real reason I came to Auvers was because this place supposedly doesn't get much rain."

Huh. Gilbert made a dumbfounded exclamation at that.

"What are you talking about, Niksi? Auvers is famous for having rain all summer long."

Niksi just pulled the corners of her mouth into a grin. Gilbert read the thought 'I'm screwed' in that expression.

Just then, the crispy cookie flower tempura was finished.

At the suggestion to finish it before it got soggy, Niksi and Gilbert ate all the finished tempura on their way to the dining table.

"Oh right. Gil, Jasmine said he'd draw a picture for me."

"Jasmine?"

"You know, the painter. When I was wondering what to send to a friend, you suggested drawing a picture and sending it, remember?"

After placing the empty plate and cold tea on the table, the two began playing poker for dinner.

"Ah. You mean Benjamin Richter."

Is she just naming him after plants, grabbing whatever weed comes to mind?

At Gilbert's words, Niksi nodded.

Gilbert thought of Benjamin Richter as someone who disliked noise, avoided socializing with others, was quiet, and somehow looked precarious.

Unlike the cheerful young lady in front of him.

The prickly painter had been in the village for two years now, but no one was close to him yet.

No. It was a relationship too complex to simply call "not close." Between him and Auvers.

Even Gilbert, who prided himself on talking to the painter more than anyone, knew only his name and occupation—a shallow acquaintance at best.

So when Niksi said she was going to commission a painting from the wary painter, he was certain Niksi would be rejected.

"You actually managed to get that painter to agree."

"Managed? I worked so hard to persuade him."

"Persuade?"

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

It was Helen.

"Gilbert? You came to buy this and then just left."

Helen was holding the pepper he'd bought that morning.

He'd completely forgotten about it while hurriedly helping Helen due to the sudden drizzle.

Niksi popped out suddenly.

"He said he didn't want money, and he didn't want to do it without money either, so I got him to agree by saying I'd take him to the Louvre Museum... Helen!"

"Niksi was here too?"

"Yes!"

Niksi, who had been chattering as she came out, smiled brightly when she saw Helen.

Helen looked back and forth between Gilbert and Niksi, smiling.

Oh no. Helen was mistakenly thinking there was something between him and Niksi.

Gilbert held his forehead at finding himself in a situation that would cause unnecessary misunderstanding.

"This acacia flower Helen dried is so delicious, if it's really from Helen."

At Niksi's smile, Helen blinked. The acacia Helen had dried wasn't edible acacia. It was flower used to add fragrance and color to soap...

But Helen decided not to say anything. Sometimes it's better not to know.

"Really?"

"Yes! Helen, would you like to stay and hang out? We were just having an interesting conversation."

"Should I?"

What kind of story? Helen laughed, covering her mouth.

"Oh, that's right! I was just telling them how much trouble I went through to get a painting from the painter up on the hill..."

Niksi was about to happily explain how much she'd suffered to get a painting from the painter in the field.

Gilbert quickly covered Niksi's mouth.

"Mmph!"

"Ah, that, Helen! Is it okay for you to be away from the general store like this?"

"Hmm? I asked Karen to watch it for a while, so it's fine..."

"Wow. It's really raining hard. It doesn't look like the rain will stop easily, so wouldn't it be better to go back quickly?"

"Mmph mmph!"

Niksi was hitting Gilbert's back hard, as if breathing was difficult.

Looking sheepish, Gilbert, who'd been hit hard in the ribs, made a soft groaning sound.

'Oh my, I was right. He was just pretending otherwise because he was embarrassed. Gilbert, really.'

Helen, who had noticed that Gilbert's sudden behavior meant he wanted her to leave quickly, smiled warmly.

"Right, right. I was being thoughtless. 'Like a younger sister,' you say—Gilbert, honestly."

"No! Helen, you're not being thoughtless at all. And I still think of Niksi as a younger sister."

"Mmph mmph?"

"I'll go back then! Have a good time!"

"We're not having a good time! Ah... sorry, Helen!"

"Mmph mmph mmph?"

Gilbert went inside the house, dragging Niksi with him. Helen said she'd close the door for them and waved.

Only after being dragged to Gilbert's room was Niksi finally freed from Gilbert.

Niksi, who had been dragged along without knowing why, let out a big breath.

It was a room that smelled like bitter grass.