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After taking a short detour and returning to her apartment, Koguma pondered as she ate dinner.
If the wind hitting her face and eyes was an obstacle to increasing her speed, then she could defend against it.
She placed the fried rice she made from leftover rice with eggs, green onions, and soy sauce on the table that doubled as a study desk, and then placed her helmet next to her plate so that she could think as she ate. She felt like her table, which was lonely mainly in terms of the number of side dishes, had become a little more lively.
While the radio she always listened to played in her apartment, she brought the fried rice to her mouth with one hand and stared at the helmet.
It was an Arai Classic helmet she received for free when she bought her Cub.
It was a simple open-faced helmet that covered everything except for her face, and the S-size fit Koguma’s head perfectly. Incidentally, she thought that the plain white appearance apparently suited her.
It was very comfortable to wear compared to the work safety cap she used to wear during her high school agricultural field training. She was sure that she would be able to use it for a long time to come as long as she could protect herself from the wind.
Koguma examined the helmet from all sides and wondered if she should put a transparent cover over the face like other motorcyclists she saw outside. The helmet also had a snap button seemingly for snapping that in place.
Koguma wondered where she could buy a helmet, or if she could only buy a transparent covering. She turned the helmet over as she held her fork full of fried rice in her mouth.
The interior still smelled of brand-new resin. She pulled at the padding with her fingers. The padding, which was fixed with velcro, peeled off easily. Apparently, it could be removed and washed.
There was a tag at the back of the padding, so she took a look. It was a tag with the stamp of the person in charge of inspection, which was characteristic of Arai helmets, and a label with the manufacturer’s name on it.
The headquarters was in Omiya, Saitama City. Do I have to go that far to buy it?
Hokuto City was located in northern Yamanashi, and the distance from here to Saitama wasn’t one that could be traversed on a Cub, and she wondered how much it would cost to make a round-trip by train. It didn’t seem like a realistic method at all.
She thought she would do something about this helmet, but all she found out was that she didn’t know what to do about it.
She lived in an apartment on a scholarship. The only way she could get information was from the radio and a contracted cell phone with no internet. Even if she wanted to go search for materials, the nearest bookstore was located in front of Nirasaki Station, which was thirty minutes from here by car.
Thinking that there was nothing to be gained by thinking about it any more than this, Koguma took a bath, flipped through her textbooks as preparation for tomorrow’s classes, and crawled into her futon.
She fell asleep with her helmet next to her pillow, but no answers came to her even in her dreams.
The next morning.
As usual, she put on her helmet that didn’t protect her face and went to school on her Cub. The speed she rode at until now was fine, but going any faster would cause the wind and trash in the air to hit her eyes.
If any of the insects that often fly around this season were to fly into her eyes, controlling the Cub would be out of the question.
The protection granted by this helmet against wind and other things was a matter of safety. It wasn’t like a luggage box that she didn’t absolutely need but wanted.
Koguma was convinced that she had to solve this problem as soon as possible, not postpone it.
Thinking about it, as long as she was able to defend against the wind, there were no other obstacles to going faster on the Cub.
She decided to not think about the black-and-white car with red flashing lights on the roof, which might be the biggest obstacle, for now in order to avoid complicating the situation.
She parked the Cub in the bike parking area and stored the helmet in the iron box in the rear. She looked at the modified Postal Cub parked next to her and wondered, how’s Reiko doing?
Reiko in the morning was unsociable as ever, and today she was intently reading a road map.
She took the morning classes. It was almost time for the end-of-term exams. She was sure she would get average marks if she studied for the exams normally.
Nothing unexpected happened in school, and schoolwork didn’t constantly inconvenience Koguma like the Cub.
Koguma spent the tedious hours of class thinking about eating her bento on her Cub’s seat and wishing that lunch break would come soon.
Thanks for the chapter.
ReplyDeletethank you!
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