Katawa Shoujo Forums

HISAO

“Done.” I pocket my phone. “Dad needled me a bit – he said ‘we don’t shut down the city for three days over star-crossed lovers here’ – but it sure seemed like a cover story. I think they’ll be glad to have me around for a while.”

“He’d expect you to head down and miss this?” Iwanako asks. “It probably isn’t that big of a deal to you, but I planned my entire university tour around this. Tanabata celebrates not just any star-crossed lovers, but those who can only meet once a year.”

“He just thinks the whole thing is rather frivolous. It’s not the timing or anything, and he wouldn’t ask me to come down alone when I have good company to travel with.” I catch her blush as she turns away to find an excuse to put some distance between us.

“As opposed to a «yobbo» like me?” Neko gives me a nudge before I can take her bait and say something stupid. “Do you want me to come down on the weekend, or do you think you want more time than that?”

“Time for…”

“I don’t know, they’re your parents. Maybe they’ll want to go camping.” I don’t need to look her in the eye to know she’s having a chuckle at my expense.

“I do still need to borrow him for at least a couple days,” Iwanako reminds us. “«We’re on a mission from God.»”

“Alright then,” Neko concedes. “I’ll follow a week behind. I’ll have to fight off the hordes of other boys waiting to fill your shoes – and the girls too – but I’ll get through it somehow.”

As forward as Neko is, she isn’t this casual about her preferences around people who aren’t trusted friends. These two seem to have developed some kind of bond that I could not have anticipated, and while I find it mystifying, I also find it gratifying. I would hate to be torn between them, because while I very much adore my ‘crazy half-gaijin waifu’ (as I overheard in the halls one day), I can also see that I really could have had something with Iwanako had the fates not decided otherwise.

“Do you just want to come on this tour with me and we can leave immediately after,” Iwanako asks while hunting through her luggage for something, “or do you want to do your own thing for a bit?”

A quick steaming of our clothes seems to have made us visually presentable, and a shower let us not offend the nose, so I don’t mind being seen like this. “I’ve been giving a great deal of consideration to Tohoku University myself. It’s a highly esteemed place to study, and I have no real desire to return to the cramped conditions in the capital. I think I’m really starting to like it up here. I have to hope they like me, and joining you on this tour might be a step in the right direction.” A Sunday tour seemed a bit odd, until it was pointed out that the place would essentially be shut down for three days over the holiday. What would ordinarily take place tomorrow has instead been preponed to today.

“And you?” Iwanako addresses to Neko in particular. Unlike many people, she treats us as two individuals most of the time, rather than as if we were attached at the hip.

“I don’t see any harm in coming along. It’s not like I have anything better to do for such a short period of time.”

“It will be nice having friends along,” Iwanako says with an infectious grin. “It might help with my impression on them if it looks like I have some sort of roots here, however minimal. I won’t seem such a stranger.”

It’s not a very long walk to the campus from the hotel. Just a few months ago I would have thought otherwise, but a kilometer walk is not particularly troublesome for me now. The tour itself is rather mundane. It’s a nice enough place, but it seems like Giro, our guide, is rushing us through a bit. Then again, this is Iwanako’s tour, not mine, and it’s her second. Maybe he’s just going over what she missed the first time. At the end of the tour, he makes a point of getting my name and Neko’s in writing, and asking if we’re committed anywhere yet.

“I still have another year, so it’s a bit early for me to be committing anywhere,” Neko responds. “That said, this campus would be high on my list. I’ve heard good things about your electrical engineering program.”

“You may only be a second year, but we’ve heard your name as well,” Giro opines. “You’ve made an impression on some pretty significant people, people who talk. I never imagined you would just show up. I’m not in charge of such things, and I can’t make any promises, but from what I’ve heard, you’d be a lock to get in. You would have been hearing from us right around second semester finals, and you probably still will. Most of the time, students come to us, but in certain exceptional cases, we will approach them. What about you?” he asks, turning to me.

“I uh… sort of got derailed, for medical reasons. I’ve been so busy trying to catch up that I haven’t even put out feelers.”

“What field of study are you considering?” he asks.

“Chemistry, most likely. I seem to have a knack for it, and I’ve been told it’s rather recession-proof.” I give a small smile. It’s a weak explanation, but it’s the best I have at this point. I hadn’t really prepared for this line of questioning.

“You’d better get on it then, since that’s a fairly popular program,” Giro informs me with a smile. “As you already know, there is always a need for skilled chemists in all branches of industry, and there probably always will be. In theory, every application that arrives before the deadline is given equal priority. In practice… well, you know what they say about the difference between theory and practice.”

I smile, and I can hear Neko chuckle, but Iwanako looks a bit confused.

“In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice,” says my darling, before extending her hand and bowing in my direction.

“In practice, there is,” I finish for her, and give the same flourish.

Iwanako rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “I thought it was just historians and linguists who spoke in riddles as a matter of course.”

Giro is quick to react. “You obviously haven’t set foot in the mathematics department. We make entire careers out of posing riddles, and answering them with sorites.”

With our tour concluded, Giro has another small group waiting for an escort, and we let him take his leave.

Neko pulls me in close and half-whispers, “That Giro is a strange one, for a mathematician. He’s much too normal.”

“There’s still something odd about him,” notes Iwanako. “He wasn’t my guide the first time, but I could hear him laughing with his group when I wandered around alone. They didn’t spend much time with me alone, instead pointing things out and leaving me to them. I’m glad you came along, as that is what seems to have earned me a personal tour guide.”

“She’s famous, apparently.” I tip my head toward Neko. “It’s the first I’ve ever heard of it.”

“You and me both. It’s... kinda creepy.” She circles around behind me and hangs on. “I wonder who has been bending their ears.”

Iwanako extends an arm in the general direction of where we came onto the campus. “Well… shall we?”

The university is one of the stops for the bus to Moniwadai, so we just wait. Most days they just run a van, but lately there has been a great deal of interest in the city proper, and full-size buses have been pressed into service. Once aboard, we are unable to find seats together, but two of us know where we’re going, and we keep Iwanako in communication range between us. We disembark across from the convenience store, and stumble into the sunlight.

“So where to first?” Neko looks first at Iwanako, then at me, then back at Iwanako. “Up the hill toward ‘home’, or to the restaurant we’re trying to rehabilitate?”

“We’ll end up at the top of the hill soon enough, so we might as well go to the Shanghai first.” I’m in no rush to see my own walls.

Iwanako shrugs. “Suits me. This is your home turf.”

Stepping inside the Shanghai, it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the relative darkness. It takes another moment for me to process what I’m seeing. The place is almost full!

“Welcome to the Shanghai,” announces a silhouette approaching us. It’s not Yuuko, unless her voice has dropped an octave in the last few days. “We have seats at the coun– oh!” The figure pulls up short, and I recognize him.

It’s Miki’s stoner buddy. “Seiji? You work here now?” I ask in surprise.

“Just over break. They were betting on high traffic and lined up some temporary help, and it beats hanging around the convenience store all day. Are you here on business, or pleasure?”

“A little of both,” replies Neko. “We do want to show our guest the kitchen, but we’ll be staying to eat as well.”

“Yes, yes, very good.” Seiji bows twice. “Follow me.”

“It’s fine, we know the way. It looks like you have work to do.”

“So I do.” The door chimes with more guests. “Thank you, and enjoy your stay. Take any vacant table when you are ready, though you may have to clear it yourself.” He turns to the new arrivals. “Welcome to the Shanghai.”

Neko leads the way to the kitchen. I am only half-listening to the descriptions of the equipment, but she knows every piece. She should, she wrote up the requisition lists. Rather, I’m remembering the day the lights went out. There’s where Yuuko knocked the pots onto her head. Those are the ovens that once prepared our meat pies. There’s where I helped dig through bins, looking for flashlights. Those bins are now filled with glasses, and emergency lights have been mounted in every corner. We edge through carefully so as not to disrupt the rapid but efficient motions of the kitchen staff.

“Nice operation you’ve got going here,” Iwanako remarks as we leave the kitchen and its carefully orchestrated bustle. “The kitchen at the Green Mark doesn’t run as smoothly, though they’re good people.”

Neko glances at her phone. “It’s pretty late for the crowd to still be this thick. Usually it’s quieting down into the lull between lunch and dinner.”

“It’s Sunday,” I point out. “Maybe that’s why.”

“That and the holiday,” adds Iwanako. “My mother always has to take longer and stranger hours during holiday seasons. People go off their schedules, but it all works out. There wouldn’t be room for everyone if they just came at the usual hours.”

“Even so,” Neko says with a bit of astonishment in her voice, “we’re well off the beaten path for tourists. Let’s see about getting a table – a small one, for a change. They actually need their space today.” She waves to Seiji, and he makes a gesture to someone else, and soon we’re being escorted to a table. Tea arrives, as would be expected, along with something we’ve never seen here – menus.

I open mine, and a smaller menu falls out from within with the offerings available only on Sundays. Today’s special is corned beef and cabbage. “Did you make these?” I ask Neko.

“Not me, though I’m glad someone finally did. Could you imagine the chaos if there still weren’t any, with this crowd?” She leans in closer and lowers her voice to a whisper. “I’ve already overheard them talking about us – they called us ‘founders’. I’m pretty sure they aren’t going to let us pay, so I think it would be good if we got what they have plenty of, the daily special.”

“Your place, your rules.” Iwanako shrugs. “I’m sure they wouldn’t make large batches of bad food, so I’ll go with whatever you think best.”

The corned beef is quite good, and along with the vegetables – cabbage, potatoes, and carrots – it is all just solid enough to make it into our mouths intact before falling apart. Slightly more cooked and it would be overdone, but instead, everything is perfect. I spend a few moments between bites looking at the crowd, and I don’t recognize anyone except for the staff. These must be tourists, which means word is getting around.

From the front door, which has opened for the thousandth time since we arrived, I hear a voice I recognize: Ben’s. That’s hardly surprising, but the words are unexpected. “Relax and smile. You look radiant, absolutely smashing. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I hear, followed by a girlish giggle, and into the light steps Yuuko, wearing a yukata. She claps her hand on Seiji’s shoulder, and he vacates the seat behind the podium where he has been greeting new arrivals and sending good wishes to the departures.

“Did you…” I start to ask Neko.

“Shh.” Her eyes and ears are focused the same direction as mine, and I feel a hand squeeze just above my knee. Iwanako seems to have recognized the voice as well, as she cranes her neck around to get a look, but he’s already gone and Yuuko is settling into place as the greeter for the dinner shift.

Neko thumbs a message into her phone, and when the reply comes back she shows it to me. She wrote, ‘Was your Pops out with a special friend last night?’

Abe’s reply is as revealing as it is diplomatic. ‘Maybe.’

That’s when I realize that while there’s a phone in her hand, there’s still a hand on my leg.

Tanabata celebrates the star-crossed lovers who can only meet once a year.

Shit.

NEKO

“You’ve seen his room, the quad where the party mostly happened, the pool, the track… what am I forgetting?” I wink at Hisao, hopefully unnoticed by Iwanako.

“Your room?” she responds in the form of a question.

“That would be because it isn’t here.” Hisao caught my wink. “Or rather, the room is still here, but it’s no longer hers. Temporal mechanics is not my strong suit.”

“I still have a room to call my own. Since you asked, I’ll take you there.”

Her reaction to seeing the radio room is a lot like Hanako’s was – underwhelmed. It really isn’t much to look at, but bigger is not always better.

“Officially, this is a club room – Radio Club, obviously – but pretty much anything of value in here is mine, though they can have it when I go. Even though I’m technically a commuting student now, I don’t really feel like one. I spend three quarters or more of my nights on campus, like I always have.”

“So you really do live together, like he told me. How do you not get in trouble with this arrangement?”

I point at the callsign still on the board from the contest, since we haven’t held a meeting since then. “The staff member in charge of Radio Club is also the chief of security, and long-time friend of the family. He gives me a lot of leeway, so long as I don’t make it too apparent that he is doing so, and treats almost everyone else that way as well. The only people he gives a hard time are those that have abused his trust in some way. His job is to maintain a veneer of law and order, while actually doing as little as possible. He’s pretty good at being selectively lazy, to be honest.”

She’s not sure whether to be impressed or dismayed by the liberties we enjoy. “So it’s true – they let you get in trouble here, rather than clamping down? Somehow I figured they’d be on top of everything.”

“What, just because of these?” I hold up my short arm. “If anything, we need to be prepared to face the big, bad, real world more than most, and the only way to truly learn is by doing. Sometimes they do go a bit too far on making concessions to various eccentricities though.” Like Hanako’s flightiness, or Kenji’s still-blooming psychosis.

“Eccentricity can be a creative force,” Hisao points out. “It creates volcanism on Jupiter’s moons after all, and maybe even liquid water oceans for life.”

“As with most things, it carries a cost,” I note. “Conservation of energy means they’re slowly spiraling into the planet. What makes them alive is also slowly killing them.”

“As with all things alive, you mean. Life itself is an upstream swim against a river of entropy flowing the other way.” I thought her core proficiency was language, but Iwanako seems to have a decent grasp of more technical topics as well. I can see why Hisao liked her, and hope he can see why I have a bit of a soft spot for her myself. It doesn’t hurt that she’s so damn cute.

“Hello, Earth to Neko,” Hisao is suddenly saying, and squeezing my short arm. “I think we lost you there for a moment.”

“Oh… sorry. I was just thinking.” Or dreaming, but what’s the difference?

“Let me guess, all you wanted was a Pepsi?”

I really am rubbing off on him.

***

“Sorry to bother you,” I say to Suzu over the phone, “but I was rather hoping your bicycle would just happen to be on campus. Are we so fortunate, and if so, can we borrow it?”

“What happened to yours?”

“Nothing happened to them, it’s just that we’re a party of three now.”

“Oh, you’ve got what’s-her-name with you?” She always does have a hard time with names, even when she’s fully awake.

“Iwanako? Yes. That’s why we need another bike – or a lift, but I’m guessing nobody is in a position to give us one right now.”

“That’s about right. Ben was out all night and only came back this afternoon to immediately crash, and Miki is pissed. You lucked out. My bike is in the little fenced area next to the pool where they keep the lane ropes. Thirteen, thirty-six, twenty-two is the combination to the lock. Take the tarp too, that’s mine.”

“Thirteen, thirty-six, twenty-two. Got it. Thank you so much.”

“I hope you don’t mind a bit of a crowd then. The guest room is already in use.”

“Ben didn’t want you sleeping in Abe’s room?” I ask with a bit of surprise.

“Oh! No, nothing like that. Kenta is using it… I think. No, wait.” I can hear her talking softly to someone else in the room, presumably Abe. “Never mind, he’s sleeping in the master bedroom with Miki.” She must hear my gasp. “It surprises the hell out of me too.”

“Maybe it’ll stop her from wandering,” I wish out loud. “That has always been awkward at best.”

Her voice gets really soft. “You probably need to know – this morning when Abe went to do a load of laundry, he told me he smelled sex and candy… and a bit of safety meeting too. He asked Miki what’s up and she just jumped around like a marionette on strings.”

They better not have recreated their shower scene in the hot tub! We’ll have to change the entire water supply (including the pool) if they did, before I’d let anyone jump in. I know as well as anyone how Miki likes to play with her puppets.

As much as I’m not looking forward to it, I give her a call while we track down Suzu’s bicycle. “Please tell me you didn’t pollute the pool,” I say the moment she picks up.

“Huh? What ever happened to ‘hello’?”

“It went out the window, much like you were hoping the evidence of your evening would. Look, I really don’t care who you’re fucking…”

“You have no right to…”

“I know that, but I do have the right to know if the hot tub and pool are still habitable. What exactly did you get in the water?”

“Just umm… whatever that slick stuff is that covers condoms. You should know, we borrowed them from your nightstand.”

“No shit?” I wait for a reply before realizing she probably misinterpreted this. “I meant that literally. You didn’t soil the water with fecal material?”

“Not unless he had an accident he didn’t tell me about.”

I’m still adding more chlorine when we get there.

***

We sneak off for a shower – his idea, I should note.

“I’m sorry to do it this way, but we had to shake our shadow for a short while.” He gives my hand a squeeze and adjusts the temperature of the water, then we both step inside. “We have a problem. She has already tipped her hand, and I’m no longer comfortable going on the trip home with her.”

“How so?”

“She had her hand on my leg during our late lunch. It’s hard to read any other intention into that.”

“Are you sure that wasn’t my hand?” I grab his third leg, failing to get the expected reaction.

“I thought it was, but while you were busy messaging Abe, I noticed that there was still a hand on my leg. Even for you, that would be quite an impressive stunt to perform one-handed.”

“Remember what I told you yesterday – do the right thing. Whatever happens, and whatever you have to do to set things right for her, I will still love you. Sometimes the right thing can seem to be wrong on the surface – Arjuna’s dilemma, for example.” I get a blank look in return. “In the «Bhagavad Gita», Arjuna is hesitant to go to war against his mentor and his father figure, but Krishna points out that it cannot be avoided and that it is his duty.”

“Now I’m supposed to take my moral compass from writings about imaginary sky beings?” He stops soaping long enough to give me a look carrying several emotions at once: doubt, confusion, and more than a little bit of anger.

“You don’t have to believe in the messenger to appreciate the value of the message. Things change. Right and wrong are not absolutes. What was clearly wrong yesterday may be absolutely right today. It also doesn’t pay to procrastinate on the really important things, once you are convinced of their necessity. By all means, think before you act – then act with the full force of your convictions. That is the message you should be receiving.”

“Is that so?” He pulls me in tight, much more aggressively than I’m used to, and suddenly he’s my back door man again, making me tense up. “What was clearly wrong yesterday may be absolutely right today,” he throws back at me. “I’m not her, and I’m not doing this to assert dominance, but I’m also not the only one who should be receptive to trying something outside my comfort zone.”

I take a deep breath, swallow, and close my eyes. Then I nod, although it’s as much to convince myself as it is to inform him. It’s not what I feared, and might actually be fun with more time to work into things, but that is a luxury we do not currently have.

“We’ll have to con…” I gasp at a particular movement, and my back involuntarily arches with an odd mixture of pleasure and something else – not pain, just more a feeling of wrongness. “…ah… continue this at another time.”

He withdraws the one hand gently, while holding me steady with the other. “Yes. Yes, we will.”

We wash, dry, and dress. In the living room, we’re greeted by five of our six current housemates – everyone but Ben.

Abe steps up first. “Dad’s still passed out…”

“…and he sleeps as deeply as I do,” continues Suzu, then passes the baton back to Abe.

“And I’m not in a mood for my own cooking tonight.”

Miki cuts in. “We heard you’ve already been to the Shanghai today, so…”

“…what do you want on your pizza?” Kenta completes. The two of them don’t look as close as she was with me, but then it seems she’s not even trying to hide that she’s using him as her puppet. Is that all I really was?

“Ham, pineapple, tomatoes. You know that’s what we like.” Or at least two of you should.

“Actually, I’d like peppers too,” adds Hisao. “It’s fine without them, but better with.”

That’s the first time he has ever mentioned being less than satisfied with our usual, but if it’s a sign that he’s taking more initiative, so be it. It’s a good thing, right? All eyes are on me, so I give my best impression of Picard. “«Make it so.»”

Abe completes the order online with the same subnotebook I use to audit inventory.

“Do you stock beer here, or just wine?” Iwanako asks. “It seems like a better match for pizza.”

“Stock it, no. We’re not a beer distributor. That doesn’t mean we don’t have any though. Let’s take a look.” I lead the way to the kitchen, and the refrigerator. “We have some, but it looks like Asahi Super Dry is your only option.” Oh look, a new batch of cookies. We’ll have to find a way to gently introduce her to those.

“That will work, and I can wait. I was just wondering.”

This is the first chance I’ve had to speak with her alone since yesterday, and certainly since Hisao told me about the change in her tactics. I lean in close and keep my voice down. “Look, you need to know…”

She shakes her head. “I do. I was out of line. Way out of line. I knew why he wanted to talk to you without me. That’s when I knew I’d blown it.”

“It’s not as bad as all that. I’ve made it clear to him that I accept that he may have to do things he would not ordinarily consider, if the situation calls for it.” I give her a sympathetic smile. “Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean I can say he will. I’m just saying that we’ve discussed it. He still manages to surprise me from time to time though.”

“So you’re saying…” She seems to be at a loss for words.

“Do what you have to. Just remember he’s on loan, not yours, and I expect him back intact.” I tap my chest with my fist twice to emphasize the point. “That said, I know that it would be thoroughly wrong of me to expect him to hold back at a critical moment, when you’ve done so much for him. You may not realize it, and he may not have shown it at the time, but those visits and that time you spent at his side were very important to him. He feels as if you are the only one that didn’t reject him, and has told me he’s quite grateful that he has the opportunity to show he hasn’t rejected you.” We’ll worry about the details later, if it comes to that. “One last thing – no ‘oops baby’.”

This makes her jump back a bit. “Do you think I’m completely daft? Of course not! I’m still a few years from wanting to go there – with anyone.”

“As am I.” Unlike certain parents I can name, I value the wellbeing of my future children more than their utility. That means they must wait until I can give them my best. “Glad we could clear that up.”

At least we’re on the same page now. Just a few minutes ago, I wasn’t so sure we were even reading from the same book.

MIKI

I wake with a start, as I so often do. Unusually, I find myself exactly where I was when I fell asleep.

“Huh?” Strong arms pull me in close. “Bad dreams again?”

“I… I don’t remember, actually. I may as well take a quick break.” I head for the restroom, where I splash some water across my face and catch a glimpse of myself.

«Suppose I were to tell you that the meaning of dreams
Is not all that it seems and the ultimate truth is a lie.
And you are just a puppet who can dance on a string.
Do you feel anything?
Would you laugh? Would you care? Would you cry?»

It looks and feels like I was crying, actually. Either that or I’m allergic to something that hasn’t set me off before, and I’ve been sleeping in this room and this bed for over two weeks, so that seems pretty unlikely.

Why am I doing this? I settled the straight-sex question quite some time ago – when I need to, I can. I might even enjoy it, and it’s actually preferable that he’s not particularly blessed below. So why am I leading him on like this? Because I like having someone wrapped around my finger. Yes, but this choice is utterly irrational. Seducing and holding onto Neko made sense, and continues to look like a remarkably good move even now – for both of us. I just plain wanted Hanako. Chasing Misha was an attempt to wound Shizune, who seems so impervious behind her force field. Keeping Junpei and Seiji in line has its place as well, and I don’t even have to try very hard with them. And Mira… what can I say? I want her, and I’m just hoping she’ll eventually realize she wants me too.

I’m up, I may as well drain what little fluid I’ve accumulated thus far. After that, I start back only to find he’s sitting up with the bedside lamp on, waiting for me. I stare straight into his eyes and try to figure out what’s going on in his head.

«So if you are confused and don't know which way to go,
You will certainly know
From the moment we're living we die.
And if it's all a crazy game you don't want to play,
Tell me what can you say?
It's a joke. It's the truth. It's a lie.»

We sit facing each other for several minutes, motionless, until I realize what it is that intrigues me. He’s intelligent and capable, but uncertain about his abilities, just as I am. He carries an air of confidence to hide his self-doubt, just as I do. He worries about his ability to perform under pressure, when it counts the most. That sounds familiar.

«I am a mirror. I am a mirror.
Looking at me you see yourself.
I am a mirror. I am a mirror.
Every face is someone else.»

I break off eye contact first, and we both start breathing again. I hadn’t even realized we had stopped. He shows a mere hint of a grin, and turns off the light. He pulls the covers over us as he cradles around my back.

«Look at me smile and you're the clown,
And if I dance you turn around.
Look in my eyes and see your tears
Until the music disappears.»

SALLY

“I’m not quite sure how much of each we sell each month,” I tell the vineyard representatives, “but I can get that information for you. Just let me connect and download…”

There is a snicker somewhere in the party, and I can hear several suppressing the urge to giggle.

Oops, I did it again. I shake my head. “What did I say this time?”

Jorge smiles. “Don’t worry, it’s one of the more common, and less offensive, mistakes we hear. That doesn’t mean it ever stops being funny. I suspect you meant to use «cargar», but you used «cagar». So instead of loading something, you shat it.”

“Isn’t that a lovely thought. I’ve heard of cat poop coffee, and I’ve tasted some shit wine,” (and I’m careful to use ‘mierda’ so as to leave no room for confusion) “but we don’t go that low on the price scale. Of course, we don’t really cater to the other end either. We’re distributors, not retailers, and there isn’t that much of a market for…” I can’t think of the word for extravagant, so I make a loose palm-up fist and rub two fingertips against the end of my thumb. This results in another astonished reaction from the crowd, and a harsh look and a raised eyebrow from Jorge.

“I would hope not. That isn’t for sale,” he spits out while repeating my gesture, “unless you are offering to rent yours.”

From somewhere else in the crowd I hear a whispered ‘puta’. Whatever I just did, I really blew it this time. Unsure just what the mistake was, I just stare at my shoes and try to look apologetic.

Suddenly Jorge bursts into laughter, and the rest of the room falls silent. “You are among friends, Rogers.” He still seems mildly confused, or amused, that I gave my name in normal Japanese order at the beginning of this conversation. “I recommend you do not repeat that gesture in polite company. I deal with enough Americans to know it means ‘a lot of money’, but that is not usually what it represents here.”

“Do I even want to know?” Of course I do, but not if it will cause further offence.

“Let’s just say that if you were to show the real thing, you could end up «embarazada».” After gauging my blank look, he continues. “Full. In a motherly way. I think you use the word «fanny». Here, that means a certain record company.”

That explains the snickers when I used the word ‘embarazada’ earlier. I’m just full of malapropisms.

“Well fuck a duck, I just seem to be a barrel of laughs today. I appreciate you taking this in good humor.” Just the same, it’s not long before I regret traveling alone. Maybe Miki was right, and I should have brought her along. It would save me from trying to order «polla» at dinner.

KENTA

“Would you mind driving?” Miki pushes the keys across the table.

“Actually, yes. I’d much rather go home and get my own car than drive the Fit into the city.” It’s left hand drive, with which I have no experience, and it’s also larger than mine, which may prove problematic when it comes time to park – if there is anywhere to park today.

“Fine then,” she says a bit abrasively. “We’ll hitch a ride back to the school and take a bus from there, but it’ll be another hour or so before we can.”

Hey, don’t pin this on me. I didn’t make you start drinking at lunchtime. “Look, if you don’t want to do this, then let’s not. I just thought maybe you’d enjoy getting into the spirit of things a little bit. I’ve seen it all before.”

“As you said, if we go tomorrow, I really can’t go as a casual, and I don’t even own a yukata. This is quite likely my last year in the north. Let’s fucking do this.” She sets her glass down hard enough to possibly dent the table.

Maybe this isn’t such a good idea. Aren’t parties supposed to be fun? “Hey, if I don’t have to drive, could you spare me one of those cookies?”

“If you don’t mind the taste, have at it.” She gestures toward the refrigerator.

“I mind, but it’s an acceptable trade-off.” I can see it won’t pay to try to spend the evening around her sober, especially since she’s already two sheets to the wind and working on a third. I wonder what’s bothering her, because it’s obvious that something is. I grab myself a cookie and a glass of milk to wash it down with, and return to the table.

“That bitch has herself a steady boyfriend, and it looks like she still is going to get another girlfriend before I do.” So that’s it.

“Why do you care?” I pause, while she stares at an empty glass. “I mean, really, why? I like you, and I care about you, but I’m under no illusion that you’ll be happy with me. I recognize this for what it is. Just the same, I’m willing to live in the moment and take what’s in front of me, instead of concentrating on what I don’t have.”

“Yeah, like…” She stops herself, but the upraised pinky gesture she started to form tips me off. “Never mind. You may or may not be part of the solution, but you aren’t part of my problem, and I shouldn’t treat you like you are. It’s nice to be able to discuss things, or even just cry on your shoulder. I’ll try to target my anger appropriately. No promises though.”

Are all of your social skills soluble in ethanol?

Next thing I know, she’s got an evil gleam in her eye. “We’ve still got the better part of an hour. We might as well make use of it.” I follow where she leads. “You only live once.”

I wish I could say that her next request is as good for me as it is for her. She’s squeaky clean, but it’s still not exactly to my tastes. She makes up for it when the bandage comes off, though. It’s exactly what I had been hoping for, ever since the first time. Just like consuming the odd-tasting cookie (which is starting to take effect), the gain is worth the pain. We manage a quick rinse, and she borrows a Hawaiian shirt from me – the one I wore to Hi-Land, and also the one she borrowed that night in Sapporo – as her modest form of dress-up. She has time to fill a flask and slip it into the inner pocket of her windbreaker before we head south with Ben, to turn around and catch a bus north. It isn’t until we are well underway that I realize she has left the bandage behind.

By the time we make it to the edge of the downtown area, it’s faster to walk than to stay on the bus. Between the traffic and the constant stops, it seems only the lost, the laden, or the very tired would stay aboard. We disembark to find the city in full regalia, though the celebration isn’t formally until tomorrow. Just one block to either side of the main artery, the streets are closed to vehicular traffic and lined with stalls. No wonder traffic was so nightmarish. I’m glad we didn’t drive, even if it took a squabble to make that decision.

It is late afternoon by the clock, but there are still a couple hours of daylight left, so we are in no great hurry to get to the heart of the city. We stop at one stand for juice drinks, and Miki makes no great secret out of the fact that she’s pouring something into hers. The vendor chooses to occupy herself with the next customer.

A bit later, we come across a stand selling scoops of ice cream – not in bowls or on cones as might be expected, but in paper boats. I try to select just one flavor from the dozens on display, but they all look so good that ultimately I end up with two: black cherry, and sweet green tea.

“You’re so boring.” Miki thumps me on the arm, before selecting rum raisin (hilariously mislabeled as ‘lamb raisin’ in English) for herself.

“You know there’s no alcohol in rum raisin ice cream, right?” I ask her. Hopefully there’s no lamb in it either.

She produces the flask and drizzles just a bit over the top. “There is now.”

“What did you bring, anyhow?” Pouring vodka on ice cream just seems offensive to me.

“151 proof rum. Want a nip?”

Three-quarters ethanol by volume. At this rate, I’ll be picking her up off the pavement and carrying her before the night is out.
The next time we stop, I do take a little nip off the flask – more to use up a bit of the supply than because I particularly want it. It burns! Surprisingly though, it tastes decent enough. She slips some into her coffee, and then into mine without asking.

Soon, she’s leaning on my arm a little. By the time we reach the park, there are thousands of people with the same idea already setting up camp. The park is near enough to the stadium that we will be able to see the fireworks, yet far enough away that we shouldn’t get caught up in the crush of the crowd. I set down the bag we’ve toted around, which now contains the paper boats used to serve our ice cream as well as the decorations we brought to write our wishes upon, before taking a seat in the grass.

Miki lowers herself with less than her usual grace. “Ouch.” It was a bit of a rough landing, and she’ll probably regret it tomorrow, but she’s not feeling any pain right now. She nestles up in front of me and slightly off to my right so that I’ll be able to see over her shoulder, then reaches back to take my hand and pulls my arm around her before stretching, yawning, and leaning back on me.

“Are you comfortable?”

“Yeah, quite.” She places her hand over mine again, but it takes a while for me to notice that she has the other arm tucked up under my palm. “I feel… unashamed, at least around you,” she says very quietly.

“What reason could there be for shame?”

“I already told you I’m a complete idiot.” She curls her hand, forcing my fingers to curl beneath it and around the naked, handless wrist within. “I deserved this, and it could have been a whole lot worse. At least my head is still attached.”

At last, she’s going to tell me what happened. But my hopes are dashed when I realize she has fallen asleep with her head on my shoulder. The thousands of people in the park become ten thousand or more, and free space is at a premium, but we might as well be on our own private planet right now. The sun slips below the horizon, but still scorches the western sky pink behind us as the first fireworks rise into the air.

“What happened?!” Her head snaps up fast enough to crack me in the ear.

“Fireworks.”

“Oh. Yeah.” She relaxes.

I reach across with my left hand and rub my ear, hoping she doesn’t notice.

There’s a bit more of a delay before the real show starts, long enough for it to get reasonably dark – and for Miki to nod off again. This time I’m prepared when that first shot goes up, and keep my head out of the way.

She’s awake, but I don’t know how closely she is following the show, as her head isn’t swiveling about like mine, or most of the people around us. Maybe she’s just staring at one point and letting it all wash over her. I’ve done that before.

It’s not the biggest fireworks show ever, but it’s bigger than the one we put on for our own festival and fairly impressive. Still, all good things must end, and after the echoes from the last frantic burst die, people are on their feet. Maybe they’re saving the best for tomorrow.

Perhaps half the people have left by the time Miki leans back against me and asks, “Can we go home now?”

I glance at the bag of decorations to see it is swarming with ants. We should have discarded the ice cream boats, even as cute as they were. “Yup,” is all I say as I stand up and help her to her feet, then kick the bag along in front of us to the perimeter of an already overflowing waste bin. I don’t need to hang a piece of paper in a tree to feel like my wishes have been heard.

AKIRA

The comments fly almost faster than I can keep up with them.

“My hair is pinned too tight!”

“Sorry, dear! I have to make mine that tight.”

“Ow! Th-this yukata still has p-pins in it!”

“Can I see?” That’s a male voice, it must be Tadao.

“No!” cry two voices in unison.

“The only reason you’re allowed to be here is because you can’t see. It’s bad luck to let boyfriends see unfinished outfits.” Wait, did Lilly just use the word boyfriend?

“You can see mine if you want. I don’t think the bad luck rule applies to brothers.” Mariko, the peacemaker.

Even this friendly bickering is enough to recall unpleasant high school memories, so I step out onto the porch with a tumbler glass in my hand. It’s overcast, muggy, and threatening rain, but there is enough of a breeze to keep things from being too oppressive. I fear we won’t be getting much beach weather on this trip.

I might as well start a little bit buzzed (or more), since I’ll have to work the night in reverse, growing more sober as time passes. We can just catch a train into the heart of the city from here, but we’ll have to drive after our return, and although I won’t do all of the driving, I will do the more treacherous part at the beginning. Traffic alone would be enough to make Hanako nervous. Throw in a carload of people, navigation, drunken tourists wandering into the street, and a little bit of rain, and she’s liable to panic. Once we get out of the sprawl, I’ll be happy to let her take over.

I hear footsteps, but I didn’t hear the door open or close. The tapping of a cane only tells me it’s not Hanako, but the way he steps up beside me tells me Tadao must have gotten himself tossed out of the dressing room.

“Did they get tired of you, or did you get tired of them?” I ask him.

“Neither, really. I just got tired of them asking what you were doing, and being unable to answer.”

“Here’s what I’m doing.” I brush the back of his fingers with the tumbler glass, and he leans the cane against the rail to take it.

He takes a sniff and holds it up. “Do you mind?”

“It’s forty percent ethanol. It’s pretty unlikely we’ll catch anything from each other by sharing a glass.”

He nods and takes a small sip. “Bourbon? Your dear sister would probably have a few words with you over this, and one of them would be «pants».”

“Well then, she doesn’t have to drink it. Neither do you, if it’s not to your liking. We have a few other options in stock.” He’s right though, it’s the last of the bottle I bought at the convenience store the night of the party.

“We don’t agree on everything. That would be boring.” He takes another sip then holds the glass in my general direction to take back. “Where do you think I learned «pants» doesn’t just mean pantsu?”

“I’ve never quite understood that one myself. Nobody has ever been able to tell me how that started or what it really means.” I drain the glass and stare through the bottom at the horizon for a moment. “Would you like a drink yourself?”

“Perhaps, but I should probably get back and report in.” He retrieves his cane and wanders back into the house, opening and closing the door as silently as he did the first time. I follow, as it’s clear I will not simply be left to myself.

I rinse my glass and set it on the drying rack, then follow again, into the bedroom currently serving as a dressing room. “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated,” I announce as I enter. Everyone pauses momentarily from fussing with their hair, except Tadao of course.

“Told you.” He turns and steps around me as if he knew exactly where I was. Did he pick that up from my voice alone? If not, he may well be the one left to fend for himself in the crowds later.

“Hanako,” I start, “I would appreciate if you would handle my makeup. I’m somewhat unaccustomed to prettying myself up while making it look like I haven’t done anything at all.” We’ll be rather too occupied to interact much later, and I welcome any chance to get her to myself for a short while. We already agreed that we have five days ahead of us, and that she should concentrate on being Lilly’s faithful companion today. It may be some time before they have another opportunity.

“C-certainly. I j-just have to f-finish…” She glances at Lilly and Mariko, who already look pretty close to complete.

“I understand. We won’t leave until everyone is ready, no matter the order in which they get ready, so take your time. I’ll help with yours, if you like.” We exchange smiles, and I venture out to see how Tadao is amusing himself.

I needn’t have worried. He’s sitting on the couch, reading from his display, and I would guess the data is coming from his phone.

“Anything interesting happening out there?” I ask to break the silence, and his face swivels in my direction, fingers still rippling across the display. I take a step to the side, and he does not turn to track me, which helps me pin down exactly how much he sees without the awkwardness of having to ask.

“Rain, maybe. Not exactly interesting, but it’s something we probably should account for.”

“It’s not supposed to be too bad today, I already checked. I’ll tuck a couple umbrellas into my tote just the same. Are you partial to a Speyside, or a blended?”

“It’s your call – and don’t tell me, let’s see if I’m any good at this.”

“As you wish.” I pick up my glass from the drying rack, and a fresh one for him, and fill each about a third full. I place his on the coffee table with enough of a knock that he can locate it.

He doesn’t hesitate. “You chose the blended. It’s quite delicate, if I do say so myself.”

“You’re not alone. Hanako calls it girl whisky.”

“Then let it be known that I approve of this girl whisky. I assume this is the real thing.”

“You bet your arse it’s the real thing, I carried it back from Scotland personally. Johnnie Walker Blue Label.”

I would swear he’s staring into his drink, except I know that he can’t. “Then I hope you are not offended by my rather humble gift.” He reaches into the bag at his feet and pulls out a rather simplistically (but elegantly) labeled bottle. “It’s the best I can do.”

Yamazaki 12 year single malt. Where is this kid getting things like this? “Let’s take it up north with us, and we can all try it together.”

He smiles and nods. “I have one request, that you open and pour it, and don’t disclose what it is until after they’ve had a taste.”

“Never fear, that’s standard operating procedure around here. Actually, hang on.” I fetch a mailing label for a package that never got sent, which covers enough of the label to render it unreadable. “That should solve the problem.”

“Wh-what problem?” I spin on my heels to see Hanako standing in the archway watching us.

“Not really a problem, we were just wrapping a gift of sorts.” I take it a step further and find a home for it in a cardboard mailing tube while Hanako patiently waits. Finally I realize she’s waiting for me. “You don’t have to play your role quite so well, you know. You can still tell me when you need me.”

It’s my turn to have my face buried under a mound of cosmetics, to be applied in the relative peace and quiet of my own bedroom. Although I was able to talk my way out of dressing up, I can’t escape my position as the honorary matriarch of the group, and have to be primped accordingly. To my surprise, however, Hanako’s touch is fairly light, consisting mostly of a bit of blush and eyeliner, with lip gloss to be applied on site. It takes all of two or three minutes.

“I w-wish I could be pretty in three m-minutes.”

Me, pretty? All I did was ditch the suit for a blouse, and put on a bit of makeup. I suppress a tear momentarily, and blot at the corners of my eyes with a tissue as soon as I can find one. I whisper straight into her ear. “Don’t make me ruin your work just yet. If you think you look anything less than stunning, you’re more blind than anyone else here.” The spare tissues are plucked from my hand, as we have a thoroughly ill-timed cry together.

HISAO

I’m convinced, she can stop now.
Neko really can’t sing. Nonetheless, she blusters forth in an unending loop, no two exactly the same. I can’t tell if she’s embellishing it, or just can’t remember how it goes any more.

«Sutoroberi pai yai yai yai yaiyayai
Sutoroberi pai oo sutoroberi pai
Sutoroberi pai yai yai yai yaiyayai
Sutoroberi pai oo sutoroberi pai

Shuppai amai sutoroberi pai
Chitchai amai sutoroberi pai
Saa! Ippai yume no mini pai»

By the beginning of the fourth iteration, Iwanako’s patience runs out. Rather than waiting, she just starts up with a song of her own as they continue to primp and preen for the afternoon to come.

«Nuapurista kuulu se polokan tahti
Jalakani pohjii kutkutti.»

What. Language. Is. That. I listen for clues, but can’t find any. The fact that Neko has picked up a few more decibels isn’t helping the situation, but she gradually runs out of steam. Apparently she finds Iwanako’s song as compelling as I do. She even stops primping and starts staring instead.

Iwanako has completed two full verses as best I can tell, when she finally notices the annoy-a-thon is over; that she’s singing alone.

“Oh!” she says when she comes to this realization. “Did I win?”

I take a seat on the corner of the hotel bed, and am slightly surprised when it bounces me twice. I guess I’m already used to solid frames and padded rails. Diplomacy. I feel like a deer in headlights, but I have to answer. “No, I’m afraid I can’t award you the win because… well, because that wasn’t annoying at all. I don’t know that song, and I wasn’t annoyed by it.”

“Don’t worry,” she says with a mischievous grin. “You will, and you’ll change your mind later. It’s a Finnish standard. As part of my linguistic studies, I’ve been interning with a production company, and it was my job to transliterate Finnish to something a Vocaloid can sing. I’ve heard it so many times now, I don’t think I can ever get it out of my head – so to me, it’s rather annoying.”

“What makes you so sure we’re going to hear it?” I ask.

There goes that grin again. “Sorry. Non-disclosure agreement.” She draws her hand across her mouth as if closing a zipper.

“I thought Vocaloid was only good for techno,” Neko adds. “You know, Dance Dance Revolution, and other such bollocks.”

More grin. She loves having a secret to beat us up with. “You, and pretty much everyone else so far. That will change.”

Downstairs, the lobby is twice as decorated as it was Saturday night, and the street and sidewalk outside are teeming with people. “I have to give you credit,” I tell Iwanako. “Spending the night here was a great idea.” I don’t want to think about what the bus has to deal with now, compared to O’dark-thirty when we rode it.

“It shouldn’t be quite so crazy tomorrow, should it? I’m scheduled to check out then, although I wasn’t planning to catch a train home until afternoon.” She holds the door open as we pass, but eight more people follow us, so we have to wait for her to be absolved of door duty.

“Tomorrow is Tourist Day, it should thin out. You’re welcome to spend another day or two with us if you like,” Neko offers. “We’ve got room.”

“I’m sure you do, but we have already made arrangements to meet with people. Right?”

It takes me a moment to realize Iwanako was addressing me with her last question. “Oh, yeah. Once we catch the last connecting train, we’re supposed to call my folks to meet us at the station. I think they would be rather annoyed if we changed the plan now.”

“Mmm, yes,” Neko says with mock gravitas. “I’m supposed to keep you out of trouble, not tempt you into it.” She may actually be taking this seriously, as she has managed to work her way into the middle, linking arms with both of us – her left with my right, as is usual.

Walking three-wide can be a challenge in normal city conditions, but it’s quite problematic today. Often we find ourselves having to drop to single file before taking up our positions again. Each time, Neko takes the point – a position I am more than willing to let her have. It reduces my chances of getting bumped in a bad way, and she knows the city better than I do. Unfortunately, she forgets that the people behind her are taller, and more than once walks right under paper lamps and other decorations that are at eye level for me.

I hear a chime, and Neko stops unexpectedly to look at her phone. “Pick something nearby. We need to go inside, before the rain arrives.”

“There.” Iwanako points to the restaurant where we first had lunch less than a week ago, and we all start across the street toward it. Not surprisingly, it’s quite crowded inside, and we have to wait to be seated. We’re still in the outer lobby area when the first rain comes.

“I didn’t know you cared about the weather so much,” I tell Neko. “At least, not enough to sign up for alerts.”

“I don’t, but I’m also not normally all that threatened by a spot of rain. Today, it will melt our faces. Mum’s not using the service right now, so I changed the forwarding to me.”

After a few minutes, they have found seating for us at the counter and we order coffee.

“Do those alerts tell you when it’s likely to stop raining?” I ask.

“No, and sometimes they come too late. They can’t send out an alert until a station reports rain, which means somebody usually ends up wet. We’re close to the middle of the monitored area though, so we should get advance notice unless a cloud breaks right on top of us.”

“I just wanted to know if we were stopping for coffee, or for lunch.”

“Coffee. I don’t think either of us are interested in having to touch up our makeup just yet.” Neko tips her head toward Iwanako. She meant it too – both of them use straws to sip their drinks once they arrive.

When it comes time to pay the check, I offer the usual debit card.

A minute or two later, our server returns. “Ah, so sorry.” He bows. “There remains an outstanding balance.”

What. “That can’t be right…” I start, but Neko produces a thousand yen note.

“I think I understand, darling. Don’t worry about it.”

The server takes the cash and the check and wanders off to complete the transaction, returning with the change shortly thereafter.

“Thank you, and sorry for the inconvenience,” she tells him, before glancing at me and Iwanako alternately. “Just how much was that phenomenal bar tab the other day?” She starts walking us toward the door.

“It, umm… I don’t actually remember,” I am forced to admit. “I wasn’t quite all there myself.” And I had my hands more than full with the two of you.

“The receipt is probably floating around my room somewhere,” Iwanako offers. “I’ll look when we get back.”

“I bet you’ll find that’s where the money went,” says Neko with a pout. “I’ll transfer some to that card before you leave. It wouldn’t do to have you starve because I drank your budget.”

“I doubt my folks would let me starve, but I’d rather have a balance on the card to pay for train tickets and such. I could pay cash, but it goes faster with plastic.”

Out on the street, the crowd seems to have a direction of flow that’s hard to resist, and on this side it’s going south. We cross over to the northbound side, and the breeze coming down the street swirls the mist still hanging in the air as we walk. The heaviness in the air seems to put a lid on the feeling of celebration, though the temperature is rather warm. We go with the flow of the crowd around us, as it would be a waste of effort to move any faster or slower. This also allows us to walk side-by-side once again. We have gone just a couple blocks before Neko is glancing in all directions.

“What’s the matter, babe?” I ask.

“The coffee… it wants out.” She points at the building where her appointment was. “There. I know there’s a loo on the ground floor.” No course adjustment is necessary as yet, and there’s no point in trying to force our way through, but her impatience is palpable. Her phone chimes once again, and she glances at it. “More rain on the way. I think we can make it, but we’re going to have to be a bit impolite about it.” She weaves her way through, and I glance back to make sure we’re not losing Iwanako. At least we all have phones if that happens. As we make the final stretch, the last fifty meters or so, she really turns up the urgency. I don’t think it’s water coming from overhead that concerns her right now, so I just let her go. We know where she’s headed.

Iwanako soon catches up with me. “Wow. That got right on top of her, didn’t it.”

“It sure seems like it. We might as well make use of the facilities ourselves, since...” I gesture skyward. Then I see some people I recognize, coming the other way. It’s too far to shout, though they’ve clearly seen me as well, or at least some of them have. I hold up a hand, and get an upraised hand in response, so I point at the building that is our target, receiving a thumbs-up in response.

“What was that all about?” Iwanako asks.

“Some classmates and friends. They didn’t look like they were aware of rain on the way, so I figured I’d save them.” We have to cross through the opposing traffic once again to reach the building, on the right side of the street relative to us. We wait under the overhanging front, as this should be safe enough if the rain comes – and come it does. By the time they reach us, the fivesome is moving as quickly as practical for three of them being blind, and squealing a little bit.

“Nice timing you have there.” Akira winks at me. “Did you know that was coming?” She tips her head toward the patter of the rain just a few meters away.

“Nope. Just a lucky guess.” I let them hang for just a second. “Alright, yes. Neko got an alert on her phone. We were already headed this way for a relief stop, and you didn’t look like you knew the rain was coming, so…” I shrug.

“S-so, where is sh-she?” Hanako asks.

“Inside already. She has had appointments here before, so she knew it would be a good place to stop.” I notice two pairs of eyes focused on me intently, and three pairs that don’t seem to be looking anywhere in particular. “Oh, I suppose I should probably introduce everyone. This is my friend and former classmate, Iwanako Shiraishi. Iwanako, these are Tadao and Mariko Kawakami, fellow members of the Radio Club, Hanako Ikezawa and Lilly Satou, classmates of mine, and Lilly’s sister, Akira.”

Quick greetings are exchanged all around, and all seven of us duck inside. The tinted glass, combined with the vaulted lights and the gray sky outside, make for a dark lobby.

“I’m feeling the coffee myself, so I think I shall track down the restroom. Could anyone else use assistance?” The last thing I want to do is get my comrades lost in an unfamiliar building.

Tadao takes a step in my direction. “I might as well. It doesn’t sound like we’ll be leaving anytime soon.”

He’s right. I have to look to notice, but it’s getting quite wet outside. “Umm… how do I lead you? I’ve never done this before…”

He holds out an elbow, and I put my hand on his upper arm and lead him to the center of the lobby, where there is a map. I locate the restroom on the side we just came from, and lead him back that way.

“Sorry, I had to consult a map. I’ve only been here once before.”

“That’s once more than me… I think.” He gives me a bit of a wry, self-deprecating grin.

“Alright, we’re here. Should I just wait here if I get done first?”

“I should be fine, unless they make an effort to lose me. If that happens, you’re stuck with me.” He lifts his head to indicate I should go on in.

We go our separate ways, and do our individual business. Once I finish and wash up, I do a quick scan to see if I could catch up with him, but apparently he’s either way ahead of me or way behind me, so I head back toward where we separated, and find only Akira and Neko.

“Took you long enough.” Neko gives me a slightly cock-eyed look.

“Yeah, well… we got sidetracked.”

“And we stayed dry, thanks to his signal,” adds Akira. “We have folding umbrellas, but only two, and it’s hard to walk that close together in these crowds.”

“That’s two more than we’ve got.” Neko flashes her phone briefly. “I’ve got the advance warning though. We’re headed to Nishi Park, at the riverside, to launch ceremonial boats. Wanna make it an event?”

Akira nods her approval. “We’ll poll the others when they get back, but it sounds like a good plan to me.”

We settle in to wait for the others, but it seems we’re now a party of eight. I thought it might look a bit odd that I have two girls with me, but Tadao is traveling with four. Sure, two of them are together, one of those two isn’t dressed up, and one of the others is his sister, but he must look like the luckiest guy at the party.

LILLY

We’ve stopped under shelter for yet another rain delay. I sense trouble in Hanako’s manner, as transmitted through her hand on my arm, long before it actually arrives.

My sister breaks the ice first. “Hello, Wei. I didn’t imagine this would be the sort of event that would appeal to you.”

“I never imagined I’d see you here either,” he replies. “In fact, I was kind of resigned to the idea that I would never see you again, anywhere. That’s certainly how you made it seem things would go, the last time we spoke.”

“I’m really sorry about that. Things have gotten… complicated. Really, really complicated. The political situation around the home office has taken quite a dramatic turn, so the original plan has been scuttled. They’re looking at Ireland now, and such changes take time. Hindsight is 20/20, and had I known things would happen this way, I would have handled it differently. I’m truly sorry.”

After a pause, during which I can feel Hanako’s grip tighten, Wei continues. “Very well, I suppose I will just have to accept your apology. It is good to see that you are well, and I wish you the best of luck.” While this sounds forced, it doesn’t come across as completely sarcastic.

I can hear Akira draw a breath as if to speak again, but she just lets it back out again, as Hanako’s white knuckle grip relaxes. The change in the timbre of the crowd indicates there is no longer anyone standing in front of us.

Hanako slowly finds her voice. “Wh-what just h-happened?”

“I never did tell you much about the one who came before you,” my sister informs her. “Now it looks like I don’t have to. I have to admit that at the time I made the break with him, I made it sound as though I was leaving Japan for good. I never really considered it, but the offer did give me an easy out.”

“So y-you’re not l-leaving?”

“No. Or more precisely, not as far as I’ve been informed as yet, and even then, it will only be temporary. I’m not the most experienced international lawyer the company has at its disposal, but I am in a position where certain parties feel they can share sensitive information with me, and know it won’t leak.”

“They want to move the home office to Ireland?” I interject. This is the first I’ve heard of it. “That isn’t going to be popular.”

“They’ve been toying with the idea for a few years now, but it never seemed worth it. The rapid ascension of the Scottish National Party has come as more than a bit of a surprise, and their calls for independence are worrying. I don’t think I need to remind you what can happen when nationalism overtakes reason. The company needs the EU, and the bulk of the UK, more than it needs Scotland – even a prosperous and successfully independent Scotland. Add to that the obvious advantages of operating from a tax haven like Ireland, and… well, you don’t have to be an economist to do the maths. In any event, I have no voice in the decision. I’ll merely be tasked with carrying it out, whatever it is.”

“What becomes of Inverness in this scenario? Mother would probably find Ireland quite suitable, but I have my doubts Father would feel the same.”

“The Inverness office would remain. While greatly reduced in importance, they would still have sales and service to carry out. There is much speculation that the new headquarters would be close to the border with Northern Ireland, and that all personnel that wished to stay on in their current capacities would be invited to relocate – to either side of that line, as suits them. As for our family’s specific plans, you’d have to ask. I could hazard a guess as you have, but…”

But you were too busy trying to get under Father’s skin by dating a chankoro. This isn’t the place or time, so I’ll spare you that outrage – for now. “…But we’re here to make boats, not speculate wildly,” I finish for her.

“Ah, about the boats,” Neko starts with her saccharine bubbly demeanor, “I didn’t plan on a crowd this large. We’ll have to buy more paper and candles somewhere, unless you brought a supply.”

That’s assuming we ever get there. It seems that every time we close half of the remaining distance to Nishi Park, it starts to rain again and we run for cover.

YUUKO

I answer the door, careful not to trip over my own feet, or perhaps a chunk of particularly thick air. I stumble anyhow, crashing heavily into the door. Upon opening it, Ben stands outside with… a pizza? What.

“You called for delivery?”

“I, uh, you… what is this? I don’t even.” My head starts to spin, but he opens the pizza box to reveal that it actually contains eight yellow poppies.

“Here’s to success. We’re off to a great start, and I have to say you’re partly responsible for it.” Stepping inside, he locates the empty vase that has sat atop my refrigerator long enough to have a heavy layer of dust on it. After rinsing it off and filling it with water, he places the display in the center of my small dining table.

Isn’t that convenient. “How did you know I had that?”

“I see a great many things, but I divulge few of them.” He flashes a gap-toothed smile at me. “I’ll make an exception in this case though – you look marvelous. You were stunning yesterday, but you’ve outdone yourself this time.”

I want to dance, or at least twirl my umbrella like a baton, but I maintain my composure all the way to the car.

«I feel pretty, oh so pretty,
I feel pretty, and witty, and gay,
And I pity
Any girl who isn’t me today.»

“So where is your boy today?” I ask once we’re under way.

“He and Miss Sleepyhead took the bus into town some time ago. We should catch up with them at the park.”

“It sounds like they’re always together lately.”

“The longer it stays that way, the better. It solved my biggest problem regarding him.” He glances at me, then turns his attention back to the road.

“There’s trouble between you?” I did not know about this.

“Between us? Oh, no. He’s great. It’s my boss that’s the problem.”

I can’t think of a reply to that, but the silence stretches on. “Oh.”

“Hmm? I told you about her habit of picking up younger guys. Maybe I didn’t make it clear just how much younger I meant. Her current bedwarmer – or at least I assume he still is, I haven’t seen him for a while – is a student at Yamaku.”

“Oh my.” I’ve been known to fish from that pond myself, but I’m not old enough to be the mother of a high school student. “But how is this a problem for Abe?”

“How long do you think it would be before she turns her eye on him? At least I don’t have to worry about that for the moment. She’s unlikely to poach from her own crew. She may be crass and devious, but she’s not stupid. Still, if Suzu fumbles, I’m not at all sure Sally won’t try to pick up the ball and run. I’m not quite as worried about it now though.”

“Because she’s not here?” That seems pretty obvious to me.

“Well yeah, there’s that, but I meant that even once she does return, any temptation would be decreased – on both sides. She has already missed the chance to be first, and she can never steal that experience from him.”

I know what he means. The first time is crucial. Having that wasted on being a mere bedwarmer would be a bitter pill to swallow. It took me a while to deal with the disaster that was my first time.

Wait a minute, we’ve turned eastward and we’re only on the edge of the city. “Where are we going? The fun stuff is that way.” I point toward my window.

“Tomizawa subway station. It’s going to be nearly impossible to get close to the center of the city with a car today, but the trains are still running. It also means we’ll get out much faster when the night is over. When we open to accommodate the late crowd fleeing the city, I want you to be there. This would be true even if you didn’t look as wonderful as you do today, but it’s doubly true now.”

«See the pretty girl in that mirror there?
Who can that attractive girl be?
Such a pretty face,
Such a pretty dress,
Such a pretty smile,
Such a pretty me!»
-----------------
NEXT CHAPTER

I'm fairly surprised this fanfic barely ever gets comments, especially considering its...highly controversial themes.

But I enjoyed it quite a bit at first, even if chapters beginning right in the middle of a scene or conversation took some used to; it could've been even more confusing if you didnt clearly specify whose point of view each chapter used.

It was an original take on school life, even though the sheer amount of slang made it hard to follow for a poor non-native speaker like me. Neko is a fun character, and a delighfully weird mix of cultures. I still have trouble depicting a short Japanese schoolgirl blabbering in Bogan English. The only gripe I had is that actual physical descriptions of your OCs were few and far between (or they just went over my head, in which case I apologize). For example, Abe and Ben. Their very, let's say american-sounding names threw me off. I had trouble grasping exactly who they were, what they looked like, etc.

Things then turned pretty bleak, what with (spoilered just in case) Miki's characterisation, prominent drug use, all of the wealthy families of Yamaku being engaged in some sort of shady business (Hanako's reflection about two of her friends basically "owning her" was especially spine-chilling), human trafficking, and probably more things I missed or forgot.

It started to appear to me like an attempt to shake your readers' views of Yamaku simply for the sake of shock value, and I slowly lost interest in this fic. Which is apparently good for me, for what you seem to have in store is not much brighter.

So anyway, thanks for writing this, Nekodude. It was interesting, but not quite my cup of tea. You did manage to draw a long-time lurker to post, at least. I managed to hold out for almost eighteen months.

Strongstache wrote:I'm fairly surprised this fanfic barely ever gets comments, especially considering its...highly controversial themes.

I'm not. There are plenty of people, including 4LS devs, who distinctly dislike what I've done. I won't change the story for them (though I'd consider doing so if they made the point that it makes for a poor plot, rather than running contrary to their headcanon), so they've stopped commenting.

I think the real problem is that I insisted on nailing together a world that's happy on the surface and set in a romance genre with one that's set in a sort of film noir vein. If I were making it a screenplay, I probably would have specified that much of the first book be filmed in black and white. I also took a great deal of momentum from the A Song of Ice and Fire series, which I had just completed reading when I started into this. More recently, it has been informed by the political machinations of Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars, and my idea of the future of Earth was fairly similar to his, even before I read it.

(On a side note, I highly recommend the Mars Trilogy to anyone with an interest in plausible, gritty, and realistic science fiction. There are very few pivotal technologies in the story that aren't a direct and obvious evolution of what we have now, and the only anachronism that I have found so far is that when he wrote it, the Washington Wizards basketball team was still called the Washington Bullets.)

Strongstache wrote:But I enjoyed it quite a bit at first, even if chapters beginning right in the middle of a scene or conversation took some used to; it could've been even more confusing if you didnt clearly specify whose point of view each chapter used.

This was deliberate, and soon became a template. I personally find it easy to put a book down -- even one I really like -- at the end of a chapter if each chapter begins with a bunch of scene-setting fluff, so I made the conscious decision to pull the reader into a scene immediately, and fill in the details as I went. Even with the upcoming format changes for the third book, that is one pattern I will probably retain. Not doing flashbacks or memory sequences is another. (I only break this pattern in the Prologue, which is why the first book ends in such an odd place. I needed another Prologue.)

Strongstache wrote:It was an original take on school life, even though the sheer amount of slang made it hard to follow for a poor non-native speaker like me. Neko is a fun character, and a delighfully weird mix of cultures. I still have trouble depicting a short Japanese schoolgirl blabbering in Bogan English. The only gripe I had is that actual physical descriptions of your OCs were few and far between (or they just went over my head, in which case I apologize). For example, Abe and Ben. Their very, let's say american-sounding names threw me off. I had trouble grasping exactly who they were, what they looked like, etc.

Like a lot of other things, I'm leaving some details dangling, to be explained later, but Ben is from the Philippines, and speaks Tagalog of course, but also Japanese, English, and Spanish. He moved to Japan in the 1990s when they had more jobs than they did people, and never went back. Abe is the product of Ben's short-lived marriage, and is half-Japanese (not stated so far, but it will come up). Abe doesn't speak (much) Spanish, as there has been no particular reason for him to learn it.

The lack of physical descriptions, outside of things that catch the attention of other characters (like Ben's gap-teeth and baldness), is because of criticism of the first draft of the story, where I was told I had too much physical description.

Strongstache wrote:Things then turned pretty bleak, what with (spoilered just in case) Miki's characterisation, prominent drug use, all of the wealthy families of Yamaku being engaged in some sort of shady business (Hanako's reflection about two of her friends basically "owning her" was especially spine-chilling), human trafficking, and probably more things I missed or forgot.

Human trafficking is going to become a very important plot point, very soon, and was introduced as early as it was so that it wouldn't come out of nowhere when it does blow up. I don't see drug use (especially when it's relatively non-destructive, as is the case with even Suzu's addiction) as dark. I don't even see it as inherently bad (or good). It's just typically one of those things that flies under the radar. I think the budding alcoholism hinted at for Hanako, Lilly, and Miki, and the expansion on Akira's battles with the bottle (which will also be shown to extend to Karla in the third book) are darker than any of the illegal drug elements. (I don't think most people are sufficiently emotionally invested in Sally to care that she's a lush.)

You also don't seem to find the mental health aspects "dark". Hanako is canonically stricken with depression and anxiety. Lilly and Akira both are prone to depression but have learned to paint a face over it, Suzu is not so good at concealing it, and in case you couldn't figure it out on your own, Miki is sociopathic and Neko is bipolar.

Oddly enough, the long-term outline (and there is one, extending out another thirty years already) makes the group of characters who stick together a bright spot in an increasingly crapsack world.

Strongstache wrote:It started to appear to me like an attempt to shake your readers' views of Yamaku simply for the sake of shock value, and I slowly lost interest in this fic. Which is apparently good for me, for what you seem to have in store is not much brighter.

Believe it or not, it was the characterization of Jigoro that got me thinking about this. Why would people put up with him carrying a sword everywhere if he wasn't connected to some sort of shady operation? And if he's dirty, then the Satous probably are too, meaning Kenji is right about Lilly.

The irony is that although he inspired the direction I took the setting, he has almost no direct impact on the story and may not even appear. His only direct relevance has been to refuse to finance the Shanghai upgrades, specifically because the Satous were so enthusiastic about it. (I didn't cover that because it's not that important. It just means he doesn't profit from their success.)

Strongstache wrote:So anyway, thanks for writing this, Nekodude. It was interesting, but not quite my cup of tea. You did manage to draw a long-time lurker to post, at least. I managed to hold out for almost eighteen months.

I think the forum would be better off if lurkers came out of the shadows more, so this is a good thing. Welcome home!

NEKO

I keep a lid on my annoyance. “No, I don’t need help folding a paper boat.” Hisao really should know better, and the smirk on Tadao’s face just reinforces it. “If you really want to be helpful, find me a dry place to sit. The problem isn’t folding, it’s that we’re doing this standing up, and I can’t use my other hand. Is anybody with me?”

Much to my surprise, Mariko takes up the offer. “I am having similar troubles as well. I need a surface to work on, since I can’t really hold onto my paper and feel what I’m doing at the same time.”

The rest of the pack lets the two of us separate, as shelter and seating are both quite scarce in the park today. Eventually we luck upon a bench as it is being vacated, and we wait for our opportunity. Mariko inspects the surface for dryness, as I take a seat and slip out of my shoe and sock.

“It seems this will work,” she reflects quietly. “I personally can deal with a bit of dampness, but it would make origami rather difficult. What was that you were saying about another hand? Is it growing out of the middle of your chest or something?”

I tickle her calf with my bare toes. “Not exactly.”

Upon grabbing my ankle, she suddenly understands. “Oh! I should have guessed that’s what you meant.” She pulls one piece of paper out of the plastic, and notes that the dark side is lightly waxed. “Never mind what I said about the dampness. I also should have guessed this too.”

“It’s not like they have to last very long, but yeah, it helps if the paper is at least a little bit water-resistant. Don’t make any unnecessary creases, as that’s where leaks will start. A rounded bottom is better than a boat that disintegrates on launch.”

I secure my own paper and set to folding. I finish one boat, but as I start in on a second, I realize we’ve drawn a bit of a crowd – or rather, I have. Odds are good that Mariko’s difference has gone unnoticed, but I probably look a bit un-ladylike at present. I remove the candles from their small metal cups and set one in Mariko’s boat just as she completes it – with my toes, of course. I might as well put on a show.

Mariko seems content with her single boat, but I’d rather have a spare. Shit happens, and one of us may need it. Hers is more elegant than mine, as it has a bit of a scoop at the front to catch the wind. Mine look more like home-plate-shaped ashtrays. It makes little difference, they’re all going to go the same direction: downstream.

“Shall we go?” I ask as I put my footwear back on. “It appears there are other people waiting for this bench.”

“Actually,” a boy about my own age says, “I don’t mind.” He holds out his own paper and gives a slight bow. “If you want, that is. You’re better at this than I am.”

“You heard the man.” I take the paper and pass it to Mariko. “You’re better at this than I am, and I’ve already put myself back together.”

“Oh.” The boy’s voice carries a trace of disappointment, but then he smiles. “I was hoping you would do it. Nobody will believe I did it if I come back with one like hers.”

“Then we’ll compromise.” I hand him my second boat. “We’ll keep hers as a spare, and you can take this one. If anyone asks, you traded papers.”

He watches quietly as Mariko folds his slightly larger paper into a second boat that is even more ornate than the first. “Thank you kindly.” He bows again before scampering away nervously with my simple boat.

As we set off to rejoin our group, Mariko asks, “What was that all about? He sounded scared.”

“He needn’t have worried. I already know about the existence of his type. No matter what your oddity, there’s someone out there who is into that sort of thing, and it appears he was into mine.” Or at least the one he could easily see. I don’t care much who knows about the leg, but it’s not like I advertise it either.

“You really think that there’s someone for everyone?”

“I don’t just think it, I have proof. There are blokes who are into blind girls too. I’d offer to introduce you to them, but I don’t know them as individuals and, well… some of them are right bogans.”

“That…” She comes to a stop, and I am forced to as well, or let go of her arm. “That won’t be necessary.”

Fuck arranged marriages.

The others are finishing their boats as we return, and none too early. It never really was light with the overcast, but it’s now distinctly growing dark.

“So how’d you do?” I address to nobody in particular.

“We took turns being tables,” says Tadao, bowing deeply and holding the pose. “It was strange, but it worked.” He holds up a passable boat, while Lilly giggles.

“We brought back a spare.” I hold up Mariko’s first effort, as she opted to keep her second one, but nobody claims it. “In that case, I’m upgrading.”

Someone’s phone chimes, and five people check their pockets. This is why I don’t use the default sounds. It’s Akira’s. “We should head for the water’s edge. We’ll probably have to jostle for position as it is.”

She’s right, it’s arseholes to elbows. Fortunately, the first wave – primarily adults with very young children, who presumably want to get done before full dark – is peeling back, and the crowd moves forward one row at a time. By the time we get our chance to launch, there is a chilly breeze making it difficult to light our candles, but Akira comes through with a windproof wick lighter. I also notice she handles the lighting and launching of Hanako’s boat as well as her own.

I catch a flash from the edge of my vision, and my first thought is to head for cover. I get turned around and start to call out, only to realize it’s not lightning, but fireworks.

“Lights above, lights below,” Hisao whispers in my ear. “It’s a pretty sight, but we probably should make way for the next bunch.” We linger for a few seconds more as we watch the boats get swept into the center of the river channel, first around one curve, then a second that makes them seem to shrink instead of moving, as the fireworks continue to boom in the distance. Linked arm in arm, we make way for the still substantial crowd seeking access to the shore.

ABE

My phone buzzes on my hip. “That’s probably them.” A glance confirms it, so I answer. “Hey Dad. We’re here already, what about you?”

“Just arriving at Sendai station. Where exactly are you?”

“Nishi Park, about a kilometer and a half due west of you.” Too bad the streets don’t run due west.

“How does the crowd look?” I can hear the warning bells informing all nearby that doors are closing. They must not be very far clear of the train. “It’s pretty packed in here.”

“You want to come this way then. It seems most are already headed back toward you. We spotted the others, but didn’t join them. They had already attached themselves to a larger group.”

“Mmm, alright. Could be a while. I’ll keep you posted.” The call drops.

“They’re on the way here, having just made it to Sendai station. How are you holding up?”

Suzu gazes back at me with a slightly distant look in her eyes. “I need coffee. At least.”

At least. Well, that’s not a good sign. “You’ve still got one pill left for the day.”

“Do I?” Somehow I don’t believe she had actually forgotten. “That should help. I still want coffee.”

“It will be at least twenty minutes, probably more, before they get here. I think we have time to find us some coffee.” I squeeze her hand, she smiles, and we start off in search of her nectar of life.

I’m annoyed, but I’m not sure who to be annoyed at. Who gets the blame here? Is it Boss for kicking this whole thing off, and undoubtedly supplying Miki with her stash? It’s hard to pin this all on her – the way this started almost seems reasonable. At the very least, it doesn’t seem malicious.

Should I be upset at Miki then, for trying to buy herself some ‘good times’? If the initial desire wasn’t already there, it wouldn’t have worked even to the degree that it did. This one skirts the line of malice a bit more finely, but it’s still not clear that it was more than willful idiocy – on both of their parts.

I already know I can’t pin all of this on Suzu. I think I would have found the temptation irresistible myself, if I previously had no control over my wakefulness and someone came along offering a solution. I’m not at all sure what Sally intends to do to replace it, or if she’s thought it out that far, though it would be unlike her not to have at least one plan.

So where do I place the blame? Sally? Miki? Suzu? Genetics? At the end of this carousel, I reach the same conclusion I’ve reached every previous time around, and blame all four of them in equal measure. At least two of the four are actively working to correct the problem, and only one working to derail their efforts, but it could be three rather than two.

“Fuck her.” It escapes my lips before I realize I’ve switched from thought to speech.

“Wh-what?” Suzu stops, swivels, and looks at me incredulously. “You don’t like her?”

Pakshet. “Umm… I’m sorry. I was off in my own little world.” Or your little world, rather. “I don’t think that comment was addressed where you think it was addressed.”

“So you don’t have a problem with Yuuko?”

“Actually, I don’t know her well enough to say one way or the other. I can’t say I exactly approve, but for all I know, she may turn out to be wonderful. I’ll certainly give her the benefit of the doubt for now.” We resume walking, and it’s pretty clear she knows where we’re going, so I let her lead.

Just as I think I’ve dodged a bullet, she lets me know I haven’t. “So who were you talking about? There was some venom in your voice.”

“You won’t be mad at me if I tell you?”

“I’ll be mad at you if you don’t tell me.”

She’s right, I can’t escape this. “Actually I was thinking of a couple people at the time. Boss for playing doctor, but more than that, the one you called your best friend, for… I don’t even know what to call what she did. And now, she isn’t lifting a finger to help.”

“You have to let go of that. I already have. That doesn’t mean we’re still the best of friends though. I’ve seen what she really looks like, what lies behind the mask. Trust me when I say you do not want to openly cross her. As for not helping, it’s because nobody else wants her help. She hasn’t been invited.” She looks around as if anyone here would know who we’re discussing, then clutches my arm and drops her voice to a near whisper. “But just between you and me… I’m with you. She’s a conniving, manipulative bitch. Fuck her.” Then her scowl turns back into a smile as we reach the front of the line. “Two regular coffees and a double shot.”

We’re still nursing the last of our regular coffees when Dad and Yuuko arrive. “I should have guessed that’s what you’d be doing,” he says as they walk up.

I smile. It’s not lying if I don’t say anything. “I’ve still got a little if you want it. I mean, I like it, but…”

“Yeah, I know. You’re not immune to it yet. Keep it that way if you can.” Dad lifts his eyes and head toward the shoreline. “Let’s do what we came for.” He takes my remaining coffee and drains it.

“What did you write on your paper?” I ask him as the four of us walk toward the no longer crowded riverbank.

“That’s kind of personal, don’t you think?”

Umm, yeah. I guess so. I look toward Suzu, who gives me a mischievous grin. Maybe she got a look at it.

At the bank, the four of us launch our boats together, watching them drift on the current and gradually out of sight, each pointedly not watching each other hang our wishes in the trees.

There really isn’t that much to do except slowly wander back toward the subway station, grabbing more refreshments as we pass the few interesting vendors that have not either run out or closed for the night.

“You sort of missed the party,” I tell both Dad and Yuuko. “Fireworks went off at least an hour ago.”

“Missed one party, yes, and alas, we’re going to miss the second one as well because we’ve got a business to run. As it is, they’re probably going to start without us.”

Second party? Suzu must be wondering exactly the same thing, because she asks. “What second party is this?”

“Maybe I’ve said too much,” he tells us as Yuuko pokes him in the ribs.

“Don’t leave them hanging like that,” she says, then pouts.

“Let’s just say this is one night couples won’t be chased out of the park when the lights go out. It’s a night for star-crossed lovers, after all.”

***

We have the option of going home, but I feel it’s my duty to pitch in if the crowd even remotely matches expectations. The decision becomes completely moot when Suzu passes out in the car on the way back from Tomizawa, and as Yuuko takes over at the door, Seiji helps me half-walk and half-carry her up the hill to the school, and her own warm bed. I get her out of her formal outer garment while he waits patiently outside, then we head back down the hill.

As expected, we come up a couple people short. One calls in sick, while the other is honest and admits he’s trapped in the city and can’t get out. I get stuck on dishwashing duty, but at least I’ll get paid for it. That covers one vacancy. Seiji changes uniform and busses tables, filling the second.

It’s past two in the morning when we make our way back up the hill. Seiji and I part ways in the courtyard, and I let myself in with the key I kept when we put Suzu to bed, and soon join her in blissful unconsciousness.

***

Just like the last time we found ourselves here, she wakes up first, and even slips out without waking me. She is not so stealthy on her return, though.

“Do you want to know what he wished for?” she whispers in the morning light.

“Mmm. Sure.”

“The wisdom to follow the right path. I can read upside down, you see. What about you?”

“I wished for the restaurant to succeed. Judging by last night, it looks like it just might. I’ve never seen Dad as pleased as when he’s running the place. What about you?”

“I wished to not die a virgin.” Her face betrays nothing.

“But… how could you…” I sputter.

Her poker face cracks. “Why don’t you refresh my memory?”

MARIKO

“The instant we get back, I’m going to peel my face off.” Seldom have I heard such a level of frustration in Lilly’s voice. I understand perfectly though, my own mask has been slipping around the edges for well over an hour now.

“Fine with me,” Akira concurs. “Freshen up all you want. Shower if it will help. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us.”

Although I wish I could go on this trip, it would mean being packed in the middle of the back seat for five hours each way. It was bad enough just coming across town, and I’ll have to face that again shortly. It is also pretty apparent that this is a couples trip, though nobody has made such a declaration. I will be satisfied with the day just passed. It was a good one.

All I require now is makeup removal and a change of clothes. Lilly and I share one restroom, while Akira and Hanako take the other. I cannot tell for sure if I got all of it, but it feels better, and that’s all I really care about right now, so I leave Lilly to her shower and find my casual clothes.

“Is that you, sis?” Tadao’s voice drifts from somewhere in the living room.

I carefully maneuver in that direction. “Yes. I’ll wait to shower so you can be on your way.”

“You’re going to be alright?”

That depends on your definition, I suppose. “It’s only five days, and Neko has already told me she has plans for our time together, so I’d say things will be just fine.”

“Oh? Like what?”

“She didn’t say, but it’s going to be just the two of us I think. Hisao is headed south to see his parents, so she’ll be alone for the first time in a while – over a year, I think.”

“Alone? Aren’t there always people around that house?”

“Yes, but I meant romantically alone. I don’t think she’s not had a boyfriend or girlfriend, or both, since she got here.”

“She’ll still have a boyfriend, he’ll just be gone for a short time. Don’t get your hopes up. You know I already tried.”

There’s still something between him and that Iwanako girl, and he’s leaving with her, I almost say, but why complicate things needlessly? He thinks people pair off and that’s that. While he’s quite willing to accept two girls as a couple, and presumably two guys as well, that’s as liberal as his mindset gets. If he couldn’t pick up that vibe, it’s not my place to point it out.

“Would you like a sip of something?” he asks after a few moments of silence. “Akira said it would be fine.”

I don’t want to impose, but if it’s already pre-approved… “If you think it would be alright. I trust your judgment.”

“I do. She told me the wine that’s already open won’t hold until they get back. I don’t know what it is, but I’m willing to roll the dice.” He taps his way quietly into the kitchen, and I can hear him opening cabinets. He returns soon after, placing the glasses on the coffee table.

“Smells like a full-bodied red.” I take a sip. “Tastes like one too.”

“I couldn’t read the label, not enough contrast in the print. I like it, though.”

Sipping makes the wait more bearable, and one by one the others emerge, Lilly taking the longest. They gather their bags, and we load up and start the trip west, back toward what I would call ‘home’.

It’s not long before I sense the tension in the air. Everyone is oddly quiet, until Lilly breaks the stalemate. “What did you do to Wei?” she asks.

“I didn’t do anything. It wasn’t going to work, and I saw no sense in dragging things out,” Akira responds from the driver’s seat. “I wasn’t lying when I said I would have done things differently if I had known what was going on, but I couldn’t very well tell him the real reason, could I?”

“He was more of an adult about it than you were, even today.”

“Oh that’s rich, relationship advice from someone who has never had one. I’ll be sure to make a note of it.”

“I don’t have to make every mistake personally, unlike some people.”

“So Mariko, are you sure you don’t want to come along? It sounds like someone here is saying she’d rather stay behind.”

“That’s pantsu and you know it. Are you that afraid of what I have to say? Are you afraid your blind sister can actually see things more clearly than you can?”

“Either you are just trying to push my buttons, or you really don’t have a clue what happened today. He wasn’t looking for answers. He wasn’t trying to be the better person. He was just trying to prove to the new girl on his arm that we were well and truly done, and I was glad to give him that. Now, do you have any more insights to contribute?”

I can hear Lilly’s astonished gasp, but it may have been lost in the noise before it could reach Akira’s ears. I give my brother a pat on the knee for good luck. He’s going to need it.

***

My search engine mojo is weak at best, but even my cursory searches return more hits than I can comfortably wade through. Even if I limit my search to sites in Japanese and English, the numbers are telling. Neko was right. Her proxy can see much further than our sanctioned, filtered Web.

I decide that it’s probably wisest to start with groups hosted overseas, where it is unlikely any of this could do harm, even if linked back to me. I choose an innocuous and seemingly American name, and complete my sign-up to tribe.net.

A few dozen new friends and a handful of group subscriptions later, there is a knock at my door, and I freeze. Do they know? The knock is repeated, and I hear a voice from the other side. “Wake up, love! Our ride awaits!”

It finally occurs to me to check the clock. It’s ten! How can that be? I quickly close the lid on the laptop and answer the door.

HANAKO

We’re only on the outskirts of the sprawl known as Greater Sendai, barely an hour into our trip, when Akira pulls off for a fuel stop.

“W-why are we s-stopping?” We still have three quarters of a tank.

“I need a little freshening up, and it’s your turn to drive.” Akira opens her door and steps out. “Anyone else is welcome to come with me. You won’t get another opportunity for a couple hours.”

“I’ll see to the re-fueling,” Lilly offers. Their little spat has almost certainly not been forgotten, but both are currently content to pretend that it has. The credit card changes hands, and the rest of us head inside.

I grab Lilly a bottle of tea and myself a soda as Tadao finds his way to the coffee station, apparently by smell alone, and Akira ducks into the restroom. After completing her tasks there, she joins Tadao and draws herself a cup to go with his.

“You’re not under any obligation to stay awake back there, you know,” she tells him, “but we’ve got ephedra if you need it.”

“Yeah, thanks. We’ll keep that in mind. Somehow I don’t think we’ll be sleeping much this morning.”

Is that a vote of no confidence in my driving abilities, or just a general observation?

“I can’t,” Akira points out. “I’m not allowed to. I expect an awake front-seat passenger when I’m driving as well, someone I can talk to. We’ll be in no-man’s-land as far as radio goes a lot of the time, and it takes more than music to keep me going.”

Regrouping at the car, I settle in. Lilly waits until I have adjusted the seat before deciding if she wishes to sit behind me, or whether to submit her slightly shorter companion to it. I do slide the seat back, but only a couple centimeters, while setting the back a bit more upright. It’s probably a wash in terms of total legroom, and she takes up the same place as before.

As we resume our journey, it is near silent again. It has a certain electricity to it, much as the trip back to Yamaku did before the incident. Akira must notice this, because she dials up some driving music as I accelerate up the ramp onto the expressway, noticeably shifting the balance to the rear so I can more easily keep an ear on the engine speed.

«I had to escape
The city was sticky and cruel
Maybe I should have called you first
But I was dying to get to you»

The first two times I reach for my bottle of soda, Akira intercepts and removes the cap for me, replacing it afterward, so that I can keep at least one hand on the wheel. By the third time, she isn’t as responsive, and I clamp the bottle between my legs and remove the top one-handed before taking a couple short sips. Such is the luxury of cruise control.

“Ah. You’ve got it under control, I see.”

“I do n-now. It’s g-good that you op-opened the full bottle though.” I hand her the open bottle first, then the cap, and let her take care of it.

The next time I reach for the bottle, there is no reaction at all, so I spare a half-second glance to my left to find Akira leaning against the B pillar and snoring softly. I check the mirror, and see only one head in the back. Turning around as briefly as I can, I see that Lilly has fallen asleep across Tadao’s lap, who may or may not himself be asleep. So much for not sleeping this morning.

«I was dreaming while I drove
The long straight road ahead, uh, huh
Could taste your sweet kisses
Your arms open wide
This fever for you is just burning me up inside»

The next two-plus are uneventful for my passengers, but not so much for me. What’s that sound? Why do we seem to be drifting right? No wait, we’re drifting left. Oh, it’s wind. I slow down for rain, taking care to stay away from areas that look as though they could hold standing water, but I am incessantly passed on the right by impatient drivers and often forced to go through the water because of them. Finally, I take an exit in a well-lit, high-density area. The car seems in no great need of anything, but I could certainly use a break.

Akira’s head pops up. “Hmm? Is something wrong?”

“N-no, but you said M-Morioka was our next s-stop, right?”

“Morioka. Morioka.” She rolls the name around like it was candy in her mouth, before realizing its significance. “Sweet Jesus, how long was I asleep?”

“Two hours.”

“Damn! You didn’t have to let me sleep this whole time, you know.”

«I drove all night to get to you
Is that alright
I drove all night
Crept in your room
Woke you from your sleep
To make love to you
I drove all night... to hold you tight»

“I- I…” It just seemed like the right thing to do.

“Obviously, you did just fine, don’t worry about it. I’m just surprised. How are we for fuel?” She cranes her neck over to my side to read the gauge, still well above the half full mark, then turns to the back to observe the snoozing pair. “Do you need a water break? We should be able to make Aomori in under two hours from here, and there will be plenty of time to freshen up then.”

“Y-yes, I s-sort of do.”

She pats me on the leg. “I was kind of hoping you’d say that. I didn’t want to be the only one making us stop. You don’t buy coffee, you only rent it.” She points at the nearest Golden Arches.

By the time we get back on the road after our pit stop, the horizon is distinctly lightening in the east. As troubled as the sky is, there may not be any meaningful difference between twilight and sunrise today, and I’m relieved to have my share of the driving out of the way for now.