Chapter Three: Blossoming
�Shu,� she said, her nickname for Shuya that had been in use since third grade, when they first met at Tokyo Jokyu. �Wanna take a walk?� Sanae was born in Osaka, so she spoke in a rough Kansai accent.
�Sorry, guys, gotta fold. Sis wants me,� Shuya replied jokingly.
�She�s not your sister,� Yuichirou pointed out.
�Yeah? Well, she�s the closest thing to one,� Shuya said defensively, putting his cards down in the sand. �Good game. Maybe we can play again later.� He stood up, groaning a bit, and dusted off his pants. �Well, Sis, what do you want to do?�
�Just go for a walk. I mean, there has to be something beyond this beach, right?� Sanae asked as a gentle beach breeze blew her bob-cut hair into her eyes. She smiled sheepishly and moved her hair back into place.
�There has to be,� Shuya responded. �I�ll come with you.�
�Thanks, Shu.� Sanae started down the beach, looking ahead, never looking to her right as she passed by the plane but smelling the fetid smoke issuing in giant plumes from the front end of the fuselage. Shuya did the same, walking by and not paying attention to the plane at all, and the two were officially past the boundaries of where any of the survivors were. Everything was quiet except for the sound of waves flowing in and out and the sounds of the two teenagers walking side-by-side.
Sanae looked down at the beach, at her shoes covered in sand, and sighed.
�It�s quiet here,� she noticed.
�Yeah,� Shuya replied, beginning an awkward silence.
�You know, we�ve been like family,� Sanae said as an opening statement. �For about nine years now, we�ve been like family. Can you imagine that? I�ll bet that, as third-graders, we never thought we�d ever make it this far, but we have.� Sanae sniffled and instinctively brought her hands to her face, trying to camouflage her newly-formed tears, but Shuya knew what she was doing.
�This far�?� Shuya knew Sanae had said something that was ambiguous and was soon going to elaborate. All he had to do was nudge her in the right direction.
�This far, like this island, I guess,� Sanae said in clarification. �I don�t want to be here. I want to go home, but I�m trapped, and I hate being trapped more than anything.� Shuya always equated Sanae�s constant wish to be independent with a bird trapped in a cage, its wings clipped, able to see the world but unable to participate. She was trapped. �I have a confession to make.�
�What is it?� Shuya asked, once again figuratively nudging her for details.
�Well�you know that note you got on Valentine�s Day this year?� Sanae asked as Shuya remembered it clearly. Oh yeah, that note, he thought, remembering its shape and contents�
At Tokyo Jokyu, the day began and ended at the lockers. The lockers, at least the ones for high school kids, were all situated in the foyer that high school kids entered through. Here, students switched their street shoes for the gleaming black leather loafers they all wore in the classroom, put their bags away, and gathered up the books they would need for the day�s lessons. On Valentine�s Day, though, the entire game plan changed. On that day, locker time was not only spent doing the normal routine, but boys also checked inside their lockers to see if anyone slipped a note in through the small vent holes. If a note was slipped inside, they would carefully read it and see if there was an author attached. Usually, there wasn�t, or there would just be a pseudonym, so an added element of mystery was present.
Shuya opened his locker, already slipping out of his black Chuck Taylors and getting ready to put them inside when he saw something unfamiliar stuck in the vent. It was a piece of paper, folded up into a square, with the characters for �Shuya� written on the front. He took this out and sat down, deciding to read the note right then and there. There was only one statement written upon the paper: �Shikata nai de katasande yo� (It can�t be helped, it�s one-sided).
Shuya had been around Yurika long enough to know that this was a lyric from a pop song sung entirely in the Kansai dialect, because she was constantly singing it and sounding strange because she had no accent. He looked all over the note for any sort of signature or name, but there was nothing. Wait a minute, Kansai, he thought. Kansai? He took his books and slammed his locker shut, running off towards Yurika and passing by Sanae on the way.
�Hey, Shu�� she began, but he ran right past and she looked back, making a sad face and walking away. Shuya approached Yurika, who had her headphones right in her ears, and tapped her on the shoulder. She felt the taps and turned around, pausing her song.
�Yeah?� she asked.
�Yurika, look at this note,� Shuya told her, handing over the note. Yurika carefully perused it, humming a tune.
�Osaka Koi no Uta,� she declared, handing it back.
�What?�
�Osaka Koi no Uta, this person is quoting my favorite song,� she added, grinning.
�Did you send this note?�
�Me? Oh, no. I�m not looking for a guy right now. Why are you wondering?�
�I just wanted to know if it was a quote or not.�
�Yea, it is. Reina sings that line. She�s got a good voice, but she needs some work�� Yurika muttered and put her headphones back in, starting the song again.
Sanae didn�t believe in the �giri-choco� tradition of Valentine�s Day�that women were obligated to give chocolate to men�and when she saw Shuya pondering that note in English class, she smiled. She made it intentionally vague because she wanted to lead him on, lead him down a trail that would stop right in her waiting arms. When they were both nine years old, they just played sports together, did friendly things, but the hormone hurricane struck Sanae early and she had been madly in love with Shuya ever since the last year of junior high. She was going insane trying to tell him over and over but failing, plus this was her last year of school, so she also knew her chances were dwindling rapidly.
A week or so later, when the note wasn�t on the front of Shuya�s mind anymore, he found another note in his locker, written on the same paper.
�Ame no eki ya mattari aruita yama mo�kakokei�, or �At the station in the rain or the mountains we walked through leisurely�it�s all in the past� was scribbled on this note. Shuya knew this one was also in Kansai dialect, but still had no idea as to its author, and it was driving him insane. He started asking everyone he knew if they knew a girl who liked the song Osaka Koi no Uta, aside from Yurika, of course, and he even asked Sanae, who lied and said she had no idea.
�Sou chotto shita itazura nanyarou?� or �That�s right, this is just a prank of yours, isn�t it?� another note queried. The days grew into weeks, the countdown to the variety of senior trips was growing shorter, and Sanae felt as if she were being slowly suffocated. The final note, sent only days before the fateful Honolulu trip, declared only this:
�Suki nan yo mada suki nan yo nando nando tsutaete mo.� �I love you, I still love you, no matter how many times I try to tell you.�
In the present day, Sanae started to hum the same tune Shuya heard Yurika humming without end.
�I know that song,� he exclaimed and Sanae looked up at him hopefully. �What�s it called, what�s it called, I have it on the tip of my tongue��
�Osaka Koi no Uta,� Sanae answered quietly. �Shuya, you know all those notes you got? Well, they�re all lyrics from that song, but there�s a deeper meaning here I think you failed to grasp. They�re all sung in Kansai dialect. How many girls at our school have a Kansai dialect aside from me?� She paused.
�Nobody else,� he told her.
�That�s right, nobody else. I sent those notes.� Shuya was floored wondering why he didn�t realize it before. �I had no idea how to tell you otherwise, you know? Sometimes, we don�t know what to do when we want to be with someone. Besides, I was afraid you saw me only as a sort of family member, not as someone you could feel romantically attached to.�
�Sanae��
�It�s okay if you don�t want to be with me anymore. Things have changed quickly, but I just wanted you to know where I stand with you, or where I want to stand.� Sanae�s eyes were filled with fear. �You don�t like me, do you?�
Shuya cupped Sanae�s face in his hand.
�Exactly the opposite,� he told her reassuringly, smiling broadly. �In fact, Sanae, I might even be in love with you.� As if it were a scene from a movie, the newly formed couple shared their first kiss near palm trees, next to the ocean, and under the setting tropical sun.
Some of the survivors were beginning to get hungry, seeing as their last meal was composed of a small bag of pretzels back on the plane. As is the case when a group of people are feeling something common, they began to voice their opinions on the subject.
�I�m hungry.�
�Me too.�
�Do you know if there�s any food?�
�There has to be!�
�Yea, well, where is it?�
�Maybe there isn�t any!�
�Maybe we need to hunt!�
�Excuse me,� Kaori said, but nobody heard her over the din of argument. She made a little irritated noise and stood up on a row of seats. �Excuse me!� she said louder, but still nobody heard, and she stamped her foot in frustration. �EXCUSE ME!� The beach grew silent as everyone turned to stare at her. �We have food!� An excited whisper went up over the crowd. �We weren�t able to serve the real meals provided on the plane, so why don�t we just divide them up amongst everyone here? How many people do we have?� She began to do a head-count, lost count, and started over, eventually ending up with 34 people, including James, who insisted on standing at the outside of the crowd. �34! We originally had 108, so feeding everyone one meal tonight shouldn�t be a problem. Please come tell me if you need a certain kind of meal before I go and get them.�
�I can help cook,� Rumiko offered, raising her hand. �Uh, if the meals need cooking, I mean.�
�They will,� Kaori replied with a nod. �Thanks for the offer. We�ll need some help. Why don�t you go strike up a fire?� Rumiko nodded, making a small noise that sounded somewhat like �Yeah�, and walked away for a few seconds before realizing that she had no idea where to get firewood.
�Need help getting firewood?� Masao asked the clueless Rumiko, who simply nodded in reply, somewhat embarrassed.
�I�m from Tokyo. I have no idea how to find firewood,� Rumiko explained, trying to redeem herself. �But my mom�s cooking is the best, so that�s how I learned how to cook��
�It�s okay. My family�s all from a little town in Hokkaido, so I know all of this.� Masao pointed to a small but growing pile of oddly-sized pieces of wood, some yanked right off of the tree and some found off the ground. �Here�s your firewood pile, just for in the future. I�ll set up a small fire for you. You put down a few pieces of wood to be the base, like this�� He bent down and started to pick up some of the pieces of wood, making them into a square shape. At this point, Rumiko looked away for a moment, yawning, over towards where Haruka stood alone.
�She�s been alone a lot,� Rumiko observed, pointing to Haruka. �I wonder why.�
�That�s probably the way the crash affected her,� Masao said, stacking up some more wood. �Who knows? Maybe her husband was in the front part of the plane.�
�Never thought of that,� Rumiko said with a shrug. �I guess you�re lucky though. Your wife and child are okay.�
�I�m counting my blessings,� Masao told Rumiko. �Oh, now I need a light of some sort��
�Take this,� Reiko said, handing her box of matches to Masao. �But don�t use too many. I need those.�
�No problem, I�ll only need one,� Masao said with a smile, striking one of the matches and dropping the lit match in the center of the wood pile. Almost immediately, the wood crackled, snapped, and caught fire, sending large yellowish sparks flying into the air. Rumiko cheered and clapped her hands as Kaori came over, her hands filled with small round plastic bowls.
�Plastic�� Rumiko noticed, touching one of the bowls.
�I know. We�re trying to find a metal bowl,� Kaori replied, looking glum. �It�s not working so well.� Reiko took the subtle hint that was being offered here and went back to find James. He was still hanging around the beach, knowing of the prospect of food, and Reiko didn�t want to bother him with any niceties or Japanese lessons. Putting her finely honed sneaking skills to good use, she carefully tiptoed around behind him, watching him with her every step to make sure he kept his eyes on the fire. He did, but Reiko knew she wasn�t home free yet. She gracefully leapt into the jungle, and only then did she start walking normally, remembering the exact path to take to reach James� stronghold. Could it be considered one? It was just sitting there in the middle of a deserted jungle. Sure, it was odd, but it worked.
Reiko pushed aside the branch hiding James� stronghold away from the rest of the jungle and stepped in, but let go of the branch too early and it slapped the side of her face hard.
�Agh! Shit!� she cried out, clamping her hand to her face in order to make the pain go away. She pulled her hand away seconds later and saw it dotted with her own blood. �Man, that hurts.� Sighing, she knelt down and pondered the piles of suitcases sitting before her. Would any of them have a metal bowl or anything closely resembling one? This would be a Sisyphusian task, but she was going to do it because it was the key to getting food. She decided to skip searching the bags of her classmates because she knew none of them would have any business packing a metal bowl�although she did check Rumiko�s bag because she knew of her fondness for cooking.
Reiko began to check another pile of bags for anything resembling a metal bowl, unzipping them, looking inside, and zipping them back up if the search was unsuccessful. All the while, her face was throbbing and stinging, almost if some sort of sharp object were hidden inside the branch that slapped her, but she didn�t stop. Her stomach was telling her not to stop, no matter what, and if she were hungry, undoubtedly everyone else was hungry, too. In her frustration, she started to throw the bags around without a care as to where they went, and the resulting noises were enough to attract James. He peeled away from the rest of the group and went into the jungle, kneeling down as he walked, pulling the left leg of his pants up slightly, and extracting a small handgun from an ankle holster.
He crept through the forest just as quietly, or maybe even quieter, than Reiko did, silently pulled his protective branch back�being careful not to graze any of the blades he plucked from shaving razors and stuck into the branch in strategic locations�and clicked the safety off, making a clicking noise loud enough to startle Reiko into turning around. Her face was frozen in shock and she was bleeding all over, creating small trails of red down her pale face.
�James!� she exclaimed in English. �I�m sorry.�
�You got �ju� seconds to explain yourself, or your face will be full of lead,� James said threateningly, remembering correctly the Japanese number for ten. Reiko froze, shaking, as she tried to remember anything in English, anything at all. Sadly, she seemed unable to remember anything, so she started shouting incoherently in Japanese and weeping openly. James grew confused for a moment, and then pitied Reiko and put the safety back on, placing his gun on the ground. �Hey, hey, no need to cry. Did I surprise ya? I didn�t mean to. I just thought you were a thief or something��
�Not stealing anything,� Reiko explained, trembling. Now, the clear tears were mixing in with her blood, diluting it and spreading it out even more. �Trying to find a�a�� She made a cup with her hands. �Bowl.�
�Oh, ya gonna help with the cooking?� Reiko nodded, shaking a fine mist of tears and blood off her face.
�I have to get a �kinzoku� bowl,� Reiko added. �Oh. Um. I don�t mean �kinzoku�. I mean�� She grasped at straws. �I don�t know what I mean.�
�Hey, it�s okay. You�re doin� your best.� James carefully dabbed at Reiko�s face using the sleeve of his shirt. �Looks like the branch hit ya. Do you feel a lot of pain?�
�A little,� Reiko lied. �Maybe when we get back I can get some of that aloe. I helped to get the aloe, you know. I am not afraid of this, this jungle.� She sniffled.
�Yeah, you are. We�re all afraid.� James opened a bag and started looking for any sort of bowl because he had no idea to look for metal ones. �I�m an air marshal. My trainin� has concentrated on terrorism, what to do if some towelhead gets crazy and takes out a gun or says there�s a bomb or somethin�. I know next to nothin� about what to do if a plane crashes.�
�What�s a towelhead?� Reiko asked innocently, making James chuckle.
�A towelhead is a Muslim man. You know, they wear those�� James pantomimed putting a turban on his head. �Those towels. I�m trained in how to take down a man twice my size if he starts anything funny, but now how to survive on a dang desert island.� He chuckled again. �Or how to speak Japanese.�
�Metal.�
�What?�
�Metal. I want a metal bowl.� Reiko beamed.
�You do? Dang, girl, I�ve got one right here. I took it from some chef�s suitcase. I knew it was a chef �cos he or she also brought along a full set of cookin� knives. I got those too, of course. Don�t trust anyone here but you.� James looked directly at Reiko and she turned slightly pink in the cheeks. �Here, I�ll get ya the bowl. Ain�t gonna give you the knives, though. They�re mine.�
�I don�t want knives,� Reiko declared. �I would, I would cut myself.� She pantomimed making a cutting motion. �I would cut myself more,� she added.
�Yeah, you need to get some of that aloe for those cuts. They can get mighty nasty if you don�t treat �em quickly.� James handed Reiko a large metal bowl.
�Thank you!� Reiko said with a low bow.
�Here, I�ll lead ya back to the beach. I�m hungry, too.� James pushed the razor branch aside and allowed Reiko to pass through before he snatched his gun back up and placed it back in his holster. After he left, he put the razor branch back in its rightful position and led Reiko back to the beach, but on the way, he swore he felt her try to take hold of his hand. Or, maybe it was just a wayward leaf, he told himself.
�Found a bowl!� Reiko announced in her native tongue, holding the bowl above her head.
�Thank God! Now we can start cooking. Thank you, Reiko,� Rumiko said appreciatively, taking the metal bowl and putting one of the meals inside it. She and Asuka took turns holding the end of the bowl farthest from the fire as the meal cooked, and Rumiko would poke it with a chopstick to see if it was finished or not. As soon as it was, one of the girls would wrap a blanket around their hands and remove the meal from the bowl, as it was still very hot, and place the meal on the beach to cool for a moment before offering it to anyone. Using this method, the 34 survivors got their meals as fast as possible and learned the value of patience that evening, sitting cross-legged on a beach awaiting the eventual arrival of food.
Mariko watched as Reiko brought back the bowl and paired it with earlier events�bringing Chiyo her favorite items and lighting the fire with Rumiko�to help shape, or reshape, her current opinion of Reiko.
�She�s acting strangely, isn�t she?� Yuichirou asked, sitting next to Mariko and slurping his noodles.
�Who?� Mariko asked aimlessly.
�Reiko. I mean, she�s helping people out. That�s not like her at all. Maybe being on this island has changed her outlook on life for the better?�
�You�re being optimistic,� Mariko said, frowning.
�And you�re being pessimistic. Hey, how are you feeling?�
�Hm?�
�I mean, you were in shock earlier today. Are you feeling better?� Yuichirou looked on in horror as Mariko pulled up her shirt slightly and looked at the blood-soaked necktie still tied around her waist. The blood on the tie wasn�t bright red anymore; in fact, it was starting to turn rusty brown.
�I�m feeling better. I might want to get my bandage changed, though. I can�t keep this tie on me forever.� Mariko laughed sheepishly.
�You know, Ryuhei hasn�t been the same since we got here,� Yurika said to Asuka, who was eating with her. Rumiko was obsessed with going around and asking everyone how their food tasted while her own meal stagnated and grew cold in its resting spot next to Asuka.
�None of us have. How has his behavior changed?� Asuka asked casually.
�He�s talking to people he doesn�t know. Did he ever do that back at school?� Yurika wondered aloud. Asuka thought about this for a moment and shook her head vigorously.
�No, he usually just kept to himself or talked to the other otaku of the school,� she said. �But I guess we�ve all changed a little. I now know what it�s like to have an irrational fear of airplanes,� she joked.
Shuya sat and watched as Sanae devoured a sub sandwich topped with roast beef and cheese. His own meal, a large garden salad, was sitting mostly uneaten in his lap.
�Nngh,� Sanae began, not entirely finished swallowing a bite of her sandwich. When she was, she continued. �You should eat that salad. I don�t want you to starve.�
�I don�t eat salad without dressing,� Shuya replied defensively. �It�s all leaves to me without something nice to go over it.�
�Then go ask that�um, that flight attendant girl, or Rumiko. Maybe they�ll have something for you.� Sanae pointed in the general direction of the fire. Shuya stood up and walked off, leaving Sanae with her delicious sandwich.
Haruka silently munched on a plate of chicken teriyaki, still looking out towards the ocean, wiggling her toes in the sand. She couldn�t see her toes anymore, but she knew they were moving around. As she chewed on a particularly savory bite, Masaharu wandered over empty-handed.
�Where�s your plate?� she asked him before he sat down.
�Ate it all. I put it over by the fire in case they need to reuse it for anything.� Masaharu jerked his thumb towards the fire. �How are you doing?�
�I�m doing okay. I was just�thinking a lot. About the past, I mean.� Haruka balanced her plate on her swollen belly, something she had perfected the art of.
�I think we all are. I�ve been trying to find some medicine just in case anything goes wrong here, but I�ve been having a devil of a time.�
�A devil of a time?� Haruka repeated, giggling.
�Oh, my supervisor says that�he�s this old guy�that�s not important. I can�t seem to find much luggage in the cargo hold.� Masaharu shrugged.
�Yeah, I�ve heard other people complaining about that. Do you think that maybe the hole opened up while we were in the air and all our luggage flew out? Maybe someone put a bomb in the cargo area. I don�t think anyone�s really thought about that.� Haruka tapped her forehead with her finger.
�It�s possible. I�ll keep checking. Someone told me that one of the school kids has asthma, I�m like, �what�s next?� I mean, you�re pregnant, the kid�s asthmatic...�
�Well, we�re all thankful to have you here. Who knows what would be happening here if we didn�t have an experienced doctor.� Haruka twitched. �Ah, it just kicked!�
�Don�t know the gender yet, huh?� Masaharu asked.
�Nope. I wanted to have some surprise. Besides, I don�t care if it�s a girl or a boy, I�m still going to raise it. Its daddy split on me as soon as I found out, but whatever. Men can be so useless sometimes.� Haruka paused. �Not you.�
�I was about to say, weren�t you just saying you were thankful to have me here?� Masaharu smiled and laughed.
�So, where were you teaching?� one of the Americans asked his fellow countrymen.
�Saitama,� the blond man, Daniel, replied.
�Fukuoka,� a cute young woman with curly brown hair replied.
�Niigata,� a black-haired man replied.
�And I was in Nara, so it appears that JET doesn�t do their return flight placement by where you were teaching, but where you�re all from. You guys all said you were from either Hawaii or California, right?� The four Americans nodded in unison. �So, we�re all in this together. Do any of you guys know much Japanese still?�
�I lost most of my skills at the bottom of a beer glass,� Daniel said casually.
�I still know a lot,� the brunette said with a smile.
�Same here,� the black-haired man added.
�We might need to talk to these guys, even if just to ask them if they speak English, so just be prepared.�
As far as all aspects of life on the island were concerned, �be prepared� was a good motto to follow. When the survivors were finished with their food, they stacked their empty plates near the fire�but far enough away so that they wouldn�t melt�and started to claim beds. For some of them, it seemed odd to be sleeping so close to complete strangers. The school kids clustered together, taking up three rows of seats, while Akina, Masao, and Chiyo claimed their own row. The three male American teachers claimed a row, Haruka doubled up with the female American teacher, and Kaori took whatever was readily available. Though different people fell asleep at different times, by midnight, the beach was silent except for soft breathing and assorted snoring.
CONTINUE to Chapter Four: Consequences
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