In the morning...
Shunsui woke us at five in the morning. Tsubasa-sama, Saien-sensei, Gōjun and I were still very sleepy, and we were rubbing our eyes and yawning when we reached the place of rendezvous.
He had convoked us at the entrance of the forest on the side of the ryokan.
'Shunsui, why did wake us up so early?' Tsubasa-sama moaned. 'Usually, people sleep till late when they're on vacation!'
'I woke you up because of this,' the reddish-brown-haired young man replied, lifting the big water gun he had in his hand, smiling with mischief.
Momose was holding herself next to him, holding a water gun in her hand just as well.
'Water guns?' I inquired.
'Yes. There are three water guns at your feet; one for each of you. Pick them up! We're going to have a little match. It'll be the four of you against Momose and I. The battle field comprises of the whole forest. We have hidden bottles of water here and there so that everyone of us can recharge our guns. But the most interesting part is that, you will also find eggs hidden along some of the bottles as bonus! And now-' He pointed his gun at us, grinning widely. 'You'd better pick your guns up rapidly, for Momose and I have an advantage! We know exactly where to find the bottles of water and eggs!'
Tsubasa-sama, Saien-sensei, Gōjun and I looked at one another's face for a second, before we grinned back in excitement, and picking a gun each, we started with the game.
I could not remember if it had ever happened to me before to enjoy myself so much or to laugh this loudly.
Every one of us was having so much fun.
It was both thrilling and amusing.
I had the impression that we were living an incredible moment. A moment that none of us would ever be able to forget. A moment of intense joy.
***
Sometimes before noon, Takara-san came to pick us up.
Momose was sad to see us leave, and Tsubasa-sama promised her that we would all come back together for at least one weekend every year from this time onwards. It was on this promise that we left for Kokubunji.
It was after dusk that we reached the city, and Tsubasa-sama decided to drop me to my home first. As we were approaching the street on which the shop was situated, I noticed that there was great agitation amongst the population who lived in this part of the city. We could see people crossing the street recklessly and running in the same direction. And we could hear the sound of a siren.
The moment we rounded the end corner to enter onto the street where the shop was found, the first thing that my eyes saw was the column of fume, rising from the wild raging flame.
For a whole minute, time seemed to come to a standstill.
I could only stare at the burning shop, with wide, frantic eyes. The fire brigade had arrived. They were trying to contain the flames. The apartment was on fire as well. A few people had grouped around, and some of the firemen were trying to keep them from approaching the building too closely, while others were evacuating the people who lived next door.
When I broke out of the trance-like state, my hand went for the handle of the door and I jumped out of the vehicle. Takara-san had braked by the same instant.
I ran for the ablaze building, my eyes darting across the faces in the crowd, searching desperately, frantically, for Ojii-san and Obā-san; my heart feeling like it was about to explode. But I couldn't see them anywhere.
'Hurry up! There are people inside!' I heard a fireman call at his colleague and, to my great horror, I realized that he was referring to Ojii-san and Obā-san. They were inside of the apartment!
Kami-sama!
Immediately, I slipped under the security tape to run for the staircase, ignoring the cries of the firemen.
Just as I had reached the foot of it, abruptly, there was an ear-splitting explosion above-head and the door of the apartment exploded to tumble its way down the stairs towards me.
My hands shot up in front of my face in a reflex, my eyes drawing shut. But, I was hit from a different direction.
Somebody pulled me violently out of the way, and a terrible pain hit me at my left arm, as well as at one of my left temples, as we both fell to the ground.
Wincing with pain, I opened my eyes to see that the door had ended its course on the pavement and that it was Gōjun who had pulled me out of the way.
'Gōjun, my grand-parents...' I croaked out, only for my vision to go black.
***
When I came back to myself, the first thing that I was aware of was the stinging pain at my left temple. My first action was to try to reach up to touch my forehead, but as I tried to do this, I was seized by a different pain, this time in my left arm.
My mind was dancing in confusion. I couldn't remember anything at first. And then, like an avalanche, the images came back to me. Images of the fire, the building in flames, and the explosion.
At this, my eyes blew wide open and I sat up in a jerk.
'Hime, you have to keep lying down! You have a concussion!' Shunsui told me, with alarm, and I looked at him instantly as he approached me where I was resting on the examination bed of what resembled a hospital room.
Gōjun, Tsubasa-sama, Katsura-san, Saien-sensei, Natsui and Yūsei Nishoji were there too, their expression filled with dread. My forehead was in a bandage; my left arm in a sling.
'Where are my grand-parents?!' I asked Shunsui, frantically.
'They are in the emergency room. Kenren is doing everything that he can to save them,' Gōjun informed me, his voice catching.
Jumping down from the examination bed, I began to hurry for the door.
I could only think of one thing: I wanted to see Ojii-san and Obā-san. They could not die!
My head was very dizzy and I had to take support on the side wall of the corridor to be able to walk. Even if everyone tried to convince me to go lie down again, no one tried to restrain me; they followed me from behind.
When I arrived in front of the emergency room, through the glass-door, I could see several doctors grouped there in the room. My heart was pounding in my ears.
Ojii-san! Obā-san! I'm sure that nothing can happen to you!
Without losing too much time, I entered the door, but it was only to hear Gōjun's father declare both of them dead.
At first, my mind seemed to refuse to register the information, and I simply stood there, completely motionless, without breathing. But slowly, the words sunk in, and when they finally did, I felt my whole world shook.
In fact, I had the impression that the whole world, the sky, the universe itself, was coming down on me, crushing me and suffocating me.
My chest, my throat was so tight that I felt like I was choking. And my mind went completely blank.
Holding my head in-between my hands, I backed away through the door only to go into Gōjun's chest the moment I had turned around.
He closed his arms around me to hold me, while he stared frantically inside of the room.
'They are no more, Gōjun!' his father informed him, in a strained, barely audible voice.
Getting out of Gōjun's hold, I rushed out of the building to into the parking lot, holding my abdomen with my good arm and gasping for air. I had the impression that I was dying.
Gōjun arrived behind me and sending his arm around me, with his other hand closing upon my forehead, he pulled me backward against his chest. And when my legs gave up under me, he crouched down, not releasing me, keeping me tightly in his arms. Shunsui, Tsubasa-sama, Katsura-san, Saien-sensei, Natsui and Yūsei were there too. I could feel their presences behind us.
Tears were gushing down my face by now, and pressing my eyes shut, I gave myself over to grief.
Oh, Ojii-san! Obā-san!
***
Next day...
The funeral was organized at the mansion. Tsubasa-sama took care of everything. She looked up to Ojii-san a lot like a father.
Both Ojii-san and Obā-san were deeply loved.
Ojii-san was greatly respected at the Zaibatsu, and many of the people who worked for the Shigeizumi came to assist to the funeral, including Takara-san and his family. All Obā-san's regular clients at the shop came to assist to the funeral too. In fact, all the people that they knew came. Norinaga-san and his family were unable to visit, but they called to present their homages. All my colleagues at the cleaning company came to assist to the funeral as well. And so did several students of the school, even if they didn't know me personally; this showed that things had forever changed at the institution after the events with Hiyori Miyatsu.
Natsui, Yūsei Nishoji, Saien-sensei, Katsura-san, Gōjun and his father, together with Tsubasa-sama and Shunsui, remained by my side all the time.
There was only one person missing.
My mother.
I wondered how I was going to announce to her that Ojii-san and Obā-san are gone, when she would wake up. This idea made me feel all the worse.
A nurse at the hospital had informed me that when Ojii-san and Obā-san had visited her, she had shown some reaction. But she didn't open her eyes. And when I visited my mother this morning, I didn't dare to tell her anything about Ojii-san and Obā-san's demise. I decided that I would wait for her to wake up and, even then, I didn't know if I would be able to find the courage to inform her about it.
Oh, Okā-san!
Tears welled up my eyes again, and I clutched at the front of my dress, trying desperately to hold them back.
I didn't have anyone anymore.
And I had nothing.
I took a glance at the bag resting on the floor at the foot of the bench on which I was sitting on in the local public park.
Everything had burned there. It appeared that the fire had started in the shop due to a short circuit in the walls. There was absolutely nothing left of the shop or the apartment. All that I had were the things that I had put in my luggages when I had left for the onsen. And I had no idea where I was going to live now. I was already very grateful to Tsubasa-sama for all that she had done for me; I didn't want to bother her more than that. I didn't want to bother Katsura-san and the others either.
Okā-san, I'm scared!
'Hime,' came Shunsui's voice, in all of a sudden.
My head snapped up to look at the reddish-brown-haired young man where he had appeared in front of me.
I had been so absorbed in my thoughts that I had not seen him arrive and much less, approach me.
Gōjun was there too, together with his father, Tsubasa-sama, Katsura-san, Natsui, Yūsei Nishoji and Saien-sensei. They were standing a few feet away, watching me with a comforting look.
'Why did you leave without telling anyone?' Tsubasa-sama asked me, with tears in her eyes.
I didn't know what to answer.
Sitting himself next to me and giving me a gentle smile, Shunsui held his hand out to me, telling me, 'Hime, come with me! You're going to live with me from now on!'
My eyes went wide at him; my heart skipping a beat.
'Shunsui...'
When I looked at the others, I found all of them giving me an encouraging smile.
I could not hold my tears back anymore.
Okā-san! I was wrong! I'm not all alone! This time, I'm not going to make the same mistake as the other time over the loan. You don't have to worry about anything, Okā-san! I only want you to wake up!
'Thank you! Thank you so much!' I sobbed, rubbing the back of my hand over my eyes, but my tears would not stop flowing.
Thank you for reading!