The next day began like any ordinary day in the Fujimaru household. After freshening up and eating my breakfast, I left my house and walked towards Ren's house. Ren lives only 5 minutes away from my house so we usually just go to school together. I stood in front of his two-storeyed traditional Japanese house before Ren dashed out like a speeding train and nearly collided with me.
"Top of the morning to you brother!" Ren shouted at the top of his lungs, causing all of the birds to fly away in surprise.
"Good morning. How was work yesterday?" I asked.
"Terrible as usual," Ren said while giving a comical grimace," Hey, where did you disappear off to yesterday? I tried calling you but you did not pick up. Even your mom was wondering where you were?"
I gulp my saliva at Ren's sudden questions. He always gets straight to the point without pulling any punches. I thought it was of no use to lie to him, so I told Ren everything about the tunnel: from the mysterious voice calling out my name to the mysterious girl who appeared in the vision. As I explained every detail, Ren grew more and more interested.
"Oh, my god. That is one of the scariest and most fascinating experiences I have ever heard about! That beats anything that they show on TV!" Ren jubilantly said.
"Wait. You actually believe me?" I was sure that no one would believe this crazy supernatural event.
"Of course, I do, Makoto! I know that you're not the type of person to cook up stories like this."
Ren's honesty brought a smile to my face. He was one of the few people in my life that I knew I could trust, and that was difficult to come across nowadays. I thanked him gratefully.
"But wow that tunnel is creepy. I don't think that I want to go in there," Ren shuddered in fear as he imagined what would happen if went in, "Oh yeah, almost forgot, did you get your wish?"
"My wish?"
"Duh! Did you forget that the main purpose of the tunnel was to grant wishes! So, was your wish granted?"
I thought long and hard about Ren's question. I did not think of any wish when entering the tunnel so I guess it did not see the reason to grant any. Nothing really changed between entering and exiting the tunnel so the rumour was probably false. I explained my thoughts to Ren who sighed disappointedly.
"What are you two standing around here for? You're going to be late you know," a familiar voice said from behind us. Ren and I simultaneously turned our heads to see Yuki crossing her arms.
"Well, the same could be said for you, right?" Ren fired back.
"I can't really counter that," Yuki impishly backed down, "This is the first time I overslept since 6th grade."
"Ah, that was after we stayed up to watch that new movie, right?" I remembered.
"All I remember was how terrible it was. What a waste," Ren joked, making the three of us laugh out loud.
"Crap! Forgot that we were late, better rush together then!" Ren shouted as he started jogging.
"Sure. Just like old times," Yuki agreed with a warm smile on her face.
The three of us began chatting about school and our lives as we briskly paced towards school. This used to be our routine ever since we were kids but since Yuki became student council president as well as class president, she had to arrive at school much earlier than other students as well as leave much later.
"You know, there's a rumour going around that we might be getting a new transfer student soon," Yuki brought up.
"Boy or girl?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Of course, Makoto asks about the gender. You're secretly hoping it's a girl, right?" Ren playfully teased me while lightly punching me in the arm.
"Shut up," I retorted while punching him back.
"Well, I'm not sure about their gender. But if it is a girl, I'll be sure to introduce you," Yuki added while snickering like a little mouse.
"Not you too…"
After some more playful banter, we finally reached the school gates. Yuki and I bid adieu to Ren and entered our class. It had become a fish market with people gossiping about the mysterious new transfer student. Yuki and I looked at each other in surprise.
"Rumours spread fast, huh?" Yuki remarked to which I nodded in agreement. Once the school bell rang, the class suddenly became pin-drop silent and everyone returned to their seats. Our homeroom entrance made a grand entrance and cleared her throat to attract our attention.
"Good morning, students. Starting today, a new student will be joining our class. Miss Haruno, please come in and introduce yourself to your new classmates."
As the door slid open, a feminine figure entered the classroom. Her smooth and shiny black hair was as long as her torse; her slim body captivated the hearts of all the boys in the class. However, when she turned to face all of us, I felt my jaw drop to the floor and my brain cracked into two. There was no way that I would forget that beautiful and gentle face.
She was the girl I saw in the tunnel.
"Good morning. My name is Mitsuha Haruno. I moved to Yakushima from Tokyo a few days ago. I hope we get along," She recited as she bowed before us.
Our homeroom teacher then instructed her to sit in the only empty seat in the classroom which was directly left to mine. She elegantly walked to her seat, successfully charming all the boys she passed by. I could feel daggers aimed directly at me from the boys' eyes. On the other side of the classroom, I could see Yuki trying desperately to hold back her laughter. I sighed in shame and turned towards Mitsuha. How could this exact girl be the same as the one that saved me in the tunnel? Was it a coincidence? No, it couldn't have been. Their faces and body structure are identical. A million thoughts zoomed across my mind thinking of a possible explanation but it was no use.
As expected, once lunch break arrived, all the students, including those from other classes, crowded around Mitsuha's desk. Annoyed by the crowd, I decided to head to the rooftop to eat my bento. I ran into Ren on the way up the stairs so we decided to have lunch together.
"So… How's the new transfer student? Is she pretty?" Ren enquired while stuffing rice in his mouth.
"This might sound crazy, but I think she is the same girl I saw in the tunnel."
"No way! That's like fate! Maybe you can do the impossible and go out with her!?" Ren teased.
"I'm not thinking of entering into a relationship with anybody."
"Awww. But you have the looks and your personality, though it needs some work, ain't half bad."
"Thanks for the backhanded compliment…"
"You're welcome, buddy!" said Ren as he slapped me in the back.
Once classes were over, I immediately rose from my seat and sauntered towards the exit. I knew there would be an onslaught of people who were going to ask Mitsuha out so I decided to leave as early as possible. I didn't want to be dragged into this by the other boys.
"Excuse me! Please wait," a serene voice called out to me. All of a sudden, Mitsuha was standing right beside me. Her glimmering eyes froze me in place. "Can you please show me around the island? Since I'm new here, I wanted to learn about my new home. I'm sorry if I am being a bother," requested Mitsuha.
I could sense laser scopes aimed directly at me. The aura of jealous boys and girls was about to crush my body. In my mind, I wanted to ask her why she wanted me to be her tour guide but I had a feeling I would get murdered the next day if I did by those envious students for letting go of this opportunity. And I wanted to know the connection between her and the tunnel if there was one. There was only one option.
"Sure."
A gentle smile grew on her face. "Thank you so much, Makoto. Again, I'm really sorry if I'm being a bother."
"No. Not at all. Don't worry so much." I respectfully replied.
Together, we walked out of the school and entered the bright and sunny island climate of Yakushima. "So, where would you like to go first?" I asked her. She placed her hand on her chin in a thinking position as though she were some adorable philosopher. After a minute of pondering, Mitsuha decided on visiting the town.
"Why the town? There's nothing really special about it." I asked, wondering what piqued her interest in a run-down town.
"Because I'm curious. That's all," she replied with an innocent smile.
"Before we head there, I wanted to ask," I prepared myself to ask the million-dollar question, "Why did you specifically want me to bring you around. You could have asked the other girls."
"Ummm, that's because you seemed the easiest to talk to. Unlike the others, you didn't approach me immediately so I thought you seemed reliable. And it seems that I was right."
I turned away from her face to hide my blushing. How on earth is she able to just say that so effortlessly? But it made sense. If any other person was guiding her, they would either be trying to hit on her, if it was a boy, or gossip if it was a girl, instead of actually guiding her around the town.
As we made our way towards town, I explained as much as I could about our surroundings and even a bit of history I remembered from some of the books I read. I was surprised at how intently Mitsuha was listening to my words as though they mattered to her more than anything in the world and she wasn't afraid of asking any questions. I then introduced her to some of the unique wildlife that resided around these parts, including different species of birds, plants and insects that were common.
"You know quite a lot about the nature here," Mitsuha complimented.
"When you've lived in a place as boring as this for the past 18 years of your life, you start memorizing all the little details."
"Do you really think Yakushima is boring?"
"Absolutely. That's why I'm wondering why you're so interested in this island."
"Because I think it's beautiful."
We walked in silence until we finally reached Yakushima Town: the central hub of the entire island. This is where you will find all of the shops and 'entertainment' in the area. I decided to show her around each and every shop and introduce her to their owners. We entered the bookstore, gas station, liquor store, some restaurants and even the gym. Last but not least, I showed her the three shops that belonged to Ren's family and Yuki's family.
"Well, that's all in this town. Satisfied?" I asked Mitsuha.
"What about that one?" She pointed towards the store that I purposely wanted to ignore.
"Uh, we can skip that one. There isn't anything interesting about it anyway."
I tried to walk away but Mitsuha suddenly grabbed my wrist.
"Let's go there too," she said as she dragged me towards the shop.
Out of all the places in Yakushima, I'd probably spent the most time here. The shop's interior looked just like any other: lines of different products were organised neatly, fridges for cold drinks were placed at the far back and popular music was playing softly in the speakers. The walls were recently renovated to have a light brown hue and the floor was sparkly clean. White fluorescent lamps illuminated the walls of the supermarket. Standing near the entrance was the cashier, my mother. She greeted Mitsuha respectfully but did not even bat an eye in my direction, just as I expected.
Mitsuha observed every nook and cranny of the shop with intense interest. "Wow, this place is so pretty," she commented.
"Really? It's just an ordinary shop to me," I blurted out, forgetting my mother was literally 5 feet away from me.
"It's nothing like the shops in the city. This place feels like it has a soul."
"A soul…" Her words reminded me of something my father had said a few years ago before he died.
"This shop is our family's heart and soul so we should care of it like a part of our family."
I turned to my mother to see whether she had the same reaction but she had already walked into the break room. After Mitsuha bought a keychain, we decided to go to one of the restaurants and ordered some drinks. The sun had already begun to set when we began sipping our cups of green tea.
"That was your mother, right? In the shop, I mean," Mitsuha asked. I nodded my head.
"You two don't seem close. Like, you introduced me to all the owners of the other shops except your own. Why?"
"It's been like this for the past 2 years after a certain incident I rather not talk about. Although everything is fine, we found no reason to go back to the way we used to be we continued to keep this distance between us."
There was no way I was going to talk to a random stranger about my past. I thought telling her this much was enough to satisfy her interest while concealing the true reason, but she frowned at my half-baked answer. Not wanting to stay on this topic any longer, I decided to ask about her experience going around town.
"It was really interesting and fun! Thank you so much for sacrificing your precious time for me. Do you mind if we continue this tomorrow as well? There are still lots of places we haven't explored yet." Mitsuha said.
"Sure. It'd be my pleasure," I replied with a genuine smile on my face. Touring around town with Mitsuha was actually quite fun and I was able to feel a wave of nostalgia wash over me as I spoke to all of the townspeople after a long time. I wouldn't mind continuing to explore the island once again, and I'm sure she would enjoy it as well.
As we began to go our separate ways, I suddenly remembered the question I wanted to ask Mitsuha ever since I first met her. "Wait!" I shouted before she could walk away too far. She immediately turned around and gave a confused expression. "Have we ever met before?" I asked, my heart beating 1000 times per minute. I could feel my whole body shivering in fear and expectation as time slowed down at that moment. Was she going to think that I was a creep? Will she cancel tomorrow's plans? Will we ever meet again?
"You know, I was kind of thinking the same thing. Maybe we passed by each other a long time ago. When you think of it that way, meeting like this kind of feels like fate doesn't it?" She answered with a warm and gentle smile on her face.
I returned to my house with butterflies fluttering about in my stomach. Never in a million years would I have expected Mitsuha to answer my question like that. As I opened the door, I was about to directly head to my room when a voice called me from the living room.
"Makoto, can you come here for a second. I want to talk to you about something." my mother called.
I could barely register her words in my mind. My mother calling me to speak to her? Impossible. Her face was dead serious and she patted the spot on the sofa next to her. Although my mind was still trying to grasp the situation I sat on the sofa. My body was stiffer than a rock and bullets of sweat were dripping from my face. I could not face my mother at all.
"Who was that girl you brought to the shop today?" she suddenly questioned. My mother never usually starts conversations unless it involves an important matter - this was not one of these matters.
"Just a new classmate from school. She's new to Yakushima so she asked me to show her around."
"Good. Glad to see you're making new friends."
I stood up as fast as possible and tried to escape but my mother held on to my wrist and gave a painful expression. There was more that she wanted to talk about. I sat back down and returned to my rock-like stance.
"Ummm. God, I don't know where to begin. " My mom uttered, holding her head in her hands, "I'm so sorry Makoto for everything that has happened for the past 2 years."
My mother suddenly gently squeezed me in her arms. I had never felt this kind of warmth in years so it was jarring, to say the least. The way her slim arms girdled me safely brought back memories of when I was a child and how she used to hug me the same way. Tears began dripping from both of our eyes as we couldn't hold back her emotions any longer.
"I'm sorry too, Mom. We should have supported each other after Dad's death but I thought we would be fine by ourselves. I was so selfish," I cried out.
"It's okay now, Mako. We'll be fine now."
We stayed in that same position for about half an hour. After we calmed down, I asked Mom why she suddenly apologised. She said that what Mitsuha said in the shop had sparked a memory in her mind, just like what had happened to me. We then chatted for about an hour about mindless things, catching up between us.
"Why don't we see his grave this Saturday? We can give him the good news," my mother suggested as she held my hand.
"That sounds great," I accepted. We both then went to our respective rooms, happy that we finally reconciled after so many years. That was the first time my mom and I had ever had a normal conversation in the past 2 years. This had to be one of the most unforgettable days in my life.