CH 4

Chapter 4:

“Question,” she said. “What are you after? Sex? Or money?”

“Hold up, you’re making crazy assumptions. Calm down a bit and let’s talk. Right, we should first set things straight.”

Osakabe2 had half-risen to his feet as he hastily made his suggestion. Why must I be the one to freak out? he thought, while deep down his resentment grew.

Even though she had been inching closer to the far wall of the bus shelter, she piped up as if remembering something, “Eh?” then moved to sit down beside him, her knees pressed together.

He was perplexed as to why she would now sit beside him despite being that scared earlier, but he took out a box of Pretz3he had on hand and offered it to her.

“Want any? An apology, for startling you.”

“Are you bribing me with food? I’m not impressed,” she said, but she accepted the box of Pretz. “Is this salad-flavor? That’s a big point in your favor,” she muttered to herself and promptly began eating.

Apparently, the bribery seemed to work. …But more importantly, he had to set things straight!

“My name is Osakabe Kengo. I’m a boring guy from Saitama who came to do some sightseeing. I wanted to take some pictures of Jodogahama at sunset, and while I was killing time I must have dozed off. When I woke up, you were sitting beside me. That’s more or less the gist of it.”

Crap. He winced. He had suddenly told her his real name, and now it was all over. But the girl didn’t seem to pay him attention—she was focused entirely on eating the Pretz.

“These are delicious. Sure enough, there is no other food in the world that could beat salad-flavored Pretz. I’m not even exaggerating.”

“No, you’re definitely exaggerating. Tomato Pretz are just as good and—hey, are you even listening to me?”

At that, her eyes flashed up.

“How rude. I am listening.” Her cheeks puffed up like a balloon, but then she immediately broke into a wide smile, the corners of her eyes crinkling. “…But I reckon I’ll forgive you. ‘Cause you don’t look like a bad guy. No one who loves salad-flavored Pretz could be all that bad.”

Then her cheeks visibly reddened.

Why was she blushing?

Although he was bewildered by the volatile moods of this girl, he nodded in gratitude. “You’re too kind.”

“So what about you?” he asked.

“Huh?”

She gave him a blank look. Why? This conversation was going nowhere.

“So, what are you doing here?”

She pondered her answer long enough for him to see the ellipsis form over her head, dot by dot.

“I had gone for a stroll, and just popped on by for a moment. Since I was so tired from walking, when I sat down beside you I fell asleep without realizing. Yeah, that’s about it.”

Though he was skeptical of her roundabout way of speaking, he shrugged. You’re the whole reason we ended up like this, he realized.

“So basically, Osakabe-san, you came to Jodogahama to do some sightseeing, right?” She reluctantly brought the last Pretz to her lips as she confirmed his story.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to say from the beginning.” At this, he finally gave a sigh.

“So that’s it.” She nodded and crossed her arms. “I was just surprised why you were here at this middle-of-nowhere bus stop, where only one bus comes every hour.”

“Huh?” The inane reaction slipped involuntarily from his mouth. What are you saying? No, wait, you don’t mean…? Clouds of foreboding spread across his heart.

“Do you maybe… know who I am?” he asked, feeling his whole body break out in goosebumps.

She puffed her cheeks like a blowfish and stared back at his face with a somehow dissatisfied expression.

“No… Hmm, not at all.”

Which is it? Her way of speaking appeared to either be pouting or toying with him. He scratched the back of his head despite there being no itch.

“But,” she said as if composing herself, her smiling once more, “I do know where you’re from. Shall I guess?”

How smug—she puffed up with pride.

“Where I’m from, you say?”

She sat back on the bench, legs crossed and a finger to her temple as she assumed the pose of a person deep in thought. And not a second later she answered: “No mistake, you’re from Saitama.”

Obviously. He let go of his tension. “There’s no question, you never see the name Osakabe outside of Saitama. It’s incredibly rare to see it anywhere else. I’m guessing you knew that?”

She didn’t answer, but her laugh, somewhere between a tee-hee and a giggle, confirmed exactly that without a word.

Nevertheless, inside he was relieved. It doesn’t seem she knows anything about my guilty past.

As if remembering, he glanced at his watch. Just a few hours until sunset, he confirmed, and grabbed the bag that held his SLR camera.

Sensing he was about to leave, she hastily shot out a suggestion.

“Shall I show you around the area? Only if you’d like, of course.”

“Huh? Is that okay?”

Taking little notice of his bewilderment at the sudden proposal, the girl leapt up from the bench.

“Certainly! As you can likely guess from the fact I was out on a stroll, I am fundamentally a person of leisure. It wouldn’t be so bad, I think, to accompany a fellow person of leisure, such as yourself.”

In contrast to her decisive statement, dark clouds once again flooded his mind. He was completely unused to being the target of such feelings as straightforward goodness or kindness from other people, even more so from a young woman.

Falling back into my old patterns, he sneered at himself.

But her suggestion was a godsend for someone like him, unfamiliar with the surrounding area. So he decided to go along with her proposal.

“Well then, I will gratefully take you up on that.”

“Understood. Then let’s seize this day!”4

Saying that, she picked up her only possession, the straw hat, from the bench, and putting it on, she grabbed Osakabe by the hand.

“Wait, my bags,” he said, but though she baffled him, he humored her by letting himself be pulled up.

Her bold actions, in contrast to her appearance, made his heart ache.

But at the same time, he also felt an uncanny peace from this girl he only just met today.

…Who on earth are you?

Right after the simple question floated up in his mind, she looked back with a wide grin.

“Odense! Welcome to Iwate!”

Her dignified voice rang out in the dry, summer air.

Though the sun only just started to sink, the heat lingered still on the summer afternoon.

This was Osakabe Kengo’s first meeting with Shirakisawa Honoka, the girl who much later would completely transform his destiny.

Shiragizawa Honoka’s name is written with the characters 白木沢 帆夏, meaning “White tree stream” and “Summer Sails”, symbolizing both their chance meeting in summer, the white of her dress, and her free and breezy personality, likely bringing a new wind into Osakabe’s life.

The characters for Osakabe Kengo are 逢坂部 賢悟, which mean “Meeting/Tryst on a Hill” and “Wise Enlightenment.” This ties into his encounter with Honoka at Jodogahama, named after the Pure Lands where, depending on the sect of Buddhism, it is believed the enlightened may go after death, or where the unenlightened may go to achieve enlightenment.

Pretz are a toasted biscuit stick snack, made by Glico. The savory predecessor to Pocky, the standard flavor is Salad, but Tomato is also sometimes available, along with seasonal flavors.

善は急げ: A proverb that translates to “Good things need to be carried out with haste.” More accurate proverbs in English may be “Strike while the iron is hot” or “Make hay while the sun shines,” but “Seize the day/Carpe Diem” fits better with Honoka teaching Osakabe to enjoy life.