Chapter 6: Rendezvous point

Tuesday, 29 April, 20XX - Part 2

That evening, I sat at my desk, doing my homework and glancing at my phone every couple of minutes. I was waiting for a message from Yui, but my phone remained silent. Maybe her parents had taken away her phone again.

Actually, why was I still doing my homework? Golden Week had already started. Yui and I were going to run away. There was no point in doing this.

We were going to run away together. We’re going on a journey before the end of the world.

What if the world didn’t end? What if all those emails were just a highly sophisticated prank?

If the world didn’t end, we’d just be two runaway kids. Yui would be in serious trouble if we get caught.

But if the emails told the truth and the world was going to end, then we were doing the right thing. If the traffic lights stopped working and the world ended on January 1 next year, then we were running away from the danger.

Calm down.

Even if the world doesn’t end, going on a journey together was going to be fun. I wouldn’t have to come back to an empty home every day. Yui wouldn’t have to live in fear every day.

She only had to stay away until her eighteenth birthday before she was considered a proper adult and could legally get away from her parents. We were third year high schoolers. She was going to turn eighteen soon.

At around midnight, I went to the park with a small hand shovel. The streets were completely deserted. A nighttime breeze rushed past. Even though it was late April, it still got quite chilly at night.

I entered the park. It was completely empty. The darkness made it feel like a different world, divorced from the neighborhood park during the day.

I went behind the bathroom and found a stone the size of a my fist on the ground. Was this the stone Yui used to mark where she buried her emergency funds?

It was dark, so it was hard to tell if this was the right spot.

I started digging.

I dug until the hole was deep enough to swallow my entire arm. I was about to give up, when my shovel hit something metal sounding. I let out a gasp.

After another twenty minutes, I was able to extract a metal box out of the ground.

It was difficult to believe Yui had buried this box so deep in the ground. It was as if she anticipated her parents finding – or forcing her to reveal the location – of the box, and then fooling them into thinking that it had been found by someone else when she dug a bit and found nothing.

I opened the box. Inside I found an envelope filled with 10,000 yen bills and several SIM cards. Looking closely, she had SIM cards for not just Japan, but also Hong Kong, Taiwan and even Korea.

…did she plan on going abroad?

Huh?

There was a second envelope in the box. I took it out. This one was filled with US dollars.

How did she get her hands on foreign currency? And foreign SIM cards?

I filled the hole. I could’ve just left it as is, but children played here, and one of them might fall into it if I didn’t replace the dirt.

I went home, covered in dirt and sweat.

Wednesday, 30 April, 20XX - Part 1

Today was the day we’d run away.

We’d go on a journey before the end of the world.

Before the traffic lights went out, we’d leave the city behind.

And if the traffic lights didn’t go out and everything in the email was a prank, then we had to simply stay away from her parents until Yui was 18 years old. We’ll have to make sure to study during our trip so that we could graduate.

But if the world did end, then we didn’t have the worry about any of this.

…the thought of having to study for exams made me wish even more that the world would end.

The car was loaded with camping gear, food supplies and a luggage case filled with my clothes. I also bought power banks for our phones.

At 5pm, I drove into the city.

Our plan was very simple.

Yui had to get away from her parents. But since they didn’t want her to run away, they would keep her tight leash on her.

During the Golden Week dinner with relatives, she’d make an excuse to go to the bathroom when both her mother and stepfather got somewhat drunk. This will cause them to lose track of time. She’d then slip out of the restaurant.

There were security cameras everywhere in Tokyo. If her parents were determined, they could ask the police to find her using CCTV footage. We had to somehow get her out while avoiding security cameras.

“I have an idea,” Yui said during our night time/early morning planning session. “I’ll walk through the Kabukicho district and lose the CCTV trail in the crowds.”

“Kabukicho?! Are you sure you want to go there?”

“Hm? Is there something wrong with that area?”

Kabukicho was an infamous nightlife district in Tokyo. It was filled with host and hostess clubs as well as…other types of businesses that may or may not be legal.

Was it a really a good idea for a high schooler to walk through that area?

I told her about my concerns.

“It should be fine,” she said. “I just have to ignore anyone who tries to talk to me. Walk fast and don’t look at anyone.”

I still didn’t like the idea, but I suppose there was no helping it. At night, Kabukicho was likely the most crowded area in all of Tokyo. Even if there was CCTV, it will be difficult for anyone to keep track of her.

After that, Yui said she would change her clothes in a public bathroom.

“Where should I go afterwards?” she asked.

Now it was my turn.

“When you come out from the Kabukicho district, make a left turn and go to Okubo station.”

“That’s the one on the Yamanote Line. It would be nice if I could take the train, but that would leave a CCTV trail.”

“The one on the Yamanoto Line is Shin-Okubo. The older Okubo station is on the Chuo Line.”

“Oh!”

“They are next to each other. Make sure you don’t go to the wrong station.”

“Okay, understood. But why the older Okubo station?”

It took a lot of research, but I had managed to find the perfect pickup spot in the city.

“When you go to Okubo station, go to the south exit, and then make a left. You will see a small car park there. I will be waiting there for you.”

Most of the foot traffic went through Shin-Okubo station because most people took the circular Yamanote Line. In comparison, far fewer passengers took the Chuo Line. The south exit of Okubo station led to small side streets removed from the main road. It was a quiet, forgotten area at the edge of Shinjuku, neither here nor there – a place where no one really went to, nor stayed. It was a quiet residential district with a couple of love hotels and tiny restaurants.

“Mh, I understand. I’ll go there.”

After we had finalized all of the details, Yui said she would delete all of the emails we had sent to each other and then empty out her Deleted folder.

At 5pm I drove into the city.

Driving through the city was difficult. The streets were difficult to navigate, there were a lot of cars and even more people. Most of the vehicles seem to be either grey, black or white. The red Kei car my mother had left me stood out. It made me feel self-conscious. Hopefully no one would notice.

At 6pm, I arrived at the car park outside the south exit of Okubo station.

I began to wait.

An hour passed, then two.

It was 8pm. There was still no sign of Yui.

Sitting in the car, I watched people trickle out of Okubo station. Did they live here? Maybe they just finished business in a different part of the city?

Shinjuku was one of those places where a lot of people drifted through, but no one really stayed. The only people who stayed were those who had nowhere else to go — or had enough money to live in one of the posh luxury apartments located in the city.

Another hour passed. It was 9pm.

Did she forget where our rendezvous point was? Did her dinner get canceled? Had her parents found out about our escape plan? Did they beat it out of her?

Calm down.

She had to wait until they were drunk enough before she could slip away. There might also be cousins she had to talk to.

Another hour passed. 10pm. Barely any people were coming out of the station. There was still no sign of Yui.

I left the car and went to the bathroom inside the station.

Today was the first day of Golden Week. Chisato had left for the countryside with her parents. There were probably a lot of people in Shinjuku, enjoying themselves.

Maybe in a different life, Yui and I could be enjoying life with our families.

Heh…how strangely cruel the world is.

When I came back, I found someone in a black hoodie standing next to my car, trying to open it.

I had heard that crime rates had gone up in Tokyo, but I didn’t think someone would try to steal a car in the middle of the city.

“H-Hey! What are you doing?” I said, trying to raise my voice, but it came out barely louder than my regular voice.

The person turned around, the hood hiding their face. They looked like one of those runaway kids who hung around Shinjuku.

“Haruto!”

Eh?

Wait, I recognized that voice.

“It’s me! Yui!”

She pulled her hood away, revealing her face.

My chest flooded with relief.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Mh! It took a long time, but I managed to get away from the dinner party.”

She had nothing with her, except the clothes she was wearing.

“What happened to your things?”

“Hehe~ I did a little scheming of my own~”

We got in the car. Yui told me about that scheme of hers.