Chapter 15: Do you have a girlfriend?

Friday, 2 May, 20XX - Part 5

“Hey! You’re stabbing me!” I exclaimed.

“Sorry! I can’t see where this is going – hey! You almost poked me in the eye!”

“I can’t see you! Stop moving so much!”

Yui and I were screaming at each other while trying to set up the tent. We held a tentpole for the first time in our lives, each of us clueless as to how this worked.

Why were we building a tent?

We managed to get away from the police with Yui’s wild gamble.

How long would it take for the police to realize that they had been duped? A few hours? A day or two? Maybe my father will call them for an update and that’s when they’ll realize that we had tricked them.

So we formulated a plan.

Staying at hotels was too much of a risk. Hotel staff in the area could be notified to be on the lookout for two teenagers in a red Kei car.

We had to find a way to disguise our car before we could continue our journey.

But before we could do that, we had to go into hiding – at least until we could figure out how to disguise ourselves.

Something will also happen on May 8. We might be able to use the potential chaos to slip away.

We needed to lay low until May 8, at least.

That’s why we decided to go camping. We found a spot next to a small lake where we could camp. The nearest convenience store was twenty minutes away and there were barely any people living in the nearby village.

This was the perfect place to lay low.

After almost two hours of screaming and crying, we managed to set up the tent.

Yui and I sat on the ground, exhausted, covered in sweat.

“We really should’ve looked up a YouTube video on how to do this,” Yui said.

“Yeah…but we don’t have any signal out here.”

Yui raised her phone into the air.

“Please, Great Buddha, give us 5G signal. Grant us this wish.”

“I don’t think the Buddha can help you with 5G.”

Yui let out a breath.

“I’ve never been without signal before. It feels…unnerving.”

I couldn’t remember the last time I didn’t have access to the Internet. It felt strangely unsettling. We were cut off from the world, without any way of getting access to the news.

Both of our phones displayed 2G only. We couldn’t stream video with that kind of connection, and we didn’t want to drive back to the convenience store out of fear that they might recognize us.

We went around gathering dry leaves and some small sticks, then used a lighter to start a little campfire. While Yui took care of the fire, I went to the lake with a bucket to get some water, in case we needed to extinguish the fire.

Afterwards, we had some prepackaged bread for dinner, then sat in some camping chairs, gazing out onto the lake, feeling the heat of the fire.

“Haruto, do you know why your father is looking for you?”

I shook my head. It’s the first time in years that I had heard from him after he left my mother and me when I was still small. I could barely remember what he looked like.

“Ah, wait. There is one thing.”

“What is it?” Yui tilted her head slightly. The campfire caused her long black hair to glow.

“After my mother passed away, I sent a letter to his last known address informing him of her passing. They never divorced properly, so I was just doing what was legally required.”

“Hmm…” Yui put a finger to her chin. “It must have something to do with that letter.”

I said nothing.

“Wouldn’t it be better for you to contact your father?”

“I don’t know if I want to see him.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know why he left us in the first place.” The truth was, part of me didn’t want to find out. Maybe it’s better to let sleeping dogs lie.

Yui smiled ruefully. “That’s nice…”

“What do you mean?”

“It must be nice to have a parent looking for you.” Her smile grew sad. “I…please don’t take this the wrong way, but I was a bit disappointed that the police were looking for you and not for me. You know, when I called my stepfather, he was surprised to hear from me. He told my mother that it was me who called, but she didn’t want to speak to me.” She took a deep, shaky breath. “Neither of them was looking for me. They only demanded I return the money. They didn’t want me back.”

Her shoulders shook as she cried. I sat next to her, unable to offer any words of comfort.

In the silence of the night, her tears fell to the ground.

Tuesday, 6 May, 20XX - Part 1

Yui and I put our camping chairs near the lake, dipping our feet in the cool water.

“This feels so good~” Yui leaned back, gazing up at the sky.

It was just after lunch. The water glittered under the sun. A pleasant breeze rustled the leaves of the trees surrounding the lake.

For the past three days, we had been living off our supplies, sleeping in the tent and taking it easy.

There were some adjustments we had to make to our lives.

It got cold at night in the mountains. So even though it was May, we went to sleep wearing sweaters.

It was also impossible to take a warm bath, so we had to get used to wiping ourselves down with a towel. That didn’t really affect me, but it seemed to annoy Yui.

Fortunately, the public bathroom near the camping grounds was within walking distance and clean.

“I wish I could take a bath,” Yui said while splashing her feet in the water.

“Just wait a few more days.”

“I knowwww…” she whined.

Whatever happens on May 8 will hopefully cause major disruptions. We could use that as a chance to visit an onsen. The police would hopefully be too busy to look for two runaway teenagers.

My phone vibrated.

It was a message from Chisato. She had sent me a message through SMS text.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

I replied, telling her that Yui and I were camping. She didn’t have to know that the police were for looking for me.

“I’m staying with my grandmother for now. My father had to return to the city for work. Mother wants to wait and see what happens on May 8.”

“That’s good,” I wrote back. “Let’s meet up after May 8.”

Yui poked my arm. There was a gentle frown on her face.

“Haruto, who are you texting?”

“Eh? Oh, I’m texting Chisato.” I suppose it was better to tell her everything. “Chisato knows that we’ve run away together. She left Tokyo with her mother. We’re giving each other updates on where we are.”

“I see…” Yui stopped splashing her feet in the water. “Uhm…Haruto, can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“Are you and Chisato dating?”

“Eh?”

“S-Sorry, I know I’m asking something strange. You don’t have to answer. I’ve wanted to ask you this since she called you to tell you about our hometown teacher. And it’s just…it would be a bit weird if I’m traveling with another girl’s boyfriend…and I realized I never asked if you had a girlfriend.”

Yui was fidgeting with her fingers in her lap, her eyes fixed to the ground, her cheeks flushed.

My heart beat fast.

“No, Chisato and I aren’t dating.”

“I see.” She looked visibly relieved.

“We used to date though.”

“Fuweh?!”

She covered her mouth and looked away, her ears red.

“You and Chisato used to be…lovers?”

“I guess you could say that.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re childhood friends; we’ve known each other for years. And then we decided to try dating at the beginning of high school.”

“O-Oh…you two broke up?”

“Yeah. We tried dating for a while and then decided it was better for us to stay friends.”

“I see…so you and Chisato used to date…huh…heee….I see…”

Yui began splashing her feet in the water again.

“Then in that case…Haruto…have you considered maybe getting a new girlfriend?”

I said nothing.

Suddenly the silence between us was heavier than a mountain.

She gave me a sideways glance. I felt sweat running down my back.

“I – “

Before I could say more, the sound of a car filled the silence. It came closer and closer until it stopped next to where we were parked.

It was a white minivan.

Yui and I looked at each other.

What should we do?