A Few Good Dreams Revisited: Kanto

Buds had appeared on the plum trees’ branches. Small bursts of green held secrets of pink within their encasings. Matsumoto’s gloved hand inspected the bulbs before jotting notes into a laminated notebook. A smile appeared that slowly turned to a frown of understanding. Soon, the blossoms would appear. They would grace the world with a flash flood of color for several weeks before falling away to herald the full arrival of spring. Only this spring, those falling petals carried a sadness he had not anticipated. Looking up at the sky, Matsumoto felt a sting in his eye as he whispered a prayer.

“Please, enjoy the time you have left, young ones. We will see you soon enough,” he pleaded.

Hundreds of kilometers away, Naoe was once again at the ocean’s edge. This time, she was in a blue bikini, wading waist deep in the waters of Kamakura. Hazuki was nearby, paddling through the water with slight strain. His arms moved more slowly than even a week ago. His breath seemed to drain faster. A slight sting gouged his lungs. Still, the water was calming.

Their time in Kamakura was bright and unusually sunny. Naoe savored the early brightness like a leaf soaking the vitamins of the sun. This was their second-to-last stop, and it was only for one night. After this morning, they would be packing once more and setting out for the final stop of their journey: Tokyo.

Naoe knew very little of what to expect, merely that Hazuki had always dreamed of visiting the megacity. When Naoe was first alive, Tokyo was not even called Tokyo yet. It was Edo. It was not the capital. Now, as their train curved along elevated tracks flanked by thousands of massive skyscrapers, Naoe felt a wonder and intimidation she had never before felt, even in Osaka.

“I did not believe mankind could build such a place,” was all she could mutter as she looked out the windows.

“Biggest city in the world. About forty million people,” grinned Hazuki.

“Forty MILLION?!” Naoe reiterated in shock.

Sayane and Arthur planned a surprise for the couple that they only discovered upon arriving at their hotel. In the place of a regular room, Sayane and Arthur had paid for a penthouse suite, thirty stories high in the air, with a view that looked at the Asakusa Sky Tree. Opening the room’s door caused both of them to let out a loud exclamation of awe-filled joy.

“We are truly in the sky!!” Naoe screamed as she ran to the windows to observe the sprawl of the city below. 

Hazuki couldn’t run anymore, but the feeling in his chest was a feeling of childish wonder that he had long forgotten. Standing there with her, looking out at the view he had dreamt of for over a decade, he found himself overwhelmed. Tears ran down his face. Naoe noticed instantly.

“Darling?” she asked.

“I don’t know... I think happy tears?” he chuckled as he wiped his eyes.

Naoe wiped them away as well.

“You just looked so happy. You’ve seemed so happy this whole trip,” he replied.

“I have been. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. What about you?” Naoe asked.

“I am as well. I didn't know I could be so happy. I’m so very grateful to have experienced all of this with you,” he replied as he looked at his wilting love.

Her cheeks were even thinner now. Both of them had heavy, dark bags under their eyes. He didn’t seem to stand as tall as he used to. They stood there holding one another as the Sky Tree glowed behind, beckoning them out to come explore. First, they took a long, hot shower together to wash the travel from their skin.

Narrow alleys met them with dozens of food stalls lit in neon glow. Men in suits sat in chairs and stools, devouring the fragrant offerings of the chefs. Sensoji Temple’s enormous roof stood in the distance, with the Sky Tree piercing the foggy night sky beyond that. Naoe looked at the juxtaposition and smiled as she thought of the maiko’s words.

Akihabara’s explosion of crowds, colors, and sounds let Naoe know she was fully in the modern world at that moment. Thousands of people walked beneath enormous glowing ads for scantily clad video game characters and manga heroes.

Even though they were in a sea of people, Naoe never felt crowded. It was a city of people with their heads either down in focus or up in awe. No one even seemed to notice the scarred girl and the semi-crippled boy as they slowly moved through the crowds. All the while, Hazuki held her hand as he looked around in wonder at the sheer massive expanse of it all.

“My grandfather once said you could live a lifetime in Tokyo and still not know all of its secrets. I understand it now,” Hazuki proclaimed as they snacked at a stall.

His happiness had returned. Naoe was grateful. His boyish smile was back. She snuck several polaroids of him as they explored that first night. Eventually, they were in Ueno, walking through a massive park. The path turned and a massive lily pond appeared before them.

“I appreciate there’s so much nature here. I was expecting only concrete,” Naoe admitted.

“I knew there would be parks, but the size of these places is incredible. This one park is as big as the entire agriculture park back in Inabe,” said Hazuki too quickly.

Neither of them had mentioned the park in the entire time they had been traveling, and as he did so, this late in the trip, now it was there, reminding them both of what was waiting for them in a few days.

“Sorry,” he whispered.

Naoe wasn’t upset.

“It’s okay. We can’t escape it, so there’s no harm in mentioning it. We’ll have to go back soon anyway. But for now, we are here,” she replied.

“Agreed,” he replied.

Her facade was almost believable. Inside, her heart felt a chip appear. She had truly forgotten about the park for a very brief moment there in Kyoto, and now it all came roaring back. Naoe set her mind to not let the dread win, and instead reset her sight on Hazuki, whose hair was now blowing in the wind.

They sat on a park bench and took in the skyline for an hour, then decided to call it a night. That night, they were so exhausted, they didn’t even dream of one another in the crystalline grove.

Each day, they explored a new district. Hazuki found himself enjoying finding new coffee shops. Naoe discovered gashapons, and was immediately hooked. Bills were exchanged for coins, a coin purse was purchased, and she was set loose to buy as many random tiny trinkets as she could.

In the kitchen district, a customized knife was selected for Arthur in honor of the meals he had cooked for them. A new tea kettle was selected for Sayane, in honor of the tea she had always so willingly shared. In Koenji, a handful of first-print City Pop vinyl records were purchased for Matsumoto. And in Chiyoda, at Daijungu Shrine, a blessed talisman of gratitude was purchased for Shinji.

On the third night, they had dinner in Ginza, at a romantic, low-lit restaurant that specialized in French-Japanese fusion. From there, following a recommendation from Sayane, the two of them made their way to a newly opened shopping tower on the main street. Within the tower were dozens of stores, including an expansive bookstore, where the two of them spent nearly an hour scouring the offerings. Naoe purchased another book of poems, and Hazuki purchased a book of traditional artwork depicting nature. Then, per Sayane’s recommendation, they made their way to the rooftop, where an all-encompassing viewing patio wrapped around the entirety of the roof.

Every angle of the building opened up for panoramic views of the entire city. Though it was lower than their hotel, the ability to go in any direction and see the city was thrilling. Beyond that, there was a zen garden and a small shinto shrine on the roof as well. Naoe said a prayer at the shrine and made an offering before joining Hazuki beneath a grove of maple trees lit softly in a pleasant yellow glow.

As she sat down, a familiar warmth appeared in her chest that she wished she hadn’t felt. Hazuki sighed a somber sigh as though he felt it also. His hand found hers.

“Is that…?” he asked.

Naoe blinked away her tears.

“Yes. The blossoms have arrived in Inabe,” she whispered.

Hazuki’s eyes sank in pensive reflection.

“We’re almost out of time,” he replied.

They were both crying now. Naoe’s tears fell heavy and tragic. The feelings of acceptance she had tried to hold on to were falling between her fingers like sand in a sift.

“I wanted more time,” she whimpered.

“I’ve lived for several centuries, and now that I’m here at the end of it all, I feel like there wasn’t enough time. All of those decades gone by in a crawl, but only a few moments with you,” she cried.

His touch gave her relief.

“Forever was never long enough,” he replied as he sniffled and wrapped her in his arms.

If not for the light rain that began to fall, they might have fallen asleep there on that roof. Even in the largest city in the world, for that moment, they were all alone, drifting above the light of the world that could not reach them.

Their strength never returned. In the final days in Tokyo, they moved slowly and spoke little. There was no tension, merely a transition into true acceptance. Hazuki’s heart was full. It was time. After being gone for nearly a full month, the young couple boarded a bullet train one last time and made their way back to Inabe.