Part II

Asuka takes one more sweep around the house. Not wanting to leave her room in a dilapidated state, she cleaned it up as best she could. Clothes were now put away and her bed was even made. She even organized her desk; no more bits of dirt or paper scraps were there to be seen.

While doing the laundry, she found that some of Kyo’s clothes were still in the washing machine this whole time. After hanging them all out to dry, gathered them up to put them back in his room. She folded them into drawers, separating them into shirts, pants and socks in the clothing drawer in his closet.

She looked around his room one more time to see if there was anything she could take with her. Inspecting his desk, she considers one of his figures but would not want to accidentally break it. She’s already read everything on his bookshelf, and his laptop would probably just weigh her down.

Already knowing there’s nothing on or under the bed she wants, she returns to the closet again. The three plastic bins are still there to meet her. She looks at each one and considers taking out the camera from the second bin before she remembers there’s no more film. She also has no use for the CD-laden case that was on the top shelf.

And then the third drawer is…. Wait, she actually has yet to open this one. She stopped her search soon as she was to find the MSX and the cartridge for “Castle Destinies”. Curiosity blooms inside her and she pulls out the topmost drawer without hesitation.

It was basically empty except for several pieces of jewelry. The ones that drew her eyes the most were made of rope that tied shiny blue stones together. She put one of the bracelets on, but it was a bit too large for her wrist and fell right off. The other piece that matched the bracelet was large enough to be a necklace. She took this one out and held it in her hand.

Carefully opening the second drawer, it was revealed to be hiding multiple cassette tapes and a small cassette player. She picked it up and examined it. It was battery powered and had an antenna that could be pulled out to get radio waves. Taking out the cassette tapes, she counted 20 in total. It seems Kyo had made a hobby out of collecting them. She wondered if he made the jewelry she’d found as well.

She wonders why he was so adamant about her not going in the closet. The other bins did not seem to hold anything very incriminating, so these had to be what he was hiding. In her mind, she doesn’t have time to listen to every single tape, though. She looks around for a hard case to store them in, certain they’ll break if she just chucks them into her backpack.

Rummaging around a bit more in the closet, she sees a case that looks perfect for the cassette tapes. It’s only able to fit 10 of them inside, though, so she chooses the ones with designs that appeal to her the most. She checks the cassette player itself and sees a loose tape inside.

Returning the rest into the bin, she closes it along with the closet itself and takes one less look around the room. Her eyes settle on the bed, and she flops onto it. His mattress was softer than hers, she preferred firmer ones. She curls up for a while. One last time.

It all started last week.

Asuka had given herself a few days to recover from her injuries, taking the medicine as prescribed by Dr. Arimura. At some point she called up Miyuki to inform her about what was in the package she’d held onto; it only seemed fair. She gushed about it over the phone and cried as Asuka described the story behind it to her.

Misaki messaged her every day, checking in on her and showing her how well the business has been going since he reopened. She was happy for him.

As soon as she felt able, and every movement she made didn’t ache like she’d been attacked by an angry hammer, Asuka got down to business on completing the next few items on the bucket list.

Though it had only taken two days, Asuka felt like it took weeks to finish just the third item, confessing to Misaki. She printed the picture she took of them and pasted it in the page along with another diary entry about how it went. Feeling another sense of accomplishment, she flips to the page that reads:

“jump onto a moving train like in koko’s traveling agency”

Her eyes bulge comically as they reread the words. She considers it for a bit before making an exception and breaking her rule of not peeking at the next list entry.

“take a ferry to cat island”

She honestly feels less intimidated at the idea of taking a trip like that. Still not totally sure, she turns another page. Every new entry she reads ups the ante in some way, and they all require her to travel far from the house.

This brings her back to the present. She concluded that it doesn’t make sense to try and complete one spinning adventure as they take her further and further only to return back home each time.

When she got home, the day Misaki dropped her off, she’d remembered the documents she received from Terushima. She hadn’t been paying any attention at the time, focusing her energy on trying not to burst into tears in front of him and hadn’t asked for another explanation.

After analyzing the documents herself while she rested up, she’d found out the folder included Kyo’s final wages that he’d received the last few days before his final paycheck which was around ¥5,354. This was in addition to the insurance money. Because of the fact that Kyo had died while on the clock, Sugawa had been obligated to offer her a sum of money that totaled up to ¥150,000. Her mouth dropped when she saw the amount, but it only felt right to use it all up on finishing up her mission for him.

Every day, there is increasing talk about news regarding the incoming meteor. Scientists and reporters stress that insofar there has been no way to deter its course. As such, she has been seeing crazy things happening around the world every day. It has been a slow start in Japan, or at least where she is in Shikoku, but videos will frequently pop up whenever she scrolls through ChikTak. An increase in crime and the like which all seem to be motivated by the potential end of the world littered her feed, showcasing footage from different countries around the world.

By now it’s been 4 weeks since the news was unintentionally leaked, but it’s had its ripples throughout the human consciousness. Asuka knows it would be safer for her to stay inside, but she’s ready to risk it all. Eventually it’ll be too dangerous even inside her own home. And besides, how hard could catching a moving train be?

With an optimistically packed suitcase, Asuka makes sure anything that would rot if left alone for too long was thrown away. She currently had with her: A few changes of clothes she can alternate between, the clothes on her back, her “funding”, the remaining food in her fridge, the notebook, a book and her handheld (in case she got bored), and the keepsake from Kyo’s room.

One more thing popped into her head, and she got out a pen and paper. On it she writes a note to stick to the front door, just in case Yamada-san or anyone else happened to drop by. She knew they would try to stop her if she told them, so this is the only way she will inform them for now.

Asuka takes another look around the house from the front door. She can see the kitchen, the living room, and the laundry room. If she peeked around the corner would be able to see the bathroom and the hallway that leads to her and her brother’s rooms. She already said goodbye to those parts of the house, so left them alone. Not wanting to make herself sadder than she already felt.

She takes a long, deep breath, and turns to leave.