Chapter 2

Hakayashi Tsukiko. It had been many months since he last saw her. So many that he paused to remember how long. One, two, Kenji counted to five until he realized he didn’t want to bother.

“So, what happened? How did you end up here?”

“Ah, the grilling starts…” She tilted her head sideways, the color on her face fading.

“Grilling?”

Maybe she meant she wanted to eat some yakiniku?

“Ah… umm…” Her eyes darted all over the place. He couldn’t blame her. She must want to signal that she was hungry, but admitting so would be embarrassing.

“You want to talk somewhere else?”

“Ah… yeah…” Tsukiko nodded meekly.

Kenji and Tsukiko finished some administrative work before heading to the police station to address matters related to the incident. Kenji waited in his truck, and Tsukiko returned in tears. The police forced her to pay a hefty fine. They also gave her stern warnings. At least, that was what she told him.

“I know this good yakiniku place. Their meat is juicy, and they have a lot of variety as well,” Kenji said. It failed to cheer her up.

“I… don’t have money.” Tsukiko’s head bobbed to the side, the life sucked out of her. She stared at the window in a daze, looking rather sad. Kenji couldn’t let his close friend remain like that.

“I’ll pay for you, think of it as a welcome back gift.”

Tsukiko turned her face to him, mouth wide in disbelief. “You’re serious?”

“Of course.”

“Kenji, you’re always so kind,” she whispered.

"It- It's nothing," Kenji averted his gaze. He looked at his mirrors as he brought the truck onto the road.

They might live on an island, but that didn’t mean it was a small place. The trip to a different corner of town took about twenty minutes. In a way, Kenji was lucky this happened during a day off. He could imagine her sister’s annoyed face if he just disappeared all of a sudden, although she would surely understand once he explained the situation.

“How’s… Amaya?”

“Amaya is doing well. How about your parents?”

Tsukiko looked out the window, staring at the sea in the distance. “They're… fine, I guess.”

“I see…”

A lot of things must be on her mind. Why did she come back in the first place? Had she told him, he could have picked her up at the train station over on the mainland. No reason to come on a boat.

The yakiniku place didn’t lack customers, despite arriving after lunch. Kenji and Tsukiko chose a table by the window, one with a good view of the nearby docks.

“So, what do you want to order?” Kenji asked. 

Tsukiko inspected the menu. She flipped through the pages, then went back to the front, and then flipped through them again.

“Don’t worry about the cost.”

“Kenji.”

“Yeah?”

Tsukiko lifted her face, a mischievous grin on her lips. Kenji felt relieved to see her smiling again, although he must admit the unsettling feeling that came with it.

“You haven’t forgotten about me, right?”

“I’m sorry, it’s just… It didn’t register in my mind. You looked a bit different.”

“How about you choose for me?”

Kenji looked at the menu in front of him. He knew some of her favorite foods, but the menu in front of him posed a challenge, featuring many variants of beef—some with fat, some without. Many originated from different parts of the cow.

“So?”

“How about-”

She brought her right hand in front of him. “Put the order first. Surprise me.”

Her mischievous smile brought back some memories. “Have you forgotten how well that went back then?”

Her smile turned into a grimace. “You ordered garlic ice cream for me. It’s the worst flavor I have ever had.”

He had never seen her make such a face before. The memory made him giggle. “That flavor lasted for, what? A month?”

“I can see it being trendy in the big city.”

“Even with what happened, you still want to trust me with this?”

“Surely you’re not going to order something terrible for the sake of it, right?”

Kenji scanned the QR code at the corner of the table and put in his order. Within a few minutes, the staff brought over a plate filled with all kinds of meat. Tsukiko seemed disappointed when she saw it.

“Not to your liking?”

“Boring.”

He ordered the safe option. A mixed set, containing wagyu beef, smoked duck, sweet chicken, and salmon. Kenji figured she would at least enjoy one type, and he was right.

“Well, I guess it’s my fault for not choosing. Not like I could change it.” Tsukiko shrugged. “Thanks for the food.”

Using the provided metal tongs, Tsukiko brought the meat onto the grill, waiting patiently as it cooked before flipping it. She timed it just right, lifting the meat away before it got burned.

“Do you eat yakiniku over there often?”

“I guess? Well, maybe more like sometimes.”

“How’s life in the big city?” Kenji asked.

Tsukiko shrugged. “Just like here. Although some goods are way easier to find, and you’re closer to the large shops. Online delivery didn’t take long.”

Kenji didn’t expect those things to be the stuff she mentioned. He thought she would talk about technology, the fancy new things that the city had. Fancy automatic toilets featuring warm seats, large skyscrapers with hundreds of floors, wide streets filled with electric vehicles, those kinds of things. It was the thing his sister mentioned when she first returned.

“I see…”

“This town… meanwhile… hasn’t changed all that much.”

Kenji could mention a few differences, but no major changes.

“By the way, how did you end up here?” Kenji asked. Tsukiko lifted her eyes from her food in shock.

“Did I get backstabbed? Is this a betrayal? There’s no foreshadowing!”

“No?”

“But we made a deal!”

“What deal?”

“A promise, Kenji.” She brought her hands to her chest, looking at him with round eyes.

“What promise?”

“Gah, you’re no fun! Besides, I thought we passed that?”

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

She let out a breath of relief.

“But wouldn’t it help both of us if I knew?”

She returned to the island after so long, with no announcement. She used to tell him when she came back. Did something change? Did she want to surprise him?

Or maybe…

She no longer considered them friends. He didn’t have to know that she came back. Rather, she didn’t want to know, and all this is just a series of unlucky coincidences.

The thought pained his heart, but if she truly felt that way, he couldn’t force her to stay around. Still, why the boat? Why not come the regular way? Through a bus passing the Awazashi Bridge?

“Urgh…” Tsukiko groaned.

Maybe he meddled too much. Maybe the current Tsukiko had nothing to do with him. “Sorry, I-”

“Umm… I came here… for… something my grandfather prepared for me.”

“… Something your grandfather prepared for you?” Kenji asked, not sure if he should be asking. Still, curiosity gripped his mind. 

"An... inheritance?"

Whatever it was, it must be something important. Or else Tsukiko wouldn’t travel all the way here.

“Yes. Sometimes, you just must forget everything and start anew, I guess.”

“… And… if you don’t mind me asking… what is this thing?”

“An antique shop, on Cater Road, number eighty-two.”