Wanted!

Yai and Tetsudo walked with the railway, the river and the highway. All three of them looked vacant, empty, like they were waiting for two teenagers to fill their souls somehow. But all they could do was watch how the two passed trees with birds singing quietly, and cars, whose headlights seared themselves into Yai and Tetsudo’s eyes.

They had been walking the whole morning and lunch and the sun was already behind them; its large outline filled the sky with circular rays. They started in Ichiyama at 9:30 AM, now it was 5PM and they were past Tsunan and around Tokamachi. Somewhere in those suburbs they were walking, tired and hungry. Soon they would be near a store and buy supplies, but until then they had to keep walking.

The river looked brighter than yesterday. What was so new about it, Tetsudo didn’t know. He looked over at Yai – she had her hair down, looking ahead at the railway poles and highway signs in the distance. Her eyes glistened, her lips were dry, and her face was so still, that her eyelids looked like they bounced each time she stepped. Yai’s black and dry hair was waving around; it looked like there were pappuses from dandelions entangled in her hair. Maybe they were blown by the wind and reached her. She looked like she had a crown with the amount of pappuses on her head.

Tetsudo’s mouth was dry as desert. His skin looked like it was peeling off; he was sunburned clearly, so was Yai, but not as bad as him.

“Let’s go and buy some hats when we get to the nearest settlement,” he said, placing a hand on his forehead – he couldn’t see, only feel just how red it was.

“Sure, I want to buy a straw hat!” Yai smiled with excitement.

The next town was coming, another suburb. Maybe there would be a store for clothes nearby. Both continued walking forward, away from the sun behind them.

“Tetsu?” Yai suddenly said.

“Ah, what?” Tetsudo was startled.

“You know, Yuga’s words made me think about our journey and…” she looked down; her burnt and red face trembled. “You don’t have to be with me the whole journey. Maybe it will be best if you go back home.”

“Do you not want me to be with you?” He asked.

“No! No, no, no, I uh…” Yai was taken aback. Her face was filled with concern and worry. But Tetsudo only smiled.

“Yuga’s words also made me think, but not about the journey. About us,” he looked at her; two red heads in the ever-growing sunset “Even if we’re so-called ‘soulmates’, we apparently met too early. And so, I’d like to spend as much time as possible with you, before we’re… inevitably torn apart. At the end of this journey.”

He felt as Yai took his hand. Her orange smile bloomed a thousand times in front of him.

“So do I,” she said, and they both continued to walk hand in hand.

*

Yai and Tetsudo reached Tokamachi at 8PM. The sky was still orange, filled with crystal clouds. The town was not too busy, not too empty. The two went into a clothing shop.

“Oh my god, there are so many here!” Yai exclaimed as she looked at the many different hats on the shelf. She saw a straw hat and put it on. “Tetsu, how do I look? ~”

“You look pretty,” he said and smiled at her.

“Thank you! ~” She then picked up a baseball cap and put it on his head. “Here, this goes on you well!”

“You sure?”

“Yup! You buy the hats, and I will check out if we need something else.” Yai said and went through the many aisles in the store.

Tetsudo bought the hats and went outside to wait. The inside of the store was just as hot as it was outside. Some cars would pass by, but no one would really stop. He wondered if he put his hand out would someone stop and take him and Yai to Niigata. But it was best not to test such risky theory.

The store was run down, but it had a sort of sentimental charm. It was a one-story building, it stood out that way between all the big houses. For sure it was old, but how old, Tetsudo couldn’t tell.

“Maybe it has been here since the second world war… or maybe not.” Tetsudo chuckled at that thought.

Suddenly he saw a police car pulling up and stopping right next to the store. He put on his baseball cap and leaned against the windows of the store. An officer came out of the car, he was short with a shaven face and had a crew cut. He looked around for a few seconds, until his eyes glanced at Tetsudo. Then he went straight to him.

“Good evening,” the officer said. “I was wondering if you could help me with something.”

Tetsudo’s throat was dry, but he mustered the strength to let out a few words.

“How can I help, officer?” He looked down and away from the officers eyes.

“There’s been a report of two missing runaway kids. Do you know who they are by any chance?”

Tetsudo’s eyes shrank. His mouth was dry as a desert. His hands felt like lumps of meat hanging onto sweat and arm hair. His legs trembled and he gasped for air.

“I uh… I heard,” he tried to make something up. “I heard chatter from uh, other kids, but I didn’t think it was real. I don’t know them.”

His voice was shaken up. The officer would definitely suspect him of lying.

“Are you sure?” he leaned closer to Tetsudo. “The guy who reported it said they were a boy and a girl with black hair.”

“Could be anyone, really.” Tetsudo said, without looking up. His bones were silently screaming:

“We are wanted, we are wanted, we are wanted!”

The tiles the pavement was made out of became more and more a blur. His eyes stopped working. The stress was building up inside him. Tetsudo let out a sigh.

“What’s wrong?” the officer asked, leaning even closer. He could almost see Tetsudo’s face.

“Nothing, it’s just…” his heart was so close to jumping out, he could feel his lungs being crushed under some unknown weight. “I wonder what their parents thought of this.”

“The irony…” He thought for a moment, as the hypocritical words left his mouth.

“Yeah, as a father, I would never want my children to put me through such pain,” the officer stepped back. “If you have any more information, make sure to call 110.”

Tetsudo felt relief.

“Yes. Of course. Good night, officer.” He said, still not lifting up his face.

“Goodnight.”

The officer walked away to his car. There was no one else on the pavement, but he still looked around again, just to be sure. After that, he got into his car, and drove away. Tetsudo breathed a sigh of relief – they were not caught yet. But if that officer suspected him, it would be bad. It didn’t seem like it, but you never know – cops have sixth and seventh sense for these things…

“Tetsu~!” Yai shouted as she exited the store. “I found nothing more of interest in the store, so we should be good to…”

She stopped and looked at his face – pale as a blanket. She got closer to him.

“Are you okay?”

“A…” Tetsu struggled to say it. “A cop just asked me if I had seen two missing runaway kids…”

Yai realized immediately. Her breathing became erratic.

“You mean… Us?”

Tetsudo nodded. Yai’s face went blank. Her eyes seeped deep into their sockets. She covered her mouth.

“So, they are searching for us…” Her muffled speech sent a chill down Tetsudo’s spine.

They stood there for a minute, in front of the store. The sun was saying its final goodbyes to the green trees and grey concrete. The wires above buzzed quietly, and the road sat there empty. Only Yai and Tetsudo stood on the pavement in silence.

“Tetsu…” Yai said through her chokes. “I can’t force you to be with me on this journey anymore…”

“NO! YOU CAN’T…” Tetsudo teared up. “You can’t say that now, we have gone too far, to give up…”

Their sniffles were the only sound on the lonely street.

“We’ll keep going. Come on, the train station is not far from here.” Tetsudo got up and held his hand out to Yai. She looked at him – her eyes were watery and smaller than usual. She reached for his hand. As she took it, she got up and hugged him tightly.

“Thank you… for not leaving me, even if that’s a bad decision…” Yai whispered on his shoulder. “You should really go home…”

“I’m not done with you yet.” He said with a smile. Yai chuckled and wiped her moist eyes.

“I’m not either.”

The moon was half full that night. As they walked hand in hand deeper into the small city, the quiet sound of the wires faded into oblivion beneath a starless sky. The light pollution crawled just above the trees outside of town and the small fragments of railway tire tracks hidden between the long highway and bending river vibrated, close to Yai and Tetsudo’s hearts.