The Storm Came

Yai and Tetsudo could feel how they were going slower and slower, until finally the train stopped. The brakes were loud and creaking on the rails.

“Final station. All passengers must leave the train.”

Everyone got up and left the train. The steaming sun from above made Yai put her straw hat immediately. The busy station was filled with conversations and people running around to some place.

Yai and Tetsudo got out of the station and turned to a map of the city.

“I live here,” Yai pointed north of the station. “It’s 3 kilometers from here.”

“Will we meet your brother there?”

Yai for a moment looked down. It seemed like she was rethinking everything that they had done so far.

“Yes.”

“Well, alright, let’s go,” Tetsudo said. He turned around and started walking, until he realized that Yai wasn’t beside him. He turned back and saw her still sitting in front of the map. “Yai, you coming?”

No answer. She stood still as a statue. He went to her, and put his hand on her shoulder.

“Are you okay?”

Without saying a word, she pointed at a poster next to the map, that was taped on the windows of the station. As he saw it, Tetsudo’s heart fell to his feet.

“MISSING PERSON; Have you seen this girl? Last seen on July 16th, Name: Yarusenai Kitagawa, 16 years old, 165cm; If you see her, please call this number!”

Yai pulled down her hat.

“I wonder if my brother put these up… It is his number after all…”

“Should we call him?” Tetsudo asked her.

“Later, I’m sure that…” Yai took a deep breath before continuing the sentence. “There are more posters across town.”

“Yeah, guess so…”

Yai and Tetsudo started walking through the busy city. Every street and boulevard you could see cars, motorcycles, buses, trains roaring by and leaving nothing but dust in the air. The biggest city Tetsudo had ever seen, bigger even than Nagano. So many people going by, running around, so many more than the empty streets in his hometown. For some reason, he felt a sudden chill down his spine. He gulped for air and continued to walk down the unknown for him streets.

Yai was looking around, turning her head in every direction, remembering every lonely walk she took with her brother or friends. It was always those that made her feel most alone. Strange and black clouds started to swarm the skies. A storm was coming. They would probably have to take shelter somewhere. But for now, they could keep walking: passing giant skyscrapers, walking on a bridge over a huge green river – it all was overwhelming to Tetsudo.

Sometimes Yai and Tetsudo would walk past parks, full of adults and their kids, playing in sandpits and going down on slides. Some were playing football; some were reading books together. Tetsudo looked at them and realized how much he missed as a kid – not having a lot of friends when he was little made him stay at home for whole summers. And now he was walking with the person he loved in a different city. Tetsudo smiled as he and Yai continued to stroll past bike riders and elderly women walking their small dogs.

A large shadow fell on the city. As Yai and Tetsudo moved forward, they were more and more worried about this storm that was brewing. The sun hid itself cowardly, away from the disaster about to strike the hot earth.

“Shouldn’t we hide somewhere?” Tetsudo asked.

“We should, but where?” Yai turned to him.

“Maybe in a café? I’ve been seeing lots of them around here.”

“Uhm…” Yai thought for a second. “I think there was one up ahead, where I used to go when I was little.”

“Then let’s go.”

Yai nodded and they continued their walk, now towards a café.

Fast wind started whooshing around and every tree started to bend its branches. Leaves were flying in the air like kites without string. Small drops started to fall down from the grey sky. It was only a matter of time until the storm exploded. Yai and Tetsudo started to run, with hands holding their hats to not fly away like the leaves do.

After a minute-long sprint, they arrived at the café. A bit wet, but mostly dry they went in. The café was only half-full and there weren’t too many people. Yai and Tetsudo sat on a corner table and began to watch the rain outside grow stronger and stronger.

“Should we call him,” Tetsudo said. “Your brother, I mean.”

“Yeah.” Yai said softly.

Tetsudo dialed the number. The ringing and the anticipation made him nervous. So nervous he was getting ready to go to the toilet, just in case. Finally, someone on the other side picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hello, is this Nagoya Kitagawa?”

“This is he, yes. May I ask who’s calling?”

Tetsudo took a quick breath before saying anything more.

“My name is Tetsudo Kaneko, and I found your sister.”

There was silence for a few seconds.

“You… You found her?”

“Yes, she’s with me.”

“Where are you two?”

“We are in a café, sheltered from the storm. We’ll come as soon as we can.”

“Okay. Okay…” the voice was shaking all around the phone. “I-is she alright?”

“She is, don’t worry.”

Yai signaled Tetsudo to give her the phone.

“I’ll let you talk with her for a second,” and he gave the phone to Yai. She grabbed it, but for a moment she hesitated to say something.

Nagoya sat in anticipation.

“Hello, big bro. It’s me.” Tetsudo couldn’t hear her brother’s voice.

“Big bro…” Yai said hesitantly. “Let’s meet tomorrow, and on the day after I’ll come home.”

Silence resurged as inaudible talking was coming from the speaker.

“That’s what I want. I’ll tell you everything when we meet.”

Tetsudo started tapping his foot and playing with his fingers – his nerves weren’t made for this.

“Let’s meet on the beach, 7 PM. Sound good? Okay, I’ll meet you there soon. Goodbye.”

Yai hung up. She put down the phone and started to rub her face and eyes.

“Beach, 7PM?” Tetsudo asked her.

“Tomorrow.” Yai answered without looking up.

“Where will we sleep?”

“Here. We’ll do the dishes as payment. Actually, I’ll go and ask if we can have free meals if we wash the dishes a few times.” Yai stood up and stumbled on her way to the cashier to ask for the manager.

Tetsudo watched outside how the rain got stronger and stronger.

“I wonder how Kitagawa feels now, and how he felt before…”

The streets were now muddy and along their corners were drains filled with brown water and debris. Every window was now clean, thanks to the furious rain, who kept going and going. The rain caused cars to pile up in traffic jams. The people inside looked tired and unhappy, the rain just adding even more to their desolate mood.

Inside the café laughter echoed on every wall. Conversations, some of which serious, others – not so much. Everyone was talking to the person beside or in front of them. There were even a large group that were celebrating a birthday. The staff smiled like usual to everyone. Old people sat in groups of two or three talking about the old days, arguing with each other, until bursting out in laughter and switch to talking about chess. Up on the wall were many posters of sponsors of the café, most of which were different bookstores or books. It was a book (not to be confused with manga) café after all – there was an entire wall made of bookshelves, where you could get yourself something to read with your tea or coffee.

“’Blessed Lines’, ‘When the Air was Filled with Mist’, ‘Grace Walks on the Clouds’… Some of these titles are a bit silly.” Tetsudo thought while looking at some of the posters on the wall closest to him.

“Tetsuu~! I managed to make a deal with the manager! We’re washing dishes today~!” Yai screamed from the kitchen. All Tetsudo could do was facepalm and do a thumbs up.

“Today will be an interesting day…”