The Reunion (Part 1)

“You must be Kaneko,” Nagoya said. He got closer to them. His face was a mean one and sent shivers down Tetsudo’s spine. But instead of killing him, Yai’s scary looking brother smiled and held out his hand.

“Glad to meet you, I’m Nagoya, Yai’s brother.”

Although he was perplexed, Tetsudo shook the man’s head, even if his was extremely sweaty.

“Glad to meet you too, I’m Tetsudo.”

Nagoya was a tad bit taller than him, but it was obvious this man was a grown-up. He wore a dark blue suit with a purple tie and a white shirt with what looked like a starched collar. He had short blond hair that was slid to his right side and deep green eyes. His face, however rough it was, it seemed as if it emitted a faint softness and kind energy, that Tetsudo could not pinpoint where it was coming from exactly.

Nagoya’s face quickly went from Tetsudo to Yai standing a little to the left of him. For a moment, he looked like his words were stuck inside his throat, but he managed to utter only one word.

“Yai…”

“Brother…” she didn’t call him by his name. Nagoya coughed once and regained his composure. After wiping sweat from his forehead, he said:

“Yai said you would tell about your journey and how you found her,” he turned to Tetsudo. “Would you do that here for me?”

“Ah! Well, I guess I, uh…” he looked back at Yai for a second. “Don’t have much of a choice.”

Tetsudo told everything to Nagoya – from his weird choices to shelter Yai for a week to the adventure they would embark on. Yai was standing behind and keeping watch, while her brother’s face looked more and more distressed as the story went on. At the end, he was rubbing his eyes with disappointment.

“Although, I do appreciate you bringing Yai back, could you have done it in a more careless and dangerous way?”

“I thought I told you to not get mad at him,” Yai interjected.

“That was before I heard your ridiculous journey to home,” Nagoya raised his voice. "And what were you thinking going to Nagano without a phone, or money, or anything?”

“I wanted to get away from my hometown. You ought to know that by now.” Yai said calmly.

“Don’t be so flippant!” Nagoya lost his temper. “You charmed a boy so he can shelter you! And Tetsudo,” he turned to the stumped teenager in front of him. “Even if I am, oh so thankful you found her, why didn’t you just get her on a train or something? At your age, even you should know how dangerous it is to let strangers in your house!”

Tetsudo looked like a statue – unable to move or think.

“I, uh…” he looked back at Yai. She smiled and nodded to him. “I think it was hard for me to tell, but when I saw your sister for the first time, and she asked me to stay in my house, I…” he was struggling to find the right words, to put it delicately. But he realized that he couldn’t say this any other way.

“I fell in love with her.”

Nagoya stood in front of Tetsudo with a blank expression. He didn’t say anything for a minute.

“Yai?”

“Yes?” She answered.

“Do you love Tetsudo?”

“I do.”

Nagoya stood there for another couple of seconds. Then suddenly, he burst out laughing. He laughed so hard, he had to hold his stomach. Yai and Tetsudo looked at each other confused.

“So that’s why you both were so reckless,” Nagoya finally got back on his feet. “You were two love birds, going on your first road trip!”

He put a hand on Tetsudo’s shoulder and looked him in the eyes.

“You took a risk, giving that idiot loner a shelter,”

“Hey!” Yai shouted.

“But look at you know – you have a true love to look forward to in life.”

Tetsudo’s heart warmed his eyes. He smiled.

“Seems like the risk paid off,” and chuckled. Nagoya chuckled with him.

“It did.”

Yai, who was behind them the whole time, watched as her brother gave Tetsudo a hug. A manly hug, it looked like. After that, she looked down. Her heart felt at ease, everything had gone well so far. All that was left was…

“Yai, could I have a word with you in private?” Her brother’s voice ringed through her ears.

“Of course,” she went by the waves. “Stay here, Tetsu.”

Tetsudo stood in place, as Nagoya and Yai walked next to the ocean, right beside the sunset creeping around the horizon. He was only ten or fifteen meters from them, but because of the waves he couldn’t hear a thing of what they were saying.

*

Nagoya looked at the sea – orange and violent. The waves broke the silence between him and his sister.

“We used to come here often, you know?” He turned to her.

“Yeah, we used to…”

The silence continued to stab Nagoya in the chest.

“I see you’re mad,” he looked at her. “And I’ve always understood your side. But you need to realize running away is not the right thing to do.”

Yai looked at him with furious eyes.

“As much as I want to and have to agree,” she clenched her teeth. “Haven’t you felt like I had for years? Without parents, with a sister you need to look after?”

“I have felt like that, I was a teenager, and I was rebellious,” her brother sighed. “But I understood that in order for you to live normally, someone would have to look after you. Not only that, but I realized that even if our parents were not home all the time, they still cared about me and you.”

Yai’s stiff look didn’t budge at her brother’s pretty words. His face was all worried, so she decided to turn hers away. The ocean looked a lot more peaceful than this conversation.

“Believing is so easy…” she muttered.

“Not believing is even easier,” he said back. “That’s what you’re doing now – giving in.”

“Can you blame me?” Yai said, her hair waved around her eyes, narrowing her view.

“No, sadly I can’t, but it’s what we have to live with…” Nagoya said with somber tone.

The sky began to fill up with black silhouettes of birds, flying over the sea and far way. The waves kept crashing down and the deafening silence reemerged. Yai’s eyes felt moist, but she wasn’t going to cry over her parents again. She was over that. Nagoya looked down at his sister worried - crouched and deep in her thoughts, she watched the sand moving slowly.

“So,” Nagoya started. “Since you’re here in Niigata, I assume you here to come back home.”

“I am, indeed.” Yai was still kneeing down and watching the waves crashing, not looking at her brother.

“Then, what about Tetsudo? Do you love him?”

“I do.”

“Why did you decide to come back then? You could’ve stayed with him.”

Yai looked at her brother. Her face was peaceful and soft.

“Because he convinced me to,” she smiled. Nagoya raised an eyebrow.

“He did?”

“Yes, and since I knew he was right, despite me loving him, there was nothing to do except…” she chuckled at her stumbling over the words. “Except to go on this adventure with him.”

“But why did you go on this road trip?” Nagoya kneed down as well. “You knew it was dangerous and still did it. Why? You could’ve gone on a train together, something much safer.”

“Because…” Yai shoved her face, which was beet red in-between her legs. Small tears fell from her eyes, that looked at nothing.

“I wanted to be with him a bit longer…” she said with a hiccup. “That’s all I ever wanted, but he kept telling me I had to go home… I just, I had to convince him we were meant to be together…”

Nagoya hugged his sister. He felt how her tears were dripping on his suit. She hugged him back.

“It’s okay, I understand you, it’s okay…”

Both of them stood there for a while until Yai eventually calmed down.

“You okay now?” Nagoya asked her.

“Yeah, I feel better,” she wiped her face with her sleeves. “Brother, would you pay for Tetsu’s ticket back home?”

“Of course I will. He brought you back after all.”

“Alright,” Yai nodded and looked back at the sea.

Nagoya also turned his face to the vast ocean – a crimson water, filled with mirages.

“Just…” he heard his sister mutter something.

“Hm?”

“Just give me a few minutes with him after you drop us off…”

He smiled at his sister’s blushing face.

“Sure.”