(Volume 6) The Izu Mite Plan

Yoshiyuki's eyes fluttered open. There was only darkness in the heavily curtained room he was lying in. He knew he was awake, however. His body was paralyzed from fright. In his sleep he kept hearing that mad hammering on the canopy of the sailplane, his mother crossing of the miles of open ocean, and the years of living with Grandma, of living on his own. Just so she could punish him again.

She actually did it.

She's here.

Will that woman keep hunting and haunting and at he had already settled down, just to break his peace, right up to the day he dies?

Why won't you just disappear?

Why!?

For a while, he let his sobbing leak out into the dark. Soon enough, it had died down, and he was left staring at the ceiling. There has to be someplace his mother can never follow him. Somewhere.

After that, he has calmed down completely. The let his body absorb the stillness of the room. He felt the silence seep into his bloodstream. Like he was in a hot pool being saturated with the warmth in the water. He will absorb all of it.

In doing so, he also caught faint sounds from outside. From downstairs.

The dread began to return. Someone's downstairs. A visitor. Tch. Did Ai... Did she actually make good on her bluff? But wait, she is bringing in Kanako first, right? Right? Or is this the time to make for that window and jump out while he can...? No. It's a little too soon. Besides... he had been fleeing the whole time. Perhaps this house was the place to make a stand, after all. What exactly will he say? No, there's no need to think it over. He will just yell at his mother, plain and simple, tell her to stop bugging him for good. That will be all.

He found the strength to move, sluggishly at first, as with one struggling to surface from a pool of molasses. Soon enough he planted his feet on the floor.

Downstairs, the clinking of cutlery and the glassy yellow lights of chandeliers graced the table, as with a dinner in a grand ballroom. Yoshiyuki can't help but be drawn to the clatter in spite of himself. It didn't sound this vibrant even back when the Kubo parents were around. As soon as he reached the stairs, it became obvious why. There was quite a bit more servants running around. How many people were visiting, exactly? Did they finally bring that woman with them? At the thought of it, his hand tightened its hold on the very railing... but no, he will make his stand. So he let himself be taken away by the noise, thankfully even, as he still would have taken forever to take another step further without any such enticement.

He found the table heaped with a tad more food than usual. The servants made it seem there was a party of ten at this banquet, but seated there were only the sisters, sharing a good-sized pot of oolong and piles and piles of biscuits alongside the usual rich breakfast fare. Oh, and there was Anya.

And ... no one else?

"Salve," greeted Anna without another look at him, blissfully imbibing the aroma of her tea. The sisters put down theirs and waited for him to sit, though their eyes were on Nanjou. It is as if they just sensed his presence or something. But his own eyes were fixed on the illustrious guest. Well, Anna Nanjou was beautiful, she was wealthy, she had a royal bloodline, or so he heard. More than any of that, however, he couldn't quite believe he would see her here; truth be told, he never imagined he would find her anywhere off of her exclusive island enclave on Okaa-san.

"My," she remarked, "that is quite the gaze. Do you perhaps have a grudge on me, dear?"

Catching himself, he looked away and reached out for a chair, and had himself seated at one end of the table, next to the gnocchi.

So Ai was the one who brought Miss Nanjou here, huh?

The bright lights of the theme park stood in stark contrast to the sparse guests that evening; the lack of tourists till the next ferry aside, Izu Mite seem to the caught the glum mood. The usual students after school, struck down by the news of the concert being delayed indefinitely over the accident of the airfield, were staying home early. Everybody else in the island were also affected. The park is closing early, as well, probably in an hour or two. The booths lined up to the gate have already closed, however. Kanako stood facing the gate watching the rides, still running, from the outside. Is this the sweet revenge she had always wanted on the park? She might have counted it as her greatest victory since Uchiura. But she felt no sense of triumph.

"..."

"Ai-chan."

Ai stiffened up. Kanako still had her back to her. "Kan-chan. How long have you... uh... sensed me?"

Suddenly her old friend turned round and threw her a playful expression. "I'm no superhero, dummy." Giggle." You still have that same old perfume on you."

She could only smile in embarrassment. She was holding on to a favorite scent she had been using since their last year at Nankaisei. "You really know too much about me, huh?"

Chuckle. "Don't you think it's nice for us to poke fun at each other again?" Ai stifled a grin. "Oh, Kan-chan."

"We're not rivals anymore, are we? We both been sacked, zura."

Smirk. "Hai.."

"I'm actually surprised you found me so soon. I e-mailed you to meet up with me at the harbor. Was just about to go there, zura."

Ai only shrugged. "Well, here is not very far away, anyway."

"I didn't really want you to see me here, zura. Hmmm. What could you be thinking now, I wonder? 'Ah, so Kan-chan is here a second time. She had finally gotten over her hatred of Izu Mite, eh?' Well? Is it?"

"I didn't say anything."

"You're right, zura. You only went out of your way to look for me here, of all places. Instead of texting me to show up where we are supposed to."

"..."

Kanako turned her gaze back to the gate. "As you can see, I haven't gone inside. But I will admit this, zura. Just standing outside that gate is a huge step. Who knows, if the gang goes in... if Yoshiyuki goes in... I may do so again... for his sake..."

"Kanako, I thought you just said we weren't rivals anymore."

"No we're not, zura. What I am saying is, people can overcome anything, be it their past, or their pain, for someone they truly care about.

"What about you, Ai? Can you still bring yourself to help him out even if you have been turned away as I was?"

Her friend only made a small face. "I... Honestly I'm not very sure about my feelings now. Guess I don't handle rejection as well as you do. But if you ask if I still care," --she stared Kanako straight in the eyes-- "I care. There will always be a place in my heart for Yoshiyuki--guh... Are we going to talk about him all night? To soothe ourselves?

Kanako shook her head with a smile." We can't go ahead with the concert until some kind of resolution is reached with Yoshiyuki."

A change came over Ai. "Concert...? H-how...?"

Kanako fished something out of her shoulder bag. An invitation for a re-scheduled concert. "It's set for Friday, just in time for winter break. I told Shuka-chan we could push it to the New Year's, so we could practice a bit more, but she said we have waited long enough. There's no stopping us now, zura."

"Wait. Have they decided about Yoshiyuki?"

"I told her I'd do something."

"Get to the point already."

Smirk. "Can you get Anya-senpai for me?"

Gasp.

"What's with that reaction?"

"You were the one who talked to Anna-senpai to hire Yoshiyuki, right?"

"I have a bigger favor to ask. I'm afraid only you guys who were really close to her can pull it off."

"You could have just called Nanan-chan!"

"I'll need all of you, zura."

"Urrrrgh..."

Kanako took both her hands. "Look, it's all about Yoshiyuki, isn't it? What were the two things that took him away from the both of us? That's right. His family and his freedom, zura."

Ai looked confused for a moment.

"There's no way he is meeting up with his folks. So I believe we must appeal to his free will now. Put him in a position where he makes the decision, zura.

"We need to have her offer the best job in the hotel she can give. An offer Yoshiyuki can't resist. His folks will be impressed, and they will finally leave him alone and go back to Tokyo.

"We gotta be in this all together."

Together, huh?

To be frank, that plan sounded like a long shot. Is Nanjou seriously going to straightaway hand Yoshiyuki a job plum enough to "impress" the Tokyoite folk?

And yet... Here she is today in the manor.