Vol 1 Chapter 1 (1/2)
Dream
”So? Can you fix it?”
A girl stood over a boy with a wrench in his hand In reply, he ested a week of constipation
”I've been trying for four days now, but as things stand, we et this done”
”That's not what I wanted to hear! The next town is still miles away”
With a dry laugh, the girl sat down on a bench The dry wood, cracked by the persistently shi+ning sun, pricked her exposed legs, but at thea typical school uniform blazer, but because of the heat she had taken off her jacket and was fanning herself with her hand
”Maybe you're just not cut out for fixing things, boy You're not going to get any praise for having pushed a broken motorcycle 140 miles, you know?”
”Please stop bugging , so I don't have the time to do extensive repairs”
The boy who had been addressed as ”boy” tapped his stiff shoulders with the wrench He earing the sah of course the boys' version He had taken off his jacket and necktie, and had unbuttoned his collar as well
True, there was a limit to the repairs he was able to perfored a pillion seat on to their originally one-person Super Cub and loaded it with things like food, clothes, gasoline, and water Two people's luggage meant there was little space left for much in the way of tools
Bolts and nuts constituted the su Considering that their tools consisted of just spanner and hex keys and a folding Gerber Knife, a proper repair was beyond even their dreams
”Maybe we should just trash it” he suggested
”Don't be silly Do you plan on carrying all this luggage on your back?”
”Ngh” The boy was nonplussed after his unrealistic suggestion was shut down ”Then could you at least help irl?”
”No way” The girl who he had called ”girl” glared at hi to make a lady like me to do heavy labor? You even fail at humor”
”Heh, a track and field girl is calling herself a lady? You're probably more muscular than I am”
Her response was a kick in his side
I guess the lady didn't appreciate the joke Ouch
”I guess we'll ca a tent in the ht?”
”Mue with that”
They were stopped at a rest area that had been established for nearby farmers It was only a toilet, a water supply, and so a handful of trees, but it was just what the two of the other than a long road and endlesselse Just try sleeping on an asphalt road once: you'll be attacked by insects, hurt your back on the hard ground and be assaulted by theheat
”Well, let's get ready for night then It's going to get dark soon”
”Mraph was already past six Admittedly, the rather old-fashi+oned wind-upsky, the tiht
”OK, girl, please prepare dinner then I'll take care of the beds”
”Got it, boy”
They both started with their respective tasks without once calling each other by name
Froe carrier, which they had extended down both sides of the rear wheel, the boy reirl took out a bag once stuffed with ingredients but was now mostly empty except for cookware Then they set to their respective tasks
The boy went to two old wooden benches that were sitting end-to-end Despite being orn, they were ideal for his purpose: barely long enough to stretch one's legs out on the objects like a back or armrests Even better, the benches were set up between two trees at their sides Perfect
He slowly took out soht of those sheets in total, carefully coht up They would therefore get four sheets apiece On each bench, he folded a pair of these sheets three ti mat Then, he laid one sheet down on each bench as a blanket Though it was suh north on an island, so the weather could change in an instant The last two blankets he rolled up as pillows
Next, he e blue sheet He tied the line to the tree trunks, stretching it over their improvised beds, and pulled the blue sheet over it The roof was ht on each corner That would be enough to shi+eld thee it to the Super Cub, would probably prevent it fro bloay
Finally, he placed a hollow cerae carrier between the benches and loaded its belly with a mosquito coil
All set!
”Oh?”
After co his way caused the boy to turn and look
What greeted his eyes was not merely a deliciousdinner in an apron She was using a s pan to warus
While he wasn't too happy about the asparagus, the aro in butter called out to his ele to keep it quiet
She divided the small meal into two portions with their pocketknife, took out two slices of bread froredients between them Finally, she toasted the sandwich as a whole
Though the knife wasn't really irl moved skillfully and the sandas completed in no time It was topped with the perfect aolden-brown color of the toasted bread rier
However, the boy did not eat the sandwich right away
They had, after all, decided to always eat their ether
While the girl was preparing a similar sandith a rather different aled to hold back a waterfall of saliva that was threatening to flow from his mouth
”Okay, I'm done Let's eat!”
The girl swiftly untied her apron and sat down on her temporary bed
””
Then she noticed the boy's stare
”What?”
”Ah, I just thought that you've becoirllike”
Ow! my shi+n!
”What's that supposed to mean!”
”No, uhm, the way you cook and take off your apron ave the impression of a housewife, but I don't think I would survive telling her that
”Well, even you would get used to it if you had to play chef for three ht!”
”I' it on you all the time! Anyway, let's eat”
”Yeah yeah”
The girl sat down again and picked up her sandwich
They gave each other a slight smile and took their first bites at the same time
Neither of theed smiles from time to time
Both the succulent corned beef and the spicyravenously into their sandwiches It was so tasty that the boy didn't even us
The only bad thing about it was that there was but one bite left
The boy threw the last bit into his ret, and dusted the bread crumbs from his hands
”Thanks for the meal”
”Yeah Thanks for the meal”
The girl folded her hands
”By the way, boy”
”Mm?”
”We're out of bread and beef now”
”Whahua?!”
The girl gave him a cold, hard look
”It's been a week since we last picked up any food supplies If you don't get that bike working, starting to on the menu!”
”I-Is that a threat?!”
”Of course not I' you, my dear driver”
This verbal blow sent the boy spiraling froirl, who had no probleus, beamed at him He found that she looked h daet this fixed!
Looking up, he noticed that the sun was just about to go co slowly faded and thick darkness blanketed the world It wouldn't be long until they would be completely blanketed by the dark
To fight back, he turned on a laht and a few fluorescent sticks
”It's already dark out How about you hit the sack, girl?”
”Huh—? You're staying up?” The girl frowzily turned her head toward him She had already lain down on her bed some time before the boy told her to
”I still have to write today's diary entryHaven't you noticed that the entries have taken a rather tragic turn for the last few days?”
”Of course There really hasn't been anything good to say since then Like I told you before, we're running really low on supplies”
”What about water?”
”I think we're OK for now, but all we have left is from the water tower, so we need to boil it tomorrow”
They were in a truly dire situation They had enough fuel for the Super Cub, but it would be too dangerous to boil water with it At most they could use it to help start a fire
The boy sighed deeply and took a thick volus in
It wasn't really a book; but their diary The front cover was blank, so you couldn't tell what it was originally supposed to be used for, but the two of them used this massive book to record their travels It was about two inches thick, and the corners of its hard cover were reinforced with brass It even had a belt around it with abrass lock
The key for the diary was on the sanition key for the Super Cub As always, the boy opened the lock, turned to that day's page, and put pencil to paper
The white penlight provided h illuht that balanced against the stars twinkling in the purple night sky In contrast to the countless lights above, below there was only the penlight and the glowing mosquito coil
After about 10 minutes, the boy finished his diary entry He resealed the book with its key and returned it to the bookbag Then he turned off the light and lay down on his improvised bed
The penlight left behind a green afterie behind on their retinas, and as if to compensate for its absence, the stars in the dark sky seehten in their eyes
All that could be seen were the kaleidoscopic orbs painting the heavens, endlessthe land froh the landscape
And in one corner of that scene, two travelers slowly fell asleep
Back pain woke the girl the next
She opened her eyes, and found herself lying on the bare ground Her body was contorted into the posture of a stereotypical murder victim If someone were to draw a chalk line around her body, she would form a perfect corpse Obviously, she hadn't been murdered, but hadno need to panic, she stirred herself and sat up The other bed was already e with the Super Cub, wielding a spanner in one hand
”Quite the early bird, aren't you?”
”'Early to bed and late to rise' isn't a good thing, you know?”
The girl was, however, no longer groggy enough to ignore such an insolent remark She let him off with a kick to his back for now
Satisfied by seeing the boy fall over in pain, she tried to relax her sore back by taking yoga-like poses, twisting her hips left and right, and finally stretching her ar through a whole set of calisthenics, but she cut her stretching short and finished with a deep breath on the grounds that doing them by herself would look pretty pathetic
”But boy, did you get up early so you could fix the bike?”
”Well, yeah Otherwise it would get too hot before I finish” The boy took off his work gloves, which were black with oil and carbon ”Anyway, as soon as I' I can If it still doesn't work, then we can't fix it e have on hand”
”Uwaa, so now it's ather everything she needed to treat their water
As all of the water they had re had been taken fro Using their se amount of water would be wasteful, so instead she collected branches and dried grass for an open fire After arranging thehter
It was already past seven in thesteadily Before they knew it, the northern island's cool night air had been completely swept away and the hot summer sun beat down on them with the same intensity as it did in the other parts of the country
While the girl labored at her torrid work, the boy continued his repair attempt
The Super Cub's engine was actually rather siood at disasseine
He could, however, do little in the way of actual repairs beyond adjusting parts that had co loose bolts There wasn't enough space on the bike to carry spare parts in case so actually broke If that was the source of their current problems, then they were in quite a bind indeed
The bike had endured a lot of abuse from its previous owner; a broken part wasn't exactly unlikely Bolts had co a crack, and the oil was dirty The tires and brake pads had become as smooth as a bald head, and the suspension orn out Unfortunately, they still needed the Super Cub to hold out for a good while longer
”I wish I could get some replaceet my hands on soh there wouldn't be any point in cleaning the parts if they would iine
”So, how does it look?” The boy was addressed from behind
”Suboptimal”
”Uh-oh Should I get ready for a walk?”
”Maybe? Well, we'll find out really soon” He gripped the handlebars, work gloves still on, and placed his foot on the starter pedal
Please, God, make this work, he prayed, and stoht
The engine turned over a few tiirl, who had little experience with machines, could tell that it was a failure
””
Not one to give up so quickly, he tried again This time, he not only prayed to God, but also to the Super Cub itself
”Aaaaand go!”
It , but this time it stopped with a loud clank
”sigh”
It see his prayer
After giving up on repairing the bike, they started quickly packing
Three months had passed since they started their journey, and with all that practice they had becoly efficient in their daily tasks They poured the newly-disinfected water into two-liter bottles and stuffed a few useful-looking pieces of firewood in a special bag after breaking theed to wander back into the bundle, and they attached it to the silent Super Cub
In the 30 minutes required they had already become soaked with sweat
Though they were pretty far north, it was past nine and the su the land without mercy If they could, they would have loved to ask the sun to lower its thermostat, but their voices would never be heard from 93 million miles away
”Are we going to throw Cubby away after all?” Holding a helirl tapped her other hand on the saddle of their silver Super Cub The black synthetic leather had already becoet it fixed soether
”Well, you've got a point there Neither of us has ever used any other vehicle before, so we ht not be able to use another bike even if we found one” The Super Cub is generally considered to be ideal for new riders because it was designed to be simple to operate ”But if it doesn't work”
”Then it's useless junk!”
The girl kicked the Super Cub
That moment, as if to protest the abuse of his dear theeler, the boy's storowling in response
””
”What are you looking at?! I haven't had breakfast either, so of course I'ry!”
”Ah, I was just surprised at how loud your stomach canAh—ouchouchouch!!”
The girl pulled his earlobe, stopping his words in their tracks
”I'll cut your rations for that comment!”
”What a?!”
”If you're not, then use your calories to !”
”it hardly uses any energy to talk”
The girl did not object, butattached to the rear wheel and sat down on the nearest bench
”It's hardtack You don't have any probleht?”
”but it's too bland”
”Oh my! Aren't you the spoiled brat?”
”You complain as much as I do”
”Shut up Inext to the hardtack — a jar of strawberry jam
”Happy? This is the best we have We don't have much in the way of fruit preserves like this, so you better not use it all up”
”Yes, Ma'am!”
With only a few ounces of spread, the dry and tasteless hardtack would blossoraceful dessert When they opened the jar, a sour yet fruity fragrance wafted out and sharpened their hunger
”Shall we eat then?”
They took out enough for onereplenished a little energy, the pair's steps seehter than they had the day before
What we know as a ” water” It is the refraction of light by hot air over a very hot flat surface, rese reflections off of a nonexistent pool of water Because it only occurs a long way off, you can never reach the pool and so the water is said to ”escape” Since the boy and girl were both born and raised in a large city,experience, but it didn't take long before they beca
They had already walked half a day, getting roasted both by the sun's rays fro up from below Other than four short breaks, they had walked non-stop
From time to time, they could even sense malice that seemed to come from the sun However, any traces of emotion they displayed in reaction seeed on in a robotic state, pushi+ng the bike with vacant expressions
The scenery around the solely of an endlessly long road flanked by ed was the angle fro roasted by the sun
”I' the Super Cub along from the side
”What a coincidenceSo a the bike's handlebars from the other side
This was the first conversation they had had in an hour Their steps were as unreliable as a sleepwalker's, and they would have long since fallen down if they hadn't been leaning on the Super Cub while they were pushi+ng it
The boy had taken off his white shi+rt and was using it as a sunshade, while the girl had put a small plastic sheet on her head
Their steps were as unreliable as a sleepwalker's, and they would have long since fallen down if they hadn't been leaning on the Super Cub while they were pushi+ng it
The heat would have been much less torturous if they could at least dampen their makeshi+ft sunshades, but they had none to spare They only had ten liters of water reh for them to last five days at the very most Since they couldn't predict when they would find their next water source, careless water use could spell death for both of them
If everything orking norht have been able to call for help with a mobile phone, but that was not the case Because the cellular infrastructure had broken down, mobile phones had turned into mere pocket lamps with an included clock, calendar, camera, and notebook functionality The boy's phone, however, had run out of batteries, rendering it entirely useless
”why can't thereat least be a downhill slope”
”don't even say itIf you re uphillI'll lose all th”
They were struggling up the worst kind of incline Even though the road continued straight all the way to the horizon, it gently rose the whole way The effort needed to push the bike up the slight slope sapped their energy like a leech, and their legs grew heavier and heavier
”It's still quite a waysto the next cityare we really going to be okay like this?”
”Hang in theregirl! Look, we're almostto the top”
”I hope it'll be steepenough to ride down on the bike”
Silently agreeing with her, the boy took a few ripped the handlebars of the heavily laden bike for one last push, and they finally arrived at the top of the slope
”Haaah,” the girl panted aloud She turned to the road they had just clily until it ed in the sky The rest area which they had departed fro was already beyond the horizon ”We walked quite a bit just now, didn't we”
When the boy didn't react to her h a pair of binoculars he had taken out of their bag
”Do you see so?”
”over there”
The girl just cocked her head, so he thrust the binoculars into her hands
At first she was startled by a blurry view, but after a quick focus adjustment, she saw another doard slope that mirrored the one they had just come up When she raised the binoculars to look at the horizon, she saw a setation was a little different It wasn't very big, but a section of the grassy area was covered with a slightly s
”it's farmland and there's a house, boy!”
Thein her tired hands, but it was certainly someone's residence No doubt about it: by the side of the road dividing the green scenery was a roof and some cultivated land
The ground was sectioned off by what looked like hand-etables They could even see a rice paddy next to it The land was in good order and had clearly been recently maintained by someone
Of course, it wasn't possible to tell if anybody was actually there from this distance, but any place that has ever been inhabited etation they saw, there was probably some water left
”Let's get going, boy! It's right over there at the horizon! We'll be there in no time!”
”All right!”
The girl tossed the binoculars back into the bag and they started pushi+ng the bike down the hill with renewed vigor While the slope wasn't steep enough for theht and they were filled with a sudden burst of energy
After sprinting just over halfway at full speed, they re on the ground level
”I'”
”Me too”
The conversations between them had at last decreased to a feords froh, because they had pushed their bike at a run over a distance that would be classified ”long” in track and field athletics On top of that, they were having a hard ti their bike back because the steepness of the second half was nasty and added to their labor While it wasn't as bad as during the rising slope, it was no coround
Nevertheless, they eventually reached the house in question Their shadows had grown long and from somewhere one could hear a crow's call
The girl didn't have enough power left to even raise her head, therefore it was the boy who set the kickstand of the bike and approached the building
”Could this be a general store and far the isolated house and the field with his gaze
On the left side of the road was a general store which was also used as a residence and on the right side was cultivated land Both of thens of human maintenance
The coreen n matter” in the middle of it somehow reminded hietables that were nearing harvest It had been a long ti bright red in the sunlight, cucuroere using strange chees were swaying in the wind
”Wow hey, girl girl? Whoa! Girl! Are you OK?!”
The girl, as supposed stand behind the Super Cub, had fallen prostrate on the hot ground without ht of the slowly setting sun that dyed her face red
The boy heaved her up in a hurry and walked towards the field, searching for a source of water There should be a source of water for it Maybe he would be going to get scolded for entering without perize
However, when he was about to pass by the general store, soht his eye
A foreign auto - a very luxurious one at that
That shi+ny thing on its bonnet that was sparkling despite being in the shadow looked like the Mercedes-Benz emblem The boy wasn't very interested in the caraluloved chauffeur, brushi+ng off the dust froeous car with a feather duster, would have fit perfectly into the picture
But why on earth would such a rich Mercedes driver want to work on a field in the northern back of beyond?
He couldn't wipe away his wonder a shoulder see away, so he hurried to the fields
While ad the fabulous condition of the toh between them and headed deeper into the area It was hard to search for a source of water while carrying the exhausted girl, but he found one surprisingly quickly
It was a watering place that was built like a well and was located al the road
Right behind of it was the face of an artificial, small hill-like construction, which was reinforced with stones and equipped with a PVC pipe Surprisingly clear water flowed out of that pipe into an overflowing concrete basin
After irl sit down on the stone bench beside it, the boy grabbed hi in the basin and started scooping water
Well, and then:
”Wake up, girl!”
Sunstroke, heatstroke, an eirl into a dried cuttlefish, so, to help her, he splashed it all on her with vigor
”whatrya doing you MORON!?”
With a lightning right hand, the girl stole the wash bowl froainst his face Without water
On the left side was, the boy holding his nose On the opposite side, the girl wet from head to toe Each of them took a weapon within reach, scooped so each other
””
””
Both of the an attack stance, and at the verycontest would have started, a voice interrupted them
”hello there! Are you guests?”
The boy and girl turned around to the owner of the voice while letting the water in their bowls pour to the ground And then, both of them were thunderstruck
Both of the an attack stance, and at the very moment before a dramatic splash contest would have started, a voice interrupted them
There was a brightly s man iped away his sweat A man in his forties, probably, and still in the pri there with a straw hat, a towel, a pair of leather boots, a white shi+rt and an Armani suit, which was rolled up to his knees His slender yet firm body rely suggested the landed gentry He was the living exa on a farm
However, it wasn't his sudden appearance or his contrastive outfit that surprised them What surprised them most was his hair
His hair was not deep-black as it was supposed to be, but snohite like after using so decolorant Moreover, his skin was al despite his work under the blazing sun
”Oh, did I startle you?”
”Ah, no, um”
”Excuse us for staring at you like this”
She lowered her head This gave the boy the feeling that wo than s, though
Because the two travelers had just co between life and death and thea pause anyway, they decided to sit down on the stone bench and take a break
The bench was broad enough for about five people and, thanks to the roof that was installed over it, they were protected froht over there, it was otten ith the water the boy had splashed on it, but theit Of course, the sairl
”Ah, right I should introduce myself This is who I am,”
He took out a little case from his chest pocket, with truly fluent moveiving them a nod
This sequence of ht to perfection andthis in his daily life
«Transport Corporation, Representative Director » ritten on it
The name of the transport co
There were no traces of a misprint or abrasion; the letters themselves had completely vanished In fact, the paper was perfectly fine It was almost like he had made empty cards for fun
One had to concentrate to see it, but only the logo of the company was printed faintly in a corner of the card
I'm not too sure, but I think that was a quite famous company
”well, it's not like there is a point in giving you a business card without h”
The boy reluctantly looked up at the bitterly s man
”So it was «lost»?”
”Yeah, exactly My name has vanished,” he stated plainly ”One day while I orking at the company as usual, the people in ottenabout it because they couldn't reated that matter What I discovered was that my name had disappeared from all kinds of places: from the data and documents of the company, from my own business cards, my name plate and so on But what's most, I myself was unable to recall my name”
On hearing the indifferent tone in his voice, the boy and the girl exchanged glances and returned their attention to the ain
”Even our business partners had forgotten otten ine hoearisome it was to continue to work like that”
The h and put the business card back into the case
”In the end, I could see no point in continuingaway and left After so around the country I eventually settled down here Do you want to join me?”
It wasn't farht red to teht
It goes without saying that their ”Yes” wasn't long in co
”To tell you the truth, I've alanted to work in agriculture Yet, I ended up eetables After a period of hard work there, I suddenly beca director, then the director of the branch and before I knew it, I had reached this age and had become the representative director of the main branch”
”but that's quite a, isn't it?”
The boy set his eyes on the em