Reunited – Chapter 10

After we spread Koichi’s ashes at the beach and walk back up to the estate, Hiro joins us for lunch at the largest kotatsu in the front living room. Oyama serves up a hot pot with salmon, potatoes, tofu, greens, noodles, and mushrooms swimming in a miso soup right in the center of the table. I love hot pot meals. Besides being filling and warm, they’re a controlled chaos of chopsticks snapping out goodies from the pot and people fighting over the different ingredients. I swoop in and serve up a bowl for Hiro and one for myself before the boys can get their chopsticks in and eat everything in sight.

“Oi! Don’t fight,” Oyama chides, pushing Usagi in the shoulder. “I have more in the kitchen.” Usagi swiped the tofu straight out of Kentaro’s bowl, and Kentaro turned around and took it straight back.

“Boys,” Helena admonishes, and they hang their heads over their bowls. The way Helena commands both their attentions is hilarious, and I have to hold back a giggle. “Please be polite. We have a guest for once.” Helena smiles at Hiro, and Hiro stares at her dumbfounded.

I slowly eat my meal and observe Hiro the entire time. He stays quiet while watching Lucy and Helena but answers their questions politely before blushing and eating again. If the native population has never seen anyone with red hair or pale blondes or someone like Chad with dark skin, they are in for the shock of their lives. Nishikyō was multicultural. Yūsei needs to be too. Before I found out about my heritage, Sakai did his best to show me how amazing Nishikyō was in its diversity and how we needed to preserve everything we brought with us from Earth.

I set my chopsticks down when my bowl is empty and stretch out my neck and shoulders. I have even more work in front of me now.

“Hiro, my friend Mark will go with you to get your parents. I want to invite you all to stay here for a week, if you’d like. You could meet some other people, and we could get to know each other. We’d like to visit your town too. Would you like that?” I sit back in my chair as Momo climbs into my lap, puts her front paws on my chest and rubs her face up under my chin over and over. She’s sweet and soft, and loves when I smooth back her face and whiskers. I love having a pet.

“Can I play soccer? Every day?”

Jiro laughs and gets up from the table, taking a few bowls with him. “We can play soccer every day, if you like. Then maybe you’d like to watch us fight in the dōjō.”

“Fight? With katana?” His eyes grow as wide as his smile does.

“No, bokken, wooden swords. Though we all have our own katana.”

“Okay, I would like to see this.” He rises from the table and bows to us. “It’s a twenty minute walk to our camp.”

Sakai gestures to the door, they pull on their shoes, and leave.

Jiro carries the bowls to the kitchen, and while he’s gone, I sit and think for a few moments, listening to Momo’s purring and stroking her head until she curls up in my lap.

Sakai returns to the estate an hour later with Hiro and his parents, and my stomach sinks as I take in their fear. They look scared and pale. They both flinch at the squeak of the front gate, ready to take flight at a loud noise like skittish birds. This is an opportunity to work on my ambassadorial skills, so I walk straight to them with the biggest, most sincere smile I own.

“Konnichiwa,” I say, bowing. “Watashi wa Itami Sanaa desu. Dōzo yoroshiku. Yokoso.”

“You can speak English with my parents, Sanaa. They speak it better than me.” Hiro smiles at me, but his mother whacks him up behind his head. “Eh! Obaa-san! What?”

“Don’t speak out of turn, Hiro. You’re being rude.” His mother bows to me. “I am Kohaku Watanabe. This is my husband, Hideki.”

Hideki nods in silence. His eyes scan the estate as he twists a knit cap in his hands, pulling the fabric tight and letting go. Once he’s surveyed his surroundings, he lets his arms relax to his sides.

“Please come inside. I believe it’s going to rain again soon. Hiro, Usagi has the soccer ball all prepped and ready to go. Why don’t you join him and Kentaro in the back garden?” He nods at me eagerly, and I give him a slight push on his back. “Go straight through and open the shōji door.” He disappears at a run, and his mother and father watch him go anxiously. I smile and gesture for them to follow along. Mariko is back from resting and waiting at the door with her hands clasped in front of her.

“This is my mother-in-law, Mariko Itō, and she’s Mark’s sister-in-law by marriage.”

“Welcome.” Mariko nods at them and bows. “Please come in. It’s warmer inside, and we have tea and snacks in the dining room.”

Lucy pulled the space heaters out and warmed up the living room while I was poking around in the storage area, so the area is toasty warm. With the sun streaming in through the glass windows, the mood is happy and inviting as well. The dark clouds on the horizon will usher in an early spring storm in about an hour, though.

Everyone sits down at the table, and Mariko serves tea and cookies. I introduce Jiro and Sakai introduces Lucy, and, like Hiro, Kohaku and Hideki stare at Lucy, their eyes widening and threatening to pop out of their heads. Lucy hides her smile behind her hand, a perfect Japanese gesture I’m sure she picked up somewhere back in Nishikyō. It’s too cute and girlie for me. I always smile openly.

“Hideki and Kohaku have consented to stay with us for a week. They usually camp up on the mountain and don’t come into town.” Sakai sips on his tea, warming his hands with the mug.

“But Hiro comes in and takes care of the temple?” I ask.

“Yes,” Kohaku says, ignoring her cup of tea. “He used to come and sweep up, keep the rats out of the main building, and leave offerings. It was our family temple a long time ago.”

I’m on pins and needles waiting for someone to tell us what the heck happened in this town. I want to know. None of us should push these people into talking or else we’ll seem like interrogators instead of friends. Kohaku squirms in her seat unable to get comfortable, and Hideki taps his fingers on the table. I think if we push too hard, they’ll gather up Hiro, walk away, and never come back.

Hiro’s voice and laughter float into the house. “You’re cheating! You can’t do that!” and Kentaro’s responds, “I can! Watch me!”

“Boys,” I huff and Jiro kicks me under the table. “What? This estate is filled with boys. We girls are outnumbered especially since my aunts moved out.”

“How long do you all plan on living here?” Hideki asks. He hasn’t touched his tea nor his cookie.

I glance sideways at Sakai, and he nods once. “For the foreseeable future. We have chosen to make Yūsei our home. This town was abandoned, and I imagine it can handle the majority of us if we build to the north of us.”

“Yūsei?”

“Yes, sorry. That’s what we call this planet. What do you call it?” I ask him.

“Orihime.”

I figured as much what with everything we learned from Minamoto.

“So, if you are going to build to the north of here, will you be taking over our town too?” Hideki swallows, his posture alert and ready to bolt. Kohaku sits very still. Is this what they think? That we’re invaders?

Lucy clears her throat and smiles. “Please don’t misunderstand our intentions. We’re not here to take over your lives or your towns. When we left Earth, we thought we had chosen an unpopulated world to settle, but clearly that is no longer the case. The majority of settlers from Earth will be Japanese and everyone will be happy to live here with you.”

“We are all brothers and sisters separated by space and time. Though we have differences, I’m sure we can all live together peacefully.” Sakai’s passive face is soft with no hints of threats, but Hideki smirks at him and Kohaku remains still.

I want to ask them why they’re so nervous but think better of it especially since Sakai and Lucy are not pressing the issue. Instead, I grab a cookie off the center plate and take a bite. “Mmmm. Oyama makes delicious cookies. I just love them. Do you have any favorite dishes or foods you’d like while you stay with us? Oyama loves to cook and bake, and the more requests he gets the happier he is.”

Jiro squeezes my hand under the table. He knows the way to make people love you is through their stomachs. That’s why our initial dates always revolved around food.

“Okonomiyaki. Shrimp pancake. There used to be a place in town that had some of the best I’ve ever eaten, but the last time I ate there I was a kid.” Hideki’s eyes glaze, and he stares off in the direction of town. If Hideki was a kid, maybe ten, when the restaurant was open, then that would’ve been twenty years ago?

“I think Sanaa and I saw that restaurant on one of our morning walks. Oyama loves making okonomiyaki. I’ll let him know to get fresh eggs from the market.” Jiro also loves okonomiyaki, but I don’t think there’s one food he doesn’t like. The boy likes to eat. “Kohaku?”

“Oh, don’t mind me. I’ll eat anything, though I love noodles.” She smiles and rests her chin on her hand.

Hideki sips his tea and eats a cookie as a rumble of thunder shakes the house. I try to hide my fear, but my skin crawls and I shiver. This will be my second ever thunderstorm, and the lightning makes me nervous.

“Oh no, I think we’re in for a big storm. Let’s call in the boys and get you settled into a room. I’m sure you’d like to rest until the weather lets up.”

I rise from my seat when everyone nods and rush to the back door in time to see Usagi, Kentaro, and Hiro running for shelter as the skies open up.