Chapter 37
Ikeda stacks his papers and gently slides them into his briefcase, then buttons up his coat. As he picks up his briefcase and leaves the empty classroom, he thinks, I haven’t heard any updates from Soejima since Naoyuki started staying with her family. I wonder if that’s a good thing. He has been looking better, and he’s still turning in stacks of work... Low and behold, he hears a familiar voice down the hallway. It was Taki’s. Ikeda decides to approach her. He picks up his pace until Taki and Naoyuki come into view. The two of them were walking out side by side, Taki carrying Naoyuki’s backpack in the crook of her left arm. Ikeda calls out to them.
“Oh, hi, Mr. Ikeda,” Taki greets him.
Ikeda nods back. “Hello, Soejima. Hello, Naoyuki.”
“Is something wrong, Mr. Ikeda?” Taki asks.
“No,” Ikeda replies. “But I’d like to ask you for a favor, Soejima. Please allow me to ask your parents something.”
“Okay,” Taki replies, blinking at him confusedly. “My dad’s probably waiting right outside. Follow me.”
Ikeda follows as Taki takes Naoyuki’s hand and walks toward and out of the front door. Taki leads him down the walkway toward a grey truck. She motions to her father to roll down the window, then gestures for Ikeda to approach. Ikeda nods a greeting to her father. “Hello, Mr. Soejima. I’m Satoru Ikeda, one of the teachers here.”
“Yes, Taki talks about you,” Mr. Soejima says, nodding.
“Could I ask something of you?” Ikeda inquires.
“Such as?”
Ikeda lowers his voice and leans forward. “I’m also Naoyuki’s psychiatrist,” he explains, “and I’d like to drop by and see how he’s doing. I don’t want Naoyuki to know I’m going to be there. Would five o’clock Saturday be all right?”
“I don’t see why not,” Mr. Soejima replies.
Ikeda stands upright and shakes hands with Mr.Soejima. “Thank you,” he says. “It was a pleasure meeting you.”
Taki and Naoyuki exchange curious glances. What had Mr. Ikeda said to Taki’s father that he didn’t want them to hear? “Mr. Ikeda, is something the matter?” Taki inquires again as Ikeda turns away from her father’s truck.
“No, nothing’s wrong,” Ikeda reassures her. “Anyway, I’m off. You two have a good day.” Having set up his appointment now, he feels relieved. Ikeda gives Taki and Naoyuki a parting nod, then turns and walks toward the teachers’ parking lot.
Once inside his car, Ikeda takes out his cell phone, turns it on and checks the messages. He sees one from Kazunori and clicks the button to listen. “Hi, Professor Ikeda. It’s Kazunori Seido. Just wanted to let you know a few things. First, I talked to Kotaro Nomura at Naoyuki’s old school the other day. And secondly,...we might have a problem.”
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“Ah, Naoyuki, don’t forget to reduce,” Taki reminds him as she skims over his homework. “You’ll get points knocked off.”
“Which one?” Naoyuki asks. “Oh – never mind, I see it.” Naoyuki erases three twelfths and replaces it with one fourth, then blows away the shavings and lays the paper out on the floor. Naoyuki smiles. “Guess what? I only have two left!” he cries excitedly.
“In math,” Taki reminds him, grinning. “But that’s good!” She continues jotting away at her own homework. “So what’s left besides that?” she asks.
“Three geography,” Naoyuki counts, separating out the subjects as he pulls the papers out of his backpack a few at a time. “One English...One reading...Four history.”
“That’s...eleven total,” Taki muses. “Almost done.”
Naoyuki heaves a sigh. “History is a lot,” he groans.
“Only four,” Taki says.
“Four big assignments,” Naoyuki corrects her. “All packets.”
“Oh, you have Kadokawa, don’t you?” Taki asks. “She’s infamous for those six-page packets she assigns.”
Naoyuki leans back and flops down on the floor. “Guess I’ll do a packet next,” he plans aloud. He yawns. His eyes wander around Taki’s room.
“Don’t kill yourself trying to get everything done tonight,” Taki cautions him. “Take it a chunk at a time, you know? Take breaks and stretch in between, too. That’ll make it easier to get it all done in the long run.”
Naoyuki gets up, stretches his arms and legs, then walks over to Taki’s dresser and looks at all the trophies and photos. Soccer. Tennis. Track. Basketball. Softball. Flag football club. Rollerblading club. Cross-country club. The centerpiece of all that was a photo of Taki and her aunt, uncle and Kenta, when he was still on oxygen. Naoyuki’s hands clench. He forces himself to look away from that picture and notices the second. It was a photo of a young Taki and a newborn baby – probably Kenta, as well. “Kenta’s baby picture is cute,” Naoyuki comments.
The tapping of Taki’s pencil stops. “That’s not Kenta; it’s my baby brother.”
Startled at the heaviness of her voice, Naoyuki turns around to face Taki. She was smiling, but at the same time, sad. “That’s my baby brother, Shinya,” Taki repeats.
Why isn’t he here? That question sits on the tip of Naoyuki’s tongue. But sensing Taki’s grief, he decides it was better not to ask. Perhaps it was better not to know; besides, it was none of his business. He turns back toward the dresser. “So many trophies, too,” he comments to change the subject. “You play everything, Taki.” He steps away from the dresser and sits back down in front of his homework. “I wish I could play,” he murmurs.
“Why don’t you?” Taki inquires.
“Even in gym class, I couldn’t play for too long,” Naoyuki tells her. “I’d get winded.”
“Do you have asthma?” Taki asks, concerned.
Naoyuki shakes his head. “Just..sickly.” The word left a bitter taste in his mouth. “I don’t have any stamina.” He frowns. “Papa wanted me to play sports. I did baseball for a little when I was five. But I had to quit.” He looks up at Taki and smiles a little. “Watching you makes me want to play again.” Taki smiles a little back at him.
“Kids!” Taki’s mother calls. “It’s time to get ready for bed!”
“You go ahead, Naoyuki,” Taki says. “I’m gonna finish up this paper while you’re in the bathroom.”
“Okay.” Naoyuki gets up, grabs the pajamas that the Soejimas bought for him, and walks to the door. He looks back and watches Taki turn back toward her work, her pencil tapping on the desk as she writes. Naoyuki puts his hand to the door handle and walks out of the room. Taki needed a little time to herself.
A short while later, Naoyuki and Taki are both in bed. But Taki can’t fall asleep. Her thoughts fill with memories of Shinya – the little brother she could have had. She was six years old when he was born. He was a small baby who’d come too early. He had a sweet temperament and cute, round cheeks. Taki adored him.
A sound breaks Taki from her recollections. Naoyuki was whimpering. Taki leans over the edge of her bed and looks down at him. He was shaking and crying in his sleep. Taki reaches out and nudges his shoulder. “Hey,” she calls softly. “Naoyuki.” Naoyuki flinches under her hand. “Naoyuki, wake up.” Naoyuki wakes with a start and knocks his head against the foot of Taki’s bed, screaming. Startled, Taki cries, “Naoyuki, stop it!!” and yanks him upright by the arm. To her surprise, Naoyuki jumps up and hugs her, still whimpering pitifully. “Wh-what’s wrong?” Taki stammers. “D’you have a bad dream?” Naoyuki manages a nod, shaking wildly. His arms tighten around her. Taki heaves a sigh and lifts him up onto the bed. “You wanna talk about it?” she asks.
“No,” Naoyuki whimpers back. “I don’t wanna think about it.”
“Haruko again?” Taki asks. No answer. “It’s been a long time,” Taki continues. “I’d bet you she’s back home by now, safe and sound. She’s probably waiting for you to come see her.”
“I– I still see them..hurt in my head...!” Naoyuki cries. “Haruko and Kotaro, Mr. Fubuki and Ushio – and even you...!” The shaking worsens. “I can still hear them screaming while the car’s crunching all around us... I can’t help it! I can’t make the pictures go away!”
Taki frowns. He’s got it worse than I thought. “Think of how Haruko looked when you first met her,” she suggests. “Let’s see.. How did she have her hair that day?”
“Ponytail...”
“What color clothes was she wearing?”
“Pink is her favorite,” Naoyuki replies.
“How did she greet you that day?” Taki continues.
“She told those guys to stop picking on me..and held out her hand.”
“What was your first impression? Was she cute?”
Silence for a moment. “She had long, dark hair like my mama,” Naoyuki replies.
Taki smiles. “Hold that image,” she tells him, “and think about what you like about her and the fun things you did with her.”
Naoyuki was finally drifting off to sleep against her. Taki lays him down on her lap and strokes her hand through his hair. She feels her eyelids growing heavy. “Mm..Shinya came home in a mint-green blanket,” she mumbles sleepily. “He had the cutest hazel eyes I’d ever seen and the roundest, softest cheeks I’d ever seen. When his hair started to grow in, it was sandy-brown. The only time he ever put up a fuss was when he wanted his toys or his bottle...” Taki feels Naoyuki take her hand. That is the last she remembers before lulling off to sleep.
