|
|
Chapter 10
Since the summer vacation had ended, Brian and AJ had to clean up Nagisa #2, as guests were no longer coming. The end of summer was an unpalatable thing for the two. Somehow they were upset. When Masaru noticed this, he told Brian and AJ that there were other ways to have fun. He decided to take them to camp in the woods.
Heaving the equipments, the two tagged behind Masaru who led the way into the jungle.
"Are we there yet?" asked AJ.
"Nope."
After five minutes of walking, the impatient AJ asked again.
"Are we there yet?"
"Stop asking. You're such a nuisance. You will know when we reach there," said Masaru.
"Where are we heading, Masaru?" This time was Brian.
"You know, when you were small I bet that you played terrorists and counter-terrorists - each had its own base. The place we are going is my base."
"Yeah. I played that when I was a kid," said AJ
"Yeah. You know, I used to hide my 'treasures' in my base which was my house backyard."
They chatted merrily as they continued their trekking. Finally, they reached a cleaning next to a lake.
"Wow, it's beautiful over here," AJ exclaimed.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
At school, Ayumi was told by her teacher that there would be a teacher-parent-student meeting to discuss about the student's destination after high school.
"Must a parent come?" Ayumi asked her teacher.
"Yes, it's the only choice."
After school, Ayumi went to Nagisa and Takako automatically knew that something was in Ayumi's mind.
"A penny for your thought?"
"It's time for that meeting again," Ayumi sighed.
"I see. Then, Keiko must come."
"Yeah."
"Call her. This is the best thing to do. Keiko is your mother. It's natural for her to come. Don't worry."
But Ayumi didn't have the courage to call.
It was until night when Ayumi still hesitated to call her mother. Takako came over to Diamond Head and saw Ayumi holding the phone.
"You called her?"
"Iie…(No…)"
"Then, I'll go out for a walk. You won't call if I'm here."
Finally, Ayumi dialed the numbers.
"Moshi, moshi. (Hello.)" It was her mother's voice.
"Ayumi desu. (This is Ayumi.)"
Ayumi told her mother about the meeting and Keiko promised to come over tomorrow. After hanging up the phone, Ayumi went out to look for Takako. She was sitting on the stairs.
"Where are Masaru and the two?"
"Don't talk about them. It makes my blood boils."
"They are now in the jungle."
"Oh, yeah. Camping. Yeah, it's this time of the year again."
"They left me alone again."
"Don't feel unhappy. This is a good opportunity for girls' talk."
Just as they were walking into the resort again, Hajiko came.
"My mum sent me a big box of sushi. I don't think I can finish it all by myself. Will you mind joining me?"
"Of course not! Come in," said Takako.
"It's girls' world today at Diamond Head!" Ayumi shouted excitedly.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The sky turned black and the stars were out. Masaru told about his life when he was young to Brian and AJ. He told them that he had lived his life the way he wanted to live.
"Simple is the best," he said to describe his life.
"When I was about 20, I fell in love with surfing. But I didn't know how. Certainly I didn't want to get embarrassed in front of so many people at the beach. So, I woke up early in the morning when no one was at the beach and started to practise. At last I succeeded and had the guts to surf in front of the people."
"Boss, is it true that time will let you forget the pain?" asked AJ.
"No. Time will not let you forget the pain. Time will only let you get used to the pain."
Brian smiled wanly.
"Don't look so glum. Tell you guys something that you don't know about the resort," said Masaru.
"What?" asked AJ.
"There was once a girl who committed suicide in on of the rooms in Diamond Head."
"Huh? Really?" AJ seemed frightened.
"Yes. The legendary room is now known as the staff room," Masaru continued.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Huh? Our room? Brian, it's our room!" AJ grabbed Brian's arm.
"That's why I always smell something spooky about the room. Sometimes when I was sleeping, there seemed to be something pressing me on my chest," said Brian seriously.
"Sorry. That's probably my leg," said AJ, grinning.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Back at Diamond Head, Takako told Ayumi and Hajiko about the ghost story.
"I will not lie to you. The staff room is really haunted."
"Takako-san, are you sure? Why didn't ojiisan tell me about this?"
"Let's go ant take a look," Takako suggested.
"Don't. I don't want," Ayumi disagreed with Takako's idea. But Takako dragged the two and walked to the corridor.
"Don't Takako. It's…" Ayumi was speechless when she saw a shadow sliding on the wall. She started screaming and the other two followed. At that moment, a voice called out.
"Stop! It's me!" The three looked up and saw the postman standing in the dark.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Late at night, when Brian and AJ thought Masaru was asleep, they went out of the tent and sat by the lake.
"I think Masaru is brave and cool. I want to look up at him and live like him," said AJ.
"Yeah," Brian agreed. They were unaware that Masaru heard their conversation from inside the tent.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The next morning, Keiko arrived in front of Ayumi's school. Ayumi told her mother that she wished to go to a university near Diamond Head and she thought that her mother would disagree.
"It's your life. Even if I told you to do something else, you would not listen, right?"
Ayumi was relieved and happy. The two then walked hand in hand to the classroom.
When the three arrived back from camp, they were surprised to see Keiko at the resort. Ayumi got angry with them for leaving so suddenly without any notice.
"This must be the two interesting guys," Keiko turned her gazes to Brian and AJ.
"You must be Ayumi's mother," said Brian.
"Yeah. Thank you for taking care of my Ayumi."
"No big deal. But she is really very troublesome," said AJ teasingly.
"Hey, bakka! I am the one who have been taking care of you," Ayumi protested.
"Keiko, stay for dinner," said Masaru.
"Hai. (Yes.)"
When Masaru went out for fishing, Ayumi had a talk with her mother.
"Why did you decide to leave Diamond Head?" asked Ayumi.
"I didn't want to become like him."
Brian and AJ were shocked at her statements.
"You mean Mr. Masaru?" Brian asked.
"Yes. I doubt he wanted to build this resort in the first place. Listen to me, it's better for you two to leave this place as soon as possible."
AJ fired back, "I don't agree with you. I think Masaru's lifestyle is really nice and I think everyone would want to live like he does."
"This place makes a person forget about his dreams. It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives. Please don't take me wrong. It's just that I think differently about it."
Brian and AJ felt Keiko's words were somehow true. Then, Masaru came back with a big fish in his hand. After dinner, Keiko left. Ayumi promised to visit her in Tokyo.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
At night, Masaru saw Brian and AJ talking at the beach and brought them beers. He sat down by them. Brian and AJ talked about Masaru's lifestyle and how they wished they could be like him. AJ told Brian that he planned to stay here a little longer and Brian said the same thing. Suddenly, the quiet Masaru said something to them.
"Your summer is over. This is my ocean. Go back. Your oceans are somewhere else."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~