GO
I used to say that nothing amazing ever happens here. But now that I'm older, I realize that amazing stuff does happen here. Like Mamimi and me sitting under the bridge by the river. It's funny - I always took Mamimi for granted, thinking that the stuff she did was weird and perverted but now I'd give anything for her to snuggle up to me, reeking of cigarettes. That was amazing. And Haruko -
No.
I can't think about Haruko. The stupid Rickenbacker is enough of a reminder. Amarao told me to call her Raharu. That's her real name, so he says.
But amazing stuff does happen here. Just, nothing amazing ever stays.
Mamimi left a couple years back. She was amazing. Eri Ninamori was sort of amazing. She asked me out and we kissed and stuff, but I was still a kid then. I broke up with her because I was still so hung up over Haruko - I mean, Raharu. Eri moved and just as she was driving away, I realized Haru - Raharu would never come back and that Eri was cute and a good kisser. But then she was gone. And Canti left with my dad and my grandpa when they moved. The move was all of a sudden really. My dad started acting all weird - sorta jumpy and stuff. My grandpa never did anything anymore. He just agreed with whatever my dad said and read perverted magazines. I wasn't going to go with grown-ups who can't act their age. So I stayed here. Here in this boring old town. I hang out with Eri's old friends, but they're so immature and kind of stupid.
Medical Mechanica left after the whole Haruko thing. Oh right...Raharu...The destroyed factory kept puffing out smoke for the next week and then a huge gust of steam blew out and you couldn't see anything. Then, they were gone. That's when my dad said we had to move.
It's been five years since Ha - sorry, Raharu, left. It feels like centuries have passed. That sounds stupid, I know, but it's true. I know how to play the stupid Rickenbacker though. It's got a lefty handle and righty base so it was hard. My dad left a bunch of their music on vinyl and this crappy record player behind when he left. The stupid thing breaks all the time but now I know how to play a bunch of riffs from a bunch of old bands. I don't know what I'm going to do after high school. It's the end of my junior year and high school is the only thing that keeps my life in tact. Otherwise I'd lie around the house listening to old records and playing guitar. I probably wouldn't even eat. I'm sorta keeping the bread shop open. It barely gets any business anyways so it's easy to take care of.
Sunday night, I climb up the stairs to my bedroom and slip inside. I'm so tired I don't even have to play the Rickenbacker until I'm so exhausted I fall to sleep. I haven't been able to get a good night's sleep since my dad and grandfather moved out, but tonight I do. I drift off into comforting blackness and then jolt awake. I'm lying in bed, pinned down by something. Hot air warms my breath. Something smells like cigarettes, or rather, someone.
"Mamimi?" I murmur. In the darkness, I see a slice of white appear in the dark as she smiles.
"Hi Naota-kun." She whispers. The smell of tobacco chokes me, just like it use to.
"Are you going to go to sleep or something?" I say quietly. Mamimi doesn't move for a moment, then she crawls under the covers. I hear two light thuds as what I assume are her boots hit the floor. Something silvery flashes, catching the tiny bit of light that creeps in from behind the shade on my window. A camera clicks and my eyes burn with the brightness of the flash.
"Naota-kun..." She murmurs. Her arms wrap around me and I can feel her cool legs on mine. Gently, she nibbles my neck and I fall asleep.
Today is the first day of the last week of school. I hate Mondays. I get a sweet drink from the vending machines on the way back from school. Behind me there's a weird revving sound. I start to jump to the side, trying to dodge the oncoming vehicle. I get hit anyways. For a moment time freezes. I hover in the air and steal a glimpse of the driver. Who ever it is is wearing a motorcycle helmet. The hard edge of a guitar smashes into my skull. Shock waves rattle my brain. I slam into the ground and roll. Instinctively I clutch my head. Red blood soaks my hair and the sleeve of my uniform. The driver screeches to a stop, jerking their scooter so it skids sideways. The driver jumps off seconds before the vehicle begins to roll and tumbles across the bridge. I look up. It's a woman. She's wearing a tight leather jumpsuit with a red torso, black sleeves and legs, a big white scarf and white boots. The jumpsuit extends to her hands making fingerless 'gloves'. The woman pulls on a pair of yellow gloves and rips off her helmet with a flourish. "Itadakimasu." She grins.
"Raharu..." I whisper. And there she is. Yellow-green eyes and spiky pink hair. Just like she was five years ago. Her smile falters.
"Call me Haruko." She says, her voice softer. "I don't like 'Raharu...'" I clutch my bleeding scalp.
"So what's going to come outta me now?" I mutter. Haruko laughs.
"Nothing." She shows me the guitar. It's a red 1961 Gibson EB-0 - Atomsk's guitar. It doesn't have the pull motor like the Rickenbacker. "I just didn't know how else to say hello." I glare at her.
"Well why don't you figure out how to say goodbye?" I snap. "Just leave me alone..." I step over the vehicle (a Fuji Rabbit that's been poorly painted yellow) and walk home. "Mamimi!" I shout. "Mamimi I'm home!" I walk into the kitchen and find Haruko sitting there eating some curry. "Have you seen Mamimi?" I ask. Haruko scoops some curry into her mouth. It's disgusting - even its smell burns my nose and the color of it is a weird shade of red. Haruko smiles at me.
"I think she's in the bathroom." Haruko grins at me. "The door's busted, y'know? It won't close all the way." I glare at her.
"Don't be perverted. " I snap. I walk off to the bath and hear Mamimi singing faintly. I can't quite tell the words or the melody. "Mamimi?" I call. The water squeaks off.
"Naota-kun?" She calls. I blush, not knowing what to say.
"Do you have any towels?" I shout.
"Yeah..." Mamimi calls back. I lean against the wall next to the doors and wait for her to come out. Mamimi looks over at me. "Oh, hi Naota-kun!" She giggles. I look at the ground. "I'm going to change in your room." I stare at the trail of water she leaves behind. I stare at her feet. Suddenly, every thing's not amazing. Haruko's back and she's eating my curry and hitting me in the head and Mamimi's back and she's making me feel weird. I almost want them to be gone again. I find myself at the door to my room. My heart thuds in my chest and I open the door. Mamimi is standing with her back to me. Her bare skin shines in the yellow light of my ceiling lamp and she's wearing a pair of loose, faded jeans. She pulls a faded blue sweatshirt on and glances back at me. "Hi Naota-kun." She says softly. She lies down on my floor. "What is it Naota-kun?" She asks. Her lip sticks out in a tiny pout. "Come in." I sit down next to her and she sits up. "Naota-kun, what's wrong?"
"Where have you been?" I mumble. "It's been four years." Mamimi tosses her wet hair.
"America." She replies. I glance back at her, hiding my surprise.
"Really?" Mamimi nods. "Is Tasuka - my brother - is he a big star?" Mamimi hangs her head.
"Huge." She says softly. "Everyone likes him. He and his girlfriend and going to get married." I gape at her.
"Really?" I say. Mamimi shrugs.
"He has to, kind of. His girlfriend's pregnant." My heart falls to my stomach. I can't imagine my brother...
I cross my legs and don't look at her. "What took you so long in America?"
"I had boyfriend. His name was Tōru. He was a reporter and got me a job on a paper. We were partners, but then I didn't want to photograph news stories anymore. So I told him and he hit me. So I ran away." I twitch and almost hug Mamimi. I want her to be okay.
"Are you going to...you know...bubble over anymore?" Mamimi smiles and wraps her arms around me.
"I just might."
I wish we were under the bridge.
I walk home from school on Tuesday and Haruko's there on the Fuji Rabbit. "You did a crappy paint job on that." I mutter. "Why'd you even trade out your Vespa anyways?"
"It didn't go fast enough, so I stole Amarao's. His N.O. is awful but he's got a nice ride. And I like the color yellow." Haruko peered at me. "Is that really what you wanted to ask me?"
"Why are you here?"
"To find Atomsk." I stare hard at her. She smirks at me and climbs on her scooter. "Later." The scooter blazes off, a yellow blur. I don't feel like going home, so I go to the bridge. Mamimi is sitting on the bank wearing the same outfit she was yesterday. She swishes her legs back and forth in the water.
"Naota-kun..." She murmurs. I don't look at her. I just sit down. It was better when nothing was amazing. Now I can barely think. It's like my N.O. channel's opened and I have no brain. Mamimi puts her arms around me. "Mind if I smoke?" She whispers. I tense. Besides the one time on the bridge, I'd never seen her smoke. "Naota-kun?" She murmurs when I don't reply. I shrug her off.
"Whatever. I don't care." I mutter. I hear the scraping of metal on metal and glance over my shoulder. A cigarette glows in the shade of the bridge. The orange-red embers at the end illuminate Mamimi's face. It's emotionless like she's retreated inside herself. I tear myself away and walk. As long as I'm not going home I don't care where my feet take me. When I tune in to reality again I'm standing at the crumbling ruins of the old elementary school. The police tape looks out of place against the dark wreck of the school and the encroaching night. The tape sags on the stakes it was tied to from all the time people have moved it around to walk around the school. There's a tear which I walk through. The charred rubble crunches under my shoes.
I climb onto the wreckage and stand on the very top beam of the school. I hold my arms out and close my eyes. I imagine myself anywhere but here - anywhere but this boring old town. But I can't. When I try to imagine myself in the busy city of Tokyo - just outside Mabase - a place where there's always something to do or see all I see is white steam obscuring hulking shapes that look something like huge skyscrapers. There's a crack and the beam breaks. I try to stand but it hurts. So I sit in the black ash and debris and zone out. I think about how it was in Canti, half-conscious of what going on and I think about my first date with Eri - how she kissed me on the cheek but I didn't feel anything and I didn't know why. I think about watching my dad make bread and jokingly flirt with customers. Then I look up and see Haruko. She's looking away and at first I think she hasn't even seen me. But then she sticks out her hand. I grip it and pull myself up.
"Let's go home. The curry will get cold." Haruko says quietly. She starts to turn away but I still have a grip on her hand so I pull her towards me. A look of shock flashes on her face but it's swept away by her indifferent stare.
"Why are you here?" I ask. Haruko turns away.
"To find Atomsk." She says. Or something like that. Her voice is quiet and breaks halfway through her sentence. She walks to the Fuji Rabbit and turns back to me. "Well?" I turn away.
"No way. Your driving sucks." I walk through the burned foundation of the building trying to ignore the pain in my ankle and duck under the tape.
The sky is black when I get home. Mamimi's sitting on the front porch bent over something. She glances up and looks tired and hungry. Her glossy lips force a smile. She drops what she's working on and takes a couple steps towards me. "Naota-kun you missed dinner." She takes another two steps and raises her arms to hug me. I duck around her and look at what she dropped. A pack of cigarettes and a fine point marker lie discarded on the ground. Some of the cigarettes have writing on them.
"'Never Knows Best?'" I mutter, turning to look at her. Mamimi takes one from me and pulls a lighter out of her pocket. It clicks emptily and seems to echo around in the silent summer night. She tries a few more times, then drops it and walks away. I step on the cigarettes as I head inside. Haruko is sitting at the table wearing her old French maid outfit. I sit down across from her. My curry has already hardened into a glaze over the rice. I scoop some up and wince as I brace for a blast of spicy flavor. But there's nothing. Just plain curry. I look up at Haruko but she's already turning to leave. I take my time eating my cold curry. When I go to bed, Haruko's lying there, still dressed in her outfit.
"I know you're awake." I say. Haruko turns over and smiles.
"You're sharp kid." I glare at her. Haruko sits up. "What?"
"Why are you here?" I demand. Haruko smirks.
"This again? I told you"-
"If you're going to lie to me again I'll just leave." I say shortly. Haruko smiles softly at me.
"Then I won't say anything." I sit down on the bed.
"You can't sleep here. Mamimi does." Haruko grins at me and raises an eyebrow. I glare at her but can't control the blush rising on my face.
"I have a feeling she's not coming." Haruko says. She leans towards me, her expression is soft. Slowly she lifts the covers. "Come on." I glare at her for a bit, then take a couple steps towards the bed. Haruko climbs out. She's still wearing her jumpsuit. "Come on." She says, her voice quiet. She's standing really close to me. I can feel her breath. It smells like spicy curry. She takes another step and our noses touch. I turn away.
"I'll sleep on the couch." I can feel Haruko's eyes on my back. I can't ignore them. I'm tense as I stiffly walk out of the room.
Mamimi's curled up next to me when I wake up.