Flying
-Flashback-
"OK Kaede, we'll just check the oil."
"Yes." Kaede followed the elderly foreign instructor to the front of the plane and opened the lid to the oil compartment.
"Undo that, and bring out the rod just far enough. How much is it?" the instructor asked. "Five quarts?"
"Yes, that's correct." Kaede answered in the affirmative.
"So just pop it back in again."
Next to them, Hana was with her own instructor, checking out their own plane.
"Take out some gas, watch its colour, then smell it. If no water's got in then it's OK," said the Japanese instructor.
Hana did exactly as she was told, wrinkling her nose a little as she smelled the gas, before throwing it away. Then, she looked up, and upon seeing Kaede, smiled and waved.
Kaede smiled back and gave her a thumbs-up sign, before walking to the propeller of his plane to join his instructor, who was already there.
"Be extra careful with the propeller. It might have been hit by rocks and has cracks. That will affect the safety of flying," the instructor explained.
"Got it," said Kaede.
After making sure that the plane was in good condition to fly, he sat in the passenger seat of the plane while his instructor took the driver's seat. He pushed open the small window on his side of the plane and shouted, "Clear prop!"
In the meantime, Hana and her instructor were asking for permission to navigate their plane towards the holding point.
"Japan Tower, Cessna India Golf, with information Charlie, request taxi to light aircraft holding point."
"India Golf, you are cleared to light aircraft holding point," the tower responded. "QNH is 1007."
Moments later, Kaede's voice could be heard over the radio. "Japan Tower, Hotel November, taxiing to the holding point."
"Kaede, we need to stop just behind India Golf," said his instructor as they slowly followed behind Hana's plane.
"Tower: Cessna India Golf ready for departure, runway 13."
"India Golf, runway 13, you are cleared for take off."
Soon, the plane was flying over the city of Kanagawa, and it wasn't too long before Kaede's plane joined them. Throughout the whole lesson, the two planes flew side by side, and so Kaede and Hana could wave at each other every now and then. Both their instructors could see that they were very happy and excited about flying, but what they didn't know was what it really meant for Kaede and Hana to be flying together like this. And if they knew, there was no doubt that they'd be happy for them too.
---
A week later...
"What? It's impossible. No drain pipes at all, and you call it a skyscraper?" Kaede demanded into the phone. The next second, he slammed it down and let out his frustrations by banging on the table.
Hisashi, who was munching on a hotdog, asked, "Kaede, what is it?"
"It's outrageous! Every time I go to see it, they say it's not ready. Well, now the whole building's erected, there are no sewer pipes, toilet pipes or water pipes. Whole building no pipes," Kaede complained.
"Ah, no pipe building," Hisashi quipped.
"Shit!" Kaede cursed.
"No wonder you're so mad. You know, you can't win in a situation like this. They've got the upper hand. Tell you what, I'll draft a new contract for you and call the municipal council. We'll sort it out, OK?" said Hisashi.
"Thanks," Kaede replied, with a grudging look of appreciation on his normally stoic face.
Having successfully appeased his friend, Mitsui nudged at Kaede playfully in the arm. "Hey, it's happy hour."
Kaede shook his head. "No happy hour for me. I'm dining in."
Hisashi looked at Kaede in disbelief. "Going home?"
"Yes," came the reply.
"Going home?" Hisashi asked again to make sure he had heard correctly.
"Yes, going home," Kaede answered, getting a little irritated.
"When did you become so well-behaved?"
Ignoring the question, Kaede said, "I'm going home, you have a happy time."
"Come on, forget it Mr Rukawa! Experience the vicissitudes of life," said Hisashi, trying to persuade Kaede to change his mind.
"You mean the 'viscosity' of life?" Kaede deadpanned. "I'll pack up and leave. Really, not tonight."
With that, he packed up his things and left Hisashi behind.
---
Later that night…
Hana sat next to the window, watching as the rain poured heavily and the wind blowing strongly outside the apartment. She shifted her attention to the single stalk of rose in front of her, placed in a tall, slim vase, and dropped in an aspirin, which quickly disintegrated in the water until no traces of it was left.
-An aspirin a day, while he's away.-
She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice a car pulling up across the street and stopping directly outside her apartment.
Unable to wind down the window like the last time, Kaede leaned forward and hugged the steering wheel, watching Hana through the windshield. He watched as she picked up the phone and started dialling, putting the phone to her ear once she was done. Then, his phone started ringing.
Not taking his eyes off her, he reached for his phone and answered, "Hello?"
At the same time, a fire brigade drove past, its siren blaring loudly and drowning out all sounds as it passed by.
Hana was bewildered to hear Kaede's voice on the phone, but she was even more bewildered when she heard the sirens on the phone at the same time she heard them coming from outside her apartment.
What the...?
Holding the phone to her ear, she moved so that she could look outside the window, and saw a glimpse of Kaede sitting in his car outside her apartment right before another an ambulance drove past, its own sirens blaring.
Kaede, hearing the sirens on the phone, looked up and saw Hana looking at him. He put down his phone while Hana left the window, appearing a while later on the balcony, not caring in the least that it was still raining outside. Kaede opened his window a little and waved, and that was all it took to get Hana to run downstairs, while Kaede came out of the car.
They were stopped in their tracks by another passing fire brigade, but as soon as the way was clear, they ran up to each other and hugged. Then, Kaede quickly ushered Hana into the driver's seat while he ran over to the passenger side of the car and got in. Drenched from the rain, they stared at each other for a long time, before Kaede pulled Hana towards him and kissed her passionately, their first kiss after 15 years.
-End of flashback-
In the music room of the University of Kanagawa…
Kioshi ran his fingers across the keys of the piano, stopping after a while and grabbing the pencil slipped behind his right ear.
"I just can't get these few notes right," he said, frustrated.
Kiori, who was sitting behind him, looked up from the book in her hand. "It's OK. Take your time," she said, smiling encouragingly at him.
"There's no time. I've promised Mum that I'll return to the US after selling the house and watching the Gion festival in Kyoto," Kioshi explained.
Kiori's expression visibly changed when she heard that, but she quickly put on a cheerful expression and asked, "In that case, is there anything you want to do before you go? I'll keep you company."
"I…" Kioshi started, hesitating a little. "I don't want to wait until I'm 30."
Kiori smiled when she heard that. She got up and pulled at Kioshi's arm. "Come with me."
They walked over to the huge glass windows overlooking the garden outside, and Kiori pointed to a girl sitting on a bench. "Look at this one. She suits you, the Prom Queen."
Kioshi raised his eyebrows. "What queen? Queen of puddings? No way, too far."
"Hey, don't be too choosy. There's only one university in Kanagawa, so the quality's average," said Kiori. She looked around, before pointing at another girl. "How about this one? She's the model wife type."
Kioshi shook his head in disagreement. He pointed to a girl who was standing next to the pond. "That one's gorgeous."
"Which one?"
"That one, beside the lily pond."
"She's gorgeous?" Kiori asked, eyeing the girl sceptically.
"Yeah," said Kioshi.
"Really gorgeous?"
"Very gorgeous."
Still feeling a little sceptical about Kioshi's choice, but not wanting to say anything further, she turned to him and said, "OK, I'll go get her for you." Before Kioshi could say anything else, she ran off, and Kioshi made a show of following her, before falling behind and going back to the window.
He watched as Kiori appeared in the garden below and walked to the lily pond, only to find the girl gone. She looked around, and upon finding no one, looked up at Kioshi and gestured wildly with her hands, telling him that the girl was gone.
Kioshi pointed, muttering to himself, "The one standing by the pond."
Kiori looked around again, but she couldn't see anybody standing by the pond, so she looked up again and gestured to Kioshi that she couldn't see the girl.
Kioshi just kept on pointing, and then, Kiori realised that she was standing next to the pond. She looked at Kioshi, who was looking directly at her and pointing.
"Yeah. The one by the pond," he muttered again, his lips curving into a smile.
Kiori could only blush and smile back shyly.
-Flashback-
"A bit more. More to that side, right," Hana directed from the window upstairs inside the house, while Kaede moved the patio furniture outside the house according to Hana's directions.
"Good, that's it," she said, and Kaede arranged the furniture properly before jogging back into the house, joining Hana in unpacking their things.
"Hey, you really got the pillar box at auction?" Hana asked, referring to the red post box standing in the middle of the living room.
"Yeah, the goddamn Cultural Centre. Even stolen goods are priced so high," said Kaede.
"How much is it?"
"Two hundred and fifty thousand yen."
Hana stopped at whatever she was doing and looked at Kaede. "What?! That's expensive! Only nostalgic dinosaurs like us will buy such things."
"You know, when my dad was a postman, two hundred and fifty thousand yen was 5 years' wages for him," said Kaede, a tiny smile appearing on his face as he reminisced the old times.
Hana looked at the post box, while Kaede continued unpacking. "Hmm, I think this looks like the one outside Shoyo Hall." She walked around the post box, her hand on her chin. "It really looks like the pillar box where I sent you letters everyday."
"Look, Hana."
Hana looked up as Kaede walked towards her with a box in his hands. She peeked into the box, reached in to take out some of its contents, and smiled when she recognised what they were.
"All the letters I sent you!" she said, looking at Kaede. The smile on her face couldn't have gone any bigger.
Kaede smiled back. "20 years, all here. They'd gone all around the world, finally returning to Kanagawa."
They looked at each other, the love they have for one another clearly shown in their eyes.
"Let's put them all back in," said Hana, breaking the silence. Kaede nodded.
She took out a letter and looked at it briefly before slipping it into the box. "1973, go back in." Then, she took out a card.
"This one…"
"It's your birthday, remember?" Kaede reminded her.
"Is that so?" She slipped it in and reached for another one.
"And that one."
"This one?"
"Yeah, Valentine's Day."
"Right."
"And this one, another birthday card I sent you."
"Yes. I still remember the winter I received this…"
One by one, they put the letters and cards into the post box, stopping every now and then to recall the time when they had respectively sent and received specific letters and cards. It was a moment of pure bliss and happiness for the both of them. It was as if the whole world has faded away, and there was only the two of them. But, that feeling didn't last long, as they soon found themselves facing the bitterness of truth and the harshness of reality…
---
"Kaede!"
Both Hana and Kaede looked up from checking their respective planes to see a nicely-dressed woman walking towards them. The woman was smiling and waving at Kaede.
"Kaede! Surprise, surprise!" she called out.
Kaede was surprised to see his wife Haruko, and quickly went up to meet her. Hana was surprised too, but it was quickly replaced by the feeling of disappointment and pain. Turning around, she quickly climbed into the plane and waited for her instructor to get in, looking at everywhere else but Kaede and his wife.
Kaede himself was torn between going over to Hana and staying with his wife, who was clinging onto him and chatting away happily, oblivious to her husband's uneasiness and inattention. He watched as Hana's plane slowly moved forward, barely listening to what Haruko was telling him.
As for Hana, as much as she didn't want to see Kaede with his wife, she couldn't seem to take her eyes off him, and she wasn't even paying attention to what her instructor was saying as they taxied towards the holding point.
Even after the plane had taken off, Kaede stayed on the field, watching until Haruko pulled at his arm, and he reluctantly walked away. As for Hana, she turned to take one last look at Kaede, distress clearly etched on her face as a million thoughts ran through her mind.
That day, only one airplane could be seen flying over the city of Kanagawa.
-End of flashback-
Tbc…