"Looks like your train arrived early."
Sae called out to her younger sister in between puffs of her cigarette. She leaned coolly against a parked sedan, its sleek black coat shining against the glare of the sun. It had been two years since they last saw each other, and in that time Makoto found that a lot has changed.
The small town defense attorney looked too grand for the village scene, with her chestnut hair pulled back in a half-coiffed bun and her nails lacquered in alluring burgundy. Most striking of all was the designer pantsuit, an all-black get-up with gold trimmings that boasted a more upscale background story for Sae than Makoto would have liked. Strangely enough, Makoto had an uncomfortable notion that Sae looked more out of place than she , the recent transplant, did.
" You're early too, sis."
Makoto tried to stick a smile onto the quip, but much like she remembered from before, joking - or even talking - to Sae was a hit or miss. One moment Sae seemed fully engaged, and the next, she was a wall of indifference. Her banter was thus met with a mere shrug as Sae put out her cigarette and quickly jostled to the car door. The paragon of efficiency, Sae didn't utter another word. She merely pressed her clicker twice to signal to Makoto that all the doors were unlocked. She was free to let herself in.
The younger sister bit her lip, stifling back an aggravated sigh. She wordlessly threw her luggage in the trunk before settling into the passenger's seat. Since leaving Tokyo, it seemed Sae's car, with its fresh wave of air conditioned breeze, was the only thing that truly welcomed her. Makoto wasn't sure what to make of that.
Two years ago, Makoto could chuck it up to the trials and tribulations of being a young female prosecutor. But things have changed. Their father was dead, and Sae was caught in the limbo of a brutal job market. Now, all they had was each other. Taking a glance on the rearview mirror, Makoto could recognize the steeley eyes of concentration as Sae reversed out of the parking lot and drove onto the gravelly road.
"I'm glad you got your uniform on," Sae mentioned. Cool red eyes glinted from the rearview mirror onto Makoto. "I know it's last minute, but it's important we meet your teachers today. I don't want any of... this to delay your studies."
Makoto waited for Sae to elaborate, or even qualify what she meant by this . But when her Neechan met her with more stony silence, Makoto couldn't help but feel her stomach sink. Am I bothering you, sis? The question floated in her mind, ready to break the wordless exchange. But the questioned stopped at the base of her throat, and an itch pushed out a cough instead. Her fingers clutched at the edges of the leather seat while she kept a blank gaze at the road ahead of them. Better to not say anything at all .
"No, I think it's a great idea," Makoto chirped. She could tell that her voice was somewhat strained, as if forced into its cheery tone. But Sae paid no mind. Or more likely, she didn't care.
Another wave of silence swept over them, and soon Makoto too tried to focus much of her energy on the road.
To Makoto's surprise, the road was long and narrow, more cramped perhaps than any alleyway in Tokyo. Yet looking out the window, she saw nothing but open space: an expanse of dried up grass and a bulwark of trees off to the distance. From time to time, a slight bump in the road would cue Makoto in on the gravelly, somewhat underdeveloped state of things in Kuromachi. And as the car whizzed past the emptiness, Makoto also noticed that not a house was in sight. Greying highway signs and speed limits were the only markers of human habitation, or so it seemed. "Shujin Academy is a bit out of the way, actually," Sae said suddenly. "It's about a 20-30 minute drive."
" Everything seems out of the way around here," Makato retorted, not without a hint of exasperation. But it only took a split second before her face reddened from self-piteous regret. She didn't mean to sound so cold, least of all to her sister. Desperate to play down her sarcasm, Makoto leaned against the car window and feigned sleepiness as she looked out to the barren, rustic scene before her.
"I won't actually have time to drop you off everyday, and they don't really have a bus or train system for students," Sae continued without skipping a beat. "So I asked my-... our neighbor, Sakura-san, to just let you carpool."
"That's nice of him." Makoto kept her gaze out the window, but her eyes moved, with a gleam of curiosity, to its reflection of her sister. "Is he a teacher? Why is he driving to Shujin everyday?"
Another bout of silence. Makoto wasn't exactly sure if she said something wrong. Her fingers continued scratching the edge of her leather seat, finding solace in the near-imperceptible noise it made.
"He has a foster kid living with him," Sae finally picked up, her voice softer than the muted hum of the engine. "A kid who lost his parents recently."
Makoto looked away from the scenery. She turned, more curious than she was sympathetic, to hear more of the story. "Just like us?" she barely whispered.
A slight and inexplicable grin crept on Sae's lips. "You can say that."
The cool lawyer made a slight turn. Terraces and man-made hills lined the concrete as the gravel gave way to a snaking, concrete road. Soon, shacks started to pop up in view, replete with humble verandas and quaint sliding doors. A speed limit sign cautioned the driver to slow as they entered the residential zone. Even from within a car, Makoto could hear the faint wind chimes as they breezed past the otherwise uninhabited street.
"But anyway, that kid goes to Shujiin, and Sakura-san drives him every morning. I made an arrangement so he'd let you come along."
"That's nice." Makoto smiled at Sae, hoping that her positive and hopeful energy made itself felt. She could tell from this explanation that Sae was a little worried. After all, it was only two years ago when Sae, the star pupil of law school and most promising of lawyers in Tokyo, won the miserable lottery of a stable yet unglamorous job in the country. They never spoke about it much, but Makoto recalled tense conversations between father and eldest daughter, arguing over the dissatisfaction of such an unreasonably ambitious young woman. Now, the question of how her sister would fit in such a radically different world than Tokyo was utmost in both the Nijimas' minds. Makoto could only imagine what a rough transition it was for Sae. She had been alone all this time, after all.
"They're coming over for dinner," Sae added casually. "It's a good idea, I think..." Her voice trailed off with the same level of assertion present throughout her speech. Yet it allowed room for something more than Sae let on, giving her otherwise nonplussed demeanor an uncharacteristic hint of doubt. Makoto could only speculate as to the troubles her sister was mulling over.
"I want to help you with dinner," Makoto chimed. Hearing the cheerfulness in her own voice seemed to quell the loud noise of guilt in her mind. "I know you're busy with work, so please let me help!"
Sae chuckled, resting her left arm to the side while the other steered the wheel in lackadaisical confidence. It was the kind of pose that Makoto expected would come so naturally to someone as effortless as her big sister.
"There's no need," she answered. "Sakura-san insisted on bringing food."
"Eh?" Makoto shot her a quizzical look, half risiting to her seat. "But he's our guest!" That the rules of hospitality would be so nonchalantly flaunted was truly bizarre to someone like Makoto, remembering the countless years when her father instilled the strict rule that one must always observe conventions of hospitality.
The older sister merely shrugged as she focused her energy on turning to the next street. "Trust me. You'll be glad he insisted."
"Huh…" Makoto settled back in her seat. Something about Sae's tight-lipped countenace intimidated her younger sister into complacent silence. "I guess if it's alright with him."
Country people are weird .
Makoto looked out once more. The scenery was taking on more familiarity as the open spaces narrowed to cordonned lawns and compact homes. An unusual amount of green seemed to pervade residential Kuromachi, with its bright green grass lawns as its most glaring feature. Once or twice, she saw figures walking hazily as the car glided past them, one after another. An old lady here, or a child walking their bike there. No one in between.
Well, except for that guy…
Indeed, her mind wandered to the strange boy she encountered at the station - one who happened to be a fellow Shujin student. She pondered his somewhat aloof countenance, remembering nothing but the mop of frizzy hair and oversized glasses. The thought made her feel for the Buchimaru-kun pencil case she left on the side of her seat cushion. Brushing her fingers against it, she could still feel the coating of dust from when she dropped it.
What's Shujin going to be like? she thought to herself. Since leaving Tokyo, Makoto felt trapped in a trance-like state. The hours blurred before her, and like the scenery outside the car window, seemed to soar beyond her as she moved from one part of her life to the next. None of it seemed to be under her control.
I don't mind if they're weird , she mused. As long as they leave me alone…
Instinctively, Makoto clutched her pencil case tighter. The rubbery feel of the case felt soft against her hands, smoothed by years of clutching and holding. Yet, a tick remained in the otherwise soothing habit: the layer of dust stubbornly remaining no matter how many times she brushed it.
Tired, Makoto closed her eyes, sensing that home was still a far ways away.