Written Rivers
A Home Amongst Rivers
Chapter 4: Unexpected Tragedy
March 25 was quickly approaching and Chihiro was in hustle mode. What was so important about this date? Well for every fourth year at Osaka University, graduation was quickly upon them. Final exams and term papers were on everyone's minds with less than two weeks left to prepare. Chihiro was franticly going down the hallways of the university with a stack of note cards in her hands as she tried to memorize the names of different gods and events from her mythology class. She had no issues with memorizing the knowledge of myths, she was just putting off her studying for the more… difficult classes that she dared not touch until she had no choice.
It was Friday, two weeks until the day she'd walk down the aisle and receive her diploma in Arts and Humanities. Things were starting to line up for her, she'd go to do research as a historian or mythologist, maybe a journalist and study what she was passionate in. Nothing excited her more that studying the behaviors and cultures of the past and learning from them. She hoped to pass her knowledge on and help others understand their actions had consequences and it usually started with the environment.
Chihiro walked outside and shielded her eyes from the sun as she came into the main quad area, crowded with students, dashing back and forth trying to get their final projects done. Chihiro took a deep breath of the fresh air and checked her watch to see if she had time before work to stop at the library. It was almost three in the afternoon and she had to be at the bath house at around four forty-five, so she had time to stop at the university library before heading back to the apartment to get ready for work.
Chihiro started down the stairs in the direction of the library when she felt a sudden jolt mid-step and tripped down the steps, about to face plant into the concrete below as the floor beneath her shook. Her note cards scattering around her, she threw her hands out in front of her to brace for impact with the ground, shutting her eyes. But instead of meeting the cold concrete, she fell into warm arms, whom she looked up to belonging to a lean young man with regarding cloudy greenish-blue eyes and shaggy brown hair. Before she could process anymore, she registered that the earth below them was still moving like large waves of water and that they needed to get somewhere safe. The man guided her away from the building, shielding her in case something was to fall on them, and helped her hide under an outdoor bench with a few other students.
The waves continued as students and staff screamed and poured out of the buildings. It felt like it would go forever, Chihiro's heart racing at what felt like a hundred miles a minute. Signs fell, and the buildings swayed, people around them pointing and barking orders at others to get to safety, a voice on the PA system announced for people to leave the buildings in a calm, orderly fashion and to remain calm.
The earthquake went on for another two minutes, the waves and swaying slowed to a lull. People slowly came out of hiding, cautiously awaiting the aftershocks and any possible falling debris. The man that had led Chihiro to the bench took her by the hand and brought her out of hiding.
"You're safe. Are you alright?" His sharp, attentive eyes looking her over checking for any injuries.
"I'm fine, thank you." Chihiro retracted her hand, glancing over the man cautiously.
He let out a sigh of relief. "Good. I'm glad." He straightened his back. "I'll be leaving, be safe and good luck in your finals." He gave a strained, awkward smile, like he didn't do it often and jogged off.
Chihiro blinked, still shaken, before looking around, taking in what had just happened. There wasn't a lot of damage, thankfully, but there were fallen over signs, some exterior damage, there'd probably be a lot of fallen over supplies and furniture inside the buildings, but it didn't look like anyone was hurt. The rest of the day proceeded with aftershock waves and many of the classes being cancelled. Her work managed to call her and told her that she didn't have to come in today because of some damages the bath house took, thus they wouldn't be opening today. She went home, praying that Rumi and Makoto were fine. She attempted to call Rumi, in hopes the lines weren't down or too busy but there was no such luck.
She arrived at the apartment and found it a complete wreck. Bookshelves and kitchenware spread across the floor, the two potted plants they had in the apartment lay broken on the ground, dirt spilt across the tatami mats. The small outdoor deck had plants and debris laid across the ground. She looked around to see if there was any extreme damage to the apartment, to which she found was none.
"Makoto!" She called out, lifting one of the bookshelves to be upright, praying he wasn't under one. She heard a barking sound from the bathroom and found him crouched in their tub. She let out a sigh of relief and went over to him, looking him over. "You okay buddy?" She scratched behind his ears after she saw that he was fine. He nuzzled her side in an attempt to calm her more than himself.
"Chihiro? Matako? Oh my gosh!" They heard the jingling of Rumi's keys and her stumbling over herself to get in.
"We're in the bathroom, Rumi! Be careful!"
After hearing some stumbling and a few "ouches," Rumi came into sight of the bathroom doorway. "Is everyone alright? That was insane! They said the earthquake was like an 8.0 or something and it started a tsunami up in the Tohoku-Tokyo area!"
"Are you serious?" Chihiro thought about who she knew in Tokyo and her eyes widened in concern. "Wait, your family is out there, are they okay?"
Rumi bit her lip, her brows knitting together. "I'm not sure. I can't get ahold of them, and doubt I'll be able to for a while."
Chihiro suddenly noticed that her friend's eyes were red, as if she'd been crying. "Oh Rumi-Chan." She stood up and gathered her friend in her arms. "It's going to be okay. I know they'll be fine." She felt Rumi shudder in her arms and then shake as she began to cry. "Shhh." Chihiro raked her fingers through Rumi's hair, soothing her as they sunk down to the bathroom floor.
Makoto came over and nuzzled the two of them, putting aside his differences with Rumi. They were all safe, that's what mattered right now.
Over the following week, news flew around about what was happening in the Tokyo area. Many lives were lost, and many lives were affected. Chihiro managed to get ahold of her parents the day after and let them know that she was okay but that unfortunately, they couldn't get ahold of Rumi's family. A few days later, they would find that Rumi's family was on the missing people list and Rumi was heartbroken. She spent the next few days engrossing herself in her studying and work, not wanting to hear anything about the earthquake. Chihiro left her alone and let her have her time to let things sink in. She would talk to her about everything after finals were done.
On the Wednesday before graduation, Chihiro sat at the dinner table with Rumi, who was staring into her bowl of miso soup. She no longer had her studies to hide behind, she was vulnerable.
"Rumi-Chan…" Chihiro started, but stopped. She'd spent the last several days trying to figure out what she'd say to her friend once it came up but now that the opportunity was there, she didn't know what to say.
"I still want to go." Rumi affirmed suddenly.
Chihiro frowned, blinking. "What?"
"On our annual backpacking trip. We're still going." She sipped at her soup.
"But… but Rumi-Chan-"
"Chi-Chan." Rumi met her friend's worried eyes, widened with confusion over her choice. "I'm not going to sit around sulking. I have a life, and I have to move forward. We'll hold a memorial ceremony for them after we get back."
"Rumi, that's not sulking, it's called grief. You lost your family, Rumi, you don't have to keep distracting yourself and hold up this strong front, you're allowed to-"
"Chihiro." Rumi's eyes were cold, and her tone was firm. "I am fine. I don't need you babying me. I don't want you to baby me. I already paid my respects and accepted what happened. Just let it go for now. Let's live our lives, that's what they'd want." She said the last part with an airy breathy.
Chihiro pierced her lips and knit her brows together. "Alright… if that's what you want." She picked at her food with her chopsticks. "Well, we better start packing if we're still going to the camping site."
Rumi gave a small smile and nodded, continuing to eat her food, leaving a silent, cold tension in the room as they continued to eat.
A/N: So, this was actually a last-minute addition. I planned the date for the graduation ahead of time and was very in depth about the timing over everything in this story and even went as far as to look up the university graduation ceremony dates and speeches. When I was reading over the speech, however, I realized that the year I was planning to have Chihiro graduate was the exact same year of the 2011 Great Tohoku-Pacific Ocean Earthquake. I remember that event very clearly because I remember our whole school taking a moment of silence the day it happened and showing our respects to those that were lost in the earthquake and tsunami. Now, as soon as I realized this, I had to include it in the story, it followed along too perfectly (for lack of a better word) with the timeline and I realized that it could play a bigger part in the plot. I also wanted to pay some sort of homage to the disaster. God forbid it happen again anytime soon, but I send out prayers to all those going through the recent natural disasters as there have been many in the last year alone. To those who haven't, count your blessings and I pray for your safety and wellness. I just wanted to add this to the end.
Thank you for reading, and please don't forget to leave a review! I hope everyone has an amazing new year!
Thank you to Amidstsnow and Firetail Finch for the reviews!
God bless, KawaChou
