- 2 -
By some strange coincidence and no small amount of bad luck, the daily express train from Hakodate to Tokyo had been nearly completely booked out in advance. There were only five unreserved seats in the cabin and no guarantee there would be space in the luggage car to transport the equipment. Oliver broke the news to the team after breakfast when everyone assembled in the lobby with their packed luggage, ready to leave for the local station to meet the connecting train. The train was pre-booked. There weren't enough seats for all of them.
Ayako opened her mouth in an indignant complaint, but Oliver held up his hand and continued before she could even begin. "Of course, Lin and I will stay with the equipment and take the train tomorrow. Only one other person needs to stay, and if no one can we can always consider arranging a flight as a possibility—"
"I'll stay," Masako offered, without even thinking. It must have surprised the others because six sets of eyes widened and looked her way. Even Oliver tilted his head in a way that expressed he hadn't anticipated her response.
"I'll stay too," Mai chirped immediately. "You'll need someone to help with the equipment, Naru. And it's summer break anyway."
"Very well," Oliver agreed. "That's easy enough. The four of us will stay." He turned toward Mai and Masako then. "I've already spoken with the manager of the hotel. You can keep the room you were using for one more night."
"Good thing I didn't hand in the key yet," Mai laughed ruefully, picking up her duffel bag. "I guess we'd better take our luggage back upstairs." She reached to take the handle of Masako's roller suitcase, but Masako took it.
"I'll go with you." She said, and followed her to the elevator.
The doors closed, leaving the two of them alone. The elevator surged gently upwards and Masako spoke. "Thank you for staying with me," she said quietly. "It would have been.. a bit lonely all by myself."
"Aw shucks," Mai laughed, abashed, squeezing her arm. "I wanted to stay, anyway. There's no reason to rush back home. And maybe now we can have ourselves a proper holiday. We've been here, what, six days? And we haven't had a chance to relax and use the onsen! Just think how nice that will be."
The elevator doors opened with a ping and Masako smiled as she followed Mai into the hall. "It does sound nice," she said agreeably.
"And just think, after dinner, we can actually go out and enjoy the fireworks! There's no way Naru can stop us from doing that." Mai pushed the door open of the room they had shared with Ayako the past few nights. It was only a six-mat tatami room and would feel much more spacious with just the two of them.
"Though, I bet he could try," Mai sighed. Dropping her bag on the floor, she folded her arms across her chest, pursing her lips in a sudden, severe expression. "Mai, fireworks are nothing more than the combustion of chemicals compounds in rapid succession."
Masako giggled, hiding her mouth behind her sleeve. She felt a little guilty for laughing, but she knew Mai's impersonation wasn't done out of malice, but friendly teasing. And the expression was spot-on, from the clipped tone and the way she narrowed her eyes, one just slightly more than the other, an eyebrow cocked. Oliver did seem to give Mai this look a lot.
"You really ought to spend that time working on your studies and bettering yourself, and are you aware we will need to get up early tomorrow to pack up the equipment?"
"He wouldn't," Masako giggled helplessly, the effects of not sleeping the night before becoming apparent. It was funny, but it wasn't that funny—not so funny she couldn't stop giggling.
Despite her mock expression of severity, Mai's eyes were shining. Her face broke into a laugh, unable to keep the straight face any longer. "Nah, even Naru wouldn't say that," she agreed, grinning. She put her arm through Masako's, leaning her head against her shoulder. "I'm glad we get to stay together, too," she added quietly, suddenly serious. "I thought this morning, if only we didn't have to go back to Tokyo today. So I was relieved, actually, when Naru said there wasn't room on the train."
Masako held her breath and Mai sighed, still holding onto her arm. The two stood at the window, looking out at the lake. The sun was already high, the water glimmering a pale steel blue.
"A couple months ago, Naru said that after a case, he thought if I stayed at the case location I might be able to still see Gene the next night. Something about residual spiritual energy, something about us tethering him here simply by thinking about him." She lifted her head and met Masako's gaze. "I just thought it would be nice. You know, to have a dream about him that wasn't trying to solve the case. Dreams of ghosts filled with longing and regret." Mai laughed, though the sound was forced. "I'm selfish. Sorry."
"No, you're not," Masako managed. There was a lump in her throat. "I understand." Or she thought she did, as best as anyone could. She knew she and Mai were different situations and it would be presumptuous to assume. Even if the person who held their hearts had the same face, that was as far as the similarities went.
Mai sighed and shook her head. "Anyway. I don't even know. It was only just an idea Naru had, he didn't know if it would even happen." She tugged on Masako's arm. "C'mon, let's head back downstairs. Bou-san said there's this bakery in town we should go to before they head out. I think they'll have a couple hours to kill before the train to Hakodate."
"Okay." Masako smiled. Perhaps Mai's greatest strength, or one of them: her unfailing optimism, and her ability to distract herself and others into pleasant thoughts or activities.
She followed her to the hall, into the elevator, and back down to the lobby where Oliver and Takigawa were having a conversation together, the former nodding thoughtfully as the latter made his case. Ayako was sitting on one of the plush chairs, talking on her mobile. Nearby at the front desk, John and Yasuhara were studying a brochure and Lin was discussing something with the hotel manager, who appeared to be drawing a map or giving directions to somewhere.
Takigawa raised his arm when he saw them coming, a big grin alighting his face as he called out to Mai. "Ready to go to the bakery? I hear their pastries are just to die for, girl! You too, Masako!"
His call rallied the troupes, as Ayako put down her phone and Yasuhara pulled John along by the arm. "Yeah, let's go!"
"You're all hungry after breakfast?" Oliver asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Aw, c'mon, Naru, breakfast was hours ago already!" Mai protested.
"Not to mention we need something to eat on the train." Yasuhara winked. "Come on, guys, let's go."
Everyone ended up going along, even Lin. After they stored the luggage behind the front desk for those who would be leaving, they all left the hotel and began to walk. Takigawa promised it wasn't far, but they had been walking for fifteen minutes and hadn't made it yet. Surprisingly, Ayako didn't complain (and Mai whispered to her that good thing she was wearing flats, not heels, or they'd have turned back by now) and only Yasuhara teased the monk, asking if he really knew where they were going. But then they rounded a corner and there it was, sun shining on a small white-washed building just on the edge of town.
It was European-style bakery and cafe with the scent of coffee and cinnamon and some kind of spice Masako couldn't name filling the air as they opened the door. It was bright inside, sunlight streaming through the large plate glass windows. There were two people working behind the counter, a man grinding coffee beans and a woman setting a plate of cinnamon rolls out.
"Cardamom," the cheerful woman explained when she saw Masako and Mai quizzically sniffing the air. "Smells good, doesn't it? It's a magic spice, it always makes you happy. Here." And she gave them both a small piece of dough, dusted in sugar and spice. "Cinnamon and cardamom rolls, just out of the oven."
"Wow! Delicious! Isn't it, Masako?" Mai exclaimed, eyes wide. "Let's get that!"
"Sounds like that can't be beat!" Takigawa grinned. "I'll have a coffee and a cinnamon roll please."
"The same for me please," John said.
"Me too!"
Everyone ordered more or less the same and the eight of them sat on the veranda overlooking the lake in the distance. Masako hadn't realised how far they'd walked from the hotel, but with the lake as her reference point she could see they'd walked quite a ways.
"Beautiful day, isn't it?" Takigawa murmured, stretching his arms out behind his head.
"Yeah," Ayako agreed.
"We're very fortunate." John said quietly.
Everyone was silent, seeming to be thinking the same thing. No one wanted to talk about the case they had just finished; it was still too soon. Even though the spirit hadn't been aggressive or violent in any way, he had suffered a lot and the case was emotionally draining, painful when they finally forced him to leave. Masako noticed Mai and Oliver had both tensed, the two of them having seen and experienced the worst of the case together. She placed her hand on top of Mai's gently and she could see Mai's whole body relax at the touch.
"Beautiful view, isn't it?" The man said as he came up behind them, holding a tray of coffee cups and plates of cinnamon rolls.
"Incredible," Takigawa agreed. "You're lucky to see this every day."
The man smiled, setting the plates and cups in front of them. "Yes, we're very lucky. Are you in the area for long?"
"Leaving today, unfortunately."
"Ah! What a shame. Back to Tokyo, I imagine."
"How did you know?" Takigawa laughed. Their conversation continued but Masako had stopped listening, staring out at the lake as she sipped her tea and took bites of the cinnamon roll. In the mid-morning light and from this distance the lake was blue, darker than the bright blue sky above. It was a very clear day without a cloud to be seen and the rising, asymmetrical shape of a volcanic mountain was visible in the distance. It had been so humid and hazy the whole week that they couldn't see it, but today it was a pale blue outline against the sky.
Her thoughts absently returned to Oliver and she wondered what he thought about as he looked at this vista now, or what had been on his mind that morning when they'd sat together. She assumed it must be the case. Now that it was over, he would begin on the reports he prepared, two versions: one of which would be sent to the cilent, the other to his father and the British Society for Psychic Research. If the case had a lot of down time Lin would have already begun analysing the data, but that hadn't been the case this week.
Her thoughts then drifted to Oliver's parents. She liked Martin and Luella quite a lot. Not counting the time they had been briefly introduced when they came to claim Gene's remains, she'd only had one proper meeting with his parents. They'd come to Japan to visit their son in February, and the three of them had joined herself and Mai in the cafe downstairs when they were supposed to be studying. His parents filled the ideal she'd always held, being kind and funny and patient. Masako wondered if they pressured him to return to England. They hadn't been able to hide the fact they missed him, but she also knew they respected his work and were tremendously proud of him.
Masako must have zoned out for a while, because when she became aware of the conversation around her again it was because the woman was clearing their empty plates and cups. She glanced toward Oliver, blushing when she met his eyes. She hoped he didn't know she had been thinking about him, but his face was blank and expressionless. He blinked slowly in recognition, seeming to only just realise she was meeting his gaze. He was tired, she realised—his face drawn and eyes without their usual glint. He turned his gaze then toward the woman who was collecting and stacking their plates.
Masako found she had been holding her breath and she exhaled slowly, suddenly exhilarated. He had been zoning out too, but he had been looking at her. She knew she shouldn't read too much into it—couldn't read too much into it—but all the same she found herself extremely happy about it. Whatever the reason, she had been the one he had been watching. No one else and not even the beautiful scenery in front of them. None of the others seemed to have noticed and this pleased her. It would be her own secret to treasure.
"I understand it's your last day here? I do hope you've enjoyed it," the woman was saying, speaking to Takigawa again as the amicable leader of the group.
"Yes, well actually, not all of us are heading back, because these four are staying one more night," Takigawa said, indicating with his thumb toward where Lin, Oliver, Mai and herself were sitting. "But the rest of us are heading home."
"Is that right? Well then you're quite lucky, it's a full moon tonight. It will be quite a beautiful sight as it rises over the lake." She smiled warmly at them. "Please be sure to enjoy it."
"Thank you, we will." Oliver rose to his feet, signaling it was time for them to leave. The blankness was gone from his face had returned to normal. "We'd better go, Takigawa. Wouldn't want you to miss your train."
"And I want to get back to the hotel," Mai told Masako, a wry grin forming on her lips. "Do you think it's too early to use the onsen?"
"No," Masako laughed, "I think it'll be fine." Maybe it was the cardamom, she thought. Because she couldn't remember the last time she felt this happy, just to be together with her friends. To be together with Mai, to be close to Oliver. And she followed her friends out of the cafe and into the bright sunlight, the group walking together as they made their way back toward the town.