Note: I think it would be prudent to note here that I've never visited Central America... haha. I have been on a cruise like the one I write about in this story, and is what I'm basing much of it on, but that one was a trip around Iceland so... a bit of a different environment, heh. In any case, I've tried my best to research and watch videos so that I can write about these locations somewhat convincingly, but please excuse any mistakes I make!
I originally had a short paragraph here outlining my planned posting schedule for this fic but it basically boiled down to "final chapter up by the end of July" and... uh. well. Let's just go with a "whenever it gets done" schedule.
For now, I hope you enjoy chapter two!
Blue Marble
Chapter 2
After a few minutes' rest, Mahiru got up and knelt at her suitcase, opening it up to shuffle through her things. "Hey, Mom?" she called, seeing that the woman her mother had been chatting with had left. "Do you mind if I take a shower real quick?"
"What?" Asaka looked a bit shocked. "There's no time for that, Mahiru! We have to get to the welcome toast!"
"The... what?" Mahiru tried to not look too disappointed by the idea of being rushed somewhere else yet again. "But Mom, I feel so gross..."
"It's fine, honey, it'll just be a little bit longer." Asaka picked up the denim jacket and gently handed it to her daughter. "You don't have to get changed, it's a casual affair and we've already kept them waiting long enough. But everyone is going to be there, including the captain, so we should at least go and introduce ourselves, okay?"
Mahiru sighed, defeated, and slipped her jacket back on. "Well, I guess if they're waiting for us..."
Asaka smiled and patted her daughter on the back. "Attagirl. It won't be too long, just some drinks and hors d'oeuvres with everyone else until we get to the Agua Clara Locks—ah, you'll want to bring your camera and wide-angle lens for that. In any case, I'll introduce you to everyone I know, okay?"
"Like those Japanese boys?" Mahiru grumbled as she slipped her camera case over her shoulder.
Asaka laughed. "Oh, don't sound so excited! They're nice kids, trust me. I've been on the same cruises as them plenty of times before."
"Is that normal?" Mahiru asked, remembering the Canadian man her mother had been chatting with in the van. "Like, do you know a lot of these people?"
"Oh, yeah," Asaka said easily, guiding Mahiru out of their cabin and down the hall to a stairway. "Aside from the vacationing retirees that come and go, it's always a lot of the same photography enthusiasts and rich folk with nothing better to do with their money. The ships are pretty small for cruise ships, too, so we get to know each other pretty well."
"Uh-huh," Mahiru said, following her mother's guidance up the flight of stairs and arriving at a deck labeled "Lounge and Dining."
They entered the lounge, a large semi-oval room, its walls comprised of enormous glass windows overseeing the outside from starboard to bow to port. From their vantage point, the expansive view was obscured only by a drink bar in the middle of the room made of cream marble and mahogany wood—and for the first time Mahiru realized that the scenery outside was moving. Rather, the ship was moving—she would have thought she would feel some sort of jerk or loss of balance the moment they undocked, but apparently it had been a smooth enough transition from stationary to moving that she hadn't even noticed.
Around the lounge's tables and plush couches there were a ton of people milling about, probably just under a hundred in total, most of whom were holding some sort of drink—and it wasn't long at all before Asaka pushed one of her own into Mahiru's hand.
Mahiru gave the champagne glass filled with light golden liquid a quick glance before frowning up at her mother.
"That's sparkling apple cider," Asaka assured her, laughing. "For you, anyway. Mine is real champagne," she said, her eyes glinting playfully as she raised her glass. "Now get ready, the captain is about to speak."
Mahiru turned to see that indeed, the captain had appeared before the bar in the center of the room—he was a surprisingly young-looking man for a captain of a ship, but the outfit seemed to command respect even if his youthful face might not. He addressed the group of travelers in English with the same strong accent Mahiru had heard the earlier woman speak in—was it Norwegian? Mahiru knew that while the ship line was American, the tour company had been founded by a family from Northern Europe. She tried to follow what the captain was saying, understanding well enough as he welcomed them aboard the cruise and expressed his wish that they would have a relaxing and enjoyable ten days. With the formalities out of the way, he segued into some more difficult terminology, fast strings of dates that made Mahiru's head spin, and feeling a bit bashful, she tugged her mother's sleeve surreptitiously.
Asaka glanced over at her, then gave a gentle smile as she correctly interpreted Mahiru's expression. "He's just talking about the tour group's history right now," she whispered. "It's all covered in the Japanese version of the brochure at the tourism center down the hall. You can take a look later if you really want to know."
"Ah... okay, maybe later," Mahiru said, turning her attention back to the captain as she managed to pick up a few more words. "Wait, what did he just say? There's something happening in... forty-five minutes?"
"That's when we'll start making our way through the locks," Asaka interpreted. "At that point we'll want to head out onto the deck to get a better view, but until then we're free to mingle and have refreshments in here. And... oh, it's time to toast!"
Indeed, everyone around them was raising their glasses, and Mahiru quickly followed suit just in time to join the rest of the ship in cheering for the successful launch of the cruise. Asaka clinked her glass against Mahiru's, a cheeky glint in her eyes, and Mahiru returned the smile as she took a sip of her cider.
"Now," Asaka said after downing a quarter of her glass, "Let me introduce you to some of the people I know! First is... ah, Mathias! Over here!"
Over the course of the next half hour, Mahiru was whisked across the lounge from person to person, being introduced to a graduate student from the Netherlands, a small college photography club from France, a well-to-do American couple with two young children, and what seemed like countless photography professionals and hobbyists from all corners of the globe. Mahiru tried her best to make small talk, quickly becoming all too aware of how lacking her English education was when it really mattered. Previously, her only practical use of English had been giving foreign tourists directions whenever Ibuki's enthusiastic but nonsensical attempts to help only caused more problems.
Each successive chat was draining her energy reserves that were already running low from her hectic journey across the globe. Even though she knew she'd regret missing out on the experience of seeing the locks, Mahiru was just about ready to excuse herself back to their cabin when—
"Oh, there they are! Ranta-kun, Kiyo-kun!"
Mahiru was so relieved to hear her mother greeting someone in her native tongue that she actually found herself looking forward to meeting those Japanese boys that she had been so unenthusiastic about interacting with. With a tiny bit of energy restored, she eagerly turned towards the direction her mother was waving—
And immediately her expectations had fallen back down to rock bottom.
Both boys looked incredibly eccentric. One was ridiculously tall with very long, black hair—everything about him seemed to be long and black, actually, even his clothes. Sure, they were technically still north of the equator in December, but surely it was too warm for that sort of clothing? He also wore a black face mask covering his nose and mouth, hiding his expression in a way that gave Mahiru the creeps. A person's face was the best window she had into reading someone's intentions; she didn't like being unable to see it.
On the other side of the spectrum, the second boy seemed to be just a little too easy to read. He had light, wavy hair and an easygoing expression, all baggy clothes and jangling accessories... he was clearly the sort of thoughtless, unreliable guy that Mahiru just couldn't stand.
She really wasn't looking forward to getting to know either of them. Still, it wouldn't be very polite of her to just completely blow them off.
The taller boy was the first to speak. "Good evening, Koizumi-san," he said, addressing Mahiru's mother. "I take it this is your daughter we've heard so much about?"
"This is her!" Asaka preened, clapping her daughter by both shoulders proudly. "Mahiru, these boys are Korekiyo Shinguji and Rantaro Amami. They're both a year ahead of you in school, and are often on these cruises too."
"Korekiyo Shinguji," said the taller boy, extending a hand in greeting. Mahiru took it to shake after hesitating for the briefest of moments. "A pleasure, I'm sure."
"The same to you," Mahiru returned, looking up at him curiously. It seemed like he might be smiling, just slightly, but she couldn't be too sure with the mask in the way. "I'm Mahiru Koizumi."
The wavy-haired boy was next to approach Mahiru. "The name's Rantaro Amami," he said easily, accepting Mahiru's hand to shake as well. "I hope we can get along, Koizumi-san... or, uh," he glanced at her mother briefly, his grin twitching a bit. "Do you mind if I call you Mahiru-san?"
The mere thought of such an obvious playboy immediately assuming first-name basis sent goosebumps prickling along Mahiru's arms. Forcing a smile, she politely took her hand away. "I'd... really rather you didn't," she said.
Amami seemed to be speechless for a moment, his expression unreadable, before the easy grin returned and he looked at Asaka. "In that case, I suppose you'll just have to be Old Koizumi-san, then."
"Excuse me?!" Asaka retorted, hands on her hips.
"Okay, okay," Amami replied, hands held up defensively. "Auntie Koizumi, then."
"I'm not nearly old enough to be called Auntie, Ranta-kun!" Asaka punched him in the shoulder playfully, and Amami simply laughed in response. "You can just use my first name!"
Mahiru... wasn't sure what to make of the situation. She really didn't like the way that this boy was addressing her mother; her mother herself was only feigning offense, sure, but it was still just... rude.
And she was expected to get along with them? Honestly. She really couldn't stand boys her age at all.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Mahiru noticed her mother perk up.
"See someone else you recognize?" she asked.
"Ah, we wouldn't want to keep you," Shinguji offered gracefully.
Asaka grinned, just the barest hint of an apology in her expression. "Yeah, sorry, I want to go give my regards to the Kumar family..."
Mahiru took a deep breath, bracing herself for yet another round of English conversation.
"You can take a break if you need, Mahiru," her mother said warmly, apparently noticing her daughter's reluctance. "Take some time to get to know the boys a bit better! Don't let me keep dragging you around to all these old fogies!"
Mahiru hesitated; on the one hand, it was tempting to just immerse herself in the comfort of the Japanese language for a while. On the other hand... she just didn't know what to make of these boys! "Uh, well..."
"Okay, I'll see you later then!" Asaka chirped, apparently making the decision on her own before she raised a hand in a casual wave. "Don't forget to head for the observation deck once we reach the locks!"
And without another word, she had disappeared into the crowd. Mahiru blinked after her blankly, not entirely comprehending what had just happened.
From behind her shoulder, there was a low chuckle. "Well, that's Koizumi-san for you."
"Huh?" Mahiru turned in response to her name, jumping just slightly at Amami's presence.
"Ah..." Amami cleared his throat. "Asaka-san, I mean. Sorry, I'll have to get used to that."
"Oh... uh, sorry," Mahiru stuttered, eyes boring holes into her glass of cider as her ears burned. Jeez, what was she supposed to even say to them?! "So..." she started, scrambling for some sort of conversation point. "You're both in your third year of high school, then?"
The two boys glanced at each other for the briefest of moments. "Oh... I mean, we would be," Amami said, scratching the back of his head.
"We both obtained our upper secondary certificates last summer," Shinguji clarified. "It's quite a bit easier to travel when we don't have to attend traditional schooling, you see."
"I... see..." Mahiru said, haltingly. That was somewhat strange, and made them seem just a bit more like delinquent truants—but on the other hand, passing a test to graduate high school in less than half the time it would normally take was pretty impressive in itself. "So... you travel around a lot, then?"
"Oh, all the time," said Shinguji. "This is your first time traveling abroad, no? I think you'll find it quite the enriching experience."
Mahiru tapped her glass awkwardly. "You always go on tours like this?"
"Only a few times a year," Amami spoke up. "The rest of the time, uh, well..." He looked off to the side, just a touch uncomfortable. "I mean, my dad has boats he keeps all over, so we tend to use those..."
Mahiru hummed thoughtfully, busying herself with her drink again. Her mother had mentioned that there were two main types of people on these cruises: photography enthusiasts and people too rich for their own good. She supposed she knew what category these boys fell into, then.
"Let's just put that aside," Amami said with a nervous chuckle. "Will you and Asaka-san be on the extension after the cruise too?"
"Extension?" Koizumi looked up, her curiosity piqued. "What's that? I haven't heard anything about it."
"You won't be there? Oh, but you really must," Shinguji enthused in a tone that almost killed Mahiru's interest entirely. "While the cruise itself is plenty fascinating, and the stops that we make along the Pacific coast are quite enthralling, it doesn't change the fact that we do spend quite an extended period at sea with little in the way of humanity to be observed."
"Observed?"
"Yes, observed. I'm not much of a photographer myself, but would you not consider it a manner of observation as well?"
Mahiru shrugged and took a sip of her apple cider. She supposed he had a point, though Shinguji's implication of partaking in non-photography observation felt a little creepy.
"In any case," Shinguji continued, "the post-cruise extension brings us to tour on land, taking in even more sights and settlements in the Costa Rica rainforests. Rather than being isolated at sea, we'll spend the nights at family-owned lodges, have the opportunity to meet with local homesteaders..."
"Locals..." Mahiru muttered, keeping her gaze trained on her glass lest the boys notice her eyes light up.
"There's some really stunning stuff that we won't get to during the cruise, too," Amami added. "We'll go to a butterfly farm, and the Monteverde Cloud Forest in particular is—"
"I'll ask my mom," Mahiru cut in. She didn't need to hear about landscapes and wildlife; the promise of more opportunities to photograph her preferred subjects had already been enough to convince her.
Before they could try transitioning to another talking point, Mahiru noticed that the crowd of people surrounding them was starting to shift.
"Mahiru!" came her mother's voice, just a few meters away, and she spotted Asaka's shock of red hair through the crowd. "We're coming up on the locks, let's head out on the deck!"
"Ah— okay!" She gave the boys the briefest of nods, just enough to assure them that she wasn't being irresponsibly rude, and caught up with her mother, leaving her unfinished cider on a table that she passed.
The swarm of people moved steadily through the doors on the opposite side of the lounge leading to the viewing deck, and cool, fresh air licked Mahiru's face as she stepped outside. Asaka, by this point, had managed to grab ahold of her and began applying force against her daughter's back.
"Mom—!" she called in an aborted protest.
"If you won't push yourself to the front, dear, let me help!" her mother said cheekily.
Mahiru huffed, embarrassed, as she found herself stumbling right up to the safety bars, but her irritation was swiftly forgotten as she took in the technological marvel surrounding them, lit up brilliantly with floodlights in the dark.
The ship had stopped right at the end of the lock chamber, ripples of water idly lapping the hull far below, and on either side of the canal she could see workers bustling about around shipping containers on shore. As she let her eyes rake the surroundings, she noticed that the water level had begun to rise, ever so slowly.
Entranced as she was, Mahiru very nearly forgot to take out her camera. She quickly removed it from her carry bag and replaced the lens, careful not to drop it in her haste. She wasn't much into engineering or anything, but even she could tell she was seeing something truly impressive, and she didn't want to miss shooting it. Even more precious than that, though, were the expressions of the people surrounding her, glowing with wonder that she was sure mirrored her own.
Those were the treasures that she wanted to immortalize on film.
"That was amazing," Mahiru gushed an hour later, once she and her mother had returned to their cabin. The ship was still making its way through the last two lock chambers—it would take another two hours or so, she had heard—but exhaustion really was catching up to her, so they had headed in. "It's kind of a shame we couldn't see it in daylight, though the lights were stunning..."
"Daytime canal passage is only for cargo ships, typically," Asaka said, watching her daughter with amusement as Mahiru paced across the room to gaze out the window at the scenery shifting as the ship was elevated. "But if the captain makes up enough time tomorrow we might start through the Pacific locks around golden hour."
"Golden hour..." Mahiru knew that her eyes must be lit up excitedly again, but while it would have been embarrassing in front of boys she didn't know, she needed to show no such restraint in front of her mother. Though that reminded her... "Oh, right!" She turned around to face her mother. "Mom, I heard that there's a post-cruise extension...?"
Asaka had brought out her own camera to check the settings, but the question made her hands pause. "What about it?"
"Well..." Mahiru twiddled her thumbs, bashful. She wanted to directly say that she'd like to go, but... "I just hadn't known it was even an option. Is there, you know, a money issue or...?"
"Hmm? Oh, not at all!" Asaka easily waved off her concerns. "I'd happily pay a little extra for the extension, Mahiru! The problem is that it would be an extra three days..."
"...Yeah?"
Asaka smiled, amusement clearly reflected in her gray eyes. "Mahiru, that would get you back home less than a day before school starts up again. The jetlag will be awful!"
"Oh, mom," Mahiru sighed. "I'll be fine!"
"Are you sure? This is your first time overseas, after all..."
"I can still go to school a little tired," Mahiru huffed.
Asaka chuckled and stepped over to her. "Well, if my beloved daughter wants something so bad, who am I to deprive her of it?" She playfully poked Mahiru in the forehead.
"Mom—!"
"I'll ask tomorrow about adding the extension to our itinerary," she said. "For now, you do need rest, so I'll leave you be. I'm going back to the deck for a few hours if you need me for anything."
"Okay, Mom," Mahiru said, rubbing her forehead.
"And if you do leave the room, don't forget to take your card key." She indicated the lanyard sitting on the desk. "You won't be able to get back in by yourself otherwise."
"Got it."
Asaka smiled softly. "Alright, I'm heading out then! If there's anything you miss, I'll be sure to capture it for you," she said, patting her camera case with a wink.
Mahiru responded with a warm smile of her own. "Don't worry about me, Mom, just go and have fun!"
"All right, I'll see you later then!"
Once her mother had disappeared from their cabin, Mahiru made quick work of gathering up her shower supplies; she had already been halfway through digging them out when they had first arrived, so they weren't hard to locate.
Really, having to go through a social event directly after thirty straight hours of travel, without even a shower to freshen herself up in between? It was amazing that she was able to be as cordial to those boys as she was.
Eager to wash away the sweat and grime of an extra-long day, she set her supplies in the shower and quickly shedded her clothes, relishing in the sensation of water washing down her body even before it could warm up to a proper temperature. After everything, even the lukewarm water felt like heaven.
After pulling the door tight shut behind her, Mahiru ducked her head under the water, letting it flow through her short hair and raking her fingers through the reddish locks.
And she paused as a flash of blue on her right arm caught the corner of her eye.
Blue on her arm wasn't an unusual sight, of course. Her mark was obviously in full view of her when she was naked.
But somehow it seemed like more blue than she was used to.
Slowly, Mahiru brought her arm down again, twisting it in front of her as best she could to get a better look at her mark.
Dread pooled in her stomach when she realized that it wasn't just her familiar mark anymore. Underneath the blue circle, stretching down her deltoid, was a swooping, illegible scribble that hadn't been there before, in the exact same shade of cerulean blue.
Mahiru stood there for a while, just staring at the new markings, unable to comprehend. Refusing to do so, even. Was that... some sort of stain? From her clothing, somehow? Her shirt had been green, not blue... but maybe? Absently, feeling as if something was holding her back on the most basic level, as if her neurons were being fired through molasses, she reached for her loofah and worked in some body soap, then got to work trying to scrub the stain off.
It wasn't working. Why wasn't it coming off? Surely it would only take a little bit of soap and elbow grease to go away.
After several long minutes of scrubbing, Mahiru's shoulder was significantly redder but no less blue.
Groaning, she fell to the shower floor, sitting herself on the tile as she listened to the water spitting against the wall above her. She wasn't stupid, of course. She knew that was the soulscript, and she knew what it must mean.
At some point in the past day, Mahiru had come into contact with her soulmate.
She buried her head in her hands. Admitting that to herself only opened up a whole new reason to fret, though. When had she come into contact with them? Where? She had been wearing the same clothes for well over a full day, her mark hidden beneath, so the change could have happened at any point during that time and she wouldn't have even seen it. Supposedly people usually felt their soulscript manifest, but Mahiru hadn't noticed any such thing.
So when did it happen? Who was it?
There were few actual scientific studies on what constitutes the "contact" needed for the soulscript to manifest. Most documented knowledge on the matter came from variety TV segments making a spectacle of soulmate pairs meeting for the first time—of which many may very well be fabricated, or at least scripted. Even assuming that they were all true, the distance needed for "contact" varied from pair to pair, anywhere from three meters to actual skin-to-skin contact. For all that Mahiru knew, her soulmate could be anyone that had been within spitting distance over the past day.
She had traveled throughout the Tokyo railway system, through Narita security, two American airports, rushed her way through arrivals at Panama City... there were hundreds, thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of people who could have activated the script. It could be literally anyone across multiple possible continents—and that was assuming that she only encountered people local to where she passed by them. In reality, a huge number of them would have been fellow international travelers. Her soulmate could be from anywhere in the world.
Lackadaisical though she may have been about soulmates up until that point, the thought now that she could have very well missed her one and only chance encounter with her match was terrifying.
A warm mist was surrounding Mahiru now that the shower had come to temperature, but it only seemed to settle onto her skin in a cold sweat.
Think. She had to think. Was she absolutely certain her mark had been hidden for thirty straight hours? Was there no possible opportunity that she could have seen a change?
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't think of any point where she might have seen that area of her shoulder. She had shedded her winter coat before going through security at Narita, but the denim jacket had stayed on throughout—the airplane cabins were just chilly enough to keep it on, to say nothing of the terminal gates in Chicago and New Jersey. The only time she had taken that jacket off was when she had arrived on the ship, and even then, she hadn't done so much as change her shirt before the toast. The T-shirt's sleeves might have been a little short, but it was still plenty of cover for her mark—
No. Well, yes, technically, but now that she thought about it, she had opened the curtains. It was an action that she hadn't put any thought into at the time, but she had reached upward to grab the fabric closer to the curtain hooks. Her sleeve would have ridden up a bit with the movement, and though it wouldn't have been enough to expose the blue circle high on her shoulder... her new soulscript swooped downward, low enough to have peeked past her sleeve, and she would have certainly noticed such a foreign sight on her body, had it been there.
But it hadn't.
So that meant... the soulscript manifested after she boarded the ship. After she and her mother had left their cabin. At some point during the gathering in the lounge, after the ship had left the port at Colón.
In one fell swoop, the pool of candidates for her soulmate's identity fell from a staggering several billion to just the hundred or so passengers and crew aboard the cruise.
Mahiru lowered her hands and leaned back against the wall. Well, it was a relief that her soulmate wasn't lost to the crowds of international holiday travelers, but still... it wasn't like she had met anyone on the ship that she'd really clicked with, either. At best, she'd have to deal with some sort of language barrier.
She groaned and stood back up, fetching the loofa that had rolled over to the shower drain. There was no sense worrying about it now. If she really wanted to figure out who her soulmate was, she had a whole week and some change to narrow them down.
And if she really thought about it, this was probably the best possible environment to find them. It was largely a photography trip, after all. The chances were remarkably good that she and her soulmate would be kindred spirits.
With that all settled, she got back to work at bathing herself. For now... she just wanted to get washed up and go to sleep.
Notes: hmmmmm who could it beeeeeee
