Bus Driver: Here's the front of Hemidzuka Station.
Kei: Thank you very much.
Bus Driver: I look forward to serving you again.
I descend the steps and disembark, standing on the rigid, paved road.
Kei: Mmng!
I'm finally back at the station.
Though the air conditioned bus was quite pleasant, sitting still for thirty minutes made me want to be outside.
Stretching a bit, and adjusting my body to the outside air, I face the shopping street and set off.
There isn't much, but at least it's more lively than the station front, and there seems to be a good round of shops gathered there.
The festival is close, and the stores are dotted with paper lanterns.and decorations.
But it is extremely sober, over all. The colors are moderately faded, and every place I see has a subdued bearing.
Ah! Oh, but that's pretty flashy. It's standing out from far away... rather, it's not a decoration.
It's a moving object, bearing vibrant color in direct contrast to the town street.
It appears to be advancing this way, and I gradually begin to see the outline.
It's a car.
It's also bigger than a typical automobile, and higher... a cross-country four-wheel-drive SUV.
Incidentally, the reason some layperson like me, who can't tell cars apart, knows such a word as "cross-country 4WD (abbrev. "Kurokan.")" is because it was taught to me by a certain person.
......Anyway.
I remember cross-country vehicles as red as Shintou gates or deep blue, but it seems such a color reflects the the personality of the one who chose it.
As that scarlet object grows larger, the longer I look at it, the more it looks like the belonging of a friend of mine...
Woman in Vehicle: Kei.
Kei: Wha-?
And as it turns out, it is my friend's car, so the resemblance is only natural...
Woman in Vehicle: Kei, what in the world're you doing here?
Kei: ......I was going to ask you the same question, Sakuya-san.
A face I know, aboard a car I remember, is in this unfamiliar town.
She would often come over unexpectedly to play, so it wouldn't be strange to see her where I live, but...
Sakuya: Work is what I'm here for, work. Under the theme "the remaining Japanese wildlife." I'm told to take pictures of wolves, foxes, tanuki, or wild animals along those lines.
Kei: Sakuya-san, in Japan, wolves are......
Sakuya: If I snap one, it's a scientific academy report, right? Well, if my luck is good, I might even catch the last one.
Kei: Or you might just find a tsuchinoko. (TN: A Japanese UMA - Unidentified Mysterious Animal. A snake almost as wide as it is long.)
Sakuya: Oh please. Mentioning some snake monster isn't gonna bring me any luck.
Kei: Ahaha, so even Sakuya-san has things she's afraid of.
Sakuya: A lot of things happen when you live long - so they say.
She reaches to turn the key, and the low rumbling engine lurches to a stop.
Sakuya: Kei, it's been a while.
Kei: Yeah, since my mother's funeral. I really relied on you, then. I'm in your debt.
*pekori* I lower my head in a bow.
Since I had no relatives to rely upon, the one who arranged everything for the funeral was her.
An old friend of my mother's, a reportage writer and concurrent photographer, her name is Asama Sakuya-san.
She's a person with many contacts, probably from her profession. The tax counselor who helped with my inheritance was also by her introduction.
Sakuya: Don't you worry about that. And so your trip out here would be for the Hazama mansion - Emiko's mansion, right?
Kei: Yep.
Emiko was my father's mother. Rather, my grandmother.
As usual I don't even remember her face, but that would make Sakuya-san an acquaintance of my grandmother.
Sakuya: So, did you go there?
Kei: ......Ah.
Sakuya: Letting out some block-headed voice... what in the world happened?
Kei: I completely forgot.
Sakuya: ......What was that?
Kei: Going to my dad's house. I completely forgot. *sound of crow cawing* (TN: The crow's sound in Japanese is often depicted as "aho," which means "idiot/moron/dufus.")
Sakuya: ......What've you been doing?
Kei: Uuu, I'm sorry......
Though why I have to apologize to Sakuya-san, I have no idea.
Sakuya: But judging by the look of you, you've gone to the mountains, right?
Kei: Oh, you can tell?
Sakuya: Come on, you shouldn't go hiking in that laid back outfit. Even on your head, you have...
Her hand stops as she reaches out.
Kei: Sakuya-san? Is something wrong?
I haltingly look up to see a white Enju petal in her fingers.
Kei: Ah, that's from the Ohashirasama.
Sakuya: ......Kei.
Kei: Wh- what!?
The low voice calling my name gives me a start.
Sakuya: You went all the way to a place like that?
Kei: By "a place like that"... the Ohashirasama's sacred tree?
Though that's a slightly harsh form of reference, when you consider the geographic conditions of a mountain that people rarely visit, it probably can't be helped.
Sakuya: That's right, and you went there?
Kei: Yeah. I heard about a festival, so I thought I'd just go see it......
Although, it's not some nearby place that would warrant saying "I thought I'd just go."
Kei: Ahaha......
Sakuya: ............
Kei: I guess that was bad? Shrines designate places like that as forbidden ground, don't they? That would make it trespassing, but......
Sakuya: Sakuya-san gives my excuse-spouting self a good look from head to toe before she finally opens her mouth.
Sakuya: ......Did anything weird happen!?
Kei: What do you mean, "weird"?
Sakuya: Well, that's......
Stumbling in mid-sentence, she forces her gaze elsewhere.
Sakuya: ......Mmmm...
Clearing her throat, and making other sorts of sounds.
I don't think I said anything to warrant that response.
Kei: I saw a weird dream, but nothing else, really...
Sakuya: A dream, huh......
Kei: Is there something weird in that mountain?
Sakuya: Ah, well, what was it...
It seems pretty obvious that I'm being kept in the dark.
Sakuya: Well, anyway, since we're just standing around talking here, how about a change of scenery?
Kei: That sounds good.
Sakuya: At any rate, get in the car.
As she speaks, Sakuya-san reaches for the door, then stops.
Sakuya: -Oh, actually, Kei, where'd you stay last night?
Kei: Ah, it's a place called "Sakaki Hotel."
Sakuya: Ahh, that place, huh? Then I know the way so, no need to navigate.
Kei: You know the hotel?
Sakuya: I came here one night and hit them up for a bath. Might as well give them another staying customer.
Sakuya: There, get in, get in.
Kei: Oka~y.
I shuffle hurriedly to the passenger side door.
Continue...