8:21 A.M.
Once we made it out of the greater Sapporo area, we emerged onto the exact sort of long, scenic highway you’d expect from a place like Hokkaido. The road itself had been cleared away, so you could see the pavement, but everything else was covered in a pristine blanket of snow—though for me, this wintry landscape had long since lost its novelty.
Even after hanging up with Hoshihara, Ushio’s phone continued to buzz every few minutes or so as our other classmates attempted to text or call her. After a while, she turned her phone off; I assumed she didn’t have the heart to keep ignoring them.
As for me, on the other hand—aside from that initial missed call and text from Hasumi, no one had bothered trying to get in contact with me. While this didn’t come as much of a surprise, it was so blatantly emblematic of the difference in our popularity levels, I couldn’t help but feel a little bummed out about it.
Eventually, one more phone call did come through.
“Oh, dang. My phone’s buzzing,” I said. “Wonder if it’s Hasumi again… Wait, huh?!”
“Who is it?”
“It’s Ms. Iyo.”
Ushio’s expression stiffened. Honestly, I was a little surprised it had taken this long for the trip’s head chaperone to try getting in touch with us. Breakfast had to be over and done with by now, so it wouldn’t be long before she’d have to rally the whole group together to head over to the airport.
“…Are you gonna answer it?” Ushio asked.
“I mean, she’s our teacher, so I feel like I kinda have to. And she’ll probably just keep trying if I don’t.”
I definitely didn’t want to pick up the phone, when I knew I’d only be in for the scolding of a lifetime. On top of that, I didn’t know what to say to her or how much was safe to disclose. Sure, we could at least tell her our destination, but would that really be wise? What if they tried to head us off at the pass or something? Then again, maybe it was too late for that at this point; I couldn’t say for certain.
Aw, to hell with it. We’re gonna have to explain ourselves sooner or later, aren’t we? Might as well get it over with, I guess.
“Y-yes, hello?” I said, answering the phone.
“Kamiki? Is that you?” said Ms. Iyo. “Where are you right now? Are you with Ushio?”
She sounded like she was at her wits’ end; I assumed she’d tried to call Ushio first, then dialed me instead when it went to voicemail, since her phone was off. Or, who knew—maybe she just figured I was more likely to pick up. Not that it mattered.
“Yes, we’re together,” I said. “And we’re not in any danger or trouble, don’t worry.”
“You’re not?! Are you sure?!” Ms. Iyo let out a heavy sigh of relief.
It was the truth; we weren’t in danger. I supposed we would be in trouble as soon as the faculty managed to get ahold of us back home.
“So where are you right now? You need to hurry up and come back to the hotel. Oh, and we went ahead and took your breakfast to-go, by the way.”
“S-sorry, but, um…I don’t think we can come back at this point.”
“Huh? Wait, what do you mean by that? Just where are you two?”
“Uhhh, yeah, so about that… We’re kind of on a bus heading due north right now…”
“What? A bus to where?! How far north, Kamiki?!”
“As far north as the road will take us.”
“And where’s that, exactly?!”
“Look, we’re really sorry, but…we’re not gonna make our flight, so if there’s any opportunity for you to refund our tickets, please go ahead and do so. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, but we promise we’ll be back in Tsubakioka later tonight, so please don’t worry about us…”
“Of course I’m going to worry about you! What do you mean, you ‘won’t make the flight’?! This has to be some sort of joke, right?! You’d better tell me exactly where—”
I hung up.
My hand felt shaky and numb as I held my thumb over the End Call button. It was the same residual numbness I’d felt after hitting a ball at the batting cages at a wrong angle, though this time I knew there shouldn’t be any physical reverberations. Perhaps I was simply feeling the immediate repercussions of the major decision I’d just made.
“Ms. Iyo…didn’t sound too mad, did she?” Ushio asked nervously.
“No. I hung up before she had the chance to really chew me out.”
“Guess we’ll have that to look forward to when we get home, then.”
“Yeah…”
For a moment, I was a little worried as to whether this might affect my academic record. Then I remembered that Ms. Iyo was the same person who hadn’t given up on Nishizono, even after she physically assaulted two different classmates. So although I was sure we’d be in pretty deep trouble for this, I didn’t think we’d get suspended or expelled or anything like that…most likely.
“I’d better turn my phone off too,” I said. “Don’t think I’ll have the courage to pick up again if she tries calling back.”
“Great, now it’s starting to feel like we really are running away together…”
Ushio said this in such an off-the-cuff manner that it was hard for me to tell what she truly meant by it—but it seemed safe to assume she wasn’t being passive-aggressive or anything, at least, so I figured I should keep it nonchalant as well.
“Yeah, no kidding,” I mumbled back.
✦ ✦ ✦
9:10 A.M.
After eating the sandwich I’d purchased at the convenience store before we hopped on the bus, I was hit by a sudden wave of drowsiness. It was hard not to feel sleepy when gazing out at the window at the unchanging snowscape from my comfy seat inside our warm, northbound vessel. I glanced at Ushio, who was starting to nod off as well.
Perhaps a little nap wouldn’t hurt; this was supposed to be a six-hour drive. Truth be told, I hadn’t fully registered how far away Wakkanai was from Sapporo until we’d gotten on the bus. It was hard to believe it was even possible to drive straight north for that long and still be in Hokkaido. I’d assured Ushio that this was going to be an adventure, yet we were going to spend most of that time in transit.
Maybe I should have chosen someplace a little bit closer. My ever-lurking self-doubt was beginning to resurface.
“Sorry, I think I’m gonna try to sleep for a bit,” said Ushio, rubbing her eyes.
“Yeah, go for it,” I replied. “We still have a long way to go.”
“Probably another four and a half hours or so, right? Just gotta hang in there.”
“Man, I feel kinda bad now. Shouldn’t have picked somewhere so far away.”
“It’s okay. Too late to turn back now… You should try to get some rest too, Sakuma.”
“Yeah… I think I will.”
Ushio wished me good night, reclined her seat back as far as it could go, and closed her eyes.
I looked up at the large digital clock installed at the front of the bus. It was a little after nine; our fellow classmates were likely on their way to the airport, if they hadn’t gotten there already. Ms. Iyo was probably still pulling her hair out with worry about us. Curious, I turned my phone back on for a second.
Oh god…
I almost let out a gasp. Not only did I have about a dozen missed calls from Ms. Iyo, but there were also several from my home phone and my mother’s cell phone as well. Ms. Iyo must have gotten in touch with my family already.
Great, now I’m gonna get in trouble with my parents too… Though that should’ve been obvious from the start.
“Hm?”
I’d also gotten another text from Hasumi about thirty minutes ago; I figured I might as well give it a read.
“Hey, I’m bringing your luggage home for you. You owe me big-time.”
I cracked a wry grin at this. Chances were one of the teachers had probably ordered him to do this for me, but I took him going out of his way to let me know as a sign of Hasumi’s overall good nature. I’d have to buy him lunch or something once I got back to Tsubakioka—assuming I had any money left by then.
All right… I should get some sleep too.