By morning, the snowstorm had completely let up. You could even see glimpses of blue sky from time to time through little gaps in the thick cloud cover.
Ushio and I were on a bus headed for Cape Soya. No delays as of yet; we were proceeding right on schedule. We’d make it there in about an hour, so it was only about a twelfth of the bus ride we’d taken the day before. I figured it would fly right by before Ushio and I even ran out of things to chat about.
And so it did.
“Whoaaa, holy crap… It is cold out here!”
Not to mention the wind! The windchill was so bad, I thought it might turn me into a popsicle! It was a little better than yesterday, since there wasn’t any snow, but cold was still cold. I glanced up at the digital thermometer embedded in the gift shop’s exterior and saw that it was -7 degrees Celsius. Yeah, that’s pretty frosty, all right.
“Sakuma!” Ushio called out. “It says the northernmost point is over here!”
“All right, let’s go check it out!”
Ushio was in unusually high spirits today. I followed her down the path, and a triangular monument soon came into view. Apparently, that was it. Perhaps due to the icy weather, there was no one else around. I walked up to stand by Ushio’s side, and she turned to look at me. Her face was beaming.
“Let’s do this together,” she said.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Sounds good to me.”
She held out her hand, and I took it in mine.
And together, we stepped up onto the platform.
This was it: our final destination.
Our adventure was finally over.
✦ ✦ ✦
After making it back to Wakkanai Airport with time to spare, Ushio and I boarded our flight back to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. According to my mom, she’d opted for Haneda rather than Narita because there was a direct flight to the former, but not the latter.
Once we landed, we’d still have a long journey back to Tsubakioka, but it was nothing compared to the bus ride from yesterday. Thankfully, my mom had said someone would be coming to pick us up from the airport. I wondered who it could be.
“Kamiki! Ushio!” a voice cried out.
As soon as we walked out into the arrivals lobby, I spotted someone I recognized. Wow. Of all the people who could’ve driven us home, I hadn’t expected Ms. Iyo. We did have the day off from school, to be fair—as a compensatory holiday since our class trip fell over the weekend. But it definitely impressed me that she’d sacrifice her time off just to come all the way out here and pick us up.
“Ms. Iyo!”
Ushio and I ran over to her.
“How are you two feeling?!” she asked. “You’re not hurt at all, are you?!”
“No, we’re totally fine,” I said. “Flight was nice and smooth. Got plenty of sleep.”
“Yeah, I’m okay too,” said Ushio. “They even gave us lunch on the plane.”
Ms. Iyo hung her head and let out a heavy sigh of relief. Seeing how fraught with worry she’d been filled me with a deep sense of guilt. She’d put in so much work to plan out every last detail of this trip to make sure everyone had a good, safe time in Hokkaido, and our sudden disappearance had clearly taken a huge mental toll on her.
“Kamiki… Ushio…”
She called our names, then slowly lifted her head. And when we saw the look on her face, Ushio and I both gulped.
“Do you have any idea how much trouble and stress your selfish actions have caused for those around you? And I’m not just talking about me either—all the other teachers, the hotel staff, and even your fellow students were running around desperately trying to find you. I mean, come on, you two! You’re in high school, for crying out loud! How have you not learned to follow basic instructions yet?!”
I couldn’t say a word to refute this even if I wanted to. Both Ushio and I simply stood there in silence and let her yell at us.
“We’re not the only ones who might have to suffer the consequences of your actions either,” she went on. “Because of you two, there’s now a precedent for students running away in the middle of a class trip—which means that next year’s students might not be able to enjoy nearly the same level of freedom and autonomy as your class did. But I’m guessing you weren’t thinking that far ahead when you made this decision, were you?”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Iyo,” I said. “But, um, I just want to say…none of this was Ushio’s fault, really… I’m the one who forced her to come along with me.”
“No, I’m not letting you take all the blame,” said Ushio. “I agreed to go with you of my own volition, so I still bear some responsibility for that.”
“I wasn’t finished,” said Ms. Iyo. “Don’t interrupt me.”
“Yes, ma’am,” we said in unison.
She proceeded to chastise us for nearly another thirty minutes. Only after wringing us dry of every last word of apology we could possibly give did she finally let out a sharp sigh and place her hands on her hips.
“So tell me,” she said, looking at me and then Ushio as her expression suddenly softened from that of a spiteful demon to a tender smile. “Did you have fun, at least?”
Ushio and I both did a double take at this—but once we realized this meant the lecture was over, we each broke out in smiles as well.
“Yeah,” I said. “It was a really good time.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever forget it,” said Ushio.
“Well, then that’s all that matters!”
Ms. Iyo’s voice regained its usual cheer so fast, it almost made me wonder if her angry demeanor just now had all been an act she felt forced to put on.
“Now, come on,” she said. “Let’s get you two home.”