The darkness ended up falling faster than they expected. The path was pitch black in front of them. Not a single light was working in the old place, and the sky was too cloudy for the moonlight to be any help. They no longer knew which way to go to reach the entrance. They could barely even see each other in the dark.
“What should we do?” Isuzu wondered.
“H-Hold on,” Seiya told her. “I think there was a sign around here...” He used his smartphone’s flashlight app, which produced a powerful beam of light. He swept it around, illuminating a sign, and checking their position. “Over there,” he said. “This is the way.”
“All right,” Isuzu agreed. “Let’s go.” But, because of the state of their surroundings, the path was unsteady. The tall grass growing through the cracked asphalt and fallen structures made it hard to simply follow the signs. They’d hit dead end after dead end. Potholes and dips and pieces of rubble in the path made just walking around treacherous. The smartphone’s light was indispensable.
“This isn’t good...” Seiya mumbled.
“What’s wrong?”
“The battery...” He’d just realized that his smartphone’s battery was down to 10%. Actually, it was now 9%. “Sento,” he said. “How are things on your end?”
“My smartphone?” she checked. “It’s down to 6%.”
“What?!” Seiya was flabbergasted. You idiot! And you call yourself my secretary? “My expectations are low, but I might as well ask... do you have a spare battery?”
“No,” she told him shortly.
“Awesome,” Seiya snarked. “It’s so great to have you here!”
Isuzu glared at him. “...I tried repeatedly to contact you after you went missing,” she told him coldly. “That’s how I used up my spare battery.”
“You still could have done something!”
“What, exactly?” she asked. “Anyway, I think you should contact Handa-san.”
He looked and saw that they just barely had phone service here. It would be wise to try to get in touch with her while they still had battery remaining. Seiya tried calling Handa-san’s cell phone, but it wouldn’t go through. Maybe she was away, or she hadn’t heard it ringing. His repeated calls caused his remaining battery to tick down from 8% to 7%. “Come on, pick up...” But she wouldn’t pick up.
“What should we do?”
“I guess we’ll just keep calling until the battery runs out... no, that would be reckless,” Seiya decided. “Let’s try to find the way out first.”
“True...” Isuzu agreed. “If we can get out of these ruins, we might be able to find a local convenience store...”
As they turned the smartphone light back on and started walking, Isuzu grabbed his sleeve.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing... I just don’t want to get separated,” she mumbled back.
“...Right.”
“It’s pitch black. That’s all it is.”
“Well... okay. Just don’t let go.” He felt a little restless for some reason. Hanging together, Seiya and Isuzu wandered around the ruins, side by side, using the smartphone to illuminate the ground ahead. At last, Seiya’s battery ran out. “Sento,” he said. “Let me see your smartphone.”
“All right...” In the darkness, Isuzu hesitantly handed over her smartphone. For some reason, the wallpaper was a photo of an open-air bath. A rock-lined hot bath with no one in it, and steam billowing from the top. A scene of rustic beauty. Had she downloaded it from some hot springs hotel’s promotional site?
“Why an open-air bath?” he questioned.
“What’s wrong with it?” Isuzu replied defensively. “Don’t criticize my preferences.”
“I’m not criticizing. But is this what you’re into? These old man-style hot springs?”
“See? You are criticizing.”
“I just thought it was weird. You don’t have to get testy. I just—”
“Would you please hurry? The battery will run out soon.”
“Ah, that’s right...” he agreed. She was right. This was no time for bickering. The two of them hurried on ahead.
They found the exit around the time Isuzu’s smartphone battery had ticked down to 2%. The lights lining the highway had come into view.
“At least we won’t be stranded there...” He was genuinely relieved.
Isuzu also let out a sigh of relief. “Goodness...”
“Anyway, I’d better call Handa-san...” He looked at the smartphone, but this time it said ‘No Service.’ “Ah, dammit!” Maybe they’d get through closer to the road. Holding the smartphone, he ran for the exit. Isuzu hurried after him, but her high-heels slowed her down.
“Come on, signal! Come on, signal!” The signal came. Two bars and 3G! “Yes!” He was about to call Handa-san, but he was stymied again. It was Isuzu’s smartphone, and a Blackberry instead of the iPhone Seiya was used to using.
Why a Blackberry?! You damned contrarian! But cursing about it wouldn’t get him anywhere. All right, where’s the address? She called while I was gone, so she must have Handa-san’s contact information... Call history, call history...
“Give it to me!” Isuzu finally caught up and he handed her the phone. She used it swiftly and called Handa-san’s number, then put the smartphone to her ear and waited ten seconds.
While he watched with bated breath, she pulled the smartphone away from her ear, glared silently at the screen and whispered, “It’s out of battery.”
There was no chance of getting a ride now, so they decided to walk to the station. It had been twenty minutes by car, so if they walked quickly, they could get there in an hour and a half. It was probably around eight o’clock now, which meant they might make it in time for the last train.
With luck, Seiya thought, they’d run into a taxi on the way—but not only were there no taxis, there were almost no cars passing at all. Once, a kei-truck driven by an apparent local passed by, and Seiya raised his hand to try to hitchhike, but the old driver just held up a hand with a smile and drove past; he must have thought Seiya was just waving to him.
There were no convenience stores, either. But then, they were on a remote mountain road—of course there weren’t any convenience stores. He was hungry and thirsty. He was concerned about the way Isuzu was lagging behind him, too. She said little, and her face was contorted in pain. He was surprised by her apparent lack of stamina—wasn’t she a member of the Maple Land royal guard?
“Wait.” Isuzu stopped.
“What’s wrong?” asked Seiya.
“My shoes...” Isuzu stopped and took off her pumps. It was hard to see in the scattered light from the streetlamps, but her feet seemed to be aching. “If I’d known we were coming to a place like this, I would have worn sneakers...” Isuzu had dressed for a day in the city—probably because Seiya hadn’t told her where they were going in advance.
“Oh, really?” he asked. “Are you saying this is my fault?”
Isuzu glared at him. “That wasn’t my intent, but you’ve just changed my mind. Yes, I am saying it’s your fault, Seiya-kun.”
“Hmph. Can you still walk?”
“Yes,” she replied shortly. Isuzu took off her shoes and began tottering along in just her stocking feet; it looked like there were serious blisters on her pinkie toes, which were causing her sharp pain with every step she took.
“Okay, enough... here.” He tried to lend her a shoulder to lean on, but she swatted his hand away.
“Stop it.”
“Don’t give me the tough-girl act. You’re in pain, right?”
“If you consider me a burden, you can go on ahead,” she told him stonily. “You might yet make the last train.”
“You know I can’t do that,” he said.
“Why not? It’s not as if my life is in danger. Besides, you have work tomorrow; you should go home and get some sleep, shouldn’t you?” Isuzu’s voice was emphatic to a degree that made it obvious she was forcing it a bit.
“You are just...” Seiya was uncertain, exhausted, and annoyed—yet at the same time, he felt some kind of indescribable urge. Not an urge to yell at her or rebuke her—just the opposite, in fact. He wanted to fight her a little, to get her to let him carry her. He wasn’t sure himself why he felt that way. “Fine, keep walking; get it out of your system,” he sighed. “I’ll stay with you until then.”
“No. You should go ahead.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Er... well, because you’re right,” he admitted. “It’s my fault for not telling you where we were going. And I do feel... a little bad about that.”
Isuzu looked slightly surprised by that response, then simply said “Ah...” before falling silent and continuing her slow, limping walk. Gritting his teeth, Seiya slowed to walk by her side. They kept that up for about ten minutes, but Isuzu’s pace just continued to slow. She was clearly holding back considerable pain to maintain an outwardly placid demeanor, and it had Seiya flustered. They kept at it until, at last, the faint lights of the city came into view.
They passed a Shinkin bank building with a clock on display; it was currently 10:28.