“Sure... Well, actually, I dunno. But I feel like I should be able to...I guess?”
“There’s no point in just staying here. Let’s leave.”
“Leave? I can leave?”
He seemed to be misunderstanding. Probably assumed he’d been abducted or something, and was locked up in here. Hard to blame him, given the situation.
“If you want to stay here, that’s fine with me. I’ll be going soon. What will you do?”
“What will I do...? Hold on.” The Japanese man stood up. He seemed agile. It wasn’t just his youth—I sensed that he had the flexibility of someone who was used to moving their body.
I walked over to the wall, then waited for the Japanese man. There was something distinctive about his gait. He carried himself more like a thief than a warrior or hunter. If anything, he was like a wild beast. That wasn’t very Japanese of him.
“We can get out through here.”
“What do you mean?”
“We just have to go outside.”
I walked into the wall, and out the other side. There was a spiral staircase with a railing there, but there was no railing in the spot where I came out. There were no visible light sources, but I could see clearly.
I didn’t understand how it worked, but I didn’t let that mystify me. There’d be no end to it if I did. There were all sorts of things I could try to figure out the how or why of, but most of the time I wouldn’t be able to work it out completely, and would only end up with more questions for my efforts.
After I had descended a few steps, the Japanese man came through as well.
“So you did decide to leave. Let’s head down,” I said.
“Uh, listen.”
“What?”
Once the question left my mouth, it occurred to me why the Japanese man was so confused.
Oh, right. It’s because of this, huh?
Our eyes met. The Japanese man was looking at my face. Or more precisely, at the visor I was wearing. Visor. Mask. What exactly should I call it? I don’t know. It wasn’t just something I wore because I didn’t want to see my face, and didn’t want to show it to others either. If that were all it was, then I wouldn’t have to wear it all the time. The mask was a relic. One with a variety of features. It was convenient, and it didn’t get in the way at all once someone got used to wearing it, which I already had.
Because I was hiding my face, the Japanese man must have been looking at me as an unfamiliar, and also obviously suspicious, person.
“Where is this?”
But even so, he didn’t seem afraid. In fact, he was strangely calm.
“They called it the stake long ago.”
“The stake? You mean like a pole?”
“We’re inside of the ark.”
“The ark? So, it’s a ship?”
“Let’s head down.”
As I began to descend, the Japanese man followed me. He was light on his feet.
“Hey, hold on,” he called after me.
“Yeah?”
“Sorry for all the questions, but...who are you?”
“Me?”
It’s a simple question, I thought at that moment.
“Well...”
For some reason, it’s not coming to me.
Who am I? What am I?
“Manato,” said the Japanese man.
I stopped walking.
“Manato?” I echoed.
“Yeah.”
He’d definitely said Manato.
I turned to look at him. “That’s...your name, is it? Manato?”
“That’s what I just said, yeah. Some of my comrades call me Matt, and others Manato. But Manato is my name. Since that’s what mom and dad called me.”
“Your dad... You have parents?”
“They’re dead. Long dead. None of my comrades had parents either.”
“How old are you?”
“How old? Oh, in years? Umm... Twelve, maybe? Or was it fourteen? Could be thirteen.”
“You’re young. Younger than I thought.”
“I’m just making shit up. It’s been maybe...three, four years since my folks died? I think that much time has passed. I haven’t been able to keep track of it properly.”
“Manato...”
“Yeah.”
“I knew one of those...”
A Manato. It’s been a while. Hasn’t it? Has it been a while? Since I murmured that name to myself? Maybe it has. I don’t think I’ve said it recently.
“It was a long time ago, but it just so happens that I had a friend...a comrade with the same name as you.”
“Huh. Is that right? What a coincidence,” he said.
“Serendipity, I’d call it.”
“Serendipity?”
“When something happens by chance, but in a happy way.”
“Serendipity, huh? Never heard that one before. Oh, right. What about you?”
“You mean, what’s my name?”
I grasped the railing. I felt like if I didn’t, I was going to need to sit down. A name. My name. What need do I have for one of those? There’s no one left who’d need to call me by my name. But it’s not like I’ve forgotten it. I can’t forget the past. It weighs on me too heavily to forget.
“Haru,” I said, letting go of the railing. “There were once people who called me that.”
“Haru,” Manato repeated the name in a murmur.
Does this Japanese boy resemble him? The other Manato? Honestly, I don’t know. I can call his face to mind, but is the face that I remember really his? If my memory differs from reality, I have no way to check. The same goes for his voice. That other Manato had called me Haruhiro. I might have been afraid. Horrified that if this Japanese boy called me Haruhiro too, then my memories of him—of his face, his voice—might fade completely, and be lost to me.
“So you don’t mind if I call you Haru, then?”
“I don’t.”
What should I call this young Japanese boy? The other Manato would’ve laughed and told me, “That’s obvious.” That’s the feeling I get. I mean, it is his name, after all.
“I’m going to call you Manato. Do you have any problem with that?”
“Problem?” Manato smiled. His smile was different from the other Manato’s, more innocent. “Not a one. No problem whatsoever. I mean, I am Manato.”
“Okay then. Let’s head down, Manato. I’m sure you want to know where you are.”
I started descending the stairs again, feeling like my body wasn’t my own. Though, truthfully, there was no guarantee that my body was completely mine, but I didn’t think that was what was causing my uneasiness. So what was, then?
In time, we reached the bottom of the stairs, and I headed over to the other side. Or maybe it’s better to say that I went out.
Outside.
It’s after sunset, huh? That, or before sunrise, I guess.
I had been in the ark long enough that I couldn’t immediately tell. The eastern sky was lit up slightly. That meant the sun would be rising soon.
It’s daybreak.
I was standing atop the hill. And I wasn’t alone. Manato emerged from the ark too.
Come to think of it, way back when, we used to refer to the ark as the Forbidden Tower. Which was fair enough, since the ark looked like a tower from the outside. The top floors were still damaged, and the whole thing was covered with ivy. It didn’t look like anything other than an old tower.
“Huh?” Manato looked around anxiously. “Where is this place?”
“A different world from the place you came from.”
I descended the slope, stopping in front of a large white stone. There were many others like it on this hill.
“It’s called Grimgar,” I continued.
“Another world... Grim...gar...”
Manato’s eyes widened. He shook his head.