Back in the day, we’d been a pretty lively fishing town. And in the summers, tourists used to flock to Moshimo because it was one of the only swimming beaches in the prefecture. But ever since the big earthquake and tsunami six years ago, the town had lost all its pep. Compared with what happened in Tohoku, our damage was minimal, and we were lucky enough not to have any casualties. Even so, the fishing port had been wrecked, and even six years later, it was only half-rebuilt. As for the beaches, only the locals really visited them anymore.
“Man, it feels like you’re living in another era when you’re here.” The tourist from Tokyo had said that, too.
“Another era?” What was that supposed to mean? It didn’t seem like he was taking a jab at the town from the way he said it, but at the same time, I’m pretty sure he wasn’t about to consider moving in.
If you were to ask me if I liked living in my town, honestly, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. I mean, I definitely thought Tokyo sounded like a cool place, but I wasn’t sure I’d like to live there… On the other hand, if you were to ask me if I wanted to stay in Moshimo my entire life, I don’t think I could get excited about that idea, either.
“Norimichi!!” A voice called out to me.
I turned in its direction and caught sight of a slick new mountain bike flying out from a side road connected to the slope. Riding it was Yusuke Azumi. Yusuke was the son of a doctor, and the two of us basically grew up together. Aside from my parents, I’d bet I’d spent more time with Yusuke than anyone else in my life.
“Yo!”
“’Sup!” I raised a hand from my handlebars as I responded.
As if on cue, two more friends joined us from another side road: Junichi riding his skateboard and Minoru on his kick scooter. As the four of us sped down the slope, our usual morning banter commenced.
“What are the stakes today?”
Junichi was the tallest. His voice had deepened, too. Despite those traits, he didn’t act much like an adult, and in fact, among the four of us, he was usually the one making pointless bets. He was also the one most likely to be setting the mood and causing trouble. For Junichi, everything always had to be a competition. Honestly, it was kind of childish. Still, we four had a long-standing, unspoken agreement since elementary school that if a bet was made, we all were immediately on board.
“Whoever loses makes a pass at Ms. Miura!”
Minoru hadn’t grown an inch since fourth grade, not to mention any pubes, but he was the one always making edgy, grown-up comments. He tended to act kind of like Junichi’s right-hand man. The two were always playing off each other.
“Hey, anyone else think that Ms. Miura’s boobs have gotten even bigger over the summer?”
“Did you know that boobs get bigger if you let someone massage ’em?”
“Seriously?!”
“Who’s she got massaging her boobs?!”
“Oh man, I wanna try!!”
That was how it usually was for us: talking about nothing particular, half drowned out by the ocean breeze, as we made our way down the last of the slope and onto the road following the coastline.
I glanced back and saw the wind turbines lined up along the mountain ridge, their propellers slowly rotating clockwise.
Wind energy was the city’s new initiative. Test projects had begun the year before last. If nothing else, Moshimo had an abundant, stable supply of wind coming in off the ocean, and that apparently made the town an ideal candidate for generating wind energy.
I’d seen that ridgeline a million times since I was a kid. When the turbines first showed up and changed the view, it just hadn’t seemed right to me. But over time, I’d grown accustomed to the new residents.
“Shortcut!” Yusuke’s mountain bike suddenly veered from the coastal road, down a small stone stairway, and out onto the boardwalk.
“Oh, come on!”
“No fair!”
The rest of us, with our wimpy tires and tiny wheels, were no match for his thick, off-road tires. We had to jump off our own rides and then carry them down the stairs to the boardwalk. At the bottom, we remounted and chased after Yusuke.
I was just getting ready to throw all my weight into the pedals again, when suddenly a strong gust of wind blew past us. As if beckoned, I turned my head to look out at the ocean. My eyes caught sight of an indistinct silhouette near the water’s edge.
At first, I assumed it was a particularly energetic sightseer out for a morning stroll. But as my gaze lingered, the figure came into focus, and I saw a white-topped school uniform, a skirt with a hem just above the knee, and long hair in braids.
It was a girl from my class: Nazuna Oikawa.
She was far away, and her back was turned to me, but I was sure of it. It was Nazuna.
Nazuna was lightly stepping across the concrete tetrapod blocks piled along the shore. From where I stood, it almost looked as if she were walking on the surface of the water itself. As she made her way along, the water glittered with the light of the sun behind her. She looked just like a heroine from the movies or on TV.
Time seemed to be moving slowly in the space immediately around her. My eyes were transfixed, and I found myself hoping she might turn my way…
That small, silently held desire was interrupted by a shout from Junichi. “Norimichi! We’re gonna be late!!”
Coming back to my senses, I pressed down on my pedals.
“I know!”
I stood up from my seat to pedal harder but took one more look at the shore. Nazuna had crouched down and was picking up something from the shallows. When she had fished it out of the water, she turned toward the sun and held it high in her right hand. Because of the distance, I couldn’t tell what the object was.
I had the impression that the glint coming from whatever she’d found was not the same light shimmering on the waves. Or maybe it was just my imagination…