Chapter 4:
Tube Riding
WAS HE A GHOST, a hallucination, or a miracle? Hinako didn’t care. All that mattered was that Minato was back. Wearing a bath towel over her head, she spoke to the glass of water in her hand.
“Hi, Minato…”
“Hi, Hinako,” Minato replied from inside. The water made his voice all wavery, but it was still the same loving voice she knew so well.
“This is so weird.”
“I know.”
Apparently his physical form changed size depending on the body of water he was summoned to, so right now he was the size of an action figure.
“What are you doing here? Did you…fail to pass on to the afterlife?”
“Maybe… I’m not sure,” he replied, tilting his head in puzzlement.
“Was it because you had lingering regrets?”
“Or maybe my wish was granted.” He glanced around. “I see you moved, huh?”
“Oh, uh…yeah…”
“You haven’t been surfing?”
Hinako followed his gaze and found him looking at the orange surfboard leaning against the cardboard boxes.
“Looking at the ocean is…hard for me these days,” she explained, looking away.
“I guess that’s my fault… Sorry.”
“No, don’t be!” she replied, smiling and leaning in closer. “Anyway, forget all that! All I’ve ever wanted was to see you again… It feels like a dream come true!”
Night after night, she’d dreamed of Minato. Day after day, she’d bawled her eyes out, wishing her dream were real. But this time, it was.
“You’ll show up in any body of water as long as I sing our song, right?”
“I don’t really understand how it works, but…give me a call whenever you need me.” Grinning, he threw up a shaka.
It’s a divine miracle! Thank you, God, or Buddha, or whoever you are!
This was quite possibly the first time Hinako had smiled since Christmas, and she felt…stronger, somehow.
“Oh, uh! Youko-chan’s doing well, by the way. And so is Wasabi-san.”
“Yeah… I saw them briefly.”
“Seems like they couldn’t see you, though. Am I the only one who can?” She could just imagine how happy everyone would be if they could see him like she could.
“As long as you can see me, that’s good enough for me.”
“Well, okay… Oh, that reminds me!” She held up his phone in front of the glass. “Tell me your passcode!”
“What do you wanna look through my phone for?”
“I want to know why you went surfing without me.”
“Well…” Minato fell silent and casually shifted his gaze to the floor. “I wanted to get some extra practice in so I could surprise you.”
“Are you telling the truth…?”
Something felt fishy. Minato wasn’t looking her in the eye when he spoke.
“Of course I am!” he shot back stubbornly, but this only made Hinako more suspicious. He put his hands on his hips. “I don’t recall raising you to be the sort of girlfriend who would go through my phone without permission, young lady!”
“Well, maybe you should learn to share!”
Just then, Hinako felt the water dripping from her hair and realized she was still soaking wet from her impromptu river bath. Sure, it was almost March, but unlike Minato, she was in danger of getting sick if she didn’t warm up.
“I’m gonna go take a bath, okay?” She rose from the box she was using as a chair. Then she glanced back over her shoulder. “You stay right there!” And with that, she walked into the bathroom.
Inside, she filled the tub with warm water, then lowered her body into it. Slowly, her clammy skin began to soften. Meanwhile, she was on cloud nine—Minato was in her living room!
“Does this mean…I’m living with Minato…?” The concept made Hinako bashful, and she pressed her hands to her cheeks. “First we move in together, and then we get married? I’m gonna be Hinageshi Hinako?” Giddy, she began to sing. “I see you there, looking at the water… Glittering sapphire as far as the eye can see…”
Just then, the bathwater began to bubble up loudly.
“Wha?!”
Between Hinako’s legs, she could see Minato—
“AAAHH! Don’t look, you pervert!” Covering her chest with her hands, she jumped out of the tub.
“I’m sorry! But you sang the song, so…!” He looked up at her from the bathwater, his expression perplexed.
Right. My mistake. Hinako sighed. “Sorry! You just startled me, that’s all… Obviously I don’t mind you seeing.”
He wasn’t some pervert—he was her boyfriend.
The next day, Hinako went to a large-scale supermarket and bought a clear portable water bottle. This way, she and Minato could be together at all times, even when she was on the go. She strapped it on diagonally across her chest and then set off on her bike, humming cheerfully to herself as she passed the fire station.
“Look, Minato! They’re doing drills!”
She slowed to a stop and held up the water bottle so Minato could see. Come to think of it, this was the same spot where she’d been doused with hose water on the first day she moved back.
Minato gazed affectionately at his former coworkers as they trained hard.
“You really loved your job, huh?”
“Yeah.”
If only Minato had never been a firefighter, maybe he wouldn’t have died… No, there was no point in what-ifs. After all, his heroism was part of the reason she’d fallen for him in the first place.
Just then, she noticed one of the firefighters staring in their direction.
“What the? Wasabi-san?”
Hinako bowed her head in greeting, and Wasabi hastily bowed back.
It felt like all the color had returned to Hinako’s world. She dragged Minato everywhere, like she was reliving their happy memories all over again.
First, she went to the Siren in Chigasaki, where she ate pancakes and ignored the weird looks she received from other customers as she talked to her water bottle.
Then she went to the pier where they had their first kiss. Minato gazed silently out at the sunset, and Hinako could only imagine how this trip was making him feel. But in place of words, she pressed her hand against the bottle.
Then she went to Chiba Port Tower. With the water bottle balanced on her head, she took another picture with the angel wing lights reflected in the windowpane, just like on Christmas Eve. Their heart-shaped padlock was still hanging there too.
Obviously things couldn’t be exactly the same, but she could still see Minato’s face, and hear his voice, and talk to him. And compared to the days she spent without him, she couldn’t possibly ask for more. But…if Hinako was allowed to be a tiny bit greedy…she really missed being able to touch his body. That said, she knew it was beyond his control, seeing as he was a ghost and all.
On her way home, however, Hinako noticed other couples walking hand in hand…and she was struck with a brilliant idea. As soon as she got home, she connected a hose to the plastic inflatable porpoise and filled it up with water. Gleefully, she watched it fill up. And when she sang their song, sure enough, a full-sized Minato appeared inside.
“Yaaaay!”
She jumped into the porpoise’s arms. Obviously, it felt nothing like his human body, but this way he felt a lot more real than the miniature water bottle version. Grabbing Minato by the fins, Hinako spun him around. It’s like he came back to life!
They danced around the apartment until Minato fell to the floor. And when Hinako dove on top of him, the plug popped out, and he sprang a leak.