Chapter 15: The Sea, the Stars, and Suspicion

The sea is always in the same place.

On clear days, it turns a pale turquoise; before rain, a murky gray. But I never bothered to distinguish the difference.

The sea was the sea, and today it was simply there as always. A change in color did not make the sea lose its essence.

I live in a house at the edge of the village, where a few palm trees cast their shade. Mr. Tiare, my neighbor, built it for me.

In the mornings, the children came first. It was an everyday occurrence for them to arrive with both hands full of empty seashells, spreading them out before me as though showing off their treasure.

"Nao, look! I caught this many today!"

I smiled and nodded. I did not reach out to pat the children.

"Go put them back by the sea. Shellfish need homes too."

"Okay!"

The children raced happily across the sand. I had told them to return them to the sea, but they were showing off the shells they had gathered that day to the other adults as well.

During the day, I sit in the shade mending nets or fixing broken oars. I fish for dinner, and sometimes I take a boat far out to sea.

The islanders do not like me taking a boat out. More precisely, it is not that they dislike it—they simply worry for no reason.

"Nao, you don’t need to go that far out."

"That’s right. It’s enough if you just take care of the nets."

My sailing skills are not particularly good, after all. Whenever the adults worried, I would smile and answer.

"It’s fine. I’m not very good at steering a boat anymore, either."

Of course, the adults did not believe me. Even so, the reason I went out to sea was simple.

Some days the waves were a little rough, and other days they were calm. I loved the scorching sunlight and the dazzling shimmer on the water.

I simply float upon the water, rowing and feeling the wind. I dearly enjoy gazing at clouds reflected on the water and losing myself in thought.

Before I came to this island, something was always following me. They were things that diminished when I touched them, things that vanished when I drew close.

That was why I could not approach anyone. Why I could not be with anyone.

But it is different here. People keep their distance from me, and though cloth lies between us, I spend time with them.

When the sun begins to set, I return to the island. Smoke rises, and the laughter of children rides on the wind.

Someone sees me and waves. Her name is Nei Bareia.

I am embarrassed to say it, but she is the person I love—and the person who loves me.

"Nao, did you catch a lot today? You didn’t flip the boat over again on the way back, did you?"

"I caught enough for dinner. And I told you, I don’t flip it over anymore…"

"Ohh, you don’t flip it over anymore? You’re not lying, are you?"

I nodded at that.

"That’s amazing~!"

Bareia threw her arms around me and patted my head. Vigorously, until it was a tangled mess.

The thin gloves made from fish skin tangled in my hair and hurt. Besides, because of our height difference, my face was buried in her chest.

"I can’t breathe…"

Hearing me, Bareia deliberately hugged me even tighter.

"Well, well, now you’re complaining too. You used to just stay quietly in my arms. So you’ve grown up now, have you~?"

Laughing, she released me.

At night, I sit in the sand before my house and watch the sea. Together with Bareia.

Before long, our hands naturally intertwine. We embrace each other, lie down… and that is as far as it goes.

We cannot make love beyond that. Instead, we look at the stars in the sky.

As we trace out the constellations one by one, Bareia suddenly laughs.

"Nao. Do you know how stars came to be in this world?"

"I don’t know… Do you?"

Bareia slowly swept her finger across the sky. Rather than pointing at the stars, it looked to me as though she were someone putting something back up there.

"I do."

The wind blew, and the palm leaves scraped against one another. Bareia pressed her lips together for a moment before beginning her tale.

"Once upon a time… there was a time when the world was nothing but darkness. The sea did not shine as it does now, and people could not see even an inch ahead of themselves."

At that moment, her eyes changed slightly. They became eyes that saw things older than the night itself.

"In that world, there was Nareiu. A god as small and clever as a spider."

Bareia curled and spread her fingers, like spider legs.

"Nareiu always sighed as he watched that lightless world. No matter how much wind he breathed into it or how he divided the sea, it was all pointless if there was only darkness."

She clasped my hand more tightly.

"So there was someone Nareau went to see. His father, Na Atibu. Nareau said, ‘The world needs something to light it. And for that… I need you.’"

Bareia paused. Then she narrowed her eyes and smiled chillingly.

"No. More precisely… he said, ‘You need to die.’"

I swallowed my breath. Bareia continued as calmly as though it meant nothing.

"Nareau split Na Atibu—his own father—apart."

Bareia’s finger tapped a single star.

"He threw his right eye into the eastern sky, and it became the sun."

Her finger moved to the other side.

"The left eye he threw west became the moon."

Then she opened her palm and stroked my hair.

"And then… his brain. The thoughts inside his head. His memories. His dreams. That thing that held all of it… he crushed it in his hands."

Bareia stretched her hand toward the sky. For some reason, it seemed as if sand scattered with it.

"And scattered it across the heavens."

When I said nothing, Bareia smiled faintly. She pulled my head close and laid it on her arm.

"Were you scared?"

"……A little."

"I thought so."

Bareia added teasingly.

"But the stars are beautiful, aren’t they?"

They were beautiful. Perhaps that was why they felt all the more frightening.

Because they seemed like me.

"Nao."

"Yeah."

"You can’t catch stars in your hands. Even if you reach for them, there will be nothing left in your hand."

Bareia raised her head and looked up at my face. Even in the darkness, her eyes sparkled.

"But."

She gently placed the back of her hand against my cheek.

"Stars… show you the way even on a dark sea. Even when people lose their way on the pitch-black ocean at night, they look to starlight and find their course again."

I let out a breath.

"That is why Nareau tore apart his father, scattered the stars, and made the sky. It was cruel… but necessary."

I opened my lips, then closed them. I did not know what to say.

Then Bareia laughed very softly. The stars still shone beautifully.

The sound of the waves came in a steady rhythm. Like breathing.

I half-closed my eyes and looked up at the sky. There was no need to wish for anything more.

"…Nao."

"Yeah."

"Good night."

"You too, Bareia."

With that answer, words vanished. What remained were the waves, the wind, and the warmth of her palm through her glove.

Just like that, I fall asleep beneath a night sky where the stars flow.

*

Bonriki International Airport.

When the airplane door opened, hot air rushed in. Humidity clung to them first, followed by the scent of the sea, which filled their nostrils.

Bonriki Airport was small. For a place called an international airport, its runway and terminal were humble, and its buildings were low.

"Ahh~ Nothing’s changed here."

Eigo spoke lightly as he stretched. He raised his arms overhead, as if loosening shoulders stiff from the long flight.

"It’s quieter than I expected. For an airport."

"Kiribashi has a small population to begin with, and that small population is scattered all over the islands."

Makima adjusted her briefcase once more. Then she took another look at Eigo.

"…We’re not here on vacation, you know?"

"Come on~ What’s the harm? It’s not like anyone’s watching us. We can at least enjoy the mood, right, Higashiyama?"

"Heheh… I… rode on an airplane… And now I’m… overseas…"

…Makima sighed. Once they collected their luggage and stepped outside, they could immediately see the ocean.

The distance between the airport and the sea was unbelievably short.

"Wow… It really is an island…"

"Japan is an island nation too, you know?"

"Huh…?! W-Well, that’s true, but…"

Finding Enonoka’s reaction amusing, Eigo burst into laughter.

"By the way, Maki."

"What is it?"

"Where exactly did you say we’re going?"

"Washington Island."

"Seriously… We’re going awfully far. It’s practically like going from London to Tokyo, isn’t it?"

Eigo clicked his tongue.

"Then we need to get to Betio Port first. Where’s the car?"

At Eigo’s question, Enonoka hurriedly sprang into action.

"N-No! The roads around here aren’t in good condition…! You’ll have to travel by boat…!"

"By boat?"

Eigo smiled.

"Correct~! You’re a genius, Higashiyama. Bonriki Island and Betio Island are connected by road. We’ll drive to the port, then take a boat from there. Right?"

"Eek…! Y-Yes. That’s right…"

Covering for a senior’s mistake while keeping their spirits up was really difficult. Eigo nodded.

An old van waited in front of the airport. The word ‘Government’ still faintly remained on its peeling door.

The van drove along the roads of Bonriki Island. The asphalt was cracked in places, and barefoot children ran along the roadside.

Small shops, churches, low houses. Everything was so close to the sea that if they turned their heads even slightly, they could see the horizon.

Looking out the window, Eigo spoke.

"This place really hasn’t changed."

"You say that as though you’ve been here before."

"I have. I came intending to visit every island in Kiribashi, but in the end, I only made it to a few. Hah… That was already years ago…"

The van crossed the bridge and entered Betio. The closer they came to the harbor, the denser the air seemed to become.

The smells of fish, rancid oil, and rusted iron mixed together and stabbed at their noses. Betio Port was a place filled less with life than with waiting.

Cargo crates were piled high, with people sitting atop them. Some were asleep; others smoked and looked out at the sea.

There was a departure schedule posted, but there were more corrections written in pencil than printed words. Eigo glanced at the timetable and smiled.

"Hmm. This hasn’t changed either."

Enonoka spoke carefully.

"The ship for the Line Islands… is a regular service, but it usually only comes about once a month. Depending on the weather or cargo conditions… it can change a little. No, a lot."

"Meaning?"

Makima tilted her head.

"It’s scheduled to depart today, but… the exact time hasn’t been decided yet…"

Eigo nodded.

"Haha, an island of waiting."

He neither complained nor grew impatient. Taking Makima’s hand, he walked to the end of the harbor and looked down at the sea.

A boat drifted slowly across the gently rolling water.

"Maki."

"Yeah."

"In a place like this…"

Eigo extended a hand toward the sea.

"Doesn’t it feel like time doesn’t devour people, but time and people breathe together? Unlike Tokyo…"

Makima watched him for a moment. It sounded like something he had tossed out without thinking, yet it lingered strangely in her chest.

…Maybe a place like this suits him better.

Swallowing that thought, she said,

"Even once the ship leaves, it won’t go straight to Washington Island. It might stop at other islands along the way."

"I know."

Eigo turned and smiled. He brought his lips close to Makima’s cheek.

Makima flinched in surprise, her face reddening. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her pounding heart.

But no matter how much time passed, she felt nothing against her cheek. Just as she began to wonder about that, Eigo’s whisper tickled her ear.

"Isn’t that awfully suspicious?"

At those words, Makima nodded. Eigo took the pocket watch from inside his coat and placed it in her hand.

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