Ch.227Epilogue. What I Wished For (5)

For the first time in my life, I rode an airplane for over five hours.

Actually, it was my first time on an airplane ever.

According to a friend who started working part-time right after the college entrance exam and went backpacking during summer break of freshman year, the cheapest airplane seats barely let you stretch your shoulders. Since it wasn’t that bad, our tickets probably weren’t the absolute cheapest.

Still, they weren’t the business class seats you see in movies.

Maybe my body has gotten smaller so I didn’t feel as cramped, or perhaps this was a larger aircraft model with slightly bigger seats even in the same class.

While sitting for the entire journey wasn’t completely comfortable, the excitement of flying made up for it.

I had a window seat.

As the plane climbed into the sky, I kept taking pictures through the window.

Fortunately, the weather was perfectly clear when we departed, so I could capture sharp images of the blue sky and the endless sprawl of buildings below.

“Oh.”

“Whoa?”

About an hour into the flight, the plane started shaking.

It was strange how the plane trembled despite the clear weather—turbulence, I guess.

I wasn’t particularly scared. Taking off felt a bit odd at first, but once we were high in the sky, it strangely didn’t feel real, making it difficult to grasp just how high we were.

It might have been different on a roller coaster, bungee jump, or open observation deck. Those places make my toes tingle.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Yuka asked with a smile from her seat next to Koko.

Her tone sounded somewhat boastful, so I looked at her and asked, “Have you flown before?”

“Domestic flights, yes,” Yuka replied, lifting her chin slightly.

…That’s a bit annoying.

When we were departing, I felt relieved that Kagami couldn’t come along, but if she truly can’t get a visa, wouldn’t that make family trips abroad difficult?

It’s possible the visa issue is only with the United States, but… if the US shares that information with other countries, that’s a different story.

Personally, I’d like to visit Korea again. I’m curious if the neighborhood I used to live in still exists exactly as it was.

“…”

Well, there’s no need to think about that right now. There’s plenty of time for that later. It’s something I can consider a few years from now, after I start college.

I casually turned my camera toward Yuka and took a picture.

Click.

Koko right beside me, and Yuka next to her.

Across the aisle, Mako, Harumi, and Yuu were sitting in a row. Somehow noticing me, they flashed peace signs toward the camera.

It turned out to be quite a nice photo, which I was pleased with.

Well, I’ll forgive her showing off just this once.

*

Hawaii was… warm.

No, actually, it was hot rather than warm.

Despite it being October, the sun was blazing. The atmosphere here still felt like summer.

Well, that’s Hawaii for you.

I heard that Hawaii does cool down somewhat in October. But even then, the lowest temperatures are in the low 20s Celsius, with highs just over 30 degrees—still summer-like by other countries’ standards.

That’s why we can enjoy the beach even in October, and I brought short-sleeved shirts along with light long-sleeved ones to layer over them.

“Wow!” Harumi exclaimed as soon as we arrived at our accommodation.

We were assigned three people per room. Naturally, Koko, Yuka, and I shared one room, while Mako, Yuu, and Harumi took another.

Palm trees grew abundantly near our lodging.

From my perspective, even Japan’s climate feels quite exotic. Not simply because it’s a different country, but because the average temperature and sunrise/sunset times differ significantly from Seoul where I mainly lived.

Though we’re in the same time zone, if I were to follow Korean timing, evening would come too early, and summer would feel like a tropical climate.

I’ve heard that even Jeju Island in Korea has similar weather, but since I never visited Jeju when I lived in Korea, this climate feels especially fascinating to me.

Perhaps because of its “middle of the Pacific” location, the ocean was incredibly clear. It seemed even more so compared to the island I visited with friends during summer vacation.

Despite this natural environment, Honolulu, Hawaii’s capital, was a city with many tall buildings.

The sight of high-rise buildings lining the beautiful turquoise coastline was truly spectacular.

While I’ve been referring to “Hawaii” as a single entity, Hawaii isn’t just one island standing alone.

The “Hawaiian Islands” consist of a chain of islands, large and small.

Among them, the capital Honolulu and the most populated area isn’t on the largest island of Hawaii, but on Oahu, the third-largest island.

I’m not sure how it happened that people ended up congregating on the third-largest island rather than the biggest one.

*

“The ocean!”

While there’s no law against going to the beach in October in Japan, there’s a big difference between enduring increasingly chilly weather to visit the beach and diving into the ocean during summer.

By our standards, it shouldn’t be summer weather, but in Hawaii, located far south of Tokyo, we were thoroughly enjoying what felt like a second summer.

Well, that’s why Harumi’s animated summer episode quote actually fit perfectly.

Though she didn’t follow up with the usual “my, my” phrase, Mako was watching Harumi’s back with a fond expression. Even without saying it aloud, that sentiment was clearly written on her face.

Harumi’s swimsuit had become slightly bolder than the last time we went out.

Actually, I’m not sure how to describe her leopard print bikini. Should I say it suits her incredibly well because she’s Harumi? If I wore it, I’d just look terribly out of place.

“Oh, surfing! Let’s go surfing!” Harumi exclaimed excitedly, pointing at surfers riding the waves.

“Harumi, you know how to surf?” Mako asked with a surprised voice, clearly not expecting this.

Harumi shook her head vigorously. “No? Of course I don’t! I need to learn!”

Well, that doesn’t seem like a bad choice.

For reference, we had quite a lot of time. People usually say the first day of travel is a write-off, but Hawaii is nineteen hours behind Tokyo.

For an intuitive calculation, you go back one day and add five more hours.

Although the flight takes seven hours, we’re traveling to a place nineteen hours behind, so if you do the math, departing from Tokyo in the afternoon means arriving in Hawaii in the morning.

So our schedule was to leave school, go home, then gather again in the evening to catch our flight.

We departed at 8:30 PM and arrived in Hawaii just after 8:45 AM. After moving to the hotel, it was a little past 10 AM.

Despite spending seven hours on the plane, it took everyone between thirty minutes to an hour to fall asleep, so we were all a bit sleep-deprived. But from the moment we unpacked at the hotel, energy started flowing, and right after finishing the teacher’s orientation and safety briefing in the morning, we had lunch and rushed straight to the beach.

There were quite a few kids like us nearby. Some teachers were scattered around too.

“Who should we—oh.”

As we looked around, we made direct eye contact with someone.

Sasaki.

Nanami was standing right next to Sasaki, and the two boys who were probably sharing a room with him were busy teasing them.

More precisely, they were teasing Sasaki. Even as they playfully jeered about whether they were dating, Nanami was blushing and genuinely enjoying it.

And Sasaki had a surfboard at his side.

“…”

Harumi’s eyes sparkled. Thankfully, they weren’t sparkling because of Sasaki. Actually, learning from a classmate would be more comfortable than learning from a stranger.

The question was whether it was appropriate to approach Sasaki now.

Though the teasing was playful, his two friends must have been genuinely envious. Nanami was considered one of the prettiest girls in our class.

They were just teasing because they were friends, not genuinely jealous—

“Sasaki!”

“Wait, Harumi!?”

Before I could finish my thought, Harumi was already rushing forward with gleaming eyes.

Her well-balanced figure bounced energetically with each step.

Startled by Harumi’s voice, Nanami looked our way, and Sasaki also turned toward us, somewhat flustered.

Sasaki’s friends’ gazes shifted from Sasaki to the approaching Harumi, then to us standing awkwardly behind her, before becoming more serious.

“…”

Well…

I mean, if I were going to learn surfing, I’d also prefer learning from someone I know rather than struggling to communicate with a foreign instructor.

Is this okay? Is it really okay? Nanami’s gaze is full of wariness! Sasaki’s two friends are standing there with incredibly serious expressions!

…

Whatever happens, happens.

We briefly exchanged glances with each other, then just followed after Harumi.

Since things had already come to this, we might as well have fun. Right?

I decided to just think about it in the most comfortable way.