Chapter 8 – Mysterious Light

Hikaru woke up in the middle of the night with a hungry stomach. He skipped dinner time because he had fallen asleep since the afternoon. As he remembered, he entered the room after Mika decided to go to onsen with Uncle Yuuchi, while Yama was busy with his arcade machine.

“Wow, it turns out they called many times, huh? I forgot to turn on the ringtone.” Hikaru checks his cellphone and finds many missed calls from Yama and Mika. That two must have intended to wake him up and invite him to dinner together.

Hikaru's stomach sounded, a sign that he was asking to be filled. He walked to the bedroom door, planning to go outside and hoping to meet Aunt Miharu for some food.

Is Aunt Miharu still awake? If it's not, I need someone to feed me. Ah! I wish they provided instant ramen in every room.

As the doorknob of his room turned, Hikaru was startled by the sound of a plastic bag falling. The man tried to push open the door to his room, but the movement of the door felt a little strange.

What got in the way? Hikaru kept pushing the door slowly. Oh … who ….? Hikaru carefully picked up the plastic bag that was now lying on the floor while observing the dim corridor of the second floor.

In the end, Hikaru discouraged going to the first floor kitchen and choose to go back into his room. Not without reason, Hikaru did it because he felt that what was in the plastic bag was enough to solve his current hungry problem. Yes, the plastic contains food. Inside are 2 cups of instant ramen, a packet of melon bread and a packet of potato chips.

“Ramen! Why is it according to my wishes? “ Hikaru was amazed by the contents of the pouch that matched the contents of his head.

“You must be hungry, right? Why did you sleep like you’re dying? I've already bought you some food, I hope that's enough for you. Hot water is provided in each room, so you can make ramen with it. The fridge in the corner of the room should be full of soft drinks and some fresh fruit. Signed, Mika.” Roughly, that was the message written on a piece of pastel colored paper that Hikaru found in his food bag.

“That girl is considerate too, huh?” Hikaru smiled happily look at the bag filled with food in his hand. He didn’t think the girl like Mika could do small things that mattered as much to someone as she was currently doing. “Too bad that girl has made a lot of friends misunderstand her.” For a moment, Hikaru remembered the past.

Without further do, Hikaru immediately prepared his instant ramen. While his hands were busy pouring the spices and hot water into the cup ramen, his thoughts drifted back to his middle school days. In the past, many of their classmates whispered about Mika's indifference to her surroundings. Even though that girl actually has a gentle nature, not much different from other girls. It's just that, Mika prefers to show her tough attitude towards others.

Hikaru has watched a talk show that discusses a person's psychological condition on television. According to the theme raised, the resource person who was present at that time was a well-known psychologist. In an interview session, the expert said that past events can affect a person's character. Hikaru then concluded and guessed, maybe Mika's character now a day was the result of an incident from her past. After they became close, without being asked, Mika explained to him what she had actually experienced.

Being the child of a well-respected family didn't seem easy for her. Mika admits that she is often used by her beloved friends. At first, she was thought as long as his friends didn't leave her, then she wouldn't make a big deal about it. However, as she got older, Mika realized that friendship like that was a mistake. Feelings of disappointment and loss of faith in her sincerity began to emerge, leading her to end up choosing to be tough and rejecting everyone from entering her life without mercy.

“But, thank goodness,” Hikaru said it softly as he checked the ramen. Even though he hasn't found an answer to what made Mika soften up against him and Yama, at least Hikaru is grateful that a good girl like Mika doesn't have to go through lonely days in his middle school. Hikaru and Yama seem quite successful at being Mika's best friend.

“Yama should act fast.” Hikaru smiled to himself, remembering that Yama had loved Mika since the day of the new student admission ceremony several years ago. I don't know what he's waiting for, but Yama always looks hesitant to express his feelings for Mika.

“Ah! I better get that lame man to express his feelings right here. I guess, Toyako is too beautiful to pass up and not take advantage of. This place is perfect for making good memories, right?” Hikaru stirred the contents of the ramen cup in his hand, a smile on his face. Imagining a sweet plan for his two best friends so far.

***

Hikaru rubbed his stomach which was now bulging because it had been filled with 2 cups of instant ramen and a can of soda that he had taken from the mini fridge in the corner of his room. In fact, Hikaru was well aware that what had just entered his stomach was not good food for health. If his parents found out, it was certain that they would both be grumbling violently. That's why there was never had instant ramen in a cupboard in their kitchen.

Mom, sorry, I committed this sin. Hikaru was a little sorry for his mother who actually reminded him to always eat right before leaving for the airport. In fact, Hikaru had promised not to eat instant food or soft drinks from his mother.

“This is an emergency, mom. I hope you understand.” Hikaru spoke to himself, but with an expression of genuine regret. He even rubbed his hands across his nose, as if he was really facing his mother's angry figure.

Even though the previously flat stomach was already visibly enlarged, Hikaru was still not satisfied and felt like he wanted to eat something else. He looked back at the contents of the plastic bag on the table. The man had just eaten 2 cups of instant ramen, which means there is still a packet of melon bread and a packet of potato chips. He also took the potato chips from the bag then dragged a chair in front of the window in his room overlooking the lake.

Hikaru realized that he might find it difficult to go back to sleep, so he decided to enjoy the night view of Lake Toya from behind the window. Yes, enough from behind of the window, because the veranda was too cold in the middle of an autumn night like this time. He opened the large brown curtain that hung wide open to the floor, then Hikaru positioned himself as comfortably as possible on the chair which was now right near the window. To enhance the atmosphere, Hikaru also plays classical music from his cellphone.

“This is perfect!” Hikaru exclaimed as he unwrapped the potato chips in his hand. He leaned back and began to enjoy the view of Lake Toya at night.

Lake Toya is a fairly large lake with a nearly round shape when viewed on a map. As Hikaru remembered, he had heard some information about this lake from a news program on television that he watched with his father during elementary school. In the middle of the lake, there is a small island that can be accessed by boat. The island is inhabited and there are also several luxury resorts there.

The area of Lake Toya is estimated to be more than 70 KM2, with a water depth of more than 100 meters. Even though it is located in the Hokkaido region, this lake never freezes over. Of course there is a logical reason for this. Lake Toya is surrounded by an active volcanic mountain. Volcanic activity is what keeps the lake water temperature up and never freezes.

The condition of the lake is of course used by local residents and inn owners to make several water rides for visitors. These various water rides include small boats, canoes and water bikes. Even now, Hikaru can see several small boats lined up beautifully by the lake. All of these things seem fun to rest before tomorrow they will be busy again serving tourists who want to enjoy Lake Toya more closely.

The atmosphere of the lake at night feels a little dark. If during the day the surface color of the lake water looks turquoise and refreshes every pair of eyes that look, but at this time, the lake water reflects the dark night sky. Fortunately, today is the day before the moon looks flawless. The moonlight illuminates parts of the lake and seems enough to keep Lake Toya from losing it's charm.

Hikaru got up from his seat when he realized that the potato chip wrapper in his hand was empty. He went to the trash to dispose of the snack packs and then took a glass of water. Unexpectedly, it turned out that the full stomach made him sleepy again.

Because his eyes were getting heavy, he intended to fall back asleep under his blanket. But before that, he took the time to arrange the condition of his room as before. He returned the chair he had been using to its original position. Hikaru didn't forget to turn off the music on his cellphone and stretched out for a moment, then went to the window to close the curtain.

“Oh, God! What is that?” Hikaru widened his eyes at the strange light descending from the sky. His hand tightly gripped the curtain he was about to slide. His feelings were now uncertain, both surprised and curious.

The light he saw resembled a shooting star, leaving a long tail of light in the night sky. Surprisingly, the light fell perpendicular to the earth like rain. Much to his surprise, the light fell into a bush not far from the inn where he was staying. Hikaru's estimate, it might fall in the backyard of another inn building which is right next to his inn.

Seeing this strange incident, Hikaru was petrified for a moment before realizing that it would be better if he could capture that strange moment with his cellphone camera. Unfortunately, Hikaru had lost his moment photographing the mysterious tail of light and only managed to get a picture of a bush that was emitting bright light.

At first, Hikaru thought it was some kind of meteorite. However, if the theory was correct, there should be a thump as it hit the ground, and he should be able to feel the impact. The inn next door also didn’t seem bothered by the fall of the foreign object. It feels so weird.

The curious Hikaru continued to stare at his cellphone screen intently, he tried to guess the form of a foreign object with that dazzling light from the photo he had captured through the cellphone camera. Unfortunately, the focus of the photo isn’t very good. The more he tries to enlarge the picture, the less obvious it's look.

Actually, what is that thing? Hikaru still standing there with confuse.

***

[to be continued]