A Mock Date With Toko-senpai!

After that, we visited the cave and the shrine on the opposite side of the island before returning to the car. By then, my shoes—which had been soaked in the sea—had dried enough that I wasn’t leaving wet footprints anymore.

“Next, we’re heading to Nojimazaki Lighthouse,” I said as I started the engine.

Nojimazaki Lighthouse sits at the southernmost tip of the Boso Peninsula. We took Route 410 toward the cape. As we emerged from the mountain pass, the vast open ocean suddenly stretched out before our eyes. It was the Pacific. Thanks to the beautiful weather, the blue sea was sparkling brilliantly, despite it being November. We drove along the road with the sea to our right and the mountains to our left. Buildings were only scattered here and there. Soon, a shining white structure came into view: Nojimazaki Lighthouse. Since the lighthouse sits on a small peninsula jutting into the sea, the area around it is developed like a park that you can walk all the way around.

“Since we’re here, why don’t we go to the very edge? That’s the southernmost point of the Boso Peninsula,” Toko-senpai suggested.

“Sounds good, let’s go!” I agreed brightly.

The area around Nojimazaki Lighthouse is well-maintained, with the grass neatly trimmed. Just beyond the promenade lies the rocky coastline.

“I like a sea like this—nothing in the way, just the horizon,” Toko-senpai said, taking a deep breath. I aimed for that moment and snapped another photo.

“Ah, you took another one.” Toko-senpai glared at me sideways.

“Please bear with me just for today. This is going to be the answer to my homework,”
I replied with a wry smile.

“Still… if you’re going to take them, I wish you’d do it when I’m actually prepared,” she said, still sounding a bit dissatisfied.

The two of us stood side-by-side, gazing at the sea. Before us was the true Great Ocean—the Pacific.

“Past this point lies America, South America, Australia, and then Antarctica, right?” Toko-senpai’s words flowed out as if carried by the wind. “I’ve always thought that someday, I’d like to travel the world on my own yacht.”

Traveling the world by yacht? I had always seen Toko-senpai as more of an indoor person, so this was a bit unexpected.

“When I was little, I was hospitalized for over a month. I read a book back then about a married couple who sailed around the world on a yacht. Reading that, I thought, ‘How wonderful. I want to travel the world freely like that too.’ I think that’s when I started loving books. At first, it was all travelogues and books about different countries.”

“That’s a wonderful dream.”

“Yes. A wonderful ‘dream,’ I suppose. In reality, it would be quite hard to find a partner you could stand being with 24/7 inside a cramped yacht.”

I looked at Toko-senpai for just a moment. I felt that she was the kind of person who wouldn’t lose her brilliance even if you stayed with her forever. No, the more time I spent with her, the more charming she felt.

“My father seemed to admire yachts, too,” she said, looking back toward the lighthouse. “A lighthouse is the only signpost in the pitch-black sea at night, right? We have GPS now, but for sailors in the past, it was the only landmark—their only hope. They followed the path marked by lighthouses to reach their destination.”

She looked up at the chalk-white lighthouse gleaming in the sunlight.

“That’s why my father named me ‘Toko’ (Lamp/Light Child). So that I could become a hope for everyone and provide them with light.”

Watching her, I thought to myself:

Toko-senpai… at the very least, to me right now, you are my hope, my signpost, and my light.
In the middle of this dark, stormy sea called ‘Karen’s affair,’ you are the only one illuminating me, giving me a goal, and becoming my hope…

“Hey, do you hear a voice somewhere?” Toko-senpai suddenly asked.

“A voice?”

“Yes, like a cry…”

I listened intently. Sure enough, between the sounds of the waves, I could hear what sounded like a child crying.

“I hear something like a child’s voice.”

“No way… could someone have fallen into the sea…?” Toko-senpai’s face turned pale. “If so, this is serious! Isshiki-kun, look around too!”

“Got it. I’ll search toward the sea, so Toko-senpai, please search the lighthouse side!”

With that, I started walking along the rocky shore. Toko-senpai ran from the promenade toward the park side. Eventually, near a part of the coast with gentle rock slabs, I found a boy crying. He wasn’t at the water’s edge. It looked like he had just tripped on the rocks. I was relieved he hadn’t fallen into the ocean.

“Toko-senpai, he’s over here!” I shouted toward the lighthouse.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I approached the boy. He looked about six years old—maybe a first-grader? But the boy just kept crying. “It’s dangerous here. Let’s go to that flat area over there.”

The boy shook his head as if saying no. I saw that his knee, exposed by his shorts, was bleeding quite a bit. He must have fallen on the rocks. I had no choice but to pick him up and carry him back to the promenade. Toko-senpai came running up just then.

“Where was he? Is he okay?”

“Over on those rocks. But he was far from the water, so I don’t think he was in danger.”

Toko-senpai’s eyes went straight to the boy’s knee. “This child is injured.”

She quickly wiped the blood away with a tissue and took a bandage out of her bag to put on his knee. “The cut isn’t very deep. You’ll be okay now. Does it still hurt?”

“A little,” the boy replied.

“Where are your mom and dad?” When Toko-senpai asked, the boy pointed toward the lighthouse and said, “Over there.”

“Over where, exactly?” Even when she asked again, he only replied, “Over there.”

“I guess we’ll have to try the lighthouse or the museum for now. If he’s lost, his parents should show up there eventually.”

When I said that, Toko-senpai nodded and asked the boy, “Are you okay? Can you walk?”

The boy replied, “I can’t walk.”

I guess I have no choice. “Here, I’ll give you a piggyback ride.”

As soon as I turned my back to him, the boy jumped right on. Can he really not walk? I wondered, but there was no point in saying it now. I stood up with the boy on my back.

“Alright, let’s go,” I said, and started walking alongside Toko-senpai.