One month later.
Otsuchi lay in ruins. The streets had been cleared by heavy machinery allowing the roads
to be used. A temporary mobile phone tower had been set up, but basically the town
looked much like Hiroshima or Nagasaki after the A-bomb. Volunteer workers were
slowly trickling into the town with much needed supplies. Kumiko was surprised when a
truckload of futons arrived and a foreigner got out and helped unload them. People from
all over the world were volunteering.
**
Ryota, Karina, and Yurie had rescued a young man who had been stranded on some
wreckage. They survived in the ocean for one month before being found by Mr. Kamata.
Ryota and Karina fell in love. Ryota returned to school and entered the same university as
Karina. Yurie started to write a book about her adventures on Junk Island.
**
Hiro stayed close to the hospital and checked in everyday to see if Erica was fine. One
morning, Hiro managed to get Erica out of bed and take her for a walk in the hospital
garden.
“Eri-chan!” came a voice from behind them.
Erica whirled around to see her father running towards her. “To-san. Father!”
she screamed, running towards him.
He picked her up; swung her round and then gave her a cuddle. “I thought you
drowned.”
Erica shook her head. “No.”
Tears of joy burst from both of them.
“Excuse me,” said Hiro. “I’m Erica’s teacher.”
The father put Erica down. “Thank you so much for helping my daughter,” he
said, bowing deeply. “I don’t know how to repay you.”
“You’re welcome and you don’t need to repay me.”
“If it wasn’t for him, I would have drowned,” blurted Erica.
“Thank you so much,” he said, bowing again.
“You’re welcome,” replied Hiro, returning the bow. “What happened to you?
Where did you go?”
“No where,” said the father, picking up Erica. “I was here in this hospital all the
time.”
“What do you mean?” asked Hiro with a puzzled look on his face.
“I was involved in a car accident the day after the earthquake and lost most of my
memory for three weeks.”
“I see,” said Hiro.
Erica climbed down from her father and held Hiro’s hand. “Thank you.”
Hiro couldn’t hold back the tears.
**
Sachie, Seko and Tomo had worked day and night to get Kumiko’s shop back up and
running and now helped in the shop. Tomo and Sachie did most of the cooking, while
Kumiko ran the shop with Seko. Her father looked after deliveries.
**
Yukino decided to stay and help the people of Otsuchi. One morning she went and placed
some flowers where the hair salon had once been and then went down to the harbor to
visit Mr. Kamata.
“It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?” said Yukino.
“Yes, it is,” said Kamata, pouring Yukino and himself two cups of sake.
“To the respect of Mother Nature,” she said, lifting the sake cup.
“To Mother Nature,” he said, raising his cup.
“Kampai! Cheers!” said Yukino.
“Kampai!” replied Kamata.
They both knocked the sakes back.
“How many people did you find at sea?” asked Yukino, putting her cup down.
Kamata refilled the cups. “Four. Only four,” he said sadly.
How long had they been stranded?”
He picked up his cup. “Almost a month,” he said and knocked back another
sake.
“Did they find their families?” she asked, taking a sip.
“Yes, they did, and one of them now works for me,” he said, pointing behind
her.
Yukino turned to see Yuta standing with a big grin plastered across his face.
“Yuta-kun!” she yelled. She jumped to her feet and raced over and gave him a big hug.
Mr. Kamata chuckled at the beauty of life and poured himself another sake.