The Moon’s Ship That Crosses The Night: Chapter 11

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Kawase and Matsushita sat side by side in the reception room of the Hokkaido branch office. The air in the room was chilly, and their damp feet felt ice-cold against the floor. Never in their wildest dreams had they imagined that the fire trucks they saw earlier had been responding to a fire at their own hotel.

The source of the fire was the neighboring room, where a group of inconsiderate guests had been making a racket late into the night. The cause? A carelessly discarded cigarette.

Only the one room had burned, but the firefighting efforts had shattered windows, and the surrounding rooms were drenched from the water. Naturally, their own room had been no exception.

The hotel had tried to arrange alternative accommodations for them, but with the festival season in full swing, every available lodging was packed. In the end, the hotel had offered to let them sleep in the dining hall. When they carried their belongings—soaked as they were—to the new location, they found about twenty other displaced guests already there. On top of that, there weren’t enough futons to go around, so they were told they’d have to sleep on a pile of stacked cushions.

As they stood there, dripping and at a loss, Kawase’s phone rang. It was Taguchi. Apparently, he had heard about the hotel fire through the grapevine. When Kawase explained the situation, Taguchi immediately said, “You won’t be able to get any rest there. We’ll find a place for you to stay, so come to the branch office for now.”

Even after Kawase pointed out that every hotel in town seemed to be fully booked, Taguchi simply repeated, “Don’t worry about it.” He must have had access to some kind of employee lodging. No matter how old the facility was, it had to be better than this. With that in mind, they left the hotel behind.

“So, all of your belongings got soaked?” Taguchi asked sympathetically, his gaze fixed on the plastic-wrapped bags at Kawase’s feet.

“It’s honestly unbelievable,” Matsushita seethed, clenching his fists.

He had left his personal laptop in the hotel room, and now it was thoroughly drenched. Even if he dried it out, there was little hope that such a delicate piece of technology would ever work again. Kawase, on the other hand, had been carrying his laptop with him and had narrowly avoided the same fate.

Just then, the ringtone of a cell phone cut through the room.

“It’s the president,” Taguchi said, excusing himself as he stepped into the office.

The moment they were alone, Matsushita leaned in and whispered, “So, uh… what’s gonna happen to us tonight?”

“How the hell should I know?” Kawase muttered. “Taguchi-san must have something in mind, though. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have called us here.”

They waited for about fifteen minutes. Then, a set of hurried footsteps approached, and the door burst open.

“I deeply apologize for what happened at the hotel we arranged for you.”

The man bowed low before them.

Clearly, after hearing what had happened, he had rushed over in a panic.

The last time they had seen him, they had assumed it would be a final farewell before heading home. That had been at the entrance of the restaurant, just a few hours ago. Meeting again so soon felt almost comical.

“Please, don’t apologize. It’s no one’s fault,” Kawase said.

Still, the man kept bowing. “I’m truly sorry.”

“I already heard the details from Taguchi. We searched everywhere, but due to the festival, there are no available rooms left.”

Then, after a brief pause, he added, “So, I sincerely apologize, but would it be acceptable for you two to split up and stay at my house and Taguchi’s house for the night?”

Kawase blinked, momentarily unable to process what he’d just heard.

“Ah, but… wouldn’t that be an inconvenience?” He tried to keep his voice composed, despite his obvious hesitation.

“Given the situation, please don’t worry about that,” the man insisted. “Ideally, you’d stay together, but Taguchi’s house is already full of guests, and he doesn’t have any extra bedding. My place also only has one spare futon.”

He glanced between the two of them before continuing, “So I thought it would be best if Matsushita-kun stays at my house, while Kawase-kun stays at Taguchi’s.”

For a moment, Kawase felt relieved—he had fully expected to be the one staying at the man’s house. But just as quickly, that relief turned into confusion.

Wait, hold on a second!

Why was this guy offering to take in Matsushita instead of him?

"If that arrangement is acceptable, let’s head out immediately. Since your belongings got soaked, I imagine you’ll need a change of underwear and other necessities. But unlike the city, the convenience stores around here close by midnight," the man explained.

Matsushita, taking that as a cue, picked up his bag and stood. The man and Taguchi must have taken that as agreement because they, too, started moving toward the door.

Kawase hadn't actually said, I'll be in your care, but he couldn't think of a reason to stop the flow of events either.

They stepped out of the reception room and walked down the dimly lit, silent hallway. Only their footsteps echoed. No one spoke.

When they reached the factory entrance, the two men left them there, heading to the parking lot to get their cars. They had told Kawase and Matsushita to wait, likely thinking their luggage must be heavy.

Once the men disappeared from sight, Matsushita stretched, putting both hands behind his head.

"Man, we really lucked out getting a place to stay. I was sweating like crazy, so I wanted to take a bath, too," he said, rolling his shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess," Kawase muttered as he placed his heavy, waterlogged bag on the steps.

"Still… being alone with that branch president is gonna be kind of awkward. And doesn't he seem like the type whose house would be so spotless you wouldn't find a single speck of dust?"

It wasn’t as if Kawase had chosen the sleeping arrangements. He could have just left it to the others. And yet, for some reason, he couldn’t shake this nagging feeling.

Had that man chosen Matsushita because he thought that if he stayed with Kawase, something might happen? That maybe—like in that back alley all those years ago—he’d get punched again?

If that were the case, then fine.

But… what if that wasn’t it?

What if the man had his eyes on Matsushita?

A shudder ran down Kawase’s spine as an unsettling image formed in his mind—Matsushita, pinned beneath that man.

Still, Matsushita was a former football player. If it came down to it, he could easily knock the guy flat.

Six years ago, Kawase himself had had enough strength to shove that man away. The only reason he hadn’t done so was because of the transfer threat hanging over his head.

"Kawase-san, why the scary face?"

"Ah… no, it's nothing."

He was overthinking this.

The idea that the man might be targeting Matsushita was just speculation—nothing more. Besides, he wasn’t as young as he used to be. Surely, he wasn’t as active as before.

A deep brrooom of an engine cut through the silence, and beams of light sliced through the dark road. Two cars pulled up beside them with a sharp halt.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Matsushita started walking toward the man’s car.

“Uh, wait—what’s going on?”

Before he realized it, Kawase had grabbed Matsushita’s arm.

“Ah—no, it’s nothing.”

When he let go, Matsushita continued approaching the man. As Kawase watched, he felt a strange illusion—as though Matsushita was being swallowed whole by something unknown, something formless and eerie.

“Hey, wait a sec.”

Not just Matsushita, but the man who had gotten out of the car, and Taguchi too, all turned their eyes toward him.

"Uh… you should just stay at Taguchi-san’s place after all," Kawase blurted.

Matsushita tilted his head, then shrugged. "Sure, that works for me."

Taguchi, having overheard, nodded in understanding. "Now that you mention it, I heard Kawase-san used to work in the same department as the president."

"So, Kawase-san will be coming to my house then—" the man began.

But before he could finish, Kawase cut in.

"Actually," he blurted, voice tight.

Taguchi blinked. "Huh?"

"You've both done so much for us already… I’d feel bad causing any more trouble."

It was an excuse. A flimsy one.

But Taguchi, taking him at his word, immediately waved it off. "Oh, please, don’t worry about that." He stepped forward earnestly. "It’s only natural to help out HQ staff. Besides, if you can hold out just for tonight, we already have lodging secured for you starting tomorrow."

"Even so… I’d still feel bad about it."

Kawase turned to Matsushita, pressing a hand against his back. "You go on, though. Head to Taguchi-san’s place."

"Aw, come on," Matsushita whined. "If you’re not going, then I’ll stay at the office with you."

"Just go."

Before Matsushita could argue further, the man interjected.

"Actually…"

Something in his tone made Kawase tense.

"Our office building is set up with eco-friendly measures. At midnight, the main power shuts down everywhere except the 24-hour refrigerated storage. That includes the office lights—without a flashlight, you won’t even be able to find the restroom."

"Wait, seriously…?"

So staying here wasn’t an option.

The man pressed a hand to his chin, tilting his head slightly as if in thought. Taguchi watched him in silence.

They had already decided to split up for the night. But now, thanks to Kawase’s selfish insistence, things had gotten unnecessarily complicated. The weight of that realization made him feel unbearably out of place.

"Taguchi-kun, would it be possible for you to take both of them in for the night?" the man suggested.

Taguchi let out a small hum of consideration.

"It’s not impossible, but… I don’t have enough futons."

"In that case, I’ll bring some from my house to yours."

"But, sir, your house is in the opposite direction from mine."

"That’s fine."

"But making the round trip would take at least an hour."

Kawase could tell how much trouble he was causing. He clenched his fists tightly.

That was all in the past. It had nothing to do with the present.

There were still things he couldn’t let go of. But this was one of those moments when he had to.

"Um… I’m sorry. I’ll stay at the branch president’s place after all," he said.

At his words, Taguchi’s expression visibly relaxed with relief.

With that settled, Matsushita wasted no time climbing into the passenger seat of Taguchi’s four-wheel-drive vehicle.

He had said he’d go, but truthfully, Kawase didn’t want to set foot in that man’s house. He didn’t want to be alone with him. If he’d known it would turn out like this, spending the night in the charred remains of the hotel dining hall would’ve been a hundred times better.

The man’s car was a black domestic sedan. Kawase opened the rear left door—and fell speechless. He had hoped to sit as far away as possible, but the back seat was packed from floor to ceiling with boxes and vinyl sheets, leaving no room for anyone to sit.

"You don’t mind sitting up front, do you?"

Clearing out the back just so he could avoid sitting beside the man felt too obvious, so with no other choice, Kawase took the passenger seat.

The car smelled faintly of cigarettes. He sank into the overly soft seat and stretched out his legs. Something rustled under his toes.

“It’s a mess, but just ignore it.”

Kawase nudged some indeterminate clutter deeper into the footwell and set his bag at his feet. Before he even managed to buckle his seatbelt, the sedan began to quietly roll forward.

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