Earthlings, page 3
Nonhuman lives jostled up against the window. The presence of nonhuman creatures was stronger at night. Strangely enough, though I was a little scared, I felt as though my own feral cells were throbbing.
The next morning my sister threw a tantrum.
“I want to go home!” she screamed. “I hate it here!! I want to go back to Chiba now!!!”
Kise didn’t get on with the other kids in her school. I’d heard from Kanae, whose sister was in the same year, that she’d been dubbed Miss Neanderthal for being so hairy. I wasn’t at the same school as her, but even so I’d been asked, “Hey, you’re Miss Neanderthal’s little sister, aren’t you?”
Often I’d be ready to leave for school before Kise had even emerged from her room. More and more she ended up not going to school at all. She stayed home being comforted by Mom instead.
The summer vacation should have been a welcome break for her, but then Yota had asked an aunt why Kise had a moustache. When the other cousins heard about it they all traipsed in at breakfast to see it for themselves, and she’d flown into a rage.
“Look what happens when you tease girls, Yota. Apologize right now!” an aunt scolded him. He did, but my sister wasn’t impressed.
“Oh dear. She sometimes has fits, too, doesn’t she?” the aunt said, a worried look on her face.
Kise clung to Mom and wouldn’t let go. When she got stressed out she usually threw up. For the rest of the day, she kept complaining, “I don’t feel well. I want to go home!” And by evening, Mom gave in.
“It’s no good. I think she’s got a fever. Let’s go home.”
“I suppose we’d better if she isn’t well,” Dad agreed.
“Cousin Kise, I’m sorry. I really am,” Yota kept repeating. He was on the verge of tears, but she wasn’t having any of it.
“You shouldn’t spoil her so much,” Uncle Takahiro said, and Uncle Teruyoshi chimed in with a soothing voice, “Don’t be in such a hurry. The air’s fresher here, and she’ll feel better after a good sleep. Won’t you, Kise?” But Kise refused to back down, and Mom was at the end of her tether.
“We’re going back in the morning,” she informed me, and all I could do was nod.
Yuu and I had arranged to meet the next morning at six o’clock outside the old storehouse.
“Where are we going?”
“To the graves.”
Yuu looked taken aback. “What are we going to do there?”
“Yuu, I’ve got to go back home today. Listen, I have to ask you something. Will you marry me? Please?”
“Marry you?” he repeated, flustered by my sudden proposal.
“We’re not going to be able to see each other until next year. If you marry me now, Yuu, I’ll manage somehow until then. Please?”
Seeing how desperate I was, he seemed to make up his mind. “Okay, Natsuki, let’s get married.”
We sneaked out of the house and headed for the family graveyard in the rice fields.
When we got there, I took Piyyut out of my shoulder bag and put him next to the offerings.
“Piyyut will be the pastor.”
“I wonder if the spirits will punish us for doing this?”
“I’m sure our ancestors won’t be angry at two people who love each other getting married.”
Since Piyyut can’t speak human, I recited the wedding vows on his behalf. “Swearing on our ancestors, we hereby marry. Yuu Sasamoto, will you take Natsuki Sasamoto as your wife and promise to love her in sickness and in health, in happy times and sad times, as long as you live?”
Then I added in a small voice “Promise, Yuu.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Good. Now Natsuki Sasamoto, will you take Yuu Sasamoto as your husband and promise to love him in sickness and in health, in happy times and sad times, as long as you live? . . . Yes, I do.”
I took two rings I’d made out of wire from my bag.
“Yuu, put this on my finger.”
“Okay.” His skin was cold as he slipped the ring onto my third finger.
“Now I’ll put on yours.” I carefully slipped the other ring onto Yuu’s white finger, taking care not to hurt him. “Now we are married.”
“Wow. We’re man and wife!”
“That’s right. We’re not boyfriend and girlfriend anymore. We’re a married couple. That means we’re still family even when we’re apart.”
Yuu looked a little bashful. “Mitsuko’s a bit crazy, and when she gets angry she always says she’ll throw me out of the house. I’m really happy I’ve got a new family now.”
“Should we make some more promises? Like we did when you agreed to be my boyfriend. Now we’re married we should do it properly this time.”
“Okay.”
I took out my notebook and started writing with my pink pen.
Marriage Pledge
We hereby pledge the following:
1) Don’t hold hands with anyone else.
“What about in folk dance?”
“That’s okay. Just don’t hold hands with another girl when you’re on your own.”
“Okay,” Yuu said, giving me an odd look.
2) Wear your ring when you go to sleep.
“This ring?”
“Yes. Look, last night I put a spell on them. So even when we’re apart, we can hold hands when we’re asleep. At night, we can look at these rings and remember each other, and that way we’ll feel reassured and be able to sleep.”
“Right.”
“And what else? Is there anything you want to add, Yuu? Something we should pledge for our marriage?”
Yuu thought a moment, then picked up the pink pen and wrote in small, neat letters:
3) Survive, whatever it takes.
“What do you mean?”
“I want us both to stay safe so we can meet again next summer. I want us to promise that we will do whatever it takes to survive and be in good spirits when we meet up again next year.”
“Okay.”
We decided that Yuu would look after the piece of paper the pledge was written on. Mom and Kise often threw away my things, so I thought it would be safer with him.
“Make sure you don’t break our pledge, okay? And definitely come back here next summer!”
“I will.”
We each hid our ring in a pocket and hurried back to Granny’s house. As we went in the front door we could smell the miso soup cooking for breakfast.
“Yuu! Natsuki! You’re up early!” Granny exclaimed in surprise.
“Yes, I was looking for flowers for my independent study project,” I said, giving the excuse I had prepared.
“What a good girl you are!” Granny said, impressed. “Oh, I almost forgot,” she said and rushed back to the living room, where she took out some money wrapped in tissues from her bag. “This is for you, Natsuki. It’s not much, but you can buy yourself a nice toy with it.”
“Thank you!”
“And here’s something for you, too, Yuu.”
During Obon, the adults always gave the kids some money in an envelope or wrapped in a tissue. We had to tell Mom how much we were given, but it was ours to keep.
I put it carefully into my bag. I was saving up to visit Yuu in Yamagata sometime.
“Oh, you’re up already. Good,” Mom said as she came down the stairs. “We’ll be on our way straight after breakfast. Go and get yourself ready to leave. We have to get back quickly and find a doctor for your sister. It’s a holiday, so we’ll need an emergency clinic.”
“Okay.”
Mom bowed to Granny. “I’m so sorry. We really did want to stay until the end of Obon.”
“Don’t worry. Kise’s always been rather frail, hasn’t she?”
I looked at Yuu. I wasn’t going to be able to stay until the last night of Obon. I would miss the fireworks when we saw the ancestors back on their way to the other world. Hadn’t Dad said something about a bus coming up the mountain once a day or something?
“Mom, couldn’t I stay a bit longer and go home by bus?” I ventured timidly.
Mom looked at me, her face tired. “Oh do shut up. Go and get ready now. You know very well that it’s impossible to calm your sister down once she starts a tantrum.”
“But there’s—”
“That’s enough. Don’t you start giving me trouble too!”
“I’m sorry.”
I shouldn’t get in the way of my “family” anymore. I was married now, after all. I had already left my family, so Dad, Mom, and my sister could finally be a close-knit threesome.
At the thought that Yuu and I were now married, strength welled up in me. I glanced at him. He returned my look and gave a slight nod.
Please let us definitely meet up again safely next year, I thought, mustering all my magical powers to make the wish come true.
Floorboards creaking here and there signaled that morning had fully arrived in the house. In the pale sky visible from the veranda there was no trace of the color of outer space.
The car was filled with the smell of melted rubber.
“Open the window and let in some fresh air,” Mom said, rubbing my sister’s back.
I was in the front passenger seat, gazing out the window at the increasingly flat and populated landscape.
Dad had not uttered a word for miles. Mom was desperately trying to soothe my sister.
“Family” is hard work I thought. I gripped the ring in my pocket.
I closed my eyes and conjured up Yuu. Now in the darkness behind my eyelids there were some glimmers of light, like stars. Maybe this was a new magical power, letting me see into outer space where Yuu’s home, Planet Popinpobopia, was located.
If he ever found the spaceship, I would get him to take me with him. Now that we were married, I would be going home as his bride. Of course I would take Piyyut with me too.
With my eyes closed, drifting in space, it felt as though the spaceship from Planet Popinpobopia really was close by.
I was immersed in my love for Yuu and my magical powers. As long as I was here in this space, I was safe and nobody could destroy our happiness.
CHAPTER 2
My town is a factory for the production of human babies. People live in nests packed closely together. It’s just like the silkworm room in Granny’s house. The nests are lined up neatly in rows, and each contains a breeding pair of male and female humans and their babies. The breeding pairs raise their young inside their nests. I live in one of these nests too.
The Baby Factory produces humans connected by flesh and blood. Eventually we children will also leave the factory and be shipped out.
Once shipped out, male and female humans are trained how to take food back to their own nests. They become society’s tools, receive money from other humans, and purchase food. Eventually these young humans also form breeding pairs, coop themselves up in new nests, and manufacture more babies.
This was how I’d always thought it was, and when they gave us sex education classes at the beginning of fifth grade, I felt vindicated. My womb was a factory component and would couple with someone’s testes, which were also a factory component, in order to produce babies. Males and females all crawled around their nests with these factory components hidden within their bodies.
I was now married to Yuu, but being an alien he probably couldn’t make babies. If we couldn’t find his spaceship, society would make me form a breeding pair with someone else.
I hoped we would find the spaceship before that happened.
Piyyut was asleep in the bed I’d made for him in my study desk drawer. I continued to use the magic wand and mirror he’d secretly given me. My magical powers helped me take my life forward into the future.
As soon as we arrived home, I called my best friend, Shizuka. She had stayed in town during the Obon holiday and had apparently been bored while I was away.
“So are you coming to the pool tomorrow, Natsuki? I said I’d go with Rika and Emi, but I don’t like Rika. It’ll be so much more fun if you come too. Let’s go on the water slide together!”
“Sorry, but I got my period last night.”
“Oh no, that sucks! Oh well, let’s go to eat crepes the day after tomorrow, then.”
“Sure!”
“Cram school starts next week, right? I hate it, but I’m kind of looking forward to seeing Mr. Igasaki. He’s such a babe!”
I laughed. I was enjoying chatting on the phone with Shizuka after so long. Suddenly I felt a forceful thump on my back.
“Get off the phone!”
I turned to see my sister standing there looking cross. I supposed she’d kicked me again. She always comes and kicks my back when I’m on the phone.
“Sorry, it seems my sister wants to use the phone.”
“Oh really? Okay then, see you the day after tomorrow!”
“See you!”
When I hung up, my sister said irritably, “My fever comes back whenever I hear you speaking so loudly.”
“Sorry.”
She pushed me out of the room and slammed the door. It would be ages before she came out. It was always the same.
I tiptoed to my room, trying not to make a sound.
I slipped my ring onto my finger and gazed at it. When I did this, I felt like Yuu and I were sharing the same finger. Come to think of it, my ring finger did look strangely pale. It resembled Yuu’s slim fingers I thought, and I stroked it gently.
I lay down to sleep still wearing my ring. When I closed my eyes, I could see outer space.
I wanted to return to that pitch-blackness as soon as I could. I’d never been to Planet Popinpobopia, but I was beginning to feel it was my true home.
The day cram school started, I wondered what I should wear and eventually settled on a black shirt. I buttoned it up all the way to the top. It was a bit hot, even though it was short sleeved.
I picked up my school bag, slipped Piyyut inside it, and went downstairs. Mom was in the hall. She scowled when she saw me.
“What do you think you’re wearing? You look like you’re going to a funeral.”
“Um.”
“You’re so gloomy, I swear.” She sighed. “I’m tired enough as it is.”
It’s handy having a dumpster in the house. In this house, that’s my role. When Dad and Mom and Kise get so fed up they can’t bear it any longer, they dump everything onto me.
Mom was just on her way next door to pass on the neighborhood news circular, so I went out with her.
“Hi Natsuki, off to cram school are we?” the next-door neighbor called out to me. “You’re all grown-up now!”
“Oh no she isn’t,” Mom said loudly behind me. “She’s always making a mess of everything. Can’t take my eyes off her for a moment.”
“I don’t believe that, eh, Natsuki?” the woman said, turning to me.
“No, Mom’s right,” I said.
When I wasn’t using my magical powers, I really was a dead loss. I’d always been clumsy and ugly. From the perspective of the people in this Baby Factory town, my very presence must be a nuisance.
“In comparison,” Mom went on loudly, “your little Chika is so talented. This child is so stupid and slow at doing whatever she’s asked. She’s like a weight around my neck. I swear I’m quite worn out.”
She smacked me on the head with the file containing the circular. She often hit me on the head. She said that since I was so stupid, giving my head a little shock would make it better. And what’s more, since it was empty it made a good sound. That was probably true. The thwap as it hit my head rang out loud and clear.
“And just look at how she dresses! What a disgrace. We’ll never be able to get her married off looking like that.”
I nodded. “Yes, it’s true.”
The person who had given birth to me said I was a dead loss, so I decided it really must be true. I was probably causing a nuisance to the neighbors just by existing. My sister said I gave her the creeps. I was such a useless lump that she felt stressed out just looking at me.
“I’m sorry,” I said, automatically bowing my head in apology.
“Oh, but no! No, it’s not the case at all,” the woman said, taken aback.
“Well, I have to go,” I said, bowing my head again, and I got on my bicycle and headed off to cram school.
“I mean really,” I heard Mom’s voice behind me. “Where on earth does that child get it from? She doesn’t take after us, that’s for sure.”
As I cycled past the rows of identical houses, I thought to myself again how much like nests they looked. They resembled a huge cocoon that Yuu and I had once found in the Akishina mountains.
My town was a collection of nests, a factory for manufacturing babies. I was a tool for the town’s good, in two senses.
Firstly, I had to study hard to become a work tool.
Secondly, I had to be a good girl, so that I could become a reproductive organ for the town.
I would probably be a failure on both counts, I thought.
The cram school occupied the second floor of a community center built in the station area two years ago.
There were two classrooms: the one at the far end was taught by the school’s principal. It was for students who were taking exams to go on to junior high school. The nearest classroom was the ordinary course for kids like me who weren’t taking an exam. The teacher for this class was a university student called Mr. Igasaki who worked there part-time.
I parked my bike, took off my shoes by the entrance, and went upstairs to the classroom to find everyone else was already seated. Shizuka waved me over, and I sat down next to her.
Everyone looked a little different from when I’d seen them before the start of the summer break. Many were suntanned or had had their hair cut.
