Red Data Girl: My Wish on the Night of the Shooting Stars (Week 35)
Red Data Girl: My Wish on the Night of the Shooting Stars By Noriko Ogiwara A Translation
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This is it! We’ve made it to the end of RDG 6! What a ride over the past five years!
If you haven’t read this announcement from last week, I have decided that my next translation project will be Ice Shoes Glass Shoes, the RDG short story compilation. This will also be my last translation project as I’d like to dedicate more time to my own writing.
Due to it being made up of short stories, Ice Shoes Glass Shoes won’t be posted as regularly as I have posted RDG. I’m considering longer, monthly updates, but I haven’t decided that for sure. Keep an eye out for updates.
Thank you so, so much for reading RDG for all these years! I’ve been so happy to share my project with you. Please consider supporting the author by buying her other series that has been translated into English, Tales of the Magatama. Noriko Ogiwara also wrote the story for the manga The Good Witch of the West.
Red Data Girl: My Wish on the Night of the Shooting Stars By Noriko Ogiwara Chapter 4: Mizuho Part 3 (3 of 3)
Wearing an extra layer under her jacket, a thick scarf and gloves, and carrying a flashlight, Izumiko set out of the house. After the sun set, the big trees on the shrine grounds became indistinguishable patches of darkness. No one would be able to walk there at all without a flashlight. As Tamakura Shrine was already at the top of a mountain, it didn’t take long to get to the summit itself. However, it was a dangerous walk even in the daytime with sudden drop offs and narrow paths. Normally, it wouldn’t be a place someone would walk after dark. Even Izumiko, who had grown up at the shrine, had to take extreme caution while placing her feet.
However, Izumiko had never been afraid of this path, even as a child and even at night. Sawa and Takeomi, who had worried over plenty of other things throughout the years, had never said that they had to go with her because of it being frightening and they had never once called her away from the edge of the summit either. It was Izumiko’s place in a way, the connection between her and the mountain.
Now alone, Izumiko’s thoughts began to drift as she walked.
I wonder what Miyuki’s doing in the dorm. Are Mayura and Manatsu back at their house in Nagano yet?...
It had been late at night by the time Izumiko and Miyuki had gotten back from Yokohama. Mayura had already returned from the party when Izumiko arrived in their room. The first thing Izumiko had done was give her roommate all the details of what had happened. Mayura had shared her side of the story as well.
After Izumiko had gone off with Mizuho, Mayura had immediately called Miyuki. There had been no way Izumiko’s strange behavior would have gotten past Mayura’s sharp eyes. At that time, Miyuki had been at the Tachikawa JR Station building for his passport application.
After that, Mayura, worried that she had been unable to determine where Izumiko was going, had gone to Angelica’s party with Manatsu. Nothing had happened at the mansion in the harbor district, and the evening had been thoroughly uneventful. While she admittedly had seen Takayanagi there, it had been a pleasant Christmas party overall. There had been plenty of activities for Manatsu who wasn’t as good with social pleasantries, and both of them had gotten a chance to talk with Mr. Bernard, Angelica’s father. Mr. Bernard was a man with a love for continuous jokes, and was much more likable than Mayura had first thought he would be.
Mayura had been astonished to hear that Izumiko and Miyuki had almost been kidnapped and brought abroad, but seeing as Izumiko was safe and back in front of her, she couldn’t be too upset.
“It seems like you’re not fated to get dressed up for a party, Izumiko. But at least Miyuki rushed right over to you so he achieved his goal of dressing up and going somewhere.”
“He didn’t achieve that goal at all. First off, it wasn’t his goal to start with, and secondly, he had his coat on the whole time,” Izumiko had replied.
Mayura had laughed knowingly. “Strolling around in a coat can still be stylish, can’t it? And with the night scenery you could see and the bay bridge in Yokohama, it was kind of like a fancy date if you forget about what actually happened. You were alone with Miyuki so technically that was luckier than going to the party. Did you give him his Christmas present when the mood was right?”
Mayura’s words had made Izumiko feel a little uncomfortable.
“I left so quickly that I couldn’t bring the present with me. I left it in the room.”
Speaking of that, Miyuki’s Christmas present had been one of the things she had brought home with her and it was now here on Mt. Tamakura. However, seeing as Miyuki wouldn’t be here until New Year’s, more than just the wrapping would be damaged if she kept carrying it around with her in her bag.
From what Mr. Sagara said though, I have a feeling that I shouldn’t get my hopes up…
She had been texting back and forth with Miyuki, but they had agreed to keep their conversation light, talking only about what they were doing and throughout the vacation, that was exactly what they had done. She knew that he had no interest in leaving Tokyo and while she didn’t want to outright say that she didn’t want to come to him, he hadn’t asked her either.
As Izumiko made her way up to the summit, her breathing grew harder, but she reached the open air of her destination without fear. It would be more dangerous when she went back down, but she wasn’t going to think about that now.
With her breath coming out as white puffs, Izumiko looked back up at the clear, star encrusted night sky. Decorative illuminations couldn’t compare with this, the bright grandeur of the distant beyond.
Ah… It really is different…
Izumiko turned off her flashlight and let her eyes adjust as she looked up at the pinpricks of light. The night sky created a dome over the mountain, stretching in every direction. Izumiko felt like she alone was wrapped up inside of it.
For a moment, Izumiko’s thoughts emptied and she focused solely on where she was standing. However, this feeling passed and her thoughts returned.
The me standing here is my most basic self. I’ll always come back to this place, even now. But I’m completely different from the lonely person I used to be here. I went to Tokyo and I changed…
She was expanding herself more and more, Izumiko thought. She’d even go abroad if that was necessary. Even if she stayed in Japan, she’d make connections in different countries if that was what it took. She thought about those things as she gazed up at the bright stars.
But, even so… that’s not my true wish…
Finally coming back to her senses, Izumiko pulled her gaze away from the night sky. She could sense something nearby. She didn’t know why she could sense it, but that didn’t change the fact that she was aware that someone was climbing up the path up from shrine. Izumiko turned carefully, breaking the silence she had wrapped herself in. Nothing like this had ever happened before. Her heart beat quickly.
Did something happen? Something big enough to call me back down to the shrine?...
She didn’t move immediately. She hesitated to call out either. She could make out a large shadow near the bottom of her line of sight. When the shadow was close enough that she could hear its footsteps approaching, Izumiko wondered if it was one of the young shrine attendants. They were walking steadily up the path. Izumiko remembered the flashlight in her hand and turned it on, but did not move to raise it. After a moment, the person stopped walking. Only then did she raise the light.
“Is that Izumiko?”
“Huh? Why are you here?”
Miyuki, dressed in a sweater, appeared in the light. He stared up at Izumiko, his hands resting on his knees as he took deep, tired breaths. To Izumiko, it was as if Miyuki had appeared out of the spirit world.
“How did you get here? You didn’t fly, did you?”
She didn’t hear the sound of a helicopter now, and in the time she had been up at the summit, she had only heard a car arrive in the parking lot. She had no idea how Miyuki was here now.
“I walked up here. On my own two feet. All the way from the base of the mountain,” Miyuki said with frustration. He was still catching his breath. “I came in Yukimasa’s helicopter and he dropped me off at the base. He said he wanted to stop in and visit Sawa, but he changed his mind half way here. The trip took five hours and it got dark on the way. That jerk.”
Izumiko was shocked. She might have grown up at the shrine, but she had never once walked from the base of the mountain to the shrine herself.
“Are you alright?”
“I wasn’t making any headway on the main road, so I thought I’d take a shortcut, but that was a disaster.”
Miyuki looked completely exhausted. Izumiko watched as he sat down on the ground. Only then did she remember the thermos she had placed by her feet.
“I have some cocoa. Do you want it?”
“Please.”
As Izumiko poured the cocoa into the lid cup and passed it to Miyuki, she noticed that he wasn’t wearing gloves. She was still shocked to see him here, but she was beginning to suspect this was all part of Yukimasa’s scheme.
Could it be that Mom wasn’t the present he was talking about?...
Miyuki took the cocoa gratefully. After one sip though, he declared it was incredibly sweet and Izumiko didn’t think he would drink the rest. He did though, but slowly. When Izumiko poured him a second cup, he drank that as well.
After waiting for a bit, Izumiko asked, “Why did you feel like coming to Mt. Tamakura all of a sudden? I thought you’d just be here for New Year’s if you came at all.”
“Circumstances changed, so I decided to tell you what’s going on.”
Miyuki pushed his hair back and then frowned, noticing the sticks and leaves in his hair.
“I said I was going to study abroad, but I’m not going to. You’re in extreme danger more often than I realized. I know there’s some degree of protection from spirits and other things at Houjou Academy, and the adults there can take care of this and that. But you throw yourself into things too easily with only the most basic understanding of what you need to protect yourself.”
“You don’t have to say anything else. I already learned my lesson, you know.”
Izumiko hadn’t exactly wanted to cut in, but her relief at hearing that Miyuki had reconsidered studying abroad felt like a wave crashing over her. Still, she didn’t want to make it obvious how happy she was.
“Are you really alright with giving up on studying abroad though? I wouldn’t tell you that you couldn’t go.”
“Are you saying that you’d go with me if I went?”
“Yes.” Izumiko nodded shyly but the movement was frank. Miyuki smiled a little. It was a mischievous, triumphant expression, not the sort of smile he used on adults. It was an expression from the bottom of his heart that said he didn’t care what others thought about how he was feeling. The feelings were his alone.
“Then I’ll reconsider again. Izumiko, if you’re living your life afraid of becoming someone’s research subject, why don’t you become your own researcher? Become more of an expert on yourself than anyone else and then you won’t have to worry about other researchers. The first step to that is continuing your education and getting into a college with a research program. I can help you with that.”
Izumiko blinked. “You’re saying I should study myself?”
“It’s not impossible. We can aim to go to the same college. We can major in whatever field we’re interested in and protect ourselves that way. If we can just prepare ourselves with the knowledge we need to keep ourselves out of other people’s grasps and not used for any of their purposes, we can go abroad and study at a good school after we graduate from Houjou.”
It was such a surprising proposal that Izumiko struggled to comprehend Miyuki’s words for a minute. She had a feeling that he had just pulled the idea out of midair that instant.
“Do you actually think I could aim for the same college as you?”
“It doesn’t have to be Tokyo University. There are plenty of other good schools,” Miyuki said offhandedly as if to say he wouldn’t listen to any of her excuses. “Izumiko, with college, we’d be students for more than just the three years here. You’d protect yourself and get stronger as you go. We could even go on to graduate school if we wanted. I’d be with you through the whole time, you can be sure of that. It would give us a chance to figure out what we’re capable of. To know what we can do.”
Suddenly, Izumiko could see the shining path Miyuki was setting in front of her. It was a long, bright road she had never considered before. She had a feeling that Yukariko had been referring to this when she had told Izumiko to stop thinking she would die young.
“I think I can do it, but I won’t know until I start. I want to have a dream to work towards…”
“You have the qualities to do it. I know you’ll work hard,” Miyuki said.
Izumiko had not expected Spartan Miyuki to say such a thing, but with them, Izumiko could feel a new dream growing in her chest. She was sure that if she worked hard, it would come true.
“I have to talk with Grandpa and Sawa about this now. I’ve never told them that I want to go to college before.”
Izumiko’s cheerful words surprised even her, but she could tell that she had found something special with this.
Now I get it. This is the real reason why I left the mountain. That and so Wamiya could become one with Miyuki…
At first, Satoru Wamiya had tried to stop Izumiko from leaving the mountain. He had objected strongly to Miyuki who he had seen as an invader. However, under the light of the stars, Miyuki looked like he was part of the mountains. She hadn’t sensed his presence as being any different from the rest of the mountain until he had come very close to the summit.
I’m going to keep living my life from here on. I’m going to live it to experience new things with Miyuki. To keep living life as the gift it is…
As she thought about this, she remembered the present in her room. As long as it was this cold, gloves would definitely be useful. Still, Izumiko didn’t feel comfortable saying so straight out, so she found a roundabout way instead.
“Miyuki, are you hungry? It’s cold. Want to go back to the house?”
“We came all the way out here. Let’s look at this amazing starry sky a little longer.”
Izumiko shut off the flashlight again. Miyuki’s bare hand wrapped around her gloved one, holding it.
As the two of them stood there shoulder to shoulder, gazing up at the stars, Miyuki said in a quiet voice, “I still haven’t told you why I came all the way out here to see you.”
“I think I’ve heard enough to guess,” Izumiko whispered back. She had a feeling that she knew what Miyuki hadn’t said. “I’m just so glad you came. Now let’s go back to the house and—”
“Stop talking,” Miyuki said bluntly. He turned, bringing his face close to hers.
There were as many stars in the sky as things Izumiko didn’t know yet.