The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (3 page)

“Impressive,” said Mr Komatsu, blinking in surprise. “You seemed to breeze through that one.”

Kazuko bowed to Mr Komatsu, returned to her seat and leant in close to Mariko.

“Mariko.”

“Yes?”

“Today is Wednesday the nineteenth, right?”

“Let me see.” Mariko thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. “No, it’s Tuesday the eighteenth.”

Kazuko couldn’t concentrate on anything for the rest of the day, and the more she tried to understand what was going on, the more confused she became. Had time just slipped back by one day? No, surely that couldn’t be! After all, nobody else seemed to have noticed. So did that mean that only Kazuko had gone back one day in time? It would explain a lot of things. But how and why on earth would such a thing happen? Then suddenly, her mind became clear.

Oh no! she thought to herself.
If today really is yesterday, the eighteenth, then doesn’t that mean that the earthquake is going to strike tonight? As well as the fire that threatened to destroy Goro’s house!
Kazuko’s mind was racing, and she pushed away her homework half-done. Then again, she’d already done that homework once, hadn’t she? And what did it matter anyway? Surely homework was the least of her problems right now!

Kazuko left the house with no destination in mind, but she was dying to tell someone. At first, she thought about visiting Goro. But then, Goro could be easily scared and was sometimes rash in his behaviour. Perhaps it would be better to visit Kazuo instead? Sure, he came across at times as being a bit spaced out. But underneath it all, Kazuo was really rather smart. So off she went.

It didn’t take long for Kazuko to get to Kazuo’s fashionable western-style house, with its garden on the right-hand side of the door and its greenhouse full of unusual flowers that always seemed to be in bloom. She took a breath and smelled something sweet. It was the unmistakable scent of lavender!

“That’s the scent,” said Kazuko to herself as she filled her lungs with air. The flowers all belonged to Kazuo’s father, and Kazuko remembered how he’d once shown her all the different kinds he was growing. She remembered he’d told her that lavenders belong to the
Lamiaceae
family, and that they are green all year round. She also remembered that the plant was originally from southern Europe, where its unique scent had made it popular as an ingredient in perfume.

As she stood on the doorstep waiting for someone to answer the door, Kazuo’s window opened, and both Kazuo and Goro poked their heads out.

“Look, it’s Kazuko!” said Goro.

“Hey Kazuko!” said Kazuo, “come on up, there’s nobody home!”

Kazuko nodded, stepped inside and made her way over to Kazuo’s room.

“Is everything alright?” asked Kazuo.

“If there’s something bothering you, I’ll be willing to help!” added Goro, doing his best to affect a masculine nod.

“Well, yes there is something I’d like to tell you,” said Kazuko, taking a seat in front of them.

“Whatever it is, it seems very formal!” said Goro, his back straightening in anticipation.

Kazuko was still not entirely sure she was ready to talk about what was happening. Would they believe her if she did? Probably not. But then, she was getting nowhere trying to think about it all by herself. So she decided to tell them anyway.

“Okay, now, I have something to tell you that is very difficult to believe. So it’s hard for me to tell you. But please try to listen to me until the end of my story. And please try not to laugh!”

Kazuko started with the earthquake the night before and ended with what happened in the classroom earlier on. And although she’d expected her friends to giggle all the way through, they sat there listening attentively with bated breath until the very end.

“There,” said Kazuko. “That’s what I wanted to tell you. I don’t care if you believe me or not. I probably wouldn’t, if someone else was telling me. But I really did experience everything I just told you. It wasn’t a dream. I’m sure of it!”

Kazuo and Goro appeared to be lost in their own thoughts, and Kazuo in particular seemed to be taking this far too seriously to just brush it off as nonsense.

“I really want to believe it,” said Goro, breaking the silence. “I want to believe it because it’s coming from you, Kazuko. But I can’t help but feel there must be some sort of misunderstanding.”

“I expected as much,” said Kazuko to herself.

“Kazuko!” pleaded Goro, his face turning redder by the minute. “You know what I mean, don’t you? I mean, for a whole day to just rewind on itself...”

“Wait a second, Goro,” interrupted Kazuo. “Maybe you have some sort of special power!”

“What do you mean, special power?”

“Well, I don’t know much about it, but I remember reading somewhere that there are some special people who have the power to transport themselves to other places in the world, just by thinking about it. It’s called teleportation. So when the truck was about to hit you, you might have used some power like that to move through time and space – even without knowing it!”

“What? No way! That’s ridiculous!” Goro shook his head violently. “That’s impossible! So unscientific! It goes against all common sense!”

“But things happen all the time that can’t be explained by common sense.”

“But there’s no evidence, Kazuo!” shouted Goro, annoyed. “Can you prove any of it?”

“I can!” shouted Kazuko in response. “We’ll just wait and see if there’s an earthquake tonight, and if your house ends up being threatened by fire.”

“How can you say such a thing!” shouted Goro, now scarlet with anger.

“I don’t mean to be rude,” said Kazuko. “But this is the only way to find out if there’s any truth to this.”

“Of course it isn’t true!” said Goro, storming out of the room.

“Now I’ve made him angry,” said Kazuko to Kazuo.
“What should I do?”

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much,” said Kazuo, frowning. “He’s not a bad guy, but he needs to learn to control his temper. Besides, you’re right. It’s the only chance we have for finding out what’s happening.”

After several minutes had passed, Goro still hadn’t returned. So Kazuo stepped out of the room, only to find him leafing through the phone book in the hallway.

“What are you doing?” Kazuo asked.

“Looking for a mental hospital,” Goro replied.

“Don’t be so nasty to Kazuko!” shouted Kazuo. “Would you really consider having one of your best friends locked up in a lunatic asylum?”

“But...” said Goro angrily, “she’s already starting to go mad. If we don’t get her to a doctor soon, she might go completely nuts!”

“And you can prove that she’s mentally sick, can you?”

“I don’t have to. Her absurd story is proof enough!”

“But what if it is true? If there really is an earthquake and a fire tonight?”

“No way!”

“It’s easy to say that. But we won’t know for sure until tonight. So why don’t we just wait until tonight and see what happens? If nothing happens, then you can do as you wish. You can call the mental institution first thing in the morning if you like.”

“I guess...” agreed Goro, reluctantly.

When she got home from Kazuo’s place, Kazuko couldn’t think of anything else, and she certainly had no appetite for dinner. After all, the food was exactly the same as the night before, as was the conversation between her mother and younger sisters.

It’s just like we’re all acting in a play!
she thought to herself.

Kazuko couldn’t bring herself to do her homework either. She’d already done it the night before, but once again those pages of her notebook were blank. If she really tried, she was sure she could remember her work and write it out again. But she just couldn’t bring herself to do that. Instead she decided to get into bed and get some much-needed sleep. But sleep isn’t so easy to come by when you’re expecting an earthquake later on. So instead she stretched across the bed and grabbed a study guide for her high-school entrance exams. At least her time-travelling might help her prepare for that, since she’d already gained an extra day.

Before she knew it, Kazuko had dozed off with the book on her face. Then came a low, thundering sound followed by a violent shaking. It was the earthquake!

“I knew it!” shrieked Kazuko, jumping out of bed and into the hallway, where her sisters and mother were already scurrying around in fear.

“There’s no need to be scared!” called Kazuko. “It’s not a big earthquake!”

Once Kazuko had managed to calm her sisters and her mother down, she put on her shoes and headed off for Goro’s house. The fire from the bathhouse would be starting about now, and if she hurried she might be able to let people know before any serious damage was done. She even thought about shouting
Fire! Fire!
But there was a chance that people might think she was just exaggerating.

Unlike the way she’d remembered it, there was nobody to be seen when she reached the bathhouse. But she could clearly see smoke rising from the edges of the back door as well as the occasional red spark. She thought about shouting out
Fire!
But instead she held her breath. After all, if Goro hadn’t believed her story, then it might not look good in his eyes if she were to be the first on the scene. He might think she’d started it herself to make her story seem true. Then she’d be branded an arsonist, and the police would come to take her away. It was a thought that made her body shiver. But what could she do instead? Surely she couldn’t just stand there idly and watch the flames spread.

At that moment Shin, a young employee from the local rice shop, stepped out of the bathhouse with his bath bag in hand. He’d noticed the smoke and sparks, gathered his things quickly together and come outside to spread the news with his famously loud voice.

“Fire!” he called out. “There’s a fire!”

And in an instant, doors and shutters seemed to open everywhere, and people spilt out onto the street.

“Someone call the fire department!”

“They just went to do that.”

“Where is the fire?”

“It’s in the kitchen in the bathhouse!”

A few minutes later the fire trucks arrived on the scene, followed by the police, who immediately began herding the onlookers.

“Kazuko!” came Goro’s voice through the crowds. “You were right. Your prediction came true!” he said, running towards her with an unusually pale face.

“So Kazuko was right after all,” said Kazuo, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and was now standing behind her with a similarly pale face.

“Kazuo!” said Kazuko, turning to see her friend. “Wait a minute. I thought you said you didn’t own any pyjamas!”

“Well I didn’t then,” answered Kazuo. “I used to just sleep in my underwear. But when I got home my mother had bought me these ones.”

“So Kazuko really does have the power to predict the future!” said Goro with a hint of admiration.

“Not predicting the future,” said Kazuko. “It’s something stranger than that.”

“What do you mean?” said Goro.

“I’m not predicting the future. I’m jumping back through time. But I can never be sure when it might happen. And if I jump back again, I’m going to have to convince you both all over again.”

“You don’t have to worry about that any more,” said Goro, shaking his head vigorously with his eyes wide-open. “I already believe in your powers.”

Kazuo burst out laughing. “But if this was today or yesterday afternoon, you wouldn’t have believed it. No matter how much she explained.”

Goro made a sour face.

“Well, yeah... I guess you’re right...”

Although Kazuko found Goro’s confusion amusing, she didn’t feel like laughing.

“This is horrible,” she said. “There must be some way for things to become normal again!”

“But that special power...” said Goro, turning to Kazuo. “What’s it called again?”

“Teleportation,” said Kazuo, in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Yes, teleportation. That’s a special power!”

“That’s true, Goro,” replied Kazuko. “But I don’t like the fact that I’m the only person who seems to have this power. Even you are looking at me differently now because of it –like you don’t think I’m human any more.”

“Now you’re just being paranoid,” said Kazuo, smiling.

“But I’m right, aren’t I? Once people find out about this, nobody will ever treat me like a normal person again!”

“Now hold on a minute!” said Kazuo, trying to calm the situation. “We still don’t know if you really do have such powers. I mean, you’ve only gone back in time once, right? It could have been a random and isolated happening. Or maybe you did have a special power, but now you’ve used it all up in one go!”

“You could be right, I guess. But I still feel uncomfortable not knowing whether it could happen again at any moment.”

As the last of the flames were extinguished and the last of the onlookers turned and made their way home, Ka-zuko and her two friends decided it would be better to talk about everything in the morning, so they went back home to bed. Kazuko tried hard to fall asleep, but her mind was racing with questions. Should she confide in a teacher? And if so, which teacher? Would any of them take her seriously? Or would they just laugh? Eventually her mind grew tired, and she dozed off without noticing. And when she awoke, the morning light was streaming into the room casting lacy patterns on the floor.
Oh no!
she thought to herself as she scrambled out of bed.
Today is Wednesday the nineteenth! The day she and Goro were nearly hit by a truck! Why didn’t I think to warn Goro last night! How could I forget until now!

Looking at the clock, she decided there was still time to do something. So she threw on her clothes, gulped down her breakfast and sprinted out of the house.

When she arrived at the zebra crossing, Kazuko let out a sigh of relief. Goro hadn’t arrived yet, so she could stand there and wait for him. But it wasn’t going to be that simple. As she stood there even for a few moments, she could see her classmates passing her, wondering why she wasn’t heading for school too. And what if anyone asked her? What would she say she was doing? She couldn’t tell them she was waiting to save Goro from being flattened by a speeding truck. They’d think she’d done too much studying for her entrance exams and driven herself crazy in the process.