Kaho and the rest of the red-bibbed team were the last to make it back to the main clearing of the reserve. One of the coaches was waiting outside next to a crate of plastic bottles. He tossed them at the players as they trudged toward the gym, wiping the sweat from their brows.
They had to wait for a few other people from the main reserve to come on a rickshaw and load poor Shoji on it, which still took an extra forty-five minutes. Mai paced the length of the rest spot, muttering to herself, while Naseru and Isamu kept Shoji upright. He would have to go back the way they'd come.
The last descent was quick but steep. There had been no guarantee that Shoji would have made it without tumbling among the loose stones and dust. The rest of the red-bibbed group were restless, and eager to get going, bored of the poor phone service, slimy seats and bugs biting them.
The yellow and blue groups were mingling in the gym, kids from all the other schools were practising their skills, drum and bass music was blaring from a Bluetooth speaker, a small LED light indicating it was on and connected, Kaho wondered who had packed that. It certainly wasn't Taiga, he was happily content with the rhythm of feet on the floor, but then again, he also considered the backboard of a basket a suitable place to sit. His judgement was questionable.
Kaho's eyes wandered the gym. Clusters of people were playing piggy in the middle, attempting high passes as opposed to normal ones, without having their pass intercepted. Matsushita strode over there to join in. He waved to some of his teammates as he went and joined the fray.
On the other side of the room, Fumiko and Konoishi had commandeered a hoop, plastic cones and a tape measure. Random players from the different schools were practising their shooting and measuring how far away they could land a successful basket, measuring it with the cones. Fumiko was scribbling furiously on a clipboard that had the reserve insignia on the back. Probably a loan from one of the reception desks. She was nodding, doing calculations in her head as Konoishi blew a whistle quietly, lest he disturb the other people practicing, indicating the people in the queue could swap places. Six people were waiting to go, and one player had made it a few steps away from the centre court line, backing up a step with each toss. Taiga was watching him keenly, making notes on his own clipboard. He and Fumiko were bound to compare notes later.
Meanwhile, Ryota was pushing a basketball into the air from just his thumbs and pointer fingers like Naoru had taught him. Other players were counting each successful toss and catch, including the white boy from the yellow-bibbed group.
Kaho felt Naseru behind her, looming over her before she saw him. His eyes seemed equally trained on Ryota and the people he was entertaining.
"What is Jean-Luc Barbier doing in Japan?" he asked under his breath.
Kaho looked up at him, through her lashes and smiled, "A friend?"
"I never said that," Naseru shrugged, turning to where Omura was sitting on a bench slurping a mango smoothie. He walked over and plonked himself down on the bench beside him. Omura grinned.
Kaho rolled her eyes and joined the fray. She chose to join Ryota and his new friend, Jean-Luc. Her presence seemed to dispel the rest of the onlookers. Did the people assume she was his girlfriend or something? Gross. Kaho caught his neon pink basketball and tucked it under her armpit. She grinned and raised a brow. He returned her smile look and looked at her sheepishly.
She gestured for him to get to his feet and began to dribble the ball. Jean-Luc raised his brows and joined them in their wedge of the court. She dribbled and passed to Jean-Luc, who passed to Ryota, who used the volleyball trick he'd learned in practice.
"I see," he said quietly. He spoke English with a thick accent that may have been French. She wasn't sure.
Kaho turned to Jean-Luc and slowly let out a few tentative words, "Is English best, or do you speak Japanese?"
"Ah, yes, English is better. But I speak some Japanese," Jean-Luc said before switching from English to Japanese, listing off some of his key phrases, "Do you speak English, where's the toilet, good job, I'm sorry."
"Ah, so you are a beginner," Kaho said, passing him the ball, "I am too, with English."
"We can learn together," Jean-Luc said.
Kaho nodded and slowly repeated what he said to her in Japanese. Jean-Luc repeated her, butchering some of the pronunciation. Ryota intercepted the ball Jean-Luc had been bouncing and corrected him.
The three of them went along doing that for a while, trying to help Jean-Luc understand the language around him. While they talked, they learned he was a transfer student that joined Seiran High less than a month ago and was living in an apartment that his parents were paying for. He said it was the size of a shoebox, was on top of a convenience store and overlooked the alley between the store and a burger joint. It didn't sound particularly inviting. Kaho pursed her lips. What was the appeal of Japan to him?
"Why did you come here?" Kaho asked, "Was it for basketball?"
Jean-Luc nodded, "I was told to come here. Something in my gut said to."
He was slow when he replied, and not always clear, but he was trying. Kaho and Ryota furrowed their brows, listened intently and repeated him, their eyes widening as they realised what he meant to say.
"A letter?" Ryota asked in strained English, "Black letter?"
"Oui! Oui!" Jean-Luc said, snapping his fingers, "Une lettre noire, c'est rouge et noir!"
Kaho and Ryota stared at him blankly.
Jean-Luc's cheeks reddened, "A black and red letter."
Kaho's jaw fell slack. A black and red letter. And he got one from all the way in France? Her letter had said teens would get them all around the world, but hadn't given it much thought. It never occurred to her that her path would cross with someone else from the other side of the world with their own mission. Would people closer to home be sent away to fulfil their missions? Maybe that was where Kibata Mae had gone. Kaho screwed her eyes closed and shook her head. There was no need for conspiracy theories. That poor girl was gone. She shouldn't dwell on that when Jean-Luc was right there.
Jean-Luc. It was so strange that Jean-Luc's Future Self told him to go all the way to Japan. What was waiting for him here, Kaho wasn't sure.
"Do you have one?" Kaho asked in Japanese, "Can you show us?"
Jean-Luc looked to Ryota for a translation. He furrowed his brows, "Can we see?"
"Yes! Yes! It's in my room. I will bring it with me at dinner."
Kaho and Ryota nodded.
Ryota opened his mouth, ready to say something else, when a whistle cut him off. He turned his head to see the Seiran High School coach blowing the whistle.
"That's time, kids. I want you to walk three laps around the gym and then head out for some food. Take in the scenery and be prepared for your next session in here in two hours."
The group nodded and began to prowl the perimeter of the gym, as requested, walking like water going down the drain, as a marching procession of kids made their way out into the world.
Lunch was being served in the dining room, buffet style, deep aluminium trays sat on heated rails, keeping food piping hot. The guests from the lodge had already plated up their meals and were eating in corners, secluded and far away from the flock of teenagers muscling in on each other, elbowing one another and jostling for serving spoons, trying to pile their plates high with fluffy white rice and vegetable curry, or rice noodles and sticky sweet chilli shrimp. There were a few greasy, sweaty spring rolls and pineapple fritters left, but the normal guests had taken their fill of those. The smoothies were replenished, too, new swirling vats of orange, pink and purple were waiting.
Kaho's stomach growled as she joined the queue. Shoji was at the front, and had heaped three massive metal spoonfuls of the sticky sweet chilli shrimp on a meagre portion of rice. At least he was eating. Akane left the queue and took the tray from him, leading him to a table. Shoji sat down and started talking to her. She rolled her eyes and flounced off in a huff, grabbing a mason jar and filling it to the brim with the mango and orange smoothie. She plonked it down in front of it and walked off.
Taiga staked his claim on a table big enough to accommodate the whole Hanagawa team, and despite spending the morning bonding, when the first Hanagawa player in the queue, Yuta, looked back to Eiji, and the two flocked to Taiga's table. The rest of the team followed suit.
The aluminium serving trays had to be swapped out three times, replenishing the vat of rice and rice noodles. The vegetable curry was a hit, few had picked the shrimp, which was fine my Kaho, it smelled like a perfect blend of tangy sweetness and heat, her nose was watering from the queue. She licked her lips and wiped her nose hastily, avoiding the eyes of everyone who came her way. She was the last member of the Hanagawa team in the queue, and the last person queuing before the few people waiting for second helpings. There were no more spring rolls or pineapple fritters. Not that she minded. But her heart and soul was singing over the swirling vat of strawberry and banana smoothie. She needed that like she needed air.
When it was her turn to plate up, she had a moderate portion of rice, and probably more shrimp than she needed. She put her tray down on her table and left for her smoothie. She'd slurped half a mason jar's worth before she even got back to the table.
She glanced back at the smoothie machine, but Taiga beckoned her over. Kaho sighed and headed over. Her stomach grumbled in satisfaction as she slumped down in her chair next to Mastushita and his half-eaten pineapple fritter.
"So," Taiga said, "I wanted to bring you all together for our first meal to tell you why I booked us here. Now, I know that the bidet is broken in your room Azumi, and the air conditioning only lets out hot air in yours, Michio," Taiga looked from Captain Hirano to Nitta.
"But, I promise you, this place is worth it, and they have their handyman, Kenta on it – he'll have the AC fixed before dinner, as for the bidet, they called out a plumber for it yesterday," Taiga said, "So, it's important to know that you all know why we're here. It's not just the nostalgia element for me. It's more than that."
Taiga lowered his voice and the group all leaned closer, "When I was on the Kenjoku Kaijus, we came here to train for all three years. And in my second year, when I scored that buzzer beater in the semi-finals, we'd come here, and we caught a glimpse of something amazing."
The group leaned in, listening intently, their food forgotten.
"We walked the hardest of the trails – the one you went on today, Azumi, and the rest of you with your red bibs. And you might have seen that off the edge of the trail, there is a narrow path that was overgrown and covered in spikes and brambles. When you walk that path, you'll come across some beautiful pools of water that are all interconnected, like little arches and stuff. You can walk along all the stones and look into the water, and in that water is a fish of legend."
Kaho raised a brow, her gaze flickering to the other members of the red bibbed group. Captain Hirano, Matsushita and Yamada were nodding. Naseru looked impassive.
"The legendary wishing fish is a gift to this world. My coach told us about it in this exact room years ago. He told us, Kaiju's you must respect this mythical magic, it outdates the world we live in and will exist long after we're gone. Legend has it that if you see the wishing fish you'll have good luck and prosperity, but if you catch the fish, you can make a wish. Just make sure you set it free once you've made your wish, because if you eat the fish, you'll be cursed forevermore."
Matsushita slurped on his smoothie, the sound of his straw picking up the dregs of his drink was audible, drawing everyone's eyes. They glared at him. He raised his hands in mock-surrender, "What can I say, it's good."
"Thank you, Hisashi. If you're done?" Taiga said with a scowl.
Matsushita nodded, ducking his head.
"As I was saying. If you eat the wishing fish, you'll be cursed. Your soul will leave the material plane and your human vessel remains. You will be transformed into the same fish you devoured and forced to roam the pool until you too have been eaten. Respect the wishing fish, make your wishes and set it free."
The group shared sceptical glances.
"Why are you telling us this, Coach?" Fumiko asked, "We have data and numbers we could be evaluating right now."
"Because, Fumiko, this evening, we will be catching this legendary fish. When I was a Kaiju, there were only two of us that went to find it. And after a week of training up here, we saw just a glimmer of the iridescent tail. My good friend, Mizutani nearly fell in trying to catch a second glance."
Kaho's eyes flickered to Naseru in that moment. His eyes glimmered with amusement at the sheer thought his older brother had nearly fallen into a pond trying to see a shiny fish.
"But I had the prosperity to cinch that victory from the jaws of defeat. Just not enough to win the league. This time, we will catch the wishing fish. We will wish for victory, and we will have the best year Hanagawa has ever seen."
"What does the fish look like?" Sunada asked, "And how do we catch it? Is it a recreational activity we're allowed to just do?"
Taiga grinned, leaning closer to the centre of the table, the team all put their heads together, ready to listen.
"It's as big as a dinner plate, with whiskers like a catfish, and a long wispy tail. It's iridescent and looks like each scale is a million colours at once. Like an opal. It's quick with large fins and I swear it can disappear at will."
"If you say so," Kaho said under her breath, finally taking a bite out of her sticky sweet chilli shrimp.
"They bait us with this legend here, but don't provide us with equipment, so I bought a bunch of nets and an ice box for water!"
"You're a genius, Coach!" Matsushita and Omura exclaimed, their eyes shining like stars.
Once Kaho and Fumiko had finished their lunches, they were escorted from the dining hall to help set up for the next session. They helped Taiga set up a series of poles that Kaho was sure were actually for dogs doing agility training, laid out in the gym at different lengths and widths apart.
Kaho remembered Taiga talking about this when he did it as part of the Kenjoku Kaijus, and it ensures a close, controlled dribble. Each line of agility poles was narrower and narrower, and the boys would have to weave between them with speed and grace, without knocking any over to successfully proceed to the next, narrower line of poles.
Taiga demonstrated as he explained the exercise to Fumiko, who raised her eyebrows in disbelief, "Does that actually work?"
"You tell me. Just watch how Tomohiro moves after a weekend."
She shrugged and adjusted the final pole. The trick with the final obstacle was despite looking like they were the same length and width apart, they got slightly shorter and narrower with each pole so it was like weaving through the spikes on a boobie-trapped wall. And, you'd have to successfully land a basket, or you'd have to start the final series of poles again.
"This isn't the only thing we're doing, obviously. I want these poles up and out for people to try all weekend. I'll fence off this corner with some plastic netting once that handyman is done with the AC in Nitta's room. Because this could win us the league."
"You say that about everything," Fumiko said with a grin.
"What can I say," Taiga shrugged, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket."
Once they were set up, they went back outside to soak up the rest of their break. Jean-Luc was sitting on a grass verge, watching the water and drinking a purple, berry smoothie. He didn't have his headphones on, and a few feet away, the only other person Kaho knew was fluent in English, Naseru, was sitting, slurping his own smoothie – mango and orange this time.
From what Kaho could see, they weren't talking, but maybe they didn't need to. Maybe they were like some anti-Yuta and anti-Eiji and could speak without words? Or maybe it was something else…