The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2 page)

“But that’s so odd,” said Kazuko in bewilderment.

“That smell you mentioned,” asked Mr Fukushima, “could you tell what it was?”

“Well, it was a sweet smell. But how can I describe it...”

Then the answer suddenly dawned on her. “That’s it! It was lavender!”

“Lavender?”

“Yes! I remember when I was in elementary school, and my mother used to let me smell her lavender perfume. It was the same smell!”

But Kazuko knew there was something else about the smell. Something she couldn’t quite remember. But something that was somehow very important.

Kazuko didn’t feel her normal self for several days after the incident in the science lab. She wouldn’t go so far as to say that she was feeling ill or anything. It was just that her body seemed to have an odd lightness to it, like a sort of floating sensation that left her feeling ungrounded. Like she might suddenly do something crazy. But this strange feeling was more mental than physical, and Kazuko couldn’t help but wonder if it might have been caused by the lavender-scented chemical in the laboratory. In fact, she was almost sure of it.

On the third night after the incident, Kazuko finished her homework and climbed into bed at eleven. She’d been playing basketball in the afternoon, and her body was exhausted, but her mind was still sharp and wide awake, so she was having trouble getting to sleep. And as she lay there in bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking of the incident in the lab, there came a great rumbling noise, and Kazuko’s bed began jolting up and down.

“Earthquake!” said Kazuko to herself. Within moments the room began shaking sideways and letting out disturbing creaking sounds. This was no minor tremor. This was a big one.

Kazuko had always hated earthquakes. So she jumped out of bed, ran out of her room without changing out of her nightgown and scurried along the hallway, with its windows that were now creaking, too. But the very moment when she opened the front door, the creaking and rumbling came to an abrupt end. Hearing steps behind her, she turned around to see her mother and younger sisters standing in the doorways of their rooms, looking pale and surprised.

“We’d better go in the garden,” said Kazuko, “in case there’s an aftershock.”

And within moments they were all standing shivering in the breeze in the garden. Sure enough, several aftershocks came along within minutes, but they weren’t too big. So once they’d decided it was safe again, they all returned to the house and went back to bed. But again, Kazuko found it difficult to sleep. After all, her heart was now racing from all that drama. But after lying there for several minutes more, she felt her eyelids starting to become heavy.

Suddenly, just as she was finally drifting off, there came a loud and piercing scream from the road in front of their house.

“Fire!” came a single voice. Then came the voices of many: “Fire! Fire!”

What were the chances of so many incidents in one night! Kazuko was getting sick of it by now, and felt like crying in frustration. She jumped out of bed again and went over to the window, pushing open the lace curtains that hung there.

Outside, about two blocks away, she could see the chimney of a bathhouse enveloped in smoke. Oh my goodness! she thought to herself.
Goro’s family store is right next to that bathhouse!

As two fire engines passed Kazuko’s house, their sirens blaring through the night, she hastily pulled a light overcoat on over her nightgown and left her room to investigate.

“Where do you think you’re going?” asked her mother from behind the door to her room.

“There’s a fire near Goro’s house!” she replied. “I’m going to see what’s going on.”

“Don’t be daft! It’s too dangerous!”

But Kazuko pretended not to hear her mother’s warning. Instead she quickly pulled on her wooden sandals and ran out into the night to where a bunch of onlookers had already gathered. It seemed as if the fire had started near the back door of the bathhouse, so it hadn’t spread to the Asakura General Store yet.

“Please, everyone, stay back!” shouted the police at the growing mass of sleepy spectators. “You’re getting in the way of the firefighters!”

“I felt an earthquake earlier,” said a man standing next to Kazuko to one of his friends. “It must have toppled the gas burner over and started the fire.”

“Hey you!” said someone, tapping Kazuko on the shoulder from behind. Kazuko turned to see Kazuo standing there in his pyjamas.

“Oh, Kazuo! I was worried about Goro’s shop.”

“Me too. But I think everything is fine. I hear it’s just a small fire. They said it’ll be extinguished in no time,” said Kazuo in his characteristically laid-back fashion.

Not too long after, when the last of the flames had been snuffed out by the firefighters, Kazuko and Kazuo walked over to Goro’s house. Together they jumped for joy at Goro’s lucky escape from the oncoming fire. Then they all went back to their homes.

Kazuko glanced at her clock as she got back into bed yet again. It was already three in the morning. She was absolutely exhausted, and fell asleep within minutes, but she kept having strange dreams all through the night. At first she saw a shadowy figure that jumped out from behind the fire and then flew away. Then she found herself in the lab again, which also started to rumble and shake violently. When she finally woke up, she found herself covered in sweat. But at least it was morning.

She looked over to where the sun’s rays were coming in through the window, casting lacy shadows on the floor.
What time is it?
she thought to herself, turning to glance at the clock.
Oh my goodness! I’m late!

Skipping breakfast, she ran out of the house, with a sleepy, aching head and tired, unsteady legs. Fortunately, she caught sight of Goro waiting at the traffic light.

“Hey Goro!” she called out. “Are you running late, too?”

Goro turned around and smiled, happy that he wasn’t the only one running behind today.

“Yeah,” said Goro. “It took me so long to fall back to sleep after the fire that I ended up sleeping through my alarm.”

When the light turned green, they both dashed across the zebra crossing, but as they reached the middle, an unfamiliar voice startled them.

“Watch out!”

Then came a deafening horn.

Kazuko and Goro turned to see a large truck coming straight towards them. It looked as if it had just run a red light, and now it was heading directly for the intersection where they stood.

Kazuko whipped around and ran straight into Goro, who was standing right behind her – and they both tumbled to the ground. She looked up, and the truck was closer. Then closer still. Until its massive tyres were just meters from her face and Kazuko could do nothing but close her eyes.

Kazuko’s mind was racing with different scenes and different thoughts. Too many for her to deal with.

I’m going to die! she thought to herself.
Run over by a huge, heavy truck! If only I’d stayed in bed a bit longer. Then I wouldn’t be so tired and slow!

Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, and she prayed for the safety of her warm and cosy bed back home. But she knew there was nothing she could do. Nothing except keeping her eyes closed as tightly as she could. And so she did. About a second passed. But nothing happened. Then another. But still nothing happened. Kazuko began to wonder what on earth was going on. But right at that moment, she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness. She felt a sense of warmth begin to engulf her. Like the warmth and cosiness of her bed that she’d been praying for.

When Kazuko opened her eyes, she found herself back in her room. She was wearing her nightgown and the sun was streaming in to paint lacy patterns on the floor. Had it all been just a dream? But it felt so real. And she remembered it all so clearly – the car horn, Goro’s screams, the shrieks of nearby pedestrians. Too clearly for it to be a dream.

Kazuko was struck by a sudden headache. She looked over at the clock and saw that it was now 7:30. So she had plenty of time for a nice, leisurely breakfast before strolling off to school. That meant she wouldn’t be running late and she wouldn’t be tired and sleepy – which caused her to be hit by the truck in her dream. And it was a dream, wasn’t it? If it wasn’t, then time must have turned back, and surely that could never happen.

Kazuko slowly got out of bed. Nothing in the house had changed, and her mother and sisters were all enjoying breakfast together as usual. But despite having plenty of time to eat, Kazuko didn’t have much of an appetite. So instead she got ready and left the house right away.

What if this really was the second time for me to leave the house today?
she thought to herself.
If just one more strange thing happens today, then surely I’ll go mad!
As she reached the crossroads, possibly for the second time, she looked for Goro but couldn’t see him. And there was no out-of-control truck either. So she just carried on and made her way to school safely.

She sat down at her desk as she always did and briefly surveyed the classroom. Again, Goro was nowhere to be seen. If only he’d arrive soon, then she could talk to him and find out if the incident with the truck was just a dream or whether there was a chance it might really have happened.

“Morning!” called Kazuo from behind her.

“Oh, morning!” replied Kazuko, considering whether she should tell him all about the incident. Kazuo was a bright individual after all, and might be able to provide some sort of insight. But she quickly decided that it might be better to wait for Goro to arrive so they could all talk about it together.

“Is everything okay?” said Kazuo. “You look a little pale.”

Kazuo was always rather attentive, so he often noticed little things like that.

“Oh it’s nothing,” said Kazuko, shaking her head. “I couldn’t sleep much. First because of the earthquake. Then because of the fire! So I’m feeling pretty sleepy today.”

“A fire?” said Kazuo. “And an earthquake? I didn’t know anything about either of those.”

“Are you kidding? There was a big earthquake, and Goro’s house nearly caught fire. Don’t you remember? We were all in our pyjamas, and we met up in front of Goro’s house!”

“We met up? And I was there? Are you sure you weren’t dreaming?”

“Dreaming!” retorted Kazuko. “I wasn’t dreaming!”

Could it really have been nothing more than a dream – the earthquake and the fire in the bathhouse right behind Goro’s house? But then, how come Kazuko could remember it all in such sharp detail – the different colours of the flames that leapt up against the night sky, and the exact words of her conversation with Kazuo?

“What’s happening to me?” Kazuko said to herself. “My memory is going to pieces!”

“What’s that?” said Kazuo.

“It’s just I’m sure I ran into you last night.”

“No. I’m sure it was a dream,” said Kazuo, standing up. “For a moment I wondered if it might be possible that I was sleepwalking – then you could have met me and chatted to me and I wouldn’t remember. That would have been weird. But it would have been possible. But then you said I was wearing pyjamas, and I don’t actually own any pyjamas.”

“Oh,” said Kazuko, nodding weakly. “Then I guess it really was just a dream.”

But deep down inside, Kazuko couldn’t quite believe that was true.

“Morning!” said Goro, putting his bag down beside them.

“Goro,” said Kazuo. “Is it true that your house nearly caught fire last night?”

“What?” replied Goro, his back arching and his face turning its characteristic shade of red. “That’s not funny. Who would say such a thing?”

“Oh, nobody,” said Kazuo. “I thought I heard something like that, that’s all.”

Kazuko was grateful to Kazuo for saving her from embarrassment. But still her mind was teeming with unanswered questions.

As the first period of math class began, Mr Komatsu – the fat math teacher – wrote down an equation on the board, and Kazuko began to frown. It was the very same problem they’d solved just the day before. But more than that, Mr Komatsu had written the problem on the board at exactly the same time before, and Kazuko had been called to the front of the class, where she’d struggled for some time over the solution.

“It’s the same problem as yesterday,” mumbled Kazuko to herself, to the surprise of Mariko Koyama, who was sitting next to her.

“What do you mean?” asked Mariko. “Did you know this was going to be today’s problem?”

“No, I mean we did this problem yesterday in class. Don’t you remember?”

“I don’t think so. We didn’t do a question like this yesterday. I’m seeing it for the first time.”

“No, I have it here in yesterday’s notes,” added Ka-zuko, feeling a rush of nervousness as she began to flip through the pages of her notebook. But when she got to yesterday’s page, the math problem wasn’t written on it. In fact, it was completely blank! Kazuko nearly yelped in surprise. Where was the problem she so clearly remembered writing yesterday? And where was the answer she’d worked so hard to arrive at? It was all so confusing. It was also worrying for Mariko, who sat there in silence as she saw the colour drain from Kazuko’s face.

“Okay. Let’s see who knows the answer to this one,” said Mr Komatsu, his eyes scanning the classroom just as they had the day before. Kazuko couldn’t believe her ears, and she felt like the world was spinning around her – Mariko staring at her from the side, Mr Komatsu scanning the class with his shiny glasses, the problem on the blackboard. It was all just too much, so Kazuko closed her eyes.

It’s just like yesterday all over again!
she thought to herself.
Could it be possible that the teacher would call on her again too?

“Kazuko. Can you come up and solve this problem?”

“Ye-yes,” stammered Kazuko as she stumbled to her feet.

Taking a piece of chalk from Mr Komatsu’s outstretched hand, she desperately wrote out the answer she remembered from the day before for all to see.
Maybe this is the dream! She thought. Maybe everything else was real – the earthquake, the fire and the truck. Maybe it was just this part now that was the nightmare!