Nowhere in the World: Chapter 1

Nowhere in the World

“Misplaced in the Ancient Past…”

Author’s Note:

            To all the readers, please excuse me if my story doesn’t make sense. This is the first story I’ve ever made that involved the head splitting and brain scrambling history of a country and I had to go through all the pains of a back ache and a pesky kid brother just researching for the ancient tribes of the place. Some of the terms can be found in books of Philippine History and some I altered to fit into the plot. So have pity if you don’t like it, you can always take a hike and get lost. Enjoy reading~

Chapter 1

Hear the Summons, Answer the Call

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She had a strange feeling but she couldn’t quite put what it was. Something was nagging her. It was the way he smiled, the way he encourage, the way he praised, the way he touched…

“Ikeda-sensei seems to have a crush on you…don’t worry, it’s only a harmless crush, it’s not like he’s serious or something…”

And she had no idea just how serious he was until it was too late. Ikeda-sensei, her swim class teacher, had made a move despite the fact that she was never interested.

“You’re the kind of person who realizes her feelings only in the end, right after it struck you in the face.” She could hear her best friend telling her.

“Ara? Join the swim team?” She remembered echoing her mother’s words.

Her mother had just gotten off the phone talking with Ikeda. Whatever it was her swim teacher had been telling her mother, the older woman looked happy.

“Ikeda-san sounds like a nice man to have invited you into the team without trying out.” Her mother had replied, cooing at the baby in her arms. “Well, he mentioned something about your class participation as your ticket into the team. Isn’t that great, Higeno? I didn’t know you were such a good swimmer.”

Higeno had looked down at her plate, her dinner left untouched. Of course, her mother didn’t know. Everyone in her adoptive family was all too busy paying attention to their little bundle of joy. She had always been awkward around them, especially now when her adoptive mother remarried a year late after the death of her husband. Not long after that, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy who had been the constant pleasure to their every waking moment.

Their constant pleasure that is, but not to Higeno. The baby’s very presence was a frequent reminder to her that she was not a part of that family.

“I don’t know, okasan…”

“Oh, come on, Higeno. It’ll be good for you.” Her mother had insisted but her attention never wavered from the infant in her arms. “It will be a good opportunity for you to spend more time with other people. You could have more friends, Jun-san is a good influence, but you could use other company from your peers.”

“Whatever you wish, okasan…”

Swim practice was supposed to be over in another two hours or so, but sixteen-year-old Tamura Higeno had barely set foot inside the pool area for five minutes before she turned on her heel and left. Her best friend, Filipino borne but was like any Japanese teenage girl, June del Rosario, had been exasperated when she found out.

Not everyone knew her uneasiness being around the pool area where Ikeda Imae’s office was. Only June had been her continuous support in everything, but not even June knew what was really going on, and she wasn’t about to tell anyone anything. It wasn’t indiscreet, even Ikeda-sensei had apologized for his behavior more than once. He had said he didn’t mean anything, most certainly didn’t mean any harm when he confessed to her one late afternoon after a swim practice of his feelings. Her being invited into the team was one of the reasons he could always see her if not be near her.

She had suspected as much but she was shocked no less since she thought his attention on her accomplishments was nothing more what she refused to believe of June’s exaggerated fabrications of the non-existent romance between the two of them.

June was a romantic, always feeding her tales of the impossible and thought it thrilling that a teacher and student to have a strong, but forbidden attraction for one another. She teased Higeno about it but never encouraged anything to happen between them. Higeno had stopped telling her anything else since then and soon, June had forgotten all about it in a span of days.

A relationship between teacher and student was strictly prohibited in school, not that Higeno was encouraging him, in fact, she had been quite the opposite but the results were the same. He was completely civil and normal around her, like a teacher was expected supposed to be, in front of everyone, but when no one was around that was when his whole façade dropped and he was like a mooning, lovesick schoolboy.

For the past weeks, she had stopped coming to practice and no one had been the wiser to know why. The other members had all thought she had grown conceited since Ikeda always praised her for her achievements, always mentioning that she was the best there is even when she was doing her worst. Finally, she stopped showing up.

“Tadaima.” Higeno called to the house when she stepped in after a two-hour walk around the mall with June, bright, chirpy June with the usual mysterious glint in her brown eyes, and always with the excess energy even after a tiring day.

She felt the heavy chain around her neck and looked down at the antique-looking necklace her best friend gave her. June had said it was a friendship gift, clasping it around Higeno’s neck carelessly. Higeno had spent the entire two hours contemplating the weight of the necklace and only when June disappeared into another shop did she had it checked at a jewelry store. Sure enough it was no simple, ordinary piece of jewelry, although the specialist didn’t put a price over it.

Stepping out in the bright and not so crowded hallways of the mall, Higeno fingered the intricate copper and gold mix of metal that hung inexplicably on the chain. The stones adorning it looked like a dozen pair of eyes taking in everything.

“Hi-chan!” June called brightly, waving a hand at her. “I bought a souvenir for my obasan to stop her nagging about my lack of faith in the family tradition. She’s arriving tomorrow. Am I glad she only comes once a year.” She said, laughing.

Higeno could only nod.

“Ooh! Ooh! I’m definitely going to own that some day.” June gushed, eyeing appreciatively a pair of earrings displayed over Higeno’s shoulder behind the window of the jewelry store she had exited not long ago.

“Jun-chan… I think I better return this to you.” Higeno said, taking off the necklace but June’s hand was suddenly grasping hers that had held on to the intertwining chain. “Jun-chan?”

June shook her dark head. “Iie, Hi-chan. I am giving it to you as a gift since you are my very important best friend. Obasan gave it to my okasan and she gave it to me as a means of letting me have a connection to our family tradition, so I’m giving it to you so you can have a connection to me! Ne, Hi-chan?”

“Demo, Jun-chan---”

“No buts, just take it. If you still feel it’s not right then just remind yourself I lent it to you for a while, okay?”

She never did get to reply. June had pulled her along to another shop where she hardly paid any attention to anything.

And till now she still wore the necklace. A priceless heirloom of June’s family passed down from mother to daughter for generations. But she was the one wearing it.

“Okaeri, Higeno.” Her mother called from the kitchen.

“Okasan.” She greeted, making her way for the stairs that would eventually lead to her bedroom on the top floor.

“Matte, Higeno,” her mother’s voice came from the kitchen.

Higeno stopped just at the bottom of the stairs just as her mother came out from the kitchen, wiping her hands on the apron she wore. A frown was creased on her mother’s brows, as she seemed to be thinking what to say.

“Higeno…” her mother began. “Higeno, are you having problems at school?” She asked finally.

“Ara? Iie, okasan, no problems.”

The woman fell silent. “No troubles, difficulties or anything?” She continued, still looking worried.

Again, Higeno shook her head, curious as to where this topic was leading.

“Ikeda-san called not long ago. He said you haven’t shown up in practice for a month now. Is that true?”

“… Hai…”

“What’s wrong, Higeno?”

“Nothing, okasan. I just…” She trailed off, looking away then back at her mother again. “I just needed a break from all the training. Don’t worry, okasan, I’ll be backing in the water and swimming like a fish.” She replied, forcing a smile.

Her mother returned the smile, looking relieved. “Oh, I was never worried, Higeno. I knew you could never be doing anything wrong. Well, you don’t need to explain anymore, you’re always such a good girl.”

Higeno watched her mother disappear back into the kitchen still smiling, the baby whimpering inside.

Iie, okasan… I’m not always a good girl at all and as for doing anything wrong… but you were never there to notice, weren’t you? She thought as she turned and climbed up the stairs. He’s more important to you now than I ever was. Did I even mean anything to you at all? I think not, I was never your daughter to begin with…

No one had even seen the single tear that she always shed everyday. She had shed one now.

She writhed restlessly on her bed, the pillow falling off. She felt like someone was holding her down; she couldn’t even open her eyes.

Iie!

She panicked, writhing even more but still, something very heavy and strong was holding her down. The weight soon tiring her out that she could do no more than breathe haggardly into the endless darkness her closed eyes provided her.

A soft humming voice rose in the darkness, the sound almost lyrical if it didn’t sound so ominous to her ears.

It was a droning chant that was being repeated over and over again but she couldn’t quite comprehend the words clearly.

What was being said?

Where was it coming from?

It was making her tingle all over, a shiver of awareness. But an awareness of what? She didn’t understand!

Iie! Iie! Iie! Iieeee!

Clenching her closed eyes even tighter, she willed all her strength together and finally forced herself to wake up, the glittering chain and adornment slid off the bed and onto the floor unnoticed.

“Come on! Onegai, Hi-chan! Obasan’s on my case again, same as last year! I can’t get a goodnight’s sleep if she’s to occupy my room with me. Onegai! Just this one night!” June wailed on the phone, she was near to begging for this one favor.

Higeno sighed in exasperation, pressing the phone receiver to her ear again after holding it away when June started pleading for the past fifteen minutes now. She knew June wouldn’t stop until she gave in. Higeno had called her to tell her of the strange dream she had last night, only it wasn’t really a dream.

Could voices be considered a dream? She couldn’t explain it. She had called up to discuss that particular topic until June changed the subject with her idea of a sleep over just to keep having her grandmother sleep in the same room with her. The entire family had settled the arrangement, with June as an exception. The only way she was to have her room all to herself was when they were to have another guest.

Her dream was forgotten.

It was the next day already, a Saturday to be exact. No classes and no studies but Higeno had swim practice later that afternoon and she had to attend as she had promised her mother she would.

She had met June’s grandmother once, on her visit last year. Higeno liked the old woman when she wasn’t nagging at anyone about family values or such things. Of course, Higeno didn’t mention that she was actually adopted by her family.

“I’ll see about it, Jun-chan. I have practice later---”

“You can skip it again like you always do--- no, chotto matte, show up there, waddle for about an hour or so then make up an excuse about a sick grandmother!” June suggested, giggling gleefully. “Ikeda-sensei does have a soft spot for you maybe he’ll let you go earlier if you ask him nicely.” She hoped.

Ikeda-sensei. The name struck a nerve in Higeno and she suddenly felt cold. There’s no avoiding it now. She thought, her attention caught at the necklace she had placed on her bedside table. She looked up when she heard a knock on her door. Higeno saw her mother come in with her clean laundry and placed it at the foot of her bed. “Ne, okasan. Can I sleep over at Jun-chan’s after practice? It’s just for one night.” She asked.

“I don’t see why not. You can go.” Her mother answered before leaving the room.

“Arigatou, okasan!” She called after her mother before the door closed. “Alright. Two hours. I’ll stay for a two-hour’s time to practice. I have been slacking off my training. Pick me up at the bus stop.”

She could hear the relieved sigh in the other line before the profuse “thank yous” came.

After a very long time, Higeno finally laughed.

Swim practice this afternoon:

Cancelled

The sign was big enough for anyone to read. Practices were only cancelled when the instructor was being called to a meeting the faculty always held once a week. It was usually held Friday afternoons but it must have been postponed, moving it that afternoon.

Higeno sighed. She had come to a decision that day but it looked like she couldn’t deliver it until the next meeting. Being absent for a long time had dwindled her schedule. An earlier announcement must have been posted the other day about the rescheduling but she had been nowhere around to notice and neither had she stayed long enough to be informed of any changes.

But this was a perfect time to waddle around in the water as June had called it. She loved the water but she wasn’t that interested in swimming, Ikeda hadn’t understood that, always asking her to join the team. Then again, having her in the team wasn’t about her potential as a swimmer; it was for his personal reasons.

Raising her hand, she rested a palm against the closed gate of the pool area and was a little surprised when it slid open with only the slightest sound. The staff in charge usually kept it locked when the instructor wasn’t around.

She peered in, her gray eyes taking in everything, and found no one. The pool water was clear and calm. Silence filtered inside. Almost smiling to herself, with a small hint of relief in her eyes, she walked in and slid the gate close behind her without pulling the bar over it. Higeno took her time walking beside the pool’s edge, watching the water move in small waves against the wind until she finally stood in front of the changing room.

With one last look at the water, she turned and went inside the changing room, dropping her sports bag on the floor, beside her locker, that had her change of clothes and a couple of spares for her sleepover at June’s. She traced a finger around the keyhole before inserting the key inside and twisted it. The rectangular door popped open. Her swimsuit and extra towel were still inside.

Ten minutes later she was suited for the water. She didn’t bother with the swim cap since her hair was shorter than any of the girl’s in the team. Ribbons couldn’t even hold up a strand without falling off.

 Warming up beside the pool, Higeno reached a hand in and felt the water. “Just about right…” she mumbled before straightening up and dove in, letting the water pull her back up. She swam freestyle for the other end of the pool and then back again, finishing fifty laps before she grasped onto the edge of the pool.

She loved the water but she wasn’t that interested in swimming…

Crossing her arms on the edge of the pool, Higeno rested her head on top of it, feeling a sense loss for no apparent reason, like she was missing something. She couldn’t explain the feeling.

“You’re the kind of person who realizes her feelings only in the end, right after it struck you in the face.”

She recalled what June had said to her a long time ago. There was also an ending statement to what she had mentioned, “but sometimes it’s already too late before you understand it…”

That last one was always the correct one. It was already too late before she could even comprehend it, the feeling inside her.

Shaking her head, Higeno pushed away from the edge and floated aimlessly in the pool, looking up at the clouded sky, not a single blue to be seen. There was no sign of rain as the puffy clouds overhead were clear white like cotton. Slowly she her eyes closed into peaceful rest.

Hmm… hmm… hmm…

Hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm…

Hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm…

Higeno gave a gasped, her eyes as heavy-lidded as it was last night. She could feel the water stirring against her skin, the waves stimulating the tingling feeling that she could now feel again.

Hmm… hmm… hmm…

Hmm… hmm… hmm…

Hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm…

Hmm… hmm… hmm…

Hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm…

Hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm…

The chant continued again, the words still droned but the hymn was getting very fervent, almost desperate.

Hmm… hmm… hmm…

Hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm…

Hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm… come…

Finally, Higeno’s eyes flew open but the sudden action caused her to lose concentration, aside the fact that she forgot that she was floating in the middle of a swimming pool. Her panic submerged her underwater, gulping in a mouthful of water in her surprise. Higeno struggled but couldn’t grasp anything. Her hands caught at water and only water.

No one knew she was there except for June, but she was expected in an hour or so still not soon.

Her heart was pounding violently against her ribcage like mad, her lungs hurting from the lack of air, she was confused and she was in trouble. Her vision was starting to dim, slowly, until her struggles reduced to slight motions and she could see no more.

Higeno wondered, in her last conscious thought, if it was her imagination that she heard a loud splash and the water seemed to be alive, swirling around her. But then, she was sinking to the bottom of the pool.

It seemed like forever before she was finally conscious of something, but her body refused to obey her. She couldn’t open her eyes, or were they open already? She wasn’t sure since all she could see was the expanse of endless darkness around her.

She was shaking, or someone was shaking her. Cool arms seem to hold her in a tight embrace. She shivered.

“Higeno-san… Higeno-san…” a voice whispered in her ear, trying to reach her from that dark world. “Higeno-san, are you alright? Can you hear me? Answer me, Higeno-san. Higeno-san…”

After a while, the whispering voice stopped, as there was suddenly an air of intensity lingering around. Higeno didn’t like the feeling.

Opening her eyes a crack, Higeno saw nothing but a blur that was fast clearing away as she tried to focus her sight. That blur was drawing nearer and nearer until she felt the cool warmth of it pressed on her lips.

Her eyes shot open and she screamed.

Her hand came in contact with the face that hovered extremely close to hers and she shoved with all her might. Higeno scrambled away, her right hand submerged into the pool water and she looked behind her with a start. Just another inch and she would fall right into the pool.

That was beyond Higeno’s mind as she stared with frantic eyes and a shocked expression on her face at the man who, as it now seems, had saved her from drowning. And he had kissed her when she was supposedly unconscious!

“S-sensei!” She gasped, gaping appallingly at her swim teacher, Ikeda Imae.

“Higeno-san! A-ano…” he looked uneasily at her, his dripping jet black hair strewn back over his head. He was flushed.

“Wha-what were you doing!” She asked. “You… you… after you…” Higeno trailed off, frowning a little.

“I pulled you out…  in time. You were… um… uh… breathing but unconscious.” Ikeda explained.

“Oh… arigatou, for saving me… demo… you shouldn’t have done that!” She cried out angrily.

Feeling awkward, Higeno stood up and was about to walked away but Ikeda called after her. “Higeno-san… gomen nasai… gomen… I didn’t mean… I… about that… what would have happened a while ago if… if you hadn’t… please… I’m sorry, it won’t happen again. Just between the two of us, I swear it won’t happen again!”

Silence.

Ikeda looked really disturbed now as Higeno stared at him blankly.

“Hai… just never, ever… ever… let it happen… again…” Higeno said, her arms around her in a protective gesture as she turned around and all but dashed for the changing rooms.

Higeno sat, her back leaning against the lockers as she held her knees close to her, staying in that position for a period of time now. Her skin was nearly dry as well as her suit, her hair slightly damp and unruly, and a puddle had formed around her from the water her suit had seeped in.

June had said to her a long time ago that Ikeda’s attraction would never go beyond anything serious, and Ikeda had confirmed her worries as well with a casual smile. It didn’t seem like that a while ago.

Remembering June, Higeno slowly stood up and grabbed her towel from inside. Something fell from inside as she pulled it out, a small box-like device and the necklace landed on top of her sports bag that was right below. Picking it up, Higeno blinked. It was her Walkman. She had searched for it everywhere at her house but couldn’t find it, having the occasional times of misplacing her things and couldn’t quite remember where she last had them just when they were needed.

Placing her Walkman on top of her sports bag, Higeno fastened the necklace around her neck and proceeded to dry herself and get dressed. June would expect to see her wearing her latest gift. Twenty minutes later, she unlocked the door and looked outside. The pool area was empty, as she had found it when she arrived. There was no sign of Ikeda anywhere. Quietly, she slid out of the changing room and left.

The bus stop was not that far from the school but it required a walk to the distance to get there. Glancing at her watch, Higeno say that she still had time before June arrived and picked her up only she didn’t have anything else to do to distract her from the afternoon’s situation. As much as she was trying to erase it from her memory, she couldn’t help wondering what would have happened if she hadn’t opened her eyes when she did. It would have been one circumstance she wouldn’t know how to face.

 Walking up the street, Higeno unzipped her sports bag and felt for her Walkman inside. The wire earphones twined around her fingers and she pulled it out, putting an earpiece in each ear, and then she felt for the buttons again.

Hmm… hmm… hmm…

Hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm…

Hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm…

Higeno froze on her tracks, her mouth parting open. She hadn’t touch the buttons yet and she was pretty sure that her fingers on the other end of her Walkman, the opposite side from where the buttons were.

Hmm… hmm… hmm…

Hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm…

Hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm…

Come…

Her lips moved but no sound came out. She had thought the humming chant to be nothing more than a dream, a dream that left her in a writhing mass at night and a dream that left her almost drowning by day. But both had happened when she was asleep or when her mind was midway to slumber.

Her eyes were wide open now. She could see the street in front of her, the trees, the electric posts, the walls, everything. She wasn’t dreaming now. She was wide-awake and far from dreamland.

Hmm… hmm… hmm…

Hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm…

Hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm…

Come…

Hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm…

Hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm… hmm…

Come to me…

The chant was more frenzied than the last time and the time before that, almost as if the owner of the voice was getting very impatient or simply frustrated. She could hear, as well as sense, the edginess in the tone.

“Nani…! Nani desu ka!” She gasped, clutching her body as she felt the familiar stirring in her nerves again.

The tingling sensation started slowly in her body. The feeling wasn’t painful or weird; it was somewhat prickly and ticklish. She looked up, noticing the sky darkening above. The heavens had darkened and the clouds swirled in gray as it circled around above her head. Droplets of cold rain pricked against her cheeks as she gazed at the strange metaphor happening. Higeno sensed the ground shaking underneath her feet before the wind suddenly picked up and blew around her, the fallen leaves flying like live creatures and then they burst into small flames. She felt the wind moving her with enough force that it actually…

“Nani! What’s happening…! Iie… iie!”

Incredulously, Higeno looked down at her feet as she suddenly felt the solid ground disappearing from under her. Only it didn’t disappear. The wind had taken enough force that it was lifting her up. Before she could react, from amidst the swirling clouds that circled in the skies, a pillar of bright light suddenly encompassed her, blinding her from everything else.

Running for shelter, June let out a sigh as she glanced up at the sky where only a portion had gone gray, cold pelts of rain had started falling not long ago.

“Ara? The weather forecast didn’t say anything about a rain cloud.” She wondered aloud. “And I don’t have an umbrella with me.”

It was also strangely windy. She hoped there was no upcoming storm, if there was her grandmother would have to extend her vacation with them. She looked around her and saw she was alone under the shelter.

This was the bus stop, but there was no sign of Higeno anywhere.