Chapter 1

Ichiro and Kanon start their spring break before their final year of high school by going to a cave in Miyagi Prefecture at the insistence of their grandfather.

- For my little one who never got the chance to grow up and explore the world.

“Kanon-chan!”

Kanon Sakurai lifted her head to see fellow basketball teammate and senior Kazuha Takahashi standing at the school gate. Kazuha was the basketball team’s ace. She stood out from the other girls on the team with her obnoxiously high arch to her shot. Her range kept moving back and was currently midway between the three-point line and half-court. Kazuha didn’t stand out in terms of looks. She was cute but she shared the same black hair pulled back into a ponytail with bangs style that the majority of the girls wore.

“Kazuha-senpai.”

“Here,” Kazuha said handing her a present. “It’s from all of us that are graduating. It’s a special gift for you now that you’re the captain.” Kanon held a basketball keychain with a metal jersey shaped attached to it. The jersey was custom made with Kanon’s name and number 7 on it. Kanon instantly fell in love with it.

“I know where this is going,” she said as she swung her backpack around and attached it to the front of it.

“Looks nice. Where’s your brother?”

“He’s talking with Karin-senpai. I wonder if she’s finally confessing.”

“Took her long enough,” Kazuha said. “She starts classes at the university next month and she decides now is the time to confess her feelings to your brother.”

---

“So...what do you think?” Karin Hoshino asked.

Ichiro Sakurai, unable to move or speak, stood next to the stairwell with Karin. He wasn’t sure which was more shocking: the fact Karin confessed to him or that she was so bold about it. There was no lead up to it either. She just approached him and said she was in love with him. He just blinked as he tried to process the information. “But aren’t you going to Chiba University next month?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t mean I can’t have a boyfriend. You’re only a year younger.”

“Well, our first date will have to wait until I return from Miyagi with my sister.”

Karin felt the corners of her lips gravitate toward her ears as if she had no control over them. She lunged forward and wrapped her arms around her new boyfriend. “I’ve waited this long so I can wait a few more days.

“Ahem!”

Karin snapped back to her previous position in a flash. They both looked up, with Karin tilting her head as far back as it’d go. Their teacher leaned against the railing above them. It was the ALT English teacher from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was one of the coaches for the basketball team and had married the lead singer from a semi-famous all-girl band.

“Sorry, Sensei.”

He waved his hand back and forth. “I actually don’t care. Relationships are important. I’m glad you finally confessed your feelings though,” he said walking upstairs.

“So why are you going up north again?”

“My sister and I are going to explore some caves our grandfather recommended.”

“Your sister doesn’t strike me as the cave exploring type.”

“She likes exploring as much as I do but doesn’t outwardly show it. You should have seen her when we took a tour through the radiation zone in Fukushima. It took everything I had to keep her from venturing away from the group in Ohkuma.”

“You can tell me all about your trip when we go on our date.”

---

Snow fell steadily as it covered the mountains and towns along the Sanriku coastline. The twins hiked up one of the many mountains in the area. The snow made walking slightly more challenging in some areas. Sticks hidden under the snow snapped under their feet. Their steps were slow and thought out. It was slick in some spots and they had to grab hold of trees or each other to prevent themselves from tumbling down the mountain.

“You’d think it’s December or January not March with all this snow,” Kanon said to her brother, Ichiro, who was only older by a few minutes. Ichiro looked around to get his bearings and started walking again before replying.

“That’s life in Tohoku,” Ichiro said. “Sakura will be blooming back home soon and it’ll still snowing up here. Oji-san said he experienced some harsh winters when he lived up here.”

Snow still fell in Miyagi Prefecture at this time of year unlike their home in Chiba Prefecture. In fact, it didn’t snow much back home. If it had, it was long gone by the time school let out for the year in March. They always had the luxury of being greeted by blooming sakura trees when school started back up a few weeks later in April. Areas in the Tohoku region and in Hokkaido had to wait until about May to see the sakura trees bloom.

“You think he was pulling our leg?” she asked.

“What? About the snow?” he asked.

“No,” Kanon said shaking her head. “About this cave.”

“To be honest, I don’t know,” he said. “But what else are we going to do during our break?”

“I could think of a few things but traveling to a mountain with no name does sound like fun,” she said. “Where will we know to look?”

“He said the cave was in the side of the mountain with no name facing the water,” Ichiro said.

“Not all that helpful,” Kanon said. “And if this cave did exist, wouldn’t other people find it too?”

“Did you not listen to his description of the cave?” Ichiro asked. “The only way to find it would be to look for it. And it’s so far off the path that most people wouldn’t come across it.”

They came across a clearing that faced the small town of Onagawa. They stopped to admire the view. The town still was under heavy construction but looked like a brand new town. Reborn from the water that had destroyed it nine years before.

“The town looks so different compared to what it did before,” Ichiro said. “It doesn’t even look close to what it was. The Marine Pal used to be right in front of the sea so you can guess what happened when the tsunami came.”

“The one with the bridge connecting the two buildings?”

“That’s the one,” he said.

“I always thought it was unique and when I heard the name Onagawa, I always thought of that building. It’s too bad they couldn’t save it or at least turn it into a memorial like other towns had done like the old Crisis Management building in Minamisanriku or Okawa Elementary in Ishinomaki.”

“We’re not too far from the elementary school,” Ichiro said. “It’s basically on the other side of these mountains.”

“When we’re done looking for this cave, let’s take a trip to the school,” Kanon said.

“Maybe we’ll go through this cave and end up on the other side next to the school,” Ichiro said as he sat down on a rock protruding from the ground. The ground gave way and Ichiro fell into a medium-sized hole that opened up. Kanon rushed to the opening just in time to see Ichiro’s feet disappear around a bend. She peered into the hole looking at the relatively smooth surface.

“Nii-san, are you okay?” Ichiro didn’t immediately respond. “I’m coming in.” She slowly inched forward like she was about to go down a slide on a playground while trying to brace herself. She began her descent, sliding quickly along the smooth surface. She turned the corner and almost immediately, the walls opened up to a large cavern where Ichiro was waiting. The bottom of the tunnel gradually leveled off that allowed Kanon to slide straight to the ground and not drop her like a slide on the playground.

“You okay?” Ichiro asked. Kanon nodded brushing herself off.

“That was a hell of a ride.” She looked around at the multiple passageways that branched off from the large cavern. There were no stalagmites to speak of and aside from the dirt on the ground, the cave floor was relatively clean. There were no broken rocks or any type of trash or debris on the ground. Was there someone here that cleaned the cave?

“It’s hot in here,” Ichiro said taking off his jacket. “There must be a hot spring nearby.”

“Someone could get lost with so many paths leading from here.”

Ichiro inspected the walls of the tunnel that led them here. “We’re not getting out the way we came. It’s too smooth to get any type of traction.”

“No signal in here either.”

“Looks like we pick a passage and hope we can...wait. Didn’t our grandfather say the cave was hot inside?”

“His description of the cave was a bit vague,” Kanon said. “All I remember him saying was the cave looked strange and was really warm.”

“This might be it,” Ichiro said.

“So now what?”

“We explore.”