Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
chapter twenty seven
sonderland
The Mugen Racing Team's memorial service for Yuki Morizono-Wagner took place four days later, near teh beach in Sannoh. According to Tsukomo, it was one of Yuki's favourite places in town, even in the winter when there was more snow than sand.
Tetsu made a few calls, and suddenly everybody who was ever involved with Mugen crawled out of the woodwork to put something together for Yuki, Tsukomo leading teh charge. He and Kohaku did most of the planning, even coordinating with my mother to find a way around the twelve-hour time difference with Ontario so that she could watch at least some of the ceremony as well.
The memorial was set to start exactly at noon, the shoreline covered in men wearing leather jackets with the Mugen snake logo on the back, save for Dan, Tetsu and Chiharu, who weren't formally invited but decided to show up anyways. Tetsu to show his support for me, his lovely girlfriend, and Dan and Chiharu for the food. There was a string of motorcycles going up and down the coast, the biggest gathering of former Mugen members since Tatsuya's funeral.
"You doing okay?" Tetsu asked, squeezing my hand as we waited for Tsukomo. Without him, we couldn't start. Naomi was standing a few paces away with Yamato, and I could tell she was thinking about her brother
"Actually," I smiled slightly. "I think Yuki would have liked this, getting the gang back together again."
A black Honda Civic pulled to a stop next to the chain of motorbikes, the members of Mugen groaning as the driver cut the engine and stepped out of the car.
"Really, Tsukomo?" Kohaku shouted. "Didn't you get the memo? Motorcycles only!"
Tsukomo grinned, shaking his head. "If I brought the motorbike, we'd be missing the most important guest." He threw the door open, Sting jumping out the passenger side door and padding over the me and Naomi with a cheerful bark. Yamato knelt down to scratch him behind the ears, earning a lick to the cheek.
"Let's get this show on the road!" Tsukomo shouted, locking his car before dramatically throwing the keys in the air and catching them again.
I pulled my phone out of my back pocket, connecting the FaceTime call to my mom. Based on her surroundings when she picked up the phone, I concluded that she was back in Santa Fe. The glow in Courtney Wagner's face told me all that I needed to know: the change of scenery was already working in making my mom feel better.
We talked together in English for a little bit, not much had changed since I called her the day before to introduce her to Tetsu. Kohaku walked behind us, waving to my mom.
"Long time no see, Courtney."
My mom rolled her eyes. "Kohaku. I'm not going to lie to you, this is bringing back some less than great memories."
