High Speed!

Chapter 2: Water

Chapter Two: Water

On a modestly-sized mountain overlooking a small fishing harbor stood the Misagozaki Shrine. About halfway up the stone steps leading to the shrine stood a single torii with achouzuya nearby, and at the place where the steps ended, two more torii stood waiting, their backs to the shrine grounds. Just behind the grounds spread the sea, sparkling with reflected sunlight; the view from the Misagozaki Shrine was so majestic that it had been written about by poets long ago.

There wasn't much of a coastal plain, so the harbor town was small, the houses jostling against one another as if pressing their shoulders together. Surrounded on all four sides by mountains and ocean, with only one road in or out, the town of Iwatobi was, in effect, a small island of land. The town couldn't be supported by just the coastal plain, so it spread out to the forested paths on the mountain slopes, right up to the stone steps of the Misagozaki Shrine, the houses pinching in close on either side.

It was a shrine that held a lot of history; though it looked antique, the magnificent structure stood full of dignity, and various ceremonies were held there. In the fall, they had a lively ritual of carrying a portable shrine down the long stone steps in one run, and then, after it had been carried all the way around the harbor once, it was thrown into the sea. This was supposed to be a ritual of thanks for good harvests, but as for why the shrine was thrown into the sea, there wasn't really an answer beyond the fact that it was, after all, a fishing town.

As a shrine overlooking a harbor, the Misagozaki Shrine naturally had taken on the duty of watching over the safety of the town's fishing. Because of this, all of the fishermen would clap their hands in prayer on the decks of their boats before they went out to sea. And so the shrine watched over harvest time and prayed for bountiful fishing, and occasionally even took care of prayers for good grades or a safe childbirth, all while giving thanks and worshipping.

Haruka's house was about halfway up the stone steps to the Misagozaki Shrine, around a corner to the left of the place where the chouzuya stood near the lone torii. No matter where he wanted to go, he had to climb either up or down the stairs to get there. There was another road, but the haphazard flood of houses had made it winding, narrow, and maze-like, to the point that climbing down the shrine steps was certainly faster than trying to pass through it. And so, Haruka would leave his bike parked at the base of the stone steps.

When Haruka headed off to swim practice, once he'd left his house, he'd go the rest of the way by bike. After he got home from school, he would shove everything he needed into his bag and then hurry out of the foyer. After descending the stone steps, he would look up at Makoto's house. Makoto's house was pressed in close, facing the stone steps, and the stairs leading up to its entryway stretched to meet the base of shrine's stairway. Usually he timed it so that he could meet up with Makoto and his smile, but today it looked like Makoto was running late.

It wasn't as if they had promised to meet, and there wasn't any need for him to wait. Makoto had a younger brother and sister in kindergarten, and they often managed to drag him off one way or another. Haruka righted his bike and pressed his feet down on the pedals. Makoto might catch up with him on the way, and they'd meet at swim practice anyway. It was better for both of them that Haruka hurry up and get going, rather than wait here getting irritated.

Haruka looked up the steps to Makoto's house one more time, and then pressed down hard on his bike's pedals.

It took about ten minutes to ride to swim practice. Along the way, he had to cross a class-A river called the Shiwagawa. During the winter, the wind always blew along this river. After he had crossed the Mutsuki Bridge over this river and ridden along the opposite bank for a short while, he would begin to hear the sound of waves. In the port at the harbor, the white fishing boats would be clustered together in their moorings, giving proof to the fact that this was a fishing village. As he passed the harbor, he would glance out of the corner of his eye at the countless white masts swaying in the waves; just beyond the bay was Iwatobi SC.