Stranded in the Future

Chapter Thirty-Five: Preparations

With the amanojaku having been subdued yet again, Kumiko had entrusted custody of it to Futoshi so that she and Ichiro could return to the safety of their apartment in peace. Yukari had trailed behind before parting ways with them at the foot of the stairs, muttering something about a hotel as she walked out through the main door and into the night.

After the customary preparations for bed, Ichiro found that he still couldn't calm his restless mind. Because of the amanojaku, he had tapped twice into the darkest aspects of his nature and learned that he had an incomplete understanding of even his own era, which prompted him to remain sitting at the edge of the futon, legs outstretched as he stared at his bare feet.

"What are you doing? We need to get some sleep," Kumiko said with a trace of impatience in her voice.

"I can't stop thinking about everything today," Ichiro replied, looking away from his feet and craning his neck to observe her heavy-lidded eyes and disheveled black hair. He wondered how much was genuine and how much was an illusion.

Kumiko formed a weary smile and drew her knees close. "You can tell me about it."

Ichiro didn't want to alarm her too much, so he began with what was least concerning. "Who was Goemon really? That television play about him was so vivid."

"It's called a television show," Kumiko corrected with a suppressed chuckle, her energy apparently renewed. "But I can enlighten you. He was an outlaw who tried to assassinate Hideyoshi and was executed by being boiled alive."

Ichiro crossed his arms in disappointment. "That's the same thing Yukari told me. Surely, you would know more?"

Kumiko shrugged. "I may be immortal, but I'm not omniscient. I was nowhere near Kyoto when he was executed, so you could say I missed it."

"And when would that have been?"

"The year 1594. I was out roaming the countryside, and you must have been just a teenager then."

Ichiro grew tense upon hearing another unfamiliar word. "What's a teenager?"

"Someone between the ages of thirteen and nineteen. It's a fairly recent distinction."

"I see." Ichiro recalled his own upbringing and the expectations that had been placed on him from a young age. "My father was already educating me about adult matters when I was seven or eight. Is this teenager stage intended as a bridge between childhood and adulthood?"

"In simple terms, yes."

Ichiro applied his own limited understanding to Kumiko's explanation. "So, this must mean I became a teenager early. When do you think I reached adulthood?"

Kumiko blinked. "I don't know. When you were old enough to go traveling on your own?"

Ichiro shifted until he was sitting beside Kumiko. "So, from seven to twenty years of age? That is a long time..."

"As I said, it's a recent distinction. You can't apply it to your experiences."

"But you-"

"I was just speaking in simple terms. You were never a teenager in the modern sense."

"Oh." It occurred once more to Ichiro that Kumiko had experienced over three hundred years of change in his absence, and she had a unique perspective to offer. "Tell me more of what you know about Goemon. Did he really fight off countless assassins and ally himself with a princess?"

"Well..." Kumiko tilted her head. "No. I think what you're describing was made up just for the show."

"Huh?"