‘And?’
‘And here’s the thing. She got a response, but now she doesn’t know what to do.’
Rei continued wretchedly chewing her pencil.
‘She was writing I want to see you, I want to see you, and going to her house every morning to deliver her letter, then one morning they ran into each other when the actress was coming home from a long night out. And she said, “You’re cute” or something and took her hand…’ Maki turned to look at Rei, who frowned. ‘The truth is she did more than that, though, didn’t she? Didn’t she?’ Maki tickled Rei’s neck. Rei flinched and knocked her hand away.
‘So what’d she say?’ I asked dutifully. ‘I’d like to see you again or something?’ I didn’t think that actress was even the slightest bit attractive anymore. I hadn’t since that mystery person first showed up outside my window. I’d had my share of crushes on actresses and stars before, and I’d always looked forward to our semi-annual trips to the theatre, saving up my basically non-existent pocket money in advance.
‘That’s the thing. What she said was, I want to be with you,’ Rei answered gloomily. Though she was definitely happy about it.
‘Like, live together?’ It was a tedious topic. But I tried to play along anyway.
‘I’ll inform the office, she told me. We’ll have a ceremony, and I want to have kids.’
‘Wow, no shit?’
Once you’re above a certain age, if you decide you want kids, you go to the hospital. Even if you’re unmarried, it’s fine as long as you can raise them. They probably inject you with some medicine or something.
‘You’re not going to look for a job?’
‘I’m not cut out for it,’ Rei replied shamelessly. ‘Even if this doesn’t work out, I’ll just find an arranged marriage.’ Rei has a pretty face and pale skin, giving her good reason to be confident of finding someone to support her. Long ago, it was normal for the men to work while the women took care of the household chores, and that arrangement hasn’t really changed – all that’s new is that it’s the more masculine woman who goes to work, while the more feminine partner takes care of the sundry other tasks at home.
The bell rang.
‘What’re we doing today?’ I asked Maki.
‘Field trip to the GETO,’ she replied, a disgusted look on her face. ‘Gross, right? Why would anyone want to go see that? But it’ll be educational at least, so I guess I’m not gonna not go.’
Women live with other women. The strange thing is, one of them always does her best to emulate what we’re told masculinity was like in the old days. Maybe that’s what she meant by ‘educational’. Not that a bunch of young girls’ notion of masculinity is worth much.
The bus came to a stop outside the GETO, on the outskirts of town.
‘Looks like an ancient Roman coliseum, huh?’ said Maki. ‘From the outside, anyway.’
With its towering walls, the place looked like an impregnable fortress to me.
‘I keep expecting Davy Crockett to pop out.’
‘Who’s that?’ Rei could barely keep her eyes open.
‘From the Alamo,’ I replied.
‘Oh, history from before.’ She sounded totally disinterested.
‘Okay, everyone, time to get off the bus. Form two lines,’ the teacher shouted.
We filed down a narrow stairwell that led underground. Muffled giggles and secret conversations echoed off the cement walls.
‘Why’s it underground?’
‘They have a vegetable garden on the surface.’
We came to a guardroom where two armed guards sat side by side smoking cigarettes. The grey uniform suited the one on the left to a tee, but the other had enormous breasts and it looked odd on her.
Our teacher showed the field trip permit at the window. The guards took a headcount and made a cursory survey of our faces as if that might flush out any guerrillas lurking in our midst. If they’re so worried, why not stop having these field trips in the first place? Though anyone who missed this opportunity would most likely never discover what sort of thing a male really is.
One of the guards unlocked the iron doors. The students filed through, gabbling excitedly.
‘Are there still boys being born?’
‘Of course there are,’ answered Maki. ‘You’re so ignorant.’
‘Then why don’t you ever see them in town? You only ever see girl babies in prams.’
‘Because boy children are incredibly rare. The pollution had genetic effects too, you know.’
‘Still.’
‘Plus, when a boy child is born, they take him away immediately. I guess when a boy is born they announce it as a stillbirth. That way everybody can breathe easier. But it’s like the whole thing gets hushed up. I mean, being born a boy is like a deformity, you’ve got no choice but to accept it.’
Maki really knows a lot.
There were fluorescent lights installed in the ceiling of the long underground passage. The complex probably had its own electrical generator. They have them in hospitals and big hotels, after all. The facility was much larger than it had seemed from the outside.
At the end of the passageway there was another guardroom and two more guards, plus someone who seemed like a guide, all looking totally bored.
One of the guards was scratching her head as she read a book, raining dandruff down onto the open pages. A faint beard emphasized her jawline, probably the result of some hormonal imbalance, but she also had an ample chest. It made me uncomfortable. Who knows, she might’ve even been given male hormones at the hospital.
At the time I couldn’t help but feel kind of repulsed on seeing a woman with a crew cut, wearing trousers, her breasts bound. I’d been feeling that way ever since I first encountered the boy I gave the ceramic rabbit to. There was something refreshing, invigorating about him. Now when I see these women who try to emulate the masculinity of the old days without really knowing anything about it, I feel weird, like I can’t breathe. Fortunately, there aren’t so many these days. ‘That’s an old trend. Things are cooler now. We’re all the same sex, so what’s the point of trying to maintain a gendered division of labour?’ I’m pretty sure Rei said something like that, anyway.
There was an iron door here as well. The guard opened it and the guide stepped through. ‘Okay, we’ll begin with the kitchen.’
The place seemed huge inside, maybe even bigger below ground than the walled-off area up above. You could tell just from the size of the hallways and rooms. Who knows, the underground part might even be three or four levels deep!
They only show students a small part of it, I imagine.
‘This place is like an enormous hospital,’ the guide told us. ‘Here we see to the needs of those poor souls unfortunate enough to be born male.’
The kitchen was cavernous and deserted. Huge pots and ladles lined the walls.
‘It’s lunchtime right now, so everyone’s in the dining hall.’
There was nothing interesting to see. It was like exploring an empty cruise ship, though pitifully grimy in comparison. It must be an old facility, I guessed, to be so shabby.
‘And this is where they sleep. There are a number of rooms like this.’
The beds stood in ranks. In one lay a man with a face like a rat.
‘Hey, you there, what’s wrong with you?’
A murmur passed among the students as the guide addressed him, everyone whispering their impressions to one another.
‘My stomach hurts,’ whimpered the man (of indeterminate age, though there was nothing youthful about him). Then, pretending to avert his eyes, he flicked a series of sidelong glances our way.