seven the youth (ultraseven for adults) #28 drive 700km
#28 drive 700km
AMABE took a long vacation after a long time. He usually devotes himself to study from early morning until late night, and sometimes finds that he did not eat or sleep for three days and nights. So he has as long a vacation, and goes for as long a trip as he can. This time, he has decided to drive to Aomori. He is going to Cape Tappi, the northernmost of Honshu, Japan, partly as trial run of repaired yellow VW Beetle (#24).
Leaving the hideout, AMABE has got in Takao Interchange. It is the beginning of his long drive. He is driving east through some tunnels to get into Tohoku Highway. It will take 40-50 minutes to drive there. He sees Summer Land tn his left, to which he took a day trip the neighborhood association had planned for children. As a child, Ken-o-do had not been built yet, so they had to take the long way round in a long time, he is reminded. By way of Ome and Iruma, he is approaching Tsurugashima Junction, from which Kan-etsu Highway branches off. He is driving further west on Ken-o-do to Tohoku Highway. On both sides of the highway, open field sweeps away, and in the back mirror, edge line of mountains are clearly reflected, the left end of which is Mt Ooyama, Ootake and Mitake to the right, and the highest top of which is, of course, Mt Fuji. He feels proud and happy to deeply think that he has ever stood on the summit three times, whenever he may see the mountain.
After a while, when he approaches KUKI Junction, from which Tohoku-do branches out, he sees twin peaks of Mt Tsukuba far away in front, which is one of his favorite mountains. Slow in and fast out of the curve of ramp, he accelerates the car. While driving, he recollects the place and time he has ever been to. He likes it that some chance leads him to some place unknown to him. Even if it is the place where he is a stranger, it might be familiar to somebody who lives there, as Ashikaga city is to him, where he had a lot of dramas.
Kazo to Hanyu. One of cousins lived in Kazo, and ran a sushi restaurant in the hotel near Kazo Station. He once married, had a daughter and divorced. He was supposed to marry again. MYSTERIOUSLY, his new wife was as old as her first daughter. After a while, he died of diabetes. What became of his shop and family after he passed away, AMABE do not know.
In the further past, when AMABE was younger than a child, his maternal grandmother lived alone in a old wooden flat on the second floor by Minami-hanyu Station, a lonely small station in those days. The two-story apartment house had six flats, which had 4.5 tatami room and tiny kitchen with naked light bulb, and had common old Japanese style of bathroom heated by using firewood outside. He enjoyed seeing Tobu Isesaki Line passing just beside and junping down from oshiire, or closet. One day, he cannot remember when it was, she and her flat disappeared, and can no more see that nostalgic scenery.
Taking a short break with vanilla cream flappuccino, Starbucks at Hanyu PA. Crossing the Tone River, Tatebayashi. Passing Sano-fujioka to Sano SA. In Sano Yakuyoke Daishi Temple, his maternal grandma sleeps. And his parents first met in Sano. If not, he would not exist now. Chance or destiny, MYSTERIOUS. From Iwafune Junction, Kita-kanto-do branches off west. Ashikaga is on the way to Kan-etsu do. From Tochigi Junction, it branches off east to Joban do. Tsuga-nishikatj PA has just renewally opened. From Kanuma to Utsunomiya. It has been more than 100 km from the Mt Takao hideout around here.
Indeed, the story this time seems to end up with just a travel essay. Keeping the distance out of which the range of radar reaches, however, alien KILL's ship follows the yellow Beetle.
Passing Ooya, which is famous for Ooya-ishi stone, Tohoku-do becomes narrow, dark, and lonely at night in particular without any light along the center line. Yaita, Nasu-kogen, crossing the prefectural border, Shirakawa, and Kooriyama, from which Ban-etsu-do extends west. On the way to Niigata, are Lake Inawashiro and Mt Bandai. He has recently been to Lake Hibara (#03).
Soon after 3.11 earthquake, there were some cracks or uneven grounds around here and there on the highway, but almost all the physical scars have been repaired. Over Kunimi, which is famous as Ultraman City, he gets into Miyagi Pref.
Sendai-miyagi Inter now, from which YURI, the Youth, comes. Also, his brother used to live in Sendai four years as a university student. Then, he would often stay at Brother's apartment flat, to walk or drive around the city and to go to nearby hot springs. Brother once showed him around Oku-matsushima, where Brother had often visited for training. According to Brother, the inn where he had often stayed was washed away to vacant sand beach by tsunami. The beach house might have been run by YURI's parents (#11).
When you drive from TOKIO to Sendai, you will feel as if you had traveled to far north. It actually is 350 km. 700 km from TOKIO to Aomori, so it is just a halfway point. It is because Miyagi and Iwate are both vertically long.
Into Iihatobu, as Miyazawa Kenji calls Iwate, it is 420 km from TOKIO. 160 km to Aomori Prefecture, and 260 km to Aomori Interchange. Numbers makes Japan MYSTERIOUS. The farther away from TOKIO you travel, the longer you might feel the distance and the slower the hour. Eight hours' drive has taken AMABE to Tsugaru SA, and has made him tired and sleepy. He has decided to have some sleep. While sleeping, he is surrounded by four aliens KILL. The parking is not so large, but there are almost no cars in the parking. And four aliens and one human disappear, so there is just a yellow car body left.
Aliens KILL have been waiting for the moment when AMABE loses track of ET radar. If the radar responds, his phsical and mental power and intelligence will repel their INVADE. So it took them about ten hours to take him away. Aliens KILL needed AMABE's brains to complete Dino Tank, their weapon base to INVADE the Earth.
Unnatural act of one Youth member responds to the others' radar. KIRIYA gave a call to AMABE, but he had no response.
"Beetle has been parked three hours, and he's not returned the same hours. Something wrong must've happened to him. Anyway, I'll go Tsugaru. Come on with me, MOROBOSHI. Wait and see here, the others."
It took less than an hour for HAWK 1 jet mode to carry them to Aomori. They traveled at Mach, 1200 km/h, too fast to become nostalgic.
Aliens KILL are staying in Tank-base they hid in Mt Iwaki. AMABE is put to sleep. If so, their technology enables them to make good use of his brains. They try to teleport Dinosaur on Tank-base from Planet KILL.
HAWK 1 has arrived at Tsugaru SA, when and where MOROBOSHI gets on yellow Beetle and get out of the highway at Kuroishi, depending on the radar. KIRIYA takes off toward Mt Iwaki.
Huge thunder cloud has suddenly appeared above the moumtain with dinosaur's roar like a thunder. MOROBOSHI with red glasses finds Tank-base, teleports in, easily defeats aliens, rescues AMABE, and teleports again into the yellow car.
Then, it thunders. The moment lightning strikes Tank-base, a huge dinosaur appears on it. Dino uses Tank instead of four legs to move around.
(Enormous. Gigantic. Ginormous. Huge. Humongous. Monstrous.)
KIRIYA HAWK shoots Spiner, a new powerful bomb AMABE invented, at the monster. But the monster holds it in its big mouth.
(Oops a daisy!!!)
The next moment, ULTRA BEAM strikes Spiner, which has blown up Dino Tank without a trace.
MOROBOSHI gets into the highway at Oowani-hirosaki, and returns Beetle to the same parking place. AMABE is still sleeping.
(AMABE san, have a good vacation.)
He gets on HAWK 1 next to Beetle and leaves for their hideout, as if nothing had happened.
After a while, AMABE woke up.
(Shotgun rider, not driver. Stupid asleep?)
Washing hand and getting drink, he went on driving. At the sight of odometer he would soon find it strange that the car had run 100 km while he was sleeping.
It is just 30 km to Aomori Interchange, the end of Tohoku Highway. Furthermore, it is another 100 km from the interchange to Cape Tappi-misaki.
(How large Japan is!)
With dawn purple, the starlight is fading out.
#28 the end
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