Volume Twenty-one: Sunglow After 9/11 Written by Kashiwae Masato Illustrated by Chayamachi Suguro Summary by Amparo Bertram October, 2001

On the morning of January 1, 1980, Sidney "sneaks" into Nobuyuki's bedroom through the window. Youko sees him, but she pretends not to notice. Sidney carefully bundles Nobuyuki in several layers so he won't catch cold and takes him outside to watch the first sunrise of the year.

Sidney and Henry attend the funeral for Steve's friend Andy. [Note: Sam comes in a wheelchair, but unfortunately Steve is too depressed even to look at him.] As Nobuyuki sees off the last of the tourists, the Sky Travel staff members ponder events. The travel and hotel industries were hit hard by the terrorist attack, and unless tourism picks up again, the future looks grim. They are particularly upset to hear that large Japanese companies are urging their employees not to travel overseas.

The situation worsens when cities across America start suffering attacks in the form of anthrax in the mail. Because of this, the police continue to be called upon to work long hours. On top of that, the President sends troops to the Middle East for retaliation, including Sidney's friend Ashley.

Sky Travel receives word from the Tokyo office that the New York branch will remain open. Normally it's one of the busiest branches in America, so when tourism picks up again it should be open and ready. However, the branches in smaller cities, such as Boston, are likely to be closed to cut expenses. Nobuyuki tries to think of a way to drum up business. He notes that Rod is still living in a hotel, and that hotels are offering special low rates, even high-class ones. It strikes him that, if they can't convince people to travel overseas from Japan, perhaps they can use special low rates at fancy hotels to draw tourists from other American cities.

Meanwhile, Steve is spending all of his free time clearing rubble at Ground Zero. He calls his mother every day to reassure her that he's okay, but he won't return calls from anyone else. His brother Garrett, worried, asks Nobuyuki to check on him. Nobuyuki attempts to see him at the station, but he's always either "sleeping" in the break room or gone. There are rumors that the station will close unless Steve--as the one with the most experience--is put in charge, but Steve doesn't want the promotion because it would mean he'd be stuck doing desk work.

Nobuyuki discusses his concerns about Steve with Sidney, but there isn't much else he can do. They make the most of the little time they have to be with each other.

The police are kept busy dealing with many kinds of fraud in the wake of the bombing and the anthrax scare. Sidney and Henry are called to investigate a death supposedly due to complications from injuries received when the World Trade Center collapsed. The victim, Polly Bates, was found with fresh bruises--too fresh to have been caused a month before. Her husband, Shawn, says she had been hospitalized after the attack due to her injuries, but he steadfastly refuses to reveal the name of the hospital where she was treated. The catch is that Shawn is a cop.

Nobuyuki finds out that his friend Serizawa is planning to return to Japan. He fears that it's because Serizawa is being mistreated for appearing Middle Eastern, but the transfer had been in the works before the attack. Serizawa agrees to help Nobuyuki by advertising Sky Travel at the various Sogabe offices throughout the country. Thanks to his efforts, they have several reservations by the beginning of November.

One morning, Sidney throws the newspaper on the floor in disgust at seeing yet another headline about anthrax. Nobuyuki makes him pick it up, then rewards him with a kiss.

Sidney learns the name of the hospital where Polly Bates had been treated. It turns out that she had had amnesia when first admitted, so the doctors had to guess her name based on things she said. When her husband found her, she was listed as "Polly Cooper"--Cooper being Shawn's partner. Polly had once had an affair with Cooper, years before, but Shawn hadn't known about it. Sidney speculates that Shawn started beating Polly when he discovered the truth, and that resulted in her death. Sadly, before he can arrest Shawn, the man shoots himself.

Garrett goes to Ground Zero and insists on seeing his brother. He says how much he and Nobuyuki and everyone all miss Steve and worry about him. He also relates that when he escaped the building collapse, it was a firefighter who had found him injured and got him to an ambulance. At the moment his son Jerry wants to be a firefighter, and he wouldn't dream of standing in the way. Steve finally starts to come out of his depression. He agrees to accept his promotion, as long as he can still go out and fight fires.

...And he returns to flirting with Nobuyuki as usual.