Rainy Wednesday

Saitou

It was a dreary October afternoon in Moriyama-ku. I sat quietly in the back of the classroom as our world history teacher Sakamoto-sensei went through his drab lecture on the history of foreign powers in the West.

“While Japan continued to avoid building relationships with the Western powers at the end of the 19th century, the United States did what? Would anybody like to answer?”

I was too busy gazing out at Nagoya's rainy cityscape to answer.

“Hayashi, would you like to answer?”

My tall and lanky friend Akira stood up at the desk beside mine.

“Y-yes. The United States recovered from its war with the… uh… was it Mexico?”

The other students near us all smirked.

“Hayashi, did you even do the reading?” our teacher asked.

“Umm.. n-no, S-Sakamoto-sensei,” Akira stammered.

A couple of girls toward the front of the classroom chuckled.

Really, man? I thought as I shook my head.

Sakamoto-sensei sighed and continued to look in our direction.

“Sit down. Arashi, if you did the reading, would you like to answer?”

I gulped and stood up.

“Yes, sensei,” I said. “Toward the end of the 19th century, the United States engaged in conflict with Spain over territories in the Caribbean Sea, the Philippines, and the island of Guam.”

“Hmm, that’s acceptable,” said Sakamoto-sensei, the frown slightly disappearing from his face. “You can sit down—”

He was interrupted by the sound of the bell.

“Well, class, please do the reading if you haven’t already. Perhaps we would’ve gotten somewhere today if more of you had stayed on top of the homework. You’re dismissed.”

I could hear more laughter as I got my things together, got up to leave, and put on my coat. Akira and I walked out together as we usually did.

“Saitou!” he exclaimed as we strode down the crowded hallway. “Are you going to photography club today?”

“I normally would,” I said. “But I have so much homework to do for chemistry class. And these ‘moles’ are giving me a headache.”

“Come on, now!” my friend patted me on the shoulder. “We can meet up and study sometime! The exam isn’t until next week.”

I shook my head.

“We can soon. But for now, I’m heading home.”

Akira abruptly ran in front of me and stood in the way. He was so much taller that it was almost intimidating! I was a somewhat slim, 1.6 meter-tall 16 year old with somewhat of a rounded face and wavy hair.

“You always say that! Please just come over soon, or something! Or invite me over! Let’s play Andromeda Hearts! There’s more to high school than just your books.”

I rolled my eyes.

“I’ll try. But I actually want to get somewhere with this class—”

“Well, so do I, but that doesn’t mean you should leave your friend behind!”

I looked down at the floor for a moment, then back up at my friend.

“I’m sorry. I’ll try to make time. Just message me sometime, okay?”

“Okay,” he replied with a sigh. “Just think of how you’d feel if I didn’t want to hang out with you.”

***

The trip home was miserable in the rain. Sometimes when it was like that, students preferred to take the bus, but I lived only a few blocks away so I chose to suck it up and walk.

“Oh goodness, Saitou,” my mom said with a frown as I walked into my apartment. “You are SOAKED!”

Hinato Arashi was a bespectacled woman with kind eyes but a strict attitude. She wore a blue raincoat and appeared to be heading out, but paused to go grab a towel for me.

“Where are you going, mom?” I asked.

“Out to Sakura-Ichiba, alright? Please, dry off so you don’t drip all over the place.”

My mother departed for the supermarket. The apartment was so quiet. I was not an only child, but my only sibling was my older sister, Midori, who was off at university in Tokyo. As I retreated to my room, I was hit with a sudden feeling of tiredness.

“Ugh,” I said to myself. “Why do I suddenly want to nap? I’ve got so much reading to catch up on. That’s what being sick will do to you, sometimes!”

Indeed, I had come down with a nasty stomach bug over the weekend and stayed home that Monday to recuperate. When I finally felt well enough to come back to school on Tuesday, I had missed Monday’s homework. I could’ve made some of it up by reaching out to classmates, but I still felt so sick that I chose to focus on Friday’s instead. Mom wasn’t happy when she found out about this, but I could only do so much when my stomach felt like it was going to implode!

And, so, I sat down to try and wrap my head around molar mass…

***

I wasn’t hungry when my mom made dinner. Instead, I said "good evening" to my dad and retreated to my bedroom to nap. When I woke up, it was about 9 PM and I was finally hungry. My parents were both heading to bed, but my stomach wouldn’t let me do likewise. As I ate my mom’s chicken katsu, I thought about taking a walk outside. Sometimes, I liked to do that when I was bored. Not necessarily in the rain or long after dark, but I had been wanting to head to the convenience store down the street for a few days now.

After I finished eating and cleaned up my dishes, I put on my green rain coat and headed out the door. The rain had finally let up, anyway, though it was still drizzling a bit. The walk to the Kanshoku-Mart was peaceful. But right as I turned around a corner on the sidewalk, the rain began to pick up again.

“Are you serious?” I grumbled.

I could see the the sky blue sign on the Kanshoku-Mart in the distance, so I gritted my teeth and pressed on.

As I got closer, I noticed a dark figure standing in the street.

“Is that… a girl?”

Indeed, it was a long-haired girl, just standing out in front of the storefront. She looked to be around my age.

Is she waiting for someone?

I gave her a strange look as I walked toward the entrance. She turned her head and glared back at me!

“Is something wrong, sir?” she asked in an irritated voice.

I was taken aback. I hadn’t thought she’d say something to me!

“Oh… n-no!” I stammered. “I just noticed you standing out here, even though it’s raining hard now.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Umm… not really… ummm… I was just concerned, that’s all! Are you waiting for someone?”

The girl placed her hands on her hips.

“Well, as a matter of fact, I am. And then I’m gonna grab something to drink. So mind your own business, ‘k?”

I simply nodded and continued walking toward the store. A tall, older looking man in a white coat walked out with a bag in his hands. Before coming inside, I turned around and looked at the strange girl one more time.

To my astonishment, she had an evil-looking expression on her face! The older man wasn’t paying any attention to her, so he didn’t see her coming when she ran up to him and tackled him!

The man shouted for help as he lay on the wet asphalt, face down. He was trying to get up, but the girl overpowered him easily and pinned him down.

“Hey!” I shouted as I ran back onto the street. “What do you think you're doing? Let him go!”

The girl shoved the man’s head down and gave me a death glare. Her eyes had gone from reddish-brown to crimson.

“I told you to mind your own business!”

“But you can’t just go around assaulting people!”

“Shut up! And don’t even try to stop what I’m about to do, or YOU’LL be next!”

I stood next to her and watched in horror as she leaned down and bit the man’s neck.

“GET OFF OF HIM!”

I tried to shove her off, but she reached out an arm and delivered a swift chop to my legs. I tripped over and face-planted on the asphalt.

I got my phone out and was about to call the police when she got up off the poor man. She pointed toward me.

“Don’t you dare call the police!”

The only thing that saved me from meeting the same fate as the groaning man on the ground was a jet-black sedan speeding around the corner. It squealed to a halt and two men dressed in suits got out, pointing rifles at the girl.

“MINATO YAMASHITA! Get on the ground or we will shoot!”