Chapter 14: The Crack in the Goddess

The bus ride back is... not fun.

My arm is wrapped in about three rolls of gauze from the village elder's first-aid kit. The local cops—two old guys who looked terrified—took the bullies away.

Tanaka-sensei is babbling. "A knife! I can't believe it! Minatawa-kun, you're a hero! A hero! But so reckless! Oh, my..."

The whole bus is staring at me. I'm a hero. Again.

This time, it feels different.

My arm hurts. A deep, throbbing, agonizing pain.

Taka and Ken are silent, just looking at me with wide, scared eyes. "Dude," Ken finally whispers. "You... you got stabbed. For real."

"It's just a scratch," I lie, leaning my head against the window.

I'm not looking at them. I'm watching the front of the bus.

Ayako Katsumi is sitting in her seat, right next to the window. She's reading her thick, hardback book. Her posture is perfect. Her face is calm.

It's like the whole thing never happened.

It's like she didn't take out a guy with three hits. It's like I didn't take a knife for her.

She hasn't said a single word to me since she tied that bandage.

And... I'm pissed. I'm really, really pissed off.

We get back to Shinjin High late in the evening. The parking lot is dark and mostly empty. The other kids scatter, their parents picking them up, everyone buzzing about the "Akiyama Incident."

I'm standing by myself, my bag over my good shoulder, just... waiting.

"Minatawa-kun."

Her voice.

She walks over, her clipboard in hand. She's the last one here.

"The school will be filing a full report," she says, her voice all business. "Your... 'heroic' actions... will be noted. The hospital bill will be... handled."

"Handled?" I say, my voice low. "Like you 'handled' those guys? Like you 'handled' the fines?"

She doesn't flinch. "Yes."

"You..." I'm so angry I'm shaking. "You're just... nothing. Aren't you? You're just a block of ice. I just took a knife for you, and you're reading a book!"

I take a step closer. "You could have taken that guy. You're faster than me. You froze. You let me get stabbed!"

I'm just lashing out. I know I am. I'm hurt, and I'm angry, and I'm... scared.

Ayako is silent. She's standing in the shadow of a streetlight, her face hidden.

"He was not my target," she whispers.

"What?"

"I was not... prepared... for him," she says. "He was a new variable. I was... calculating. You... you acted."

"Yeah, I acted! I acted like an idiot! Like you're always telling me!"

"YES!" she snaps. Her voice echoes in the empty lot.

I freeze. She... she yelled.

She's breathing hard. "Yes. You acted like an idiot. You were... reckless. Inefficient. You used your body to block a blade! That is what a... a fool... does!"

"I did it to protect you!" I yell back, taking another step. I'm right in front of her now. "Is that so 'inefficient'?"

"I... I..."

She's stuck. She can't answer.

"I'm not like you, Ayako!"

I said it. Her first name.

She flinches. She actually takes a step back, like I just slapped her.

The anger drains out of me. "I... I mean... Katsumi-san. I'm sorry."

"No," she whispers. She's looking at the ground.

She's... she's still shaking.

"The blade," she says, her voice so quiet I can barely hear it. "It was... not part of the data. Your training is incomplete. It was... a failure in my calculations."

She's trying to rationalize it. She's trying to turn it into a math problem.

"But... your punch," she says, still looking down. "Your stance. It held. It was... adequate."

"Ayako..."

She steps forward, into the light. Her eyes are... they're not cold. They're... terrified.

She slowly, slowly, lifts her hand. The one that isn't holding the clipboard.

Her fingers... they're trembling.

She reaches out, like she's going to touch the bandage on my arm...

And then she stops. Her hand just hovers in the air, an inch from my skin.

She can't do it. She can't... touch me.

"Do not," she whispers, her voice raw. "Ever... be so reckless. Again."

She yanks her hand back, clutching it to her chest.

"Go home, Minatawa-kun. Rest. Your... training... is postponed until you are fully healed."

She turns. She doesn't walk. She... flees.

I'm left alone in the parking lot, my arm throbbing.

She wasn't cold. She wasn't angry.

She was scared.

The goddess was scared. Not of the knife. Not of the bullies.

She was scared... for me.