Chapter 5 - Unfinished Business

I woke up to my alarm blaring in my ear. I took both of my AirPods out, stopped the recording on my phone, and checked the time. It was 7:00, so I still had an hour to get ready before classes started.

I got out of bed and went to wake up Toma, just so he knew I was awake. I shook him a little as he wiggled around in his bed and mumbled, “What is it?”

“Well, it’s 7, so you should probably get up. I’m gonna go shower, just so you know,” I said, “and so you don’t freak out thinking I left the room.”

“Hmmm… okay. I’ll check my phone footage while you do that,” he said as he rubbed his eyes.

“Here, take mine too. The passcode is 7926,” I said, tossing my phone onto his bed.

“Sounds good… but are you sure you want me going through it?” Toma asked as he finally sat up.

“Of course, Toma. You’re my friend, so I trust you,” I said. “Plus, I’ve got nothing to hide.”

I walked toward the door and bent down to check the lead Toma had wedged there. “Looks like we might be clear. The lead’s still intact,” I said as I held it up.

“That’s good to hear,” Toma said groggily, lying back down.

I grabbed my uniform and towel from the drawer and headed into the hall. I still didn’t love the idea of communal showers, but after two days I didn’t really mind them anymore. Not many people on our floor used them at this time, and only half the floor was guys, so that cut the number down even more.

I showered quickly so I’d still have plenty of time before classes. When I got back to the room, Toma was already fully ready—even though fifteen minutes ago he could barely keep his eyes open.

“So, did you find anything in the footage?” I asked as I tossed my dirty clothes into the hamper.

“Only that we sleep completely differently,” he said. “You sleep like a rock, barely moving, while I’m rolling all over the place. Other than that, nothing interesting. No gaps or anything, which is good.”

“Well, I still think we should keep this up for a while,” I said. “We have no clue how long the battery will last, so I’m thinking two weeks.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. So when you have morning practices, I’ll just get up and maybe go to the gym or something.”

“Don’t you have basketball practice?” I asked.

“No, it’s fall. We only have open gyms once a week until the season starts in a few months.”

“Either way, staying in shape isn’t a bad idea. You need a lot more muscle for basketball than for cross country.”

“I agree with you there. You runners are nothing but skin and bones in the upper body.”

“Well, it doesn’t help that I’m super tall too. I might as well be Slenderman,” I laughed.

“Hey, it can’t be that bad. How much do you weigh? You’ve gotta be at least 68 kilos or somewhere around there, right?”

“Actually I’m only about 64.”

“Jeez, I didn’t know you were THAT skinny. That’s worse than I thought.” He slung his backpack over his shoulder. “Alright, how about this: every day you don’t have morning practice, we go to the weight room. And we get you on a bulk that won’t mess with your training so you gain some weight.”

“On a bulk?” I asked as I put a few notebooks into my backpack. “What exactly does that entail? Are you making my food or something?”

“Oh, no, no, no. I could never do that,” Toma said. “I just monitor what you eat so you’re eating more than you burn so you can actually put on muscle. Which means I need to eat lunch with you every day.”

“I mean, I’m fine with that,” I said, putting my backpack on. “So, are you ready to go, Toma?”

“I 100% am, Josh.”

I looked over and grinned, and he did the same. “Man, I don’t know why, but I have a feeling today is going to be a great day,” Toma said as he closed the door behind us.

—

The first half of the day went fine for the most part with only a few glares which was to be expected but honestly I didn’t mind it all that much. Talking to Toma about everything really helped and I was doing a lot better. It was nice knowing that Toma was my actual friend, someone that knew everything.

I quickly ran up to Toma as I had just spotted him in the lunch room. “Hey Toma!” I yelled

“Hey, Josh there you are!” He yelled back

I could barely hear him over the large crowd. “Did you find a place to sit?”

“Ya I—- is there right now” He said

“Wait what, who’s there right now”

“Ita is”

“Oh okay, do you know what I should have for lunch”

“Here lets go over to the other shop, its way too loud over here”

We moved across the cafeteria as we found a smaller window with a large amount of food.

“Okay so we are getting you…this chicken” Toma said "Definitely this rice”

“That looks good,” I said, trying to grab the tray from him.

“And this miso soup. You are bulking so you need to be eating a lot more” Toma said “You burn calories like crazy that’s why you are so skinny, so you just have to eat more”

“Alright then” I said as we made our way to a table in the middle of the cafeteria where Ita was sitting. He waved at us as we slowly got closer to him.

“Hey Ita” I said to him as we walked up

”How are you doing Joshua” He asked

”I’m doing just fine, how about you”

”I’m doing great”

“So how was your practice today?”

“God, don’t get me started. A stupid speed workout,” he said, putting his hands in his face. “I’d rather die than do that again.”

“It couldn’t have been that bad, right?” Toma said.

“I have to agree with Toma. Speed workouts are hard, but it can’t be that bad.”

“1×1600, 4×800, 4×400,” he mumbled.

“Holy shit…”

“What, is that hard or something?” Toma asked.

“Well, it depends,” I said, turning back toward Ita. “What pace was it?”

“Just faster than race pace. Like 5:40 for me,” he mumbled again.

“Yeah… sorry man. That actually sucks ass.”

“I don’t know much, but that just sounds like hell,” Toma added.

“Trust me, it is,” Ita said. “Take my advice and don’t join cross-country.”

“Yeah, I’d have to agree there,” I said, rice in my mouth.

“Then why the hell do you guys do it?”

“What else would we do?” I asked. “Our bodies aren’t really built for anything else.”

“I mean, you could do—” he paused. “Yeah, no. I got nothing.”

“Imagine me doing basketball,” I said, taking another mouthful of rice. I swallowed. “I’d get put on the floor in seconds. I’d stand zero chance out there.”

“Hahaha” we all laughed

Then suddenly Toma shifted his gaze to something behind me “Shit, they’re looking,” Toma said, suddenly staring down at his food.

“Wait, who?” I said, standing slightly to look behind me.

“Jesus, don’t make it obvious,” Ita said, grabbing my shoulder and yanking me back into my seat.

“Hey, what the hell—”

“It’s Subaru,” Toma said, cutting me off.

“You’re kidding.”

“Wish I was.”

“Shit, why the hell does she still want to do with me” I said “I made it very clear yesterday that I didn’t want to hear from her anymore”

“By the way,” Ita said, turning back to me, “what even happened yesterday? Like, what caused all… that?”

“Well—”

“Hey, Joshua, if you don’t want to tell him, that’s fine,” Toma said.

“I can’t tell you everything, Ita,” I said, taking my last bite of chicken.

“That’s fine. I only want the gist.”

“Well basically, she told me she had an idea who the robot was. Or a lead, at least. I tried to listen, but her friend was pushing my buttons, and one thing led to another and I just… exploded. Right in front of everyone.”

“What about what you said in the video?” Ita asked. “Only if you want to talk about it.”

“Not now. It’s personal. I’ll tell you, just… not with everyone around.” I said as I turned towards Toma “That’s the same for you Toma, I do want to tell you just not right now”

“Sorry, last question. What was the lead she had?”

“Well, me and Toma already figured it out for the most part,” I said, glancing over. Toma looked like he was dying to explain it. “You wanna explain it, Toma?”

“Yes,” he practically shouted. “So basically we came up with the idea that they have to be in Joshua’s class—”

It was nice seeing Toma this excited about something. He always acted serious, but inside he was just as hyped as me. I admired him for that—he could stay composed but still open up to his friends.

“We also have more—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I cut him off. “Not here. I trust Ita, but this isn’t a good place. Plus we probably shouldn’t talk about it at all in public even if it is something safe. What you are about to say isn’t good to say in a public space, so anyone could be listening.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Ita asked.

“Good point, Joshua. So when do we tell him?” Toma asked.

“How about this: are you free later this week so we can talk?”

“Yeah, Friday night should work.”

“That sounds great,” I said, turning to Toma. “Anyone else you want to bring? It’s pretty much a now-or-never thing.”

“No, I got no one else.”

“If you think of someone, tell me and we’ll arrange it.”

“So Friday, I’ll come to your dorm and we can talk?”

“Yep. If that’s it, I’m gonna head back to class before the hallway gets flooded.”

“That’s great. See you later, Josh,” Toma said as I stood up.

“Josh?” I heard Ita ask.

“I’ll tell you later,” Toma said, his voice fading as I walked away.

Now all I had to do was survive the rest of the day and make it back to my room in one piece.

I opened the classroom door where a few students were already seated… and then it hit me.

I never asked Toma if we were lifting after school today.

—

“Oh, it’s a text from Joshua,” I said as I looked at my phone.

“What is he asking?” Ita asked me, looking over my desk in room 1-F.

“He’s wondering if we are lifting after school today,” I said as I started to type my reply. “Of course, Josh. Meet me at the weight room just after school.”

“Now Josh, where did you get that from?” Ita asked me.

“Look, it’s a nickname. It’s not that much; I don’t really care all that much about it.”

“Yeah, but you already call him Joshua, so why even shorten it if you use his first name?”

“I mean, it would make sense since we all use his first name for everything, since he is from America.”

“I guess that makes sense. Maybe I should start calling him that too.”

“You know how long we have until class starts?” I asked.

Ita, looking at his watch, said, “About 3 minutes.”

“It might be best then if you go take your seat”

Just after that, a girl walked over to my desk as I continued texting Joshua.

“Hey, you’re Jaeger, Oakley’s roommate, right?” the girl asked.

“Yeah, what’s it to youuuu…” I said as I looked up to see Rin Subaru standing over me she looked half nervous but confident at the same time.

“Well, I wanted you to get in contact with him,” she asked.

“And why should I?” I asked. “He told me everything. You disgust me.”

“Look, that wasn’t my fault, and it really is important,” she said.

“Well then, if it is so important, why not tell him yourself?”

“I can’t. He wouldn’t listen to me.”

“No surprise there,” I said. “So what is it?”

“Well…” she took a long pause.

“Well what? Spit it out.”

“I need his number, I can’t tell it to you” she said, almost embarrassed.

“Look, he isn’t gonna be happy if I give you his number, so I need something so that he doesn’t just block you on the spot.”

“Alright fine, here,” she said. “You aren’t a monster. I don’t know where you come from or what you had to do to go here. I know an apology won’t be enough; it may never be enough. Yet, what I have to say is too important for us to hold grudges. So please, let's talk. I want to tell you what I know.”

“I mean that sounds good but that isn’t enough, I’m his buddy why would he want to talk to you”

“Uhhhh,” She groaned. “I didn’t know where you came from, poor or rich, so I didn’t say anything at the time to Ohka. That was wrong. Now only one thing is important, me telling you this info, if I don’t there could be serious repercussions.”

“Okay, I think that sounds like enough,” I said as I pulled my phone out again “his number is 555-245-2341”

“Thanks, Jaeger!” she said as she ran off.

The only problem with this whole thing is whether or not Joshua will talk to her, since if I’m being honest, she knows something we don’t. Something I can’t help but feel is important.

—

“Good workout, eh Toma?” I said.

“Yeah, I feel great,” he said. “I’m guessing you’re the same.”

“For sure,” I said as I put my water bottle down on my desk and took a seat to catch my breath.

“I should probably tell you about this now rather than later,” Toma mumbled to himself.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“It’s about Rin…”

“You gotta be shitting me,” I said, putting my face into my hands. “What did she have to say?”

“It’s nothing bad per se.”

“Just spit it out.”

“She wants to get into contact with you, and I gave her your number.”

“Why would you do that, Toma? You know that was a bad idea, right?”

“Not entirely.”

“What do you mean?”

“She left a message: ‘You aren’t a monster. I don’t know where you come from or what you had to do to go here. I know an apology won’t be enough; it may never be enough. Yet, what I have to say is too important for us to hold grudges. So please, let's talk. I want to tell you what I know.’”

“That’s what she said?”

“Word for word, man. Plus, there is one more thing. The way she was talking about this… it sounded more important than just that she had figured out that it was someone in your class.”

“You have a good point, but it can’t be super narrow with who it is.”

“What about, like, a general thing that she has due to her dad having extra information?”

“That would make sense, but still—why come to me of all people? None of this makes sense, and it probably won’t for a while.”

“I think the best we can do now is try to ask her questions about it over text or some other time.”

“I agree. Now all we have to do is wait for her to text me, and we can see what she has to say. Plus, if I’m going to say this, it’s best to say it now—I think we should add her to the group with Ita.”

“Yeah, you’ve lost your damn mind.”

“No I haven’t. Look, she could be a huge asset. She has info we don’t with her dad, and something just doesn’t sit right.”

“What do you mean by ‘something doesn’t sit right’?”

“That is a different attitude from yesterday. I have a feeling she is putting up a facade for everyone else to believe. Though I’m not sure, it would make sense.”

“Hmmm, good idea… but I think it would probably be best not to jump to conclusions.”

“Yeah, that sounds good…”