The Bus to Somewhere

Shiomizu Town sits on an inconspicuous, sleepy island far off the mainland. Like a punctual bureaucrat, the sea fog rolls in every morning and withdraws by noon. The ferry only comes three times a week.

To be fair, a sizable portion of the townsfolk comprises old-timers who never leave the island. So only a few passengers are aboard on the routine ferry trips.

Most people in the town know each other's faces. If someone went missing or a stranger arrived in Shiomizu, the news would spread rapidly.

Renji Kuroki found the bus crowded today. He stood near the back door, one gloved hand on the cold rail. His father, who usually drives him to school, was on a business trip to the mainland to purchase marine equipment.

For the first time in months, Renji was taking the public bus. He kind of hated it, feeling like a home-bred animal released into the Amazon forest. There were too many bodies, and a lot more funny smells. Too many faces watched him from the corner of their eyes.

A girl in a high school uniform squeezed past an oba-chan and stopped beside him. Too close to him. Renji's senses always went hyperactive when a stranger was nearby.

A cursory glance told him this girl was short, with her long dark hair tied loosely, a few strands falling across her face. Her uniform skirt had a tiny tear at the hem, which had been repaired unprofessionally. She smelled faintly of old books and instant noodles.

"Excuse me," she said in a tiny voice, trying to sound mature. "Is this seat taken?"

Renji pursed his lips. There was no seat around him. It was standing room only. Is the girl dumb? He glanced down at her and frowned lightly. She was looking up with an over-polite smile, the kind people used when they wanted something from his father. Neighbors. Relatives. Creditors. His father's ex-wife.

"No," he said in a reciprocal, polite tone.

She nodded and grabbed the same rail, their hands touching momentarily. To make matters worse, the bus lurched around a corner, and she swayed closer, almost bumping into him. Renji almost cursed aloud.

"I'm Kageyama Mio," she said, planting her feet solidly like getting into a battle stance. "Second year. I think we're in the same class."

"Kuroki Renji," he replied. He always sounded formal, just the way his mother—no, his father's ex-wife taught him.

Mio tilted her head at the boy, taking special interest in his facial features. "Kuroki-kun, right? I've heard your name."

The boy didn't respond. He never knew what to say when people claimed common ground with him. Do they have nothing better to do? He obliged with a polite nod for the girl.

The bus rattled on, taking a different path than Renji was accustomed to. Shiomizu had the characteristics of a classic town, especially the small wooden houses with tiled roofs. The lights from the vending machines whipped past like ghost wisps in the gray morning. Renji saw a shrine gate in the shadows of hinoki trees. Regardless, everything looked damp and sleepy.

"You know," Mio said suddenly. "Girls talk about you all the time. You're really popular in school."

Renji frowned, turning his face away from the girl. "It's not true. They're just being nice to me."

"But you are, Kuroki-kun," she insisted with a sheepish smile. "Top of the class, good-looking, and mysterious. That's what they talk about. You just don't notice the fandom because you're always lost in your thoughts."

He looked at Mio again. Is she mocking me? Trying to get close for some favor? People always had an agenda behind flattery and praise. "Thanks," he said politely, in a tone that betrayed his edginess.

"You're welcome," Mio replied.

She's lying, or is stupid. Everyone hates others in one way or another. They just hide it, often replacing hostility with fake compliments. Falsehood and pretense are entrenched deep in the human psyche, with degrees ranging from a saint to a psychopath.

Mio watched the boy's face as he retreated into silence. This time, she saw a strange flicker. His eyes went cold for just a second. A barely noticeable smile sprouted on her pink lips.

Nobody else spoke on the bus for a while. Mio didn't seem bothered by the prolonged silence. She stared out the window for a moment, then turned back to pester her new acquaintance. "Hey, can I ask you something weird?"

Renji scanned her with greater scrutiny, now that she invaded his privacy for the third time. Her eyes were keen, intelligent, and darker than most, as if she had read many books, watched a lot of movies, or already lived an adult life.

"Go ahead."

"Do you think… Err… Can a human be born as an Akuma? A demon?"

The question hung in the air unanswered. It was indeed weird as advertised, and barely made sense. Did Mio watch a late-night creepy pasta movie from Hollywood?

Renji blinked once. He didn't laugh at her. He didn't make a jibe. The boy just looked at her, really looked, as if she were an alien who had been beamed into the bus.

Under his gaze, most others of Mio's age would have giggled or awkwardly changed the subject. She lowered her eyes, but didn't surrender. She waited, looking completely serious, with bated breath. For her, it was a legitimate question that warranted an answer.

Renji sighed and thought about it. "Do you mean in the literal sense?" he said finally. "Devils and demons aren't real, you know."

"But what if they are?" she pressed on, realizing with glee that the boy had taken the bait. "I don't mean Akuma with sharp horns and shovel-tipped tails. What I mean is a baby born with a dark soul from hell. Like the cuckoo bird laying her eggs in other nests. A changeling. Someone who was never meant to be human."

Renji felt something unlock inside him, like a rusty old door creaking open. Most high schoolers talked about dating, celebrities, and idle gossip. That's why he avoided them. No one had ever spoken to him like this, and he wondered whether Mio running into him wasn't coincidental.

No, it would be unwise to overthink the situation. She is just an energetic otaku girl with a weird question. All I need to do is rationalize my answer.

"It is possible," Renji said slowly, recalling a book he had read. "In the field of psychoanalysis, there's something called the Dark Triad, which can be interpreted as demonic behavior. Have you heard about it?"

"Tell me more..."

"Well… The Dark Triad is Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. Three extremes of personality, which can together build one that is barely human. Someone exceptionally smart and capable, but lacks empathy and remorse, and shows blatant disregard for morality. In other words, a demon."

Mio bit her lip, thinking. "Naruhodo. It seems you have done a lot of reading, Kuroki-kun. You aren't top of the class through a fluke, are you? Anyway, wouldn't all three traits manifesting in one person be very rare? Not something natural, and hence supernatural?"

Renji shook his head, partly impressed that Mio was smart enough to understand what he was saying. Then why are her test scores so average?

"Yes, but in the real world, such behavior is quite common. For example, people who score high in life—be it politics, cinema, TV, or sports—don't feel things the way others do. Some of them actually look down on commoners and regard them as less than human. Perhaps we can categorize such high achievers as demons, even though they aren't supernatural?"

Mio's eyes bulged, and she creased her forehead as if trying to find a counterargument but failing.

Renji came to her rescue. "Have you watched the psychological horror movie 'The Silence of the Lambs'? Hannibal understands human behavior perfectly, knows things the smartest among us don't, and yet feels nothing. He isn't a supernatural entity, but he might as well be. "

The girl looked unconvinced. "Still, Kuroki-kun, something is missing from his character to be truly labeled a demon."

Renji pursed his lips. His first impression of Mio being a movie buff had turned out to be inaccurate. She is probably an otaku who wants her imaginary demon to have mythical abilities. "Do you read manga?"

"Of course."

"Are you familiar with the character of Johan Liebert?"

"Ooh, yes, I am a huge fan of Urasawa-sensei. Please go on..."

Renji nodded. "Johan is an antagonist without supernatural powers. right? Yet he plays and controls characters across the globe like chess pieces, producing results exactly as he desires. His ridiculous feats baffle the smartest of minds. We could say his capabilities are beyond human, or something demonic."

"Naruhodo!" Mio exclaimed. The bus swayed again, but she didn't move away from him. Her battle stance was rock-solid, but she seemed to be struggling with fresh conflicting emotions.

"Kuroki-kun… Demons like the ones we are talking about… Is it possible they live among us in Shiomizu? What about students in our high school?"

Renji paused. What is the girl getting at? Perhaps I overestimated her. She could be a conspiracy theorist or a thrill-seeker.

However, the rusted old door in his mind was wide ajar now. Renji's thoughts loitered for answers, and he went into self-reflection.

I smile at and greet people kindly even though they deserve my hatred. When I help my classmates, I make sure people notice. I say Arigato and Gomenasai at the right times to avoid offending others.

None of it ever feels real. Why do I pretend everything that I do?  For a moment, Renji looked at his reflection in the window glass and saw a dark shade swipe across his face. It dissipated as soon as it appeared.

"High-functioning psychopaths can live their whole lives without realizing they're different," he told Mio. "They just think everyone else is weak and play games with them as if they were animals in a zoo. But there may be others who know their true identity and carry out a demonic role in human society while pretending to be normal."

Mio's expression changed into something careful and cautionary for a second. "That's scary," she said. "If someone like that was walking around… in school, or on this bus… You'd never know when they'll strike, because you can't tell them apart from normal humans. I wish there were a way to catch them."

Renji looked out the window. A crow sat on a power line, watching them pass. The bird's pitch-black eyes seemed to stare at him for an elongated moment. Something is different today.

"Maybe that's the point," he said quietly. "Maybe society needs them to work in the shadows."

Mio turned towards him fully now. "What do you mean?"

Renji paused. It was a slip of the tongue—a Freudian slip. I shouldn't have said it. I shouldn't follow-through. But the words came spilling out of him anyway.

"Think about it. Most people are boring, predictable, and helpless on their own. They are uncertain of the future and follow rules blindly, afraid of consequences."

"I wouldn't go that far—"

"On the other hand, imagine a person who is fearless without limitations," Renji cut her off, almost sounding rude. "They could be considered a superior being. Someone who can see through the complex matrix of human behavior and decide what the consequences must be."

"Without doubt, such an individual possesses supernatural power. Unfortunately, they must walk a demonic path to make it happen."

His voice was calm and almost gentle, as if he had spoken a prayer. Mio didn't flinch, but her fingers tightened on the rail. "That sounds like you're saying demons are necessary, and justified."

Renji met her eyes and leaned towards her. "I'm saying maybe we deserve them."

A long silence stretched between them. The bus engine hummed idly. Someone coughed near the front. Then Mio thought of something and smiled. It was a tiny, almost sad smile. "You're kind of intense, Kuroki-kun."

He snapped out of his thought bubble and straightened himself. "Your question asked for it."

She laughed softly. "Yeah, it did."

The bus pulled into the school stop. Everyone started moving towards the doors.

As Renji and Mio stepped off, the morning's cool, damp air flooded their senses. They walked between cherry trees lining the path to the gate. The leaves had turned red early this year. Mio walked beside Renji, struggling to keep up with his longer strides.

"Hey, Kuroki-kun… Our talk was interesting, wouldn't you agree? Do you want to continue this some other time? Like at lunch or after school?"

Renji slowed down, thinking. Is Mio asking me out? No, I am overthinking again. I want to say yes, though. For the first time, I actually want to hang out with a classmate. A friend?

"I'm busy," Renji said with an apologetic tone. "I'm tutoring my little sister these days. She's in middle school and needs help with exams. But thanks for the offer. I enjoyed our conversation too."

Mio nodded slowly. "Oh. Okay. Maybe another time."

"Yeah. Maybe."

They walked through the gate separately. Renji headed towards the shoe lockers, his hands lodged in his pockets. She was testing me. But why? What does Kageyama Mio really want from me?

***

Mio watched the boy go with narrowed eyes. He didn't even blink when I mentioned demons, and his definition of them is quite diabolical. He fits the criteria.

What would Ryo think of him? He'd ask me to be thorough, to uncover the truth before alarming him. I'm coming for you, Kuroki Renji.