Who the heck is Tantan?

April, 2026

The black box sat on the living room table, staring at Shibu with its cat-like sticker eyes.

“Why are you staring at that box?” Charlie said as he carried yet another of the boxes let go by Mom.

“It stared at me first,” Shibu said.

Charlie laughed. “Well that checks out. You’re very stare-able.”

“I hate it. Why do children have to attach googly eyes to everything? It’s so creepy.”

“Hey now, it's pretty cute! Like yo—”

“Okay we get it! I’m going to seclude myself with this creepy box to run away from your cheesy flirting.”

“Have fun! Don’t seclude yourself for too long, I ordered us food.”

Shibu took the box upstairs, to her office-room. Out of everything that Mom gave away during her move this was the only box labeled Shibu, personal.

She cut the see-through Sellotape with a pair of scissors. The aroma of long-stored paper. A plastic bag on the very top labeled with smeared black marks. She peeled it open.

“What’s in here… pictures!”

She swiped dust off the black plastic frame. The picture showed a young girl smiling, sitting cross-legged on a trampoline with her arms raised. She was missing a front tooth, hugging someone who was definitely a younger Mom. The sign above her read: DENOVERE GYMNASTICS.

“That has to be me! I almost forgot I used to do gymnastics. I remember it being pretty fun.”

Just beneath the photo and the torn bandage and tiny browned leather shoes, she found blue-ribboned medals. Each had carved black text on reflective metal.

The district competition March 2006, participation badge.

The district competition October 2006, participation badge.

The district competition March 2007, participation badge.

The district competition October 2007, participation badge.

The district competition March 2008, participation badge.

And then nothing.

She put the badges aside and kept flipping through the box. Another photo: she was lifting an acrylic drawing of a Shiba Inu. The paper was bigger than her, and her smile tried to be even bigger. Surrounding her were a group of kids she barely recognized, apart from one. She thought her name was… Elizabeth? They used to be friends. Well, kind of. Elizabeth was one of the popular girls, and she appreciated Shibu for her skill of making small cute drawings.

***

August, 2009

Shibu, seated in the noisy classroom, scribbled the blue creature in her notebook. Ball-ish and walking on two thin feet. The creature jumped on her forearm and let out a sneaky laugh.

“If you’re this small, imagine if you were r-eaaly powerful! Like, you could fly and, you could microwave melt your enemy immediately, like wheeeewh!” She made the sound of an engine.

The creature nodded, seemingly satisfied. It grew a pair of white wings and started flying, until it came across a flying box-bird, which it then proceeded to microwave melt!

“Just like that!”

A girl slammed her hand on Shibu’s table. “Hey, you’re Shibu, right?”

Shibu startled from her imagination and turned to her. “That’s right!” She beamed.

“And, is it true you can draw cute hearts?”

“It’s true! The cutest hearts!”

“And, is it true you draw cute Shiba Inus too?”

“I do, but it's a bit harder than a heart. Do you want one?”

“Yes, please!” Liza said as she pressed her notebook in front of Shibu.

She started drawing the dog.

“By the way… Is that why they call you Shibu? Because you draw cute Shiba Inus?”

“Well… Maybe. I’m not too sure honestly, it just kind of stuck. Even my Mom calls me that now.”

“Even your Mom?!”

“There, all finished.” She presented the drawing of the dog, surrounded by a heart with a tiny smiling face in its corner.

“It’s so cute!” Liza was mesmerized. “How did you learn to draw like that?”

“Natural born talent.” She winked.

It was true. Once she discovered she was pretty talented at drawing, it became all she did.

“People who draw are always so weird,” Liza said, “but you’re not! You’re pretty normal, which is really refreshing.”

“Oh? Thanks…” Shibu laughed nervously. Normal? That’s right. She was getting older now, so it was important to act like everyone else and blend in. Otherwise, she would be considered weird, which is really, really bad.

“Anyways, thanks for the drawing! Will you come join our table after class?”

“Your table?”

“Yeah. We’ll sit around a table in Class 2 and play games.”

“Sure!” Shibu beamed again.

***

April, 2026

She found the pile of her crayon drawings — hearts, cats, puppies, and various strange creatures she could not recognize. All pretty impressive for an eight-year-old. But she paused as one caught her eye in particular. A winged boot with a clock hanging on its side, flying above a hill, below which two humanoid figures stood, one on each side; one wore a pirate captain’s hat and had long brown hair, an arrow labeling it “SHIBU;” and the other wielded a sword and leather armor, an arrow labeling it “TANTAN.” As she continued flipping through the drawings, they were all almost identical. Hundreds of them, all labeled SHIBU and TANTAN doing different things, fighting monsters, flying a zeppelin, kneeling in front of a king, and fighting someone labeled STEAMPUNKLORD KAINE.

“Did I really draw all of this? I don’t remember any of it…”

And more importantly…

“Who the heck is Tantan?”

Just below the drawings, a yearbook. 2010, Denovere Elementary.

“2010 should have it. Let’s see…”

She flipped and flipped, but couldn’t find someone named Tantan. She thought it might be a nickname, but although nicknames were included, no one had that nickname listed.

She decided to call Mom.

“Mom?”

“Good evening, my lovely. What do you need?”

“Does the name Tantan sound familiar?”

“Tantan? I’ve never heard that. Is that a new restaurant?”

“No! I mean, maybe. Did I have a childhood friend named that? Around ages eight to ten or so?”

“Hmm… There was this neighbor’s boy you used to visit repeatedly.”

“Neighbor? What was his name?”

“Yeah. You used to get along so well together. The name, when I think of it, was something starting with T wasn’t it? Taipo? Taco?”

“Eh? What kind of name…”

“Tato! That’s what it was. Smith family, such cheerful folks. What’s driving all these questions? You’d better not be trying to break up with Charlie! He’s such a sweetheart!”

“No, no, of course not… I’m just looking at things. Thanks, Mom, you always remember everything.”

“That’s what I’m here for. And please send him to get more boxes! And tell him to bring more Petunias again, they were wonderful!”

And there he was, on page 26, Tato Smith. A flimsy, oblong-looking boy, and the nickname missing.

And with it came a memory.

***

October, 2010

Shibu walked on the pavement towards her house, the sun already orange above her. The soft wind kept rearranging her bangs, to which she recently paid more and more attention. The quiet was interrupted by a sound of rapid clicking. Wood on wood, not in rhythm, not with any musical quality, but clearly human. The tall orange fence hid the source, but Shibu’s curiosity got the better of her. She pulled her torso above it, holding up her weight with her forearms.

The garden had a big oak tree in the center, and a boy hitting it with a stick. Hitting and hitting, with barely any force.

“You won’t get away, Prophesus!” He crouched as he hit it again. “I know all your tricks!”

And then in another, deeper voice, “You might’ve thought so, but have you heard of the zap-a-bomb?”

He let out a yell, “No… That won’t be enough! Because, I’ll never, gi—”

“Oiiii! What are you doing there?” Shibu said.

The boy startled and whitened. He stared at her, as if seeing a ghost.

“Hmm? What’s wrong? Are you rehearsing some kind of screenplay?” she said.

He let go of the stick and started sprinting towards the house’s back door. He quickly shut it behind him.

“Hey! Why are you hiding? Heyyyy!”

But the boy wouldn’t come out. The stick rolled back and forth on the grass lifelessly. Disappointed, Shibu dropped down and continued walking.

“What the freak was that? Zap-a-bomb? I’ve never heard of that…”

***

“You’re the only one in your class who hasn’t picked a small responsibility yet,” Teacher Kjell said as he flipped through the pages on the desk.

“I said I could help with drawing decorations, is that not enough?” Shibu said.

“Unfortunately, four girls from your class asked for it first, so the position is already occupied. Did you think about, maybe, helping teach math to the third graders?”

“I’m not really any good at math,” Shibu said, kicking her feet.

“That’s fine. How about helping second graders with writing?”

“I’m not really good at teaching, or helping others… anything like that either.”

“Plant caretaker?”

“It’ll die in a week.”

“Lunchroom helper?”

“Everyone will die in a week!”

Kjell sighed. “Come on, there has to be something…”

“It’s okay, Teacher, just give me an exemption… No one will mind…”

“Wait. I know. You live by Lily Street, right? You’ll be doing home visits for a shut-in kid.”

“H-home visit? I’m not very good at visiting—”

“Nonsense, you just need to go there. Play a board game or something, have fun together, talk and stuff. You don’t have to convince him to come back or anything, just… Just give him some company.”

Shibu liked the idea. Needing to do nothing in particular, she could just sit in the kid’s house for thirty minutes and leave. It would be a piece of cake!

“Sure.”

***

After getting her Mom’s approval, Teacher Kjell and Shibu went to meet the shut-in.

“Huh? It’s the same house as before.”

Teacher Kjell knocked on the door. It opened, and there the boy was. Oblong, flimsy, and even whiter than when she saw him in the yard.

***

They were standing alone on the grass.

“What’s your name, tree beater?” Shibu said.

“Tato.” He blushed.

“Tato? That’s a cute name! Then, I’ll call you Tantan!” she said, pointing at him.