…Through the Valley of Shadows…

I exploded out of the locker and made a break for the hall.

In vain.

Someone fired a volleyball at me before I could make it out the door. It smashed into the back of my head, laying me out flat with my arms outstretched.

A couple of guys from the basketball team came out of the boy’s locker room just then. They froze when they saw me clawing frantically at the concrete floor of the hallway as I was dragged back into the women’s locker room by my ankles.

Both of them placed their palms together and bowed their heads just before I vanished back inside. Thanks a lot, guys.

Someone thrust a broomstick through the sleeves of my shirt, which pinned my arms up and out like a scarecrow in a rice paddy, then they tied my arms to the stick with towels and old whistle lanyards.

Shouting girls picked me up, three to a side, and hung me between two rows of lockers.

Of course, the privilege of hitting me first fell to Hayami, who had changed back into her student uniform. Before she struck, she would call out each hit location like a good kendoist. Each strike of her shinai was met with applause and shouts.

After that, the volleyball team pounded me like a birthday piñata, with broomsticks, mop handles, and tennis rackets.

While all this was going on, I saw Hayami pull a fiberboard poster from the wall (“Safety First! Don’t run in the showers or locker room!”), flip it over, and draw something on the blank surface.

Once I was thoroughly pulverized I was dragged out of the locker room, down the hallway and across the gym floor to the exit. One of the instructors walked past the door, then came to a sudden halt when she spotted us. A volleyball team member intercepted her as she came striding over to rescue me. The student spoke briefly, then pointed at me.

The instructor stared at me in an unfriendly manner, then nodded and walked away without a backward glance.

I continued my journey, wondering if I was going to be turned loose or taken to a crucifixion site.

Neither, as it turned out.

As Hayami had warned earlier, I was taken to the school gate. A half-dozen members of the volleyball team lifted me up and hung the broomstick I was fastened to onto two hook-like supports protruding from the gate that were normally used to display banners.

Wearing a smirk that could never be mistaken for a smile, Hayami stepped out of the small crowd of students who’d tagged along out of curiosity.

She had constructed a sign using the safety poster and a hemp cord from the shopping bag I’d carried Erika’s chocolates in. She reached up and hung it around my neck.

Turning to face the small crowd, Hayami simply said, “The sign says it all.” Then she brought her shinai down, giving it a sudden sharp twist like a samurai did after a battle to shake drops of blood off their blades before sheathing their swords. Turning on her heel, she marched out the gate without another word or even a glance in my direction.

Even upside down, I could easily make out the words on the sign:

I AM A PERVERT AND A THIEF WHO STEALS FROM GIRL’S LOCKERS

Throughout the entire horrible affair, I had stayed silent. What could I say in my defense? Hayami had set me up, and it was my own pride and carelessness that had allowed her to do this to me.

But far worse than the beating and the false accusations was the look on Erika’s face when she’d found me in the locker room.

There was no way I could ever mend that relationship. Hayami, of course, had known that the volleyball team would be returning from an early practice and made sure that I’d still be in the locker room when Erika returned, neatly ending my budding relationship with her.

Students departing club activities and sports practice trickled past me on their way home. Some sneered, others stared and shook their heads, but most students just ignored me after a few casual glances.

One girl did run over and take a selfie with me in the background, then ran back to her friends. I could hear them discussing boy idols and movies as they walked past.

Of course, no one offered to help.

At long last, Takeda showed up and freed me.

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Takeda risked the ire of the entire school, and especially the volleyball team, by taking me down from the gate. He helped me hobble to my neighborhood clinic, then escorted me home after I was treated. The entire time he kept blaming himself for what had happened to me, but I knew better.

While he was helping me to the clinic I told him my side of the story. A good friend, he believed everything I said without question. That helped much more than the Ibuprofen and the bandages the clinic swathed me in.

“Would you like some company?” he’d asked as we arrived at my apartment. He was trying not to look too anxious but I could tell he was concerned. “Maybe some moral support?”

“Nah, thanks,” I mumbled through bruised lips. “Listen, I won’t be at school for a few days.”

Takeda nodded, then, with nothing more to say, turned away and walked down the stairwell with a slow step.

I closed and bolted the door, then put my back against it and slid to the floor. I knew I’d never go back to the school again.

The academy had strict rules, and spying on girls in their locker room was an act punishable by expulsion. The charge of theft, even if it was unproven, was just icing on the cake.

Hayami had won a complete and total victory.

I put my head in my hands and let the tears flow freely.

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The nightmare returned that evening.

I clung to the edge of the pit in agony as the cube slime devoured me whole. This time, though, it was Hayami and Erika, dressed in school uniforms, looking down at me.

Hayami’s eyes were pitiless, utterly devoid of mercy as she brought her foot down on my fingers. I shouted in pain and jerked my hand back.

Erika wore the same hurt expression she had in the locker room.

“I can hardly believe that I once thought of you as a friend, Keisuke,” she said. “And maybe even as more than a friend. What a fool I was.” She took a step forward and ground my fingers under her heel.

I cried out and released my hold on the pit.

Once again, I woke up in a panic. My body really did hurt all over, but not from the digestive juices of a cube slime.

Thankfully, whatever I’d dreamed about faded quickly from memory.

Wiping sweat from my forehead, I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

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Uncle called the following day. I missed him the first time, and had to call him back.

“Hah! Caught you sleeping in, you good-for-nothing!” he shouted into the phone. I found myself smiling in spite of myself. I was in bad shape mentally, physically, and emotionally, and a chat with Uncle was always stimulating and never boring.

For someone whose living depended on being quiet, Uncle Kouki was incredibly loud and boisterous. His cheerful bellow could crack a car windshield. “Just wanted to follow up with you and see how you’re doing at school!”

My heart plummeted. School was the last thing I wanted to talk about. I decided to change the subject, even if it was something I’d been dreading to tell him.

“Uncle, I have to ask you something. That job you had me do the other day, for YHI?”

His voice became guarded. “What about it, Keisuke?”

“Uh, well. I told a friend about the job --”

“Moron!” I jerked the phone away, then spoke quickly before he could unleash another volley into my ringing ear drum.

“Uncle, it was Takeda! He’s okay, you know that. But someone else found out what I’d done.”

“Who?”

“Um, the daughter of the CEO of YHI. Yoshida Hayami.”

I heard what sounded like a mighty blast of wind as Uncle gave an exasperated sigh. “The daughter of the CEO? Of YHI? You must have planned for months to be able to do something so stupid!”

Another gust came through the phone as he took a deep breath. “How did she find out, Keisuke? Social media? The student newspaper?”

“Er, no, haha. Takeda told her.”

For a moment, there was silence on the other end of the line. “You see now why we don’t talk about our work, don’t you?” He didn’t sound angry any more, just resigned. “Well, it’s not like I haven’t done the same thing. Just learn from your mistake and don’t do it again, okay?”

“Yes, Uncle, I promise.”

“So, what did this Hayami do once she thought you were responsible for her father’s loss of status, pride, and income?” I winced. I preferred it when Uncle was yelling at me instead of being ruthlessly logical.

I told him the whole story, leaving out none of the details.

I actually got a chuckle out of him. “It sounds like this Hayami got her pound of flesh from you alright. I’m not saying what she did was right, but wouldn’t you be angry too if she had hurt a member of your family?”

“I suppose,” I mumbled. “But I wouldn’t leave her covered in bandages.”

“Just think of it as a lesson learned. You can recover from bruises, even to your ego. And I have an idea.” I could tell he was grinning, even over the phone. “You worked hard to get into that academy. Don’t give up now. Be sure you’re at school on Monday.”

I picked at a bandage covering a cut on my forehead. “I don’t know if I’ll feel up to it.”

“Keisuke!” Once again, I had to jerk the phone away from my ear.

“Yessir!”

“You be at school on Monday morning even if you have to stagger in on bloody stumps. Promise me!”

“Uhh…” I guess I could submit my resignation in person. “Okay, Uncle, I promise.”

“Good. Now, get some rest and cheer up! There’s nothing worse than having a mope for a nephew!”

His voice had risen back to its usual rock concert volume, so I knew he was back to his old self.

I said goodbye, and hung up.

I was already dreading what I’d encounter on Monday.