Friends

The men who interrogated me made it clear too that they were just as eager about finding Meeshee as she was to be found. What she was, or what she did, was still a mystery to me. I was sure searching her on the internet wouldn’t be helpful. These guys were the type that looked like they knew how to keep things under wraps. So, after setting up my chair in front of my canvas, I looked intently at the portrait of Meeshee. I did a little more work on it as I let my mind go, thinking about all the possibilities of why Meeshee was running from the law. Seems like her reason for finding me was simple enough; I just happened to be available. She was probably hiding out in my house for a time, given my window was open. She could have easily taken the opportunity that arose when I woke up to introduce herself and make her claim of innocence before disappearing. Inherently, her presence in the house could have influenced the dream I had that night; light sleep, which I sometimes had, could be affected by anything your senses picked up.
I stopped mid-stroke; something didn’t feel right, like when you realized you were angling all your lines to the wrong point and that made the whole part of the drawing off. I set down the charcoal and looked at the face before me, frozen in fear and in time. What did she need help with? Something told me Meeshee wasn’t the instigator here; something told me she was more of the victim, and her meeting me was really a hope to find rest and safety. Sure, she didn’t disclose everything in that moment in order to give me some certainty about who she was, but it was only a few moments after she left that her pursuers found me. I turned to the kitchen; maybe she left something by the window. My curiosity was piqued, but before I could think of doing anything my phone rang. I turned to the nearest counter where my phone lay buzzing, and I walked over and answered it.
“Ohayō. Jōnzu Tamaki.” I greeted in Japanese.
“Good morning, Tamaki!” came a Japanese-speaking voice on the other end. I knew the voice that was speaking, it was one of my friends from Hokkaido.
“Hey Hikaru! How are you?”
“Just great.” Hikaru answered. “Hey, listen, Marie and I wanted to get a late lunch at that new restaurant in town and maybe see a movie afterwards. I know its Monday tomorrow, a school day, but I figured we could use a night of fun. You want to come?”
“Yeah, that’d be great,” I said, though inside I really wanted to investigate Meeshee a bit, “where and when?”
“It’s actually right next to the Jasmine Cinema. It’s called Delavega’s, it’s owned by a foreigner but is supposed to have really good food.”
“Hmm, sounds good,” I said, walking towards the kitchen anyway and peeking outside. I noticed in the street below there was a dumpster and a few pieces of trash scattered about. Maybe a cat got into someone’s garbage. Upon closer inspection, though, it looked like there was something written on the dumpster. At a certain angle I wasn’t sure if I could see it, but maybe if I was on the ground…
“Oi! Tamaki! You there?”
I must have spaced out, now hearing Hikaru over the phone.
“Yeah, sorry Hikaru. Yeah, I’ll be there at, uh, what time was it again?”
“6:45. Oh, and, by the way, I got a friend coming who says she wants to meet you. Her name’s Amaya Risa, very nice girl.”
I heard the time, and that was about it. I was already moving towards the fire escape of my apartment and was lowering myself down, focusing only on getting to the lower level.
“That sounds great,” I said as a force of habit instead of an actual response, “I’ll be there at 6:45, ok?”
“Alright! See you there!”
I ended the call and put my phone in my pocket, doubling my pace as I neared the pavement. Once I reached the last bit of stairs, I leapt the last of the way and landed kind of hard on the ground. I picked myself up though and jogged to the dumpster, looking it over. Turns out something was written on it. I got on my knees and looked it over, placing my hands on the chipped paint.
Birch Street, 8pm.
I figured the message was clear enough. Tonight, at 8, I had to be at Birch Street. Thankfully, I noticed as I made the long walk back to my apartment, that I could still visit with my school friends before having to be at Birch.

“Hey, Tamaki!” Hikaru called out from across the street, raising a big hand from inside his wooly jacket. It was sprinkling a bit outside as I jogged across the street to the restaurant. It always seemed to be rainy in the evenings in Tokyo, for whatever reason. Nobody really thought much of it besides the possibility that we were in a wet season. I crossed the street and noticed a couple of girls with Hikaru. One turned to me with a big smile, who was Marie, and waved to me.
“Hey Tamaki!”
I smiled and waved back, noticing the other girl, the guest of the night named Risa, was a lot quieter. She turned to me and didn’t say anything as I approached.
“T-Tamaki?” She asked once I was closer, by way of introduction.
“Yes ma’am,” I said with all means of respect.
“I’m Risa, Hikaru told me about you.” Behind me, Hikaru gave me a devilish smirk and a thumbs-up. Sometimes I didn’t really like that guy.
“Risa,” I repeated, “nice to meet you.”
Risa had shorter blue hair, large blue eyes, and a sort of nervous look about her. She might be a shier girl, which wasn’t a bad thing. Shy girls usually opened up after a little time, and most of the shy girls I knew ended up being very good conversationalists. They just needed to know they could trust you.
“Well, I’m famished!” Hikaru said, laughing before gesturing for us to enter the restaurant after him. “Come on guys! I’ll buy us all one roll of sushi, you guys get what you want after.”