Taji of Red

With his sudden awakening, I was forced to fly off my chair in shock.

“Old man? Are you okay?”

“No! I am not. Did I hear you correctly? Did you say communist?” his voice reached each end of the cafe. Everyone started looking over at us.

“Please, calm down, you’re disrupting everyone around us.”

“We are taking this outside kid. Let’s get going.”

“Huh?” What is he talking about? I just wanted to have a drink and relax. Unfortunately, I doubt I can since the old man is staring down into my soul. Guess there’s no avoiding this.

As I stepped out the door, goosebumps flooded over my body. Suddenly this warm day has turned into a blizzard.

“Come on kid. Fight me like a man. If you beat me, I’ll give you my life savings.”

What? How illogical can someone be? How does this even make sense? What?

“What are you talking about?”

“I hate commies, never once have I lost a fight to a commie so I’m willing to bet my life savings on every fight with a commie.”

“But I only wanted to learn about communism…”

“Listen, kid. No man would turn commie for a woman like that. Prove it to me that you mean it. Back out now and you’ll never win over that girl.”

“This doesn’t make any sense! What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Wrong with me? No. What’s wrong with you? Throwing away your comfortable life over some nonsense written on paper as well as some girl you like believing it. Don’t make a stupid mistake unless you’re willing to commit to it.”

Maybe he has a point… Am I really believing all this communist stuff because I actually want to or is it because Lei Mei believes it? Although I have freed myself from Sawa, I’m still acting like a pet to Lei Mei.

Can’t even call me a pet at this point. It’s starting to come off as an unhealthy obsession. Is this something I really want? Am I really dedicated to throwing myself at everything that Lei Mei believes in order to be with her?

I saw a flash before my eyes. The next thing I see is the sky.

“Come on kid. Is that all you got?”

Ah. I see.

He was being serious. Now that’s a bit of a shit situation.

I began to get up slowly. I didn’t want to make any risky moves in case he was going to swing at me again. With my slightly dizzy head, I charged at his legs, making contact before he could react. I got him to the ground. The adrenaline rush hit.

Punch

Punch

Punch

Punch

Punch

It felt good. I felt relieved. I never thought I was the type to do such a thing to another person but wow.

“You know how to punch well, kid. Didn’t expect that from you at all.”

“Shouldn’t have underestimated me. I’m not as weak as I look.”

“No, you’re as weak as you look. I’m just an old man so I take damage easier, also the element of surprise got me.”

“Doesn’t that mean that I’m not as weak as I look?”

“No, it means you’re a scummy little kid.”

“You’re the one who punched me while I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Should have paid attention then kid.”

“Same goes to you old man.”

“Haha! You got me there kid.”

“So when am I getting all your life savings?”

The smile on the old man’s face instantly vanished. Sounds like he wasn’t ready to do that.

I helped the old man up and we sat back inside the cafe. Finally, my dry throat was about to murder me. Feels great to have a refreshing drink after a win in a fight.

“So…? About the life savings that you own me.”

“Kid, I wasn’t serious about that.”

“Sorry old man, I did not get punched to the ground just to charge and beat you up just to get told that there was no reward that was promised.”

“How about I give you 500 yen and we call it a day, ey?”

“Not enough. Make it 5,000,000 yen and we have a deal.”

“WHAT?! Are you insane?”

“No, I need the money. This will be really useful.”

“Okay kid. I’ll see what I can do but what do you need the money for?”

“I want to move to China.”

“Huh…?”

“Yeah, this will be a good starting point.”

“You’re that dedicated to this girl, huh?”

“Yup. I am. I decided that I WILL follow her till the end of the world but I first need to win her over.”

“Good luck kid. You’ll need it. Haha.”

With that, the old man got up and left. What a nice guy. I wonder if he will actually get me that much money. I was mostly just joking around but it would be actually great help if he did.

Time to call Lei Mei and see how she’s doing. Maybe I can get her to come out for a talk or lunch, would be amazing if she agreed.

ring ring

ring ring

ring ring

“Hello?” Lei Mei picked up the phone.

“Hey Lei Mei. Taji calling.”

“Yes?”

“Are you currently free? Would you want to come out for some food?”

“No.”

She… just ended the call like that. That was pretty rude and she has done this for the second time. Seem’s like she is back to her old self now. Her being overly talkative felt weird, it really felt wrong, as if I was talking to a different person.

I wonder what’s been on her mind recently to cause these sudden mood swings. This is getting really frustrating now. Why is she so hard to talk to? I should try asking her out at school tomorrow, maybe she was just busy at this current moment and I called at a bad time.

Since I had no reason to stay out anymore I headed back home. Got to sit down once again in front of the TV and wasted the remainder of my weekend. Can’t wait for school again. Lei Mei needs to be prepared.