Chapter 1

I opened my eyes and found myself in my room laying on the floor. I looked around and saw that everything was where I left it last night. Scattered across my desk were my pencils and paper. My bed wasn’t made up. I didn’t recall making it because I was in such a rush. And the ramen that I had last night was still on my desk where I left it.

It was hard for me to move. It almost felt like something was pinning me to the ground and wasn’t letting me go.

The sun was slowly rising over the city, and it got brighter in my room. I think I might’ve dozed off because it was now 9:30am. Wait a minute…

“Aw shit, I’m late!” I exclaimed.

I quickly pulled myself up off the floor and ran into the shower and got ready.

The clock struck 10am. Did I really take that long? That’s impossible.

I ran into the kitchen to see that everyone was gone. It was just me in the house, which really wasn’t a bad thing. However, it would’ve been nice for someone to have woken me up to go to class.

I quickly put together a piece of toast and grabbed an apple and rushed out the door, almost forgetting to lock. Nice job dumbass.

The sun was now shining over the city as I made my way to the train station. I couldn’t have picked a better time than “rush hour train traffic” or whatever people called it nowadays. I tried my best to not run into anyone. However, that proved to be more difficult than I expected.

“People can’t walk in straight line or something?” I thought to myself.

Apparently, the probability of me getting to class before lunchtime was highly unlikely. Did that matter? Yesn’t. It mattered because we have an exam this week and I need to prepare for it, but I have had a long week. So, getting to sleep in wasn’t a bad call. But today felt a little off. I’m not sure why.

The train finally arrived at 10:45. Couldn’t have made it any sooner. I ended up standing at the station for like thirty minutes because I had missed the 10:15 train. Again, nice job dumbass. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for myself, sort of. What was I supposed to do besides break my neck trying to get to campus on time? I am responsible, but I had limits and I am still human. At least I hope I am still human.

We all crowded onto the train. I would’ve been better walking; the train was packed to brim with people. Since, I lived in a very populated part of downtown Seattle. It was very hard to find a place to stand, let alone finding a seat.

I had never felt more claustrophobic in my life. I mean, yeah, I rode this train God knows how many times in my life to campus. But I didn’t understand why I felt so uncomfortable. Something just felt off, but then again… who didn’t have a feeling like that? Very weird indeed.

The view of the beach made the train ride a little more tolerable. Although the view was beautiful; I was squished between a barrage of people. I could barely breathe, let alone move to adjust my stance. It was miserable. Good God, when will it end?

***

The train announcer came over the intercom, “The train has into Downtown Seattle, Station 1. Please stand clear of the door.”

Finally, a twenty-minute ride that felt like an eternity was over.

It was like a pack of sardines filing off the train, like a traffic jam. Yet, no one was pushing or shoving. It was just extremely chaotic.

I looked down at my watch to check the time. 11:30am. That was just great. I’ll barely make it before lunchtime. My parents are gonna kill me.

The sun was directly over the city. It was midday, and I was running damn near at full speed, trying to make up the time lost on the train. I also realized that I wasn’t a track runner, or Sonic the Hedgehog. Just a typical high school student trying to make their way through life. I didn’t really have a direction at all. I just wanted to have a semi-normal life. It wasn’t always easy growing up, having to mature faster than most of my peers.

But you know what else wasn’t easy? Running for two miles to your class because you overslept. What a joke. Someone should me up for a fucking comedy show.

I could hear the ball ringing in the distance.

“Shit. That’s bell for lunch…” I thought.

I was already out of breath, but I had made it to the school grounds in just enough time to sneak into the cafeteria for lunch.

The cafeteria was packed full of students, and I looked completely disheveled. My uniform was drenched in sweat, my tie was all messed up, my hair looked like lightning struck me and my breathing was extremely labored.

“Must… find… my friends…” I said.

I was able to muster up enough energy to walk through the cafeteria to find my friend, Aki Toshihama.

“Yo, Kiyoshi!” He said, running over to me. “Damn, dude. What the hell happened to you? Where have you been? You missed the entire morning half of school.”

“Sorry… woke up… late… train… late… tired… help…” I said, disheveled.

“I can see that you need help. Well, take a seat and let me get you something to eat.”

“What… do they have?”

“Typical school food shit. Pizza, chicken, you know. The usual.”

“That really makes me life so much more fulfilling.”

“That’s the spirit!”

Aki walked toward the endless line of people waiting to get something to eat. I realized that if I tried to stand in that line, I would’ve most likely passed out because of being so exhausted. So, it was nice to have a friend get me something to eat because he saw me struggling.

The clock struck 12:30, and Aki finally returned with two trays of food.

“Here you go, your highness.” He said sarcastically. “Your lunch… awaits.”

“Ha ha, hilarious genius,” I retorted. “We’re being funny today, are we?”

“Oh no, whatever will you do? Spite me and banish me to the shadow realm, sir?”

I flipped him off, and he laughed at my response.

I always knew Aki for his sarcastic behavior. He always had a special way of expressing his care and concerns about those around. Especially since we were part of the minority of Japanese kids that populated our school. You were probably wondering why we’re dressed in uniforms, but we go to school in the United States. I was wearing my uniform (or suit, whatever you want to call it) for this very important presentation that I had to do for my class. And I was supposed to do that presentation today with Aki. That was why I was in such a rush getting here, but we dressed like everyone else who went to our high school.

The hardest thing was being the minority. I usually felt like an outcast, not because of the people that I assimilated with, but because they weren’t enough of us. Aki was the only person who I truly knew when my family and I came here.

It was a confusing chain of events that led my family and I to leave Tokyo and migrate to the United States. My father said that it was because of a new job position. My mother said it was because of personal reasons that we left Japan. The whole big picture that they portrayed was that the decision to move away from Japan was for the best.

However, I believe we left for an entirely different reason.