Re-do

A week had passed. Misako, Hiroshi, and I were back in class to attend. A week of missing classes was not the best course of action, as our homework had piled up beyond our original thoughts. Misako and I walked through the hallways of the lecturing halls, discussing our next plans. We explained everything to Mister and Missus Mitamo, how we met online in a videogame, and how we promised to meet in Japan one day. Missus Mitamo could not believe what she heard, but conceded. Misako and Missus Hitomi came to a consensus, Misako wanted to repair her relationship with Hitomi’s mother. Mister Hitomi and I wanted it too. Before we left for the evening, Missus Mitamo apologized to Misako, and Misako the same. It was a start to rekindling their relationship, I was happy for Misako. But in the end, we had not found the missing pocket watch in Hitomi’s belongings; we were dumbfounded on where she could have placed it. We were afraid that it was given away with her tossed out belongings, but I believed that that was not the case. It was perhaps somewhere else entirely, not in Tokyo.

Misako told me stories about Hitomi before her passing, she was a magnificent pianist, and travelled Japan, playing in concerts and recitals country wide. She was predicted to be the greatest pianist of the current generation. I was afraid she had taken the pocket watch with her and misplaced it somewhere in one of Japan’s prefectures. But Misako and I promised one another; we would not stop looking for the watch. We also discussed the repairing of our own watches. As was stated in the note from Hitomi, she wanted us to be together so that we could finish installing the necessary components for our pocket watches. But Hitomi was gone, and we did not know what to do next.

“What about the laptop?” I asked Misako as we continued walking.

“Hitomi’s laptop? What about it?”

“Why do you have it?”

“Uncle Mitamo gave it to me, he said I could keep it to remember her.”

“That’s nice of him.”

“The problem is that I never could access it. I don’t know the password to the laptop.”

“Did you not try taking it to someone to try and bypass the laptop?”

“I did. But they said it was impossible to access the laptop without deleting all the data stored on it. I cannot allow that to happen.”

I thought about what we could do, some pieces to a new puzzle emerged.

“Perhaps the password is something personal to her? Have you tried her favourite foods? Songs? Videogames?” I asked Misako.

“I’ve tried for over seven years. I have a list of every word and phrase written down. I try at least thirty new passwords every day.” She replied to me.

Hiroshi appeared before us, in hand he held two cans of green tea. He handed it to us as he yelled in pain.

“I’m so tired of university, I need a beer.” Hiroshi groaned.

“Me too.” I replied.

“Let’s go out to drink, tonight.” Hiroshi pleaded.

“We need to catch up on schoolwork. We missed an entire week of learning.” Misako said.

“Bummer.”

As we walked out of the school-building I noticed the rugby coach training his players on the front grounds of the university. The players huffed and suffered as they jogged.

“Three more laps around the university campus!” He yelled.

The coach noticed me look at their rigorous training, and he walked to me.

“Ah, the onlooker.” He spoke.

“Good day, coach.”

“It’s been quite a while, have you considered my offer?”

I did, but I knew my health would not allow me to join a sports team ever again.

“Yes, coach. But I must decline.” I said to him.

“That’s a shame, you would have been the player I needed.” He said with sadness in his voice.

Then, I realized the perfect opportunity to have some fun.

“Ah, but coach. I bring you someone who wants to join!” I said enthusiastically.

“Who might that be?” He asked me.

I pointed a finger in Hiroshi’s direction.

“He told me he would love to try Rugby.” I spoke.

Hiroshi coughed, choking on his drink.

“WH-what?” He exclaimed.

The coach pounced on my offer, grabbing Hiroshi ferociously. He inspected Hiroshi’s build, his muscles. And the coach whistled to himself.

“You are just the player I need…”The coach said.

“Ah, no…I never.”

But before Hiroshi could say another word, the coach grabbed him by the waist, hoisting Hiroshi onto his shoulder as not to escape.

“No need to be shy! I can tell you want to play!” The coach said.

“Wait, no!” Hiroshi yelped.

But it was too late, the rugby coach hauled Hiroshi away.

“I’m coach Takeru, welcome to the team!” He exclaimed as he dashed away with Hiroshi.

“I’LL GET YOU, DAVID!” I could hear Hiroshi scream as he disappeared from our view.

“You’re evil.” Misako said to me as she giggled.

“Takes one evil force to drive another away.” I replied.

We headed home together, free from Hiroshi’s grip. The late afternoon sun was calming for us. I needed to remain calm myself, not to overthink myself to near death. I wanted to do it for Misako, especially. I never wanted to be in danger for her sake, I wanted to make her happy, to make her feel safe with me. As I pushed her down the hill to our house, Misako gave me a piece of paper that she held.

“What’s this?” I asked her.

“Just read it.”

“Why not just tell me?”

“It’s…embarrassing to ask.”

I stopped walking, and opened to piece of paper to read:

‘Did you like Hitomi?’ The note read.

I closed the note, coughing. I did not know how to respond to her: ‘If I tell her honestly, I’d be in a world of trouble.’ Instead, I continued pushing her wheelchair.

“Well…?” She asked me.

“N-No. I didn’t.” I lied.

“Okay…” She trailed off.

“Why do you ask?” I asked her.

“No reason. Just forget what I asked.”

“No, no. Tell me.”

I could see her ears turn red as we neared the front of the house.

“S-she said she was in love with you.”

“And…how did you... respond to that?”

“N-Never mind that!” She yelled, “Let’s go play some videogames in my room.”

“What about our studies?” I asked.