My Last Day In Japan

“Thousands of years ago, the first ley lines began as streams. They braided through the endless land, the raging sea, and the merciless desert. Could anyone have predicted the state of them now?”

—Robin Benz

The walk to my high school nearly killed me. I’m not kidding.

Why does Sendai have to be so hilly? My body wasn’t made for this. I stumble up the side of the road, sidestepping moms walking their dogs while following the flow of students rushing forward. The gates will close soon, but I can’t exactly start running; my blood pressure is a ticking time bomb, ready to skyrocket at any moment. But at least I can walk now.

I sigh. Good mindset, good mindset! I sing my mother’s words to me like a mantra. I know she’s been wanting me to go to school these past couple months. I have too, I really have, it’s just…

I don’t want to see his face.

And like the sun rising after a timeless night, I catch a glimpse of gleaming black hair and outstretched hands.

“Brother!”

It’s Mirei, jumping onto me and gripping my torso like a koala. God, she’s only eight, but she’s heavy now.

“Hey, Mirei! What are you doing here?” I ask, struggling to hold her up under thin arms.

She snorts into the blue of my school uniform. “Well, I figured I’d wait at the school gates for you, since Mama was worried you’d never make it.”

I frown. I already made it to the gates? I look up above her wild head of hair and, sure enough, I see it: my high school, where I should’ve been the last three years. It stands tall and proud over zelkova trees and open gates, welcoming streams of teenagers. I stand about twenty paces away, huffing. Seeing it this close gives me the heebie-jeebies; usually, this view is coming from a laptop screen stacked upon JSL books on my bed. It feels weird, exciting, and sad. It must show on my face, because Mirei bonks her forehead against my chest insistently. I shake myself out of it and return my attention to her.

“How did you get here before me? I thought you were at home.”

She grins. “I snuck out before you left.”

“What the heck, Mirei? Mom’s probably more worried about you!”

“I texted her,” She retorts, jerking her head to the small flip phone in her pocket. It has a rainbow charm hanging from it. “I sent it a couple of seconds before you arrived.”

I sigh. Mirei’s antics are seriously doing a number on me, and probably Mom, too. She loves to be out and about, making friends with strangers or bringing home interesting rocks. Her intentions are never bad, though, so I decide to let it go this once.

“Anyways,” I grumble. “About Mom. Is she really that worried?”

Mirei finally slides down— and nearly taking my pants with her. I scramble to pull them back up while ignoring my little sister’s giggles. She shakes her bangs out of her face before saying, “No, stupid. Obviously I was the one worried!”

I gawk at her. “Did you just call me stupid? Did I hear that right?” I check my hearing aids just to be sure.

“Yes, you did!” And there she goes, running away down the sidewalk in the opposite direction I came. What a crazy girl.

I rub my face, trying to get myself together. I’ve been waiting for today my whole life. As long as I stay quiet, things will turn out well, I think.

I walk through the gates.

* * *

“Why does he look like that?”

“Hey… look over there…”

“Those are hearing aids, right?”

“I wonder if he can hear us…”

The faint smile on my lips does not waver. I will not let it. I expected something like this to happen, but I can’t help but cringe at the amount of people who are actually talking about me. Do they really care about some new kid on the first day of school? What, does everyone know each other? It’s not like I’m some foreigner from a fantasy world. I quicken my pace, avoiding shoulders, shoelaces, and a water bottle people keep kicking around the hallway floor. As soon as I catch sight of my homeroom door, I rush inside. Hearing other people talk about me is unnerving, and I’m eager to escape their eyes.

It’s already full of students. There are about three different groups: the first, in the back row by the windows. There are a bunch of tall boys, sitting around one desk, tossing a volleyball. I don't know who they are gathering around. The second group belongs in the front row. Three girls crowd around one neon pink makeup bag, talking about some beauty guru. The last group is huddled by the teacher’s podium. I wouldn’t care what they're doing, but it's kind of blocking the way to my seat.

I’m thinking about how hard it would be to squeeze between the dude with the crew cut and the girl with the ponytails when something hard knocks into me.

And like the twig I am, I go flying.

The dude with the crew cut can only let out a gasp before I’m tumbling into him. I yelp and try to right myself, but it’s too late, and I fall on one knee. Pain flares up like fire.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to—“

The voice cuts off right as I turn around and lock eyes with the speaker. Instantly, I realize who this person is. Those narrow eyes and crooked nose are instant identifiers.

The class president. This is an old friend by the name of Yamamoto Shu. He had come to my apartment complex five years ago to drop off homework and ran out, never to return.

I sigh in relief. It could’ve been worse.

“Hey, class prez,” I say, giving a wave. As I get back on my feet, the dude I knocked into huffs and shuffles away. He definitely gives me a dirty look, but I couldn’t care less. The class president blinks and looks away, running a hand through his brown curls.

“Hi, Takahashi. Also, I’m not class president anymore.”

I can’t believe he remembers my name.

Yamamoto returns his shifty gaze back to me, looking like he wants to say something, but then a resonant dinging sound rattles the air. It’s the school bell, signaling the beginning of classes. It seems I didn’t have to do anything after all, because that group blocking the way to my seat instantly disperses and sits down in their seats. I do the same, and so does Yamamoto. He looks relieved.

I am too. Now, I won’t have to hear those whispers or struggle up the stairs. I rub my knee absently while waiting for the teacher. Just as I’m about to open my notebook, I catch the faintest wisp of conversation:

“It’s a shame he has that good-looking face but that sickly, frail sort of build.”

Instantly, my smile drops.

Seriously, can people mind their own business?!?!

The classroom door slides open with an abrupt crack. A tall woman appears, dressed in a white button up and a dark knee-length skirt. Each one of her steps in her heels leaves a sharp click sound, instantly waking up some of the nappers in the class.

“Good morning, students. Welcome to your first day of classes. I’m Sasagawa Sensei, your homeroom teacher for the time being. Let’s go over some expectations…”

I write down every word.

* * *

I never thought I’d find myself running away from tiny children.

School had just let out. I had been doing a little victory dance when three little devils ran straight into me. Not even one step out the school gate, and I’m already on the floor!

If only my hearing aid had been more secure in my ear. Maybe then, none of this would have happened, and life would have gone on as usual. Maybe then, I could have lived out my life peacefully, waiting for death to whisk me away into the underworld where no one would make fun of me, no one would betray me, and no one would find themselves hurt by me.

But alas, fate never plays in my favor, does it?

My hearing aid had flown out in front of one little kid’s feet, knocking against his crocs. He made a little sound of question before bending down and grabbing it.

“Look! It’s ear wax!”

A cacophony of laughter rang in the air, but sounded muffled to me. That was the hearing aid for my really bad ear!

“Ow… you guys, give it back. I need that!”

When the kids heard it was someone else’s precious something, they held it closer between them like it was a bargaining chip.

“Or else?” The boy who took it said it with such a smug look on his face, I actually almost wanted to kick him. But I held myself back.

“Or else… I’ll have to take it from you forcibly. Just give it!”

“No!”

And they ran off.

So here I am, sprinting down my neighborhood’s street, panting and sweating like a cow. Every step I take, they take two steps farther! How can I not catch up to little kids?! Just as all hope seems lost, I catch sight of a familiar mess of short black hair.

Mirei!

“Sis! Help me out over here!” I yell. She had been swinging lazily on the neighborhood park’s swing set, but now she jolts to attention and skids her sneakers against cement.

“Bro—! What’s — on?” She shouts back while running to me, white dress billowing out behind her. I can’t catch some parts, but I more or less get what she said just now. She is one of the fastest runners I know.

“Those kids took my hearing aid!” I point ahead of me. Instantly, her head snaps to the right and she zeroes in on them.

“OI! RU! GIVE MY BROTHER BACK HIS HEARING AID!” She howls. It’s so loud and high-pitched I can hear it clearly.

“Only if you can catch us, shorty!” One of them mocks, sticking out his tongue. And so the chase intensifies.

Those kids lead us through trees and tunnels, foliage and fences, until finally, we reach the center of Sendai. Skyscrapers loom over mazes of huge streets and seas of adults. Blinking, beeping, honking, barking— there’s so much happening but all I focus on is that one hearing aid, tucked in the fist of that kid I assume is Ru. Mirei must know him from her school.

We reach a busy intersection bustling with people, but Mirei doesn't lose them. Ru knocks into some guy and I see something white go flying.

“Shoot!” I scream. If my hearing aid gets lost in this crowd, someone will surely step one it!

Mirei seems to notice this as well. So, for worse or for better, we both lunge out into the direction where it will fall. Time slows, the sounds draw out, and my hand reaches for it, almost there, just an inch away—

HOOOOOOONK!

I don’t know what that noise means, I only know it's right by my ear, so deafeningly loud I thought I might die. That is all I think before everything goes black.

* * *

The first sense that comes back to me is touch. A ground squishy soft, like a beanbag, is my first impression of the ground I lay upon. My hand is buried in it, clutching on something very small but cold.

The second sense that comes to me is taste. The air I breathe has a sweet flavor, not like Sendai’s smoky one. I also taste something like hair in my mouth. That makes my eyes fly open.

I’m greeted with a pale, chubby face with thin eyebrows that resemble mine and messy, short hair that also resembles mine. Instantly, the knot of dread in my stomach unwinds. We definitely got hit by some vehicle, but her face looks unblemished and entirely relaxed. Her breaths are long and gentle, like she’s still unconscious. Alive, but unconscious. That knot returns.

I cough and spit out the black strands. The noise makes her twitch in her fetal position. She doesn’t wake fully, though. I roll over from my side to face the sky, trying to get my bearings.

What I see makes my jaw drop.

There are not one, not two, but three suns in the sky. One is yellow, like Japan’s, high up in the center of the sky; the second is a blistering red, painting the western half of my vision red despite its pinprick size; and the third is green. What kind of sun is green?! This is the largest sun, and it takes up the eastern half of the sky.

I’m so completely baffled by the view that I think I’m hallucinating. Better to just look away. I sit up and bring my hands to my face, about to rub my eyes, when I catch sight of them.

They’re red.

Is that blood?!

No, wait, I think. This blood is too… dusty. This is when I realize the squishy, soft ground is actually soil, and the soil is a lovely shade of burgundy, speckled with golden pebbles and baby pink seedlings just starting to sprout. My hands are stained with it all.

“Brother?”

I snap my attention to my right, meeting widened brown eyes. “Mirei? Mirei, are you okay? Jeez, that was quite a fall. I think I hit my head…?”

My jaw drops for the second time.

A thick, elegant snake-like creature is currently making its way over Mirei’s torso, as if she were some small boulder on its path to home. Its green, shining body slides leisurely over her arm.

“Don’t move!”