Unsolvable Riddle

13. Unsolvable Riddle

Only two weeks after the school sports festival, we had another big event in our school calendar; a trip to Kyoto.

In the train, the Tokaido-Sanyo shinkansen, we sat per class, on either the two-seat side on the right or the three-seat side on the left. I sat in the front row on the left, aisle seat, next to Ito and Yoshida.

“Where did ya two hide your phones?” Ito whispered.

“Underwear.”

“Underwear.”

He thoughtfully nodded. “Clever, clever. I hid mine here.” He lifted his left shoe up, clicked the bottom of his sole off and showed us his phone, cased between the shoe’s real sole and the fake one.

“The heck kinda shoe is that?” Yoshida took the substitute sole and took a closer look. “Won’t that break your phone?”

He lifted his shoe even higher. “Nah man, it’s super protected.”

It was hard to believe, but it actually didn’t have any visible scratches or cracks at all. He quickly clicked his fake sole on again once our homeroom teacher returned.

After confiscating various items such as snacks, phones and portable video game consoles, she sat down on the window seat on the other side of the aisle. Next to Katsumata.

Only when Ito shook me by the shoulder, I realised I had been caught up in a trance, staring at her.

“Keep your head in the game, dude. Well, we haven’t really started yet.” He took his deck of playing cards out. “We’re playing…” his pause probably meant he was coming up with a game on the fly, “…Old maid.”

“What’s that?”

“You don’t know?”

“Basically, you take turns pulling cards from each other, then you put pairs of cards down. The one who’s left with the single ‘Old Maid’ loses,” I clarified.

“Oooh, I know that game.”

“Here, hold these for me,” he handed me the cards and reached for his bag, taking out a machine I’ve never seen before. “Thank-ya.” He took half the deck and placed it on one side of the machine, on the other side the other half, then pressed a lever that shot out the cards to the middle.

“The heck kinda machine is that?”

“Automatic shuffler.”

He repeated the process a couple of times, then divided the cards so we could start playing. It was a little awkward drawing cards over him to reach Yoshida, but we managed.

Thanks to Ito’s horrible poker face and my terrible luck, Yoshida won the first round.

The second round, Ito put on a face mask, his sunglasses and a hat to completely hide his face. He still lost the second, third and fourth round where Yoshida and I took turns winning.

“Dudes. I’m done with Old Maid and all. Let’s play something else.”

“I know very little about card games, so what do you suggest?” Yoshida asked.

“President… but we’ll need a fourth player.”

He reached for his bag again. I thought he’d have another machine at the ready that could be our extra player, but he took two sheets of paper, a pen and an elastic band out of it. He folded the first piece of paper into a paper plane and handed it, together with the pen, to me.

“Write something like ‘Let’s play presidents in the front row’ or anything like that really.”

As I was writing it, he folded the other sheet of paper into an M-shape and tied an elastic band over the length of it.

“There, launcher’s all done,” he proudly said. After placing the paper plane in his “launcher”, he turned around in his seat and spread the launcher open, sending the plane flying in a circle… into another circle… into another one… ending up on Katsumata’s head.

Caught by surprise, she shrieked and tapped the top of her head, until she saw the plane that fell on the floor. She read the message on the plane’s wing and looked over at us.

Ito held his cards out in the air, “We’re playing president.”

Her eyes averted all over the place, “Uh… I…” and she didn’t appear to be able to get the words she wanted to say out.

“You don’t have to move from your seat,” I said. “We can play seated in a line next to each other like this.”

That seemed to have calmed her down a bit. “Oh, okay.”

“Say, do you know the rules?”

She nodded.

“Great.” I turned back to Ito, getting the cards back into his machine.

When he was done shuffling and explaining to Yoshida, we were all handed cards.

During the game, Katsumata looked extremely thoughtful during every play, as if she had a strategy of some sort. Well, whatever it was, she won and became president. Me, just going with the flow of the game, became vice president.

“Aw man, now I’m the Vice Bum.”

“The what now?”

“Don’t look down on me Yoshida, you’re fourth; the Bum!”

Katsumata stretched her hand out, giving the cards back for a reshuffle. As she did she smiled and said, “The two of us are the presidents.”

I gave the cards to Ito, so he could place them in his shuffle machine. “I’m only vice-president, you’re the president-president, I’ll steal your title next round.”

“Watch me go dudes and gal, I’ll become the president this time around.”

Our homeroom teacher seated next to Katsumata seemed to have woken up out of her slumber. She turned to us and said, “What in the world might that machine be?”

“That’s Ito’s automatic card shuffler, Miss Iwasaki,” Yoshida said.

“What are you guys playing?”

“President,” I said.

She rubbed her hands together, “Divide cards for five. I’m in.”

“Way to go, teach. I won’t be losing though.”

Second round began, which was pretty much a repeat of the first round. Yoshida seemed clueless, Ito made daring moves, reaping little rewards, I was doing average at best and Katsumata had some clearcut plan giving her the upper hand once more. Though this time, our teacher was quite the competition.

Katsumata first, teacher second, me third, Ito fourth and Yoshida last again at the end of the game. Just like I noticed in the beginning; a repeat of the first round.

Every round after this was pretty much a showdown between Katsumata and our teacher, with Katsumata coming out on top every time.

“Alright, Katsumata, now you’ve really got me going. Last game, winner takes all.”

Takes all… of what?

“…O-okay.”

Miraculously, Ito became the president during our final round.

“Hah! Bow down to your new president!” He shook my hand. “Vice-president, pleasure doing business.”

For the first time since our teacher joined, neither she nor Katsumata got first and second.

She let out a heavy sigh. “Here’s your cards back. I imagine your tenure will be a disaster.”

Yoshida nodded in agreement. “I wouldn’t even trust him as the president of our bedroom.”

“Oh! That reminds me. Teach, what’s the bedroom arrangements?”

She crossed her arms and closed her eyes towards the window again. “I don’t want to hear any fuss about it, so I won’t tell you yet.”

Understandable, really. She’d hear it all day about who wants to change bedrooms and whatnot.

“Aw man…”

* * *

Upon arrival, we were preparing for our walk to the inn where we would be spending the next two nights. Gathered outside the station, we were briefed about the schedule for today; after lunch at the inn, we’ll be under the wing of a guide, visiting the golden temple Kinkaku-ji and some other shrines. At night we’ll be having a test of courage, since a lot of us have been begging for one in the weeks leading up to this one.

“Shima…”

Leading the school of students, but still quite a bit behind our teacher, I turned my head to Katsumata. “Yes?”

Before she could respond, I felt someone slapping my shoulder.

“Yo, Shima! Want some?” Ito said as he showed me another of his gadgets; a plastic tube filled with peanuts.

“Is that a food dispenser?”

He nodded as he poured a handful in his mouth. “I think it’s for hamsters or something,” he ate some more, “but it works as a portable snack carrier, and none of the teachers have noticed it yet. So, want some?”

“Sure,” I held my hand out, soon both hands because he kept pouring them out. “Thanks.”

“No problem, buddy. I’ll be heading to the back again, don’t want any teacher catching me. See ya!”

With both hands filled with peanuts, I turned to Katsumata. “Mind helping me out?”

“Oh… sure.”

As we shared the loot, I asked her, “What were you about to say earlier?”

She shook her head, “It’s nothing…” she shewed on a single peanut, “I just wanted to say that the scenery here… is pretty.”

After shoving a handful down, I said, “It sure is.”

Walking side by side, having these types of conversations that don’t really go anywhere, I can’t help but feel self-conscious about being in her presence. Why is it that she talks pretty much exclusively to me?

I feel like I’m wasting her efforts of talking to me with my inability to keep the conversations she starts going.

Digging deep into my brain, I remembered how she reduced my fears to a single concern of hers; a winning complex, as she phrased it. Twice now she’s called me a mystery, but when it comes to me, I think she’s got much more than a basic understanding of who I am as a person. But when I stare at her, I see an unsolvable riddle.

I can’t help but sense sorrow underneath her inscrutable expression’s veil. She always looks sort of sad when our conversations end.

The longer I stare, the more I realise that lately, she’s been occupying a large amount of space within my mind.

How mysterious…

* * *

After the Kinkaku-ji visit, followed by a couple of other shrines, I was drained. Though this time, much more physically drained than mentally.

“Dinner! Finally, dinner!” Ito exclaimed… they took his food dispenser away from him.

For the first time since leaving the train station back in Shizuoka, I saw Keito again.

“Ryotarou! Been lonely without me?”

“Not in the slightest, I actually forgot about you until just now.”

He acted like a broken-hearted lover at my deadpan delivery. “I see, so that’s how it is. I understand… goodbye.” Taking a seat besides me right after. “Had fun so far? Probably not without me around, am I right?”

“It’s been alright, I suppose. You seem pretty hyper, though. Looking forward to something?”

“Sure am!” He started counting on his fingers, “Test of courage, nighttime breakout, free time and campfire tomorrow. Oh, and dinner right now, I’m starving.”

“What’s nighttime breakout?”

His enthusiastic face turned puzzled, “What? You haven’t heard? Some of us are planning to escape the inn at night to go explore the place at night and stuff. Test of courage version two, you could say.”

“Hmm… I see.” Going the state of my exhausted body, I’d better have some good rest tonight. “Have fun.”

“I don’t think you understand, Ryotarou. Now that you know about it, you’re automatically a participant. Only a few people are in on it, you see.”

I sighed. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s just eat for now.”

* * *

“Light’s a little yellow, isn’t it?” Ito rotated his wrist, beaming the dim light emitted from the old flashlight around.

“Uh-huh, I can barely see anything with it.”

We stood in front of the forest’s entrance as the first duo of our class to head in.

He reached deep into his pant’s pocket, “Hang on a sec, I’m prepared for this.” Like some sort of magic trick, he had a tiny bulb in his hand. “This is a tts-3wcree bulb,” he reached his hand out, “Mind holding it for me?”

I looked at the tiny bulb and wondered how he would ever get that on the much larger flashlight we were handed. He unscrewed the top, revealing that the silverish top is nothing but a reflector, the real bulb is much tinier hidden underneath.

He plucked the tee-tee-three, whatever it was, out of my hand. “Thank-ya.” Replacing the bulbs at speeds comparable to race car crewmembers changing tires.

“Let’s see,” with a noisy click sound, the flashlight turned on again, much, much brighter than before. “That’s better.”

He pointed it away from the ground, towards the forest.

“Not much of a test of courage anymore, is it…”

He laughed. “Don’t forget about the legend of this forest… you better stick close, or I’ll dig myself a grave.”

That reminded me. There’s apparently a legend; if a pair gets separated in the forest; the one that makes it out first is safe, but the one left behind will turn into a spirit, forever bound to this forest. Someone probably made it up on the spot.

After a minute or two of nothing happening, I was getting used to the eerie darkness. Though after the first sound of unfamiliarity nearing our eardrums’ hearing range, Ito cried out and ran away… with the flashlight still in hand.

“Ito, wait! Ito!”

I saw the source of light flashing through the forest, getting smaller and smaller at rapid pace—he is the fastest runner in our class after all.

Well, anyway, I’m stranded in the dark now… perhaps forever bound to this forest. I decided to follow his general direction, even if I have to make it through without anything emitting light.

I frequently looked in front, next to me and behind me, but never saw another duo nearing. Their flashlight isn’t enhanced with the tee-tee-three bulb after all… but maybe Ito already made it out…

First I was stranded; now I’m still stranded and also lost. A sudden hand on my shoulder shook the little bit of my soul hanging onto my body out of it. Shocked to the point that I couldn’t even scream, just freezing in motion completely.

Upon turning my lifeless head behind me, I saw Katsumata together with Sano.

“Phew… it’s just you Shima. I thought we had turned into spirits because I was partnered up with Mizuno first, but then we got separated and I thought I was done for until I came across Sano who was also walking alone—”

Sano was staring at her with her eyes spread wide open, “Woah! You’re an even worse chatterbox than me!” She chuckled. “Even though you didn’t say a single thing when it was just the two of us walking…” she looked back and forth between Katsumata and me, “…suspicious. Very suspicious…”

“I got separated from Ito earlier. So perhaps we’ve all turned into spirits,” I suggested, to see if it’d scare them… which it most definitely did.

“N-no way right?” Sano’s voice quivered.

“We’ll only know if we can make it out.” Only thinking about the practical stuff once we’re about to get walking again, I asked, “Where’s your light?”

“Where’s yours? We don’t have ours anymore!”

I sighed. “Guess we’ll have to find a way without our eyes as aid.”

We continued walking towards the road Ito took when he ran off.

“Agh this is so scary…” Sano whispered.

I felt an incredible sense of power surging through me, pretty much anything I’d do now would scare them both, but as a fellow scaredy cat in disguise, I felt a little too much empathy and decided against it toying with them again.

It didn’t take long before we saw some sort of gleaming through the trees.

“That should be the exit, right?”

“I don’t think we’re spirits yet,” Sano said. “Should we make a run for it?”

“Let’s not, I wouldn’t want Ito’s death to be my fault, really.”

Not listening at all, she took off towards the light, leaving Katsumata and me on our own.

I didn’t think of it earlier, but walking alone, side by side again, made me remember my earlier thoughts. Inexplicably aware of her presence, I noticed how the both of us ever so slightly slowed down in pace.

As we neared the light, the voices of fellow students could be heard in the distance.

“I guess… we passed the test of courage,” she looked at me.

“If this counts as ‘passing’ I don’t think I’ve ever failed a test.”

With the back of her hand in front of her mouth, she cutely let out a giggle, “Right. Let’s say we passed by the skin of our teeth.”

I couldn’t let it go. If I simply left it at a chuckle now, that’d be the end of it. It’s nothing solid one can grab, and yet I’m reaching for it—a way to make it last.

She softly shrieked the moment I clasped my hand in hers.

I’m an idiot.

“What’s… wrong?”

Doing the only thing worse than letting the silence linger for a second longer…


…I let go.


“Sorry.”

She slowly retreated her hand. “It’s… okay.”

I really, really, really am… an idiot.

* * *

After the test of courage and a bath, I was reunited with Ito—who didn’t turn into a spirit. We shared a room with Endou, Ozawa and Yoshida. All-in-all, a very favourable draw. I took one last look at the night scenery before it was “lights out”, and noticed the bright full moon glistening high in the sky. Knowing that Katsumata would definitely go outside later tonight, I decided to go against my initial plan of getting some rest. I have to apologise to keep things from turning awkward.

“Still planning on breaking out?” I asked.

Ozawa rubbed his hands together, with a mischievous smile on his face, “Our little crime gang just turned into a network.”

Waiting for the teachers to leave the hallways and go to their own rooms, we all gathered by the door with our ears against the wall. Until we were a hundred percent sure that they weren’t there anymore.

Ozawa held up his finger, then pointed at the door, then made a circle with one hand, his palm pressed against it; the toilet sign, followed by the signal for rock, paper and scissors. The “one” loser of the “rock, paper, scissors” game would have to “leave the room” and pretend to go to the “toilet”.

Endo, as the unfortunate loser, had to do the last clearance check. We all went back to bed, in case a teacher opened the door, and waited for him to return. Two minutes passed, then five… then ten.

“Guys,” Ozawa whispered, “think he got caught?”

“I’ll be honest,” I whispered back, “I think it’s more likely he fell asleep on the toilet.”

Yoshida, who apparently cannot whisper, loudly said, “Shall we all go outside then?”

“Shhh!!!” He got shushed by everyone present.

“Sorry,” he—still loudly, but not as loud as before—said.

“Not a bad plan, though,” Ozawa admitted, “let’s all go out together. If we’re caught, let’s roll with that we all had to go to the toilet.”

“Operation group-poop, commence,” Ito said as he hopped out of his futon.

Altogether, we sneaked out the door, headed to class 1-A’s hallway—Keito’s room. We decided against retrieving our potentially toilet-slumbering soldier and head straight to our destination.

“This is it,” Ozawa whispered, sliding the door open.

It was not it. It was definitely not it. No matter how you look at it… it was not it.