“Pure White”

BZZZ-BZZZ BZZZ-BZZZ BZZZ-BZZZ

I wake to my phone going wild.

I panic in case I forgot a lesson, but it’s Saturday night… no, Sunday morning, quelling some of the fear.

A call from a private number.

“Hello?”

“Get to   ̵̢̢̬͎̮̲̮͉̺̘̱̬̥̩̩̣͈̯̦̪̉́͜ ̵̛͎̝̫̬͈͕̞͔̰̝͚̙̗̠̪͎͚̗̦̘͉̔̽̊̉́̈́̀͊̍͑͒͠ ̴̦̞̰͖̓́̈́̈́͆̈́̾̎̀̉͋͌̃̋̅̚̕͝͝ ̸͔̼̩͔͇̌͋̂̐̉̓̓̓̈́͊̕͝ ̶̢̗̼̣̯͈̘̦̟͉̩̟͈͓̗̹̬̩̖̣͈́̒͑͛̽ͅh̵͙̣͇͇͕̗̯̣͙̼̲̳̪͍̣͔̭͍̬̲̎̅͆̈́̍̓̀ą̷̨̧͎̯̻̜̪̠̝̤͍̙̮͙̜̉͒̑̀̉̅̓̚͜͝n̵̨̜͖̠̳̣͉͍̺͎̻͔̲̭͙͕̲̞̳̮͆́̍̀̀̓̒̃̈̾̊̇͝͝b̸͎̻̝̗͔̦̱͊̒e̵̡̨̝̫͔̱̮̗̱͕͚̘͛͋̽̃̊̓̈́͘͜i̴̢̛̪̭̳̯̟̥̭̼̖̣̱͕̟̟̰̩̭͙̻̼͊̋̾̑͛͛̃͛̐͛́͐̌͜͝ ̷̛̩̬͚̃̒͂͛͒̊͆̅̽̚̚̚ ̶̡̝̞̳̟͕̭̔́̂̄̓̋́͛̆̃̚̕̚͝͠͝ͅͅ ̷̛̬̝̂̓̾͒̽̐͒̀͋͐͋̓̽̅͘͝ͅį̶͍̝̣̭͎̪̬̠̮͚̪͎̝̭̝́̽͌͜z̷̼̥̳̥͈̓̽͆͘͜͝͝ą̶̲̜͖̩̻̬̝̞͇̺̯͂́͐̔͑̽̅̍̏̒͐͒̇̈́̂́͂̍̈͘͝k̵͓̉̎̔̐̎͂̑̌̐͒͌̚͝a̴̺̐̓̒͊̕ỳ̷̡̛̠̦̤͕͍̞̯̣̪̻̳̲͇̂̈̒͂͋̍̒͗̎͘̚͝͝ä̸̡̢̧̧̤͔̝̺̼̣̜̞̩̹͇̫̜͎̯͉̜́́̈́̇̆̊͌̔̓̈́͋̈́͊̉͑͘̚̚ͅ ̴̨͔̫͕̝̻̟͍̪̝̙̲̗̠̞̫̞̤̱̀͂͗̐ͅ ̷̙̂͐̏ ̵̹͋̄̋̐͝ ̴̨̡̧̪͖̲͈͔̤̤̹͓̱̱̜̖͍̪́̊̒̇̂̕̚͜͜͝͠    now!”

It disconnects.

Was that?!.

Over a dozen notifications and missed calls. All withheld.

I couldn’t hear where he said, the signal was terrible, but it’s in one of the texts.

The izakaya from the start of the year.

When I arrive, it looks like the whole Business School is having a refresher event. Everyone invited but me.

I storm through, bedraggled, teeth gritted til my jaw muscles pulse.

Some of the international students notice me and pass comments between themselves.

Saki and Fuyumi bow their heads and fall silent, understanding what’s happening, but incapable of doing anything about it.

A couple of people stand to get a better view, or try to get in my way as I march to the back of the bar. I push past and grab Toshi by the collar.

“Oh! Tyler! Did you not receive the event details again? What a-”

Smug piece of shi-

I wrench him away from the bathroom door. I can’t open my mouth, or I might bite his face, yell until my lungs bleed.

“Woah! Careful of the clothes!”

I manhandle him to the middle of the room and let him go. He tries to grab me, but I glare and raise a fist. Instinctively, he jolts back.

That’s what I thought.

I return to the bathroom.

Ryu slinks down in the corner and puts his hands up to show he has no intentions of fighting… subtly nodding to which cubicle I need.

I wish I could thank him without it ruining his life.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

I’m rougher than intended; rage and adrenaline robbing me of subtly.

“Kaori, it’s time to go.”

Her sobbing wavers; she sniffles out a response… “T-Tai?”

“Let’s go home.”

The latch clicks open.

The Ice Queen in her snow-white dress throws herself toward me.

A crack into the side of my head fills my vision with static.

Kaori screams far, far away - muffled, almost mute - as I turn to face…

Toshi steps back, uncertain of himself, a bottle in his hand. My head still spinning.

The only reason I’m upright is Kaori clinging to me like flotsam.

“Get your hands off my fiancée! She’s not going anywhere!”

The hell did he just say?!.

Kaori?

Engaged? 

To him?

His revelation sobers me up and I find my footing.

“Tai, I’m sorry. Please go… there’s nothing you can do, just…”

I pull Kaori away, forceful enough to pry myself from her clutching desperate hands, but not so coldly as to reject her. I need space, but I don’t let go.

I kiss her forehead.

“What do you think you’re doing?!.”

Toshi screams and swings at me again, but it’s wide, and I’m aware he’s coming.

Moving Kaori with me, we fall back towards the bathrooms, but he keeps coming. He’s obviously drunk to be this aggressive, and he’s wobbling all over the place, but we still end up in a corner.

I don’t think I’ve ever been in a fight, other than some name-calling while my hair grew back in, but that doesn’t count.

I want to be cool and dive on him. Beat him senseless. My life is over here anyway... might as well get deported on top of kicked out of college for skipping classes.

No. You can’t take care of her if you’re not here.

Pushing Kaori along the wall, stepping over spectators as we go, I keep bodies between us and Toshi as I circle around to get out of the bar.

“What’re you going to do, Tyler?”

He taunts all the while.

I keep quiet. Gritting my teeth until they ache again.

Once we’re nearing halfway round the room, Toshi backs up towards the entrance and blocks our exit completely.

“There’s no way out! Leave now, by yourself, or with the Police when they get here, your choice!”

I haven’t done anything wrong, people have been filming since I got here, but he’s probably got relatives he can lean on to make things hard for me.

My breath is scorching, adrenaline stinging in my veins. I just want to go be sick somewhere, but...

A trembling hand slips into mine.

I don’t look - I know her face is pleading, pure, unsure - I couldn’t… I’d only cry.

Can't take my eyes off Toshi.

A squeeze is all the encouragement I need.

We bolt back towards the bathroom.

I grab and throw whatever food or drink I can scoop up with my free hand on the way, and we’re out through the fire exit. The alarm blaring in our wake. Fight or flight seeing that we soar down the street and out into the night.

Faint shouting follows us briefly, but we slip down alley after alley, losing ourselves and our pursuers.

We can’t get the subway, they’ll be taking it. A taxi wouldn’t be much quicker, and they’ll catch us at the dorms anyway.

I realise we left all of Kaori’s stuff in our rush; she’s been running in socks on icy roads.

Pulling up maps on my phone, a street away, we find shelter for the night.

…

“Sorry we have to hide out in a love hotel, but…” it’s an emergency.

Kaori is shivering.

It’s nearly February, it’s still cold out, and she’s only wearing her white dress.

I draw a bath.

“If you leave everything on the side I’ll have them cleaned, there’s a laundry service. It looks like they have pyjamas available too, I'll order some at the same time.”

Kaori, the shock and euphoria of my gatecrashing and kidnapping wearing off, is docile and quiet. She nods and heads into the bathroom, but still weakly reaches out and strokes my arm as she passes…

I call room-service just as my phone starts going again.

The ghost town group chat reincarnates with people calling me out, demanding I hand myself in, insults and threats and… I don’t care.

PING

A text.

Ryu.

>>> “Thanks.”

You too.

PING

Another?

Fuyumi?

>>> “I’ve got Kaori’s coat and shoes. I’ll meet you later. Don’t worry Mr Hero ♡ I’m rooting for you!”

I hope she finds the right person someday… she deserves to be loved by someon-

Kaori comes out of the bathroom, her skin a paler white than the towels she’s wrapped in.

As she meekly sits next to me on the bed, I finally notice the heavy reek of alcohol about her...

Her fingers entwine in mine…

I’ve missed her so much…

“Tai?”

“Mhm?”

I can’t even verbalize a proper response.

“I missed you.”

What?

I thought she hated me… but I still couldn’t stay away when Ryu told me to come.

Why?

“I’m sorry I left.”

I knew something was up - why else would he message - that’s why I came.

“My parents heard about us and would not let me go back to the dorms.”

So that’s why. It wasn’t just me.

“They made me quit my job… had me driven to and from campus…”

Like a prisoner. Why didn’t she ask for help?

“I saw your email and wanted to tell you… it hurt so much…”

Koari’s emotions threaten to boil over, a mix of anger at her parents and me both, but also fear and misery. She takes some deep breaths and…

“…when you got angry, I didn’t know what to do, but then you broke up with me, and I…”

I broke up with her?

She rejected me!

“…I’ve wanted to take things further for months, but you’ve been so timid, I didn’t want to push you…”

It’s my fault?

“…then when you finally try something, you’re upset? You’d just been ranting about your parents… It was weird and frightening…”

I was my fault… I tried to do stuff at an inappropriate time, I didn’t read the mood, just pushed ahead…

“…I wanted to, it was a sign that I could try again later… I was just going to put my clothes away and get changed, but then you told me that we…”

“…that we never should have fallen in love.”

Finally breaking my silence, I turn to face Kaori.

I’ve missed her.

Every bit of her.

She looks thin. Like she hasn’t been eating.

Sick with stress and I hate I was the spark.

“I’m sorry Kaori… I never should hav-”

Her features fill my vision.

Her lips lock with mine.

She tastes of liquer and lemant.

I kiss her again, suppressed passion overriding our sorrows, then nausea from the burst of excitement rocks my stomach. I lean back to breathe and calm down.

She starts to panic like I’m rejecting her again, but I pull her in and hold her against my chest. Kissing her head, breathing her in.

What now?!.