It was a nice summer day. The sun was shining, but it wasn’t too hot. The fluffy clouds were providing refreshing pieces of shade, and the breeze was cool and comfortable. A black bird flew high above a large hilly meadow, a meadow with small square stones placed in a very orderly manner all the way to its borders at the nearby forest. Only one person was there now. A boy, almost an adult, was silently staring at two of those stones. He remembered when those stones had been placed, and how many people had shown up then. He looked down at the bag he held in his hands, and emptied the contents. The wind picked up the ashes, and carried them into the sky like a river of smoke. This time, no one had showed up, and no tears had been shed, not even from the boy. He stood there, looking at where the wind had carried the last person who really knew him, lost in thought. A raven swooped low above his head and gave a loud call, shaking the boy from his trance. The boy looked at the raven, then back at the two graves. He knelt down and touched his hand to the dirt, a faint smile on his lips. He said something under his breath.
Then he got up and left.
He wouldn’t be coming back.
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I have to say, my first time out of the States was not starting out great. Less than an hour after getting off the airplane to Japan, some jerk made off with my wallet. I was pulling out my phone for directions at the taxi pickup when a man bumped into me.
“Sumimasen!” he said, waving an apology at me. By the time I realized my pockets were empty, he had already vanished.
Damn, now I’m flat broke! There was barely anything in there, but still!
I’ve always been cursed with terrible luck, so thankfully I was prepared for stuff like this with ten thousand emergency yen in my bag.
What was I doing in Tokyo in the first place, you ask? I came to Japan because my grandpa - who had been taking care of me - just passed, leaving me with only one remaining family member.
I’ve never met my Aunt Hana. I couldn’t even tell you what she looks like, but mother used to tell me that she only cares about work. And that’s why she never visited. I wasn’t really looking forward to staying with her all that much.
Finally, a run-down and rusty taxi in desperate need of a paint job pulled up to the curb. The sight of the beat up van made me remember why it's not good to get in cars with strangers, but I pushed that thought out of my mind. It's not like I cared all that much about what happens to me anyway. I got in the back seat, setting my bags next to me. The driver leaned over and asked me something I couldn’t decipher with my non-existent Japanese skills.
“Doko e?”
Shit, I knew I should have studied mor- Is that a pirate?
The driver had short peppery hair with a large bushy beard, and an eyepatch on his left eye. “Doko e?” He said again, snapping me out of it.
“Shiver me tim-” I heard myself mumble. I shook my head and tried again, “I’m sorry I, I don’t–” he turned back to his taped-up wheel.
“–Don’t speak Japanese?” He finished for me. “That’s alright, I know my ABC’s. Where to kid?” I handed him the note with Aunt Hana’s address on it. He looked the paper over and chuckled, before handing it back.
“You don’t need it?”
“Nah, I’ve been before,” he mumbled absentmindedly as he tried to get the van to start. He finally got the engine to stop sputtering, and I felt the whole car start vibrating. He smiled a self satisfied smirk, then patted the dash and drove off.
It was at least ten minutes before he spoke again, “So you’re Rin’s kid, eh?” My eyes widened,
“You knew my mother?”
“Hu-ha-ha-ha!” He laughed out loud, then looked me in the eye.
“You could say that,” he said with a toothy smile and a wink. “Don’t worry kid, I’ll get you where you need to go!” The old man gave a deeper belly laugh then, like someone had told him the most hilarious joke he’d ever heard.
“HWA-HA-HA-HA!”
Is he trying to be so obviously vague? Why does this creepy old man know my mom? Even with the cryptic message, the honest laugh made a smile spread across my face. For some reason I felt I could trust this strange old man – like I had known him my whole life. Suddenly the laughing stopped.
“What’s yer name kid?” he asked casually.
“Oh! My name is Aisurukage! But everyone except my grandpa and my dentist call me Aisage.”
“Aisurukage huh?” He chuckled again, “This old rustbucket needs a refill, so I’m going to stop for gas. No problem, right?” he glanced over his shoulder at me with a look that told me it was definitely, really not a problem.
“A-absolutely no problem here.”
“Good!” he said with a smile, looking back to the road. He pulled over at the next gas station and got to work refilling the tank while I got out to stretch my legs. We hadn’t been in the car more than 10 minutes, but my legs were still sore from the airplane and with my aunt's house across the city, it could be a while until my next chance.
Dang, I’m hungry. Guess I haven’t eaten since America…
“Hey! I’m going inside to grab a snack!”
“Great! Grab me a beer! Hu-ha-ha-ha!”
What kind of taxi driver asks their passenger to grab them a beer?
I rolled my eyes, and decided the obviously weird behavior was more of my bad luck. I went inside the convenience store and grabbed some snacks that looked tasty, plus what I thought was probably beer. I sidled up to the counter, – totally inconspicuously – and slid the beer and snack across the counter. I was trying my best to seem old enough to buy a beer.
The lady gave me a stink eye, then started lecturing me in Japanese. I couldn’t understand a word of what she was saying, but it was obvious she wasn’t buying it. Suddenly the door opened and two young girls walked in, probably grabbing snacks like me while their parents were refilling their car. The lady stopped scolding me long enough to flash them a warm smile and welcome them in. I was desperately trying to explain that I’d put back the snacks when the door opened a second time. A shady looking guy with a hoodie pulled low over his face walked in. He stood there awkwardly for a moment, then walked towards the counter. Me and the lady both went quiet and looked at each other, then at the man walking closer.
“Ikaga nasaimashita ka?” she said with a concerned expression on her face.
Then the jerk pulled out a knife.
“Okane o watase! Ima!” he said in a shaky voice that sounded drunk and angry. He was pointing the knife at the cash register. I had no idea what he was saying exactly, but the general idea came across loud and clear.
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What's the deal!? I’ve been here for less than a day and I’ve already seen two robberies! Either google lied about Japan’s crime rate, or my luck has a seriously twisted sense of humor. I shook my head, now's not the time to be thinking about that.
“Ochitsuite kudasai.” The counter lady said in a calm voice, with her hands raised. The man's face was dead serious, there wasn’t a hint of guilt or hesitation.
Shit. He might actually hurt someone if we aren’t careful.
I felt like a snake was coiling around my stomach. I was so scared that I couldn’t make my body move. And so I just stood there, watching. Somewhere in the back of my mind I cursed my luck one more time.
“Kauntā,” the man said in a suddenly icy voice.
“Ni. Okane. O. Okimasu.” He looked behind him and saw the two girls huddled behind an aisle, and his face contorted into a cruel smile. The bastard walked over and grabbed one of the sobbing girls, holding the knife to her neck.
“IMA!” he said in the kind of growly threatening voice that told you not to test whether he’d do it.
My fear was being drowned out by the furious pounding in my chest.
It was being replaced by anger.
I felt my anger build, You don’t make kids cry. What kind of sicko do you have to be to threaten a child? Kids crying is the worst thing on Earth. I’d do anything to stop him right now.
It grew white hot. I felt like punching something, anything. I stared daggers into that man's soul.
Then my burning rage shattered like glass. She’d bit him. Oh kid, what have you done? The man cried out in pain, shoving her away from him.
He growled venomously, holding the knife out in front of him. No. nononono. This can’t be happening. My heartbeat was roaring in my ears, it was making it hard to think. She’s about to get hurt! What should I do? She was about to die. I closed my eyes. What do I-
Shink.
That was the sound a knife made when it cut. Oh no. I felt dizzy. Shit! I opened my eyes and realized I was standing a lot closer to where the man had been, and saw him lying unconscious on the floor. What happened? Did he decide to take a nap? I heard the other girl sobbing. Then I heard two girls sobbing. I looked over and saw them both hugging each other. That's good. I heard the counter lady cry out, finally coming out of her whole someone-got-stabbed shock. My legs suddenly felt weak, and I dropped to my knees. I felt a burning sensation in my gut, and looked down. There was a strange protrusion that kind of resembled a knife.
That looks kinda bad. Oooh, Maybe I’ll get a badass scar… I heard the door open again, and the pirate taxi driver ran up to me.
“Hey kid! Don’t fall asleep! Stay with me!” He looked thoroughly shook, and his hands were trembling.
“NOO! Aisage! You can’t die yet!! Don’t go into the light!”
“The hell you talking about? I’m fine.”
“heh-heh-heh. Sorry ‘bout that, I thought you were dying.”
“Nah, I just need to get this patched up.” Maybe it was the adrenaline talking, but for some reason, it didn’t hurt that bad. The bastard probably stabbed me somewhere non-vital. For once, luck had smiled at me.
The old man fished around in his pocket, and produced a crusty and old cell phone. But instead of calling for an ambulance, he took a selfie with me.
Like it was the normal thing to do.
“What are you doing!? I’m bleeding out over here! CALL A FREAKING AMBULANCE.”
“Sorry, sorry. I’m callin’ em now, this is just the first time a client of mine has been stabbed to death.”
“I’M NOT DEAD YET!”
Realizing that the old man wasn’t going to be much help, I tried to pull myself up so I could meet the ambulance. My legs were pretty wobbly, but I managed to get to my feet. I stumbled my way over to the door, making a few red stains behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I saw the old man was explaining things to the hospital. The store clerk and the girls were still staring blankly. They probably needed a minute to process. I walked outside, holding my right hand to where the knife was still lodged. I could hear the ambulance in the distance, and it was steadily getting louder. Standing in the parking lot, I looked up at the sky, and closed my eyes. This had been one hell of a day.
I want sushi… When I get to Aunt Hana’s, I’m going to order me a truckload of sushi.
I know it probably wasn’t the most sensible thing to be thinking right now, but for some reason it felt like it mattered. I needed something to take my mind off of what just happened. I opened my eyes and saw a plane that was probably just taking off from the airport.
It reminded me of something, something that happened a long time ago. I stared at it for a while, trying to remember the memory that was on the tip of my tongue.
The sound of the encroaching ambulance was suddenly drowned out, replaced by screeching tires and furious honking. It sounded really close by. Maybe less than ten meters away. I looked over my shoulder to see what the commotion was.
Instead I saw a semi truck two inches from my face.
Time froze for a moment, as two thoughts flitted through my mind.
I’m really about to die this time. God-damn, my luck sucks.
Then it all faded to white.
All the sounds, all the thoughts, gone.
“Consciousness Replication Complete.”
I sat up and looked around. The gas station and convenience store had disappeared, and had been replaced by an endless white void.
I heard someone talking, but it sounded like they were underwater. I only picked out a couple words,
“__ _ ______ Accident, _ ____ truck crashed ____ _ ___ _______, ___ ______ died.”
“Who said that? Hello? Could you tell me what's happening? Someone please tell me what's going on!”
…
No answer. I looked around for where the voice might have come from, but it was just a blank white in every direction. Like an untouched canvas. I stood up, trying to make sense of what was happening.
Did I die? It all happened so fast. Did that semi really hit me? If so, does that mean…? That thought made panic well up inside me, “No! I don’t want to die yet! I don’t want to just fade away! I’m not ready to let go yet! Let me keep my life! Please!” My voice echoed into the nothingness, with no reply.
I walked around, looking for a sign that maybe I really was in heaven. Yet no matter how far I walked, it was just an empty void, an endless white purgatory. Below me, above me, and in front of me was completely empty.
Finally, out in the whiteness that seemed to stretch forever, I heard something. Laughter. A deep, hearty belly laugh.
“HWA-HA-HA-Ha!”
“Old man? What are you doing here? Did you die too?” Whoever it was didn’t reply, and just kept laughing. I ran towards the direction it was coming from, and saw a silhouette in the distance. It was definitely the old man. Even though he was still hundreds of meters away, I heard his voice like he was standing right next to me.
“Aisurukage huh?” he paused for a moment, “Now that gives me an idea… Don’t you worry kid, your story doesn’t end here!” He started laughing again.
“Processing Requests… Finalizing Process.”
Then the white got whiter, brighter. A small ringing noise played in my ears, then it grew louder as the light grew even more blinding. I shielded my eyes as best I could. The noise just kept growing louder and louder until my eardrums felt like they would pop. The old man's loud laugh was quickly drowned out. I yelled at the top of my lungs to make it stop, but the noise was so loud I couldn’t even hear my voice. I crumbled to my knees as I pressed my hands against my ears.
Shit. I’m getting tired. I felt like my mind was caving in, and I knew I was losing consciousness. “No, damn it, not again…” I said in a voice that couldn’t be heard, in a place that couldn't be seen, before blacking out for the second time that day.