Chapter 11

Sakuma Jirou

I had begged the coach not to tell my father. I had begged him not to kick me off the team. I had begged him to give me a second chance.

The second and third, he accepted but the first, he rejected. My father, he had said, had to be told about my violent behaviour in school which inflicted injuries on a fellow student, Fudou Akio. Fudou, I had said, had started it and certainly wasn't or ever will be my fellow student.

The coach had ignored me.

He'd given me a 'day off' to reflect on my behaviour. As if I needed time to reflect on it. If the coach had been there to witness the whole scene instead of taking his own time making coffee or doing his business in the toilet then yes, I would be a good boy and reflect on my behaviour because I would know Fudou had taken some of the blame too. Yet, I was the one with all the blame directed to and now, Fudou was in the sick bay, getting fussed over by the nurse there.

I was on my lonely trip home. The sun was high in the sky, burning mercilessly into my skin.

Thank you, Sun-chan, for being here for me when no one else is.

My mind was on a roller coaster ride, spinning round with a hurricane of emotions. Mainly anger, for being blamed and fear, of what my father would do to me.

Fortunately, the house was quiet when I entered and there was no sign of my father.

He must be out. Phew! Lucky me.

Even so, I quietly shut the door behind me and made a beeline for my room. I didn't want to take my chances. I locked the door and flopped down onto my bed, reaching over to pull the curtains completely shut, blocking out any simmer of sunlight to filter through. Now, sitting in the darkness, I wait.

I'd hoped the darkness could stimulate a dream so that the lady would appear to me, this time in the waking world, so I'd know that I wasn't just dreaming and there was a real, dangerous threat going against me. I'd tried to believe, yes, I had. But some things just sounded so barbaric that I couldn't believe it.

"Are you looking for someone?" a soft voice sounded.

Yes! It worked!

The outline of the lady shimmered into view.

"I cannot stay in the mortal world for too long."

"There are questions I need answered," I began.

The lady shook her head sadly. "Those are answers I cannot give."

"But why? Why must you be so secretive all the time? You start telling me all these prophetic things and don't give it an end? How do you expect me to do anything?"

Frustration boiled inside me. I was close to wallowing in despair.

"Dear Jirou, time will reveal these answers. For now, listen to your heart."

"Don't answer me like that! I want-no, I need- answers! How do I even know I should be believing what you're saying, huh!?"

The lady listened to my ranting, but didn't say a word. Her sad gaze held onto mine, as if trying to convey a message.

"I just hope you'll know in time to come, Jirou. I hope you'll know who I am."

Just as the last words left her mouth, a bolt of familiarity or recognition or something strikes me. Realization dawned inside me, causing my heart to ache.

The lady was disappearing, her smile wavering slightly. I reached out for her but my hand closed in on nothingness.

"Stay strong, Jirou. The past is the past."

The new knowledge added on to my pain, my agony. A tear slipped down my cheek as the lady completely vanished into thin air. As I lay back on my bed, for the first time in a long time, I dared to utter that single word.

"Mother…"