mission report for mynamelessname (part 2 of 2)
Back to Part 1
This peaceful-since Yoko isn’t around-morning, it’s a normal class with Jun joining them early.
Sho suspects the fact that Jun is around adds another point toward Nino’s internal struggle as he pouts harder as he loiters along the far side of the class. Pausing once in a while, glancing at him directly with something resembling curiosity, Nino looks like he is waiting for an invitation and Sho is now curious.
“Nino,” he calls. “Will you please stop looming in and out sneakily like that? You can join us if you want.”
One of the twin turns and waves at him. “Nino-san, come join us.” They slide on their long chairs, giving some space for Nino to sit between them. “Yeah. Here, here.”
“Hello, Jun, I didn’t see you here.”
Even though he can hear Nino’s overly sweet tone greeting Jun behind his back, Sho faces the blackboard to write another equation, and when he turns around, Nino is already seated next to Jun, pressed to his side to be exact, while the latter is in the middle of drawing some abstract pictures instead of doing the written equation.
“Hello to you too, Nino.”
Sho continues to work on his lesson plan for today a while. Nino stays close to Jun even if the latter doesn’t seem to pay attention to anything other than his drawing book. And Sho lets him be, and soon he supposes Nino will let his intention of stopping over be known. It doesn’t stop him from glancing once in a while in Jun’s direction, just to make sure Nino doesn’t attach himself too close.
“What do you want, Nino?” Sho asks him when they’ve already wrapped up the lesson. The twins have gone running to the river, leaving them alone, and it’s about time; Nino has stayed the whole time, and Sho knows that he must want something.
“I want nothing.” Nino eyes dart to the dried straw grass Sho has on his briefcase. “But maybe Oh-chan could use that bundle of dry straw grass.”
That surprises Sho. “Oh?”
“I’m just saying that because I heard you’re trading straw grass.”
“How did you know that?”
“Chief told us about it. Then he pleads with us that he believes one of us must need straw grass and need to trade whatever we can spare with you before he lost his bet.
“He even shudders visibly at the thought of losing to a new guy like you. It’s been more than a week and you’ve done nothing. I was thinking of helping him a bit. An evil person like you doesn’t deserve to win.”
Sho rolls his eyes at the last statement, yet he appreciates the reminder that it was a bet, that he can actually win the bet if there’s no one around to trade with him. He only has the grass now--no one will want that, or if he’s lucky it doesn’t have any value in the first place.
“Jun, can you take me to Ohno’s place?”
And before Jun can say anything him, Nino answers. “I could. Let’s go together then.”
Frowning, Sho can’t help but get suspicious, but he nods and gestures for Nino to lead the way anyway.
They walk downstream for a while before a small hut comes into view. Sho is a little taken aback when Jun unexpectedly runs toward the hut at the same time the door opens and a man carrying a long sword appears from the door. “Ohno!”
Sho watches the man smile to greet Jun and then greets both of them with a small bow. He bows in return. At least there’s someone here in Arakawa that knows manners, although the sword is rather worrying.
“Do you guys all need a haircut?” Ohno looks at him, and Sho’s gaze once again darts back to the long sword. Out of its sheath, it glimmers brilliantly and appears to be extremely sharp in Ohno’s hand; he shakes his head.
“We’re not here for a haircut, Oh-chan,” Nino says. “I brought Sho here for important business.”
Jun has different thoughts though. “I think I’ll have that haircut, Ohno.”
“Important business that can wait until you give Jun a haircut, though,” Nino quickly revises his statement. “Just take your time with him.”
Sho snorts loudly at Nino’s low tactic even when Ohno chuckles before he proceeds to gently gesture at Jun to take a seat on a stool. Nino elbows Sho’s side, but he’s too distracted to see Ohno agilely setting Jun up under a pale blue cape.
Ohno sets a stance, to pause and confirm with Jun. “Should I get it short this time?”
“Ah, not yet,” Jun says, “I still like these hair extensions.”
Sho darts a sharp, questioning gaze toward Nino, but the yellow man is too busy staring at Jun and Ohno with glazed eyes.
“Please let me keep it a while.” Jun closes his eyes and straightens his back, getting ready.
“Okay.” Ohno’s soft tone contrasts with the firm stance he once again settles with. “I’m just going to trim the split ends then.”
Sho can only see glints of swords moving around the tips of Jun’s hair, strands of them twirling violently, floating in a blast of air.
The next minute, the waves stop, and Jun’s hair is back in place while Ohno bows slightly to Jun’s back, pulling the cape off with finesse. “Thank you for coming today.”
Jun opens his eyes slowly, hand immediately reaching for his shoulder, before he turns and beams his thank you at Ohno. And Sho is in full awe at the whole happening, in the middle of trying to blink his mind back when Nino starts a round of applause and ruins the moment completely.
Ohno startles a bit before he remembers he has an audience. Turning his complete focus on Nino, he finally acknowledges Nino and Sho. “You said you have important business?”
*
It turns out that Ohno is willing to take the bundle of dry grass that Sho has offered. Jun and Nino have left him alone with Ohno, partially because Nino says that it’s his business and he should deal with it himself.
“So because I agree to take your bundle, in return, let’s see,” Ohno says. He abruptly stands up to go inside his hut before coming out carrying a small long box and holding it out to him.
“What’s this?” Sho slowly opens the box, finding a sheath and wrapped around it a pair of scissor-like instruments. “Is this a pair of shears?”
“Whatever. But I don’t need it,” Ohno says. “It was a mistake to receive that. I can’t cut hair with scissors, after all. I’ll use my sword instead.”
“This is a pair of blade shears, not scissors.” Sho examines it. “You can’t cut people’s hair with it. It’s dangerous. Although you’re using a sword, so I don’t know if ‘dangerous’ is the right word.”
“You can have it.”
“But this must have cost you a lot.”
“Not exactly. I got it as a gift. Or at least I was told that it was a gift.”
Confused, Sho asks again. “Someone gave you shears? As a gift? What were they thinking? Do they know that you cut people’s hair? That it’s dangerous to play with this, although you are using sword. I keep on forgetting that.”
Ohno holds a small smile for a while before he answers. “It was from Becky.”
*
Sho has bad feelings about all this trade all of a sudden. He makes his way to the riverside right after and starts shouting the moment the hint of a green wetsuit comes into his view. “Chief! I certainly didn’t sign up for all this madness.”
Shun is lounging next to him on the ground, with a suspiciously relaxed pose. Sho suspects that he most probably is just there to dry his wetsuit before he goes back to the river to go play with water for the rest of the hot afternoon. Then again he doesn’t have a choice. If he needs to vent, at least Shun should get a piece of his mind. He is the one who dragged him into the whole mess in the first place.
“But a trade is a trade. Just like a deal is a deal,” Shun replies easily. “You wouldn’t want to back out of the deal, would you?”
Sho sighs; there’s nothing he can do now that Shun has put it that way. Backing out is of course not an option, but pulling through is not as easy as it sounds. “What a nosy kappa!”
“Finally!” Shun smiles widely at the scolding. “I’m a kappa! A nosy one at that, but who cares? Sho, you finally get it!”
“I still don’t,” Sho says, cutting him off. “Can we please continue to talk about what we were talking about just now?”
“You don’t have to use such complicated sentences. It gives me a headache. Doesn’t it give you headache?”
“Unlike you, I am not talking gibberish.”
“Hello there, Chief.” A voice comes not far from where they are, and they both freeze. “And Sho, is that you?”
Speaks of the devil, or to be more precise, the source of Sho’s uneasy feeling. “I was passing by, and I can see you can relax just fine with your teaching job, Sho. You know, if you feel you’re lacking some manly activities, there’s always a job for you on my farm.”
There’s something in the way Becky talks that has been sending shivers down his spine since day one. Sho gives a short nod and waits until he can see Becky is out of earshot. “Oh, that was scary. I don’t know why, but don’t you think she’s scary?”
Sho turns to find the spot next to him already empty. He jumps up, turning around only to find the tip of a green head floating toward the middle of the river.
“Green clammy coward!”
A hand pops out, giving a victory sign, as the kappa continues floating to the center. Perhaps he needs to learn to move that quickly, Sho muses while he sits back, trying to calm himself before going back home.
Three oranges might not be worth a pound of cucumber
A few days later Ohno invites Sho over for tea, showing off how he has already turned the grass into an intricate tea whisk. He then entertains Sho with not-so-bitter senburi tea
After some chitchat, even though he had been thinking of sharing his story about Becky the other day, he finds himself listening to Ohno the most; his story focuses on repeated statements. “Toma has nice arms. Have you seen his? Lately he’s been busy but, his arms. Arms.”
Sho makes a note to take a good look at Toma’s arms later and finishes his tea because it grows bitter when it cools off.
“-and he is a very nice guy.”
He can’t help to ask; nice isn’t always best, but then again he can't say much considering his own situation with Jun. “So you decided that you like him because he’s a nice guy?”
“Isn’t that what everyone does all the time?” Ohno answer is light but sure and final. “To like someone because he’s nice, and warm, and shining, and just beautiful.”
“So you’ve told him exactly that?”
Ohno ducks away shyly, and faintly Sho can catch a murmur. “Countless. But what can I say? He’s in love with another guy.” He continues to whisk the remaining tea in the bowl, leaving the silence hanging and their teacups empty.
.
The class was supposed to finish their afternoon lesson but Yoko and the Iron twins are already nowhere to be seen-something that has been recurring lately, with Yoko and the twins striking what Sho supposes is a good deal. Now they can be friends and fight each other; kids nowadays.
Because Jun had said that he was going to be absent from class today, Sho is already getting ready to call it a day. Since it’s rare to have the afternoon off, he can probably catch up on his corporation job; he’s abandoned it for too long and he’d better deal with it before his phone starts ringing.
It does surprise him to catch a man figure in the far corner of the class, holding a clear umbrella over his head although it is a sunny afternoon.
“Hello,” he says.
“Hello. If you’re here for class, it’s over already. Perhaps tomorrow, if you’re interested? Or is there something I can help you with?”
“You’re Sho. I’m Toma. We met at your welcome party, but we’ve never really talked.”
Sho nods at the hurried introduction.
“And you’re the teacher here.”
“That’s right. What’s wrong?”
Toma sighs heavily, slowly lowering his umbrella. He fixes his gaze hard at Sho and bows deeply. Sho has already taken a few steps closer when Toma finally says something. “You, since you’re a teacher, you should teach me how to love, or how to deal with one-sided love. Whichever works faster is fine. Please.”
With a look of horror, Sho takes a step back. He watches Toma raise his head, his eyes is a bit watery; has he been crying? “What? Why?”
“It is your job to provide lessons, correct?” Toma waits until Sho nods again. “So you should provide lessons of love for me!”
“Excuse me?”
“And you better make it quick. I’m meeting him in an hour.”
“Him?”
*
Sho finds himself sitting by the riverside. Toma has a picnic basket ready, stashed near the blanket he had prepared beforehand.
“He says he’ll be around at this hour.” Toma looks around excitedly, setting his big bag on his side to sit hugging his knees, staring at the river in worrying silence.
For now, all Sho can think about is how he’s hoping for Jun to come out of the nowhere just to be there with them and make things less awkward. Or even Nino, or even Aiba-if he’d just left, shoot some bullets into the air so they all can go home. Anyone as long as he’s not alone with Toma and, more so, waiting for Shun.
“Jun’s mentioned you,” Toma says once they settle into comfort, with umbrella and the like. “A lot, actually, the other day, so I was thinking of getting lessons from you.”
“I teach basic physics and elementary grade kanji. Not love,” Sho corrects him. It’s beginning to worry him since there’s something in Toma’s eyes that says he isn’t fooling around like the rest of the people here. “No one can teach love anyway.”
“But they do in those magazines.”
“You’ve been reading the magazines Jun has?”
“Well, he said that if it is useful he’ll let me read anything he has. I haven’t gone through everything, but I do find some useful tips.”
It’s more like an impromptu daytime picnic by the river, Sho wants to answer, but he only nods in agreement.
They falls into silence again and Sho scrambles for some topics, preferably something that doesn’t involve Jun’s magazines-nothing good will come out of that. He points to the basket next to them. “What do you have there then?”
“Uhm, lunch and stuff,” Toma says. He reaches out to put the basket between them and Sho is a bit relieved; they can now talk about whatever is in the basket for a while.
“I have all these ready for snacking,” Toma continues, taking out container after container and stacking them outside of the basket. When he sets the basket aside, Sho can see that all of them are filled with cucumber slices.
“Are these all cucumber?”
“Yup.” With a smile now on his face, Toma turns back with another plastic container of more cucumbers. “You know, I have been working on these for a long time; I cross-breed these.”
“All these?”
Unmoved by Sho’s amazement, Toma goes on with his explanation. “Well, it didn’t work well at first. I just kept on trying and trying. They all need the lives they deserve.”
“These cucumbers? I didn’t know you can grow cucumber here by the riverside.”
“Of course you can. Well, you do need to have love and determination but once you get them, it’s manageable.” Toma brightens up at the explanation. “It’s all about handling them with care and loads of love.”
Sho is reduced to nothing but a polite nod as Toma continues to introduce the names of cucumber varieties he has been working with and then more information that Sho simply can’t keep up with.
“And this cucumber is special,” Toma says, reaching into the plastic and holding an ugly looking green cucumber. “I know they might have an unappealing shape at this point, but once you cut them into slices-“ he puts a slice on his hands and shows it to Sho, “-it’s all love.”
On Toma’s hand is a thin slice of cucumber, in the shape of a heart; the white watery flesh looks fresh with the ridged carving of its green skin giving the impression of a sparkling heart.
“You do come prepared.”
“I’m serious about this after all.”
After talking, they fall into a more comfortable silence. Toma allows Sho to try a few of the slices. Even if it seems to Sho that they’re sitting there by the riverside, waiting for something that doesn’t feel like coming, Toma’s company is quite nice. He isn’t as talkative and hostile to a point like Nino or Aiba, but he isn’t as distant as Jun sometimes.
They finish a container of sliced cucumber. On one hand Sho is getting sick of the watery taste already, and on the other hand, Toma is getting gloomier. Sho guesses that Shun won’t show up in the end, although he keeps the guess to himself as he senses Toma growing restless by the minute.
*
A low scream of “Sho” is the last thing he hears before he is engulfed in a ball of jersey and swept up in the scent of lavender. He squeaks as he loses his balance and rolls over on the ground, tangled with one beaming Jun. “You’re heavy,” Sho says, feeling Jun’s breath on his ear and a familiar smell. “And drunk.”
“Sho,” Jun speaks softly in his ear, his grip tight around Sho. “I’m just a bit drunk, but how about about another date?”
“Are you going to run into the river and leave me again?”
“Are you still mad about that?”
“I am not.” Sho fails to hide his pout. “I never was.”
A small cough comes from around them and Sho realizes that they are not alone. He shrugs himself out of Jun’s grip, failing on the first try before he tries harder and managed to shake himself away, sending Jun rolling to the other side of the blanket. He looks up to find Toma watching them with an amused look.
“I didn’t know you two were so disgusting.”
Sho flushes at the comment but before he can respond, Jun rolls back from the ground.
“Hello, Toma,” he says, “you haven’t seen anything yet. Need more demonstration?”
“Cut it out,” Sho elbows him in the side, effectively shutting him up. “You definitely read too many magazines. And so does he.”
“What’s up? Picnic?” Jun looks around to find the containers, now realizing that they’re sitting on a blanket.
“I am accompanying Toma as he waits for Chief. He says that he’s going to be on the riverside around this hour.” Sho helpfully tries to explain the situation to Jun, hoping that Jun will come up with something that will allow him to go home instead of just sitting here by the riverside.
“Chief?”
“Oh. You know where he is?”
“I do.”
“Where?” This time both Toma and Sho are asking the same question.
“He’s in town. I was with him not long ago.”
“You were?”
“We were going for a drink together but I changed my mind after the third glass so I come back here instead. He’d probably still at the same bar now before he starts hopping around to different ones after dark.”
“Bar hopping? And you’ve been drinking already? It’s barely past 3 in the aftern-,” Sho says, stopping short when Toma rises abruptly. “What? Toma, what is it?”
“So he still goes out drinking even without me!”
Sho is confused at first before he realizes that Toma was addressing Jun and has already gathered his containers, pulling the blanket off and uprooting him and Jun without warning.
“You know he still does, Toma,” Jun says.
Hauling his bag, with the blanket draped on his shoulder sloppily, Toma huffs out his teary rage at them. “I know he still does, but hearing it from you isn’t making it better. And after he said he’s going to be here and I’ve been waiting.”
Toma breaks into a run the next moment, leaving Sho completely stunned and Jun sighing with frustration.
“I told him to read the magazine but apparently he didn’t do that properly,” Jun says. “And Chief isn’t any better.”
“What the heck was that?”
“Toma loves Chief but Chief doesn’t share the same feelings.”
“Ah, that’s why he plants such a variety of cucumbers. Kappas like cucumber, right?”
“And you just realized that now?”
“Well, I had made the same conclusion but not to that extreme,” Sho says. “But more importantly, you were out drinking at this hour? With Chief?”
“You shouldn't be jealous. Chief and I go back a long way,” Jun says. “Toma used to be there with us. Well Mao-chan too, but she said going drinking with us made her miss her family even more so she stopped joining us. We even have a team name, Team All Night Drinking.”
“What is it with team names here in Arakawa?” Sho says, remembering that Nino was equally as passionate about having a team.
Jun ignores him. “We go drinking from time to time and have our own rule. We take turns carrying each other home if any of us get too drunk to walk back.
“But one day, Toma was so drunk he confessed he loves Chief using a megaphone in front of a karaoke box. He was arrested for causing neighborhood disturbance afterward. I guess that’s when Chief stopped inviting him.”
“That damn kappa,” is the only heartfelt response Sho can come up with afterward.
*
Out of guilt, and because, Sho has to admit, Jun’s nudging him to take responsibility of his action, which is technically Jun’s action but he takes responsibility all the same, he spends the next few days helping out Toma on his vegetable field.
The guy turns out to be cheerful and nice, when he’s not bawling his eyes out over Shun like the other day. On the other hand, Sho also slowly understands the reason Ohno likes the guy.
Now that he’s no longer wishing for a companion, Ohno and Nino keep on appearing near the vegetable field, obviously stalking him like pros. Whenever Sho catches the sight of them hiding in the tall bushes, peering at him and murmuring to each other, they only giggle together even more. Sho can only imagine that Nino must have been a bad influence on Ohno, even if Toma doesn’t seem to mind the antics.
One afternoon Sho can’t stand it anymore. They have been sipping what appears to be cold orange juice under the shade of a tree while he only has a cucumber sandwich for lunch while working the field with Jun. “Why don’t you guys make yourselves useful and help out if you’re here all the time?”
Sho gets no response other than them scrambling even further down in a useless attempt to hide themselves.
But the next day, Ohno seems to have a change of heart when he comes over shy and all, walking past Sho and Jun and going straight to Toma.
“Can I help too?”
Sho notices that Ohno’s line of sight goes straight to Toma’s bare arms. The day before Toma was wearing long sleeves but today it’s a gracious no-sleeve tight tank; it doesn’t take much apparently.
Toma smiles at him. “Sure. Thank you, Oh-chan.”
Nino still lurks over the side of the field, and Sho can hear him moan in defeat when Ohno flushes at Toma’s answer.
Not long after, Sho can hear him finally approaching.
“Guys. Can I just play some music so I can help everyone mellow down and feel even more terrible about themselves?”
When Toma and Jun nod in agreement, Sho doesn’t care anymore. “Sure, why not.“
*
Toma later shows great interest when he spots the pair of shears Sho has tied on his suitcase. When they’re heaving bags of cucumber inside the house, he tells Sho about it. “I’ve been wanting one of those! These are expensive.”
“It’s a part of the trade I’m doing right now,” Sho says, catching a clueless expression from Toma. “You didn’t know? Nino says everyone knows about it by now.”
“I only heard about a bundle of dry grass, but not a pair of shears.”
“If you want it, you can take it. It’s totally okay. You’ll find better use for it anyway, even if these are blade shears, not pruning shears,. But I guess technically they are the same?”
“They are.” Toma smiles at him. “And that means that I need to give you something as part of the trade?”
“Anything is fine,” Sho says, and he surprises himself when he means what he’s just said.
*
During dinner hour that night, Toma visits Sho in his tent with few bags. He lays out the contents on the table and begins his explanation. “I have four of these babies, four different varieties of cucumbers; and then these oranges. You can have whichever you want, as my part of the trade we did this afternoon.”
“Then, I’ll have the oranges.”
“Why not the cucumbers? These are delicious. I took great care of them and they all are light, watery and sweet!”
“I’m sure they are,” Sho says, calming him down. “But I’d rather have the oranges, and you said that I could choose.”
“Well, any of the other four actually.”
“But you’re saving them for Chief, aren’t you?”
Toma nods softly.
“Then, it’d be a waste of cucumber to give them to me, don’t you think?” Sho reasons.
Toma stands still for a while before nodding. Sho releases a relieved sigh at the sight; he really doesn’t have time for another breakdown.
“Ah, that’s why you plant so varieties of cucumbers. Kappas like them, right?”
“You just realized that now?” Toma smiles dreamily.
“But how about Ohno?”
“Ohno?” Toma frowns before shrugging. “Ah, is it about those love declarations? I’ve told him countless times that I don’t consider him more than just a friend.”
silk cloth: when the sub-title doesn’t even relate
When Sho steps out to walk Toma out of the door, he finds Ohno and Nino standing side by side, the first with a sad hunch while the other with his hands folded on his chest, sending Sho a condemning stare.
He waves Toma off before turning back to the two. He doesn’t need to ask more because apparently Nino and Ohno had overheard the talk.
Ohno stands still in front of him, shoulders sagging, and if Sho listens closely he’s sure that he can hear a muffled sob. Ohno doesn’t cry but the look of sadness in his eyes is enough of a sign already.
“Traitor.”
Nino pats him in the head-and (evidently) ass, “There, there. That Sho guy is a meanie indeed.”
“Don’t hate me, hate the game. And meanie is such a mean word.”
“Which serves its purpose entirely then.” Steam begins to materialize from the tip of Nino’s mask. Ohno helpfully points that out to him before Nino fumes further. “It’s okay, Oh-chan, I’m fuming, literally. That’s all.”
“That’s not calming at all.”
“Oh-chan, welcome to the team then.”
“What team?”
Sho groans.
“I’m going to call Mao-chan tonight and cancel our meeting tomorrow. We’re going to have drink tonight, Oh-chan. Ready yourself!”
Sho sees them walking away shoulder to shoulder into the night. It shouldn’t be a wrong thing to do morally; he trades the shears fair and square with Ohno. And now they’re his to be exploited. He can do anything he likes with them, including giving them to Toma as a present.
But now that Toma has gone home, Sho finds himself worrying about Ohno. Sure, he knows that the man is angry at him, but it wasn’t entirely his fault. Ohno should’ve given the shears to Toma long ago instead of giving it to him in the name of trade. This trade is once again biting him in the butt, he grumbles before he finally decides that he should go visit Ohno again for an apology.
.
Nino is lounging in the chair alone in front Ohno’s trailer when Sho gets there. Raising his eyebrow over the relaxed atmosphere he finds here-he was half-expecting Nino to assault him bodily shall they meet again-he greets Nino.
“Hello.”
“Look who’s here.” Nino welcomes him with loopy grin. Sho rolls his eyes at the sneer; the guy is dead-drunk already. That was fast considering he was together with Nino not as much as three hours before.
“Good evening, Nino,” he says. “I was looking for Ohno. Is he here?”
“He went inside to fetch our next bottle,” Nino says before unceremoniously letting out a loud hiccup. “As you can see, we are having a broken-hearted party here under the stars.”
“Are you now? I didn’t notice,” Sho replies dryly.
A loud crack comes from behind the trailer and it is not long until Ohno walks to the front. He stops short and pouts when he sees Sho. “What do you want, meanie?”
“I am not a meanie,” Sho says indignantly. “And, again, it’s such a mean word.”
Now that Ohno’s back, Nino seems to return to his angry phase again. “That was the intention, you crush thief!” he points at Sho with his empty glass. “Oh-chan, give me more of this delicious liquid! Let’s spend the night drenched in heartbreak and booze!”
The guy is not yet dead-drunk, Sho notes, he’s loud-drunk, the worst kind. He ignores Nino’s stream of curses and what sounds like a wailing melody and says what he intends to say. “Ohno, I’m here to apologize properly.”
Ohno just stands still, staring hard at Sho. After Nino runs out of words to say, he is still rooted to the spot, lower lip protruding in a sulky pout.
“Say something, Oh-chan.” Nino finally becomes fully aware of the silence when he sees that Sho’s gaze gets lower and lower.
Sho for once is not slow and he knows when his apology is being rejected. Still he waits, almost giving up when it seems like a long time but there’s still no response from Ohno.
“Fine,” Sho says finally, glancing over to Nino who’s now standing straight and is also waiting for Ohno to break the silence. “I’ll be taking my leave. Have a nice night.”
“Sho!”
Ohno’s sudden call startles him but it stops him from leaving.
“I accept your apology and have decided that we should settle this like men!” the man declares.
Nino is now chuckling as he leans back against his chair, letting out a drunken cheer. “You go, you!”
“Settle it like men?” Sho blinks confusedly as he processes what Ohno has just said; all of a sudden he feels swishy. He asks in small voice, “What do you mean? Sword fight? I can’t do a sword fight!”
“No, like men of Arakawa.” Ohno crooks a smile and suddenly Sho feels like he should be running for his life right now. Those gentle eyes disappear only to be replaced by a piercing gaze. “Here, we’ll bungee jump from the bridge.”
*
“Hello?”
It’s past working hours, not that Sho’s ever minded about the slot of time while working; when one corporation operates worldwide, he should be able to provide service at any cost, at any time. His phone hasn’t been ringing with the once familiar tone in a long while. He has made sure that he doesn’t slack on his normal workload even if he rarely makes appearances at the central office since he’s moved to Arakawa.
A familiar voice greets him on the other side of the line. “Sho-kun, good evening.”
“Is there any emergency?”
“No. Why would you think that?”
“It’s very late at night, and you’re calling out of the blue?”
“Should I text you a notice before I can call these days now, Sho-kun? It’s barely after midnight. I hope I haven’t caught you in the middle of anything important.“
Resisting a harsh bite out, Sho sighs. “I’m sorry, Kimura. It was a long day here and I forgot myself.”
“Here? Where’s here exactly?”
He knows that he has said something that is not entirely correct but he can’t help it.
“Somewhere I am staying right now.” Explanation will take a long time so Sho stops the conversation with a short answer before the topic gets out of control; it’s not an immediate concern to Kimura after all. “So if there isn’t an emergency, you were calling for something else?”
Weak horse: the last forgotten triangle?
A long “Ooh” is the only thing Yoko says before he runs toward Nino across the field and takes a wide jump before slamming the man into the ground.
Sho chuckles as he hears a small muffled “The hell!” from the pile of Yoko on Nino.
The baseball day has started nicely for him, considering that he pouted and whined all night to Jun about his lack of sports ability. Jun’s persuasion that everyone only does this for fun didn’t convince him a single bit, yet it is very nice to see Nino being on the receiving end of Yoko’s tomfoolery.
“Ah, very cute. Are you a real star?” Yoko starts to pinch Nino’s cheeks under the mask and grins mischievously upon the discovery. “I like your yellow mask.”
“Get off me, you freak!”
“You remind me of a friend. He is all yellow too.”
Nino lets out a deep, annoyed growl before he shoves Yoko off him with all his might. Yoko is left in the middle of the field as Nino runs toward the bench, finding Sho watching the whole thing with apparent amusement. “Good morning, Nino.”
Before Nino can reply, the sound of Yoko running toward him makes him shriek, and the next second Nino is running for his life. “Sho, make him stop!”
“I can’t do that. He’s free to do whatever he wants to do. It’s Sunday anyway.”
Nino runs before Yoko can pounce at him again, and now they are circling the makeshift bench as the latter doesn’t seem to have the intention to stop.
Jun and Mao-chan walk toward the bench following Ohno and the Iron twins, all with their own style of sports outfits.
“I white-lined the whole field twice. We’re all ready,” Mao says as she settles her line marker hopper aside and jumps into the seat to sit beside Sho.
“And I brought food,” Sho says, pointing at the small stacks of plastic on the other side.
“Nino, I brought half of everything,” Jun says. “Aiba will bring the rest of the equipment. He’s right behind me.”
Yoko freezes at the Jun’s sentence.
Nino keeps running until he bumps into Yoko’s back, screaming while sidestepping backward only to see that Yoko has stopped chasing him.
Out of breath, he turns to everyone watching in confusion. “What just happened?”
“Jun mentioned Aiba,” Sho says. It’s only a suspicion at first but soon it’s confirmed when Yoko buries his face in his palms and walk slowly to sit on the end of the far bench with a flushed face and a dreamy smile.
“Weird,” Nino says, tapping his shoulder to dust some dirt off him.
“You’re not one to talk,” Sho says.
Nino turns to him ready with a comment, only to stop the moment he sees Jun beaming next to Sho, watching their conversation. A puff of steam bursts uncontrollably from his star tip and Nino rushes hurriedly to sit next to Mao.
*
For one with absurd rules and continuous chuffs from almost all the players involved, the game goes on smoothly. Shun makes up new rules every time one tries to put his team down, to which Nino always agrees since they are in the same team. Ohno leads the other team and doesn’t seem to care much about the score as long as he can play double catcher with Toma. Yoko is too busy running back and forth between second and third base for no reason to gain attention. Mao keeps on going round the field every once in a while, making sure that the white line is always in top condition. Jun pitches against Becky in an intense staring showdown, leaving Sho and Aiba on the bench.
“I heard you jumped off the bridge for Ohno the other night,” Aiba says, eyes focused hard on the field but with a kind tone. “That was very brave of you.”
Sho shudders with the memory-they made him jump not long after Ohno voiced the idea out at the end and since then the bridge has never been the same. The closer he gets to the ground, the safer. “Don’t remind me.”
“Nice job.” Aiba gives him a strong pat on the back and a plastic container of cookies before going back to observing the game.
Sho tears the plastic open and starts munching. Lately Aiba has been nicer to him, perhaps because now he’s used to the cold stare. Aside from the guns Sho knows are somewhere near his bodily presence, he is actually a nice guy.
They watch the game further in silence as Sho enjoys how Shun is being chased by the Iron twins; Jun and Ohno play as double catchers while Nino runs away from Becky’s attempt to seize his mask on the outfield.
When he turns to look at Aiba he can’t help to notice that Aiba’s eyes have been set on one person only and it definitely isn’t Yoko.
Sensing Sho’s questioning glances, Aiba sighs. “Did you know that she has the nicest eyes?”
She? So it’s definitely Becky. He wasn’t wrong when he though he caught a glimpse of blush on Aiba few weeks ago. “Eyes?” Sho says, “I don’t know. I am scared for my life, Aiba. I don’t think looking into Becky’s eyes was a choice I would’ve taken.”
“She’s graceful, she works so hard and, I am in constant awe. I mean, look at how she moves,” Aiba says, gesturing at Becky now taking the pitcher’s position in the middle. “All grace and beauty. And how that cute pastel apron holds her hidden stash of weaponries. It’s just a work of absolute art.”
“Where did you two meet?” Sho asks. He doesn’t specify the question. If Aiba wants to answer about Becky then he can get the story wants, but if not, Aiba can pick anyone from the field and start from there.
“It was love at first sight,” Aiba stares into space, eyes hard but with a hint of gentleness. “There’s this animal show on television-“
A short knife flies just an inch over Aiba at his right shoulder, making him waver before straightening back up within seconds.
“What?” Sho on the other hand, lets out a high-pitched scream.
“Accurate as ever,” Aiba says, beaming with pride.
“What was that?” He turns to see Becky standing twenty meters away, holding another short knife, giving them a warning and making a threatening pose. “What was that for, Becky?”
The game stops, as all players have now turned their attention to both Aiba and Becky. Sho now gets even more curious; if Becky needs to throw short knives at them to prevent Aiba’s talking about them, there must be something else. He nudges Aiba. “Go on.”
“She was radiant. Her hair looks as just soft as it is, and I was young.” Aiba still has his gaze in space when another knife flies their way, dangerously missing by a fraction of inch now by his ear.
“Becky!” Sho groans in disappointment, turning to the field and giving his voice the last bit of courage he has. “It’s dangerous. And he’s about to get to the good stuff!”
“Say that again.” Becky struts to their seat; her heels click even though she’s walking on solid ground. She stops in front of Sho, with a knife ready to pierce his eyes. “And Aiba-kun, you know I don’t miss unless it’s on purpose.”
“Your aim is perfection as always, Rebecca.” Aiba holds his hand in front of Sho before he bows his apology. “Please just excuse this new guy’s curiosity.”
“I’ve been here for nearly two months. I know stuff,” Sho says, even as he clings on Aiba’s robe sleeve and starts to tug.
Aiba mumbles his words this time. “I thought you were scared for your life?”
“I am. And that was just me reacting proactively, never mind,” Sho mumbles his response in turn and follows Aiba in bowing.
Becky stares them down for another minute before reaching to take the knife on the wall and stashing the sharp pair on her apron. She turns and walks toward the midfield again, when someone helpfully says, “Game on again!”
When everyone, or most of them, are back into their positions, Sho sits back down, now feeling the rush of breath slowly subsiding and leaving mere tingles. He is getting used to these kinds of weird occurrences the more time he’s been here; his old self would have just fled and returned to his old apartment in a heartbeat.
“I like her, Sho,” Aiba suddenly announces, startling Sho completely.
Sho has a bad feeling that it will lead to yet another occurrence but he gives Aiba his answer. “That much I can deduce.” And as if to confirm his suspicions, Yoko screams his lungs off from somewhere near third base and starts to run toward their direction. “Oh, great.”
Sho stands to yell at Yoko even when he’s still running, knocking over Mao’s hopper on the way. “Our voice is not that loud, is it? Why do you people keep on hearing interesting things that aren’t being spoken loudly?”
Aiba is even faster as he stands up abruptly, reaching into his robe sleeve to produce a hand grenade. Yoko stops short in his tracks, just a meter away from where Sho stands the moment he sees the grenade. Wide-eyed, Sho too takes a step back from Aiba the moment his senses pick up a sniff of gunpowder, for real this time.
“Aiba,” Sho says. “Calm down.”
Aiba stares hard at Yoko before curling his finger in the safety ring. “Why are you screaming?”
Sho rolls his eyes at the question but Yoko stops screaming at the action. Everyone is rushing to the bench, game completely forgotten, now that Sho’s stepped back to join the rest in the crowd that’s a mix of partly curious, partly worried and a little gleeful.
“Is, is that true?” Yoko finds his voice. “You like her? Her?”
Before Aiba can answer, Becky takes a few steps forward out of the crowd. “Excuse me, punk.”
“Go easy on her, Becky. He’s still a kid,” someone says, most probably Shun, judging from the false croaked voice Sho hears from behind the crowd.
“I’m not a kid!” Yoko yells at the crowd who is moving into the bench, each now holding a bag of snacks Mao and Jun have kindly distributed. “I can fly. I’m dangerous and you should know it!”
Sho snorts at Yoko’s last words, they’re the ones that Yoko likes to shout while in class, and he has seen that nothing ever comes out of the statement. Aiba stows his grenade back in his sleeve robe pocket and walks toward the crowd. Ohno helpfully gives him the opened snack bag he’s holding before grabbing a new one for himself.
“So you say you can fly,” Becky says, standing in front of Yoko with her back to the crowd.
“If you put the image of a bird and immerse yourself in its feelings and concentrate, you can.” Somehow looking smug, Yoko takes his stance, holding his big belt buckle in one hand and waving the other.
Meanwhile Nino is busy searching for something else inside the empty plastic. “Why didn’t anyone pack onigiri?”
“Because Toma let his entire lettuce crop wilt,” Sho says, reaching for the water from Mao.
“At least Mao-chan bought beer.”
“It’s not even midday, Oh-chan.” Toma elbows him while passing a can over.
Jun suddenly rises from his seat. “I forgot to write the score on the blackboard.”
“Don’t worry, I have it memorized.” Aiba says, reaching into the sleeve of his long robe again and producing, this time, a clear plastic wrapper full of cookies. “Anyone want one?”
Back on the other side of the bench, Becky eyes Yoko with little interest. “I’ll have you apologize for your implication earlier in under five minutes. No, make it three.”
“Which is it gonna be then? Five? Three? Or never?” Yoko sneers at her, gathering long “oohs” from the crowd in the background.
“Two then.”
“Is Becky any good?” Sho can’t help but ask, in a whisper though, now that he knows that everyone seems to have very heightened hearing when it comes to sensitive matters.
“Becky is the best,” Aiba, from the far side of the crowd, says.
So much for whispering. Sho continues in a normal voice. “How best?”
“Becky has this long sword. Unlike mine, it’s thin, very thin. I saw her use it once, and it’s very sharp. She can hold her sword,” Ohno says with complicated explanation gestures.
“And wait till you see her in a black leather tight cat suit,” Nino adds. A sharp knife flies a bit over his highest star point but no one cares enough to duck; Becky would’ve gone for the forehead should she mean to. “Ugh, Aiba is all over the place every time she does that.”
“Nino,” Aiba lightly warns Nino without even correcting him.
“I heard she’s a ninja, but no one that’s still breathing is able to confirm that,” Mao says, adding her own words. “Chief said we must trust those rumours if we want to keep our heads attached.”
There’s so much new information for Sho to process in a very short amount of time. “She’s that scary?”
Even Jun joins the crowd in sending a disparaging look at Sho, silently telling Sho that he’d better keep quiet if he wants to avoid another short knife flying over his head because perhaps Becky won’t miss this time. But he wants to ask, just a little confirmation, and then he’ll forever hold his peace.
“Aiba?”
The glint of pride on Aiba’s straight face should have been enough to answer his question but then Aiba gives an answer. “Yes, that’s Rebecca for you.”
*
Becky does get Yoko down on his knees, in under 10 seconds, and proceeds to teach him a lesson, the kind that lesson that Sho can’t possibly deliver in a classroom, for the next minute. Yoko is still trying to boast about the flying rocket he has attached to the costume under his underwear, which will blare and ignite at the end of his contemplation.
Becky digs her heels deeper into his back and stops the empty threats effectively. “You’ve been extremely rude, Yokoyama Yu.”
“How, just how, do you know my full name?”
“That’s not your full name, but that should hold you for a while,” Becky says, sending her sharp grin along with a short knife to land inches from Yoko’s ear. “Aiba-kun!”
Dumping his cookie package immediately into Sho’s lap and sending gravel flying in a blink of an eye, Aiba runs toward her. He stops short in front of the waiting figure. “Rebecca,” he says with a deep drawl, “you called?”
“This punk is yours, I heard?”
“He’s no one’s,” Aiba says, and Yoko lets a low squeak from few inches above the ground. “Please just excuse this new guy’s rudeness. I’m sure he’s learned his lesson now.”
“All these new people around are giving me headache.”
“I’ve been here for nearly two months,” Sho pipes in with a mouth full of snacks from across the bench.
“Oh, shut up.”
“Sorry.” Sho lightly shrugs the threat off. “Oranges?” he then offers a plastic bag, the last one left since everyone has munched almost everything they brought to field today.
Huffing, Becky twirls around to stalk back home but not without snatching the bag from Sho’s outstretched hand. “We’re done here,” she says, throwing her team hat to the ground before stalking away.
“Thank you, Rebecca.” The next moment, Aiba smiles blindingly at Becky’s back, contorting his face into what appears to be a satisfied grin. “Good game, today.”
Rice fields: of being home, and Happiness
After a dinner break, along with a short bath and change of clothes, Sho finds a small neon green post-it pasted on top of his computer.
Sho,
I gave Jun the most expensive wedding magazine I could find.
Deal with that.
-I’ve duly done my part of the trade.
After checking all the zippers and tiny windows he has on this tent and finding them undamaged, Sho feels it’d be best to not know how Becky managed to get the post-it in. He should start to worry about Jun and his new magazine after all.
Sho picks up his phone to find a few missed calls from Kimura. The man calls him almost every day now and Sho’s beginning to run out of excuses. Steeling himself before dialling the number to return the call, he wonders what it is this time.
*
The field is suspiciously empty as Sho walks across on his way back to his tent. He passes Ohno’s hut and hears nothing. Perhaps the man is asleep. It has been raining since morning and he had to cancel the class only to have Yoko show up and demand a lesson.
Kimura calls again in the morning, demanding that Sho come to an important shareholder’s meeting this afternoon; and just as he has been doing for the past month, he uses the same old excuse of him conducting important research for his personal project.
Sho can tell that Kimura isn’t satisfied with his sparse explanation, but he isn’t going to explain the whole situation, how he now lives with these people on Arakawa riverside and feels more content than he has ever felt his whole life.
He spots Mao wandering, her white-line hopper handle in one hand and an umbrella in the other, when he nearly reaches his tent. “Mao-chan.”
She looks up and pushes her hopper toward Sho, marking the wet ground as she goes. “Hello. Did you just finish your class?”
“I wrapped it up not too long ago,” Sho says. “What are you doing under the rain?”
“I picked the wrong day to go out.” Mao chuckles as she shivers from the cold. “I was thinking of go to town but maybe not in this rain.”
“You should’ve gone yesterday when it was blistering heat all day then.”
“I didn’t feel like going out yesterday,” Mao says.
Sho has heard from Jun that Mao deals with bringing beverages and other convenience goods for everyone in exchange for recyclable items. Yet she doesn’t go out too often because she mostly doesn’t feel like going around sometimes, and she chooses to stay home and spend time in leisure at her place. When no one sees her for more than four days, sometimes Chief has to check up on her to see that she’s safe and sound asleep.
Sho notices the shivers are getting uncontrollable. “Do you want to come over for a while then? You can wait till the rain stops. I have hot coffee.”
“Oh, that sounds good if you don’t mind.”
“No, not at all.”
They take the roundabout way to get to Sho’s tent because the shortcut might break the hopper. Sho walks more slowly as Mao tries to navigate her way through the wet ground.
“Rain always makes me miss my family even more,” Mao says when they arrive in front of Sho’s tent. “Don’t you miss yours?”
The sudden question takes Sho aback completely. During his time in Arakawa, no one has taken an interest in his family circumstances, and especially not in the part where he’s the successful head of a corporation. Yet Mao isn’t taking an interest in that specific aspect. She’s asking a general question, so very general that Sho can’t come up with an answer.
“No one’s ever asked me that.” Sho shakes his umbrella, sending beads of water flying back to the wet ground. “And I think I can’t answer that because I honestly don’t know how.”
Mao waits until Sho looks up and meets her gaze. “It’s okay if you don’t know. I was just asking. I don’t mean to bother you with private matters.”
“It was a good question, though,” Sho says, bitterly shaking his head in unexpected embarrassment. “And I’m fine. It just got me thinking,” he adds when Mao still seems concerned.
“Let’s get that coffee you offered then.”
“Yes, let’s go in.”
Sho sets his umbrella and briefcase aside to get the door open for them before welcoming Mao inside to find everyone scattered around feeling pretty much at home in every corner of his tent.
“Welcome back,” Nino says before strumming his guitar and starting to sing the ballad about bumping umbrellas.
Sho turns from Nino-he will deal with the star-face later-to find Shun and Yoko crouched low and growling at each other in some sumo poses in one corner. Becky and Jun are in a heated discussion over an article that he doesn’t even want to know about in another. Ohno, who has many dark charcoal stripes decorating his cheeks, and Toma are deep in a battle of Old Maid with the Iron twins.
“Oh, I didn’t know you were holding a party,” Mao says, delighted at the crowd.
“I wasn’t,” Sho sputters. “This is breaking and entering.”
“Relax, Sho, we’re not attempting burglary here,” Aiba says from his side while twisting in a complicated yoga pose with his eyes closed.
Sho wants to utter a stream of protest, kick everyone out of his tent, his home, at that very minute, grab Nino’s guitar and toss it into the river. He even considers shouting at Aiba, or perhaps Becky if he can work himself into enough of a fit of rage. But then Ohno loses the game again and has Toma and the twins laughing and drawing on his face some more, Jun and Becky are chuckling over something funny in their article, and Mao is still waiting beside him, watching him with interest as he sorts his sanity.
He finally settles for something simple, something that crossed his mind when he first entered his hijacked tent. “I’m home.” There’s no solid answer aside from some acknowledging grunts and groans, but somehow it is enough.
*
“Aren’t you guys supposed to be somewhere? Somewhere that’s not here?” Sho has crawled back and forth trying to keep everyone under control as rain keeps on falling, hour after hour. So far nothing has broken or torn, but he can never be sure with these people.
His phone buzzes, and one glance at the screen tells him that it’s Kimura again.
He slowly goes out of the tent, tiptoeing in his shoes and squatting in the corner near the door.
“Yes.”
“Good evening, Sho-kun.”
Kimura has his tone clipped and brisk, and Sho knows that usually isn’t a good sign.
“How can I help you tonight, Kimura?”
“Sho-kun.” Kimura clears his throat on the other end of the line. ”I thought I had given you enough warnings, but apparently they weren’t sufficient.”
“About what?”
“Your father has finally been informed of your whereabouts at the moment.” Kimura softens his tone when he hears Sho sighs heavily. “It wasn’t me. I didn’t say anything.
“You think I didn’t know how you spent the last few months by Arakawa river?”
“How do-“
“I do have my sources, and they are nearly as good as your father’s. If mine could locate you, it’d be an easy task for your father’s eyes.”
“I, I was just. This research project needs-“ Sho falls silent when he realizes that Kimura is giving him a chance to lie if he wants to. He’s been lying to the man for months now, what would another month, or a few more months make a difference. Except it will, and Sho knows it. What would the man, his father, the great man who leads the Sakurai Corporation, do? Sho has to shudder at the thought.
“Kimura,” Sho says, “I live here now.”
“I know.”
“And I’m not planning to change that any time soon.”
“I know.”
Sho can almost see the faint crooked smile Kimura uses to flash at him whenever the man is happy with his work.
“You look like you’re enjoying you time over there, Sho-kun,” the man says. “But I believe your father has made a decision. It’s going to be a development project by Arakawa river, three interconnected apartment complexes and a small shopping mall. I haven’t read the briefs, but that is what I heard from top office tonight.”
Sho closes his eyes, breathing his frustration out. He should’ve known. After all, he grew up learning from his father about persistence and hardship. Whatever is coming his way it won’t be easy.
“Is that all?”
“That’s as much as I heard tonight. I’ll hear more tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’m glad you can finally come clean about your dubious life arrangement at the moment.”
Sho laughs at that. “You should come over soon then. You know where it is, right?”
“I do.”
“Good.”
“Very well then. I’ve bothered your night long enough,” Kimura says, and Sho could hear the distant car honk on the other end of the line. “I’ll leave it to you, so you can go back and enjoy your home party.”
“Home party? What? Where are you right now?”
“Good night, Sir,” Kimura says with a laugh before he hangs up.
*
Sho walks back in and goes straight to one corner, ignoring the looks everyone’s throwing at him. Nino’s off-tune guitar strum stops for a moment before it starts again in a harsher tone. He turns and sees that everyone has gone back to whatever they’ve been doing when he came in and tries to take comfort in the loud company.
“Rock!”
“Nino, your music is ballads, with occasional syrupy pop bits. Stop saying rock. It doesn’t mix well with your posture,” Mao teases him.
“Mao-chan, that’s mean!”
Shun materializes beside him, distracting him from Ohno’s slow motion sumo fight with Aiba at the end the tent.
“I’m sorry to hear what you’ve just heard.”
“That’s you admitting to eavesdropping,” Sho says, without any bite. In fact, he feels a little bit lighter knowing that he might have someone to share his burden with, even if it’s a weird man in a green wetsuit. “The trade was so stupid.”
“Was it really?” Shun says. “Isn’t the happiness maybe be worth all the hardship at the end?”
“Happiness is not about ‘Come on everybody say! Yeah yeah yeah!’”
“It can be.”
Sho squints sceptically at Shun.
Shun throws him a quizzical look. “It might be. Who's to know? The memory of happiness is naïve, but that’s fine.”
“That didn’t make any sense,” Sho says, “at all.”
“It doesn’t have to.” Shun turns and smiles, aiming his painted green smile at Sho’s confused face. “We’re all in your favor then.”
“People! Now is the time you’ve all been waiting for,” Toma calls out. “Chief’s infamous gag!” Low-voiced cheers fill the tent. Shun pats Sho on the head and heads to the center of the tent to get around.
“Ah, thank you for waiting, everyone!”
Jun comes to sit next to Sho as everyone arranges their seats to circle the brown paper box. “Are you okay?”
“I will be,” Sho says. He reaches for Jun’s cold hand and keeps it on his lap. All that trading and betting was for nothing, Sho wants to say, but it’s hard to do anything but smile contently as Jun’s hand clasps tightly in his-perhaps a bit too tight for his blood circulation, and somehow, it is enough.
This peaceful-since Yoko isn’t around-morning, it’s a normal class with Jun joining them early.
Sho suspects the fact that Jun is around adds another point toward Nino’s internal struggle as he pouts harder as he loiters along the far side of the class. Pausing once in a while, glancing at him directly with something resembling curiosity, Nino looks like he is waiting for an invitation and Sho is now curious.
“Nino,” he calls. “Will you please stop looming in and out sneakily like that? You can join us if you want.”
One of the twin turns and waves at him. “Nino-san, come join us.” They slide on their long chairs, giving some space for Nino to sit between them. “Yeah. Here, here.”
“Hello, Jun, I didn’t see you here.”
Even though he can hear Nino’s overly sweet tone greeting Jun behind his back, Sho faces the blackboard to write another equation, and when he turns around, Nino is already seated next to Jun, pressed to his side to be exact, while the latter is in the middle of drawing some abstract pictures instead of doing the written equation.
“Hello to you too, Nino.”
Sho continues to work on his lesson plan for today a while. Nino stays close to Jun even if the latter doesn’t seem to pay attention to anything other than his drawing book. And Sho lets him be, and soon he supposes Nino will let his intention of stopping over be known. It doesn’t stop him from glancing once in a while in Jun’s direction, just to make sure Nino doesn’t attach himself too close.
“What do you want, Nino?” Sho asks him when they’ve already wrapped up the lesson. The twins have gone running to the river, leaving them alone, and it’s about time; Nino has stayed the whole time, and Sho knows that he must want something.
“I want nothing.” Nino eyes dart to the dried straw grass Sho has on his briefcase. “But maybe Oh-chan could use that bundle of dry straw grass.”
That surprises Sho. “Oh?”
“I’m just saying that because I heard you’re trading straw grass.”
“How did you know that?”
“Chief told us about it. Then he pleads with us that he believes one of us must need straw grass and need to trade whatever we can spare with you before he lost his bet.
“He even shudders visibly at the thought of losing to a new guy like you. It’s been more than a week and you’ve done nothing. I was thinking of helping him a bit. An evil person like you doesn’t deserve to win.”
Sho rolls his eyes at the last statement, yet he appreciates the reminder that it was a bet, that he can actually win the bet if there’s no one around to trade with him. He only has the grass now--no one will want that, or if he’s lucky it doesn’t have any value in the first place.
“Jun, can you take me to Ohno’s place?”
And before Jun can say anything him, Nino answers. “I could. Let’s go together then.”
Frowning, Sho can’t help but get suspicious, but he nods and gestures for Nino to lead the way anyway.
They walk downstream for a while before a small hut comes into view. Sho is a little taken aback when Jun unexpectedly runs toward the hut at the same time the door opens and a man carrying a long sword appears from the door. “Ohno!”
Sho watches the man smile to greet Jun and then greets both of them with a small bow. He bows in return. At least there’s someone here in Arakawa that knows manners, although the sword is rather worrying.
“Do you guys all need a haircut?” Ohno looks at him, and Sho’s gaze once again darts back to the long sword. Out of its sheath, it glimmers brilliantly and appears to be extremely sharp in Ohno’s hand; he shakes his head.
“We’re not here for a haircut, Oh-chan,” Nino says. “I brought Sho here for important business.”
Jun has different thoughts though. “I think I’ll have that haircut, Ohno.”
“Important business that can wait until you give Jun a haircut, though,” Nino quickly revises his statement. “Just take your time with him.”
Sho snorts loudly at Nino’s low tactic even when Ohno chuckles before he proceeds to gently gesture at Jun to take a seat on a stool. Nino elbows Sho’s side, but he’s too distracted to see Ohno agilely setting Jun up under a pale blue cape.
Ohno sets a stance, to pause and confirm with Jun. “Should I get it short this time?”
“Ah, not yet,” Jun says, “I still like these hair extensions.”
Sho darts a sharp, questioning gaze toward Nino, but the yellow man is too busy staring at Jun and Ohno with glazed eyes.
“Please let me keep it a while.” Jun closes his eyes and straightens his back, getting ready.
“Okay.” Ohno’s soft tone contrasts with the firm stance he once again settles with. “I’m just going to trim the split ends then.”
Sho can only see glints of swords moving around the tips of Jun’s hair, strands of them twirling violently, floating in a blast of air.
The next minute, the waves stop, and Jun’s hair is back in place while Ohno bows slightly to Jun’s back, pulling the cape off with finesse. “Thank you for coming today.”
Jun opens his eyes slowly, hand immediately reaching for his shoulder, before he turns and beams his thank you at Ohno. And Sho is in full awe at the whole happening, in the middle of trying to blink his mind back when Nino starts a round of applause and ruins the moment completely.
Ohno startles a bit before he remembers he has an audience. Turning his complete focus on Nino, he finally acknowledges Nino and Sho. “You said you have important business?”
*
It turns out that Ohno is willing to take the bundle of dry grass that Sho has offered. Jun and Nino have left him alone with Ohno, partially because Nino says that it’s his business and he should deal with it himself.
“So because I agree to take your bundle, in return, let’s see,” Ohno says. He abruptly stands up to go inside his hut before coming out carrying a small long box and holding it out to him.
“What’s this?” Sho slowly opens the box, finding a sheath and wrapped around it a pair of scissor-like instruments. “Is this a pair of shears?”
“Whatever. But I don’t need it,” Ohno says. “It was a mistake to receive that. I can’t cut hair with scissors, after all. I’ll use my sword instead.”
“This is a pair of blade shears, not scissors.” Sho examines it. “You can’t cut people’s hair with it. It’s dangerous. Although you’re using a sword, so I don’t know if ‘dangerous’ is the right word.”
“You can have it.”
“But this must have cost you a lot.”
“Not exactly. I got it as a gift. Or at least I was told that it was a gift.”
Confused, Sho asks again. “Someone gave you shears? As a gift? What were they thinking? Do they know that you cut people’s hair? That it’s dangerous to play with this, although you are using sword. I keep on forgetting that.”
Ohno holds a small smile for a while before he answers. “It was from Becky.”
*
Sho has bad feelings about all this trade all of a sudden. He makes his way to the riverside right after and starts shouting the moment the hint of a green wetsuit comes into his view. “Chief! I certainly didn’t sign up for all this madness.”
Shun is lounging next to him on the ground, with a suspiciously relaxed pose. Sho suspects that he most probably is just there to dry his wetsuit before he goes back to the river to go play with water for the rest of the hot afternoon. Then again he doesn’t have a choice. If he needs to vent, at least Shun should get a piece of his mind. He is the one who dragged him into the whole mess in the first place.
“But a trade is a trade. Just like a deal is a deal,” Shun replies easily. “You wouldn’t want to back out of the deal, would you?”
Sho sighs; there’s nothing he can do now that Shun has put it that way. Backing out is of course not an option, but pulling through is not as easy as it sounds. “What a nosy kappa!”
“Finally!” Shun smiles widely at the scolding. “I’m a kappa! A nosy one at that, but who cares? Sho, you finally get it!”
“I still don’t,” Sho says, cutting him off. “Can we please continue to talk about what we were talking about just now?”
“You don’t have to use such complicated sentences. It gives me a headache. Doesn’t it give you headache?”
“Unlike you, I am not talking gibberish.”
“Hello there, Chief.” A voice comes not far from where they are, and they both freeze. “And Sho, is that you?”
Speaks of the devil, or to be more precise, the source of Sho’s uneasy feeling. “I was passing by, and I can see you can relax just fine with your teaching job, Sho. You know, if you feel you’re lacking some manly activities, there’s always a job for you on my farm.”
There’s something in the way Becky talks that has been sending shivers down his spine since day one. Sho gives a short nod and waits until he can see Becky is out of earshot. “Oh, that was scary. I don’t know why, but don’t you think she’s scary?”
Sho turns to find the spot next to him already empty. He jumps up, turning around only to find the tip of a green head floating toward the middle of the river.
“Green clammy coward!”
A hand pops out, giving a victory sign, as the kappa continues floating to the center. Perhaps he needs to learn to move that quickly, Sho muses while he sits back, trying to calm himself before going back home.
Three oranges might not be worth a pound of cucumber
A few days later Ohno invites Sho over for tea, showing off how he has already turned the grass into an intricate tea whisk. He then entertains Sho with not-so-bitter senburi tea
After some chitchat, even though he had been thinking of sharing his story about Becky the other day, he finds himself listening to Ohno the most; his story focuses on repeated statements. “Toma has nice arms. Have you seen his? Lately he’s been busy but, his arms. Arms.”
Sho makes a note to take a good look at Toma’s arms later and finishes his tea because it grows bitter when it cools off.
“-and he is a very nice guy.”
He can’t help to ask; nice isn’t always best, but then again he can't say much considering his own situation with Jun. “So you decided that you like him because he’s a nice guy?”
“Isn’t that what everyone does all the time?” Ohno answer is light but sure and final. “To like someone because he’s nice, and warm, and shining, and just beautiful.”
“So you’ve told him exactly that?”
Ohno ducks away shyly, and faintly Sho can catch a murmur. “Countless. But what can I say? He’s in love with another guy.” He continues to whisk the remaining tea in the bowl, leaving the silence hanging and their teacups empty.
.
The class was supposed to finish their afternoon lesson but Yoko and the Iron twins are already nowhere to be seen-something that has been recurring lately, with Yoko and the twins striking what Sho supposes is a good deal. Now they can be friends and fight each other; kids nowadays.
Because Jun had said that he was going to be absent from class today, Sho is already getting ready to call it a day. Since it’s rare to have the afternoon off, he can probably catch up on his corporation job; he’s abandoned it for too long and he’d better deal with it before his phone starts ringing.
It does surprise him to catch a man figure in the far corner of the class, holding a clear umbrella over his head although it is a sunny afternoon.
“Hello,” he says.
“Hello. If you’re here for class, it’s over already. Perhaps tomorrow, if you’re interested? Or is there something I can help you with?”
“You’re Sho. I’m Toma. We met at your welcome party, but we’ve never really talked.”
Sho nods at the hurried introduction.
“And you’re the teacher here.”
“That’s right. What’s wrong?”
Toma sighs heavily, slowly lowering his umbrella. He fixes his gaze hard at Sho and bows deeply. Sho has already taken a few steps closer when Toma finally says something. “You, since you’re a teacher, you should teach me how to love, or how to deal with one-sided love. Whichever works faster is fine. Please.”
With a look of horror, Sho takes a step back. He watches Toma raise his head, his eyes is a bit watery; has he been crying? “What? Why?”
“It is your job to provide lessons, correct?” Toma waits until Sho nods again. “So you should provide lessons of love for me!”
“Excuse me?”
“And you better make it quick. I’m meeting him in an hour.”
“Him?”
*
Sho finds himself sitting by the riverside. Toma has a picnic basket ready, stashed near the blanket he had prepared beforehand.
“He says he’ll be around at this hour.” Toma looks around excitedly, setting his big bag on his side to sit hugging his knees, staring at the river in worrying silence.
For now, all Sho can think about is how he’s hoping for Jun to come out of the nowhere just to be there with them and make things less awkward. Or even Nino, or even Aiba-if he’d just left, shoot some bullets into the air so they all can go home. Anyone as long as he’s not alone with Toma and, more so, waiting for Shun.
“Jun’s mentioned you,” Toma says once they settle into comfort, with umbrella and the like. “A lot, actually, the other day, so I was thinking of getting lessons from you.”
“I teach basic physics and elementary grade kanji. Not love,” Sho corrects him. It’s beginning to worry him since there’s something in Toma’s eyes that says he isn’t fooling around like the rest of the people here. “No one can teach love anyway.”
“But they do in those magazines.”
“You’ve been reading the magazines Jun has?”
“Well, he said that if it is useful he’ll let me read anything he has. I haven’t gone through everything, but I do find some useful tips.”
It’s more like an impromptu daytime picnic by the river, Sho wants to answer, but he only nods in agreement.
They falls into silence again and Sho scrambles for some topics, preferably something that doesn’t involve Jun’s magazines-nothing good will come out of that. He points to the basket next to them. “What do you have there then?”
“Uhm, lunch and stuff,” Toma says. He reaches out to put the basket between them and Sho is a bit relieved; they can now talk about whatever is in the basket for a while.
“I have all these ready for snacking,” Toma continues, taking out container after container and stacking them outside of the basket. When he sets the basket aside, Sho can see that all of them are filled with cucumber slices.
“Are these all cucumber?”
“Yup.” With a smile now on his face, Toma turns back with another plastic container of more cucumbers. “You know, I have been working on these for a long time; I cross-breed these.”
“All these?”
Unmoved by Sho’s amazement, Toma goes on with his explanation. “Well, it didn’t work well at first. I just kept on trying and trying. They all need the lives they deserve.”
“These cucumbers? I didn’t know you can grow cucumber here by the riverside.”
“Of course you can. Well, you do need to have love and determination but once you get them, it’s manageable.” Toma brightens up at the explanation. “It’s all about handling them with care and loads of love.”
Sho is reduced to nothing but a polite nod as Toma continues to introduce the names of cucumber varieties he has been working with and then more information that Sho simply can’t keep up with.
“And this cucumber is special,” Toma says, reaching into the plastic and holding an ugly looking green cucumber. “I know they might have an unappealing shape at this point, but once you cut them into slices-“ he puts a slice on his hands and shows it to Sho, “-it’s all love.”
On Toma’s hand is a thin slice of cucumber, in the shape of a heart; the white watery flesh looks fresh with the ridged carving of its green skin giving the impression of a sparkling heart.
“You do come prepared.”
“I’m serious about this after all.”
After talking, they fall into a more comfortable silence. Toma allows Sho to try a few of the slices. Even if it seems to Sho that they’re sitting there by the riverside, waiting for something that doesn’t feel like coming, Toma’s company is quite nice. He isn’t as talkative and hostile to a point like Nino or Aiba, but he isn’t as distant as Jun sometimes.
They finish a container of sliced cucumber. On one hand Sho is getting sick of the watery taste already, and on the other hand, Toma is getting gloomier. Sho guesses that Shun won’t show up in the end, although he keeps the guess to himself as he senses Toma growing restless by the minute.
*
A low scream of “Sho” is the last thing he hears before he is engulfed in a ball of jersey and swept up in the scent of lavender. He squeaks as he loses his balance and rolls over on the ground, tangled with one beaming Jun. “You’re heavy,” Sho says, feeling Jun’s breath on his ear and a familiar smell. “And drunk.”
“Sho,” Jun speaks softly in his ear, his grip tight around Sho. “I’m just a bit drunk, but how about about another date?”
“Are you going to run into the river and leave me again?”
“Are you still mad about that?”
“I am not.” Sho fails to hide his pout. “I never was.”
A small cough comes from around them and Sho realizes that they are not alone. He shrugs himself out of Jun’s grip, failing on the first try before he tries harder and managed to shake himself away, sending Jun rolling to the other side of the blanket. He looks up to find Toma watching them with an amused look.
“I didn’t know you two were so disgusting.”
Sho flushes at the comment but before he can respond, Jun rolls back from the ground.
“Hello, Toma,” he says, “you haven’t seen anything yet. Need more demonstration?”
“Cut it out,” Sho elbows him in the side, effectively shutting him up. “You definitely read too many magazines. And so does he.”
“What’s up? Picnic?” Jun looks around to find the containers, now realizing that they’re sitting on a blanket.
“I am accompanying Toma as he waits for Chief. He says that he’s going to be on the riverside around this hour.” Sho helpfully tries to explain the situation to Jun, hoping that Jun will come up with something that will allow him to go home instead of just sitting here by the riverside.
“Chief?”
“Oh. You know where he is?”
“I do.”
“Where?” This time both Toma and Sho are asking the same question.
“He’s in town. I was with him not long ago.”
“You were?”
“We were going for a drink together but I changed my mind after the third glass so I come back here instead. He’d probably still at the same bar now before he starts hopping around to different ones after dark.”
“Bar hopping? And you’ve been drinking already? It’s barely past 3 in the aftern-,” Sho says, stopping short when Toma rises abruptly. “What? Toma, what is it?”
“So he still goes out drinking even without me!”
Sho is confused at first before he realizes that Toma was addressing Jun and has already gathered his containers, pulling the blanket off and uprooting him and Jun without warning.
“You know he still does, Toma,” Jun says.
Hauling his bag, with the blanket draped on his shoulder sloppily, Toma huffs out his teary rage at them. “I know he still does, but hearing it from you isn’t making it better. And after he said he’s going to be here and I’ve been waiting.”
Toma breaks into a run the next moment, leaving Sho completely stunned and Jun sighing with frustration.
“I told him to read the magazine but apparently he didn’t do that properly,” Jun says. “And Chief isn’t any better.”
“What the heck was that?”
“Toma loves Chief but Chief doesn’t share the same feelings.”
“Ah, that’s why he plants such a variety of cucumbers. Kappas like cucumber, right?”
“And you just realized that now?”
“Well, I had made the same conclusion but not to that extreme,” Sho says. “But more importantly, you were out drinking at this hour? With Chief?”
“You shouldn't be jealous. Chief and I go back a long way,” Jun says. “Toma used to be there with us. Well Mao-chan too, but she said going drinking with us made her miss her family even more so she stopped joining us. We even have a team name, Team All Night Drinking.”
“What is it with team names here in Arakawa?” Sho says, remembering that Nino was equally as passionate about having a team.
Jun ignores him. “We go drinking from time to time and have our own rule. We take turns carrying each other home if any of us get too drunk to walk back.
“But one day, Toma was so drunk he confessed he loves Chief using a megaphone in front of a karaoke box. He was arrested for causing neighborhood disturbance afterward. I guess that’s when Chief stopped inviting him.”
“That damn kappa,” is the only heartfelt response Sho can come up with afterward.
*
Out of guilt, and because, Sho has to admit, Jun’s nudging him to take responsibility of his action, which is technically Jun’s action but he takes responsibility all the same, he spends the next few days helping out Toma on his vegetable field.
The guy turns out to be cheerful and nice, when he’s not bawling his eyes out over Shun like the other day. On the other hand, Sho also slowly understands the reason Ohno likes the guy.
Now that he’s no longer wishing for a companion, Ohno and Nino keep on appearing near the vegetable field, obviously stalking him like pros. Whenever Sho catches the sight of them hiding in the tall bushes, peering at him and murmuring to each other, they only giggle together even more. Sho can only imagine that Nino must have been a bad influence on Ohno, even if Toma doesn’t seem to mind the antics.
One afternoon Sho can’t stand it anymore. They have been sipping what appears to be cold orange juice under the shade of a tree while he only has a cucumber sandwich for lunch while working the field with Jun. “Why don’t you guys make yourselves useful and help out if you’re here all the time?”
Sho gets no response other than them scrambling even further down in a useless attempt to hide themselves.
But the next day, Ohno seems to have a change of heart when he comes over shy and all, walking past Sho and Jun and going straight to Toma.
“Can I help too?”
Sho notices that Ohno’s line of sight goes straight to Toma’s bare arms. The day before Toma was wearing long sleeves but today it’s a gracious no-sleeve tight tank; it doesn’t take much apparently.
Toma smiles at him. “Sure. Thank you, Oh-chan.”
Nino still lurks over the side of the field, and Sho can hear him moan in defeat when Ohno flushes at Toma’s answer.
Not long after, Sho can hear him finally approaching.
“Guys. Can I just play some music so I can help everyone mellow down and feel even more terrible about themselves?”
When Toma and Jun nod in agreement, Sho doesn’t care anymore. “Sure, why not.“
*
Toma later shows great interest when he spots the pair of shears Sho has tied on his suitcase. When they’re heaving bags of cucumber inside the house, he tells Sho about it. “I’ve been wanting one of those! These are expensive.”
“It’s a part of the trade I’m doing right now,” Sho says, catching a clueless expression from Toma. “You didn’t know? Nino says everyone knows about it by now.”
“I only heard about a bundle of dry grass, but not a pair of shears.”
“If you want it, you can take it. It’s totally okay. You’ll find better use for it anyway, even if these are blade shears, not pruning shears,. But I guess technically they are the same?”
“They are.” Toma smiles at him. “And that means that I need to give you something as part of the trade?”
“Anything is fine,” Sho says, and he surprises himself when he means what he’s just said.
*
During dinner hour that night, Toma visits Sho in his tent with few bags. He lays out the contents on the table and begins his explanation. “I have four of these babies, four different varieties of cucumbers; and then these oranges. You can have whichever you want, as my part of the trade we did this afternoon.”
“Then, I’ll have the oranges.”
“Why not the cucumbers? These are delicious. I took great care of them and they all are light, watery and sweet!”
“I’m sure they are,” Sho says, calming him down. “But I’d rather have the oranges, and you said that I could choose.”
“Well, any of the other four actually.”
“But you’re saving them for Chief, aren’t you?”
Toma nods softly.
“Then, it’d be a waste of cucumber to give them to me, don’t you think?” Sho reasons.
Toma stands still for a while before nodding. Sho releases a relieved sigh at the sight; he really doesn’t have time for another breakdown.
“Ah, that’s why you plant so varieties of cucumbers. Kappas like them, right?”
“You just realized that now?” Toma smiles dreamily.
“But how about Ohno?”
“Ohno?” Toma frowns before shrugging. “Ah, is it about those love declarations? I’ve told him countless times that I don’t consider him more than just a friend.”
silk cloth: when the sub-title doesn’t even relate
When Sho steps out to walk Toma out of the door, he finds Ohno and Nino standing side by side, the first with a sad hunch while the other with his hands folded on his chest, sending Sho a condemning stare.
He waves Toma off before turning back to the two. He doesn’t need to ask more because apparently Nino and Ohno had overheard the talk.
Ohno stands still in front of him, shoulders sagging, and if Sho listens closely he’s sure that he can hear a muffled sob. Ohno doesn’t cry but the look of sadness in his eyes is enough of a sign already.
“Traitor.”
Nino pats him in the head-and (evidently) ass, “There, there. That Sho guy is a meanie indeed.”
“Don’t hate me, hate the game. And meanie is such a mean word.”
“Which serves its purpose entirely then.” Steam begins to materialize from the tip of Nino’s mask. Ohno helpfully points that out to him before Nino fumes further. “It’s okay, Oh-chan, I’m fuming, literally. That’s all.”
“That’s not calming at all.”
“Oh-chan, welcome to the team then.”
“What team?”
Sho groans.
“I’m going to call Mao-chan tonight and cancel our meeting tomorrow. We’re going to have drink tonight, Oh-chan. Ready yourself!”
Sho sees them walking away shoulder to shoulder into the night. It shouldn’t be a wrong thing to do morally; he trades the shears fair and square with Ohno. And now they’re his to be exploited. He can do anything he likes with them, including giving them to Toma as a present.
But now that Toma has gone home, Sho finds himself worrying about Ohno. Sure, he knows that the man is angry at him, but it wasn’t entirely his fault. Ohno should’ve given the shears to Toma long ago instead of giving it to him in the name of trade. This trade is once again biting him in the butt, he grumbles before he finally decides that he should go visit Ohno again for an apology.
.
Nino is lounging in the chair alone in front Ohno’s trailer when Sho gets there. Raising his eyebrow over the relaxed atmosphere he finds here-he was half-expecting Nino to assault him bodily shall they meet again-he greets Nino.
“Hello.”
“Look who’s here.” Nino welcomes him with loopy grin. Sho rolls his eyes at the sneer; the guy is dead-drunk already. That was fast considering he was together with Nino not as much as three hours before.
“Good evening, Nino,” he says. “I was looking for Ohno. Is he here?”
“He went inside to fetch our next bottle,” Nino says before unceremoniously letting out a loud hiccup. “As you can see, we are having a broken-hearted party here under the stars.”
“Are you now? I didn’t notice,” Sho replies dryly.
A loud crack comes from behind the trailer and it is not long until Ohno walks to the front. He stops short and pouts when he sees Sho. “What do you want, meanie?”
“I am not a meanie,” Sho says indignantly. “And, again, it’s such a mean word.”
Now that Ohno’s back, Nino seems to return to his angry phase again. “That was the intention, you crush thief!” he points at Sho with his empty glass. “Oh-chan, give me more of this delicious liquid! Let’s spend the night drenched in heartbreak and booze!”
The guy is not yet dead-drunk, Sho notes, he’s loud-drunk, the worst kind. He ignores Nino’s stream of curses and what sounds like a wailing melody and says what he intends to say. “Ohno, I’m here to apologize properly.”
Ohno just stands still, staring hard at Sho. After Nino runs out of words to say, he is still rooted to the spot, lower lip protruding in a sulky pout.
“Say something, Oh-chan.” Nino finally becomes fully aware of the silence when he sees that Sho’s gaze gets lower and lower.
Sho for once is not slow and he knows when his apology is being rejected. Still he waits, almost giving up when it seems like a long time but there’s still no response from Ohno.
“Fine,” Sho says finally, glancing over to Nino who’s now standing straight and is also waiting for Ohno to break the silence. “I’ll be taking my leave. Have a nice night.”
“Sho!”
Ohno’s sudden call startles him but it stops him from leaving.
“I accept your apology and have decided that we should settle this like men!” the man declares.
Nino is now chuckling as he leans back against his chair, letting out a drunken cheer. “You go, you!”
“Settle it like men?” Sho blinks confusedly as he processes what Ohno has just said; all of a sudden he feels swishy. He asks in small voice, “What do you mean? Sword fight? I can’t do a sword fight!”
“No, like men of Arakawa.” Ohno crooks a smile and suddenly Sho feels like he should be running for his life right now. Those gentle eyes disappear only to be replaced by a piercing gaze. “Here, we’ll bungee jump from the bridge.”
*
“Hello?”
It’s past working hours, not that Sho’s ever minded about the slot of time while working; when one corporation operates worldwide, he should be able to provide service at any cost, at any time. His phone hasn’t been ringing with the once familiar tone in a long while. He has made sure that he doesn’t slack on his normal workload even if he rarely makes appearances at the central office since he’s moved to Arakawa.
A familiar voice greets him on the other side of the line. “Sho-kun, good evening.”
“Is there any emergency?”
“No. Why would you think that?”
“It’s very late at night, and you’re calling out of the blue?”
“Should I text you a notice before I can call these days now, Sho-kun? It’s barely after midnight. I hope I haven’t caught you in the middle of anything important.“
Resisting a harsh bite out, Sho sighs. “I’m sorry, Kimura. It was a long day here and I forgot myself.”
“Here? Where’s here exactly?”
He knows that he has said something that is not entirely correct but he can’t help it.
“Somewhere I am staying right now.” Explanation will take a long time so Sho stops the conversation with a short answer before the topic gets out of control; it’s not an immediate concern to Kimura after all. “So if there isn’t an emergency, you were calling for something else?”
Weak horse: the last forgotten triangle?
A long “Ooh” is the only thing Yoko says before he runs toward Nino across the field and takes a wide jump before slamming the man into the ground.
Sho chuckles as he hears a small muffled “The hell!” from the pile of Yoko on Nino.
The baseball day has started nicely for him, considering that he pouted and whined all night to Jun about his lack of sports ability. Jun’s persuasion that everyone only does this for fun didn’t convince him a single bit, yet it is very nice to see Nino being on the receiving end of Yoko’s tomfoolery.
“Ah, very cute. Are you a real star?” Yoko starts to pinch Nino’s cheeks under the mask and grins mischievously upon the discovery. “I like your yellow mask.”
“Get off me, you freak!”
“You remind me of a friend. He is all yellow too.”
Nino lets out a deep, annoyed growl before he shoves Yoko off him with all his might. Yoko is left in the middle of the field as Nino runs toward the bench, finding Sho watching the whole thing with apparent amusement. “Good morning, Nino.”
Before Nino can reply, the sound of Yoko running toward him makes him shriek, and the next second Nino is running for his life. “Sho, make him stop!”
“I can’t do that. He’s free to do whatever he wants to do. It’s Sunday anyway.”
Nino runs before Yoko can pounce at him again, and now they are circling the makeshift bench as the latter doesn’t seem to have the intention to stop.
Jun and Mao-chan walk toward the bench following Ohno and the Iron twins, all with their own style of sports outfits.
“I white-lined the whole field twice. We’re all ready,” Mao says as she settles her line marker hopper aside and jumps into the seat to sit beside Sho.
“And I brought food,” Sho says, pointing at the small stacks of plastic on the other side.
“Nino, I brought half of everything,” Jun says. “Aiba will bring the rest of the equipment. He’s right behind me.”
Yoko freezes at the Jun’s sentence.
Nino keeps running until he bumps into Yoko’s back, screaming while sidestepping backward only to see that Yoko has stopped chasing him.
Out of breath, he turns to everyone watching in confusion. “What just happened?”
“Jun mentioned Aiba,” Sho says. It’s only a suspicion at first but soon it’s confirmed when Yoko buries his face in his palms and walk slowly to sit on the end of the far bench with a flushed face and a dreamy smile.
“Weird,” Nino says, tapping his shoulder to dust some dirt off him.
“You’re not one to talk,” Sho says.
Nino turns to him ready with a comment, only to stop the moment he sees Jun beaming next to Sho, watching their conversation. A puff of steam bursts uncontrollably from his star tip and Nino rushes hurriedly to sit next to Mao.
*
For one with absurd rules and continuous chuffs from almost all the players involved, the game goes on smoothly. Shun makes up new rules every time one tries to put his team down, to which Nino always agrees since they are in the same team. Ohno leads the other team and doesn’t seem to care much about the score as long as he can play double catcher with Toma. Yoko is too busy running back and forth between second and third base for no reason to gain attention. Mao keeps on going round the field every once in a while, making sure that the white line is always in top condition. Jun pitches against Becky in an intense staring showdown, leaving Sho and Aiba on the bench.
“I heard you jumped off the bridge for Ohno the other night,” Aiba says, eyes focused hard on the field but with a kind tone. “That was very brave of you.”
Sho shudders with the memory-they made him jump not long after Ohno voiced the idea out at the end and since then the bridge has never been the same. The closer he gets to the ground, the safer. “Don’t remind me.”
“Nice job.” Aiba gives him a strong pat on the back and a plastic container of cookies before going back to observing the game.
Sho tears the plastic open and starts munching. Lately Aiba has been nicer to him, perhaps because now he’s used to the cold stare. Aside from the guns Sho knows are somewhere near his bodily presence, he is actually a nice guy.
They watch the game further in silence as Sho enjoys how Shun is being chased by the Iron twins; Jun and Ohno play as double catchers while Nino runs away from Becky’s attempt to seize his mask on the outfield.
When he turns to look at Aiba he can’t help to notice that Aiba’s eyes have been set on one person only and it definitely isn’t Yoko.
Sensing Sho’s questioning glances, Aiba sighs. “Did you know that she has the nicest eyes?”
She? So it’s definitely Becky. He wasn’t wrong when he though he caught a glimpse of blush on Aiba few weeks ago. “Eyes?” Sho says, “I don’t know. I am scared for my life, Aiba. I don’t think looking into Becky’s eyes was a choice I would’ve taken.”
“She’s graceful, she works so hard and, I am in constant awe. I mean, look at how she moves,” Aiba says, gesturing at Becky now taking the pitcher’s position in the middle. “All grace and beauty. And how that cute pastel apron holds her hidden stash of weaponries. It’s just a work of absolute art.”
“Where did you two meet?” Sho asks. He doesn’t specify the question. If Aiba wants to answer about Becky then he can get the story wants, but if not, Aiba can pick anyone from the field and start from there.
“It was love at first sight,” Aiba stares into space, eyes hard but with a hint of gentleness. “There’s this animal show on television-“
A short knife flies just an inch over Aiba at his right shoulder, making him waver before straightening back up within seconds.
“What?” Sho on the other hand, lets out a high-pitched scream.
“Accurate as ever,” Aiba says, beaming with pride.
“What was that?” He turns to see Becky standing twenty meters away, holding another short knife, giving them a warning and making a threatening pose. “What was that for, Becky?”
The game stops, as all players have now turned their attention to both Aiba and Becky. Sho now gets even more curious; if Becky needs to throw short knives at them to prevent Aiba’s talking about them, there must be something else. He nudges Aiba. “Go on.”
“She was radiant. Her hair looks as just soft as it is, and I was young.” Aiba still has his gaze in space when another knife flies their way, dangerously missing by a fraction of inch now by his ear.
“Becky!” Sho groans in disappointment, turning to the field and giving his voice the last bit of courage he has. “It’s dangerous. And he’s about to get to the good stuff!”
“Say that again.” Becky struts to their seat; her heels click even though she’s walking on solid ground. She stops in front of Sho, with a knife ready to pierce his eyes. “And Aiba-kun, you know I don’t miss unless it’s on purpose.”
“Your aim is perfection as always, Rebecca.” Aiba holds his hand in front of Sho before he bows his apology. “Please just excuse this new guy’s curiosity.”
“I’ve been here for nearly two months. I know stuff,” Sho says, even as he clings on Aiba’s robe sleeve and starts to tug.
Aiba mumbles his words this time. “I thought you were scared for your life?”
“I am. And that was just me reacting proactively, never mind,” Sho mumbles his response in turn and follows Aiba in bowing.
Becky stares them down for another minute before reaching to take the knife on the wall and stashing the sharp pair on her apron. She turns and walks toward the midfield again, when someone helpfully says, “Game on again!”
When everyone, or most of them, are back into their positions, Sho sits back down, now feeling the rush of breath slowly subsiding and leaving mere tingles. He is getting used to these kinds of weird occurrences the more time he’s been here; his old self would have just fled and returned to his old apartment in a heartbeat.
“I like her, Sho,” Aiba suddenly announces, startling Sho completely.
Sho has a bad feeling that it will lead to yet another occurrence but he gives Aiba his answer. “That much I can deduce.” And as if to confirm his suspicions, Yoko screams his lungs off from somewhere near third base and starts to run toward their direction. “Oh, great.”
Sho stands to yell at Yoko even when he’s still running, knocking over Mao’s hopper on the way. “Our voice is not that loud, is it? Why do you people keep on hearing interesting things that aren’t being spoken loudly?”
Aiba is even faster as he stands up abruptly, reaching into his robe sleeve to produce a hand grenade. Yoko stops short in his tracks, just a meter away from where Sho stands the moment he sees the grenade. Wide-eyed, Sho too takes a step back from Aiba the moment his senses pick up a sniff of gunpowder, for real this time.
“Aiba,” Sho says. “Calm down.”
Aiba stares hard at Yoko before curling his finger in the safety ring. “Why are you screaming?”
Sho rolls his eyes at the question but Yoko stops screaming at the action. Everyone is rushing to the bench, game completely forgotten, now that Sho’s stepped back to join the rest in the crowd that’s a mix of partly curious, partly worried and a little gleeful.
“Is, is that true?” Yoko finds his voice. “You like her? Her?”
Before Aiba can answer, Becky takes a few steps forward out of the crowd. “Excuse me, punk.”
“Go easy on her, Becky. He’s still a kid,” someone says, most probably Shun, judging from the false croaked voice Sho hears from behind the crowd.
“I’m not a kid!” Yoko yells at the crowd who is moving into the bench, each now holding a bag of snacks Mao and Jun have kindly distributed. “I can fly. I’m dangerous and you should know it!”
Sho snorts at Yoko’s last words, they’re the ones that Yoko likes to shout while in class, and he has seen that nothing ever comes out of the statement. Aiba stows his grenade back in his sleeve robe pocket and walks toward the crowd. Ohno helpfully gives him the opened snack bag he’s holding before grabbing a new one for himself.
“So you say you can fly,” Becky says, standing in front of Yoko with her back to the crowd.
“If you put the image of a bird and immerse yourself in its feelings and concentrate, you can.” Somehow looking smug, Yoko takes his stance, holding his big belt buckle in one hand and waving the other.
Meanwhile Nino is busy searching for something else inside the empty plastic. “Why didn’t anyone pack onigiri?”
“Because Toma let his entire lettuce crop wilt,” Sho says, reaching for the water from Mao.
“At least Mao-chan bought beer.”
“It’s not even midday, Oh-chan.” Toma elbows him while passing a can over.
Jun suddenly rises from his seat. “I forgot to write the score on the blackboard.”
“Don’t worry, I have it memorized.” Aiba says, reaching into the sleeve of his long robe again and producing, this time, a clear plastic wrapper full of cookies. “Anyone want one?”
Back on the other side of the bench, Becky eyes Yoko with little interest. “I’ll have you apologize for your implication earlier in under five minutes. No, make it three.”
“Which is it gonna be then? Five? Three? Or never?” Yoko sneers at her, gathering long “oohs” from the crowd in the background.
“Two then.”
“Is Becky any good?” Sho can’t help but ask, in a whisper though, now that he knows that everyone seems to have very heightened hearing when it comes to sensitive matters.
“Becky is the best,” Aiba, from the far side of the crowd, says.
So much for whispering. Sho continues in a normal voice. “How best?”
“Becky has this long sword. Unlike mine, it’s thin, very thin. I saw her use it once, and it’s very sharp. She can hold her sword,” Ohno says with complicated explanation gestures.
“And wait till you see her in a black leather tight cat suit,” Nino adds. A sharp knife flies a bit over his highest star point but no one cares enough to duck; Becky would’ve gone for the forehead should she mean to. “Ugh, Aiba is all over the place every time she does that.”
“Nino,” Aiba lightly warns Nino without even correcting him.
“I heard she’s a ninja, but no one that’s still breathing is able to confirm that,” Mao says, adding her own words. “Chief said we must trust those rumours if we want to keep our heads attached.”
There’s so much new information for Sho to process in a very short amount of time. “She’s that scary?”
Even Jun joins the crowd in sending a disparaging look at Sho, silently telling Sho that he’d better keep quiet if he wants to avoid another short knife flying over his head because perhaps Becky won’t miss this time. But he wants to ask, just a little confirmation, and then he’ll forever hold his peace.
“Aiba?”
The glint of pride on Aiba’s straight face should have been enough to answer his question but then Aiba gives an answer. “Yes, that’s Rebecca for you.”
*
Becky does get Yoko down on his knees, in under 10 seconds, and proceeds to teach him a lesson, the kind that lesson that Sho can’t possibly deliver in a classroom, for the next minute. Yoko is still trying to boast about the flying rocket he has attached to the costume under his underwear, which will blare and ignite at the end of his contemplation.
Becky digs her heels deeper into his back and stops the empty threats effectively. “You’ve been extremely rude, Yokoyama Yu.”
“How, just how, do you know my full name?”
“That’s not your full name, but that should hold you for a while,” Becky says, sending her sharp grin along with a short knife to land inches from Yoko’s ear. “Aiba-kun!”
Dumping his cookie package immediately into Sho’s lap and sending gravel flying in a blink of an eye, Aiba runs toward her. He stops short in front of the waiting figure. “Rebecca,” he says with a deep drawl, “you called?”
“This punk is yours, I heard?”
“He’s no one’s,” Aiba says, and Yoko lets a low squeak from few inches above the ground. “Please just excuse this new guy’s rudeness. I’m sure he’s learned his lesson now.”
“All these new people around are giving me headache.”
“I’ve been here for nearly two months,” Sho pipes in with a mouth full of snacks from across the bench.
“Oh, shut up.”
“Sorry.” Sho lightly shrugs the threat off. “Oranges?” he then offers a plastic bag, the last one left since everyone has munched almost everything they brought to field today.
Huffing, Becky twirls around to stalk back home but not without snatching the bag from Sho’s outstretched hand. “We’re done here,” she says, throwing her team hat to the ground before stalking away.
“Thank you, Rebecca.” The next moment, Aiba smiles blindingly at Becky’s back, contorting his face into what appears to be a satisfied grin. “Good game, today.”
Rice fields: of being home, and Happiness
After a dinner break, along with a short bath and change of clothes, Sho finds a small neon green post-it pasted on top of his computer.
Sho,
I gave Jun the most expensive wedding magazine I could find.
Deal with that.
-I’ve duly done my part of the trade.
After checking all the zippers and tiny windows he has on this tent and finding them undamaged, Sho feels it’d be best to not know how Becky managed to get the post-it in. He should start to worry about Jun and his new magazine after all.
Sho picks up his phone to find a few missed calls from Kimura. The man calls him almost every day now and Sho’s beginning to run out of excuses. Steeling himself before dialling the number to return the call, he wonders what it is this time.
*
The field is suspiciously empty as Sho walks across on his way back to his tent. He passes Ohno’s hut and hears nothing. Perhaps the man is asleep. It has been raining since morning and he had to cancel the class only to have Yoko show up and demand a lesson.
Kimura calls again in the morning, demanding that Sho come to an important shareholder’s meeting this afternoon; and just as he has been doing for the past month, he uses the same old excuse of him conducting important research for his personal project.
Sho can tell that Kimura isn’t satisfied with his sparse explanation, but he isn’t going to explain the whole situation, how he now lives with these people on Arakawa riverside and feels more content than he has ever felt his whole life.
He spots Mao wandering, her white-line hopper handle in one hand and an umbrella in the other, when he nearly reaches his tent. “Mao-chan.”
She looks up and pushes her hopper toward Sho, marking the wet ground as she goes. “Hello. Did you just finish your class?”
“I wrapped it up not too long ago,” Sho says. “What are you doing under the rain?”
“I picked the wrong day to go out.” Mao chuckles as she shivers from the cold. “I was thinking of go to town but maybe not in this rain.”
“You should’ve gone yesterday when it was blistering heat all day then.”
“I didn’t feel like going out yesterday,” Mao says.
Sho has heard from Jun that Mao deals with bringing beverages and other convenience goods for everyone in exchange for recyclable items. Yet she doesn’t go out too often because she mostly doesn’t feel like going around sometimes, and she chooses to stay home and spend time in leisure at her place. When no one sees her for more than four days, sometimes Chief has to check up on her to see that she’s safe and sound asleep.
Sho notices the shivers are getting uncontrollable. “Do you want to come over for a while then? You can wait till the rain stops. I have hot coffee.”
“Oh, that sounds good if you don’t mind.”
“No, not at all.”
They take the roundabout way to get to Sho’s tent because the shortcut might break the hopper. Sho walks more slowly as Mao tries to navigate her way through the wet ground.
“Rain always makes me miss my family even more,” Mao says when they arrive in front of Sho’s tent. “Don’t you miss yours?”
The sudden question takes Sho aback completely. During his time in Arakawa, no one has taken an interest in his family circumstances, and especially not in the part where he’s the successful head of a corporation. Yet Mao isn’t taking an interest in that specific aspect. She’s asking a general question, so very general that Sho can’t come up with an answer.
“No one’s ever asked me that.” Sho shakes his umbrella, sending beads of water flying back to the wet ground. “And I think I can’t answer that because I honestly don’t know how.”
Mao waits until Sho looks up and meets her gaze. “It’s okay if you don’t know. I was just asking. I don’t mean to bother you with private matters.”
“It was a good question, though,” Sho says, bitterly shaking his head in unexpected embarrassment. “And I’m fine. It just got me thinking,” he adds when Mao still seems concerned.
“Let’s get that coffee you offered then.”
“Yes, let’s go in.”
Sho sets his umbrella and briefcase aside to get the door open for them before welcoming Mao inside to find everyone scattered around feeling pretty much at home in every corner of his tent.
“Welcome back,” Nino says before strumming his guitar and starting to sing the ballad about bumping umbrellas.
Sho turns from Nino-he will deal with the star-face later-to find Shun and Yoko crouched low and growling at each other in some sumo poses in one corner. Becky and Jun are in a heated discussion over an article that he doesn’t even want to know about in another. Ohno, who has many dark charcoal stripes decorating his cheeks, and Toma are deep in a battle of Old Maid with the Iron twins.
“Oh, I didn’t know you were holding a party,” Mao says, delighted at the crowd.
“I wasn’t,” Sho sputters. “This is breaking and entering.”
“Relax, Sho, we’re not attempting burglary here,” Aiba says from his side while twisting in a complicated yoga pose with his eyes closed.
Sho wants to utter a stream of protest, kick everyone out of his tent, his home, at that very minute, grab Nino’s guitar and toss it into the river. He even considers shouting at Aiba, or perhaps Becky if he can work himself into enough of a fit of rage. But then Ohno loses the game again and has Toma and the twins laughing and drawing on his face some more, Jun and Becky are chuckling over something funny in their article, and Mao is still waiting beside him, watching him with interest as he sorts his sanity.
He finally settles for something simple, something that crossed his mind when he first entered his hijacked tent. “I’m home.” There’s no solid answer aside from some acknowledging grunts and groans, but somehow it is enough.
*
“Aren’t you guys supposed to be somewhere? Somewhere that’s not here?” Sho has crawled back and forth trying to keep everyone under control as rain keeps on falling, hour after hour. So far nothing has broken or torn, but he can never be sure with these people.
His phone buzzes, and one glance at the screen tells him that it’s Kimura again.
He slowly goes out of the tent, tiptoeing in his shoes and squatting in the corner near the door.
“Yes.”
“Good evening, Sho-kun.”
Kimura has his tone clipped and brisk, and Sho knows that usually isn’t a good sign.
“How can I help you tonight, Kimura?”
“Sho-kun.” Kimura clears his throat on the other end of the line. ”I thought I had given you enough warnings, but apparently they weren’t sufficient.”
“About what?”
“Your father has finally been informed of your whereabouts at the moment.” Kimura softens his tone when he hears Sho sighs heavily. “It wasn’t me. I didn’t say anything.
“You think I didn’t know how you spent the last few months by Arakawa river?”
“How do-“
“I do have my sources, and they are nearly as good as your father’s. If mine could locate you, it’d be an easy task for your father’s eyes.”
“I, I was just. This research project needs-“ Sho falls silent when he realizes that Kimura is giving him a chance to lie if he wants to. He’s been lying to the man for months now, what would another month, or a few more months make a difference. Except it will, and Sho knows it. What would the man, his father, the great man who leads the Sakurai Corporation, do? Sho has to shudder at the thought.
“Kimura,” Sho says, “I live here now.”
“I know.”
“And I’m not planning to change that any time soon.”
“I know.”
Sho can almost see the faint crooked smile Kimura uses to flash at him whenever the man is happy with his work.
“You look like you’re enjoying you time over there, Sho-kun,” the man says. “But I believe your father has made a decision. It’s going to be a development project by Arakawa river, three interconnected apartment complexes and a small shopping mall. I haven’t read the briefs, but that is what I heard from top office tonight.”
Sho closes his eyes, breathing his frustration out. He should’ve known. After all, he grew up learning from his father about persistence and hardship. Whatever is coming his way it won’t be easy.
“Is that all?”
“That’s as much as I heard tonight. I’ll hear more tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’m glad you can finally come clean about your dubious life arrangement at the moment.”
Sho laughs at that. “You should come over soon then. You know where it is, right?”
“I do.”
“Good.”
“Very well then. I’ve bothered your night long enough,” Kimura says, and Sho could hear the distant car honk on the other end of the line. “I’ll leave it to you, so you can go back and enjoy your home party.”
“Home party? What? Where are you right now?”
“Good night, Sir,” Kimura says with a laugh before he hangs up.
*
Sho walks back in and goes straight to one corner, ignoring the looks everyone’s throwing at him. Nino’s off-tune guitar strum stops for a moment before it starts again in a harsher tone. He turns and sees that everyone has gone back to whatever they’ve been doing when he came in and tries to take comfort in the loud company.
“Rock!”
“Nino, your music is ballads, with occasional syrupy pop bits. Stop saying rock. It doesn’t mix well with your posture,” Mao teases him.
“Mao-chan, that’s mean!”
Shun materializes beside him, distracting him from Ohno’s slow motion sumo fight with Aiba at the end the tent.
“I’m sorry to hear what you’ve just heard.”
“That’s you admitting to eavesdropping,” Sho says, without any bite. In fact, he feels a little bit lighter knowing that he might have someone to share his burden with, even if it’s a weird man in a green wetsuit. “The trade was so stupid.”
“Was it really?” Shun says. “Isn’t the happiness maybe be worth all the hardship at the end?”
“Happiness is not about ‘Come on everybody say! Yeah yeah yeah!’”
“It can be.”
Sho squints sceptically at Shun.
Shun throws him a quizzical look. “It might be. Who's to know? The memory of happiness is naïve, but that’s fine.”
“That didn’t make any sense,” Sho says, “at all.”
“It doesn’t have to.” Shun turns and smiles, aiming his painted green smile at Sho’s confused face. “We’re all in your favor then.”
“People! Now is the time you’ve all been waiting for,” Toma calls out. “Chief’s infamous gag!” Low-voiced cheers fill the tent. Shun pats Sho on the head and heads to the center of the tent to get around.
“Ah, thank you for waiting, everyone!”
Jun comes to sit next to Sho as everyone arranges their seats to circle the brown paper box. “Are you okay?”
“I will be,” Sho says. He reaches for Jun’s cold hand and keeps it on his lap. All that trading and betting was for nothing, Sho wants to say, but it’s hard to do anything but smile contently as Jun’s hand clasps tightly in his-perhaps a bit too tight for his blood circulation, and somehow, it is enough.