Chapter Sixty Wrong Place to Be Good
I’m My Own High School Rival: Rika’s Arc: Of Fate and Future.
After wandering around the outskirts of Yamanashi, a nice woman who wasn’t too eager to help me informed me that I was in Minobu, which was far from Otsuki.
The sun had vanished, giving way to the moon’s glow, and the shops closed at a weird hour, leaving vacant streets and poorly lit streetlights to guide my path. But I was still unsure of where I was going or if Kami had read my message about the bus incident.
I flipped open the old phone and checked for a reply. Come to think of it, I’d never seen her check her phone. There were no new messages.
I rolled my eyes and continued walking.
If Sakura… If she were stronger, I would still be at home.
A street light flickered, as if it were dying. I passed under it.
Hell, if I weren’t me, I’d still be in the future, living Antwon’s life. Shit... Words like this are what got me kicked off the bus in the first place.
I kicked over a trash can, spilling its contents onto the clean sidewalk. I paused, worried that I had woken someone up, but when I looked around, no lights or open blinds. So, I kicked the trash can into the street.
Basking in the feeling of being alone, I pursued the damn can. Every kick was a debt owed: I kicked it for Ryo screwing things up for me, for Hina trying to kill me, for Junpei sacrificing his life, for Sakura, present and future, for my parents being alive, and me not being able to appreciate them the way he would have.
I wanted to kick it some more, to give penance to those who… hit me, and then kicked me off the bus. I wiped the sweat from my brow. “Damn, my foot hurts.”
I limped away, searching for somewhere to rest for a bit.
My lips quivered in the night’s cold air.
I should have hit them back. If someone else puts their hands on me, I’ll kill them. I held myself, fighting back the urge to shiver.
If I held it together long enough, I could have made it to Otsuki and then hit them; women be damned.
I stopped under a streetlight, wishing it produced heat.
No, the last time I hit someone, the world burned around me.
The weight of the money and clothing bag Kami gave me felt more burdensome than helpful. The straps dug into my shoulders. I sighed. Even if I found a bench, I don’t know how dangerous this place is.
I looked around again. No one was following me, but…
The phone rang; my heart jumped as if I’d been caught dead. I drooped over as if someone had knocked the wind out of me.
“CHRIST, KAMI… TEXT BEFORE YOU CALL!” I shouted in a short, deliberate burst.
“Why you screaming, kid? Are you trying to wake the world, or some shit?”
The air caught in my lungs.
“Why the fuck are you out of breath? And what’s with this text message?”
“I… was kicked off the bus, Kam—”
“How the fuck do you get thrown off the fucking bus, Cross?”
“I was—”
“Hold on, Cross. What do you want?” Kami asked someone with her. “Why would he want you? Okay, bitch! I’ll put it on speaker.”
I scratched my head, wondering who she was talking to.
“Mr. Carter?”
“...Ms. Igarashi?” I asked, unsure of why they were together.
I hesitated, and the cold air nibbled at the back of my throat. I swallowed.
“So, Kami can make friends?”
“Fuck you, Cross,” Kami fired back.
“Enough of that,” Ms. Igarashi said. “Where are you right now?”
It’s strange; I didn’t feel as cold. But why was Ms. Igarashi looking for me?
“I don’t know, some woman told me that it’s called Minobu—”
“Screw the location, why’d you get tossed from the bus?” Kami asked.
“I cursed out loud, and—”
“Kami, please focus on the bigger problem before—” Ms. Igarashi started.
“Don’t tell me—" Kami screamed.
I hung up and sighed deeply, returning to a quiet Minobu.
I wasn’t oriented to begin with, but now, I think I’ve really lost myself.
***
Cars were sparse, but the few that drove past us carried the chilly night breeze. I stood on the side of the highway toward Yamanashi, staring at my phone, standing beside this annoying Court wench.
“Gods damn it! Now look at what the fuck you did!” I said, standing across this Court cunt as cars passed by us on the side of the freezing highway.
“He hung up because the call seemed pointless, Kami. Now, Antwo… Cross thinks that we’re wasting his time.”
“You don’t know—”
“We are wasting time. Call him back and ask for his location so we’re not riding blindly into the night!”
I placed the phone in my pocket and then hung my helmet on my bike, getting off, and squared up with her. “Who the fuck do you think you’re yelling at?”
She ran her hand through her black hair down to her face, searching for the glasses I had crushed earlier. “I don’t want to fight you. Please call him back, so we can find him,” her voice was sincere enough.
“Say please.”
“I already did.”
Fuck… did she?
I adjusted my jacket, letting some heat out, dug out my phone, and called the little heartbreaker back.
The phone rang until it went to voicemail.
“Now he’s—”
I held my hand out and started texting him.
“What are you doing?”
I called him back, and he answered. “You’re a shrewd little shit, ya know that? What’s the point in making me text you before I call?”
Rika waved her hand, beckoning for me to place it on speaker phone, so I did.
“Don’t worry about it, Kami, but next time, wait for a response.”
The nerve above my left eye twitched.
“Fuck… Sure, Cross. Where are you?”
She held her breath, waiting for him to give the location. If I didn’t know any better, she was working directly for the Iron Fan, and a lot was riding on his return.
“Um, Minobu, but this place is kind of dead at night. By the way, why are you hanging out with my history teacher?”
“W-what? She’s a teacher?” Kami asked.
“Yeah… Whatever, just come…”
A strange sound came through the phone.
“Cross?”
The phone disconnected.
“Shit, Minobu.”
***
I held my breath and peeked around the corner.
I know that sound—struggling—fighting…
There was a dark figure… two, but one was winning. But this wasn’t my problem, and I wasn’t going to make it mine.
I slowly crept across the gap between the apartments, trying not to be noticed by either figure, because if it wasn’t a fight, maybe they were just having fun. Then the smell of blood assailed my nose.
My heart stopped, my mind went blank, and I reached for the knife in my duffel bag, and then the world went cold.