Safety. [Baji Keisuke]

1. Sandcastle Making

Year 2001

Emasu Sayuri had finally found a secluded play area, a place where no one would trouble her. She ran to the sandbox and started playing, not wasting a single second.

She enjoyed the tranquillity, the feeling of the sun rays on her face and the sand in her hands. She was busy making a sandcastle with a merry twinkle in her eyes the entire time. Once she was done, she dusted off her hands, stood up and put them on her hips. She looked down at her work with a proud smile. It was perfect with a little flag on top and if there was a competition for making sandcastles, she would surely win. She laughed to herself at the silly thought and then went to a nearby vending machine to get herself some fruit juice.

When she came back to the park, that smile on her face instantly vanished, replaced by a blank expression.

She had purposely chosen to come to a place far from where she lived, she had even gone out of her way to take the train to another ward. She thought that she would be away from people who would trouble her if she did that. But, it seemed like fate had different plans for her.

The sand structure that she had made with so much effort had been demolished. Her bright red flag, sunny yellow pail and sky blue shovel had been broken by a group of boys who seemed to be delinquents. They were sitting in the sandbox, chatting away to glory while casually playing with the broken pieces of her belongings.

She went towards the place and started re-making the castle. She disliked unnecessary disputes so she kept quiet. She already had to deal with people being nasty to her often. So, she didn't mind doing a little extra work if it meant she'd be left alone.

"Oi, what d'you think you're doing?" delinquent A asked.

"Can't you see we're using this place? Get lost," delinquent B added.

They were shocked by the response they got which was absolute silence as she went about her business.

"Heh, looks like we gotta teach this brat a lesson," said delinquent A, who was probably the leader, while the others nodded and smirked, getting ready to have their fun.

She sighed and continued to ignore them, not wanting to fight. She wished they could all just talk things out but it was clear that they would do no such thing.

They were a scary-looking bunch and were older than her but she didn't care. She didn't care that she'd probably be knocked out by one punch from them or that she was not the athletic type at all. She would never let others mess around with her. She wasn't the type to start fights and would rather avoid them but if she was forced into one, she wouldn't flee either.

"Hey, little shit, we're talking to you." delinquent B was about to kick sand in her face, but she moved away on time.

"Oooh, look at the brat, trying to show off her moves." They all sniggered.

"Can you please stop? I have done nothing wrong and this is public property. I'm sure we can all use this place simultaneously. There is no need to fight," she said.

"Hah, she speaks."

"What bullshit are you saying?"

"I believe I spoke in a language you understand or should I not speak in Japanese? I know some other languages." She only realized after a few seconds that she had insulted them and mentally kicked herself.

"Trying to act tough? Want us to kill you that bad?"

She began drinking from her juice box. When she took a pause she frowned. "You should never make death threats, it's extremely rude. Don't you care about how others feel? If you don't treat other people right, no one will treat you right."