My Modern Kaidan

Chapter 4

The following day in fifth period, as I sit at my desk hovering over my biology book before class begins, I catch sight of Mikey making his way over to me. He has someone with him: Miyako.

"Hey," I utter, trying to hide the confusion and terror that wants to contort my entire face. Mikey looks like he's trying to do the same thing and we both stare at each other with wide eyes. Miyako is the only one acting normally, posing coolly with her hands folded over her lap.

"So I was telling Miyako about your dad," Mikey says. "Maybe she could come study with us later?"

"Uh huh. And check out my dad's office again?" I lean back in my chair. "I don't know, Mikey, he's kind of working on something in there. He might be busy."

"Well in that case, we can just study." Mikey says, covertly pleading with me to agree.

"Sure," I say, my conscience getting the better of me.

Mikey grins and sits next to me, while Miyako smiles too and takes her seat in front of me. Trapped.

I spend the next fifty-five minutes in a daze as I blankly stare straight ahead. What will Miyako think of my house? What if it's not Japanese enough? My dad is Japanese but he's a total weirdo, and a spineless one at that, he lets my mom do whatever she wants to the house and now her sugar skull collection has taken over the entire kitchen.

I come to the realization that Miyako wants to come over to my house specifically because my dad is weird. I just need to embrace the weird.

That mantra cools me down for a good five seconds before the period ends and Miyako meets Mikey and I outside with a guest of her own.

"Hi, Kenji-san," I manage to say and he nods towards me politely.

"I hope it's okay," Miyako says. "If Kenji studies with us."

"Yeah," I say casually. "Of course."

Inward scream!

When we get to my house, I'm secretly relieved to find both my parents are out. My mom is at work, and my dad is probably at one of his weekly lunches with his editor.

One by one, we slip off our shoes and enter the empty house. Sunlight flows seamlessly through the shōji panels. There's only one dark spot in the house, a place where light isn't flowing through, and it's because my dad's office door is closed.

"Do you guys want anything to drink?" I ask, pausing at the entrance to the kitchen. When there's no response, I turn to see the three of them already heading towards my dad's office, led by Mikey.

I picture my dad's glasses fogging up from his food as he nods intently at his editor with the telltale lanterns of Hachiren hanging overhead, which is where I'm sure they've gone.

I tuck that thought into the back pocket of my mind and step towards them confidently, sliding the office door open like I'm on a game show.

To my surprise, they all just stand there, poised outside the doorway as they stare inside. My relief is short lived as Miyako's toe edges forward, like she's testing the water in a pond. Then she goes for it, crossing the threshold and the rest of us aren't far behind.

Mikey and I stand by as Miyako and Kenji murmur to each other in Japanese, slowly moving around the perimeter of the room. Kenji's hands grip the straps of the backpack he's still wearing while Miyako is bolder, poking around with delicate fingers. She takes a book off the shelf and flips it open, leafing through the pages before she gasps and whirls around, the edge of her book bag knocking the corner of the lone moving box that's survived, set on my dad's desk. It topples to the floor and vomits its contents onto the rug.

Miyako notices it first, rolling towards her to rest at the edge of her sanctimonious toe. A small black vial.

It's only when she picks it up that I can see the contents of the vial, not the vial itself, are black.

Miyako holds it before her eye as the rest of us look on, before handing it to me.

"Sorry," she says.