I sit in the theater hall. The room is enormous, with a stage about five floors high and as wide as a football field.
A slight feeling of unease creeps over me when I realize that I'm the only one in this gigantic space. The air is thick and stifling—it's hard to breathe. What's up with the ventilation here?
Suddenly, the curtain is pulled back sharply, revealing the stage. A bright, blinding spotlight slashes across my eyes like a knife.
Standing gracefully in the center of the stage is a familiar girl dressed in white.
A loud screech from the speakers pierces my ears, sending shivers down my spine.
Then, the music begins. The melancholic tune of a piano and cello fills the air.
A few seconds pass before the girl starts to sing.
"…and the kisses, kisses in the wind, that's my only wish. And love is infinite in time, and we could love each other all the time…"
Her voice is beautiful and full of emotion. As she sings, she moves gracefully, twirling across the stage in a mesmerizing dance. I don't fully understand what's happening, and the heat pressing on my head makes it harder to think, but I can't deny that her performance is impressive.
She continues to sing for a few more minutes, and then—abruptly—the music cuts off, replaced by a hideous, unbearable electric screech from the speakers.
A spotlight turns directly onto me.
Opposite me stands a long-haired girl, holding a katana in her hand.
"What do you want from me?"
"You know."
"You want me to say that I love you? I won't lie to you."
"Sooner or later, you'll say it. And when you do, it won't be a lie, Isao. But for now…"
The last thing I see is her swinging the katana toward me.
I wake up.
That girl from my dreams still won't leave me alone.
My phone rings. I groggily get out of bed and answer the call.
It's Aunt Tomo. She tells me she's feeling better and recovering.
"Aunt Tomo, when you're out of hospital, you shouldn't return home just yet. Not until I've sorted everything out. Please, wait a little longer."
"Kojo stopped by. He explained everything and offered to let me stay at his place for a while. Don't worry."
Good. One less problem to worry about. After apologizing once more for dragging her into this mess, we say our goodbyes and end the call.
Classes pass uneventfully. I catch up on sleep at the back of the classroom, recovering from yesterday's intense training.
At first, the soreness was unbearable—every workout left my whole body aching. But now, it's getting better.
Honestly, seeing progress, whether it's landing a well-executed strike during sparring or keeping up with the exercises, puts me at ease.
It feels like I'm on the verge of discovering something about myself that I never knew before.
I need to keep training. I need to get stronger.
As the school day comes to an end, I decide to look for Aya. Maybe she'd want to go to the gym with me.
I searched the entire school, but she was nowhere to be found. Strange. Maybe she went ahead without me.
With that thought, I left the building.
Scanning the area, I spot a small figure on one of the benches in the school courtyard. It looks like Aya. I walk closer.
Aya is sitting there. Her clothes are wrinkled and stained, and her hair is messy and covered in dirt. She looks dejected—her eyes red, her expression lost.
I rush over and sit beside her.
"Aya, what happened?"
"What do you think?!" she sniffles.
"Was it those students we ran from before? They caught you?"
"What did I ever do to them...? Why are they like this…?"
I place a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, but she flinches away. An awkward silence lingers between us.
"They broke my... my pendant."
She opens her palm, revealing a small pendant, now cracked in two. It's shaped like a sitting dog, its head held high with a proud gaze. It looks expensive, looks golden.
"Let's go for a walk. You need to take your mind off things." I stand up.
"I'm not going anywhere. I-I…"
Her words trail off, lost in a mess of tears and hiccups.
With a deep breath, I firmly grasp her wrist. She immediately stops crying, looking up at me in surprise, as if suddenly curious about what I'll do next.
"If you don't come with me, I'll sit here with you, holding your hand, and everyone passing by will think we're a couple."
Aya turns bright red, flustered by my words. But then, her expression shifts to one of contemplation.
"A couple, huh? A couple of weirdos, more like. You really are something else, Isao." she mutters with a small smile.
I don't know what the hell I just pulled, but at least she's not crying anymore.
We leave the school and walk down a forest trail.
"Do you like holding hands or something? You grabbed me on the day we met, too. Haha."
She really knows how to push my buttons. Embarrassed, I let go of her hand.
"Isao. Can you do me a favor today?"
Like I haven't done enough already…
"Sure. What is it, Aya?"
"Let's skip training today. I want to take you somewhere."
Skipping training? Kojo put me on an intense program after nearly ten years without practice—he's not going to like this.
"We're kind of friends, I guess. And you got into trouble with those bullies partly because of me. Should I skip training just because you asked me to?"
She stops in front of me, her eyes wide and pleading.
"Please, Isao… Will you?"
Her mood has completely shifted from despair to playful teasing. It's a relief to see.
"Fine. One day off won't hurt."
"Yay!" She jumps up, lightly patting my shoulder.
She really is something else…
Aya leads me down an unfamiliar path through the forest.
We take a short break near a river, where she washes her face and fixes her hair.
"Did they hurt you badly?" I ask.
"Not really. I stopped fighting when I saw them break the pendant."
"Was it something really important to you?"
She stays silent.
The forest is thick, lush, and filled with birdsong. After the noisy concrete city, it's a breath of fresh air—literally. There's something peaceful about this untouched nature. I should come back here sometime.
"We're here." Aya announces.
We step out of the forest onto a road leading toward the city.
Right next to the road stands a small stone monument—three large stone dogs leaning against each other, walking forward. At the base, a plaque reads: "23.06.2007."
"Cute dogs. Is this what you wanted to show me?"
Aya lowers her head.
"These aren't just dogs. In 2007, there was a fire in our city. It happened at an animal shelter. This is a memorial."
She sits down beside the statues.
It all makes sense now. The pendant…
I stay silent, watching the three stone dogs.
"My parents gave me a puppy when I was little. A beautiful little Shiba Inu. I barely remember much from early childhood, but I loved that puppy."
Her voice trembles.
"A few months later, my parents realized they couldn't afford to keep him. We weren't a wealthy family… so they gave him to a shelter. A week later, the shelter caught fire."
She starts crying again.
I sat down next to her.
"They... they broke the pendant..."
''S-sorry, Isao, for burdening you with this, sorry... but I c-can't..." She grabbed her face with both hands and started crying again.
I gently pulled her head to my chest and wrapped my arms around her.
She clung to me tightly, sobbing into my shirt for a while.
We stayed in this position for some time
Slowly, I took the pendant from her hand. She looked at me in surprise, her tear-streaked, red eyes filled with emotion.
"I'll figure something out with the pendant. Don't cry."
"I-Isao, thank you.I appreciate it."
I smiled and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"What was the dog's name?"
She started to calm down, a small smile appearing on her face as she answered softly:
"We just called him Shiba."
"Isao, I want to tell you something.I hope you won't be mad if I stop going to training...I like spending time with you, but fighting… it's not my thing.Can we just go on walks like this sometimes? Meet up?"
"Are you gonna cry every time? No thanks."
A punch to my sore shoulder came almost instantly.
"STUPID!" Aya blurted out, embarrassed.
"Alright, alright... Damn, Coach Kojo really taught you how to throw a punch. You should just join the gang yourself."
"ISAO!"
The sun was already beginning its slow descent beyond the horizon as we headed toward the city.