Tahro Akagi shouldn't live in two worlds at once.
Yet, forced to spend his days studying by a no-nonsense mother, he longs for adventure. In a moment of desperation, Tahro's soul splits in two. While one of his selves remains in Japan, the other fi...
February 5. Fourteen and a half years old. Saishuu Riku.
'Get this letter to Anzenkai as quick as ya can.' The QM pulled out an envelope from her desk drawer and set it on top of a file. 'Make sure ya give it directly to Minister Fuyu's secretary.'
A smile tugged at my lips. Anzenkai. I'd read stories about it. History books spoke of it with wonder. It was the first city of the settlers, the only place where you could safely dock ships in the whole continent. Some had written, that if you looked hard enough, you could find the storm. The roiling clouds of lightning, the tumultuous waves and faint claps of thunder that stopped well away from the beach. Even if it weren't part of our quest, I had to at least sneak off and see it.
Kei grabbed both the letter and the file, then strode out the room. We followed suit.
Cho grinned at me, and I smiled back. This time I was earlier than all three, but we were called into the QM's office before we had time to chat. I might have also sat hidden behind a couple of tall third grades. Cho's hug still pained my ribs.
Somehow keeping up with Kei's pace and not bumping into anything, the little lemur girl twisted her side braid, as she stared at her notebook.
I sighed. I didn't know her name yet. She didn't look like she was going to introduce herself anytime soon, so I had to do it myself.
Before I could say a word, Cho jumped on the girl. 'Maya, I'm waiting for the thirty hin I won yesterday!'
I winced. So this was how much they'd bet on me.
Based on the price of rice, one hin was equal to ten yen. Though if you used potatoes, one hin was five yen. And if you used rent, it was twenty yen. But rice conversion fit most situations.
The girl-- Maya, started and blinked at Cho. 'Thirty hin? Oh, I almost forgot.'
She wriggled out of Cho's arms and pulled out a pouch from her backpack. Even before the three coins left her fist, she was already staring at her notepad, drawstring pouch still gripped in the same hand.
'Uh, I think you should put your money bag back in, Maya,' said Cho. 'You might drop a few coins.'
Maya threw it back in her backpack, but her amber eyes left the page for only a moment. I wondered what it was that kept her so glued.
'Trouble with your story?' asked Cho.
Maya sighed and flipped her notepad shut. 'I'm almost done with the last chapter. But I don't think it's good enough.'
'What sort of story are you writing?' I asked, unable to keep out of the conversation any longer.
Her freckles darkened into her complexion, as she stared at me like a deer in headlights.
'Um, it's about--'
'Come on guys, we have a two week trip ahead of us,' said Kei, well below us on the staircase. 'Stop talking so much and be a bit faster.'
Maya glanced at the floor, as Cho shouted something rude at him.
Great. A two week trip with this prick.
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