by Aron Lewes
“This is a lot more convenient than shouting,” I tell him. To be honest, though, I kind of liked my shouting method. It seemed to work.
However, this new method works just as well. Steve passes over several query letters and lands on Mike's.
“Please like his letter!” I try to shout and touch his head at the same time. Maybe it'll be more effective that way? “Please ask to see more!”
As Steve's eyes scan the letter, I hold my breath.
“Please like it...” I whisper. “Oh please, oh please, oh please...”
When Steve replies with a form letter rejection, I seriously want to scream.
“Okay, so... what do we do now?” I ask my instructor as we follow Mike Elwell down a crowded sidewalk. Today is the day. It's the day Mike is supposed to kill himself. We're running out of time.
“It's your fourth mission, Riley-san,” Taishi reiterates for the dozenth time. “By now, you should have some ideas.”
“We already tried my ideas. My ideas sucked. They failed.”
“Then think harder. Try again,” Taishi encourages me. “You don't strike me as the type to give up.”
Taishi's right about that. I don't like to give up.
Mike just had breakfast at a local diner. I assume he's heading back to his house—and back to his gun. It's a horrible thought. Taishi and I have no idea what time of day he's planning to take his life. We might have hours. We might have minutes. Either way, we need to think of something fast.
“Maybe we could try another literary agent?” I suggest. “It looks like he submitted his novel to quite a few of them.”
I catch my instructor clenching his teeth. “I... don't think that will work.”
“Why not?”
“Because, Riley-chan, I've looked at Mike's alien invasion novel. As much as I hate to say it, the novel is... not good.” Taishi winces.
“Tastes are subjective, though. Maybe you didn't like it, but an agent might?”
“It's not good,” Taishi insists. “Think of something else, please.”
“Well... uhh...” I fiddle with the drawstring on my yoga pants. For some reason, I manifested comfier clothes for this mission. “Does he have a niece he likes, or... or something like that?”
Taishi shakes his head. “As far as I know... no. He isn't very close with his nieces and nephews. Besides, if he won't stay alive for his mom, I doubt he'd stay alive for a niece.”
“Geez.” I grumble. I hate how Taishi is shooting down all of my ideas. Why doesn't he come up with an idea for once? “Maybe we could get him a date with someone else? Someone besides Kara?”
“It's certainly worth a shot.”
There's a red-haired woman, about forty years old, heading in our direction. It's time to break out my old matchmaking skills. After all, I was a pretty good matchmaker for Cynthia and Kieran—who are still together, by the way. I checked on them the other day, and she's been living with him in London.
I run over to the woman and shout, “Do you see this guy heading toward you? He's really, really nice! You should talk to him!” Taishi can disagree if he wants, but I still think shouting is the best way to communicate with mortals.
As always, my trick works. The red-haired woman stops and asks Mike, “Pardon me. This is going to sound crazy, but can I use your phone?”
“Uh... sure.” When Mike surrenders his smartphone, he looks incredibly bored. Maybe he's not attracted to her?
“Thanks.”
First, I notice the ring on her finger.
Then she calls her husband. Oh well. So much for my grand plan. I guess I'm a crappy matchmaker after all.
As I listen to her conversation, I pout at Taishi.
“Yeah, honey,” the woman says. “Yeah... yeah. I just got into town. I'm taking the light rail. Okay. I'll be there in about thirty minutes. I'm on another guy's phone, so I can't talk long. Okay... bye.” As she hands the phone back to Mike, she explains, “Sorry. When I woke up today, my phone was totally unrevivable. Thanks for letting me borrow yours.”
“Sure. No problem,” Mike mumbles as he reclaims his phone.
With nothing else to say to each other, Mike and the mystery redhead part ways.
“Taishiiiii,” I whine my instructor's name. “Can you please take over? All of my ideas are failing miserably.”
“You should have taken my suggestion, Riley-chan,” Taishi says. “It was a good suggestion.”
“Suggestion? What suggestion?”
“Give me a moment. I'll be right back.”
Before I can ask where he's going, Taishi disappears. He didn't leave me with any special instructions, so I continue to follow Mike.
“What can we do?” I whisper to myself. “What would give someone the will to live? What would...”
All of a sudden, Taishi rounds a corner, and he's followed by a little white dog. I assume he's directing the dog to Mike, because the little pup jumps on our charge as soon as they cross paths.
“A dog, Riley-chan,” Taishi whispers and winks. “It never fails. Trust me.”
“Hey there, boy!” Mike exclaims, leaning down to pat the dog's head. “Where did you come from? Do you belong to someone? You don't seem to have a collar.”
Before I can ask, Taishi says, “It's a neighborhood stray. I found him the other day. He was going to be my back-up plan if your ideas failed.”
“And you really think a dog will give him the will to live?” I can feel my eyebrow skeptically raising.
“I do, actually,” Taishi replies. “I've seen it happen before. People love their pets. They fill a void.”
“No, you can't follow me!” Mike tells the dog. “Go back home, okay? I'm sure you belong to someone.”
The dog defiantly yips and chases after him. I think he's already claimed Mike as his person, and he won't take no for an answer.
“Go on! Go home!” Mike tries again, but the little dog keeps coming. “I don't think I can keep you.”
“Yes you can!” I yell at him. “Keep the dog, Mike! You need him!”
My shouting seems to melt Mike's resistance. He not only lets the dog follow him, he invites him into his house.
Now... only time will tell if Taishi is right.
* * *
Well, it’s 11:48 at night, Mike’s sitting on the floor with his new friend, and he hasn’t killed himself yet. Is it too early to say the mission was a success?
He's named the dog Otis, by the way, and they warmed up to each other so fast, it's like they're long lost soulmates.
“He's happy,” Taishi suddenly tells me. “I just peeked into Mike's thoughts, and he's happy.”
“I can't believe a dog is all it took.”
“Humans need to be needed. Mike didn't feel needed by anyone or anything... and now he does. I've seen animals turn my charges' lives around,” Taishi says. “Animals have sweeter souls than we do. We should appreciate them far more than we do.”
“My mom wouldn't let me have a pet.” I pout at my instructor. “She was allergic to cats and afraid of dogs.”
“Why not a bird, then?”
“Too noisy,” I answer with a shrug. “I did have a fish once... but it died in two days.”
“That's unfortunate.”
It's 11:55 now. According to Taishi, if we make it to midnight, our mission is a success.
While I'm staring at the clock, Taishi suddenly asks, “Do you want to know why this mission was personal to me, Riley-chan?”
“Yes!” I practically shout my answer. Taishi's never talked about himself before. I know absolutely nothing about his life. If he finally opened up to me, it would be nothing short of a miracle.
“Well... you know I was a samurai, right?”
“Yeah. It's been awhile since I've seen you in the kimono, though.”
Taishi must have thought I was requesting a wardrobe change, because he suddenly manifests new clothes for himself. He's wearing the blue kimono again, which was the very first outfit I ever saw
him in. Since then, I've seen him in jeans, t-shirts, leather jackets, winter coats and cowboy clothes. I think the kimono is one of my favorites. It suits him.
“Well...” Taishi sounds a bit reluctant to continue. “I wasn't a samurai very long before things went bad. My friend and I joined at the same time, and Sensei—our teacher—sent us on a mission right away. To be blunt, we weren't ready for the responsibility. We were supposed to ambush the shogun, but the shogun ambushed us instead. And it was my mistake. Because of my error, my friend lost his life.”
I don't know what I'm supposed to say right now, so I settle on a safe, “I'm sorry, Taishi.”
“I couldn't live with the shame of it. I couldn't face the judgment of my peers,” my instructor continues. “So... I committed seppuku.”
“Seppuku?” Does he expect me to know what that means? Because I don't. And I feel like an idiot.
Taishi's expression is stony as he defines the word. “I committed suicide, Riley-san. I disemboweled myself.”
“Oh god...” I don't know what else to say.
“It was an agonizing death, and a surprisingly slow one,” Taishi tells me. “As I suffered, I remember feeling like I deserved it... and I felt that way until I went back to visit my family.”
“As a spirit?” I ask.
“Of course.” Taishi's jaw twitches as he continues his story. “My mom was devastated. My little brother was in tears. As I watched them grow old without me, I eventually regretted my choice. At the time, seppuku felt like the honorable thing to do, but...”
I've never seen Taishi Nakamura look sadder than this. I want to reach out to him, to touch him, to hug him, or something—but I can't find the courage.
I check the clock again. 12:03. We've officially succeeded.
“Anyway...” Taishi finishes his story with a sigh. “When I think of suicide, I always remember my past. I didn't want Mike to take his own life. Those who commit suicide often have the greatest regrets.”
I wonder if Alyx has any regrets? To be honest, it doesn't seem like she cares about much.
“I've since been reunited with my family, of course,” Taishi adds. “We share a house back Home.”
“Really?” I can feel my eyes swelling. I would die—no pun intended—for a glimpse of Taishi's life outside of spirit guide work. “Can I meet them?”
Taishi's answer surprises me. “Sure.” He's even smiling a little bit, which is equally staggering. “I should warn you, though... my grandmother will probably beg you to be my girlfriend.”
“Shoes off,” Taishi whispers in my ear as we step through a sliding door. As soon as I enter, I ditch my ballet flats and turn toward the two women who were awaiting our arrival. One woman is probably in her late forties, while the other woman looks like she's in her sixties. I assume they're Taishi's mother and grandmother.
Both women greet me with a bow and a simultaneously exclaimed “konnichiwa” so I try to copy them and do the same.
“Konnichiwa,” I echo the greeting as I bow.
“You must be Riley-chan?” the older woman asks. “Ohh, we've heard sooo much about you! Come in. You should have something to eat. What would you like?”
“Um...” I should probably ask for something Japanese, right? The only problem is, I have next to no knowledge of Japanese food. “What would you recommend?”
Taishi's sweet grandmother is already steering me to a table. She sits cross-legged on the floor and urges me to sit beside her. “How about okonomiyaki? It's one of my favorites!”
“Obaa-chan,” Taishi chuckles at his grandmother's suggestion. “Riley-chan isn't going to know what okonomiyaki is.”
I don't want to be a rude guest, so I speak up, “I'm willing to try it, though. Seriously, I'm up for anything.”
“How about ramen? Everyone likes ramen, don't they?” As Taishi's grandmother pats my arm, I'm already getting the impression that she's one of the nicest people I'll ever meet. Her smile is unbelievably warm and welcoming. In other words, she's the polar opposite of her grandson.
“Ramen would be good,” I tell her. “I'm happy to eat anything.”
“Maybe I'll manifest all of my favorites!” his grandmother exclaims. “Okonomiyaki, ramen, miso soup... oh! And we can have dorayaki and ice cream for dessert.”
My eyes light up when she says ice cream. Finally, she mentioned something I know and love. “I like ice cream!”
“Good. That's wonderful, dear.” She suddenly manifests a bowl of hot noodles and passes it to me, as well as a pair of chopsticks—which I have no idea how to use, by the way. I'm going to look like an idiot. “So, what do you think of our handsome Taishi?”
Taishi clears his throat as he sits down across from us. We're joined by his mother, who's been silent thus far. “Obaa-chan, you didn't even let me introduce everyone! You started shoving food into Leigh's hands as soon as she entered the house!”
“Ohhh, go ahead and make your introductions!” His grandmother sneers at him, then she manifests a huge plate of something I've never seen before. I assume it's the okonomiyaki. “But she already knows who we are, Taishi-kun. I'm your grandmother. Obviously.”
“Indeed. This is my grandmother, Ritsuka.” Taishi turns to the woman at his right. “And this is my mother, Ginchiyo.”
“It's really nice to meet you both,” I say, hoping I sound respectful enough. Ritsuka definitely looks older than Ginchiyo. Since they all probably died at different ages, I assume they've all shifted their appearances to look more like a family.
“Don't think you can change the subject and get out of this, Taishi-kun!” Ritsuka shakes her chopsticks at her grandson as she chastises him. “What do you think of Taishi, Riley-chan? Isn't he handsome?”
“Yeah.” I try to smile at Taishi, but he's not looking at me. “Of course he is.”
“And how is he as an instructor?” Ritsuka asks. “Some people say he's difficult to work with. They say he's too strict. Is he difficult to work with?”
I shake my head. “No. I don't think so. We get along pretty well.”
As I sample the okonomiyaki—which is a lot tastier than I expected—a guy in his late twenties walks into the room. Unlike Ritsuka and Ginchiyo, who are wearing traditional Japanese kimonos, this guy is wearing jeans and a t-shirt.
“Hey,” the guy greets me. “You're Leigh, right? I'm Jin.”
“And you must be...?” I hesitate, hoping he'll fill in the blank for me. I don't want to make a wrong guess. “Taishi's older brother?”
“No. Jin is actually my younger brother,” Taishi corrects me. “Does he look older than me now?”
“Well... yeah. Kind of.”
“That's amusing,” Taishi says. In the middle of our conversation, his brother manifests a big bowl of rice. “Jin was only twelve when I died.”
“Where's your dad?” I ask. When I see smiles drop from all four faces, I immediately regret my question. I guess I hit a sore spot.
“Dad chose reincarnation over us,” Jin blurts out, then he reaches across the table to steal a bowl of his grandmother's recently manifested noodles. “He wanted a new life. We didn't.”
“Oh. I... I'm sorry.” Why didn't I keep my stupid mouth shut and wait for someone to mention Taishi's father? I feel awful.
At long last, Ginchiyo speaks. With a smug grin, she says, “And his new life isn't that wonderful. He's a lonely garbage collector in Detroit.”
“And he's a single dad,” Ritsuka adds. “Personally, I think that's his karma for running out on us. He leaves us... and then his wife left him.”
“Do a lot of people choose reincarnation?” I ask, hoping it's not another stupid question. They seem like friendly people, so I don't think they'll judge me.
“A little less than half,” Ginchiyo replies. “A lot of spirits don't like the idea of having their memories wiped clean. But some also prefer the challenges of the mortal realm, or they didn't have much attachment to their previous lives, so they choose a new one.”
/>
Taishi's grandmother tries to reclaim the conversation. “Riley-chan... do you like working with Taishi?”
Once again, Taishi's avoiding eye contact with me. I think his grandmother's questions might be killing him a bit. “Yeah. I really do,” I reply.
“Do you like... him?” Ritsuka asks.
This time, Taishi seems a bit more interested in my answer, but he's still not looking at me. With a firm nod, I tell her, “I do.”
“He's so serious! The boy needs to have fun every now and then!” his grandmother complains.
So Taishi fires back at her, “I think you're the only grandmother in the world who thinks her grandson should work less.”
Ritsuka dismisses his comment with a wave of her hand. “I'm not saying you should work less... I'm saying you should have fun too! You're always working, Taishi. Maybe you and Riley-chan could visit a beach together? You used to like the beach.”
“That would be fun,” I tell her as I sample the miso soup. It's not really my thing, so I shove it aside and focus on the okonomiyaki.
“See? She wants to go to the beach! I bet you have her working and working and working non-stop. I bet you never leave any time for fun!”
As Ritsuka speaks, I nod along and answer, “Pretty much.”
“I like you, dear...” Ritsuka gives my arm another friendly pat. “Would you like some dessert?”
“Sure.” Ritsuka manifests something that looks like a pancake stuffed with chocolate. Unfortunately, it's not chocolate. It tastes a lot weirder than I expected, and I wish she would've given me ice cream instead.
“Do you have a boyfriend, Riley-chan?”
Ritsuka's question is so unexpected, I almost choke on the dorayaki. “Umm...” Once again, Taishi's studying me in the corner of his eye. He's trying to look disinterested, but he's so transparent, it's hilarious. He wants to know my answer. “No.”
Maybe I should make that clear to Jophiel as well?
“I think you'd be a good girlfriend for our Taishi. You seem very sweet, dear.”
Ritsuka's comments are making me blush. I can't see myself, but my face is on fire, so I assume I'm blushing. “That's... uh...” I don't know how to reply, so I bite my tongue and hope for a swift end to the conversation.
