The One Who Saved Me

Chapter 9: Ryu

The next day, Kari doesn’t come to school. I don’t see her at her locker in the morning, or in the halls while walking to any of my classes. I suspect that she won’t be in art either - I am correct. I text her at random intervals whenever I have time, but never get a reply. At lunch I run into Kari’s friend Emiko, who I had met once briefly before.

“Hey, Emiko. I don’t know if you know me, I’m Ryu Isana. I’m friends with Kari.”

At first she looks a bit confused, but recognition eventually lights up her eyes. “Oh! Yeah, I’ve seen you walking with her around the halls.” The couple of people she had been standing with when I approached her wave good-bye and agree to meet up with her in the cafeteria in a few minutes. “So, uh… what’s up Ryu?” she asks. 

I run my hand through my hair and shuffle my feet on the floor a little, suddenly feeling slightly awkward. “I was wondering if you know why Kari isn’t here today. I’ve been texting her, but she’s not answering. Honestly, I’m a bit worried. She left pretty abruptly during lunch yesterday and I just want to know if she’s okay.” 

Her eyes dart to the right and then down to her feet before she takes a breath and looks at me again. “When I talked to her last night she said that she wasn’t feeling well and that she was probably going to stay home. That’s why she’s not here. And she’s probably not answering you because her phone’s off and she’s just sleeping. She does that a lot when she’s sick,” she tells me. 

I exhale a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. “Thank you, Emiko. That makes me feel a bit better to know. I hope she feels better soon though.”

She smiles at me and puts her hand on my shoulder as she slowly starts moving in the direction of the cafeteria. “You’re welcome. Glad I could help. I’ve got to go have lunch now, but I’ll see you around.”

“Bye Emiko,” I say as she starts walking away. 

I just stand here for a while. I don’t feel like dealing with all the people who are in the cafeteria today. I turn on my heel and head in the direction of the roof. 

The day is bright and warm and beautiful. Three qualities that I relate with Kari. I find a spot on the wall and drop my bag on the concrete before sliding down and sitting beside it. The sun is shining down brightly on the rooftop. I close my eyes and lean my head back, exposing my entire face to the bright light. 

Though I told Emiko that information she gave me helped… I lied. It didn’t make my state of worry worse, but I do not feel better in the slightest. In fact, how she said it and moved her eyes before answering my question makes me think that she’s hiding something. She might not even be lying, but she’s definitely not telling me everything. 

I don’t like feeling this way - worried and helpless - but I don’t know what to do about it. 

A couple minutes pass and then I hear the door to the roof open. “I thought I would find you up here,” I hear a familiar, deep voice say. 

I open one eye and see Satoshi walking toward me. He’s holding his backpack by one strap hanging over his shoulder. I fully open my eyes and straighten my posture a bit. “Why are you here? Aren’t you usually with your posse at lunch?” I ask. 

He shrugs. “I noticed Kari isn’t here today and I didn’t see you come into the cafe, I thought I’d come see if everything was alright.” He drops his bag down and takes a seat beside me. 

One corner of my mouth lifts in a weak attempt at a smile. “Thanks,” I say. I drag my hand over my face. “Actually, I don’t know if everything is alright. I’m pretty sure it started yesterday when we were having lunch. I thought it was going great. I was having a good time and she let me see her art. I was just getting up the courage to ask her if she would like to be my date to prom-”

Satoshi angles his body towards me, looking excited. “Dude, that’s awesome!” he says. 

I laugh a little, though I don’t actually find anything funny. “I didn’t actually get to do it,” I tell him. 

His excitement fades. “Aw, why not?” he asks, his voice taking on an almost whiny tone. 

“Well, that’s when things started not going south,” I explain. “Someone came over and talked to me, and when they left, so did she.” I shrug and continue, “it was just all of a sudden too. She just got up and left unexpectedly. It left me feeling confused and worried. I don’t know what to do Satoshi.” 

“Hm,” he says, grasping his chin between his index finger knuckle and his thumb. He is looking up toward the sky in thought. He turns toward me and asks, “who was it exactly that came up to you?”

I shrug. “Nyoko.”

His eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Your ex?!” he exclaims. He starts laughing so hard that he falls over onto his side. I personally don’t see what’s so funny. 

“What? What is it? Why are you laughing?” I ask in quick succession.

His laughing fit dies down and he wipes his eyes. “You are such an idiot, Ryu.” 

“Why?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. 

“Kari left because she felt uncomfortable meeting your ex-girlfriend, you fool.”

“But I told her that it was way over. That I got over her a long time ago.”

He shrugs. “That may be, but that wouldn’t make her any less uncomfortable. And also, she didn’t really stay to get the whole story. That, plus the fact that you two haven’t actually known each other very long, maybe she didn’t fully believe you.” 

I gasp a little. “How can you say that?” I ask. “I know we haven’t known each other very long, but I just know we have some kind of… connection.” 

He raises an eyebrow at me. “A connection, Ryu? Really?” he says skeptically, then shakes his head at me. “Well even if you feel like that, she might not. Unless you’ve asked her and are really sure.” I can feel the judgement. 

I roll my eyes at him. “Alright, forget I said that. Anyway, what do you think I should do?” Satoshi usually has pretty good advice. Especially when it comes to girls. 

He heaves out a sigh and nods. “Well, she obviously wants to be left alone today. Otherwise she wouldn’t be ignoring you.” I nod my head in agreement. “If tomorrow she still needs some space, give it to her. She will talk to you when she’s ready.” He pauses for a moment before saying, “but if she still won’t talk to you by the end of the week, I think you should confront her and see what else could be going on.”

It’s my turn to raise an eyebrow. “Why do you think she still wouldn’t be talking to me?” I wonder. “Do you know something I don’t?”

He holds up his hands as if in surrender. “Hey, I don’t know any more than you do, man.” He lowers his hands. “I just have a feeling about this.” His voice takes on that rare serious tone.

I just nod. There is nothing to say to that. I’ve known Satoshi a long time, and I know to trust when he gets a feeling about something; he’s usually right. 

“Alright, thanks man,” I say. 

He smiles at me and takes out his food as I start to also unpack the sandwich I brought today. “No problem. What are friends for?”

We spend the rest of the lunch period sitting on the rooftop eating our lunches and enjoying the sun in silence. We don’t part ways until we have to go to our respective classes. It’s been quite a while since I got to spend time with Satoshi like that. I didn’t realize until today just how much I was beginning to miss my best friend. He gave me some great advice today, and I’m definitely going to put it to good use.