Facing Fear | ✓ ONC 2023 Honorable Mention

1 | It Never Rains

Before
Los Angeles, California

Sushi this expensive should be a crime. Mori perused the upside-down bill with pursed lips, doing quick math in her head. I miss Osaka.

"It looks like it's going to rain," her date observed. Even though his good looks had earned a few appreciative glances from their waitress, his head happened to be as air-filled as a bag of chips. Mori had tried to turn the conversation away from weather to hobbies, sports, stocks even, and eventually gave up trying. Garrett slicked back his blond hair and glanced at the bill. "Never knew raw fish would cost an arm and a leg."

"We can go dutch if you'd like."

He eyed her top to bottom, from her high ponytail to the cream of her blouse and down to her black business slacks. "Never knew someone so small could pack it away like that either."

Mori blushed and lowered her eyes, cheeks burning. "It's alright then. I can take it." She slipped her credit card into the leather folder. Their waitress walked by with a small plate of matcha mochi. When the man at the other other table slid the dish to his date, Mori couldn't help watching with longing.

The waitress picked up their bill on her return route to the kitchens and smiled at Garrett. "I'll be right back with this."

Right back took a few minutes, with Mori sitting in her chair as if she'd landed herself in time-out with her parents. Clasping her hands in her lap, she willed herself to take deep breaths. As soon as the employee returned, Mori recovered her card. "I have a bus to catch," she whispered. But Garrett was already chatting up the waitress and she doubted he heard her.

Mori gasped at the cold air when she emerged from the restaurant, wind whipping through her black hair. Maybe Garrett's assessment of the weather hadn't been so wrong after all—even with how rarely it rained in SoCal. She gripped the sides of her blazer over her chest, wishing she hadn't worn heels today.

It didn't take long for the rain to catch up. Soon, the light shower turned into a downpour and Mori boarded the bus soaked and shivering. She took her usual seat with a sigh, turning the shiny coin on her necklace over in her fingers. "You did me dirty today," she muttered to it.

The 5-yen piece dated back to her early days playing SniperX, when she used it to settle disagreeable decisions on her team. Now, even though she'd retired as a gamer, the token kept its importance and function to her. There was an appeal of leaving things to chance, of trusting the go-en coin and fate with it.*

In the end, the coin was what terminated her gaming career, not to mention sending her on a date with an absolute cheapskate.

The bus filled up at the next stop, but as the driver got ready to close the door, a group of women squeezed in and crammed the aisle. "Hey, you." One of them waved her hand to grab Mori's attention since she sat right by the door. "My friend here is pregnant. Do you mind lending your seat to her?"

"Oh, of course," Mori stammered, hurrying to grab her tote bag and make room. The ladies clustered around their friend like mother hens. The woman only had a slight baby bump, but she did look like she might need a paper bag at any moment.

Mori reached up to grasp a ring hanging from the bus ceiling cater-corner from them, in front of a man wearing navy blue sweatpants and a sweater with the hood raised. She recognized him by sight as a regular who often rode the same bus as her and always sat in the same seat as well.

He moved his wet umbrella to give her more room, then hesitated, looking at her feet. "Do you want to sit down?" he asked. Though his shaggy black hair obscured some of his face, the glimmer of his dark eyes and the hollow sharpness of his jaw and cheekbones set her ill at ease.