The Misfortune of Distorted Truth

Safe Moon

"We have to leave," M announced to the table. She stood with shaky confidence.
A hand touched her shoulder, and a chill went down her spine. "No, M, don't go. I wasn't following you. This is a coincidence."
"Creep," Kenji muttered, almost contemplatively, like he was unsure if that was the right word (and M thought it was). M couldn't exactly determine what kind of tone that was.
"This is Asagwara," M introduced between gritted teeth, "by the way."
Tess opened her fingers to reveal the silvery flower, still in bloom. Asagwara seemed to cringe.
"What are you doing with my Sorrowblossom?" Asagwara glared at Tess with passionate hatred. "I gave it to M. Not you." He left M, coming over to the open end of the booth, and M then realized she had been holding her breath. There was a fear planted in her that flourished when he came near. It was simply unexplainable.
"Tess was going to try and figure out what type of flower it was," M retaliated. "She's not keeping it."
The floral shop employer returned the Sorrowblossom, as Asagwara had called it, to M's care. The heavy sadness immediately set in to replace her fear. It might've been a relief if it didn't feel just as miserable.
"Now you know," Asagwara said coolly. "Please don't give it away again."
"It's mine, is it not?" M hissed.
There was the distinct sound of a pen tapping against a notepad. M saw that the waiter had arrived: a nervous young man, likely in his early twenties, who had a stained apron the color of the seats tied around him. "Uhh, I'm ready to take orders."
Asagwara backed away, expressionless. He gave a small wave to M and exited the restaurant without a word of protest. Thankfully, he was not searching for more trouble.
Kenji, Tess, and Isaac hurriedly listed off what they wanted in turn, Isaac filling in for M as well. They seemed aggravatingly unphased by the most recent events of the day.
How could Asagwara not bother them in the slightest? M wondered. More importantly, why is he bothering me?
.........
At home, M lied on the floor with her back to the ceiling, swinging her legs. Tully crouched beside her and nuzzled his cheek with her nose. M wished she could have enjoyed her time at Market, but after Asagwara's uninvited visit everything had gone downhill. The restaurant food smelled delicious - yet it tasted like sand in her mouth. The rest of the group had loved their meals.
Lucky them.
The only bright side M could think of was that Kenji had given her his house phone number so she could call him. He thought they should hang out sometime. It was a nice feeling, knowing somebody actually wanted to hang out with her. She never even asked; that was the best part.
It was nice to be wanted.
Truthfully, M hadn't made any good friends all her life. Everyone abandoned her eventually, for whatever reason. It meant she didn't easily trust. But... why did she trust Asagwara?
M stroked the silky petals of the Sorrowblossom, which she had teasingly placed on Tully's head. The puppy hadn't been disturbed. He just put on an expression of confusion that M thought was absolutely adorable.
"M, the phone's for you," Isaac called from upstairs. M sometimes forgot there was a third floor at all, since only her parents ever went up there. Isaac would go to practice piano. He didn't often do that, though, so it still came as a surprise when she heard any sounds above her.
"Who is it?" she shouted back. M rolled over and pushed herself up, getting to her feet. She brushed the loose strands of black hair that had fallen out of her braid behind her ears and left her bedroom, first taking the Sorrowblossom from Tully to safely slip into her pocket. There was the elevator, sitting at the end of the dim hallway, where it had been all her life though it went unnoticed.
M pressed the cool metal button with the arrow pointing up, and moved her weight from heels to toes as she waited for the doors to open. The chime sounded at last and she stepped in.
"Your parents, M," Isaac said. His delayed response was nearly drowned out by the noise of the elevator steadily moving upwards. M's heart dropped to her stomach. Her parents didn't call. That wasn't a thing that they did. Something must have been wrong.
The elevator chimed once more to release M onto the third floor, where Isaac was standing close by.
"Hold on, Mrs. Desjardins," Isaac began when he saw M, "your daughter's here." He stopped. "Oh. Capucine, then. I'm not sure how I feel about referring to you by your first name, ma'am." He laughed anxiously, and was glad to hand the phone over to M.
Her palms had already started to sweat. "Uh, hi, Mum. Is something wrong? Is Dad okay? Are you okay?"
"Yes, of course! Can't I just call my daughter?"
"Not really," M muttered under her breath.
"What was that? Oh, nevermind. Anywho, darling, I wanted to let you know that Dad and I will be home soon. Isaac told me you were having some problems at school. We're worried about you."
M wrinkled her nose. "Really?" To be honest, that seemed unlikely. "Wait a skip, what problems at school?"
"Isaac called me, actually. He thought Asagwara was bothering you," Capucine said earnestly. "He told me what you said. You know, you didn't have a friend with that name when you were little. That boy's a fibber if you ask me."
M passed Isaac and eventually came to her parents' bedroom, where she sat with an audible squeak of the bed springs beneath her. She gazed out the window longingly. The moon was almost full, casting its eerie light into the darkened room. Where it seemed everywhere else was dark, there it was. Moon to keep you safe at night.
"Yeah, sure," she whispered blankly. Her voice had grown soft unbeknownst to her.
"So how's everything?" Capucine's own voice had become irritatingly louder, like she was trying to make up for her daughter's silence. "Tully? Your friends? Isaac? Is he doing a good job watching you?"
Better than you, M thought spitefully. She was glad she had kept that particular retort to herself. "Tully is cute as always and he's fine. I don't have any-" She paused. "Oh, well, I guess Kenji's sorta my friend. And Isaac is great." M chewed on her braid with odd vigor. She was feeling anxious.
"Kenji!" Capucine squealed. It startled her so that she nearly fell off the bed and took the coverings with her. "Who's that? Is he handsome?"
"Don't do that," M frowned, regaining her composure. "I only met him today. There was an... incident, or whatever, and he came to help. He's thirteen, I think. Doesn't go to my school anyway so none of it really matters at all.
The buzz of background noise took over her mother's end for a few beats. M thought she heard something like faint crying. Perhaps her parents were at a hotel. "Oh. Could I ask you a personal question?" Capucine inquired.
M rolled her eyes. "Ew. No. Please don't consider that. Ever." She regretted expressing her disgust, but she knew what her mother wanted to ask and she didn't appreciate it. Her firm pass had answered both the question spoken aloud and the question that would have come after. M hated it when her mother assumed things about her because of what she said. Her father did that too. Isaac didn't.
"You should probably talk to Rafael now." Capucine had sensed her daughter's irritation. She seemed hurt.
M didn't think she had much of a right to feel that way.
"I'd rather not. I'm tired. See you when you get home." M held the receiver away from her ear and clicked it off. It droned on angrily until M slammed it back in its charger on the wall. She despised the sound it made.
"M, please try to be more gentle with your parents," Isaac said as she came out of the bedroom. He put a hand on her shoulder. "I know you're cross with them, but they don't know that. Your poor mum probably thinks that Asagwara boy is causing you some serious stress."
"I'd like to sit out on the porch now," M told him vaguely. "Come if you want."
She departed from him and went back down to the second floor in the elevator, then to the first on the stairs. Tully barked excitedly, thinking he was going to be taken for a walk as M went to the front door.
Giving in to his loving gaze, she retrieved his green leather leash from its hook and attached it to the puppy's matching collar. "We'll go outside for a bit. That's all we're doing," she explained to Tully. She wasn't even convincing herself.
She opened the door. It creaked slightly as it moved, as if inviting her back to the outside world. Hesitatingly, M sat on the porch swing that hung from rusting chains. The cool wood chilled her exposed thighs. She shivered and pulled her legs onto the seat, so only the part of them covered by her shorts was touching the surface.
M was surprised that Isaac had not come out with her; he didn't like to leave her alone outside, even if she was twelve years old. She wasn't bothered, though. Isaac wasn't mad. He couldn't be mad.
Tully barked again, feeling deceived. What about the walk?
M put her left hand under his belly and lifted him up onto her lap. "Soon, Tully. Be patient." She stroked his soft black fur, staring up at the black sky dotted with billions of glowing stars. The moon outshined them all.
M waited for a few more minutes. Right on cue, the lights inside flicked off and the porch light came on. Isaac would be going to bed soon.
"I'm going to bed, M," Isaac confirmed as though he had read her mind, peeking his head out the doorway. "Don't stay up too long. Remember to bring the dog in. Turn off the lights. Don't go out the fence." He gave her a cheery thumbs up and she returned it with faked enthusiasm. It must have been convincing enough, because he seemed satisfied and so returned to the house.
The first time Isaac had unknowingly been very irresponsible.
M slid off the porch swing and led Tully to the front yard, where they watched Isaac's window from a fair distance. At last, those lights too turned off.
"Walk time, buddy," M chirped, trying her best to keep her voice down while simultaneously attempting to persuade her puppy nothing was wrong. She floated through the grass so she hardly made a sound. Tully snuffled and licked at the green as the pair went along.
Upon reaching the entrance gate, M stopped to tie Tully's leash securely around her waist so he couldn't stray too far. Then, she waited some more. She had a feeling that she was right about what would happen. What she was doing was risky, to say the least.
There was only the endless song of crickets and twinkle of fireflies for what seemed like hours. The moon smiled down at M, reminding her she was protected. The dark could never come as long as it was there.
That was what she thought.
At last, M heard the footsteps, coming towards her at a leisurely pace. She grabbed the wrinkled yellow note from her back pocket and stood. The note. The note that he had, somehow, managed to slip to her without even her noticing.
"Show your face to me," M growled impatiently. She put a protective hand over Tully's leash, still wrapped around her.
"No need to snap." The shadow of the boy was visible to her, as he stayed in the dark cover of the trees. "Honestly, I didn't think you'd come at all."
"I just want to know what you want so you'll leave me alone once I do it, or give it to you, or whatever. Whatever it takes."
Asagwara stepped closer, into the light. The street lamp flickered slightly as if it was shivering in fright of him. "How long have your parents been gone, Miss M?"
"Ten months." She glowered.
"Ah. Not even a visit?"
"No."
The boy was bemused. "They're bringing a surprise for you, you know. They think it'll make up for everything. The fact that they don't care about you and would rather party their lives away." His silvery eyes twinkled with laughter.
"They do care about me," she hissed. "And they aren't partying. They have work and...stuff." M crouched to pet her puppy, hugging his warm body close to her own. He whimpered.
"How old?"
"What?"
"Your parents. Age." Asagwara peered at her, examining. "Oh, you have the Sorrowblossom on you."
M turned from him. She held Tully closer to her heart. "Mum is 31 and Dad is 33. It doesn't matter."
"I see." The boy's eyes suddenly widened. He covered his mouth, showing more emotion than M had ever seen from him. "Oh, my! You saw them too!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Love, Truth, Life, Death, Peace, Hate, Anger, War...them. There are thousands, thousands more I couldn't possibly name." Asagwara looked as sorrowful as one would upon touching the Sorrowblossom. His smirk had faded, as had the gleam in his eyes. "They changed my life. I'm sorry for you. I suppose we ought to stick together, after all. I was going to -" He cut himself off, licking his dry lips in thought.
"Who?" M was thoroughly confused. She softened at his concerned tone. Something was most definitely wrong here. "Do you need help?"
Asagwara shook his head woefully. "No, no, you must have seen them too. There are so many. They only choose certain people. It's a privilege! A blessing. But, too, a curse..." He seemed to be talking to himself, though he occasionally looked up at M.
"Wait." His rambling struck fear in her heart. "The Eyes?" The memory of only a few hours ago flashed into her mind. Really, it had never left.
The boy lit up with relief. "It's true."
The street lamp shuddered. When it illuminated the sidewalk brightly again, M saw that Asagwara's face had returned to its usual state of condescension. It was disturbing, to speak the least of it.
"I didn't realize they had names," she continued quietly. "The Eyes, I mean. What do they want from me - us?"
"You will find out soon." Asagwara sighed as if he were disappointed or even...rueful.
The street lamp abruptly went off, shoving both children unwillingly into darkness.
"Asagwara?"
When the light flickered on again, the boy was gone.