The landline phone shrieked from downstairs. I could hear it loud and clear, even through my book.
Ringgg….
Ringgg….
I didn't move. No one else was home anyway. Let it ring.
A few seconds later, it started up again. Persistent.
Ugh. With a heavy sigh, I gathered what little will I possessed, spending the precious energy I'd carefully hoarded all morning by just lying in bed reading.
Slowly, I dragged myself downstairs and finally picked up the receiver.
"Yes, Ishida residence," I answered, having no clue who was on the other end.
A voice came through the line – soft, a little higher-pitched. Definitely a girl.
"Is Kyo there? This is Misaki." It was Misaki. Why on earth was she calling me on a Sunday morning? She had to know by now that my absolute favorite thing in the entire world was to sleep the whole day away.
"Yeah, it's Kyo. What do you want?" I jumped straight to the point. No time for pleasantries when my precious Sunday was on the line.
"Are you free?"
I could practically smell unnecessary work wafting through the phone line.
"Can I meet you today? There's something important I need to tell you."
And there it was. Unnecessary work, plopped right into the middle of my once-a-week sanctuary – Sunday. Since I didn't have a readily available, airtight excuse to say no, and, well, a tiny part of me didn't actually want to say no to her, I reluctantly agreed. It wouldn't kill me, probably.
So, here I was. I didn't even know a cafe like this existed in our town. It was very… fancy. And classic, if I had to put words to it. The dark wooden interior, the guy behind the counter meticulously making coffee by hand, every precise shake and pour. An old man in the corner, rustling a newspaper while sipping his drink.
I'd thrown on a blue casual shirt and a denim jacket – basically the first things I found on top of the clothing mountain in my cupboard. The only presentable things I could scrounge up. Looking at myself, people might even think I was heading out on a date. Nope. Definitely not a date. I didn't do dates. Or… this whole 'going out' thing in general.
I walked in, immediately bee-lined for the corner-most table, and plonked myself down. I glanced out the window next to me, waiting for her to show up.
…
I looked down at the table. The cup of coffee I'd ordered a few minutes ago was already bone dry.
I checked my watch. She was already ten minutes late.
Tick…tock…
The pendulum clock on the wall seemed incredibly loud in the otherwise silent room. The only sounds were the old man with a shock of white hair flipping his newspaper pages and the clinking of the cafe staff polishing glasses.
I'd already ordered another cup of the same coffee, and even that was half empty now…
Then finally, after a good fifteen minutes, she arrived. She practically sprinted across the road at the zebra crossing, burst through the cafe door, and collapsed into the chair opposite me, gasping for breath.
Gasp… gasp…
She finally managed to speak. "Kyo, there's something important I need to tell you." She didn't spill it right away, though. It was like she was testing the waters, making sure I was actually going to listen. And she wasn't looking me in the eye either. Her gaze darted everywhere but my face. She was… different today. Definitely different.
"Yeah, I got that much," I said, my voice a little sharper than I intended. The long wait had frayed my already thin patience. "So, say it already. Whatever it is."
She still didn't say anything. Just sat there, still avoiding my eyes. Her face told me she was getting all worked up about something. Flustered, maybe?
But no. I wasn't going to play this waiting game anymore.
"If you're not going to say anything, then I'm out," I announced, pushing my chair back and starting to stand. She shot out a hand and grabbed my arm, stopping me.
"No, wait! …Maybe we can talk this out over another cup of coffee?"
"Fine," I sighed, sinking back down. "Just make it quick." I was really getting frustrated now. First, she made me wait forever, and now that she was here, she was just wasting more of my precious, irretrievable time, not saying whatever it was she dragged me out here for.
Another cup of coffee materialized in front of me. Three hits of caffeine in one morning. Just a fantastic way to completely mess up my sleep cycle.
She finally seemed ready to talk, her lips parting…
"Kyo, I…
I…
I…"
She just kept stopping herself mid-sentence. I… 'love you'? Oh, no, don't tell me. You're not actually going to confess your love or something, are you? Please, no.
"I want you to help me!" she finally blurted out. The cafe seemed to fall silent again for a beat, only the ticking clock and the clinking glasses breaking the stillness.
Okay, that was… good. I'd been bracing myself for some awkward, emotional drama. At least I didn't have to deal with that.
"So, what is it you want me to help you with?" I asked, genuinely having no idea what I, of all people, could possibly do to help her.
She continued, "You know the story of the three clans merging, right?"
"Yes, what about it?" I answered, a new question forming in my mind.
"Well, you see…" She rummaged in her bag and pulled out an old, worn-looking record file. "I was just cleaning out some of the clan records, and I stumbled across this."
She opened the file, showing me some faded, handwritten historical notes, and pointed to one specific entry.
It read: "They destroyed us."
"Yes, I see. 'May 3rd, 1934: They destroyed us'," I read aloud, the old ink stark against the yellowed paper.
"Yes, that's it," she confirmed. "And also… some of my distant relatives have always said the merger wasn't peaceful. That it was… forced."
I nodded slowly. I was starting to see where this was going.
"So, this makes me wonder," she said, her eyes suddenly very serious, more serious than I'd ever seen them before. "What happened that day, on May 3rd, 1884?"
"Was it really peaceful, or was it forced?" Now she was back in character – that insatiable need to know everything, to uncover every secret.
"I've thought about it a lot," she continued, "but I don't have any solid proof, or disproof, either way." And now it was crystal clear why she'd called me, why she'd insisted on meeting in person for this.
She stood up then, and bowed her head deeply, like a student bowing to their sensei. "So please, Kyo. Help me find out what happened in 1884."
I could feel it. That heavy expectation hanging in the air. She was clearly expecting me to say yes. But… no. I wouldn't.
"I refuse," I said. Maybe I really was cruel back then.
"First off," I began, counting my reasons off on my fingers so it didn't seem like a completely thoughtless, knee-jerk refusal, "I am not interested in any of this…"
"And second, why me? You can ask anyone for help. Just ask a bunch of your friends. Surely one of them will come up with a good enough theory to satisfy your curiosity." I said it all out loud, and even to my own ears, I sounded harsh. Totally refused. No room for negotiation.
Then, after utterly crushing any hope of my cooperation, I turned to leave, heading for the door.
"Hey, wait…" she called out.
She stopped me. I mean, I told myself I wouldn't stop, but… it wouldn't hurt to listen for just one more second, right?
"I don't want theories to satisfy my curiosity," she said, her voice surprisingly cold, her gaze fixed on the floor. "I want the truth."
The cafe staff could definitely hear us now. I stopped myself just before reaching the door, then slowly retraced my steps back to her.
She continued then, her voice a little softer. "And… I can't just go to anyone telling them all about my family history, you know." And as she said it, it hit me. It really hit me. She didn't consider me 'anyone.' How incredibly naive I'd been all along, not to get such a simple, unspoken gesture.
Suddenly, I felt this… pull. This feeling that I couldn't just walk away this time. She was there to support me last time, when I, in my own weird way, needed it. So, I would return the favor. Just this once.
I returned to where I was standing before, still not quite looking her in the eye. "Just… don't get any ideas," I started. "I'll listen to what you have to say. I'll look at anything you show me. And I'll think about it. I'll actually… spend energy on it. And…"
I paused, taking a breath.
"And if – just if – I find anything useful, then I'll tell you."
I could see the relief wash over her face instantly, like she'd already won. There was absolutely no guarantee I could dig up the truth with solid evidence, but she trusted me. More than I trusted myself with this kind_of_thing.