The Secrets Behind the Mask

Chapter 4 - A New Friend

“Another admirer?”

I slightly flinched in surprise when I suddenly heard someone spoke behind me, and when I turned around to see who it was, I saw a familiar face, who was smiling widely from ear to ear. I stared at her for a while, then I snorted in response to her question. I rolled my eyes and turned my back at her.

“No it’s not, Mika.” I said as I opened the gate of my house.

“Really? But those are red roses.” She insisted while trailing behind me as I walked towards the door. “Red roses symbolize love, you know?”

“Yeah, but this one’s different,” I replied.

I stopped in front of the entrance door and was about to get the house key in my bag when suddenly, I realized that it was not possible because I was still holding that large bouquet in my uninjured hand. I clicked my tongue in my annoyance and turned back at Mika, who was busy locking the gate.

“Hey, can you lend me a hand?” I asked.

“Yeah, just…a sec.” She replied, and after a few moments, she finally managed to lock the gate. She immediately turned at me, beaming with happiness, and started leaping towards me. “Okay, what is it?”

My eyebrows furrowed as I watched her with confusion. I stared at her from head to toe, and could not help but notice how bright the atmosphere was around her, which was unusual. I parted my lips and decided to ask. “Did something good happen today? You look really happy.”

Her eyes widened, and her face brightened more as if she was excited about something. “Is it too obvious?”

“Well…yeah. What happened?”

Mika playfully giggled. “I’ll tell you when we get inside.”

“…Okay,” I nodded, then shrugged my shoulders. “By the way, can you hold this for a second? I’ll just get the key inside my bag.”

“Yeah, sure.” She said and took the flowers from my hand.

I rummaged inside my bag to look for the key and pulled it out once I got a hold of it. I put it on the door lock and was about to unlock it when suddenly, I heard Mika loudly gasped beside me. I turned at her with a confused and surprised look, and saw her wearing a horrified expression on her face while staring at my injured hand.

“Hey, what happened to your hand?” She exclaimed worriedly as if my injured hand would be the end of me. I chuckled at her expression. Well, I had the same facial expression she had when I realized that I just hit my mirror and found my hand swelling.

“I’ll tell you when we get insi–“ I tried mimicking her words, but it was interrupted when Mika tried to reach for my injured hand. I involuntarily moved my hand away from her, afraid that she would touch or squeeze it. “Hey, stop,” I warned.

Her hand stopped mid-air, then she looked at me with an amused and worried expression. “Did you do something stupid again?”

My mouth gaped open in surprise. I was not sure if I should laugh or be touched or be offended. But before I knew it, I was already chuckling. I rolled my eyes and looked away from her. “I’ll kick you out of my house.”

“I’m serious.” Mika defended, voice tainted with worry. Of course, I knew she was serious, and the way she looked worriedly at me a while ago said it all. It’s just…it’s just I did not know how to react whenever I see someone looking at me like that.

I hummed in response while unlocking the door. “Let’s talk about it inside.”

Mika let out a heavy and deep sigh. “Really, what were you doing? You should have called me when you needed to punch someone in the face. I’ll gladly do it for you.”

“Well, I did not punch a person, so I cannot accept that offer,” I responded. The door’s lock beeped, then I entered with Mika walking behind me. “You go ahead in the living room. I’ll get some snacks in the kitchen.” I said without turning at her.

“Let me remind you that your hand is injured, in case you’ve forgotten.”

“And? I still have my other hand, in case you’ve forgotten.”

I heard Mika snorted. “Fine. Call me if you need help.”

I headed straight to the kitchen, while Mika went to the living room. My apartment’s structural design was similar to Aunt Claire’s house in Tokyo wherein, the living room was on the left side of the house, and in front of it was the kitchen. There was a room at the end of the hall, which was the bathroom, and a few steps from it was the staircase going to my bedroom. The only difference between my new apartment and Aunt Claire’s was her house was bigger and more spacious.

I stopped in front of the kitchen cabinet above the sink, where I put some of my snacks, and took a pack of chocolate cookies. I did not know how to prepare or bake snacks, so the best thing I could offer Mika was those cookies that can be bought in markets. I put it first on the kitchen island, then I got a pitcher from the refrigerator and poured it on an empty glass. When everything was done, I headed towards the living room, holding both the pack of chocolate cookies and a glass of water in the same hand.

“I only have water. Hope you’re fine with it.” I said the moment I stepped into the living room. Mika, who was busy watching something on the television, instantly turned at me and stood up from the couch to get the water and cookies from my hand.

“Thank you,” she said.

My eyes diverted to the show that was playing on the television. “What are you watching?” I asked as I walked towards the couch and sat beside her. I rarely watched television, so I had no idea what shows or series were airing at that time of the day.

“The new series of my favorite actor.” She replied while placing the glass of water on the center table, and ripping the pack of cookies open. “By the way, you haven’t eaten lunch, right?”

“Yeah. Why?” I lazily answered without looking away from the screen.

“I ordered pizza and meals for two. They said it will arrive in forty-five minutes.” She replied, then I felt her pushing something on my cheek. I thought she just wanted to show something to me, but when I turned to my side, I saw an opened pack of cookies. “For now, let’s eat this.”

I stared at it for a moment then a smile formed on my lips as I reached for it. “Thanks for opening it.”

“Yeah. I’ll open it all for you if you want.”

I chuckled as I took a bite from the cookie. “Well, I’m looking forward to your service.”

Mika Sasaki was one of the best people I had ever met in my life. She was the same age as me, and a third-year college student at Hokkaido University, taking a Business Management course. She’s a tall woman with an athletic build since she plays volleyball at the university. She has black, short hair and round eyes, and a sharp jawline which was one of her assets, and porcelain skin.

When it comes to personality, she has the same qualities as Kaya, who never hides what she truly feels and says whatever she wants as long as she knew that she’s right. She’s a risk-taker. Sometimes her words are as sharp as a knife, but she knew how and when to tone it down. She’s loud but very gentle and caring.

The only difference between Kaya and Mika is that when it comes to the people they cared about, Kaya always considers and puts others before her. She always does what is best for others even if that means she has to deal with the worst part. Mika, on the other hand, is the opposite. She doesn’t believe in putting others before her.

According to her, she’ll do whatever she wants and will take whatever she desires as long as she knew that it is morally right. If someone asks for her help, she’ll help them without any second thought or hesitation. She’s willing to help others, but she won’t put others before herself. Because for her, the only person whom she could trust and who could stay with her forever is herself. For her, sacrificing herself against her will is like betraying her whole existence.

The way how she perceived life was actually amazing, and it amused me. She’s smart both in academics and in life – she’s full of wisdom like someone who had been through a lot in her life. Being with her made me feel more comfortable, but sometimes, I could not help but feel a little tired and drained when I was with her. It was not because I hate her, but because of her strong aura.

Ever since I was a kid, I became sensitive to other people’s energy which was why as much as possible, I tried to isolate myself from crowded places or even from big groups because being surrounded by strong energies drained me. And Mika has that strong energy that I could not fight off. She was aware of that, and I had told her about that, but she still insisted on coming here to my house and spending time with me.

But there were also times when being with her actually recharges my energy – just like at this moment – and it made me feel better.

I met Mika while I was shopping in a grocery store, two months after I moved to Sapporo. She came to me at that time and asked if I could lend her some money because she forgot her wallet. At first, I thought that she was a thief or a scammer, but she told me that we lived in the same neighborhood and that they lived in front of my house.

We went home together that day, and she immediately paid me afterwards. Since then, their family always gave me food whenever they went somewhere for a vacation, and every time they make desserts, they made sure that they made enough for me too.

I honestly can’t understand at first why they were doing that and why they were so nice to me. Until Mika explained that her mother, Yuna Sasaki, was actually worried about me because I rarely leave the house. Her mother thought that I was getting homesick and probably not taking care of myself because I was only living alone, and my family only visits me at least once a month.

And that’s how Mika and her family gained my trust. I did not have to doubt them because I could feel it. I can feel how pure and sincere their intentions were to me, and even my own family felt it too when they met each other.

“Am I draining your energy again?” Mika suddenly asked after a long silence between us which brought me back to my senses. I gave her a quick side glance before staring back at the television.

“Not really. It’s actually the opposite.”

“Good. Then I’ll stay here until I feel like going home.”

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “You don’t have classes today?”

“Oh!” Mika suddenly exclaimed, which made me turned at her, then there she was beaming again as she stared at me with shining eyes. She held her hands together and put them close to her chest as if what she was going to say would save the world from all of its problems.

“Actually,” she started. “That was what I was going to tell you a while ago. Today is the announcement of the result of our grades, so we don’t have classes. And guess what? I passed! I’m so relieved that I did not fail in any of my subjects. I was worried about it because if I ever fail at least one subject, our volleyball coach might not allow me to play in any of our practice matches. And you know how much I hate it!”

I saw from her face and the way she flung her hands in the air how relieved she was, and I was happy for her too. She had been stressing about it for the past months. There was a time when she stayed in my apartment for the whole week because she did not want to think about it alone in her room. She wanted to unwind and gave herself peace by dragging me along with her as she watched horror movies in movie theaters and played a lot of video games after school.

Well, for her it was a week for unwinding. But for me, it was a stressful week because I had to force myself to leave the house even if I did not want to. I tried to convince her that we did not have to leave the house and we could do those things here in my apartment, but she insisted on having a change of pace.

I sincerely smiled at her. “I’m glad to hear that. You don’t have to worry about it anymore, and you can now take it easy since the semester break is already around the corner.”

“Right?”

“Yeah. And it benefits me too ‘cause I do not have to go with you whenever you want to unwind.” I replied, emphasizing my last word which made her laugh.

“C’mon! Admit it. It was fun.”

I rolled my eyes. “It was, but it drained me.”

She softly chuckled. “Let’s do it again next time. Going out of your house will improve your health and mood.”

“No, thanks,” I replied while averting my eyes back to the television screen. Mika snorted, then I heard her took a deep breath afterwards as if she was trying to get more serious.

“Okay, enough about me. I already told you what happened to me today. It’s your turn.” She said in a serious tone, completely different than what she had a while ago, making me turn at her again. “So? What happened to you?”

“Don’t even try to tell me that you fell and hit your hand somewhere ‘cause it ain’t look that way to me.” She warmed. “I have tried punching someone before, and my hand turned like how yours look now, so I know you punch something…or someone.”

I looked at her for a while and tried to compose in my head the right words for my response. Her gaze moved down from my eyes to my injured hand, then she stared back at me again. She tilted her head to her side, demanding an answer from me. There was really no point in lying to her, but…I can’t tell her the whole truth either.

Because right now, what she only knew about me was that I am Annika Turner, a college student who transferred to Sapporo with the pretense that I preferred to study at Hokkaido University and that I wanted to live independently. Aside from that, she did not know anything more. She did not know about the things that happened to me in Tokyo, and I do not have any plan of telling her, especially about Nishimoto.

But I cannot blatantly lie to her either because she would know. She was smart, and she can easily tell if someone was lying to her. The best thing to do was to answer her truthfully with a little lie.

“There are days that I’m not emotionally feeling well, and it gave me nightmares sometimes,” I admitted. “Last night, maybe because I was not feeling okay when I fell asleep that I ended up having the worst nightmare ever. It scared me and…” I paused. “It took hitting a mirror before I went back to my senses.”

Mika stared at me for a moment as if she was trying to look beyond my eyes, searching for something. She blinked once, then twice before she finally nodded without breaking eye contact with me. “Do you mind if I ask, what kind of nightmare was that?”

“…In my dream…a faceless guy was chasing me and wanted to kill me. But before he succeeds in his plan, I ended waking up.”

“Since when are you having this kind of dream?”

I paused for a while, contemplating whether I should let Mika in to a few of my secrets or just make up a lie. But what kind of lie? I asked myself. If I’m going to lie, it must not be far from what I previously said. I already mentioned about a guy wanting to kill me, so whatever I would say next must be related to that.

“Several months ago. There was an intruder in my Aunt Claire’s house before, and he pointed a gun to me.” I finally said. I watched as Mika’s eyes widened in surprise for a bit, but she managed to compose herself as quickly as she can.

“Did…he do something to you?”

I reluctantly nodded. “He shot me. Here.” I said, then I pointed at the spot on my back near my waist where Nishimoto shot me before. Her eyes followed my gesture and her expression turned from surprise to pity, then regret. She probably felt guilty for asking about such a thing and making me remembered that horrible experience.

“I…I’m sorry. I did not mean to re–”

“It’s okay.” I interrupted her while wearing a gentle and sincere smile. “It’s already in the past. There are just some days that I could still remember it. But I’m fine, so don’t worry about it.”

She stared at me for a moment as if she was unsure if she should ignore it like what I wanted her to do or be more concerned about it. But it did not take long when her expression changed into her usual composure, and her eyes became free from any guilt or pity as if nothing happened and she did not hear anything about it.

“I won’t dwell on your story. But I’ll keep it in mind.” She said in a calm and relaxed voice, which made me smile.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

What I like about Mika was that she leaves the past to where it belongs, and she focuses on what she’s seeing in the present. She won’t judge anyone based on their past experiences and will see them as who they are today. Because for her, the past is in the past. It can’t do anything to you unless you allow it to.

Mika and I were silent for who knew how long; only the sound coming from the television can be heard throughout the apartment. No one dared to speak, and we focused our attention on the movie playing on the screen. The silence around us was not actually disturbing or awkward. It was actually the opposite – it was comforting and peaceful, and it made me feel better.

I did not realize how much time had already passed until we heard the doorbell rang. Mika stood up from the couch without any hesitation and headed straight to the entrance door. I stood up too from my seat, the moment I heard the door closed, then followed her to the entrance door. When I went outside, I saw Mika talking to a guy wearing a pizza company’s uniform while holding two regular sizes of pizza boxes in her hand.

I walked toward her after the delivery guy left and offered to help because aside from the pizza, there were also two plastic bags containing the meal she ordered. Mika gave me one of the bags while she held the rest.

“This is too much for the two of us,” I commented while checking the plastic bag she gave me.

“It’s fine. We have all day to eat it all.”

“I hope my stomach can take it all and won’t give me a hard time in the bathroom later,” I said, then turned around and walked back towards the door. I pressed the passcode of the lock and pushed the door open. However, when I looked back at Mika, I saw her still standing near the gate while looking somewhere on the side of my apartment.

“Hey,” I called. “Are you coming in or not?”

“Have you seen that already?” She asked without looking at me. My eyebrows furrowed then I decided to walk back to her to see what she was talking about. And all I saw were the moving trucks I saw earlier.

“They are still not done yet?”

“Hm. We have a new neighbor.” Mika answered plainly while still keeping her eyes on that house. “I hope they are as kind as you, who would lend me money even if they don’t know me yet.”

I snorted. “For your information, I regretted lending you money at that time.” I joked, and that made her finally turned at me.

“Why tho? I paid you back within that same day.” 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let’s get back in. I’m already hungry.” I said and was about to turn away when suddenly, Mika lightly pulled my hand back.

“Wait.”

I turned at her and raised a brow. “What?” I demanded, but Mika did not answer me. Instead, she kept her gaze on that same house. “C’mon, why are you so interested in our new nei–“

“They’re here.” Mika suddenly butted in. “Our new neighbor is here.”