Behind the Mask

Chapter 4

For me, one of the scariest things in the world was when you knew that you were being hunted, but you did not know by whom and when they were going to show themselves.

Like how you knew that there was a storm coming as reported on the news, but the weather was so calm…until the storm came and left you surprised.

There were no signs and you would not notice that they were already near you until they popped right in front of you and stabbed you.

It had been weeks since that news became the center of the talks in the streets, schools, restaurants, and wherever you go. And I did not know if I should feel relieved that I was still alive and standing right now…

Or be scared as I waited for my turn.

I was in the middle of my last class for today and was waiting for it to end when suddenly, I felt my phone vibrated inside my bag. I looked for it and saw Kaya’s message telling me that she would wait for me outside our department’s building.

Kaya and I would be going to visit an optical store near the train station because Aunt Claire won’t stop bugging me about at least trying to hide my eyes and my moles on my face. I understand that she was worried and I appreciated that but, just what am I supposed to do to hide it?

She suggested that I could try wearing contact lenses, but I felt so uncomfortable using those things, and I felt like it will be painful to put those in my eyes.

I immediately saw Kaya outside when I left right after my class; she was sitting at the side of the stairs and was facing her back at me so she did not notice that I was already there.

“Hey, let’s go,” I said as I walked towards her, but I was a bit taken aback when she turned around and smiled at me like there was something good that happened. “W-what’s wrong with you?” I asked.

She stood up and excitedly raised her phone right in front of my face to show it to me, but I moved my head back in surprise. I thought she’s going to hit me.

I frowned as I watched her eyes twinkled in enthusiasm, then shifted my gaze on her phone in front of me. In there, I saw a conversation between her and someone I did not know. It was just a normal exchange of conversation – greeting each other and asking how were they.

“…Your new guy?” I asked nonchalantly then started walking. I already lost count of how many guys she had introduced me.

Kaya giggled playfully like a young girl in love. “Not yet.”

I rolled my eyes. “Stop acting like that. You’re making me cringe.”

“Meanie!” She exclaimed. “By the way, his name is Nishimoto Ken and you have seen him before. He’s the one who brought me home to your apartment.”

Whenever Japanese people are mentioning someone’s full name, they mention first the family name before the first name.

I looked at her all confused. “Nishimoto Ken? He looks like a foreigner to me, like an American or English man.”

“Yeah, he is an American. From what I heard, he was adopted by a Japanese family and they changed his name into a Japanese one.”

“…Really? That was the first time I heard about someone’s story like that.”

“Right? Everyone in our department likes him and knows him. He just transferred here this semester.”

“Is he in the same major as you?”

“No. Actually, you are in the same department. Haven’t you seen him even once?”

“I don’t know. Don’t tell me he’s the reason why you always want to meet in our department’s building?” I asked suspiciously.

I was surprised when she suddenly laughed sweetly. “Not really. But it is one of the reasons,” she said. If it was only possible, maybe there were already heart-shaped things showing on her eyes.

Kaya talked nonstop on our way and I just silently listened to her nonsense stories about that guy she was referring to. Sometimes I would nod just to make her feel that I was listening, even though I was not really interested in it.

The sun was about to set when we reached the optical store and there, we met Fujiwara Tamiko, the optician who owned the store. It was a great thing that she was there and she helped us regarding our concern.

In the end, I decided to try black contact lenses and bought a solution for cleaning and disinfecting it. She advised me that if I felt uncomfortable or there was any irritation that occurred, I should immediately visit her so she could recommend me other options.

“Thank you so much.” We said while bowing our heads at her then left the store.

The streets of Tokyo were busy and crowded, as usual, especially the part where we were because we were surrounded by different establishments such as restaurants, movie theaters, bars, and other stores.

It was nice walking and hanging around here with friends, but I rarely enjoyed it since I was the kind of person who got tired easily just from being in a loud and crowded place. 

“Should we go home now?” Kaya asked; she was walking beside me. I was about to answer her when suddenly, my eyes caught a bookstore on the other side of the road. I stopped from walking and stared at it for a while.

“Kaya, I’ll check that bookstore. Do you wanna come with me?” I asked, even though I already knew what her answer would be.

Her mouth twisted while furrowing. “Nah. I’ll pass,” she said then looked around and pointed to a family restaurant not far from where we were. “I’ll be just waiting for you there, okay?”

Kaya was not really into books. She did not want to read long documents or books and she got bored easily.

I, on the other hand, loved reading books. I loved the smell of the books and the feeling of the paper on my fingers when I turned the pages; it made me feel relaxed and at ease. Plus, reading books always brought me to different places I had never been through my imagination.

And to me, bookstores were like a paradise, and being surrounded by thousands of books was one of the most satisfying feelings I’d ever had.

We separated our ways then I stopped in front of the store. From the view outside, through its large glass window, I could tell that it was not a grand bookstore with lots of books to offer, but they still had plenty of books to choose from.

I opened the glass door without any hesitation and when I stepped inside, the smell of books greeted me and instantly filled my nose. This is heaven, I thought to myself, feeling like I was in cloud nine.

My eyes shone in my amusement while looking at the large and medium-sized bookshelves in the store, then I excitedly walked towards them as if I was being drawn to them. There were shelves for poetry, novels, and even a section for manga (a Japanese comic book).

I could not hide the smile on my face as I was checking every shelf and got so immersed in it that I did not notice someone was behind me. I suddenly felt something hard beneath my shoes and gasped when I realized that I accidentally stepped on someone.

I quickly turned around and lowered my head to apologize. “I’m sorry. I did not notice someone was behind me,” I started panicking because I knew that I stepped on him really hard and I was worried that he was hurt.

I gazed up with a worried expression, to see his face, but when I met his eyes, I was suddenly taken aback.

The man was wearing a face mask so I could not see his face and he was wearing a black cap. But, what surprised me was the way he looked directly at my eyes.

His eyes were wide opened like he was seeing a ghost and he stared into my eyes like he was trying to dig deeper for my soul.

Then the surprised look in his eyes suddenly changed into amusement, desperation, and obsession – like how a person looked impatiently at the things that they wanted to have; the thing that they wanted to take no matter what the cost was. Even if…

Even if they had to take it by force.