I Am Become Death

by Rocco Ryg

  One student, who clearly didn’t know about Middle Eastern culture, raised his hand and asked, “Why does she wear that thing?”

  Ryouta replied, “In Saudi Arabia, women have to cover their bodies in burqas so men can’t see them. It’s their custom. She won’t be showing her face around here.”

  Their science teacher, Mr. Tamashi, wasn’t convinced. “Takabe-san, how did your family receive this foreigner again?”

  “My parents arranged it.”

  “Because I’m involved in the student exchange program, and I don’t recall any deals with the Middle East, especially not Saudi Arabia.”

  Ryouta shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, I didn’t question this. I’m just glad to lend a hand and show someone the joys of the Japanese culture.”

  The suspicious teacher said, “Okay, thank you for introducing us. Fursa Sa’eeda, Hannah.”

  The masked Muslim turned to him and responded, “Marhabtein.” She then sat down in the reserve seat.

  Like Mr. Tamashi, Gen didn’t buy the story. He knew enough about Takabe Ryouta to know that he wasn’t the helping type. His story didn’t make sense, and he showed signs of deception when the teacher questioned him. He also found it hard to trust a foreigner who wore a full-body burqa in Japan. That type of burqa wasn’t even popular in Saudi Arabia, where they at least showed their faces. Only total theocracies like Afghanistan required them. The thought of a planned attack by Islamic terrorists on the school crossed his mind, but he dismissed this as ludicrous. Ryouta may have been a jerk, but he was no terrorist accomplice.

  As class went on, Gen couldn’t help but sneak looks at the young Muslim. This whole situation stunk, and he needed to know why. He reached for his cell phone in the compartment under his desk and entered a text message without looking. He sent it to Renka without the teacher noticing. With Renka reading the stranger’s emotions, maybe he could get to the bottom of this mystery.

  That day’s science lecture dealt with sound. Mr. Tamashi read through his lesson plan and wrote his points on the chalkboard. “Sound has an important effect on the human brain. Since the dawn of man, certain drumming patterns have been used to stimulate the mind and increase focus, insight and creativity. The music of Mozart and Brahms has been shown to lighten depressed moods and relieve anxiety. Excessive noise can disturb your concentration and hinder your bodily movements.

  “Why does sound affect us? Let’s look at how it enters the ear. The outer ear amplifies high frequency sound and funnels it into the ear canal, where it reaches the eardrum and becomes mechanical energy. The three small bones of the middle ear vibrate to create a unique pattern. This vibrates the fluid-filled membranes in the inner ear, which sends more signals to the brain and determines pitch, loudness and tone. The left lobe of the brain, which interprets language and logic, and the right lobe, which interprets emotion and creativity, can be affected by the complexity of the sound because it stimulates the neuronal pathways in the hippocampus.”

  The lecture gave Gen an idea. He raised his hand, and when called he stood and asked, “Sensei, do you think it’s possible to change someone’s mind using special sound?”

  A few students giggled at the nerdy question. Mr. Tamashi asked, “What do you mean, Kagekuro-san?”

  “Let’s say you can generate a frequency that can make someone highly susceptible to persuasion, or that can forcefully change their emotions. Is it possible?”

  Tamashi laughed, “You read too much manga, but you’re on to something. I’ve heard of ‘silent sound’ technology that can change peoples’ moods. If it truly exists, it may be possible to alter reason and emotion through sound.”

  “Thank you.” Gen didn’t mind his classmates thinking him foolish. He now had a better understanding of Michiko and Renka’s abilities, and with further study, he wondered if he could turn this to his advantage.

  ***

  At lunch time, Gen met with Chikara and Renka on the roof and discussed his concerns about the foreigner. “Something’s not right here, and I’ve learned to trust my instincts in these situations. She’s in the cafeteria right now. Will you help me spy on her, Renka-chan?”

  “Sure. I’m getting used to sneaking around and spying.”

  “It’s not as exciting as breaking into a Navy base, but I wish you guys luck,” said Chikara.

  As they headed to the cafeteria, Renka told Gen, “You feel bad. Is it because of Chikara?”

  “She’ll never let me forget what I did, will she?”

  “I guess not. She’s not the forgiving type, but at least I’m over it.”

  “Now her dad knows. They’ll have me on a dissection table in no time.”

  “Relax, Gen-kun. I’ve known Mr. Kaminari all my life. He’s strict and all, but I don’t think he’ll tell anyone.”

  “I hope not. Come on, let’s find that Arab.” As they approached their destination, they noticed others students sneaking jeers at them. “I see they still believe that rumor Michiko spread.”

  Renka’s anxiety about the gossip had worn off. “Don’t worry about it. Who knows, pretty soon, it might be true.”

  Gen stopped in his tracks. “What? I mean... hey, you’re testing me, aren’t you? You want to see how I’d feel.”

  Renka returned a snide smile. “Guilty.”

  “So how did I feel?”

  “You already know.” She continued the trek to the cafeteria, leaving her boyfriend teased and uncomfortable. She must’ve liked sensing him this way, he thought.

  When they arrived, Gen and Renka sat at a corner table and watched Takabe Ryouta and his guest. He sat with his small circle of friends, who seemed to ask a lot of questions about the masked visitor he had brought. Michiko and her friends sat across from them and discussed their advertising campaign. Kaijin sat across the room by himself and watched them. Gen said, “Okay, focus on our mysterious guest. What do you feel?”

  Renka concentrated on the Saudi’s mind. “Okay, she’s nervous. A little jumpy. She has to do something, but isn’t sure if it will work. She’s worried if it fails... someone will hurt her.”

  “Who?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Okay, what about Takabe? He must know more than he’s letting on.”

  Renka switched her focus to Ryouta. “He’s excited. He’s getting something... something he wants badly. He doesn’t know everything, but doesn’t care. Wait, something’s happening.”

  The Muslim nudged Ryouta, as if passing a signal. He got up and walked to Michiko’s table. He stood right in front of her and leaned over, establishing his dominance. Offended at this intrusion of her space, Michiko asked, “What do you want?”

  “Hello, Nagasado-chan. I hear you’re running for Prom Queen.”

  “Yes, I am. Do I have your vote?”

  “No, I’d rather commit seppuku than vote for you.”

  Every student in the surrounding area watched the confrontation, some with fear, and others with excitement. They wanted to see what Empress Michiko would do to this idiotic joker. “Is that so?” she asked, already contemplating what to make him do.

  “Yes. You insult everyone, you think you’re so pretty and smart, you think you’re entitled to everything, but you know what? I think you’re a bossy bitch who doesn’t deserve to be the refreshments server let alone the Prom Queen.”

  Michiko hid her anger. “Do you have any idea what I could do to you?”

  “What? Make me lick your feet? I only lick decent shoes.”

  “Tell you what... how about you strip naked and streak across the school?”

  Gasps emerged from the crowd. Renka and Gen shook their heads, expecting him to do as commanded. However, Ryouta just stood in place and laughed. “Why would I want to do that?”

  Michiko didn’t understand. It had always worked before. She poured more energy into her voice. “Come on, go streaking.” Her intended victim still laughed at the ludicrous order.

  Gen asked his cohort, “Renka-chan, what’s g
oing on? What’s he feeling?”

  Renka tried to read Ryouta’s feelings, but she could sense nothing. “Gen-kun, I can’t feel anything. It’s not working.”

  Ryouta looked at his Islamic friend, who nodded her approval. “Those eyes of yours are freaking me out, so I’ll be on my way. Maybe we can streak together some time.” He grabbed his soda and left the cafeteria, leaving Michiko stunned and embarrassed. The witnesses, still too scared to applaud, silently thought him a hero.

  Michiko sat back down. “Why didn’t it work?”

  As usual, Chisato tried to calm her down. “That guy was a total jerk. He had no right to say that.” Yukiko, usually the outspoken one, didn’t say a word. She looked at her food and tried to hide her worried face.

  Kaijin, however, boiled in anger. How dare this bully insult and degrade his lover like that! He felt his hand ignite in flames under the table, so he extinguished the fire and followed Ryouta out.

  Under her opaque mask, nobody saw the girl in the burqa smile.

  ***

  Back on the rooftop, Renka reported the strange development to Chikara. “So let me get this straight...” she said. “You felt suspicious feelings from Takabe and his Arabic friend, and then he publicly humiliated Nagasado. She tried to control him, but it didn’t work?”

  “Yes. He just laughed at her.”

  “And your powers didn’t work either?”

  “I couldn’t feel anything.”

  Gen replied, “I knew something was wrong here. Why would both of your special gifts shut down at the same time? Unless...”

  Chikara expected Gen to figure things out. “What’s your theory?”

  “Today in class, I heard that special sounds can alter peoples’ minds. I figured Nagasado’s voice emits a certain frequency that stimulates the logic center of the brain, and Renka-chan can sense and alter feelings through sound waves that travel from the emotional center. One controls the left lobe, the other controls the right.”

  The impressed Renka said, “That makes sense.”

  “So I started to wonder if we could block out her commands by creating a counteracting frequency that neutralizes the one in her voice. It seems Takabe has beaten us to it.”

  “But how?” asked Chikara. “He doesn’t sound like a science pro to me.”

  Renka lit up. “Wait... what about the foreigner? This didn’t happen until she showed up.”

  “Exactly,” said Gen. “That burqa is a perfect disguise for someone working undercover. I say we find and question her.”

  Just then, the faint sound of the fire alarm echoed across the roof. Chikara opened the door to the staircase and saw the sirens flashing. “Great, what now?”

  ***

  Earlier, Takabe Ryouta covertly entered the boys’ locker room. He inspected the area to ensure that no one could hear him and made a phone call. “Hey, it’s me. Yeah, it worked like a charm… she couldn’t do anything to me. No, I had no problem with the teachers. I want the rest of the cash by tonight. Hold on...” He heard the doors open, forcing him to end the conversation. “Talk to you later.”

  Kaijin revealed himself to his target. Ryouta tried to ignore him, but the angered boy never broke his accusing stare. Finally, Ryouta acknowledged his presence. “Who the hell are you?”

  “I’m Nokoribi Kaijin, Michiko-sama’s boyfriend.”

  “That must be rough.”

  “Why did you do that to her? Why did you say such awful things?”

  “None of your business.”

  “I’m her protector, so it is my business. Tell me why you humiliated Michiko-sama now!”

  Ryouta laughed at his foe. “Dude, are you that much of a whipped puppy? Go change your tampon, I’m busy.”

  With his anger at its peak, Kaijin’s hands and hair burst into flame. Ryouta could only stare in shock as the burning man crept towards him and backed him into a dead end of lockers.

  “I’m not going to ask you again. Why did you hurt my Michiko-sama? Tell me!” Kaijin raised his hands and released two blasts of flame that singed his victim’s sides.

  Now frightened out of his mind, Ryouta said, “Okay, I got paid to do it.”

  “You got paid? By who?”

  “Some white guy. He told me to bring the Muslim to school and provoke Nagasado. I had to say something to hurt her ego and make her do that mind control thing everyone says she does. He said it wouldn’t work on me.”

  Kaijin lessened his torches. “This was a test. They wanted to see if they could disable her voice. It’s a conspiracy and you worked for them.”

  “Come on, man, it was nothing personal. I just wanted the money. Let me go.”

  Kaijin’s flames turned bluer as his fury increased. “You hurt my Michiko-sama! I’ll never forgive you!” He released another stream of fire and heard Ryouta’s screams echo throughout the locker room.

  Moments later, he put out his flames and looked at what he had done. The sprinkler system tried its best to stop the fire, but the intensity of his inferno had already melted the lockers and blackened the walls. He wanted to feel bad when he looked at Ryouta’s charred corpse, but he really didn’t. Michiko’s safety from whoever wanted her was all that mattered. He increased his personal temperature to dry his clothes and left the crime scene.

  ***

  The students and teachers quickly evacuated the school, mostly thinking a prankster had set off the alarm, but when the firefighters took too long and the paramedics entered with a stretcher, they realized this was no joke. With the students starting to panic, a police officer spoke to the crowd over a bullhorn, “Attention, school is canceled due to the fire. I repeat... school is canceled due to the fire. Go home.” Many satisfied students left, while some stuck around in hopes of finding out what had happened. The paramedics then wheeled out a covered body, answering that question.

  Watching from a distance, Renka grabbed Gen and Chikara’s hands. “Oh no. Who was it?”

  “I don’t know,” said Chikara. “He must’ve been burned in the fire. How could that happen?”

  Gen had an idea. “Renka-chan, is your empathy working again?”

  “Yes, no problem.”

  “Scan the crowd. See if anyone knows anything.”

  Happy to have her powers back, Renka felt the emotions of the students, faculty and rescue workers. “There’s so much confusion... sadness... they want to know who died and why. They’re scared. Wait, somebody’s angry. They’re looking for someone. No, now they’re out of my range.”

  Kaijin searched for Ryouta’s partner through the crowd. Wearing that black burqa and missing her escort, she shouldn’t have been hard to find. After looking at the parking lot and seeing nothing, he realized that a member of a vast conspiracy wouldn’t escape in such an obvious way, especially with law enforcement surrounding the school. More likely, she would try to get out through the maintenance exit around the back.

  He ran to the back of the building, and sure enough, he saw the veiled girl heading towards a black van with tinted windows. “Hey, come back here!” The Muslim turned to her pursuer and started to run to the vehicle. Kaijin ignited his hands and released another violent jet of flames, setting her disguise ablaze. She screamed in terror and pulled the burning garment off, finally revealing her true face.

  Kaijin looked at the fair-skinned Caucasian whose fiery red hair could not have come from the Middle East. Above her golden shamrock necklace, her green eyes showed the surprise and fear from her mission going all wrong. After a moment of shock over her true appearance, Kaijin increased his flames. “Who are you? Why are you after my Michiko-sama?”

  Too afraid to take chances, the redhead raised her hand and connected her thumb to the index finger. With a simple snap, Kaijin fell over in agony. It felt like a bomb had exploded in his ears, leaving nothing but sharp, excruciating pain and a constant ring. He rolled around in the grass and clutched his ears, too hurt to think straight.

  As he struggled against the pain, the fore
igner walked to the van. “Too bad. You were kind of cute.” She opened the door to the back seat and let the driver take her to safety. Before Kaijin could fire another blast at the van, it had driven out of his range. The redhead dialed a number and said, “It’s Clover. We have another problem.”

  ***

  That evening, the students of Eisai High watched the news for any answers on who died and what caused the fire, but the local reporters did not reveal the vital details. Luckily, Gen’s sources in the police department disclosed the information. When he hung up with his trusted inside man, he turned to Chikara and Renka. “The body was charred to the bone, but they’re pretty sure it’s Takabe Ryouta. He’s the only student unaccounted for.”

  Renka looked miserable. “That’s horrible. No one deserves to die like that.”

  Thankful to have such a caring person in her life, Chikara put her arm around her friend. “First he brings some disguised person to school, then he challenges Michiko without being controlled, and then he gets burned to death? This is crazy. How do you even start a fire in a locker room?”

  Gen replied, “My source says he appears to have been hit by a flamethrower, but that’s impossible. Who can sneak something like that into a high school and take it out without being seen in the crowd? Unless... oh damn.”

  “What are you thinking?” asked Chikara.

  Gen pointed to the lead case on the dresser. “You know what I’m thinking.”

  “Someone has fire powers?”

  “It makes perfect sense, but who would want to kill him? Maybe that Muslim girl wanted to shut him up. We never did find her.”

  Renka remembered, “Hey... didn’t Nokoribi-san follow Takabe out of the cafeteria?”

  “Who?” asked Gen, unfamiliar with Michiko’s cohort.

  “You know, the boy with the blonde-dyed hair that sat next to Michiko? Yes, I remember, he left after Takabe insulted her. I couldn’t sense his feelings, but he looked really mad.”

  Chikara asked, “Then how can he control fire? Wait... he was there when Michiko showed off her ring.”