by Isamu Fukui
Then Umasi felt a tug on his sleeve, and he turned to see his companion smiling impishly at him.
“What’s the rush?” she asked, pulling him back to the ground.
Backpack slung over one shoulder, Edward listlessly walked back towards the orphanage, dirty snow lining the street on either side. As he walked, he noted that the day was already dying, its bloody red light spilling all over the City. The winter days were short, but it was still unusual for most students to get out of school at sunset. Edward, however, had been encouraged to take extra elective classes by his teachers. He had obliged them, of course, though he resented the time wasted upholding his image.
None of the other orphanage students got out as late as Edward did, and so he mostly had the street to himself. Occasionally a car or another pedestrian would pass him, but by City standards this route, running right next to an abandoned district, was a lonely one. That was one of the few things that Edward liked about it. Pausing for a moment at a curb, Edward turned and looked down the street, noting the crude wooden barrier that had been erected to block it off. That way led to District 19, and Edward spared the barrier a hard glance before moving again.
District 19 was a direct neighbor to District 18, and had long been abandoned. As far back as Edward could remember, the houses visible above the fence had been empty. Edward had never seen anyone walking the streets of that district, though he had peered over it on occasion. More than once he had been tempted to scale the fence completely and see what he might find in that forbidden place, but each time he concluded that the risks outweighed any potential gain.
As Edward idly kicked an empty soda can out of his way, he became aware of the sound of sirens. Enforcer sirens. Edward looked around cautiously, involuntarily touching his hand to the spot on his cheek where that Enforcer named Rothenberg had struck him. He would never forget that blow, he knew. In time he would dish out many more like it himself.
It took Edward more than a moment to realize that the sounds were not coming from District 18, but rather from his left, from behind the wooden barrier. Edward froze in confusion and excitement. Nothing ever went on in District 19, certainly nothing important enough to warrant the presence of Enforcers. Seized by a thrill of curiosity, Edward grabbed a newspaper dispenser and dragged it over to the wooden barrier. A passerby stared at him as he worked, but said nothing even as Edward pushed the dispenser against the fence. Standing on top of it, Edward was just barely able to peer over the edge, and what he saw only increased his interest.
Several blocks into the abandoned district, dozens of uniformed men and women were scrambling in and out of buildings, going from door to door and hastily searching every apartment. Enforcers, beyond a shadow of a doubt, and Edward couldn’t imagine that the Enforcers would waste valuable resources on a blind sweep through the entire City. They were obviously looking for something important, something they thought might be in District 19 . . . but what? What secret could District 19 possibly hold that would justify such a search?
With a jolt, Edward noticed that on one of the buildings the Enforcers had set up a small surveillance camera to watch the fence. Edward quickly withdrew his head, wondering if it had alerted anyone. Deciding that it would be best to leave before that question was answered, Edward leapt down from the newspaper dispenser and ran off. At school he was known for being an athletic boy, and he was soon out of sight of the fence.
Minutes later, he reached the orphanage unhindered, though the images of what he had seen still filled his mind as he greeted the matrons politely and entered his private dormitory. He felt excited as he had not been for a long time. He had stumbled upon something secret, something important. What had merely been a whim before now had a newfound urgency. There was more to District 19 than had previously met his eyes, and as Edward sat down on his bed, deep in thought, he resolved to cross over that fence as soon as it was safe to do so. If there was indeed something important hiding within District 19, Edward vowed that he would be the one to find it.
Night had fallen, and with it the stars had come out, clearly visible from the hidden garden. Lying on his back, Umasi enjoyed the gentle rustling of the wind, the twinkling of the stars up above, and most of all, the conversation he was now having with his companion. It was not casual, for they discussed deep secrets that had never been shared before, but the words flowed so naturally that they hardly thought about what they said. It was as if they were spinning bonds with threads of words, and those bonds, not the words, were what Umasi cherished.
“ . . . so back when I was in school I used to get bullied all the time,” he said. “They would make fun of my name . . . . I never liked my name, my brother’s is much better. Anyway, he was the one who would always protect me, Zen was. He was my only friend, or as close to one as I had. I was always an outcast in school.”
“I was an outcast from birth,” the albino said. “My parents, I think, knew what my fate would be, but they raised me anyway until the time came. Maybe they hoped I would get in, I don’t remember anymore. The Educators evaluated my ‘condition’ and decided that I couldn’t possibly learn like a normal student. I was expelled by default . . . never had a chance.”
“That was wrong of them.”
She said nothing, but merely kept looking up at the sky, the glittering stars reflected in her blue eyes.
“I’ve been wondering, though,” Umasi continued, “your parents . . . they gave you a name, right?”
“Yes.”
“Why don’t you use it?”
“They gave me a name in the hope that I would be able to live a normal life,” she explained. “That hope was futile. I have no number. I have no name. To this City I may as well have not existed, and I am content that way.”
“It matters to me that you exist,” Umasi said. “Did you really never talk to anyone else?”
“Occasionally,” she replied. “Obviously, I tried to avoid people. The only ones I ever approached were starved or crazy, and usually thought I was a monster or an angel. It’s hard to say which frightened them more. A few attacked me. That’s how I began experimenting with the chain.”
“I remember how isolated I felt sometimes, and that was back when I had a brother, a father, countless people that I was in contact with every day,” Umasi said. “The only reason I wasn’t violent was because I was a coward. But you’re completely at peace, even when shunned by the entire City. Why is that?”
She was silent for several long moments, and Umasi turned his head to look at her. She was even more striking in the starlight than she had been in daylight. Her skin and hair seemed to possess a pale magical luminance of their own.
“I think it was because I always clung to words,” she said at last. “I rarely had anyone to talk to, but I had the papers and books that I salvaged. They were anchors to humanity when I couldn’t be seen. I also had a dog once . . . before the Enforcers cracked down on strays. Without them I might’ve ended up like the worst vagrants of this City.”
She gestured up at the empty and abandoned apartment that they had to travel through to reach the garden, and Umasi understood that that must be where she kept her treasures. It made sense to him, and it explained why she spoke with such literacy compared with other vagrants he had encountered.
“Someday we should visit a bookstore,” Umasi suggested. “I never read much besides what my teachers told me to.”
The albino hesitated in answering, and for the first time Umasi saw a troubled look on her face. That more than anything worried him, and suddenly he felt afraid of what her next words might be.
“I won’t be staying with you forever, you know.”
He’d been expecting that, but Umasi’s heart still sank. A few clouds, black against the night sky, slowly floated in to obscure the stars. Umasi wondered why he was so surprised; he had known from the start that the nameless girl was an independent spirit at heart, that it was extraordinary she had stayed as long as she had. But even so, he had become
used to her calming presence, her musical voice, her fragrant smell, her gentle touch . . . Umasi cringed. The thought of separation was suddenly unbearable.
“When are you going to leave?”
“Sooner rather than later,” she replied. “You and I are too free to be happily bound to each other. We could never remain together. Go and chase your own dreams, whatever they may be.”
“I only ever have nightmares,” Umasi said bitterly. “Zen is the one with all the dreams.”
“You’re always talking about your brother,” the girl said suddenly, looking at him intently. “What about you?”
“M-me?” Umasi sputtered. “What’s there to say about me?”
“Can’t you think of anything?”
“I . . . don’t trust myself to judge myself,” Umasi said. “Why don’t you tell me?”
“The good and the bad?”
“Yes, please.”
“I might break your heart.”
At that Umasi hesitated for several long seconds, but then he plunged on without even realizing it.
“My heart is yours to break, if that’s what you want to do with it.”
His nameless companion looked at him with soft but searching blue eyes. Then, evidently convinced of his sincerity, she took a deep breath.
“You’re naïve, almost to the point where you might be mistaken for ignorant,” she began. “You’re a coward at heart, afraid of doing things that need to be done. You’re arrogant—don’t give me that look, it’s true! You’ve got it in your head that you’re going to be the one to save the whole City, when you barely managed to save yourself!”
Umasi winced. The words hurt, but he had asked for them, hadn’t he?
“You’ve been pampered all your life and it’s made you lazy. You’re also immature in many ways, but I think they all tie back into your naïveté.” The girl began ticking points off her fingers. “You’re not dumb, but you don’t apply your intelligence to anything practical. All you’ve ever used your head for was to add numbers and satisfy teachers. Really, in some ways you’re just like all those other sorry students you mentioned.” Umasi shut his eyes at that comparison, but did not cover his ears. “You’re also a hopeless optimist, and it makes you gullible. Ah, and you expect the world to be all compassionate when you yourself try to act tough. Telling others to do something while refusing to do it yourself . . . is there a word for that?”
She looked questioningly at Umasi, whose throat now felt dry.
“Hypocrite,” Umasi croaked.
“Yes, you’re a hypocrite.” She nodded sagely. “So that’s what that word means; I could never figure that out before. Oh, and there is your unhealthy obsession with your brother, but I think you already know about that. That’s about it. Was that what you were looking for?”
Umasi somehow managed a nod. He had never felt so worthless in his life.
“Good.” She smiled faintly and patted his head. “Your list of good traits is shorter, but at least you have one. You’re sweet, in your own way, and generous. And deep down there you’ve got true strength. Even you haven’t realized that yet, but I think you will, someday. I certainly do, at any rate.”
“So you love me?” Umasi asked in a half-serious tone, though he yearned for a serious answer.
The pale vagrant gravely turned her soft blue eyes onto him, and he suddenly felt very squeamish.
“You weren’t like anyone else I’ve met,” she said, avoiding the question. “I couldn’t scare you, for one thing. And you were accepting, for another. I’d nearly lost faith in people, having been away from them for so long.” She smiled and looked heavenwards. “You showed me that there’s still good in this City. I’m glad that I met you.”
“But not glad enough to stay?”
She glanced back at him again and her eyes, though dry, were sad. The dark skies above were now fully masked by storm clouds.
“No, Umasi,” she said quietly, “not glad enough to stay.”
26
FADE TO WHITE
The day was murky and overcast as Edward strode down the street, casting furtive glances at the other passersby. It was Sunday, and not many people were out in this part of the district, but he was taking no chances. Today he intended to find a way around that surveillance camera, and it wouldn’t do to have anyone seeing him hanging around District 19. As he drew closer to the fence that separated Districts 18 and 19, the crowds steadily began to thin, until Edward was completely alone on the block as he approached the final stretch.
As Edward was about to round the last corner to reach the fence, he heard the unmistakable sounds of a scuffle. Slowing down as a precaution, he peered around the corner and saw two bullies attacking a third student, a smaller boy who looked a little younger than Edward. Judging by the groceries that lay scattered on the ground, Edward figured that the boy had been returning from the supermarket when the bullies struck.
Typically, the streets of the inhabited districts of the City were safe. The Educators’ system tended to produce well-behaved, tolerant children who grew up into similarly well-mannered adults. But there was always a small minority belligerent enough to cause trouble, but smart enough to avoid expulsion—at least for a while. District 18 had a largely innocent population just like any other inhabited district, but unfortunately for the luckless boy around the corner, it also included its own menacing minority.
As Edward watched them fight, he thought that the victim was doing rather well, all things considered. He threw punches and kicks at his larger tormentors as wildly as he could, but eventually one of them managed to lock his arms behind his back, and that was the end of that. Edward briefly considered waiting for them to finish and just get out of his way so that he could get on with his business. However, when a whole minute passed without the bullies showing any signs of relenting, Edward lost his patience. Sighing, Edward picked his backpack up again and strode around the corner.
“Are we going to have a problem, or are you all going to get the hell out of my way?” Edward called out.
The two bullies glanced up at Edward with undisguised contempt on their faces.
“Mind your own business, blondie. Get outta here before you end up like this kid.”
“That sounds like a raw deal.” Edward yawned. “Here’s a better one. You get out of my sight now, or I will remove you from it.”
“Isn’t this kid from one of the lower grades, Jim? He’s got quite a mouth on him.”
“Guess his parents never taught him when to keep it shut.”
“My parents, being the extraordinary fools that they were, are dead,” Edward said impatiently. “Get out of my way unless you want to join them.”
“Hah! I remember now, he’s one of those orphan kids!”
“Yeah, I bet he—hey, whaddya think you’re doing, blond boy?”
In answer to the question Edward plunged his fist into the speaker’s face. With a roar of outrage, the other miscreant, named Jim, aimed a punch of his own at Edward. A moment later, Jim stumbled forward clumsily, having hit nothing but air. Edward let out a snort of derision at his foe’s bumbling. Growling now, Jim lunged and swung at Edward’s face.
This time, Edward ducked and slammed his elbow into Jim’s stomach. Jim howled in agony and fell to the ground, his own momentum having carried him right into Edward’s blow. As Jim lay cursing and writhing on the sidewalk, his companion rose to his feet and stared at Edward in stunned disbelief.
“You stupid little blond!” the boy snarled.
He lunged, intending to tackle the smaller Edward to the ground. Edward reacted faster than expected, leaping backwards out of the way before his foe could realize what had happened. There was a suspended moment of shock as the bully realized the enormity of his blunder, and then he crashed painfully to the ground face-first.
“My name’s not Blond, fool,” Edward said as he kicked the fallen bully in the ribs. “It’s Edward. Remember it.”
The bully snarled incoher
ently for a second, and looked like he was about to spew a vicious retort. Then Edward kicked him in the ribs again, and he resumed moaning unintelligibly. Edward moved back to the boy named Jim, who sprang painfully to his feet at Edward’s approach and ran as fast as he could. Edward did not give pursuit, and a moment later the other miscreant was up and running as well.
“Thanks . . .” a weak voice called out from behind Edward.
Edward spun around to see the miscreants’ victim lying on the ground, his red hair ruffled and dirty. Edward noted that the boy’s eyes were nearly swollen shut, and that even if they were not, this pitiful kid was hardly likely to betray him to the Enforcers.
“I didn’t do it for you,” Edward said as he proceeded over to the wooden fence. “You were just as much a part of the nuisance as they were.”
“You . . . aren’t thinking of going into District 19, are you?”
Edward ignored the boy and proceeded to climb the fence using its irregularities as footholds. This was a different stretch of fence than before, but as Edward reached the top and looked around, he spotted another camera pointed right at his position. Swearing under his breath, Edward dropped to the ground again.
“It looks like there’s going to be another blizzard,” the boy said tentatively. “You should get indoors.”
With that suggestion the boy gathered up his groceries and staggered away. Ignoring him, Edward walked one block down and, as he expected, found no camera there. He figured that the Enforcers had set up surveillance every other block, and only around this area, which was close to the gate they’d have used to enter the district.
Edward was considering going over the fence right then and there, but then a snowflake drifted before his eyes. Looking up, Edward frowned as he realized the boy had been right; the snow was now starting to fall in thick sheets. If he were to proceed into District 19 now, there would be little chance of him finding anything in a total whiteout. Edward smiled in spite of himself. That was his typical luck, wasn’t it?