When Silence Roars

“Man, I have a history test tomorrow.” Kumai (Coo-my), my neighbour, shook his head in disappointment. We had just had art class together. Kumai was a simple and cool guy. I really liked him because he accepted people for who they were and always had an open mind. Kumai was like a big ball of energy at times; if he got excited about something he would keep talking about it or just keep moving. If he was worried or depressed he would show it. And right about now, he was worrying about the history test he was going to have tomorrow.

I dipped my French fry into the tomato sauce and popped it in my mouth. “On what?”

He sighed and drank some of his juice, “The Battle of Sekigahara.”

“I hope you do pass.”

“I hope so too.” He took a bite of his chicken and started talking about something else.

More and more students piled out of the cafeteria. There were some boys doing flips on the grass, girls playing a game on a laptop, and a boy kneeling near the little red bridge and dipping his hand in the water that had koi fish. He moved his hand around and drew it back quickly and started shaking it. He stood to his feet and turned around while running his fingers through his hair. Before he started walking toward the eating area, a boy bumped into him. He stumbled a little, but did not regain balance before another boy bumped into him. The boy fell into the pond of koi fish and sat up with his hands on either side of him and shook his head like a dog. Students that noticed laughed a little. A tall guy walked over to him and helped him up. The boy thanked him and went on his way. The guy that helped him took up his tray that he placed on the grass and sat under a nearby tree to eat. He took up his pizza and chewed on it, then took a sip of his soda.

“…so my mother put out the blaze. She said from that day she hasn’t let my father cook without supervision.” Kumai said, talking about an incident that happened sometime last year. “Were you listening?” He asked annoyed.

“Yeah.”

“No, you were staring at something majority of the time. What have you been looking at?”

“Nothing, some guy just fell into the pool.”

Kumai sighed, “Anyway, what’s up with you? I haven’t gotten any updates on your life.” I chuckled at his statement.

“There’s been nothing new. What’s up with you?”

Kumai thought for a moment while he chewed on a mouthful of his chicken before he hurled his eyes at me. “We’ve got new neighbours.” He said excitedly after making a loud gulp.

I raised my eyebrow at this supposed fact he was telling me. “Are you sure? I didn’t even see a moving van anytime this week.”

“Dude, I’m sure. You never knew! They moved here like a day or two ago, something like that.” Clasping his hand around his juice he took another drink of it.

Hmm, this is really interesting information. How come I didn’t know about this? Come to think of it, I shouldn’t be surprised. I mean it’s quite rare I find out things when they happen immediately or on the same day of that event.

“You said ‘they’. Who are they?” I inquired.

“Well, I only saw two people they came in the night. I think it’s a married couple.”

I shook my head in understanding. “Okay. I thought it would be a nuclear family with a mom, dad, and a kid or two. So where exactly is their house?”

“They’re two houses down from me.”

“Oh then that means they’re three houses down from me, seeing that you live directly beside me.”

“Yeah.”

I looked around while Kumai and I were finish eating our lunch. I noticed Ujiteru sitting on one of the nearby tables surrounded by boys and girls that were in his year. Let me guess, he was impressing them with stories of his many summer trips to countries around the world. Well seeing that Ujiteru Hojou is rich, the fact is that all the stories may as well be true. I quickly averted my gaze before he would walk over to my table, take me away from my lovely lunch, and secretly torture me.

The boy that had helped the boy that had fallen in the pond was still sitting under the tree. He had finish eating his lunch and appeared to be writing something in a book. He stopped and slowly looked up. The wind rustled his black hair and his eyes pierced mine. His eyes were a certain blue colour that I could not distinguish. He still stared at me and I felt quite uncomfortable and I quickly looked away. After a few seconds, I quickly looked in his direction and saw him writing in his book again.

“Sayuri, I’ll catch you later. I have to start studying for that history test.” Kumai gathered his trash and slung his back pack over his shoulder.

“I’ll see you later Kumai. Good luck on the test.”

He saluted me and threw his trash in a nearby bin. “Thanks.” He waved at me and disappeared into the cafeteria.



School was finish and I walked out of class into the hallway. One of my classmates, who seemed to be in a hurry, bounced me causing my notebook to fall. “Sorry!” He shouted and quickly headed to the exit. I bent down to take up my book but someone swiftly took it up and placed it in my hand.

“Thank you.” I looked up and saw the face of Mr. Hitake (He-ta-k).

“You’re welcome Sayuri.” He smiled. Mr. Hitake was my math teacher. He looked quite young about twenty-four, twenty-five. He was one of the few teachers I favoured because he was calm and willing to help students. He had short, shiny brown hair and dark brown eyes. He towered over me about six feet and one inch. There was one thing that always caught my eye: the few strands of gray hair streaked at the front of his head. It looked alluring on him and contrasted with his young features.

“Are you going home now?” He switched his bag to his left shoulder and tucked stray strands of hair behind his right ear.

“Yes sir.”

A smile spread across his face and dimples dotted on either cheek. “I could give you a ride then, if you’d like.”

I pondered for a millisecond, “Okay.” We headed to the parking lot and he quickly opened the car door and put his bag inside. He opened the passenger door for me and waited until I was seated then closed the door. He started the engine and drove out of the school.

His car was very clean and it smelled just like plum and nectarine, quite mesmerizing. The tinted windows were up and the air condition was on and that mesmerizing smell floated in the air. A faint melody danced out of the speakers and filled my ears. I lightly tapped my index finger and caught Mr. Hitake looking at me and then returning his attention to the road. Okay, I guess he was checking to see if I was alright.

“Do you know where I live?” I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of this earlier, I guess I assumed he knew.

“Yes I do.”

“Oh, okay.”

He stopped at a stoplight and looked at me. “How was school today?”

I shifted my back pack in my lap and looked at him, “It was okay. How was school today?” The question sounded weird because he wasn’t a student.

He chuckled and started driving again. “I had a lovely day.”

That’s awesome for you; at least you don’t get assaulted by a rich, unruly maniac. “That’s nice. I rarely have days like that.”

“Seriously? I wouldn’t expect that at all.”

I wonder why. “Yes, I wish certain things didn’t happen.” I saw a glimmer of interest on his face.

“Like what?”

How do I respond to this question? “Well…you know, seeing students get beaten up by other students.” That works; I hope he gets the hint.

“Yeah, it’s nerve wracking for us teachers to be parting fights and punishing students for bad behaviour.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

“We’re here, actually you are.” He grinned at me before stepping out of the car to open my door.

“Thank you for the drive home.”

He shut the door behind me. “You’re welcome Sayuri.”

“I’ll see you at class tomorrow.” I slid one of my straps onto my shoulder and walked backwards toward my drive way.

“Sure. Have a nice evening.”

I waved to him while he went back to the driver’s side of his car, “Bye.” As soon as he drove off, he beeped his horn and disappeared up the street.

I slowly walked toward my front door and while looking at one of our nearby trees I saw a boy dressed in Kyomi High School’s uniform walking down the street. He looked at me and his eyes briefly searched mine. He walked away and stopped at one of the nearby houses down the road. Weird. I opened the door and was met with music blasting rhythms from upstairs. Ankara was home.