“So, are you going to tell me what happened or not,” Haji questioned me. Darn, what was I supposed to say? I was trying to think of an excuse, when I noticed he was staring at me. “Uh... Keiji and I just got into a little disagreement,” I tried to smile. From the look he was giving me, I could tell he didn’t believe me. “So you’re the one who was shouting at him?” he asked me, “you shouldn’t have done that.”

I snapped again. “Since when can you tell me what I can and can’t do?! I don’t remember you becoming my mother!” I shouted at him. He looked shocked, and then looked himself over. “Hmm, nope. I don’t remember becoming a woman,” he chuckled and I couldn’t help myself, I laughed. “So, Keiji slapped you?” he asked, looking serious again. I wondered how he knew, then I realised there must have been a mark on my face. “I deserved it, I slapped him first,” I answered, looking away.

He bent down, and grabbed my chin, making me look him in the eye. “No one deserves what he does to them,” he whispered to me, “he’s a monster.” I was shocked, that’s exactly what I had called Keiji earlier.

~Keiko