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Friday. 11/04/05. 04:10:59 AM
Ryo didn't want to believe in the words of the old man, yet he
did.
Nights ago, no matter how much he tried to fight for more time
in order to get in more questions, the old man would just keep
his eyes closed and keep gesturing Ryo towards the door.
No matter how angry and frustrated he got. No matter how violent
and crazy he looked.
The young woman would just keep trying to lead him on, out of
the door.
The last words she said were "What's the point of wasting
breath, when the best person to answer all of your questions
would be the person who started this in the first place?"
Ryo didn't want to believe in all this. This was all bullshit,
lies weaved to blind his eyes from the truth beyond the truth.
And yet, here he was, dressed up with a jacket to face the warm
cold that mingled in the cloudless star-filled night.
The darkness was never dark at all.
Although Ryo didn't believe in magic, religion, or anything that
was anything close to supernatural, he still came, perhaps out
of curiosity, boredom, or just desperation to find some sort of
answer.
And, just as foretold by the young woman, there was a man,
sitting on the grassy hills by the football fields by Lincoln
tower, staring towards the Ohio State University campus, wearing
nothing but a white t-shirt with an Adidas logo on the front,
faded blue jeans torn at the knees, and Reebok basketball shoes
of black and white.
Approaching the man, Ryo held his breath, and his voice shaking,
he asked. "I-Is your name Eiji Shinrow?"
The man, a brunette Asian man in his mid-twenties, slim
silver-rimmed glasses hiding the brown eyes behind, turned
around and, with the most emotionless of tones, answered "Eiji
Shinrow is dead." Looking up, the man squinted to see Ryo
better. "Are you a friend of his?" He asked. "Didn't anyone tell
you that?"
Ryo didn't know what to reply, staring at the man who looked
vaguely familiar to a person he had known before. "And you are?"
He managed to get out of his lips.
"My name is Tom Lin." The man replied, smiling. "You?" He asked
bluntly.
"I'm Ryo Hayashi." Ryo replied, looking around in a sort of
shocked state. "I was told by someone that I would be able to
meet someone here tonight."
"Sorry to disappoint." Tom smiled.
"Tom..." Ryo started, unsure how to word his question. "Did you
know Eiji Shinrow?"
"Sort of." Tom cocked his head, as if confused.
"Did you know..." Ryo paused, taking in a breath, rolling the
question on his tongue over and over again. "Tom Lin, was Eiji
Shinrow's online screen name, wasn't it?"
Tom smiled at this. "Looks like you've been researching a lot on
Eiji or something."
"I'm working with the Columbus Police Department on the case
about Eiji's death." Ryo replied.
Tom smiled, standing up and shoving his hands into his pocket.
"It's getting sort of chilly," Tom said as he looked out towards
the campus again, his dark hair waving in the light breeze of
the night. "Would you like to continue this conversation
somewhere?"
Ryo just nodded at this.
"How about tomorrow afternoon, at Zen Cha Tea Salon?" Tom smiled
as he said this. "It's not like I have a job anymore, so time
constraint shouldn't be any issue at all."
"And how will I know that you won't just not show up at the
place?" Ryo asked simply.
Tom just shrugged as he walked away. "Guess you'll just have to
take my word for it." |
