The Chopman led me through a maze of corridors. We climbed a short staircase and entered an office, bare but purposeful. Behind the desk sat a Chopman I didn’t recognize. His posture was rigid, eyes cold as they fixed on me.
I had asked to see the one in charge. They told me his name was Sana.
“You have something important to tell me?” he asked.
“Something I believe you’ll find useful,” I said. I leaned forward slightly, lowering my voice. “It concerns one of your little stars.”
His eyes sharpened, cold and unblinking. He waited.
I let the silence stretch, savoring it, before adding, “Of course, I’m not without needs of my own. When my Soemono comes… a little consideration might go a long way.”
Sana’s expression didn’t change, but the weight of his stare told me he understood.
I smiled. “Good. Then let me begin.”
52
Akiko
The rest of my cellmates were already up when I opened my eyes, their chatter filling the room. For the first time, I was the last to wake.
I wouldn’t call it the best sleep I’d ever had, but it was the first time I’d felt halfway rested since arriving on the island. Maybe it was the relief of surviving two challenges. Maybe it was just exhaustion finally winning out. Either way, I’d made it to another day.
As I lay on my platform listening, Kai was in the middle of a story about how he’d wanted to be a fisherman when he was younger, how he could catch tuna with a single pole.
“I was the best of my friends growing up,” he said. “No one could hook a larger bluefin than me.”
The excitement in his voice reminded me of Oji-chan, his tales of fishing for the gorira maguro. Kai sounded like a boy again, or a younger brother, eyes bright with wonder.
“The only thing you ever hooked was a tall tale,” Daiki said, drawing a chorus of laughter.
“What, you don’t believe me?” Kai shot back.
“Just think, if you had become a fisherman, you wouldn’t be locked up here with us,” Yoshi muttered, cutting the joy out of Kai’s story.
I swung my feet off the platform and sat up, moving toward the bars.
“Hey, look who finally woke up,” Kai called out. “Akiko, you’re looking livelier after that rest.”
I smiled. “I feel better.”
“You won both of your challenges,” Yoshi cried. “Of course you feel better. You beat the system.”
A bowl of okayu waited in my cell. It had gone cold, but I didn’t care. Hunger won out, and I scooped spoonfuls into my mouth, the bland rice porridge still a comfort.
As I ate, I found myself wondering what Haru was up to. I shifted closer to the wall we shared and pressed an ear against it.
“I’m here,” he said, his voice low and smug, as if he’d been waiting for me.
“Enjoying your cold slop?” he sneered. “Took you long enough to crawl out of bed.”
“I didn’t think I crossed your mind. What are you planning, Haru? You don’t care about me.”
“No. Not since you reneged on our alliance.”
“You’re delusional. We’re all in the same boat. None of us is better than the other. Your so-called alliance was stupid and flawed from the start.”
Boots scuffed across the stone, the sound echoing down the corridor. Chopmen were coming.
