Suzuki Tadashi

“I have talked with a friend of mine from a neighboring town. He’s leaving tomorrow evening with his band for New Dansamia City for trade, and you’d be going with him. So, you’re leaving tomorrow,” I remembered Sasaki-senpai telling me in his low voice and slow tone as he sat facing me, his head tilted down on the ground towards food, as we two sat on the ground with our legs crossed.

As I took a pinch of rice from my fingers in my mouth and chewed it for a second, I turned up at Sasaki-senpai, looked at him for a second as I chewed, then gulped, and asked, “But what am I gonna do at the city once I’m there?”

“You’re on your own after that. See if a family is willing to take you in and give you food. Or, start working and live in some corner of the street. Like I said, you’re on your own. But, remember one thing…” He moved his forefinger up and turned his head at me as he gulped in food, looking dead serious in my eyes. “Find something named ‘The Bar’.”

“‘The Bar’?”

He nodded.

“But… why?” I shrugged. “W-What’s the reason for that?”

“You’ll eventually know,” He turned his head to the food below him again. “Once you get to The Bar, you’d eventually know what you’re supposed to do next.”

“How?” I frowned doubtfully.

Suzuki-senpai turned his head up at me again.

“I-I mean, how am I supposed to eventually know what am I supposed to do next?”

Sasaki-senpai shook his head. “I don’t know that either. I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do.”

“W-What…?” I murmured a little.

He tilted his head down, took in a pinch of rice, chewed it thoroughly inside his mouth for some seconds, gulped in, and then turned at me again. “I told you that you’re the hero, right?”

I turned my head up at the front. “Y-Yeah.”

“Once you reach the city, you’d learn more about the hero, his character, his mission, his aim, his powers, and a lot more. The Bar, as I remember, is a place of other warriors and other KCs with a particular aim. Find them and learn more about them.”

I nodded a little, tilted my head down, took up a pinch of rice in my fingers, and with the rice just before my lips, I asked, “But who are KCs or warriors?” I took the rice inside my mouth.

Sasaki-senpai, chewing his food, tilted his eyes at me again, gulped in, and opened his mouth. “Kazi Controllers, or KCs, are people like you who can control their kazi powers. Warriors are fighters who fight with swords and shields. You would learn how to use your powers correctly, use a sword, and learn more about what’s wrong with the Dansamian leadership, just like you wanted to know.” He turned his head at his food and took up another pinch. As he moved it to his mouth, he said, “But for that, you’d need to find The Bar.” He took in the rice and started chewing.

***

“The Bar, huh?” I thought. My eyes were wide open as I lay on the ground. It was nighttime and I was lying on the white sheet of cloth beneath my back. My eyes were wide open, glaring at the ceiling as I thought.

I remembered Sasaki-senpai saying, “Once you get to The Bar, you’d eventually know what you’re supposed to do next.”

“What was he trying to say?” I thought. “How… can he just know what I will do next?” I moved my right arm up from beside my spread open legs, and wiped my forehead full of sweat. “It… just doesn’t make any sense. Is he some sort of God? Can he… predict future?” I spread my right arm at my left. “It almost seems like he’s just saying things out in the air, but he’s not someone who’d say stupid things like that, is he?” I frowned a little in doubt. “What if it ain’t stupid? Maybe… I just can’t make sense out of it for now. Maybe he has something in mind, and that’s why he said it…”

The moon was at its fullest as it shone brightly between the black clouds slowly moving from right to left in front of the dark trees all around the cottage at one edge. “I’m still unsure of his decision to just… let me go.”

I gulped in. “I mean, what if his hunch or whatever it is… goes wrong? What if I still don’t know what I’m supposed to do next? And how am I gonna be surviving there on my own anyway?”

***

“There were just so many uncertainties in the journey. What was I gonna do after I reach there? How will I get my bread? How will I get a roof on top of my head? How will I survive in there? And, what the hell was on Sasaki-senpai’s mind anyways? Why did he not think of such things and made arrangements beforehand for me? I mean, he could have… But still, he didn’t. I was just unable to reason with his decisions. They seemed so… so illogical. He never gave thought on such simple things. He was not dumb, and I was sure of that one thing. And, he should have known pretty well how difficult it would be for me. But nevertheless, the next day…”

***

“So, you’re Suzuki-kun, right?” The bold guy standing in front of me beneath the hot sun asked me with a huge grin on his face.

“Y-Yeah,” I nodded.

He then turned to Sasaki-senpai, who stood on my right and in front of him. “Asahi, don’t worry. I’ll make sure he reaches to the city safely.” I looked at the carriage in front of me, which had three skinny men in just white shorts standing in front of the carriage, looking at the muscular man in a green sleeveless shirt. “But, it might be difficult for him to survive there alone. And just dropping him in there…”

“Don’t worry, I know he will eventually survive.”

“But…”

“Just get him there safely without any scratches. From there, he can find his path on his own, Hiroshi.”

“O-Okay.” He turned his head at me, and I turned my head up at him too. “So, ready for the adventure?”

“M-Maybe…”