Chapter 3

She awoke in a very small room with minimal decor and plain walls.

“Oh, good, you’re awake,” the boy from before said, as he walked into the room with a tray. “I made you some tea and food. Well, actually, my mom made it. I just kinda watched anxiously.”

“Tea?” It was the only part she could hear. Everything felt so strange and unfamiliar. She longed for something familiar. She sat up and reached one of those bizarre hands out for the teacup.

He handed it to her. “Careful, it’s hot.”

She sipped it eagerly, not even caring if she might burn her tongue. Not even looking to notice that the tea looked different. She abruptly spit it back into the cup.

The boy raised his eyebrows.

“My apologies. That was rude,” she noted. “But what is that? It tastes so strange.”

“Just… the usual hoji-cha that you like.” The boy looked sad, concerned about his friend.

She moved her tongue around and smacked her lips as though this could get rid of the taste. “It’s quite different from the Assam that I’m used to.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you liked Assam,” the friend said, taking a mental note. “I can get you some the next time I’m out. But I imagine you might want some company right now.”

She nodded. “I have some questions. Not long ago, I remember being at home, having a disagreement with my mom, and the next thing I knew… I was on that street, looking like this.” 

The friend assumed she was referring to her black eye and other bruises.

Evelyn turned to the young man sitting on the floor beside her. She realized there was hardly any furniture in the little room. She found it peculiar that they were sitting on the hard wooden floor. “Where are we?” She asked.

“At my house,” the boy said, with a sad undertone. Keiichiro had been here many times.

“Where is this, more generally?”

“Yokohama.”

The name sounded familiar, like she’d read it in the papers at some point. Then it clicked. “Ja-Japan?!” She nearly jumped at her own voice.

He nodded. “You’ve lived here all your life.”

She most certainly did not. She’s always lived in England. But how was she to explain this without coming across as completely loony? Well, she may very well be. She went along with the amnesia idea. “You said my name is… Kei something?”

“Yamaguchi Keiichiro,” the friend said.

“Keiichiro,” Evelyn repeated. “And you are?”

The friend was sad to learn that he had been forgotten as well. “Hamamoto Tokuo,” he introduced himself. “You just call me Tokuo.”

“Tokuo,” she repeated. It was easy enough to remember. “And we’ve been friends for… how long?”

“Since elementary school,” he informed her. “We’re in high school now.”

“High school?” The concept was unfamiliar to her.

“You’re eighteen years old. About to graduate in a few months. Or at least, that’s the plan.”

So far, the only thing that’s been accurate for Evelyn is the fact that she’s been alive for eighteen years. But what was going on? Was she living some other eighteen year old’s life? “Where’s a mirror?”

“Right in the bathroom across the hall,” the friend said.

She stood up, a little wobbly.

“Do you need help?”

“I’m fine,” she said, as she tugged at her strange jacket and walked stiffly out of the room.

The boy sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

Evelyn found the bathroom. It was very tiny with minimal decor, similar to the other room she was just in. But it had a mirror, and that was her main concern. She stepped up to it, and her greatest fear was true. The person she saw in the mirror was not her, but a man. A Japanese man who looked nothing like her. She took a deep breath, and the man in the mirror did the same. She stroked her cheek and watched as the man did the same. It was undeniable. She was this man. Or at least… she was in his body, somehow. It made absolutely no sense. She pinched the young man’s cheek to wake her up from this curious dream, to no avail. 

She then realized that she had to relieve herself. She was thankful that the privy looked similar enough to the ones in her estate. She pulled her pants down, and was about to sit on the toilet, when she saw it.