Zero Sum Game (28 page)

The mobster's face turned red from pain and exhaustion. A large vein in the middle of his brow pulsed and expanded. He ground his teeth and said, "All right, all right. I'll leave them alone. Get your freakish foot off me."

"And you won't be back tomorrow?"

"No, I won't. I'm not going to touch them again."

Hina believed him; the pain in his face was real. She stepped away. The mobster gasped in relief and drew in lungfuls of air. He lay there for a moment then got to his feet, grunting in pain. He panted and swayed but remained standing. He glared at Hina before lumbering away.

She didn't move until the man had disappeared around a corner. This had been the best patrol since she had started. Ami's grandparents would have nothing else to worry about from now on when it came to the yakuza. He would tell others that this shop had a protector. And the best part was that Ami would never know. She had helped her friend and not revealed her secret. Perfect.

"Our patrol is finished. Go home. I sense this has taken more of a toll on your physical body than I had anticipated," Voice said.

She didn't argue with him.

— — —

Morning homeroom. Ozaki looked up from his grade book and addressed his class. "Where's Isobe-san?"

"I didn't see her this morning," Hina answered.

"Hmm," he said. He put an absent mark beside Ami's name and continued taking roll call.

He led his class onto the field for the day's practices then went to the school office. Ozaki leaned through the open doorway. "Has Isobe-san's grandfather called? Class 2A."

Ms. Ota shook her head. "No."

"How about her grandmother?" Ota shook her head 'no.' "Isobe-san herself?"

"No. Is something wrong?"

"She didn't come to school today." He tapped the doorframe with his hand. "Thanks anyway."

He entered the staff room. At the whiteboard that listed all the students absent for the day, he wrote Ami's name in the box marked "2A."

Absent students were nothing new, there was at least one a day, and during the week of Sports Day practice, he knew some students skipped instead of being sick, as their parents claimed. He returned to the front office and retrieved the binder with the names, addresses, and phone numbers for every student. Back in the teacher's room, he sat by the nearest phone and searched for Ami Isobe.

In the middle of the eleventh ring, he hung up then searched for an alternate phone number. Almost every student had a cell phone, he knew, but Ami's wasn't listed.

Ota walked into the teacher's room, her face pale and scared, the cordless office phone held tight against her ear. She was in mid-conversation as she approached Ozaki. "Ami's homeroom teacher is here. A moment, please." The phone trembled as she held it out to him and mouthed the word "police."

Five minutes later, Ozaki hung up. He was stunned from what the detective had told him. The principal needed to be notified right away.

Principal Nakatani's office was a few steps from the teacher's room and beside the main entrance. Ozaki knocked on the door. "It's Ozaki," he said.

"Come in," was the muffled reply.

Ozaki slid the door open. "Excuse my interruption," he said as he stepped in and slid the door closed behind him.

Principal Nakatani sat at his desk. He wore a short sleeve button shirt and slacks, with a sports towel draped around his neck, wiping sweat off his brow and chin. The principal's office window offered a view of the gym building and the sports field beyond.

Ozaki stood with his back stiff and his arms straight.

Nakatani let out a loud sigh. "It's hot, isn't it? You're probably too young to remember this, but—"

"Sir," Ozaki said.

Nakatani stopped talking and looked at him with his head tilted. "Go ahead."

Ozaki wanted his racing heart to slow itself. "One of our students is in the hospital, along with her grandparents."

The principal's face fell, all thoughts of the heat gone. Ozaki continued before Nakatani could ask questions. He didn't want to explain himself twice.

"The police say the family was accosted early this morning; they think as Isobe-san was about to leave for school. That's Ami Isobe. She's one of my homeroom students. According to the police, there were no witnesses. They were found this morning by a fellow shopkeeper."

"
Oh my God
," said Nakatani in English. "How is she?"

"Stable. All three of them were badly beaten. Ami doesn't have any broken bones, but her grandparents are much older. They got the worst of it. But they're all out of intensive care."

He stopped, waiting for Nakatani to say something. When he didn't, Ozaki asked, "What are we going to tell the students?"

Nakatani stared out the window at the boys and girls running, laughing, and having fun despite the practice and heat. He turned back to Ozaki. "Nothing. Not now, we'll tell them at this afternoon's homeroom."

"Sir?"

"If we tell them now, Ozaki-sensei, they'll get distracted and won't be able to practice. Everyone will want to go to the hospital and talk to this poor girl. No, we'll tell them later."

The decision surprised Ozaki. The students had a right to know. He thought someone should go visit Ami, let her know everyone was concerned. Nakatani took the idea right out of his mouth.

"But someone from the school should visit her." He looked at Ozaki. "You should go, you're her homeroom teacher."

It made sense to him, but he still believed it was wrong to hide this from the students. "Let me take Hina Takamachi." At Nakatani's confused expression, he continued. "She's Ami's best friend. It would be good for Ami to see a familiar face. Plus," he said as the principal opened his mouth to object, "she can go as a student representative. Let her friend know everybody is concerned for her."

Nakatani thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Go ahead. Tell…what's her name?"

"Ami Isobe."

"Tell Ami we're all here for her."

After leaving the principal's office, Ozaki switched his indoor shoes for his outdoor ones and walked across the sports field. He wanted to sprint but knew it would attract attention. He found Hina under her team's tent. She stood near a boy, her right sleeve pulled up onto her shoulder. She flexed her arm, displaying a softball size bicep. The boy flexed as well, but she outmatched him. Two other boys punched him in the ribs for being outgunned by a girl.

"Takamachi-san," Ozaki barked.

Hina whirled around, and jerked down her sleeve. Ozaki leaned into her ear, not wanting the others to overhear. "Come with me. Now."

Hina seemed confused. When she didn't move right away, he snapped out, "Now," loud enough for a few nearby students to look their way. Hina walked to the main building, slow and unsure. Ozaki put his hand in the middle of her shoulder blades and gave her a small push.

"Hey!"

Coach Mori jogged towards them, his cap unable to keep in the sweat from his forehead, a clipboard clasped in one hand. "I need her for the next relay."

"I'm sorry," Ozaki replied and gave a small bow. He turned towards the school. Hina watched the two teachers, looking unsure where to go.

Mori cut in front of him. "I need everyone to practice. The red team's going to win the sports festival."

Ozaki bit back his anger; a student lay in the hospital and all the coach could think about was winning. But Mori didn't know about Ami's condition, and he wondered if telling him would change his attitude. "And I'm sure they will," he said.

"Takamachi is my strongest member," Mori said.

"And my homeroom student," Ozaki countered, biting off each word. His face must have betrayed enough of his anger because Mori walked away in a huff.

Ozaki instructed her to put on her uniform and meet him at the front entrance. When she did, he led her to his car and they pulled out of the parking lot.

CHAPTER 24

Her homeroom teacher drove quietly for several blocks. Hina was glad he had stood up to Coach Mori, but Ozaki's sharp commands and clipped tone were scaring her.

She didn't recognize the route they were taking. "Where are we going?"

"To Hiroshima Shimin Hospital," Ozaki said.

"Why there?"

Her English teacher's lips tightened at the question. She had a bad feeling about what was coming next; he reminded her of her father's sidelong looks when he had something he didn't want to say. Her father was a terrible liar and poor at giving bad news. Ozaki was the same.

"Ami is in the hospital. We're going to visit her now."

"What?" She screamed the question louder than expected. Ozaki winched but kept the car steady. "What happened? Is she all right? Did you call her grandparents? What? When, when did this happen? She was fine yesterday, wasn't she? Is she going to get better?" The questions came as a stream-of-consciousness river without a dam to break it up.

"She's not sick. The police—"

"The police? What do they want with her?"

"Hina," Voice interrupted, "if you'll pause for a moment, I'm sure Ozaki-sensei will give us all the information he has available to him."

"Shut up, Voice."

The statement startled Ozaki and he looked at her uniform. She wasn't worried about Voice, or Ozaki remembering she wore an alien suit; she was concerned about her friend.

Ozaki began again. "The police say she and her grandparents were beaten up. And pretty badly. All of them are all right and are resting. Before you ask, a detective called me a few minutes before I came and got you. Believe me, I'm as shocked as you are."

"I doubt that," Hina said. Anger began pushing aside her shock at the news. She felt relief that Ami was okay and not sick with some terrible disease or something similar. She wondered why anyone would want to beat up her friend. Could it have been those delinquents who had stolen her purse? She didn't think so.

Ozaki glanced at her. "She's my homeroom student," he said. "My responsibility. I know I'm coming in at the middle of the year, but don't think for a moment I don't care about you, your friends, or anyone else in my class. All of you are my responsibility."

He meant it. She clasped her hands together and stared down at her lap. She bowed. "I'm sorry."

The hospital came into view. Ozaki parked his car and the two of them entered the reception area. After signing-in, they took the elevator to the recovery wing. Ozaki gently knocked on door 238. Hina didn't hear a welcoming call. Ozaki slid the door open and stepped inside. "Excuse me," he said.

Ami lay in the single bed on the left while her grandparents occupied the two beds on the right. All three were asleep and dressed in white gowns and bandages.

Ami's grandfather had gotten the worst of it. A bandage wrapped his head like a turban with its top missing. A cut bisected his lower lip. White cloth bound his left forearm and his right arm was immobilized in a cast from his shoulder to his wrist. His left pinky and ring fingers were in splints. Ami's grandmother had fared better, she didn't have any casts and one arm was wrapped in bandages. Her right eye was purple and swollen shut.

Hina was most grateful for Ami. She didn't have any wraps, only adhesive bandages covering her many cuts and bruises. Hina ran to her friend's bed. Rhythmic breathing noises matched the motions of Ami's chest. Her glasses lay on the small table beside her bed.

Ozaki stood next to the door, giving her some space to be with her friend. Tears welled in her eyes at the sight of Ami lying in the bed while a smile also tugged at her lips, grateful she hadn't gotten the worst of it. She squeezed her friend's hand. She wondered if she should wake her up or wait for her to come around herself.

Ami's eyes flipped open and she yelped in pain. Hina recoiled in surprise. Ami grabbed her hand and cradled it to her chest. "Ow. That hurts." A tear of pain rolled down her cheek and dripped onto her white bed sheet. She jerked her head around, as if searching for an unseen assailant. She spotted Ozaki and Hina; the fear drained from her face, replaced by confusion. Still cradling her hand, which was turning red, she put on her glasses. She smiled, becoming her old self again.

"Hina," she said. She seemed to forget the pain in her hand.

Hina was ecstatic Ami was awake and smiling. She wanted to lean over and hug her friend but was afraid to. "How are you feeling, Ami?"

"Good." Ami propped herself up with her pillow and rubbed her sore hand. "What was that?"

"Probably residual pain from your incident," Ozaki said. Hina almost smiled at him, grateful for the cover-up. He walked to the bedside.

"Ozaki-sensei," she said and bowed.

He returned the gesture. "The police called the school and told me what happened. I told the principal, and he sends his sympathies and hopes you'll get well soon. Hina is representing the students." He nodded to her.

That was news to her; she thought she was visiting her friend. But she caught Ozaki's glance to play along. "Umm…that's right. We're all waiting for you to get back and dazzle us with your complete lack of fashion sense. I vote for your brown rice sack as your comeback attire."

"My grandmother gave me that dress," Ami said, mock indignation coloring her tone.

Hina leaned in closer. "I know," and the two girls fell into a fit of giggles.

Ozaki cleared his throat. "Speaking of…" He walked to Junko's bedside; her one good eye opened and she took in her surroundings. Her gaze fell on Ozaki. He said, "Hello, Isobe-san. I'm Ryuhei Ozaki. I'm Ami's homeroom teacher."

She gave a small nod and winced in pain. "Nice to meet you. I'm Junko." She gestured to her husband in the next bed, who was also awake. "And this is Atsushi." Ozaki bowed in greeting, but Atsushi couldn't reciprocate it. Junko said, "You needn't bother coming all the way out here, Ozaki-sensei. We had an accident, you know…it was…" She trailed off.

Her husband picked up the conversation. "We're tired, we could use some rest." To Hina he said, "Thanks for coming out to visit Ami." He turned his gaze to his granddaughter. "You're glad to see your friend, aren't you, Ami?"

Hina didn't know why Ami's grandfather's tone wasn't quite…normal. Ami turned her head away and stared at the doorway. She tapped the bed with her middle finger, a nervous habit that Hina recognized. Ami said something, but Hina didn't catch it. "What was that?"