On one of the following unremarkable days, after the school day was over, Yumiko would return home. For as long as she could remember, Yumiko always took the trolley to school. It was only in the evening that she could skip the trolley and walk home, even though it was a much longer journey, a choice she dared to make in order to be in the same house with her mother as little as possible.
At least in this insatiable season, when summer was just around the corner and April was just beginning to flourish, a girl chose to take the trolley home.
After waiting for her flight at an unsupervised stop on an unsupervised street, she entered the trolleybus and sat in one free of all the last rows. Placing her bag in her lap, she lifted her head and noticed a boy about ten years old sitting silently in the front seat.
The girl wondered what he was doing here when the sun was going down, when the street was dark, and without the accompaniment of his parents.
Yumiko kept looking in his direction until the man sitting behind her and pressed against the seat turned to her.
"The boy sitting in front of you..." he said in a man's voice, causing Yumiko to turn her gaze sharply toward him, "...ran away from home recently."
"Ah, it's you, Glenn-kun. Hi."
Before her stood a tall young man with charming yet intimidating dark eyes, and his warm gaze toward a girl made it clear that they had known each other for months. Glenn was dressed in a white shirt that matched his pumped and dried body perfectly.
"Hi. Are you on your way from school?"
"As you can see. You, too, I presume?" the schoolgirl asked, glancing over his clean clothes.
Glenn was the only one the maiden called by his first name among his peers, apparently because of the fact that when they met Glenn himself asked her not to call her by her last name. From his face and his foreign surname, Yumiko could assume that the young man was half-European.
"No. The thing is, I've been on this trolley for hours."
"And why is that?"
The tall teenager moved next to Yumiko and looked thoughtfully toward the child. So far, Glenn didn't seem to think to answer her question.
"Still wearing that chain?" asked Yumiko, observing the chain hanging around the young man's neck, the bottom of which was hidden inside his shirt.
Being peers, they talked more formally, showing respect for each other.
"Uh-huh, but it's not about that right now."
"You seem interested in this boy?"
"I keep an eye on him on this trolleybus. He's been sitting here aimlessly for three days, not knowing where to go."
"That's how. And who is this child?"
The young man's serious tone dared not subside, and he did not raise his voice for fear that the boy might hear their conversation.
"Yoshiro Kyoshi. A child, he ran away from home three days ago because of dire circumstances in his family. His parents filed a missing persons report, but no one has been able to find him until now."
"Why didn't you report him?"
"There is a reason I cannot give him to the police, Yumiko-san. My patience is running out, but I'm holding back."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"I've already talked to him. He's been sleeping at my house for two nights. It's my fault I can't get along with him. I bet he's afraid of me, even though I haven't done anything."
"You seem to have a pretty strong cause for protecting him from the police."
"Not at all. I'm not protecting him. It's his own choice."
Yumiko didn't understand the point, but eventually decided to trust her peer. Though a slight doubt about Glenn's rationality frightened her, a girl couldn't let go of the idea that the guy was not telling some important details.
"Do you have someone to call? Honestly, I need your help, Yumiko-san."
"Call...? Ah, I think so, but why do you need another person?"
"As extra help if I can't get Yoshiro back in one piece."
"Mm, so that's what you're after."
Yumiko pulled out her phone and called Ryou, asking for his help, but deciding not to elaborate with him. She had learned his phone number from a teacher on an earlier day when she had wondered why the schoolboy wasn't picking up the phone. Yes, Ryou hadn't been in school all that time. He'd been missing now and then coming in, and no one could find out the reason.
"He said yes," the damsel declared, hanging up the phone. "He lives in the central district, in twenty-five-story houses."
"I didn't expect you to find friends at school. Sorry, stupid joke."
"Still, I don't condemn your intentions, but why are you keeping quiet?"
"I don't want to talk about it on the trolley. I think I'd be misunderstood if they heard it."
"I'm afraid you're exaggerating."
The trolleybus stopped at yet another stop, in the downtown area, the so-called "midway point," where many people of all kinds and qualities gather, as well as dense evening traffic.
"Our stop," Glenn said, getting ready to get off the trolley. "Come on, let's get off."
"Hmm? What about the baby?" puzzled Yumiko added. "He's not coming with us?"
"No, he'll stop at my apartment by himself."
Yumiko didn't understand where Glenn got such confidence in his words and hurried after the young man.
They stepped off the trolley and met the cool, evening Tokyo, illuminated by hundreds of thousands of colorful beams. Nothing as beautiful as the young girl had expected from this city, a city of technology and perfect infrastructure.
The glowing still lifes of bright lanterns and the lights emanating from the stores and large buildings kept the eyes of Yumiko, who was walking along the busy street with Glenn, on the west side of this picture. With that, Yumiko remembered how rarely she had walked downtown, and she had forgotten how mesmerizing the evening tone of Tokyo's lights could be.
"How beautiful..."
"Imagine a man who has seen all the bad and the good in his life," Glenn addressed softly, continuing to walk at a leisurely pace. "He is indifferent to these beautiful sights that cannot be conveyed by mere words. Pictures that, upon looking at, people of the ordinary sort would encompass all kinds of emotions, and that would be a valid response to beauty, but not for the likes of 'them'."
Yumiko, slightly disturbed by the young man's distressed state, glanced over at him. His eyes were hidden by his dark hair, but his masculine lips showed a frustrated state.
"I don't want to become that man."
Soon, the walk down the main street of the city ended for them, for they turned toward twenty five-story houses. The street on which these apartments were dotted turned out to be less lighted. As they entered the residential area, Yumiko was surprised by its uninhabitable nature.
Upon reaching the entrance to one of several identical apartments, Glenn asked if this was the house his friend's acquaintance had indicated, to which he received a direct, affirmative answer. Ringing his intercom, they awaited a speedy exit from Ryou.
"I want to help the boy," he suddenly changed the subject. "I don't demand compliments. I want to do good to people. That's my only reason."
"I see," replied Yumiko friendly. "I'm fine with that answer."
"This boy's family is on the verge of strife, and in his ten years, he has seen through his eyes the terrible things that have happened between his parents. It's something I wouldn't wish on any child."
Yumiko fully understood Yoshiro's situation and realized how similar their childhoods turned out to be.
"Nevertheless, there is a chance to rectify his situation. How glad I am that I could meet him in the shortest possible time..."
"Does his family have a chance to end the strife?"
"Yes. At least, I hope so. By my calculations-"
Glenn's subdued voice was interrupted by a metal door opening, out of which a young man with thick hair looked out. Dressed in warm clothing for an April evening, he looked toward Glenn with mild bewilderment.
"Did I interrupt you?"
Glenn and Yumiko looked back at each other and shook their heads slightly, whereupon Ryou stepped outside, closing the door.
"Glenn Zaleman, nice to meet you," Glenn announced peacefully, bowing his head.
"Ryou Hayashi... Well, what did you call me for after all, Sato-chan?"
"Hayashi-san, in truth, we have one request for you," the girl answered him.
"Just briefly," Glenn said respectfully, looking off into the distance, as if every second he spent was important at the moment, "We should hurry."