It was a Saturday afternoon. Tanuki rushed to the downtown coffee shop after getting the message from Mei.
[ Hey, nerd! I've got some things we should talk about! Come and meet me at… ]
Mei was sitting by the window with orange juice before her. She sipped the bubbling juice through her straw, then returned to browse social media on her phone.
Tanuki sat across the table. He was sure Mei invited him to personally kick him out of the club, and he was so dense he feared to move and take off his coat or ushanka.
Mei finally raised her eyes off the phone and addressed Tanuki with a frown.
"Won't you order something?"
"Please… don't…"
"Huh? What don't?" Mei raised her head.
Suddenly, Tanuki jumped across the table and grabbed Mei's hands. He pushed her drink aside, which didn't fall to the ground only by luck. The people around them turned to see the cause of this ruckus and watch the teary-eyed man beg his partner.
"Please! Don't kick me out! This club is all I have!"
"W-What are you talking about?" She pushed Tanuki back to his seat. "Hey, listen to me!"
Tanuki nodded, then blew his nose with the paper tissue Mei offered him. Once he was done, Mei continued.
"You alright?"
"Y-Yes…"
"Good. I was thinking, we should join a national competition."
Tanuki's eyes widened. This was the last thing he was expecting, but Mei surprised him again with a smile on her face.
"We could represent our school and join some kind of art competition. I think they could finance us the tools, maybe even the travel fee if we make it big and have to travel abroad."
She reached into her bag and pulled out a medium-sized canvas.
"Look! Your dragon painting inspired me and I tried to recreate it with a different animal. Sadly, I didn't have enough space to get us two into the image, but I promise I'll make us fit it! Oh, also, I'm not that much of a fantasy nerd, no offense though! I saw some pretty cool monster sketches online, I've been binging them since yesterday. Oh, so, back to the topic, I wanted to add something cool to the image and decided to go with my favorite animal."
As she turned the painting towards Tanuki, she caught his breath.
The painting was made in a medieval Japanese style. It featured three bamboo trees on the left, two stones on the bottom, and a ferocious wild animal leaping towards the viewer from above.
"It's a black panther! I named him 'Kurohyou'. J-Just don't ask why, I don't want to look dumb in front of you…"
For the first time in his life, Tanuki experienced someone feeling embarrassed while talking with him and that someone being the other party. He couldn't take his eyes off the girl, who tried to hide her face while fiddling with her hair.
"Hey, nice boy you got there! Is he your bodyguard?"
It was a man's voice. When Tanuki looked up, three fourth-year students met his gaze. All of them were much taller, stronger, and more fearsome-looking than him.
Tanuki couldn't speak. His body began to tremble with fear as his heartbeat gained momentum.
"Leave him alone, jerks!" Mei stood up. "Haven't I told you already? I'm not interested in your perverse games!"
"She looks so cute when she's angry!" One of the men chuckled. "Can we bring her home?"
Tanuki's eyes widened. Who were these men and what did they want from Mei? What games was she talking about? Why do they want to bring her home?
He was too scared to speak. Soon enough, the coffee shop staff arrived and asked the men to leave the building. Tanuki and Mei remained for a while, but they haven't talked much. Mei called her dad to come, which boiled into a heated argument through the phone. She hung up the phone once his dad began to yell.
Leaning back in her chair, she looked exhausted. Tanuki wanted to help her but didn't know how to. He was too afraid to speak.
What if those men were to come for him? What if they were to harass him as they harassed Mei?
"I don't blame you." She spoke while looking through the window, gazing at the falling snow. "They are pretty scary. I know. I've been dealing with them for years now. This is nothing compared to what they are capable of. Sadly, I know that…"
After a short silence, Mei continued.
"I thought maybe high school would be different. I'd get to know new people and start over. Hah, can you believe that? My father told me to leave this city. We could search for another school, he said. I thought I could fight them. Maybe if I muster my power, I could resist them. But I was weak."
She grabbed her bag and placed a few coins next to her drink. She went for the door, but before leaving, she looked at Tanuki one more time.
"I don't blame you."
This was the last time Tanuki got to see Mei.
The next day he arrived at school and Mei's seat was empty. The teacher arrived late and told the class that Mei changed schools.
Apparently, after leaving the coffee shop yesterday, she was jumped by her harassers. They were much more aggressive than last time. Thankfully, Mei managed to outrun them with only a few scratches.
Still, it was a traumatizing experience.
For what happened with the bullies or Mei, Tanuki never got to know. After a few days, everyone forgot Mei ever went to the same class as them and their days went on as usual.
Tanuki never forgot Mei. Those cheerful conversations of his class became even more unbearable, as they reminded him of the only friend he's ever had.
The club was dissolved shortly after Mei left. The key to the janitor's room was taken away and Tanuki had no way of accessing their old equipment. Even the orange juice was taken away by the janitor, who joyfully drank all of them.
Sometimes Tanuki would walk by that room and gaze at the door. He hoped that one day Mei would be at the other side, and she would walk out with orange juice in hand. She would call him a nerd, then ask him if he wanted to drink something cool.
That dream never came true.
Mei became a ghost of the past, untraceable, as she deleted all social media, or at least changed her name to something unknown to anyone. She never contacted Tanuki again, because that would've risked her old bullies finding her.
Tanuki tried his hardest to track her down but was unable to. The only thing he had left of her was that painting of a black panther, which she forgot to take when she left the coffee shop on that fateful day.
.
.
.
His blood began to boil.
"I don't blame you? What do you mean I don't blame you?"
The dirt remained on his cheeks as he lifted his face.
"How can you not blame me? I should've said something! I should've defended you!"
Holding onto the tall grass, Tanuki began to climb the hill again.
"If I would've said something, anything, I could've saved you!"
Legs forced to stand and move. His back hurt, but he clenched his teeth and marched forward.
"I won't make the same mistake again, you understand? I won't back down anymore!"
It was painful but he began to climb with the same speed as before, if not even faster.
His body didn't gain a sudden power-up. It was his will that finally hardened.
"Do you understand, Mei? I'm going to defend you! I'm going to defend everyone who can't defend themselves!"
His legs trembled with every step, but he made it to the top. The mud dried onto his face. Dirty tears flowed from his blood-red eyes.
Yet the tree trunk arrived on top of the hill. Tanuki grabbed his weapon, Kurohyou, and took it out of his pocket. He looked at the sky with a determined smile.
"I'm not going to make the same mistake again, you understand? I'm going to save Maduka! I'm going to show you how much I've grown. I promise this to you, Mei…"