May 25th , 2035 - 9:42
The girl stood a few inches taller than Noho and appeared older. Only half of her body was visible in the doorway, the dim light of the house making it a little harder to see than usual. She had dark circles under her eyes, and the skin of her face clung to her skull. Her black hair was partially dyed dark purple at the front. From the half-visible body, Noho could see her malnourished frame and sickly pale skin, along with the black baggy hoodie, black shorts, and black-and-white striped socks she wore. The girl was slightly shaking as she spoke.
"Who… are you?" she asked in a quiet, raspy voice.
Noho was a bit startled by her disheveled appearance and extremely underweight build, but she managed to say, "Oh, maybe I got the wrong house. I'm sorry for bothering you!" Noho said in an embarrassed voice. "I don't really come around these parts of New York."
Suddenly, a familiar voice called from deep within the house, "Melodi? Is someone at the door?"
Melodi, startled by the sudden noise, slammed the door shut and retreated back into the house.
"Melodi? So, was that the girl at the door?" Noho thought. "Was she okay? She looked so… starved. Why did she run away as if she was scared when someone called her?"
Just then, the door swung back open, and standing in the doorway was 'Mr. Fake Homeless' from before. He looked down at Noho, surprised to see that she actually showed up.
"Ah, you actually came, little one," he said in a calm voice.
"Yeah, I did, and from coming here, I discovered that you're a liar!" Noho shouted in fury. "You lied and pretended you were homeless to scam innocent people out of their hard-earned money. Do you know how heartless that is?"
The old man stayed quiet, only looking down at her with a monotone expression. Then he said, "Well, it was partially the truth that I was really homeless, but yes, I do have a home."
"Well, if you have a home, you ain't homeless! So tell me, why did you lie? Was it for money?" Noho yelled, her eyes burning with anger.
The old man stayed silent for a second. He looked up, staring straight into the city view, deep in thought. Then he finally spoke up, "Why don't you come inside?" He stepped aside, making room for her to enter.
Noho stared at him in disbelief. "Come inside? Why would I go inside a stranger's home?"
"Just please, come inside and I'll explain everything," the man pleaded.
Noho thought for a second. "Go inside? How do I know I can trust him?" Then, the thought suddenly occurred to her. But wait, what about that girl who answered? I need to know if she's okay!
Reluctantly, Noho stepped inside his townhome. Upon entering, she found that his house was simply furnished—not anything too extravagant or elegant, but just the basic needs for a home—a couch, a simple television, a bookshelf, and a kitchen with the basic appliances. The house didn't have a table; instead, it had an expensive and elegant-looking chabudai*, which was the only relatively nice thing in his household. It was much less decorated and furnished than her own home.
"This is a pretty nice home of yours, but are you sure it's actually your home?" Noho asked skeptically.
The man stayed silent, only slowly and calmly walking over to the chabudai and sitting down on a zaisu*. "Come sit," he said, gesturing to the zaisu placed across from him. Hesitating, she slowly walked over to the chabudai and sat down, sitting directly across from him. She looked at the monologue clock on the wall and read the time. Then she spoke.
"It's about 9:40 now. I only have about 40 minutes here; then I need to get back to my school for graduation."
"I was wondering why you were here so quickly, just after you had said you were going to school. Did you leave school to come see me?"
"I did, but it's okay. We weren't doing anything important."
"Well, if you're worried that you won't make it back to school on time, don't worry. What I'm about to tell you—at least the first part of it—won't take 40 minutes."
The first part of it? Noho thought. "I have a question to ask you."
"Go ahead."
"Before you came, there was a girl who answered the door. Who was she?"
"That was my daughter."
"You have a daughter? Then she must be adopted, right?"
"Yes."
"You called her 'Melodi.' Is that her name?"
"Yes."
"So then, why is she so unnaturally skinny? She looks starved and abused! Have you been abusing her?"
"No, it's nothing like that. Trust me. I would never hurt her."
"Why does she have dark circles under her eyes, as if she isn't sleeping well?"
"Well, she does have trouble sleeping at night sometimes. Nightmares tend to keep her awake at night."
Nightmares? Even when I get nightmares, they don't keep me awake for that long. She thought. Then why is she hiding from you?"
"She's not hiding from me; she's hiding from you."
"From me?"
"She… Well, how do I put it? She had a rough backstory, but that's a story for another time. All you should know is that I don't abuse her, and I try my very best to take care of her and make sure she stays happy."
"Why is she scared of me? Is she antisocial?"
"Well, just around anybody that she doesn't know very well, she just… isn't really good with people. But moving on, I have some questions for you, young one. Tell me, what is your name?"
"Noho Hocho."
"That's a very lovely name. It suits you."
"Wait a minute! Tell me your name, Mr. Fake Homeless!"
"I'll answer that question later, but first, I need you to answer this question for me."
"Okay, what's the question?"
"When you saw me on the street, why did you stop to ask me if I was okay?"
"Why did I stop? That's a dumb question. You looked like you needed help, so I stopped to try and help you. It's basic human decency to help someone in need, don't you think?"
The old man seemed taken aback just for a moment before quickly returning to his nonchalant demeanor. "So when you see a complete stranger, who you don't even know, in need, your first instinct is to help them?"
"Yep. That's what my mom always taught me growing up. She says that anytime you see someone who needs help, even if it's just opening a jar of pickles, you try your best to help them."
The man remained silent for a while, reflecting on Noho's words and his own thoughts. Finally, he spoke, "Your mother seems very wise and kind. She raised you well. It's rare to find someone these days who cares not just for themselves, but for others too."
"You're the second person who's said that today. Am I really that good of a person?"
"To define a good person, you must consider their intentions behind their actions."
"Well, my intentions for helping you were good."
"Then answer this: did you help me because you saw no one else was, or because you genuinely wanted to help?"
Noho paused, thinking for a moment. "I don't think it matters. If I helped you because nobody else did, that's still good. I felt bad that you weren't getting help. But I guess, mainly, I helped because I saw nobody else helping."
"I appreciate your honesty. I have another question for you."
"Another question?" Noho said, clearly annoyed. "Fine, go ahead."
"What do you think about the evil in the world today?"
Noho was taken aback. Why did he want to know her views on this?
"Well, if you really want to know, I think evil comes from corruption—people who hold too much power."
The man's mouth parted slightly, as if surprised by her answer, before he responded, "You're only in eighth grade, and you're already thinking this deeply. You've got a bright future ahead of you."
"I mean, it's not that complicated. The desire for power, rooted in greed, leads to corruption, and from corruption, evil arises."
The man fell silent, contemplating her words. He was impressed by Noho's understanding at such a young age. After a moment, he spoke again. "Have you ever heard of a group called the Order of the Abyss?"
"Of course I have. My mom even mentioned them today and told me to be careful of 'The Cloaked Men' when walking to school."
"Really? You've heard of them?"
"Well, after they caused The Great Tragedy and all the damage it did to our world, I'd be surprised if anyone hadn't heard of them."
"What do you know about them so far?"
"Well, when I looked them up, all that came up was that they're a global anarchist group, usually seen wearing black cloaks to hide their identities. I tried to find out who their leader was, but no information came up."
"You won't find any information about the leader. They've been careful to keep that a secret," the man said. "But I know some things."
Noho's eyes widened. "You know who the leader of the Order of the Abyss is?"
The man chuckled. "I don't know who the leader is. I just know some things the public doesn't."
Noho leaned forward eagerly, her hands slamming onto the chabudai. "Please, tell me! I want to know their secrets!"
The old man smiled and chuckled softly. "Not yet. You still haven't passed 'the trials'."
"The trials?" Noho asked, intrigued.
"I need to make sure you're trustworthy. I can't just tell this kind of information to anyone," he said.
"Come back tomorrow, and we can talk some more."
"Aww, that's no fun! How can you just leave me hanging like that?"
"Why don't you head back to school? I'm sure your friends are wondering where you are." He stood up slowly.
Friends? Plural? Noho thought, slightly confused. She sighed, stood up, and walked toward where she had left her backpack. Slipping it on, she headed for the door.
"One more thing before you leave," the man called out. "You can't tell anyone that you met with me today, and most importantly, never tell anyone my address or anything we discussed."
"I won't, don't worry," she said, waving him goodbye.
"No, I'm serious. When you get back to school, even if the principal asks where you were, make up a believable excuse. Don't let him get suspicious. It's very important that nobody knows we met."
Stunned and confused by his sudden urgency to keep his identity and location a secret, Noho replied, "I already told you, I wasn't going to tell anyone. But why do you need to keep your identity a secret so badly? I get that you don't want thugs showing up or something, but—"
Before she could continue, the man cut her off. "The reason for keeping my identity secret doesn't concern you. What does concern you, though, is keeping that secret."
"Okay, fine. I'll keep your secret," Noho said, reaching for the doorknob. "Will I see Melodi tomorrow?"
"If she's willing to come out, you can."
Noho nodded. "Have a good day, sir." She stepped out into the streets of New York, closing the door behind her. Before she began walking down the street, she pulled out the piece of paper with the old man's address. To honor his wishes of keeping his location a secret, she planned to rip it into shreds and let the pieces scatter in the wind. But when she opened the folded paper, she was taken aback by what she saw:
The paper was blank, as if nothing had ever been written on it.