only getting sharper. I reached out, trying to grab something, but there was nothing to grab. I can’t; I’m gonna fall— Just then, someone caught my wrist, and I lurched to a stop. The ferry slowly began to right itself. “Th…” I came back to my senses. “Thank you…” It had been a close call, straight out of an action movie. I raised my eyes past my wrist to the one holding it and saw a man: tall, lanky, stubbly, and middle-aged. Smiling faintly, he let go of my hand. His shirt was bright red in the sunlight peeking out again. “That was some serious rain,” he muttered, apparently not caring much either way. It really had been astounding. I’d never seen such an incredible downpour before. Several rays of light were slanting in through the clouds now. I’d heard this tune before. It was classic, and I was pretty sure it was the background music for some old retro game. You controlled a penguin and tried to catch fish as you slid across the ice. Oh yeah, and sometimes seals would stick their heads up through holes in the ice to get in the penguin’s way. If you timed your jumps wrong, the penguin would stumble— “Y’know, this is pretty tasty stuff.” I raised my head. The middle-aged guy who sat across the table from me was cheerfully working his way through a set meal with chicken Nanban. He was wearing a tight-fitting flashy red shirt, and he had a thin face and narrow, drooping eyes with monolids. His untended stubble and casual curly hair marked him as an obvious free spirit, exactly as I’d envisioned a (slightly sketchy) Tokyo adult to be. The man was shoveling food into his big mouth, slurping pork miso soup, and picking up pieces of chicken with his disposable chopsticks. My eyes were drawn to the thick chunks of fried meat slathered in tartar sauce. “Kid, you seriously don’t want any?” “No. I’m not hungry,” I answered, forcing a smile, just as my stomach growled audibly. I turned red, but… “Oh yeah? I do feel kind of bad, letting you handle the bill,” the man said, even though the way he was stuffing his face with the chicken indicated Page 10 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com