I was paralyzed with shock for a few seconds, scared out of mind. An explosion had gone off on the wall slightly away from us. Some of the debris had come our way. “I-Isao!” I quickly snapped out of it realizing that Isao had been stabbed by a large piece of wood.
He was bleeding heavily and was shaking uncontrollably with blood and froth coming from his mouth. There was a stick of wood that had pierced him deeply just below his neck.
“Shit, shit …” I had no idea what to do my hands were wriggling about in the air trying to help him.
“Move” Hakai appeared from the hole in the wall and shoved me aside to examine the Isao. He sighed deeply looking at his condition and put him into his arms and ran away.
Ippei quickly came running in just a few seconds later. “What happened to the inn!” he screamed.
“An explosion occurred and Isao got injured from it! Hakai might have taken him to the doctor! Where is the nearest doctor?” I quickly got my bearings together and decided to search for Hakai.
Ippei who already looked pale looked like he had aged another 10 years after he heard that.
“Hakai must already be there lets quickly go too.” Ippei ran outside quickly using his his old legs to move as fast as possible.
After running around for a while and moving through the streets we arrived at a small building. We entered quickly to see the doctor working on Isao. He was sweating beads of sweat looking at his patient. “Do something he’s going to die!” Hakai urged the doctor.
“He’s lost too much blood. Dammit coming here at this hour when I have no one to help me!”
“Please doctor save him he’s the only family I have.” Ippei looked at the doctor desperately.
The doctor looked troubled and was in his nightwear and looked troubled clearly not in any mood to help. “Oye, look here.” At that moment Hakai held the doctor by his neck. “If you don’t do something right now, I’ll kill you.”
Fear took over the doctor. He looked like he might shit his pants and quickly nodded indicating he would do it. “Fine! Fine! Let go!” He ran to the corner of the room and brought some equipment over. “Here” He handed a cloth to Hakai. “As soon as I pull the wood out tightly hold the cloth above it. The rest of you. Leave! Now!”
Ippei was still stuck in the same position looking over his grandson. I quickly dragged him out lest we disturbed the doctor.
As soon we were out, he fell to the floor. There was no clarity in his eyes as he kept looking at the floor blankly.
My mind was in chaos. What had happened? We were just eating peacefully just a moment ago. The next one of us had been deeply injured out of nowhere. I looked at my own body where Isao had been injured, touching it with dread. The debris could’ve easily ricocheted onto my body instead ending my life.
….
….
We waited for an hour in tension. Ippei had recovered somewhat and now looked to be deep in thought.
When Hakai came out the main door, Ippei quickly grabbed him by his collar. “How is he? How is my grandson?”
“He is stable for now. The doctor is still working hard. Don’t worry he is Iori’s son, he is strong.”
Ippei broke down into tears of relief when he heard Hakai. He turned his back to him. “I was always stuck in the past, reminiscing, brooding and always worried about the inn and forgot that I still had a grandson. After all the Inn was the only thing, my son left behind. I should’ve realized long ago that my grandson was the true thing he had left behind.” He was crying even more.
Hakai just listened to him silently without replying.
“Back then I didn’t blame you. My son died because of you but for the sake of my son’s feelings I forgave you. I can’t do it this time. Meeting you after all these years I wondered if you had changed but you are still the same. Everywhere you go, you cause nothing but pain and suffering.”
Hakai’s face was still Apathetic after hearing Ippei. But I knew that it wasn’t real. When you live with a person for a few years you learn things about them even if you don’t want to. He was holding his wooden katana at his waist tightly with one hand. It was a tell of his that he was extremely angry or emotional.
“I can’t keep you at my Inn anymore. Leave…. And never show your face in front of me ever again.” Ippei was still showing his back towards Hakai.
Hakai took out a bag of money from his clothes and held it in front of Ippei. “Take it. It’s for the Inn and Isao. I know you don’t have any money.”
Ippei turned around with rage on his face ready to slap the bag away. However, he stopped midway. Maybe he realized that he would need the money for Isao. He took the money unwillingly in the end.
“And don’t worry I have no intention to coming back to your run-down inn anymore.” He turned and started walking away. “Brat come we need to leave we’ve stayed too long at this place.” He was still holding the katana tightly.
I was left perplexed from the whole thing. I felt sorry for Isao and his grandfather. Hakai was clearly in the wrong. I didn’t know what terrible things Hakai had done in the past but for some reason when I looked at his lonely figure it made me a little sad.
There was too much I didn’t know about this situation so I decided not to think about it for now. I looked at Ippei silently one last time, who holding the bag of money tightly. “I’m sorry”
He looked back at me as if just now realizing that I was still here. He didn’t say anything back and walked into the building.
In the end I decided to go after Hakai.
…
…
Hakai had fucked up. He knew it. He had become rusty after all these years allowing his enemy to do something unexpected at the end. When he had arrived to the Inn, he had clearly whispered to the old man instructing him or anyone else not to stay near his room and the Inn this night. Maybe he had misunderstood and he hadn’t instructed his grandson well enough or maybe it was his grandson who had misunderstood.
However, it didn’t matter now. What was done, was done. He looked at the moon above. It reminded of the day he was with Iori.
***
They were both drinking Sake and eating his family’s special dish.
“Ah~” Iori was relishing the sake.
“It’s terrible” I told him after tasting the dish.
“Hahahaha! I know!” He replied. “But it’s good for the body.” He explained.
While they were drinking, he stood up out of nowhere. “After all this is done, I’m going to open an Inn! That’s my dream! To build an inn and live comfortably for the rest of my life. I’ll even serve our family’s dish as a joke.” He laughed as if he found the idea amusing. He turned to face Hakai and asked, “What’s your dream?”
“Who knows” Hakai said before going back to drinking.
***
Iamnotabot· Feb 9, 2023
