Blind Luck2: No Way Back Chapter 6
Blind Luck2: No Way Back
Chapter 6
Shitateya's turned out to be on the second floor of the mall, which meant going up the escalators. This was Sai's second time on the self-moving stairs, and he was as nervous as he had been that time in the Metro, even with the social worker’s help. Noburu at least didn't push or shove him about as the other man had, but then the mall wasn't anywhere near as busy as the Metro had been.
'Two more seconds,' Noburu warned a moment before Sai felt the angle of the stairs change and he only slightly tripped getting off. The other man grabbed him by his right arm to keep him up right.
'Thank you,' Sai said as he regained his footing and the bookseller let go of his arm.
Noburu walked next to Sai, occasionally correcting Sai's course verbally, while Sai swung his cane in front. Sai felt sure the owner walked in an almost straight line (avoiding the pillars) towards the store. That would not have been Sai's choice of method to use to find his way there, as he would have had to do it on directions only. Had he been on his own Sai would have stuck to using only 90° turns as the mall, like most manmade places, relied almost entirely on straight angles.
But this method got them to their destination just as well and Sai added the 67° angle left hand turn from the escalator and the course correction of 10° the other way (having moved past that pillar, that Sai's cane had never touched, but that Sai had calculated should have been there, just little out of his cane's range on the right.).
Sai resolved to explore properly later to verify his calculation, and even out the gird of pillars, so he could complete his map.
Noburu guided Sai through the door to the men's wear store. Inside it smelled of new clothing and again the higher pitched echoing sounds, which had dominated the mall's inner courtyard, were dulled by the multitude of items present.
The bookstore owner's footfalls, though stifled by the carpeting, were audibly moving forward. Sai followed, reducing the width of his still swinging cane's range. He could move considerably faster through the store following the man, because he knew that wherever Noburu went, there would be no obstructions in the way. And indeed, as he made his way, his cane only touched yielding material (clothing, he presumed) on his most left and right; the way ahead was totally open.
From in front a voice boomed, 'Noburu-san, how nice to see you! What can I do for you? You're too early for lunch, you know, silly! Oh my, what have we here?' This new man had a fairly high pitched voice and didn't seem to let anyone else get a word in before he continued, 'Oh, what lovely hair! You know I've always wanted long hair, but my wife just won't have it, says it's not manly enough, I ask you!'
The man reminded Sai of that woman that wasn't a woman from the shelter; he could never make head or tail of 'her' either.
'May I introduce my new friend, Fujiwara-san, who is also a friend of Ogata-sensei. I was hoping you could help him pick out a new top?' Noburu interrupted the tidal wave of words from the other man.
'Shitateya Nori, at your service,' the man introduced himself. 'I'm the proud owner of /Shitateya men's wear/.
Ah so, you are a friend of Ogata-san! He is a most valued customer! Such a fine looking gentleman, a perfect size 36-long. I haven't seen him a while, though, I do hope he is okay?' Shitateya paused here and Sai figured the man was actually interested in the answer to his question, so he proceeded to give him one.
'Pleased to meet you,' Sai bowed. 'Ogata-san is fine, I saw him this morning, but he's very busy, I think.' Sai didn't want to say any more, as he wasn't quite sure how close these 'friends' really were to the titleholder. But the men's store owner seemed be happy enough with Sai's answer because he said,
'Ah yes, he is such a successful man, always on the go. Being a professional game player is such an interesting job, I feel sure! Not that I know much about Go, I mean, let's face it, when my aunty tried to teach me I could hardly understand the rules, what with where black goes and how white responds, I was total rubbish. Makes one appreciate that Ogata-sensei is such a smart man!' Then he clapped his hands together, startling Sai, and said, 'Well, what can I do for you today, Fujiwara-san?'
Noburu used to opportunity of the lull in the monologue to quickly make his farewells, saying he had to go back to his store before his assistant decided to do something stupid. Sai thanked him again and heard the bookseller's footsteps retreat as Shitateya resumed talking.
Shitateya gushed about Ogata some more, showing off his ignorance about Go until Sai, starting to feel irritated, interjected in one of Shitateya's breath pauses,
'Can we get back to the clothing?'
'Ah yes of course. My fellow store owner tells me you're looking for a new top, any particular style or color? Oh, I'm sorry, I don't know that you know colors, do I! Do you know colors?' the man corrected himself.
Sai wasn't sure to be offended by the patronizing words or just write it off as being a kind thought, by an otherwise thoughtless man.
'I do know some colors...' Sai said hesitantly.
The store owner clapped his hands again, again startling Sai.
'Excellent!' The man stepped forward; Sai was tempted to step back. 'First I need to take some measurements.' Another step forward, getting so close Sai could feel his warmth radiating off him. Sai stepped back half a step. 'Hold out your arms out to the sides, please.'
'Is this necessary?' Sai asked tightly and then exhaled a little as the man stepped back.
'It's standard. But, hmm, it rather depends on the style you are looking for, I guess. What _are_ you looking for?'
'Something like I'm wearing, please.' Sai tried not sound exasperated. He didn’t add, 'but new' as that seemed self-evident.
'That would be sportswear then. No need for measurements, I can see you're a size medium from here.' The man took another step back and Sai letting breathe a lot easier.
'Sports section is this way,' Shitateya said and Sai could hear his muted footsteps moving in a direction away from the door. Sai followed him, feeling glad that focusing the man's mind on his job had quelled the torrential word stream effectively.
The man seemed to have a one-track mind, for along their path he was muttering a cycle of similar phrases over and over as he'd stop somewhere, stood still for few seconds and then started again. Also Sai found that their chosen path was very haphazard in its direction; it kept changing.
The man stopped again. 'Ah this maybe... hmm, no I think.... maybe in blue?.... Oh, yuck no....' He started walking again.
Sai was pretty sure he'd never been in a clothing store before. He knew he hadn't been since the accident, but he suspected he hadn't been with Hikaru either. Or if he had it hadn't been anything like this; this was totally unfamiliar.
As their track continued Sai was started to realize that the man was indeed trying to find him the perfect top. The man may speak his mind, quite literally, but he obviously took his job seriously.
The man stopped again, but instead of going through his muttering routine again, he addressed Sai.
'Okay, I have collected 3 tops that I think you might like. This is a purple sweater.' Sai felt a soft material touch his right hand. He dropped his cane and grasped it. It was very nice and very soft. It felt like real wool. He was tempted to touch it to his cheek but resided the impulse.
'Well?' Shitateya asked eagerly.
'Very nice, so soft.' Sai said. Then he bit his lip, here comes the hard question, Sai had to steel himself to ask it, knowing he must.
'But, uhm, may I ask how much it costs?' he asked tentatively.
'It's on sale at Y7,999.' Shitateya informed him, sounding rather smug.
Sai felt himself go cold. He agreed that the sweater was really very nice but for it to cost so much money! Even though he had it in his pocket, if only just, it would be irresponsible to spend so much on clothing, however nice. Not to mention that he really didn't consider the money his. With a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach he chided himself for not asking for more information about this store from the bookseller, before they had come in the door. What a fool he had been in not realizing the fact that Ogata shopped here should have made it clear to him this would be an expensive place. A very expensive place.
Another thought assailed him; would Sai's refusal to buy the sweater, or anything else here, reflect badly on Ogata's reputation? Sai admonished himself that he should have stopped Noburu from introducing him to Shitateya as Ogata's friend.
With a heavy heart Sai realized that to save everybody's face he would have to buy an item here, even if it cost him most of his money to do so.
Sai was about to tell Shitateya he'd take the sweater, when the sweater was plucked from Sai's hand and was exchanged for another.
'This one is Burgundy with an Argyle pattern.' the man announced. Sai had no idea what an 'Argyle' pattern was, nor did he was he quite sure what color 'Burgundy' was, but the material was even softer than the one before.
'It's on sale at Y10,999,' Shitateya proudly announced. Well that was out, Y11,000 was more than Sai had left. He calculated there was Y8,300 plus the change he hadn't touched yet, in his pocket, no more.
Sai swallowed and held out the garment towards the salesman.
'I think, maybe I like the other one better,' Sai stuttered. Another sweater filled his hand.
'Try this one, it's a forest green with black trim around the neck and cuffs. It's also priced down at Y7,999.'
It felt the same as the purple one, soft and wooly. Sai now had a choice, but not a choice he would have wanted. But he owed the titleholder so much already that he could not let the man suffer any loss of face because of him. On the other hand he'd have to pay with money he did not consider his own. Maybe, he could pay Kawai back in Go lessons? Sai shored his resolve up to do what must be done; all that remained was the choice between green and purple.
xXXx
After stuffing the plastic bag with the sweater next to the safely wrapped book in his bag, he stepped out into the upper court yard. Sai didn't much feel like exploring the mall anymore. He carefully retraced Noburu's steps back to the escalator, only to end up at the top of the ascending one. Some maneuvering and someone's helpful, 'To your left, idiot!', found him at the top of the descending escalator.
Sai shuddered. He really hated escalators, lifts and sliding doors. Bolstering himself he grasped the moving railing and used it to guide himself forward. With his right foot he tried to find a whole step as the railing dragged him forward. Even as he took the step onto the escalator proper, bring his left foot to join his right, he wasn't sure he had hit a complete step, as they all were still flat. As he was propelled forward the steps started to form levels and Sai felt his heels lifting. He clung onto the railing and readjusted his feet to sit firmly on a complete step. He righted himself and felt himself move down slowly.
Then he had an idea; shifting his full weight to his left foot, he carefully placed his right heel against the step behind him, now he should be able to feel that step retract, so he'd be warned the bottom of the escalator had been reached, and he might be able to alight without tripping.
After the sounds of the upper courtyard had changed into that of the lower, Sai felt his heel shift. This was it; nearly there. The railing was the second thing he felt turn horizontal and Sai moved his right foot forward so it could take his weight as his left would be swiped away from under him as it hit the non-moving part of the escalator. Sai felt his left foot catch and stepped onto his right. He then had to walk on fast for a step or two, because the momentum of the escalator pushed him forward for a bit. He slowed down, and having grasped his cane again, set off towards the main doors in a straight line, having to avoid only a few people as he went.
oOOo
As Sai stepped out into the open space of the square, with its roaring fountain a ways out in front of him, Sai wasn't quite sure what to do next.
Before his visit to the clothing store he had planned to leisurely explore the mall and have some lunch there too. But now his pockets were virtually empty and he had no wish to be anywhere near the mall.
He checked his watch, 11:25. Ogata had said he'd be back around 2pm, which left over 2 hours to kill.
Sai spent a good hour and a half exploring first the square and then some of the side streets off the main street from Ogata's building, when it started raining. Softly at first but pretty soon water came pelting down.
Sai tried to find some sort of shelter, and found a tree that sort of kept the rain off, but by that time he was already soaked. Sai stayed under the tree for a while, hoping to wait it out. After a while when it became clear it was not going to be letting up anytime soon, Sai carefully took his watch from his bag, trying not to get the inside of the bag wet, and touching the dial read 1:23.
He set off towards Ogata's building which, he was proud to note, he found easily enough. Its sliding doors whooshed open and Sai stepped inside, feeling water drip down his back, off his legs and almost gushing over his sandaled feet. Sai contemplated what do next; this morning Ogata had ushered him out the doors with some urgency and both he and Sai had neglected to make any sort of formal arrangement on where to meet. Was Sai to wait here, or was he to go up to flat 304 and wait by the door there?
He did know where the elevators were, even if had only used the entrance this morning to leave. All the other times they had come into the building, it had been by way of the garage and its elevator.
Sai's musings were stopped by a loud noise from his right.
'Hey! What do you think you are doing, coming in here and dripping all over my nice clean hall, you vagabond?!'
Sai was startled, he hadn't expected anyone to be there. While the presence of the man was a surprise, what he had said to the blind man and the tone of it were not; Sai was about to be thrown out. He was suddenly assailed by a the memory of a hundred such instances of being chased away. Instinctively he gripped his heavy bag to him and started backing away.
'Uh, sorry, uh, I was told to wait here...'
'I don't know who told you, you could just come in here! But I'm the door guard here and it's my job to keep the riff-raff out!'
Angry footsteps now came towards him and Sai started to move backwards faster. But apparently not fast enough to suit the man, because Sai felt his right upper arm being grabbed and he was propelled backwards out the doors.
'Get out, you filth and stay out!' With a last shove the man let go of Sai, walked off and Sai heard the sliding doors close. Sai stood in perplexed misery, the rain beating a steady rhythm on his head.
xXXx
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At dinner on the evening of the second night of his stay at the shelter, he hugged to bowl closely to himself, deciding to forgo the use of chopsticks all together and stuffed the rice and vegetables (and some bits of omelet) in his mouth using his hand as a spoon, while making his way to where he knew the nearest wall was, so he could sit with his back to it, on the floor. His experiences the night before had made it clear no-one would let him sit at any of the tables. This time he managed to eat most of the food even though he had burned his mouth a little on the hot rice.
The evening before and a little time this morning he had spent exploring the shelter, such as he could, as it seemed really funny to the other homeless to trip him whenever they could. Sai had persisted, though, knowing he needed to know how to get around. It had been hard and humiliating and his knees really hurt, from the repeated falls, but he now knew where the door was, the office, the kitchen and the chow line, the staff washroom and his bed.
Utterly exhausted at about 10pm he made his way to his bed, only to find it occupied by someone else. Sai stumbled out into the hallway outside the dorm he had thought had been his, leaned his back against the wall and felt his legs buckle under him. He clutched his bag to his chest. He had tried so hard to get it all properly situated in his head but he had apparently made a mistake, for 'his' bed was obviously not his bed and that meant that this was not his dorm. He had no clue where his dorm could be if it wasn't here, which it appeared it wasn't. He was perplexed and bewildered; he had been so sure that had known where his bed was.
Sai called himself a fool for ever thinking it might be all right; he was lost in the dark, there was nowhere he could go, and nothing he could do to help himself. Big tears were running down his face as people passed by, some either accidentally or deliberately tripping over him, until lights out at 11:15.
Shortly after someone tried to take his bag off him and he hung onto it with all his strength but then someone else kicked him in the ribs and, startled, he let go of it. The men and the bag were gone instantly. Sai wrapped his arms around his aching ribs and started to cry in earnest.
What was to become of him, if he couldn't even find his way around in one building? And if he couldn't feed himself nor keep hold of his things. All day he had heard derisive remarks behind his back, about his uselessness and that he was taking other, better people's places away from them by being here. By existing. Why did he even exist? He had no abilities, he was no-one's family; his life was pointless.
He curled his arms tighter about himself and just hoped it would all be over soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sai was sure that this time he had not made a mistake and that he had entered the right building, but with that man still there he wasn't about to try and enter again. He briefly contemplated putting on the expensive sweater and trying again, but he was fairly sure it wouldn't work and he didn't want to ruin the sweater. No, he had spent many a day before out in the rain, he knew he'd be fine, no need to panic.
Sai had found place to sit at the base of a pole that felt just a little dryer than anywhere else. The wasn't anything to do but wait until two, after that he'd have to decide how long he should wait before going to the nearest phone booth to call Ogata. He really didn't want to be a bother to his new friend, who had been so kind to him already.
oOOo
Don't forget to review!!!!
Chapter 6
Shitateya's turned out to be on the second floor of the mall, which meant going up the escalators. This was Sai's second time on the self-moving stairs, and he was as nervous as he had been that time in the Metro, even with the social worker’s help. Noburu at least didn't push or shove him about as the other man had, but then the mall wasn't anywhere near as busy as the Metro had been.
'Two more seconds,' Noburu warned a moment before Sai felt the angle of the stairs change and he only slightly tripped getting off. The other man grabbed him by his right arm to keep him up right.
'Thank you,' Sai said as he regained his footing and the bookseller let go of his arm.
Noburu walked next to Sai, occasionally correcting Sai's course verbally, while Sai swung his cane in front. Sai felt sure the owner walked in an almost straight line (avoiding the pillars) towards the store. That would not have been Sai's choice of method to use to find his way there, as he would have had to do it on directions only. Had he been on his own Sai would have stuck to using only 90° turns as the mall, like most manmade places, relied almost entirely on straight angles.
But this method got them to their destination just as well and Sai added the 67° angle left hand turn from the escalator and the course correction of 10° the other way (having moved past that pillar, that Sai's cane had never touched, but that Sai had calculated should have been there, just little out of his cane's range on the right.).
Sai resolved to explore properly later to verify his calculation, and even out the gird of pillars, so he could complete his map.
Noburu guided Sai through the door to the men's wear store. Inside it smelled of new clothing and again the higher pitched echoing sounds, which had dominated the mall's inner courtyard, were dulled by the multitude of items present.
The bookstore owner's footfalls, though stifled by the carpeting, were audibly moving forward. Sai followed, reducing the width of his still swinging cane's range. He could move considerably faster through the store following the man, because he knew that wherever Noburu went, there would be no obstructions in the way. And indeed, as he made his way, his cane only touched yielding material (clothing, he presumed) on his most left and right; the way ahead was totally open.
From in front a voice boomed, 'Noburu-san, how nice to see you! What can I do for you? You're too early for lunch, you know, silly! Oh my, what have we here?' This new man had a fairly high pitched voice and didn't seem to let anyone else get a word in before he continued, 'Oh, what lovely hair! You know I've always wanted long hair, but my wife just won't have it, says it's not manly enough, I ask you!'
The man reminded Sai of that woman that wasn't a woman from the shelter; he could never make head or tail of 'her' either.
'May I introduce my new friend, Fujiwara-san, who is also a friend of Ogata-sensei. I was hoping you could help him pick out a new top?' Noburu interrupted the tidal wave of words from the other man.
'Shitateya Nori, at your service,' the man introduced himself. 'I'm the proud owner of /Shitateya men's wear/.
Ah so, you are a friend of Ogata-san! He is a most valued customer! Such a fine looking gentleman, a perfect size 36-long. I haven't seen him a while, though, I do hope he is okay?' Shitateya paused here and Sai figured the man was actually interested in the answer to his question, so he proceeded to give him one.
'Pleased to meet you,' Sai bowed. 'Ogata-san is fine, I saw him this morning, but he's very busy, I think.' Sai didn't want to say any more, as he wasn't quite sure how close these 'friends' really were to the titleholder. But the men's store owner seemed be happy enough with Sai's answer because he said,
'Ah yes, he is such a successful man, always on the go. Being a professional game player is such an interesting job, I feel sure! Not that I know much about Go, I mean, let's face it, when my aunty tried to teach me I could hardly understand the rules, what with where black goes and how white responds, I was total rubbish. Makes one appreciate that Ogata-sensei is such a smart man!' Then he clapped his hands together, startling Sai, and said, 'Well, what can I do for you today, Fujiwara-san?'
Noburu used to opportunity of the lull in the monologue to quickly make his farewells, saying he had to go back to his store before his assistant decided to do something stupid. Sai thanked him again and heard the bookseller's footsteps retreat as Shitateya resumed talking.
Shitateya gushed about Ogata some more, showing off his ignorance about Go until Sai, starting to feel irritated, interjected in one of Shitateya's breath pauses,
'Can we get back to the clothing?'
'Ah yes of course. My fellow store owner tells me you're looking for a new top, any particular style or color? Oh, I'm sorry, I don't know that you know colors, do I! Do you know colors?' the man corrected himself.
Sai wasn't sure to be offended by the patronizing words or just write it off as being a kind thought, by an otherwise thoughtless man.
'I do know some colors...' Sai said hesitantly.
The store owner clapped his hands again, again startling Sai.
'Excellent!' The man stepped forward; Sai was tempted to step back. 'First I need to take some measurements.' Another step forward, getting so close Sai could feel his warmth radiating off him. Sai stepped back half a step. 'Hold out your arms out to the sides, please.'
'Is this necessary?' Sai asked tightly and then exhaled a little as the man stepped back.
'It's standard. But, hmm, it rather depends on the style you are looking for, I guess. What _are_ you looking for?'
'Something like I'm wearing, please.' Sai tried not sound exasperated. He didn’t add, 'but new' as that seemed self-evident.
'That would be sportswear then. No need for measurements, I can see you're a size medium from here.' The man took another step back and Sai letting breathe a lot easier.
'Sports section is this way,' Shitateya said and Sai could hear his muted footsteps moving in a direction away from the door. Sai followed him, feeling glad that focusing the man's mind on his job had quelled the torrential word stream effectively.
The man seemed to have a one-track mind, for along their path he was muttering a cycle of similar phrases over and over as he'd stop somewhere, stood still for few seconds and then started again. Also Sai found that their chosen path was very haphazard in its direction; it kept changing.
The man stopped again. 'Ah this maybe... hmm, no I think.... maybe in blue?.... Oh, yuck no....' He started walking again.
Sai was pretty sure he'd never been in a clothing store before. He knew he hadn't been since the accident, but he suspected he hadn't been with Hikaru either. Or if he had it hadn't been anything like this; this was totally unfamiliar.
As their track continued Sai was started to realize that the man was indeed trying to find him the perfect top. The man may speak his mind, quite literally, but he obviously took his job seriously.
The man stopped again, but instead of going through his muttering routine again, he addressed Sai.
'Okay, I have collected 3 tops that I think you might like. This is a purple sweater.' Sai felt a soft material touch his right hand. He dropped his cane and grasped it. It was very nice and very soft. It felt like real wool. He was tempted to touch it to his cheek but resided the impulse.
'Well?' Shitateya asked eagerly.
'Very nice, so soft.' Sai said. Then he bit his lip, here comes the hard question, Sai had to steel himself to ask it, knowing he must.
'But, uhm, may I ask how much it costs?' he asked tentatively.
'It's on sale at Y7,999.' Shitateya informed him, sounding rather smug.
Sai felt himself go cold. He agreed that the sweater was really very nice but for it to cost so much money! Even though he had it in his pocket, if only just, it would be irresponsible to spend so much on clothing, however nice. Not to mention that he really didn't consider the money his. With a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach he chided himself for not asking for more information about this store from the bookseller, before they had come in the door. What a fool he had been in not realizing the fact that Ogata shopped here should have made it clear to him this would be an expensive place. A very expensive place.
Another thought assailed him; would Sai's refusal to buy the sweater, or anything else here, reflect badly on Ogata's reputation? Sai admonished himself that he should have stopped Noburu from introducing him to Shitateya as Ogata's friend.
With a heavy heart Sai realized that to save everybody's face he would have to buy an item here, even if it cost him most of his money to do so.
Sai was about to tell Shitateya he'd take the sweater, when the sweater was plucked from Sai's hand and was exchanged for another.
'This one is Burgundy with an Argyle pattern.' the man announced. Sai had no idea what an 'Argyle' pattern was, nor did he was he quite sure what color 'Burgundy' was, but the material was even softer than the one before.
'It's on sale at Y10,999,' Shitateya proudly announced. Well that was out, Y11,000 was more than Sai had left. He calculated there was Y8,300 plus the change he hadn't touched yet, in his pocket, no more.
Sai swallowed and held out the garment towards the salesman.
'I think, maybe I like the other one better,' Sai stuttered. Another sweater filled his hand.
'Try this one, it's a forest green with black trim around the neck and cuffs. It's also priced down at Y7,999.'
It felt the same as the purple one, soft and wooly. Sai now had a choice, but not a choice he would have wanted. But he owed the titleholder so much already that he could not let the man suffer any loss of face because of him. On the other hand he'd have to pay with money he did not consider his own. Maybe, he could pay Kawai back in Go lessons? Sai shored his resolve up to do what must be done; all that remained was the choice between green and purple.
xXXx
After stuffing the plastic bag with the sweater next to the safely wrapped book in his bag, he stepped out into the upper court yard. Sai didn't much feel like exploring the mall anymore. He carefully retraced Noburu's steps back to the escalator, only to end up at the top of the ascending one. Some maneuvering and someone's helpful, 'To your left, idiot!', found him at the top of the descending escalator.
Sai shuddered. He really hated escalators, lifts and sliding doors. Bolstering himself he grasped the moving railing and used it to guide himself forward. With his right foot he tried to find a whole step as the railing dragged him forward. Even as he took the step onto the escalator proper, bring his left foot to join his right, he wasn't sure he had hit a complete step, as they all were still flat. As he was propelled forward the steps started to form levels and Sai felt his heels lifting. He clung onto the railing and readjusted his feet to sit firmly on a complete step. He righted himself and felt himself move down slowly.
Then he had an idea; shifting his full weight to his left foot, he carefully placed his right heel against the step behind him, now he should be able to feel that step retract, so he'd be warned the bottom of the escalator had been reached, and he might be able to alight without tripping.
After the sounds of the upper courtyard had changed into that of the lower, Sai felt his heel shift. This was it; nearly there. The railing was the second thing he felt turn horizontal and Sai moved his right foot forward so it could take his weight as his left would be swiped away from under him as it hit the non-moving part of the escalator. Sai felt his left foot catch and stepped onto his right. He then had to walk on fast for a step or two, because the momentum of the escalator pushed him forward for a bit. He slowed down, and having grasped his cane again, set off towards the main doors in a straight line, having to avoid only a few people as he went.
oOOo
As Sai stepped out into the open space of the square, with its roaring fountain a ways out in front of him, Sai wasn't quite sure what to do next.
Before his visit to the clothing store he had planned to leisurely explore the mall and have some lunch there too. But now his pockets were virtually empty and he had no wish to be anywhere near the mall.
He checked his watch, 11:25. Ogata had said he'd be back around 2pm, which left over 2 hours to kill.
Sai spent a good hour and a half exploring first the square and then some of the side streets off the main street from Ogata's building, when it started raining. Softly at first but pretty soon water came pelting down.
Sai tried to find some sort of shelter, and found a tree that sort of kept the rain off, but by that time he was already soaked. Sai stayed under the tree for a while, hoping to wait it out. After a while when it became clear it was not going to be letting up anytime soon, Sai carefully took his watch from his bag, trying not to get the inside of the bag wet, and touching the dial read 1:23.
He set off towards Ogata's building which, he was proud to note, he found easily enough. Its sliding doors whooshed open and Sai stepped inside, feeling water drip down his back, off his legs and almost gushing over his sandaled feet. Sai contemplated what do next; this morning Ogata had ushered him out the doors with some urgency and both he and Sai had neglected to make any sort of formal arrangement on where to meet. Was Sai to wait here, or was he to go up to flat 304 and wait by the door there?
He did know where the elevators were, even if had only used the entrance this morning to leave. All the other times they had come into the building, it had been by way of the garage and its elevator.
Sai's musings were stopped by a loud noise from his right.
'Hey! What do you think you are doing, coming in here and dripping all over my nice clean hall, you vagabond?!'
Sai was startled, he hadn't expected anyone to be there. While the presence of the man was a surprise, what he had said to the blind man and the tone of it were not; Sai was about to be thrown out. He was suddenly assailed by a the memory of a hundred such instances of being chased away. Instinctively he gripped his heavy bag to him and started backing away.
'Uh, sorry, uh, I was told to wait here...'
'I don't know who told you, you could just come in here! But I'm the door guard here and it's my job to keep the riff-raff out!'
Angry footsteps now came towards him and Sai started to move backwards faster. But apparently not fast enough to suit the man, because Sai felt his right upper arm being grabbed and he was propelled backwards out the doors.
'Get out, you filth and stay out!' With a last shove the man let go of Sai, walked off and Sai heard the sliding doors close. Sai stood in perplexed misery, the rain beating a steady rhythm on his head.
xXXx
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At dinner on the evening of the second night of his stay at the shelter, he hugged to bowl closely to himself, deciding to forgo the use of chopsticks all together and stuffed the rice and vegetables (and some bits of omelet) in his mouth using his hand as a spoon, while making his way to where he knew the nearest wall was, so he could sit with his back to it, on the floor. His experiences the night before had made it clear no-one would let him sit at any of the tables. This time he managed to eat most of the food even though he had burned his mouth a little on the hot rice.
The evening before and a little time this morning he had spent exploring the shelter, such as he could, as it seemed really funny to the other homeless to trip him whenever they could. Sai had persisted, though, knowing he needed to know how to get around. It had been hard and humiliating and his knees really hurt, from the repeated falls, but he now knew where the door was, the office, the kitchen and the chow line, the staff washroom and his bed.
Utterly exhausted at about 10pm he made his way to his bed, only to find it occupied by someone else. Sai stumbled out into the hallway outside the dorm he had thought had been his, leaned his back against the wall and felt his legs buckle under him. He clutched his bag to his chest. He had tried so hard to get it all properly situated in his head but he had apparently made a mistake, for 'his' bed was obviously not his bed and that meant that this was not his dorm. He had no clue where his dorm could be if it wasn't here, which it appeared it wasn't. He was perplexed and bewildered; he had been so sure that had known where his bed was.
Sai called himself a fool for ever thinking it might be all right; he was lost in the dark, there was nowhere he could go, and nothing he could do to help himself. Big tears were running down his face as people passed by, some either accidentally or deliberately tripping over him, until lights out at 11:15.
Shortly after someone tried to take his bag off him and he hung onto it with all his strength but then someone else kicked him in the ribs and, startled, he let go of it. The men and the bag were gone instantly. Sai wrapped his arms around his aching ribs and started to cry in earnest.
What was to become of him, if he couldn't even find his way around in one building? And if he couldn't feed himself nor keep hold of his things. All day he had heard derisive remarks behind his back, about his uselessness and that he was taking other, better people's places away from them by being here. By existing. Why did he even exist? He had no abilities, he was no-one's family; his life was pointless.
He curled his arms tighter about himself and just hoped it would all be over soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sai was sure that this time he had not made a mistake and that he had entered the right building, but with that man still there he wasn't about to try and enter again. He briefly contemplated putting on the expensive sweater and trying again, but he was fairly sure it wouldn't work and he didn't want to ruin the sweater. No, he had spent many a day before out in the rain, he knew he'd be fine, no need to panic.
Sai had found place to sit at the base of a pole that felt just a little dryer than anywhere else. The wasn't anything to do but wait until two, after that he'd have to decide how long he should wait before going to the nearest phone booth to call Ogata. He really didn't want to be a bother to his new friend, who had been so kind to him already.
oOOo
Don't forget to review!!!!