“Noa…uh…Igguhrushy?”

“Igarashi,” Noa said, correcting the teacher’s pronunciation out of reflex.

“Igarashi,” the teacher repeated, still messing it up. The flow was all wrong and the ‘R’ too hard. “Do you mind if I call you Noa Murphy? Since they’re going to be taking care of you anyway.”

Noa didn’t remember this teacher’s name and he no longer cared to. The teachers in the city at least tried to say his name, even if they got it wrong.

He didn’t understand. It wasn’t hard to say.

“Okay,” Noa said. Because it was easier to go along with it.

“Great,” the teacher said. “We’re just working on science projects right now. You’re jumping into things a bit late so I’m going to partner you up with someone, okay?”

“Okay,” Noa said again.

He didn’t know anyone, and he didn’t want to work with another kid. Of course, he didn’t want to have to come up with a science project on his own either. Especially not last minute.

Noa missed a lot of school because he’d been in the hospital for so long. His side hurt because of his fractured rib. He could feel his bruises when he moved. His throat was still raw.

He didn’t want to be here; not at school or in Misty Meadows or any of it. A sick, queasy feeling had settled in his stomach, and it wasn’t going away.

But he knew he needed to go to school. Aunt Elaine had been surprised when he’d asked to start right away.

He only did it to get out of an unfamiliar house and move around and have homework – something that he was familiar with. Noa was good at doing homework. He was really good at it. It was the only thing he was consistently praised for. He got perfect marks all the time.

“Great. I’m going to put you with Rion,” the teacher said, shuffling him over to a desk in the corner. “Hey, Rion. Remember what I told you last week about having a partner? This is Noa.”

The first thing Noa saw were the boy’s hands. He had long, slender fingers. His hands were like a girl’s. But then Noa looked at the rest of him, raising his gaze, and realized that all of him looked like a girl. Kind of.

Rion had dark hair that looked ruffled and fluffy. It was cut short, but it was starting to get long, bordering on shaggy, bangs in his face. He was pale and thin and small, kind of like Noa.

But his eyes drew Noa’s full attention. They were different colours. His right eye was green and his left eye was hazel.

Rion was pretty, Noa decided.

“Oh, um… Hi,” Rion said.

“Hi,” Noa said back.

“Why don’t you get Noa caught up, Rion,” the teacher said. “The two of you can– Eric Yates!”

Noa flinched when the teacher shouted. He glanced back, wide eyed. A boy jumped down from one of the desks, nearly doing a faceplant, laughing like a maniac. The teacher hurried over to give him a scolding.

“Eric’s always doing dumb stuff and getting into trouble. He’s like that.”

Noa turned back to Rion who gave him an awkward smile. Noa didn’t say anything immediately, glancing back to watch Eric get scolded by the teacher.

“Um…” Noa finally began, turning his full attention to Rion. “What’s your project?”

“Oh,” Rion said. “Um… Mine’s on what battery brands last the longest. It’s kind of dumb, but…uh…”

Noa looked down on what Rion had on his desk. There was a binder and some pages with notes and doodles. Sitting in the middle was a Game Boy, switched on, the title screen displaying the words ‘Super Mario Land’.

“A video game?” he said.

“Yeah,” Rion said. “I’m timing how long it takes for the batteries to die. The teacher said it’s okay as long as I’m not playing it at school.”

That sounded kind of boring and wasteful. Using up batteries for a project instead of actually playing the game…

Last week, Peter sat Noa down and got him to try all the games they owned. Noa wasn’t good at them. He died and lost a lot. But Peter kept encouraging him, telling he would get better at it. Amber said she’d teach him to beat all of Peter’s scores.

His other cousins, his Aunt Keiko’s kids, played video games too. But he hadn’t been to see them because they lived in Japan and only made a few visits to Canada per year.

Noa’s family hadn’t gone to Japan since he was five and it was for Shichi-Go-San. He didn’t remember all that much, other than dressing up, getting candy, and playing with his cousins.

“So, we’re just waiting?” Noa said.

“Yeah,” Rion said. “It’s easier to do at home because I mark the time when I start and play until I’m tired or the batteries die.”

Then the work was already done for him. Noa didn’t have to do anything. He didn’t know if he should be happy or annoyed.

Right now, he just felt gross.

He didn’t know anyone. He’d barely been introduced to the class. Peter and Amber were both older and in different grades, so he couldn’t even see them. Amber said she would check in on him at lunch, but… What if she forgot?

He felt small, alone, and scared. His heart kept squeezing tight in his chest. He didn’t like it here.

“So, you’re the new kid?” Rion said.

“Yeah,” Noa replied.

“And your name is Noa?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m Rion Blum.”

“Okay.”

“Um…” Rion began, and Noa wished he’d shut up. “Everyone’s talking about you.”

Noa already knew that. And he hated it.

He’d gone out with his aunt and uncle. They’d shown him around Misty Meadows, and they’d gone to the park and the store a couple of times. He’d heard all kinds of talk and gossip. Some of it wasn’t that bad, but some of it…

“Why does he call his parents ‘mother’ and ‘father’? It’s weirdly formal.”

“It’s probably because of his abusive dad.”

“He’s so lucky to be living with the Murphys now!”

“I heard he almost got sent to Japan to live with his Japanese aunt on his dad’s side.”

“Scary! Do you think she’s abusive too?”

“Probably. I heard she has a bunch of kids. Maybe they deal in human trafficking!”

“Noa’s extra lucky to be with the Murphys then! It was so good of them to take him in.”

“I’ll say! I can’t imagine being shipped off to Japan and having to eat cats and dogs!”

“Gross! Do the Japanese really do that?”

“I’m pretty sure they do.  The Chinese eat dogs and cats, don’t they? It’s the same thing.”

“Poor Noa.”

“Yeah. He’s so lucky. I can’t even imagine…”

The first time Noa heard a conversation like that, he’d been shocked, bewildered, hurt. He didn’t know what to do, other than to look at his aunt and uncle, but they’d tried to steer him away, talking loudly about anything and everything else. Maybe they didn’t think he heard. Maybe they wanted to ignore it.

It made his skin crawl. It made him uncomfortable. That was what these people thought about his family? What they thought about him? They thought Japanese people ate pets, and…and did whatever ‘human trafficking’ was? What did that mean? It didn’t sound good, and he didn’t know who to ask…

That wasn’t him. That wasn’t who Noa was. That wasn’t his father or his aunt or his cousins or any family that he knew. They weren’t like that!

“People are saying that your dad killed your mom,” Rion said. “Is that true?”

Noa stared at Rion long and hard.

Was Rion the same as the other people in town? Why would he ask that? Noa didn’t want to say anything. He didn’t want to answer.

“I don’t really talk to people. I, um… I don’t have any friends. But everyone talks,” Rion continued. He looked down and picked up a pencil, rolling it between his fingers. “Um… If it’s true… I mean… I’m really sorry about your mom.”

“She’s dead,” Noa said. “Why are you sorry?”

Maybe that was too mean. Rion shrunk back from him, gripping the pencil tighter, twisting it in his hands.

“My mom’s dead too,” Rion said. “It… It happened a couple years ago. It was an accident…”

And then Noa didn’t feel so tense. He was suddenly interested in what this boy had to say. That tightness in his chest eased, feeling lighter.

It was an accident too, with his mother. His father hadn’t meant to hurt her. Noa was sure. It was an accident. It had to be. It had to. His father wasn’t bad. He wasn’t…

“What happened?” Noa asked. “How did she die?”

“She, um… We were in the car, and it was storming, and…” Rion began. He shook his head. “She was… She was electrocuted. It was a powerline or something. I was all alone in the car in the storm…”

He was looking away, gaze distant, unfocused, eyes filling with tears.

Noa had never related to anyone more in his life. Rion looked like how he felt.

“You don’t have to say it,” Noa said. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Rion said with a small, wavering laugh. “Um… I thought maybe you…maybe you would understand. I, um… No one else gets it.”

“It was an accident too. With my mother,” Noa said.

“Your dad didn’t kill her?” Rion asked.

“He did, but… He didn’t mean to,” Noa said. “It was an accident. Father loved Mother. He would never hurt her.”

Noa knew it was true. That was who his father was. It had to be true.

“Oh,” Rion said.

“I’m not lying,” Noa said quickly.

“I believe you,” Rion said. And he sounded like he did. “Why would you lie?”

People didn’t call Noa a liar, but they would always give him that sad look when he tried to talk about his parents. He hated it. He hated how they would sit him down and say things like, “It’s okay, Noa. You can tell the truth. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

His father never hurt him. Never ever. Noa remembered! He really did! He was sure…

His father was always nice to him. He took him to the doctor. He bought him ice cream and told him how well he did, how proud he was.

Noa loved his father. He really, really did.

He wanted him back. He wanted to go home and be with his family. He didn’t want to stay here where people were talking about him in whispers.

“You really believe me?” Noa asked. “No one else does.”

Rion frowned. “Why not?”

“I don’t know…”

“That doesn’t make sense. You should know your dad better than anyone else, right?”

“Yes!” Noa said, relieved that someone else understood. “Yes, I was there! I remember…”

But he couldn’t say anything else. What if someone else heard… What if he got in trouble?

They would tell him that he wasn’t remembering right. He was mistaken. They would tell him he was wrong. Everyone told him that. No one understood…

No one but Rion, this boy Noa just met.

“I’m really sorry,” Rion said. “That… It’s really bad. It sucks. I know I miss my mom all the time. And Dad works all the time… I hate it. I want Mom back.”

Rion was tearing up again, wringing his hands around the pencil.

“Me too,” Noa found himself saying. “I want Mother back. I want things to be normal too.”

Because he did. He wanted his mother back, even if she hurt him. Even if his parents fought and hurt each other and screamed all the time. Because then he’d have his father back. No one would be in trouble and things would be normal and good and…and…

“No one else gets it,” Rion said, taking a sharp breath. “They don’t… They make me feel weird and different.”

Noa had always felt that way, even in the city. He’d always been worried and afraid of doing or saying the wrong thing. He had to remember the right explanation for every bruise and scuff and…

“I’m the same,” Noa said. “I’m weird and different too.”

“You don’t seem that way to me,” Rion said, giving him a wavering smile. “You seem normal…”

“I’m not,” Noa told him. “We should be weird and different together.”

That made Rion laugh. He tried to cover it up, but it squeaked out of him. As he put a hand over his mouth, the teacher came back to check on them.

“Sorry about that,” he said. “How are the two of you doing? Rion, did you get Noa caught up?”

“Y-yeah,” Rion said, lowering his hand. He was still grinning.

“Great,” the teacher said. “You keep working on your project then. Noa, let me know if you have any questions or you need extra help. Okay?”

“Okay,” Noa said.

The teacher left them and the second he was gone, Rion turned back to Noa.

“Want to hang out at recess?” Rion asked. “I know a good hiding spot.”

Noa didn’t hesitate to answer. “Okay.”