Oh Yoko

I have my own angel I’m trying to save. Watanabe Yoko. She’s seen too much sorrow for someone so young. It didn’t feel right.

I met her three months ago. It was a campus visit. A philosophy professor, an old friend of Chun’s, invited me out for a tour of the new campus of Ikeda University. It took years for the school to come to be. I have to say, everything looked amazing. The professor turned to me.

“What do you think?” he asked. I nodded.

“Impressive,” I said. It looked like it was going to rain. I didn’t bring an umbrella. I kept my hands in my pockets. We walked past the clocktower. I happened to look up. Huh?

“Who is that?” I asked as I pointed at the clocktower.

“Huh?” the professor asked. He looked up with me. A girl stood at the top of the tower. She kept looking down. At first, nothing looked out of place. That girl looked down at us. I would’ve walked on, but something kept me put. That professor shook me on the arm.

“Theo? Theo?” he asked. I shoved him aside.

“Hey!” I shouted. The girl froze.

“What are you doing up there?” I asked. She didn’t move. The professor looked between us.

“Uh…” the girl said. She looked kind of nervous from where she stood. I narrowed my eyes. Wait a second…

“Are you okay?” I asked. The professor stared at me.

“Theo?” he asked. The girl slowly began to back up but stopped. I frowned as I had an idea of what was going on.

“I’m coming up to you, okay?” I said. I didn’t wait for a response.

“Theo!” the professor shouted after me. I walked up to the clocktower.

Walking up the stairs nearly killed me. I thought I was going to pass out halfway up. Still, I kept walking. That girl needed my help. I wasn’t going to let her die.

She was still there by the time I made it to the top. The girl gave me a curious look. I held up my hand as I panted.

“What are you doing up here?” I asked once I got my breath back. I managed to get a better look at her. This girl was kind of cute. She had a beautiful hime cut that came down to her waist. Her baggy jeans and t-shirt couldn’t hide her beauty. The girl looked like she had been crying. She looked away sheepishly.

“No reason!” she blurted out. I knew she was lying.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Yoko,” she said.

“Yoko. Nice to meet you. I’m Theo.”

“Okay…”

I sat down on the floor. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She shook her head. I shrugged. I didn’t leave her. She stared at me awkwardly. I ruined whatever she was planning. Now, I had to keep her from jumping.

“If you don’t want to talk, you can just sit by me for a while. We don’t have to talk yet.” I tried to sound as gentle as possible. Yoko stared at me at first. I said nothing as I waited. Finally, Yoko walked over and sat down next to me. I have no idea how long I stayed like that, but that didn’t matter.

----------

Tonight, I looked at the silver moon-beaded bracelet on my wrist as I worked on my paperwork. Yoko gave it to me three days ago. She has the same one as me. She’s still a work in progress. Depression and trauma don’t go away easily. Still, I won’t give up on her. This could be a problem…