Truancy Origins by Isamu Fukui

breath and flooded him with hopelessness. For a moment Umasi felt certain that he would just give up, that he would just lie down and die . . . but he was not so weak as that. Frustration, bitterness, and hate quickly filled the void in his heart, driving him towards a logical, yet mad, conclusion.
    â€œIf I cannot be happy in this City”—Umasi laughed—“then I’ll just destroy it! I’ll make a City that suits ME! I will rule the City, and there’s not a single soul in it that can stop me!”
    The other boy vanished before his rage, and Umasi felt exhilarated, liberated, free for the first time in his life! All the hatred that he had bottled up through his ordeals came pouring out—hatred for the adults, for school, but most of all for the other boy, who he could never be . . . .
    And then Umasi woke up in a cold sweat. As he sat up in his own bed, gasping for air, warm tears ran freely down his cheeks—for he knew that other boy was himself.

6
L EARNING A L ESSON
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    U masi adjusted his glasses and looked over at Zen’s desk. His sleep had hardly been peaceful, but Umasi had awoken on Monday morning with a remarkably clear head, along with some troublesome feelings. Though he couldn’t remember precisely the details of his dreams, Umasi had retained enough of the emotions to feel pity for Zen. What’s more, for some reason he felt terribly uncomfortable with himself.
    Umasi shook his head. While he was somewhat disappointed to return to school, he was glad that he’d have the chance to keep an eye on his brother. Umasi never did see Zen return to bed, and couldn’t know exactly how much sleep he’d had gotten—but Zen’s general inertness, the dark rings under his eyes, and his sluggish movements all indicated that the answer was “not much.” Umasi’s sympathy now outweighed his curiosity, and so during their free period Umasi had dragged Zen to a hallway bench where he could rest—or so Umasi had thought. It hadn’t taken long for a pair of security guards to accost them, rudely awaking Zen as they screeched at him for violating student boundaries.
    Umasi had forgotten about the recently instituted “free period rooms” simply because it didn’t make any sense to him considering that benches had been laid out in the hallways for student use. But in light of Zen’s revelation, Umasi now understood the true purpose of the seemingly pointless rule. Some of the bitterness from his dream—Zen’s bitterness, Umasi sensed—had followed him into consciousness, and for a moment Umasi considered defying the guards. Ultimately, Umasi decided that it wasn’t the right time to make a stand, especially since he was worried that Zen might do something rash. However, Zen merely rose, flashed the guards a chilling “just you wait” smile, and then lumbered off to rest in the nearest bathroom.
    It was probably the most unpleasant place in the entire building to take a nap.
    Still, Zen didn’t seem to mind, and Umasi was glad that he had avoided getting into trouble. The rest of the free period passed without incident, leading them into science class. By this point Zen still looked so tired that Umasi had begun to wonder whether his brother had gotten any sleep the previous night at all. Remembering his ominous dream, Umasi resolved to ask Zen about what he’d been up to when they got home. That decided, Umasi unpacked his binder as the teacher began talking.
    â€œCan anyone tell me what these are?” the teacher asked, gesturing towards a cage placed upon her desk.
    â€œRats,” came the monotonous, choral reply.
    â€œYes, but these are not normal rats,” the teacher declared. “Can anyone tell me what’s wrong with them?”
    Silence.
    â€œZen, how about you?”
    Out of the corner of his eye, Umasi saw Zen jerk up his head, which had been lolling upon