My stomach growls loud enough to be heard in this smoky sardine can, and I’m pretty sure my smile looks more and more like a grimace. If someone hadn’t hidden my lunch deep in the staff room cupboard, behind Lieko’s purse (where Yoshino eventually found it), I could have eaten it before coming here. Hell, I could have gone home, eaten my weight in food, or grabbed something from the Family Mart by Nishibe Station. Why didn’t they just let me eat?! On second thought, that’s not a bad idea. Maybe there’s a corner I can hide in and eat my lunch. It’ll be cold and stale, but —

“Hey!” one particularly large man grabs my upper arm. “I know you from somewhere, don’t I?”

“Uh, I don’t think —”

“Yeah! I totally know you! You got some kinda weird name, I know it! Seatbelt! No wait — Cybelle, am I right? You don’t remember me, do you? What the fuck, come on, you remember me!”

I squint. I think he just spat in my face a little. “Ummmm … Josh?”

“YEAH! I told you you remember me! You’re not still working for that clown company, are you? Zozo?! Geez, you are, aren’t you? Fuck, aren’t you tired of that eikaiwa kids’ bullshit yet?!”

“Um,” I repeat. I guess I got it right. I don’t recognize him, but he must know me. No wait, I do know him. He’s heavier, and has lost a lot of hair, but he’s the same obnoxious asshole trainer I met when I first came to Japan. Terrific. Of all the people I could have run into from my past, it has to be a jerk. “What are you up to?”

“Translation, baby. Sweetest gig if your Japanese is good enough to get it. I barely gotta do shit where I work now.”

“That’s fantastic. Excuse me, I gotta —”

“Hey, what happened with you and that guy you hooked up with?”

“Uh, who?”

“You know, that guy! You were both in the same training group. You were obsessed with him! Come on, you remember! Super tall, all the chicks wanted him … you know who I’m talking about, right?”

Yup. He’s definitely spitting in my face. “You know what? I think you have me confused with someone else.”

“Nah, nah, it was you! Had to be, you were the only one with a weird name! Fuck, this is going to kill me, hang on.” He pulls his smartphone out of his back pocket. “I’m still friends with the guy on LINE, I’m sure of it. Say, while we’re on the subject, what’s your number? Are you on LINE? What’s your nickname?”

“Uh … hey! I see a friend of mine! Excuse me.”