Bicycle tires got stuck in the mud as Sonoko made her way to the edge of the farming district. It had rained nonstop all night as if the sky was purposefully trying to give her a hard time.

  She had been constructing a conversation in her head of what she wanted to say to her teacher. Distractions, such as the construction of the new sector, kept her from formulating a cohesive statement. Although they were skeletons at the moment, the new buildings would certainly lack the character of Arcadia that Kosuke so dearly missed.

  On the porch of his quaint house, Mr. Yamada sat drinking tea, watching the construction like it was a performance put on specifically to amuse him. Only he didn’t look amused in the slightest. Mr. Yamada was always very private about his past, never telling his students where he came from or how he ended up way out in the farmland after going to PsiTech. But it was always clear that he held a disdain for aspects of the city. Sonoko theorized that a bad experience is what led him to leave it all behind. An experience that would cause you to drop out of the best school in the country. It worried her what he would say.

  He noticed her biking down the road.

  “Sonoko? Is everything all right?” he asked. She had almost forgotten the cadence of his voice even though she graduated only a couple months prior.

  “Yeah, everything’s fine,” she said, parking the bike against the side of the house. She walked gingerly up to the porch and stood awkwardly in front of the rocking chair he sat in. “Everything’s great, actually.”

  “I’m glad to hear it,” he replied. “Have a seat.” He could read her expression like a book. A skill acquired from teaching her almost her entire life. “Would you like some tea, I can tell something’s bothering you.” Sonoko sat in the other chair beside the teacher.

  “I opened the letter,” she said. The words sat dead in the air for a moment, the sounds of construction filling up the space. Mr. Yamada took another long sip from his teacup.

  “You got in,” he stated, not asked.

  “Yeah, how did you know?”

  “I knew you would. You were the best student in your class.” There weren’t many students in her class to begin with so Sonoko knew it wasn’t the most glittering compliment yet coming from Mr. Yamada, it still meant a lot. “Now you’ve come to ask me if you should go to which I’ll tell you, I can’t make a decision for you.”

  “But you went there, you know what it’s like. I have no idea what to expect. All those kids in the Circle are so much smarter than me.” Mr. Yamada chuckled.

  “You’d be surprised,” he said through a grin. “And not to toot my own horn but you’ve had a pretty good education yourself. If you worked hard, which I know you would, I see no reason to believe why you wouldn’t excel at PsiTech.”

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  “You’re making it sound so simple,” Sonoko said.

  “Well, there are other factors to consider. Five years is a long time and you never struck me as a military person,” he said, not embarrassing Sonoko by asking about her family’s finances. As farmers, it was already apparent that they wouldn’t be able to afford tuition. “What do you parents think?”

  “I haven’t told them.” Mr. Yamada laughed again. It made her feel better about it, like it wasn’t so serious.

  “Then why are you talking to me? I can’t give you permission.”

  “I already know what they’re going to say.”

  “You don’t know until you talk to them.”

  “Move into the city? Leave them alone on the farm? I’m pretty sure they’re not going to like that,” Sonoko exclaimed. Yamada shrugged.

  “Who knows? Farming has been in your family for generations, I’m sure they’d be fine. Plus, they don't need to sign off or anything.” It all made a lot of sense when Mr. Yamada put it that way. It was true that Sonoko didn’t technically need her parents’ permission to attend the school, only for them to cover tuition. But since she would be opting for the military service, that wouldn’t be an issue anyway. But she couldn’t imagine doing anything against her parents’ wishes. Then again, staying on the farm forever didn’t exactly sound appealing either.

  “Why did you drop out?” she asked candidly. Her classmates had always speculated and she finally felt in a position to ask. Yamada sighed and looked out to the setting sun.

  “Some people spend their entire youth preparing to go to PsiTech. Generations of the same family all going to the same school. For them, it was never a choice. Like a predetermined path that they were on before they knew how to walk. But it’s not what they were always meant to do. And for me, that’s what it felt like. After three years, I couldn’t force it anymore,” he paused and looked at Sonoko. “It all depends on why you want to go. Is it because someone told you to? Because it looks good on a resume? Why is PsiTech right for you?”

  Now it was Sonoko’s turn to ponder at the horizon. She thought aloud.

  “I guess I just don’t want the Makino name to be associated with just farming,” she said.

  “You can’t live your life based entirely on a future you’re never going to see. I asked why PsiTech was right for you, not your family name.”

  “I don’t know,” she said softly. Then words began to pour from her mouth before she could process it. “I don’t want to wake up in twenty years and realize that I’ve wasted it all. Whether you believe it or not, I owe something to my family, not just my name. They’ve given me everything and it’s my job to do as much as I can to give it back. And more. I’m already older than my brother was when he…” she couldn’t finish that sentence. “I just can’t waste anymore time.” She almost felt out of breath as she sat still in the chair. It took her a moment to remember that Yamada was still sitting next to her. When she looked up, he had a polite smirk on his face.

  “I don’t agree with everything you said, but it sounds like you have your answer.”

  “Yeah, I guess I do.” Yamada drained the rest of his tea and stood up. Sonoko stood up too as their conversation had ended.

  “See, you didn’t even need my help. You figured it out all on your own just like in the classroom. PsiTech or not, you’re going to do great things, Sonoko.” He gave her a hug that felt like it came from a family member she hadn’t seen in a long time.

  “Thank you, Mr. Yamada,” she whispered.

  As the sun set, Sonoko biked back to the farm. A much more difficult conversation awaited her but she felt much more equipped to deal with it. The muddy ground before her began to solidify under the warm air.