I had always been drawn to photography. Being able to capture a moment in time was something that meant the world to me. My older brother gave me my first camera when I was nine years old. My family lived in a sort of rural part of Kyoto, so there was plenty of scenery to take pictures of. There were plenty of cherry blossoms in the spring, and the rivers and forests provided perfect backgrounds. Whenever I had the time, I begged my older brother to take me to the top of the small mountain that was near our house so I could take a picture of the horizon or the town below. He would always let out a long sigh and go to tell our mother where we were going. She normally responded with, "OK, Kenta, but make sure Hideki stays where you can see him." I had a bad habit of running ahead of him out of excitement and I sometimes got lost. On our way back home, we would stop at a vending machine and buy drinks. He'd smile at me with this big grin and say, "Hey, Dekki, don't tell Mom I got you a soda, okay?"

It was last year when Kenta moved to America for college. Photography became something that I relied on. It's not like I didn't enjoy socializing. My friends and I would have fun just messing around next to the local convenience store. Despite that, I found a special comfort in being by myself just taking pictures. I spent most of my free time wandering the neighborhood waiting for something to catch my eye. There were days when I would come home after hours of searching and not have taken a single photo.

It's now a week before my second year of high school starts. I can't think of anything to do, so I sort through some of my old photo albums I had been compiling since I got my first camera. The albums I had made filled up most of my bookshelf that was in my room.There were some really bad ones where the lighting was all messed up and the shadows ruined the image, but I occasionally found one where I had done a pretty good job. Just then I get a call from one of my best friends, Tsuyoshi.

"Yo, Hideki! You wanna meet up with me and Hayato? We're gonna get some ice cream at the convenience store." Tsuyoshi, Hayato, and I have always been good friends because we lived fairly close to each other. We all help each other study for tests and we walk home together most days. Hayato is great when it comes to sports, so he plays for several different clubs. Tsuyoshi is a joker and pretty good with computers, so he helps me edit some of my pictures to make them look better. It's amazing how well we get along even though we are so different from each other.

"Sure. I'll be over there in a few minutes." I shoved my phone in my pocket and ran downstairs. My mom was in the kitchen washing dishes and my dad was sitting at the living room table reading the newspaper. "I'm going to go hang out with Tsuyoshi and Hayato. Do you guys need anything?"

My dad glanced up from his newspaper. "Yeah, before I forget, buy some eggs on your way back." He always had this solemn look on his face that made him look like some sort of statue. It was kind of scary, really.

My mom poked her head out of the kitchen and said, "Have fun! Tell them I said hi."

"Alright." I whistled a little tune as I walked down our street to the store. By the time I got there, Tsuyoshi and Hayato were already at a picnic table with their ice cream. We were the only ones there, and I liked it that way. I bought my favorite flavor, vanilla, and sat down with them.

Hayato jokingly asks, "Why do you always get vanilla? You should get something else for a change."

"There's nothing else I really like and besides, vanilla is a good flavor."

Tsuyoshi chimes in, "Yeah, whatever you say."

I tried to change the subject so they would stop making fun of me. "Do you guys think we're going to end up in the same class again?"

Tsuyoshi thought about it for a second and then said, "I hope so, but even if we aren't, we can still hang out."

"I guess you're right. School starts next week, so we won't have to wait long to find out."

The rest of the conversation consisted of us arguing of which video game was best from an old series. My friends and I never really talked about anything in particular, but we enjoyed just hanging out with each other. I spent the remainder of my vacation taking pictures and then adding them to my newest album. I guess this year was going to be just as uneventful as last year.