1
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"10. 28. 2010"
The television's sound was loud, and the person sitting on the sofa, who was also watching what was on TV, smiled broadly.
"Waaah!"
Young Shouta gasped and shifted into a fetal posture on top of the sofa, mesmerized by the animation and the characters' voices. He was looking forward to another fantastic anime scene. But…
The event came to a close swiftly, leaving him dissatisfied.
"Ahhh, next week!!"
The anime aired from the beginning of the year till the beginning of the summer. It is now in its twentieth episode, and the anime will conclude in three weeks.
Shouta had purchased the first volume of the manga that the anime was based on. His initial response was a little let down since he was anticipating a really detailed sketch from the artist, similar to what he saw in the anime. However, the painting was uninteresting and the shading was poor.
After a time, he looked at the tenth volume of the manga and was taken aback by how different the art was from the first volume.
His friend had taken the eleventh book to school and had shown it to Shouta.
His acquaintance was aware that the first volume's artwork was poor, but he said that the author's art improved over time, and by the tenth book, his art appeared to be slightly realistic rather than cartoonish.
Shouta went upstairs to his room after turning off the television. He would fall asleep there. Because the anime aired on Saturday at approximately 9 p.m, Shouta had to remain awake until then and then go to bed.
Despite the fact that it was the weekend, he had to go to bed early that night since he had to assist Kado in cleaning his motorcycle the next day, Sunday.
The next morning, Kado had already set up his motorcycle outside of the house and was surprised that, a minute later, Shouta was already up and was carrying a bucket of water.
"How was the episode last night? I heard you were amazed"
"Haah… yeah, I loved it"
Tired but yet answering like it was a thrill of his life.
The day had just started and the sun was just peeping from the horizon. A blow from the cold morning breeze made Shouta's eyes squint.
"Oh yeah, Shouta"
"Hm? What?"
"Happy birthday! You're ten years old now!"
—
——
———
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2
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"10. 30. 2014"
Shouta Kazehaya was walking through the streets of Shibuya, walking home from buying another volume of a manga he loved reading. Of course he wasn't alone. Beside him stood Yamamoto Kaede, wearing her usual outfit to not confuse her with a cosplayer.
—She'd wear a maid outfit everytime serving the Kazehaya family.
"Master, what other things would you like to purchase?"
Kaede asked, as the light turned green for pedestrians and red for the cars.
They walked to the otherside. And when they did, Shouta answered her question.
"I really want to buy a figure or two but… There's no use having one"
"Hm? Do you have a reason why?"
"Well… When you buy a book, you can read that book and learn something from it"
"And a figure?"
"But for a figure, you can only place it and look at it for hours, not getting anything useful"
"..."
"That's why I don't know if I want to buy it or not"
"Hm?"
"You know… there are some figures that I want to have and collect them but it will feel like a waste of money…"
"Ohh… well then, the best way is to not buy one then?"
"Y-yeah… you're right"
"10. 28. 2016"
—Sara has been visiting me quite lately. Is she not busy with her boyfriend?
Shouta had this idea a year ago. He still hadn't embraced the truth that he wasn't the man Sara was looking for. Despite the fact that this was incorrect, a month later he realized that keeping a grudge against Sara was fruitless, and he ultimately accepted it.
It was a day before his sixteenth birthday and everyone seemed to not bother preparing a party or anything big.
Mia was having a call with her friend about their next song and dance. Kado was watching the news. Kaede and Tohru were cooking dinner. And Sara was sitting on the dining table, eating a tub of ice cream. Shouta was sitting on the staircase, not sure what to do.
That is when suddenly, Sara came up to him and gave him a small box.
"Here"
"Hm?"
The small box was wrapped in colorful paper, and a little bow on top of it. Pulling the string of the box, it opened easily. A three year old child would be able to open it too.
"What's this?"
Inside the small box was a green gem embedded into a necklace. Not only that, there was also a—below the necklace—letter that was written by Sara herself.
—happy birthday
It was a simple two word written on top of the small paper.
.
2
.
Huh… it's already morning…
"10.29.2017"
His seventeenth birthday has come. This day was awaited to some individual, but not for the birthday boy himself. But it doesn't mean he doesn't like his birthday.
"Hm?"
He looked to his right, where his table was, there wasn't someone who he was expecting to wake him up. His left side was only the wall of his room, so he didn't need to check if someone was there. Plus, he likes to sleep near the wall.
Though he was still tired, his mind refused to rest again and told his body to get up and wash his face. Before walking out of his room and down to the bathroom, he looked at the small digital clock that was placed by him on top of his desk.
〚05:28 A.M〛
There was still an hour or two until school started, as it was still early in the morning.
The sound of his door closing echoed through the second floor and the one below. The outside world was visible via the little window in front of his bedroom door. It was still dark for him, with a sliver of light from the rising sun on the horizon.
He discovered his mother—Kazehaya Tohru—sitting on the sofa, on the phone with someone, as he walked down the stairs and into the living room. He tapped on the wall beside him twice for some reason he doesn't understand to grab his mother's attention.
—and that attention he got.
Tohru looked behind her, closing the call short.
"Ah, you're up earlier than I expected"
"Don't I always wake up at this hour?"
"Well not for break days that is"
"Hm? Break day?"
"Yeah, Umibe decided that it would be wise to close the school for a while"
"But the storm is—"
"—look here"
Tohru handed her phone over to Shouta. Her screen was showing what it looked like broken windows and broken walls.
Shouta finally realized why his school was closed and students were to take a break. It was because his school was completely in ruins.
"They said that tomorrow the cleaning and repairing would be done"
"Ah… o-okay"
Shouta then went away from the sofa and into the bathroom, all the while having a horrified expression on his face the entire time. The image that was shown to him was his own school destroyed by yesterday's storm.
He was standing before the mirror that was on top of the sink. He washed his face the moment he looked down and turned the faucet on.
Trying to forget what he just saw, he washed his face furiously, making water splashed everywhere and onto his nightgown too.
"Haah…"
He exhaled, then he looked at the mirror in front of him that was covered in little splashes of water.
"——"
His breaths were short because of the cold water and the cold air.
"Why can't you just… change?"
His expression changed from horror to wrath and resolve as he contemplated the possibility of his school being destroyed by a storm. If someone had been watching him from the instant his face went from awake to terrified to unanswerable and mad, they would have observed how quickly his expression shifted from awake to terrified to unanswerable and insane.
"Oh… that's quick"
Behind him, someone said. Shouta's attention was swiftly drawn to her reflection in the mirror, and he rapidly twisted his body to face the girl who was in the same restroom as him.
"You're up early, brother"
Mia was wearing her pink and white polka dots pajamas.
"Aren't I always up this early?"
"Yeah, but since summer, you've been waking up late"
"..."
Mia was about a meter away from Shouta and only centimeters away from the door. Her expression seemed tired to Shouta, she must have just woken up and followed him into the bathroom.
"?"
Shouta noticed that, even though Mia seemed tired, she tried to hide it by speaking very lively and moving around the bathroom and moving her eyes.
Slowly, she moved to the sink and did the same thing like her brother did seconds ago. Not only just washing her face but also impersonating the thing that her brother did.
—She looked at the mirror with a mad, determined, and unmoving expression.
"Can't you just… change?"
Shouta could only stand in silence, watching his cute little sister impersonating him and making fun of him.
"Why did you say that?"
"What?"
" [Why can't you just change?]. It's like you regret something"
"Well… how should I say it"
"Brother!"
Shouta was staring away from Mia on the opposite side of the room. He felt a little self-conscious about answering his younger sister's query.
Shouta stepped aside from the mirror as Mia approached it. Both of them traded places. When Mia voiced the inquiry, Shouta was now against the wall, and Mia was staring in the mirror and then at her brother.
Mia walked forward to Shouta after screaming and yelling her brother's name, and when he noticed it, Mia's head was on his chest, holding him. A loving grasp encircled his waist as well.
These words should be followed by:
Don't be concerned about it. I'm here, brother, and I'm ready to offer you a big embrace.
Shouta's emotional equilibrium was beginning to be disrupted. This balance was created by him to help him regulate his emotions when he couldn't control his fury or was sobbing uncontrollably.
"Hufu…"
Shouta laughed a little, moving his hand onto Mia's head.
"Thank you, Mia"
He said as he patted her head.
"Oh yeah… just saying that we're—"
His head looked at the surroundings. The wall was painted a dark color and the lights were dimmed but it the dimming could be controlled by a remote on the wall near the door of the—
"—bathroom, talking about this cute thing"
"I know, and I don't care!"
Mia said, tightening her hug around her brother.
The exact thoughts of Shouta Kazehaya's mind at that moment was:
Thank you god for giving me a cute little sister!
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3
.
For a brief moment, a calm and peaceful city could turn into a trash dump. But then it becomes clean again in a matter of hours.
The case of a fallen tree right in front of your door is very unlikely. There has to be an accident first, either a truck carrying said tree and it fell right in front of your door steps.
But that wasn't the case for Kazehaya Shouta. The road in front of his house was small, so a big truck couldn't go through it. And for that neighbourhood, they've rarely seen large trucks passing through their place.
"If It was a big one, we would be stuck inside…"
Shouta jokingly laughed at the sight of a small tree laying in front of his house. Though he said it jokingly, his tone changed quickly and he was concerned about the tree.
Did it hit somebody? Did it destroy something? And the most important question, where did it come from? The wind came from the ocean, and all Shouta remembered in that direction, there was no tree. Not even a small one.
"Well I gotta go now, my mum is gonna be worried about me if I don't go home now!"
Wearing her dried up black hoodie, Ichika said as she left them and headed to the station. Shouta and Sara waved goodbye as they went the other direction, to a nearby minimarket.
The two sliding doors opened and both of them were greeted by the cashier, who was stationed right next to the door.
"Oh, this one has a drink station too?"
Shouta said as he walked to the drink station near the window of the minimarket.
"Every one-step has a drink station"
Sara answered.
※ one step is the name of the mini-mart.
Shouta had already decided what he was going to buy, or what he was going to brew when he saw the drink station.
"You want tea too, Sara?"
"Yes, a warm tea brewed by you"
"Oh please… stop it with the teasing!"
Shouta said as he grabbed two small paper cups to brew tea.
It took around 5 minutes for him to brew the tea. Granted, the tea was the one that took a long time to brew. Shouta only took thirty seconds to prepare it.
The feeling of warm liquid going down the throat was a feeling of delightfulness.
It was nearing November, the air was getting colder around them.
But they had already prepared for the worst day if it comes. Shouta liked the cold air more than the hot sun of the summer. Even in the winter, Shouta would still turn on his air conditioner so he could find many ways to warm himself with his blanket.
For Sara, she had been trained to fight the cold air. She could take a cold bath on a cold day and wouldn't feel that cold like a normal person would. But she would still feel the cold.
"Uwaah… So warm. So sweet"
"You're welcome, Miss Yamamoto told me how to brew a perfect tea"
After drinking tea, Shouta paid for both of them. Sara looked at the money as it was taken from Shouta's hand and into the cashier.
Walking out of the store, he carried a small bag in his hand. Inside were fireworks.
"Shouta, what are those for?"
"For tonight of course!"
With a big smile on his face, alongside with a peace sign using his dorment hand, he walked across the streets, looking in the opposite direction, checking if there was any vehicle passing by or not.
"So, where do you want to go?"
Shouta asked.
"Hm"
"Wanna go to the aquarium?"
"But, that will be expensive"
"Don't worry Sara, I still have some money from my job!"
"..."
Shouta didn't pay attention to Sara's face.
His back was turned to Sara, as he walked in the direction to the aquarium.