The train was empty, most passengers had already left earlier either in cars or busses, the festival was mainly comprised of locals after all, they atmosphere in the train is silent, the sound of the moving train filled the entire area, Miyako and Asahi were silent, not speaking a word to each other, but there was still a certain feeling around them as they both smiled happily.
Lights passed through the windows of the train, then dark again, they peer out the window to see snow dropping overhead, the city lights were shining brightly amidst the dark of the sky, the river was reflecting the light that shone from the city making it glisten, the mountains around the river covered most of the city, "Its beautiful." Miyako puts her hand against the glass to look closer, Asahi smiles, "It is." They both gaze out the window until light returns to the train and they arrive at the station.
"We apologise for the malfunction in the lights on the train!" The man pleaded, Asahi and Miyako felt awkward as they were still a few people nearby in the station looking at them as they walked by, "It's fine, we didn't mind it." Asahi says, the man thanks them and walks away, the pair walk out of the station as quickly as they could.
They soon arrive at the countryside, this time the area felt different, in the morning you could see farmers working in the fields, and the sun shining brightly in the sky, the heat was tremendous in the morning but the wind felt cool at noon, this time, the air was colder than it was in the city, Asahi and Miyako walk slowly past the fields and up the hill whilst trying to cover themselves with whatever they could to protect from the air.
Miyako knocks on the door and her parents answer, "You're back."
They both enter the house after taking off their shoes and walk into the living room where her grandmother was sitting on the couch sleeping, "Be quiet, we don't want to wake her up." Miyako's grandmother had been sobbing the whole time after they left and soon fell asleep because of it.
Asahi felt that the house was very empty even though the first time he came it was full of wonders, an eerie atmosphere surrounded the house atop the hill, Asahi was invited by Miyako's parents for a talk in the other room, meanwhile Miyako went to tidy up her bag, they sat down on chairs at the dining table and Asahi felt uneasy, "You see, when Miyako was still a child, she didn't have any friends, because most of the local children saw a movie about a witch."
The movie named "The house atop the hill." was a famous movie among young children in the area, the story was about a witch that lived in the house atop a hill in the countryside, the witch didn't have any powers or anything of the sort, she was labeled a witch after she was found to be guilty of kidnapping children in the area, this was a movie given to children by their parents to teach their kids not to go outside late at night and not to talk to strangers, but afterwards, they started bullying Miyako for living in what the children called "The house atop a hill." Miyako had endured years of bullying, but it never went so far as her being hit, but one day, a few of the children were whispering about how Miyako may be a witch, so they decided to try and make her go away.
They hit her daily to try and make her leave, even throwing stones at her occasionally when she went to school, this made all the children in the school not want to get associated with her or even get close to her at all as they believed Miyako to be a witch that would kidnap them one day, Miyako always kept silent about the bullying until a large rock was thrown at her and ended up making her arm bleed, she turned around to go and tell her parents about it but saw them standing behind her, she told her parents about it and said that she just tripped on a rock, but her parents were watching the whole time and tried to cheer her up but seeing her cry made them hesitate, they had wanted to confront the other parents but couldn't as they weren't believed as they weren't originally from the countryside but from the city where Miyako was born but they didn't have enough money to raise her in the city so they moved to the countryside.
The older people in the area believed them and tried to confront the parents as well, but they were thought to be senile and didn't bother to listen which demoralized them and they stopped fearing it would ruin their relationship, so Miyako grew up without any friends because she was bullied constantly, but instead of hating other people, she wanted to find a good person who she could call a close friend and to have fun with them.
"So thank you for spending all this time with Miyako, she always wanted a friend, so there aren't any words we can say to express our gratitude." The parents both bowed, "You don't have to bow, I wanted to be friends with someone like Miyako as well." The parents were relieved after hearing that, Miyako entered the room with a plastic bag and placed it on the table, "These are for you." Her parents took the plastic bag and looked inside, there were a few things inside.
A bone keychain, A monkey figure, A coin from the arcade, a small football keychain, A palm sized Ferris wheel, A firework keychain and A local bracelet, Asahi was surprised that Miyako had bought a souvenir from all the places they'd went to throughout the week, he decided that he would do the same as well.
Miyako decided to stay the night at her parents house while Asahi went to visit his father.
Asahi arrives at a run down apartment, he knocks on a door and a man with a half shaven beard, bags under his eyes and a unpleasant feeling around him, but Asahi didn't seem to mind and the man let him enter the room, Asahi turns on the light as the man rummages through garbage in the apartment, "Dad, I'm here to give you some souvenirs." His father turns around to face him and notices him holding a gift bag, in the bag there were the same items that Miyako had bought when they went around visiting various places.
But there was a piece of paper at the bottom, it was Asahi's will, he was handing all of his possessions to his father, Asahi left the apartment before he could see his father's face, his father was shocked that Asahi would give him anything at all, he started tearing up as Asahi closed the door.
The next morning they both woke up extremely early only having slept for around four hours, they woke up in the middle of the night, they both felt very tired but still put on their clothes and headed out to the hospital, Asahi arrives first and the doctor greets him at the door, "Are you sure you don't want to go for life prolonging services?" He asks, Asahi kept silent and shook his head, he didn't want to do it for several reasons, but mainly two, Miyako also wasn't doing it either and that he wanted to give as much money as he could to his father before leaving.
"Follow me then."
Miyako enters later and does the same after being asked the same question, they both change into patient clothes and are escorted into separate rooms where they slowly lose consciousness but Asahi wonders if he really accepts things ending like this, he doesn't have time to ponder it and falls into a deep sleep.