And eventually, the two of them drifted to sleep together. They slept peacefully together.
Chapter 5
[Friday]
The next morning, Misaki woke up first, blinking his tired eyes open as he stretched his arms above his head before letting his arms fall back down. Misaki yawned quietly as he slowly sat up. He looked around the room and found that he was alone inside of it. He glanced over to where Akio was supposed to be and saw that he was nowhere in sight. He sighed. Of course he'd be gone already.
Misaki stood up, stretching once again before leaving the bedroom, closing the door softly behind him. He walked downstairs and headed towards the kitchen. As soon as he opened the door, he immediately smelled something cooking. The smell hit him instantly causing him to smile slightly, knowing what was going on.
He walked up the staircase and entered the dining room. Akio was sitting at the kitchen table, chopping vegetables and cutting meat. He seemed to be focused on everything he was doing, making small comments every now and then whenever something didn't turn out as planned, but Misaki knew that he was probably thinking about Misaki and he was glad that he was focusing on something else besides the thoughts in his head. After walking into the roomMisaki stopped in front of the table and looked over at the chopping block next to Akio.
Akio looked over at Misaki and smiled when he saw him.
"Good morning, Akio, did you sleep well?"
"Morning, Misaki," Akio greeted as he continued cutting up the tomatoes he had chopped into smaller pieces for the sauce.
"I hope you like it," Misaki said, smiling brightly as he watched Akio finish up his work, "Are you almost done?"
"Yeah. Just have to put these in the pot."
"Okay," Misaki nodded as he watched Akio add the diced tomatoes into the pot and pour the water, "What are you cooking for breakfast?"
"I haven't really thought about it yet. I usually cook whatever I can find at home. So, I guess I could make pancakes?"
"That sounds great. Pancakes sound pretty good to me," Misaki said, smiling lightly.
"Really? Awesome! We can have breakfast together."
"Great!"
After finishing cooking breakfast, they sat across from each other at the kitchen table and started talking. As usual, they spoke about trivial topics such as school, music, friends, family members, hobbies, etc.
About an hour later, Misaki heard his phone ring.
"Hello?"he answered.
"Hi, Mom. What's up?"
"Mom? Hey! Hi, I've been calling all night!"
"Sorry, Mom, sorry. I just forgot to charge my phone last night."
"Okay, okay. Listen, I've been calling all night trying to call you, too. You're not answering my calls or texts. Where have you been? I thought that I told you not to stay out so late. I know you're seventeen now, but it's irresponsible to-"
"Mom, calm down. Sorry. Everything's fine. I'm just hanging out with a friend."
"A friend? Well, alright. If you say so."
"Yeah, I do. Don't worry so much about me. I'll call you later."
"Alright. I love you."
"Love you too."
"I gotta go."
"Bye."
"Bye."
And the line went dead.
"Everything ok?" Akio asked, glancing at Misaki as he finished eating his food.
"Yeah, it's fine," Misaki responded, grabbing his dishes and carrying them towards the sink, "I have to get going now. I have another class starting in like 10 minutes."
"Ok, have a good day."
"You too."And Misaki left the room. He washed his dishes, dried them, and put them away neatly. Once he was finished, he picked up his bag and placed his schoolbag over his shoulder before heading towards the front door. He opened the door and stepped outside.
As he closed the door behind him, he locked it and looked around. He could see Akio walking up to him from across the street. Misaki waited for Akio to reach him before crossing the road.
"Weirdly enough," Akio began, "My phone died, so I couldn't call you yesterday."
"Ah, no problem! Mine's dead, too."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yep."
"Let's hurry then! Before classes start."
"Mmkay."
As the two of them hurried off to school, the sky remained clear, allowing sunlight to shine down upon the streets. Misaki smiled as he stared at the beautiful, orange sun rays shining down onto the ground. He loved mornings like this. He loved the sun. The sun helped him wake up, warm himself up, and let him relax after working hard all week. The sun also made him feel happy, happy that he was finally able to relax. Even though it was only early in the morning, it felt really nice, relaxing evenloved mornings like these. And he loved mornings like today. Today was a very special day for Misaki. It was his birthday. His 18th birthday. Not quite eighteen years old yet. Still a child. It would be another year before he turned nineteen years old. Another year before he would officially enter high school. Another year before he met his one true love. Hopefully, the next four years of his life would prove to be enjoyable. Maybe this time he would actually find a girlfriend. Who knows? Maybe he would even become a dad. Or maybe he would settle down in a relationship and spend the rest of his life with his partner. Perhaps they would both be adults by the time their children reached 20 years old. Either way, life is full of possibilities. He could be completely content living his whole life without a care in the world.
But life is short. No matter how many years you live, you could never truly appreciate how lucky you are to live through the years as happily as you are now, without any regrets. Misaki knew this. He knew that this is what life is like. Everyone has to face setbacks sooner or later. This happens to everyone. And although Misaki did feel lucky to be living in the past, he was thankful for what he had. Even if things weren't always perfect.