She looks over as Kenji is curled up sitting upright as he seemed downed by the images. She groans at it, "God…fucking damn it…" she resented the idea as she gets up and heads over to the back, opening the door and feeling the immense depressive aura he was letting off. "damn dad…you should brighten up a bit…" she sounded overall concerned as Kenji didn't reply.
"Dad…the images are fake; we found some glitches to them…"
"I'm a failure of a father that's what…"
"Don't say that dad. C'mon we've been over this for so long now." She tried to comfort him, walking out, and sitting beside him.
"Makoto hates me…Aki doesn't want me around…and you're living by yourself Keiko…"
That…is true sadly enough…
"Makoto and Aki just have it hard since they've never been with mom since they were young."
"Is that so…?" He looks over to her as he wiped his tears.
"I'm sure dad, deep down we all care for you and mom, we just hate to show it sometimes."
This made Kenji smile a bit as he looked at the pool remembering when it was just him, their mother, and Keiko in the pool together. He sighs, wanting to just have some family time with not only Makoto but also with Aki and Keiko as well. He found a new resolve as he looked over at Keiko, replying, "Thanks Keiko. I needed this talk."
Keiko smiles at his father, her job being a college therapist as she deals with these kinds of things daily. Keiko leans to hug her dad as he does the same hugging back. Keiko lets go of the hug as Makoto and Aki were listening in on their talk, being seen as they were leaning on the glass window right next to the glass framed door beside Makoto. Kenji walked back inside as he helped Makoto back upstairs into his old room.
His room was left untouched except for cleaning as their maiden, Ms. Kurokawa, had been keeping his stuff clean and tidy since he left the house. He saw how clean his room was, including his complex gaming setup and his computer. "Thank you for keeping my room clean for all these years Ms. Kurokawa, I don't know how I could have kept it clean myself." He bows politely to Ms. Kurokawa.
"It's nothing Mr. Makoto, but unfortunately, this will be my last day helping you and your family Mr. Makoto…"
"W…What…?" Makoto seemed disheartened by the news as he asks her, "W-what's going on Ms. Kurokawa!" scared that she could die.
"I'm retiring from all my years working for your family Mr. Makoto, In my place tomorrow will be my daughter, Kurokawa Fumiko."
He lets out a sigh of relief to know that Ms. Kurokawa isn't dying, but still saddened at her retirement. "We'll hold a retirement ceremony for you Ms. Kurokawa." He promised as she was touched by it smiling with enlightenment. "Mr. Makoto, you and your family have provided my family with enough kindness to keep us all happy…I hope my daughter will be happy to work as your new maid…".
He bows again as Ms. Kurokawa bows back in respect as Kurokawa heads downstairs, Makoto walks into his room as he's filled with nostalgia, seeing his anime posters and his track posters from his old school. He sets his bag on his bed as he lays down on it, looking at the ceiling as he saw his poster for Anime Expo 2027. Has it really been two and a half years…It felt like yesterday… he then sat up as he looks at his collection, seeing only five figures on his bookshelf and seeing the other three on his computer desk.
He smiles a bit from joy as he takes a deep breath, exhaling it out. It's…Nice to come home again… he lays back down on his bed as he begins to doze off and fall asleep.
* * *
"C'mon Kimura! You're going to be late!"
"I'm going I'm going!"
Kimura is running down a street as two other kids were running with him, he was in the back as he was barley able to keep up with him. He was huffing and puffing heavily, reaching their school just fifteen minutes before the school day started. Is…Is this Kankuri…? He thought to himself as he could see himself from a third person perspective, he was as transparent as a ghost, seeing himself at his old school as they ran into the school building.
I was…so bright before…
He watched his younger self as he followed himself into the building, seeing that he was having the time of his life from two years ago. SKRREEET!!!! He heard tires come to a halt as he turned around to see a group of four to five vans appear as armed and espers came out of the vans, their faces covered.
This was the day that the incident happened…
He heard gunfire as he could hear the alarm go off, screaming as students scattered along the halls trying to reach their homerooms, the sound of staff members trying to stop them from intruding any further to no avail as he hears screaming of students being grabbed, crying, whimpering, and calling out for help.
He covered his ears to muffle it as he hears the explosion being thrown back into his younger perspective as he was on the ground, seeing his two friends being put in the back as his ears ringed, he can see his friend say something but couldn't hear what they said. He saw the cars pack up as they drove off, he then finally woke up and jolted up in a cold sweat.
His breathing was impaired as he struggled to get a good grasp as he dug into his bag, bringing out an inhaler as he took a puff from it, sighing with relief. He puts his inhaler beside him as he wipes the cold sweat off. Why…Why do I keep coming back to that…nightmare…