As Ryu closed his eyes and drifted off into a peaceful sleep, his unconscious mind noticed that something was different. He had been reliving the same dream since the start of his bullying, the dream of his face pressed against the cold, dirty bathroom floor while he was abused by Kenzo. Tonight, this dream was replaced with a reminiscence of his childhood, an occurrence that hadn't happened in a long time.
"Ryu, dinner is ready," his mother called as he sat studying inside of his room. At this point in his life, he inhabited a small but adequate 2-bedroom house in a suburb outside the main city center of Tokyo.
Following his mother's call, he closed his textbook and set it up on a shelf in his bedroom. He checked his mirror, and saw a young version of himself, somewhere around 7-8 years old. He pulled back his hair and fixed it then proceeded to open his bedroom door walking into the kitchen.
Sat at the table was his father, his younger brother Christian, who was named by his mother, and his mother herself, the table was set beautifully for dinner. His mother was currently a stay-at-home mom, while his dad was a low-level executive at a Tokyo tech startup. His father, Ren, said grace as they bowed their heads ready to eat a delicious home-cooked meal.
After grace, Ren looked Ryu in the eyes, and raised up his voice, "So, how was school today, champ?" said his father.
"It was great, I played with Kenzo, and we learned about multiplication today," said Ryu.
"Wow, multiplication, huh? That's real hard stuff, let me know if you need any help with it buddy," his father retorted smiling at Ryu.
"I'm super smart, so I'll never need your help, but thanks for the offer, papa," said Ryu filled with childhood spunk.
The family ate together and conversed joyfully, everyone seemed happy, and they had recently had a lucky spell, they had adequate wealth and time to truly enjoy their suburban life.
After dinner, Ryu retreated to his room and grabbed the textbook off his shelf, he reluctantly plopped down in the seat attached to his desk. He started studying, but his attention was led astray by some noise happening outside of his room.
After dinner, the rest of Ryu's family were preparing to take a family grocery trip to stock up on the weekly essentials. He walked out to the threshold of their front door, because he had heard a loud conversation and some clamor, walking out he saw his mother, father, and younger brother putting on their overcoats and shoes getting ready to leave.
"Where are you guys going?" Ryu called out to his family.
"Grocery run," Ren said as he walked over and ruffled Ryu's hair. "We won't be long, just stay here and get back to your studies I know how hard you work to impress us, buddy," his father said as he twisted the deadbolt of the door to unlock it.
"Alright papa, be safe," Ryu replied retreating back to his room to study.
At first the studying went well, but about an hour into studying something felt off.
"They should've been back by now," Ryu thought to himself.
Then another hour passed, followed by many more, as soon as he knew it, it was 10 P.M. and over 4 hours had passed since his family had left. In his head he knew something was off about the situation, grocery trips rarely lasted more than an hour, especially these impromptu ones. Worried, Ryu sat up from his desk and walked out to the family landline, he was going to call his father's phone, and then if he didn't answer, the police.
As he approached the landline it suddenly started to ring, Ryu, jumping back out of surprise proceeded forward taking the phone off the wall. He pressed the ear indents to his ear and listened to the other side of the line, expecting it to be his father.
"Hello, is this the Kendo family residence?" said someone over the phone line.
"Yes, why?" Ryu responded in a questioning tone.
"This is Hayate, with the Tokyo Police Department, I regret to inform you but three of your family members have been involved in a car accident, no details are available to be revealed yet, but it's my job to inform you that this has taken place," said Hayate in a solemn and pity filled tone.
"I understand," Ryu said, his voice cracking from sadness and fright. He pressed the phone back into its place on the wall and sat down in front of it, tears streaming down his face.
"Are they okay, are they alive, what about brother, mom, dad? How bad is the accident, maybe they'll be home with just some scratches, maybe… maybe… please?" Ryu's mind was racing with thought after thought, worry after worry, the more he reassured himself, the less he believed it.
After what seemed to be hours he retreated to his bed, he didn't even do his nightly routine, he laid down in his covers and tried to fall asleep. Toss and turn, toss and turn, that's all he could do throughout the entire night, next thing he knew his alarm clock was beeping. The dreamscape slowly got darker and darker, until he was aroused from his dream and taken back to real life.
Ryu slowly opened his eyes, they felt sticky. He rubbed next to his eyes and felt dried tears that had streamed down his face, presumably while he was dreaming.
"Recounting the trauma of how my brother and father died is not a good way to wake up," Ryu thought to himself spitefully.
He struggled to push his body off the bed but prevailed through the sadness and grogginess. Even though he had a rough dream, he had to carry on with his day, after all he needed to become stronger at any cost.
He started with his morning routine, brushing his teeth, showering, drying and combing his hair. He saw a plate of overnight oats set out for him as breakfast, presumably done by his mother.
"If I won't get stronger for myself, I'll at least do it for them so they can be proud of who I've become, watching from heaven," Ryu thought to himself as he was putting on his school uniform, his resolve had strengthened even more, his motivation had grown stronger.
He stood in front of the full-length mirror stowed in the bathroom, once he thought he looked good enough to step foot into public he grabbed his backpack quickly from his room, patted his pocket to make sure his phone and wallet were in it, and left through the front door of his apartment heading at a steady pace towards his high school.
He had finally reached the front gates, and as he had entered, he felt a familiar palm hit the back of his head causing him to stumble, almost falling over.
Ryu instinctively turned around to see who was behind him, and to his surprise it was Kenzo.
"Guess who they let back early, I guess it helps when your parents have money, aye, well I guess it helps just to have both of your parents," Kenzo said to Ryu in a condescending tone, chuckling out loud once he had finished with his comments.
Ryu felt a jolt of terror spreading through his body as his hands started to shake from fear.
"You know, you're the reason I got suspended, you couldn't have just showed up on time could you have, Ryu. You know today's punishment is going to have to make up for all the days I've missed, and then some just because you put me through all of that trouble with the suspension," said Kenzo, as he finished with what he was saying, he felt satisfied seeing the scrawny boy shaking in fear. He proceeded towards the front door of the school, leaving Ryu alone to let his words sink in.
"What am I thinking, I shouldn't be afraid of him, am I really going to let him talk about my family like that, you know I vowed to get stronger so stuff like this wouldn't happen," Ryu thought to himself, as he regained his composure and entered the school building.
Something told Ryu that things were changing for the better, regardless of that meathead Kenzo.