Every morning, and every night, I found myself falling asleep and waking up to the thoughts of Haruko Haruhara...
She was gone, and yet it felt like my world was still revolving around hers....
*****
Naota plopped down onto his mattress.
Even though it was still sometime in the morning, he felt as though all of his energy had been sapped dry. He didn't usually feel this tired, but to him the do-nothing days were somehow more tiring than the busy days.
Though the visit from Ninamori did leave him a little more emotionally drained, he didn't expect to be so exhausted, even on a day like today.
His body was like a stone sinking into his mattress. His face buried into his pillow, he closes his eyes, and is almost able to fall asleep until...
Use your guitar again... One more time, Takun...
His thoughts inevitably wander onto her.
You did it so well, last time...
He tries to ignore them, but they only serve to keep him up. Frustrated, he rolls over onto his side.
After a while, the intrusive thoughts continue.
I should teach you how to be a man...
"Like you'd know." He mutters under his breath. He then rolls over again and stares at the Rickenbacker on the other side of the room.
He gazes at it for a long while, thinking of the one who once wielded it. He did this often. At times it felt like it is gazing back.
Ka-kiiin~!
Feeling his frustration boiling over into genuine anger, he gives up on trying to sleep. He jumps up and walks over to the guitar. He picks it up and sits down.
He strums a single chord.
Then falls back onto the bed.
The thoughts stop for a while....
*****
"Legs spread. Same width as the shoulders. Body tightened. Then hit the ball like you're defeating the enemy. Here, the pinky finger is the key. And then you just hit! hit! hit! Ka-kiiin! Bingo!"
"What are you talking about?"
"He who conquers the left side conquers the world, chief." Said the teenage girl to the twelve year old boy, while swinging his bat at the air. "Setting the parameters. That's the hard part."
The twelve year old boy seemed uninterested, preferring to sit in the grass and do homework instead of swinging the bat.
"Are you talking about a video game?"
The teenage girl, about seventeen, looks over at the boy.
"Takun, what are you doing?"
"Homework"
"Then why don't you do it at home?"
"It's not cool."
"You can do my homework too if you want, huh?"
The boy was evidently unenthused by the teenager's proposition, since he turned to her with an annoyed expression and said, "Your hands are upside down."
This stunning observation must've startled the girl, because she immediately started fumbling around with the bat only to find that her hands were indeed screwed on the right way.
The same likely could not be said about her head, however, considering how easy that was.
"You should play baseball too, Takun." She said.
The boy seemed annoyed with the girl's insinuation, since it was obviously about his brother, but he doesn't say anything.
"Why do you always carry around a bat?"
"Why do you always hang around here by the river?"
"Because you know." The girl says, losing her train of thought mid-sentence, and looking to the heavens for it. "Now, why was it?"
"You're in a good mood."
Something about the boy's comment triggered something in the girl's brain, because she then drops and starts caressing the boy with her hands.
"You smell like cigarettes." The boy said. Hoping that pointing this out would dissuade her, but it seemed to have no effect on her. "The strong ones."
"I haven't been smoking."
She then starts pressing against the boy with her body, nuzzling up to him much in the way that a cat would, and nestling her breast against him in a way that made him very uncomfortable.
"Mamimi, why do you always do this?" The boy asked.
"Earlobes," the teenager said, as she nibbled on his earlobe.
"Ow!"
"If I don't do it, I'll overflow."
"What do you mean? What will happen?"
"Probably... Something amazing," the girl said, pushing against the boy with the weight of her entire body, sending them both to the ground.
The boy lays there in the girls arms.
Wishing himself away....
*****
Naota stirs himself back to consciousness.
Sitting himself up and looking around, he realizes that it must've been sometime in the afternoon.
He looks over at the clock: 2:12 Pm.
He looks down at the Rickenbacker sitting by his side.
Same dream again, he thinks.
*****
After dad passed away, I had to think about getting my life together... I closed down the bakery and found a job as a salaryman...
A good job... one that pays well...
Things have been normal... I even checked my head out at the doctor to find that my brain was still there and it was no longer empty....
*****
The day was peaceful.
Around this time of day was when the air was at its warmest, but still cool enough for anybody who wanted to enjoy the day.
Sitting in the grass by the river, staring out at the waterline is Naota.
Meanwhile, a man sitting in a car smokes a cigarette while watching him from afar. He puts it out in the ashtray sitting beside him and rolls up the window. He then puts his hands around the stirring wheel and drives off.
A few minutes later, Naota hears a voice calling out to him.
"Yo."
Naota can vaguely recognize the voice but can't pinpoint it to anyone in particular. he turns around to see a man standing behind him.
Tall. Somewhere in his late thirties or early forties. Short, spiky, orange hair. He wears a professional looking business suit complete with a black tie, sunglasses, and of course, a giant pair of fake seaweed eyebrows.
Naota may not have been able to recognize the voice, or remember the name, but he absolutely could not forget those eyebrows.
"Oh, it's you." He says.
The man with the eyebrows seems to scoff at that.
"You? You, you, you... No, I don't seem to know anybody by the name of 'you'. Do you wanna try again?"
"Was it... Eyebrows?"
"It's A-ma-ra-o! Quite frankly I'm surprised that you forgot. I mean, I know it's been a while, but still... I seem to remember us saving the world together."
"All I seem to remember is you sitting on the sidelines while I saved the world." Said Naota bitterly.
"Well, kid, we can't all go round saving the day using the power we borrowed from the actual pirate king... Some of us have to be a little more resourceful."
Naota didn't have a witty retort for that.
"You act like that power is something I wanted in the first place. I didn't want to deal with any of this."
Amarao, the eyebrowed man, reacts to this with a bit of indignation, seeing it as nothing more than an excuse.
Amarao starts walking toward Naota as he gives his speech.
"No, but you got it, whether you wanted it or not. That's life, kid. You'll have to deal with it one way or another, and the only question you need to be asking yourself is not why, but how you're going to deal with it."
Naota is once again unable to think of a reasonable response. He knew he couldn't argue with it because on some level he knew it was true. Still, he buries his face into his knees anyway.
"What are you doing here, anyway?" He says, opting to change the subject rather than continuing the debate at hand.
"I'm just checking up on you. Wanted to make sure you were okay. Today is the day that she left, after all..."
"why do you care?"
"I actually have a ton of very highly classified reasons for caring, but this is the only one that truly matters..."
Amarao reaches into his breast pocket and pulls out a cigarette and a lighter. He places the cigarette between his lips and lights it.
"Cats should stick with other cats, it's only natural."
Naota recognizes those words and it shows on his face. He looks up at Amarao who is currently taking the world's longest drag. Amarao then blows a puff of smoke into the sky that could've blotted out the sun.
"You said that to me one time."
"Oh, so you remembered that, but you couldn't remember my name?"
"I mean... yeah... Sorry."
Amarao raises an eyebrow.
"Well, that's okay. I'm the kind of guy who prefers to be forgotten anyway. Still, if there's one thing that should be remembered, let it be those words."
Amarao plops down on the grass by Naota's side.
"Do you remember the day when I first said those words to you?"
"Vaguely."
"Did you ever stop to think about what it meant?"
"No... I guess I didn't."
Amarao takes another drag, and blows another puff of smoke high into the sky.
"I'll explain it to you... It means sticking together no matter what. Even when other cats are trying to hurt you, it's good knowing that we have someone watching your back. Get me?"
"Not really..."
"I admire the honesty, kid. Seems your parents picked a good name for you."
"My dad picked my name... and it was the only good idea he ever had."
Amarao was struck by this. He could hear the scorn in Naota's voice and couldn't help but sympathize. The pain of having a contemptible parent is one he understood well.
"Still, though. The name was spot on, so maybe he was doing something right, even if he did everything else wrong, or hell, maybe he did accidentally something right by doing everything wrong... Either way, it's something."
"Look, I really don't want to talk about my father. Can we change the subject, please?"
"Fair enough."
Amarao takes one last drag, burning the cigarette down to its end, and puts it out. A few minutes go by as they stare into the clouds, before Amarao breaks the silence.
"A certain phrase comes to mind, 'Pray not for easier lives, but instead pray to be stronger men.' Have you heard it?"
"Of course I've heard it. Kennedy said that."
"Did he now? You're pretty smart, kid."
Amarao reaches into his breast pocket. He pulls out another cigarette and offers it up to Naota.
"Need a smoke?"
Naota hesitates for a moment before replying.
"No, thanks."
Amarao seems pleased with this answer. A smile spreads across his face and he quickly sticks the cigarette into his mouth.
"Good choice. Smoking kills, you know."
"Of course I knew..."
Amarao lights the cigarette. He takes another drag.
"Look, Naota, it's like this... I know what you're going through. I went through it before you were even around and believe me when I say that I'm still thinking of Haruko every day of my life. Everything she did to you she also did to me, and I'd be lying if I said that the pain ever goes away, but it does get easier..."
"Can I give you some advice?"
"Sure."
"Get some therapy."
Amarao's suggestion shocks Naota, who shoots him a look of befuddlement mixed with annoyance.
"I mean it. It didn't do anything for me, but maybe it'll do something for you, and if there's even a chance of it working than you should go for it."
Amarao smokes the cigarette and puts it out.
"My point is this..."
He stands up.
"You don't have to keep living in the past."
Naota looks up at Amarao who offers him a hand. he takes it....
*****
Later, inside the bakery...
Canti pulls out a loaf of spicy bread from the oven, and wraps it in Furoshiki cloth. He then hands the loaf to Naota.
Naota walks over to the counter holding a loaf of spicy bread wrapped in Furoshiki. He hands it over to Amarao.
"There you go. Can't promise it'll taste the same."
"That's quite alright. In fact, I prefer it this way."
Amarao pulls out his wallet.
"What do I owe you?"
"It's on the house."
They nod gratefully to one another before parting ways. Before stepping out, Amarao turns to Naota and gives one more piece of advice.
"You're not going to be young forever, Naota..."