Flavors

The light pierces through my curtains and into my eyes. I grunt as I wipe the sand off my eyes. I check my wall clock. 7:45. I don't feel like going to school. Everyday just walking down the same road, meeting the same people, doing the same things all over again. Surviving without living. It's all so futile.

Sigh. I shouldn't be thinking such depressing thoughts so early in the morning. It'll follow through the rest of the day if it goes on like this. I yawn and rub my eyes again. There's nothing better for me to do. I can't sleep anymore anyways.

I kick my blanket off and stand up. I put on my uniform, a long-sleeved shirt with a red necktie, a yellow-coat and blue slacks. I walk through the other room to see my dad, asleep on the floor, reeking of alcohol. I grit my teeth as I see him crumpled like that. Before I do anything else, I turn my head away and walk over him. It's useless to bother him anyway.

I take the regular, lonely path to my school. Only a handful of students come to school at this time. The bell probably rung already a long time ago. I don't change my pace at all. Doesn't mean anything to me if I'm late or absent anyway.

To get to the gate, I pass by a short hill filled with cherry blossom trees. The peach-colored petals are graceful in the wind. It's said that they fall five centimeters per second. The dazzle it has on me is something I don't really understand myself.

I take a few more steps when I see a violet-haired girl standing by the trees.

"Kyou?" She turns around and looks at me with bored eyes.

"Oh, Tomoya. You came today."

"You make it sound like I'm a commodity." I give her a grin, she gives me a blank face.

"Not really. Is there any particular reason why you're here today?"

"Nope."

"Oh." She's strangely quiet and docile. Absolutely no fun.

"Hey~" She cuts me off.

"We'd better get to class already."

I shrugged. I would've asked her about why she decided to be late all of a sudden today or what's with the mood, but I knew she wouldn't say it clearly. She likes being "complicated" like that.

We walked in silence as we reached our second-year classrooms. The teacher tries his best to ignore us as we sit by our seats. I stay by the seat nearest to the window, just looking at the clear sky.

Before I knew it, the bell had rung and there was a five minute interval. It was at this moment that a blond student somehow flew to my seat.

"Good morning, Okazaki-san!" He was grinning stupidly.

"Sunohara, don't be so chirpy in the morning."

"I can't help it. We're in the atmosphere of love~" He started moving away as if he was sleepwalking and I checked the blackboard for the date today. February 14. I hung my head over my table.

I hate this day. People are all so lovey-dovey today. Couples cling to each other more today. Married people fill up the restaurants and sidewalks. Reminds me too much of my mother.

I breathe a sigh as the bell rings again, signaling classes to resume. Sunohara hasn't returned, meaning I have no one to bother. I look around in the classroom and find the Kyou's lost somewhere too. I don't find any other people interesting so I hang my head again and fall asleep.

I wake to the sound of our class representative's loud voice.

"Tomoya! Tomoya!"

"What? I'm awake."

She rubs her hand to her forehead and sighs. "It's already dismissal, idiot."

"What? Really?"

"Check."

I look around the classroom and fair enough, we're the last two students in the classroom. The fading light of the sun shrouds the room in tender atmosphere. It could have fallen asleep again if I wasn't being watched by the devil herself.

She turns her back. "Let's go."

I stand and I follow her. We retrace the path down to the cherry blossom trees when she abruptly stops.

"Hm? Something wrong?" I turn to her. Her face has an uneasy look.

"Tomoya-kun. I want to ask you something."

"Yeah?" The honorific she used didn't really suit her.

"Could you accept something heartfelt without thinking it was heartfelt?" Where did that question come from?

"I guess so. It really depends if the person is dense or not."

"Oh." She puts her hand to her mouth and looks as if she's thinking. Then her face eases up and looks like the same devil I've befriended earlier this year. "Yeah, you're right."

She walks closer to me until we're less than an arm's length apart. The aroma of her hair is carried by the wind.

"Take this." She handed me a box of chocolates. She smiles and pats me on the shoulders. "What are you, a snail? Let's go already!"

"Alright, alright!" She laughs as she hurries on, forcing me to run up to her. It takes us a short while until we meet at the familiar crossroads.

"See ya, Tomoya. Happy Valentine's Day!" She waves and turns around.

"Yeah, you too." I give her a grin as she turns back. I stand there until she's merely just a dot.

I look at the gift in my hands. It's a green box shaped like a rectangle. Carefully opening it, I take one of the dozen chocolates and pop it in my mouth. My mind drifts to some faraway place where there's a huge field and a big tree in the middle of it all. And I was there, sleeping under the tree.

As I find myself going back to reality, I saw I was still standing on the way to my house, holding the box of pure goodness. I checked around for the box but to find that there wasn't any price. The taste of the chocolate was unique as well. It was sweet and soothing and was without any nuts, just the way I like them. There was a certain creaminess that wouldn't be seen in mass-produced chocolates.

I look again at the box at my hands. The green wrapper of the box was starting to tear apart. The ribbon wasn't cut straight. Then I saw traces of lines on the box made only by nails.

And then everything else came into place.

I laughed and popped another chocolate in my mouth.