Chapter 01: Whispers of Evenfall

"I felt as if I was walking with destiny, and that
All my past life had been but a preparation
For this hour and this trial."

- Winston Churchill

And so it was just another barren day in Akira Sendoh's existence. The dense, arctic wind that signals the end of winter was blowing steadily, and he was on his way home, walking slowly, as if carefully weighing his footing against Kanagawa's cobble-stoned steps. He wore a blank expression on his face, his mind, far, far away from the very reality he is in.

Today's practice was especially tough, as the University Basketball League championship was on its way. As team captain this year, he was expected to give more of his usual excellent performance in the court. He knew that the coach and his teammates were all counting on him.

But none of these seemed to matter.

At least, not now, there were more things on his mind, more tangible than basketball. It was then a little after six and more people were starting to fill in the alleys just to get home. Sendoh wondered how many of these people were like him, running their very lives in a stagnant circle.

Another gust of wind blew through him. He thought the wind smelled of lilacs and cherry blossoms, clearly welcoming the spring. His musings drifted him farther away and the basketball ace was just about to cross the street.

After a few moments' disillusion, there were screeching tires and a car just blared its horn loud enough for Sendoh to be snapped out of his trance. He turned his head to his right and immediately realized that the car halted into a stop just a few inches away from him. He made a small step backward while squinting his eyes to shield them from the car's glaring headlights.

"Watch it, you idiot!" the driver roared first before continuing. Sendoh, on the other hand, remained glued to the ground, too stunned to speak nor to defend himself. For another split-second, he thought it would be much better if the car had just snuffed the life out of him. But he quickly dismissed the idea. "Suppose he came back and found out that I just—" he never had the effort to supply the word 'died' in the end—"No, that can't happen. He'll have to find me." With this, Sendoh forced himself to think straight for a while, at least until he has safely crossed the street and boarded the train.

It was a while later when Sendoh heard the train's intercom announce its arrival in Hakone Station. He stood up, gathered his belongings and walked towards the exit. As he was just stepping out, a force unknown compelled him to tilt his head sideways, therefore, seeing what his very core had been yearning, in all these years.

Reality escaped as his heart began to accelerate when he saw Kaede Rukawa on that crowd of passengers eager to board the train. His instincts told him to go after the man but with too many people on rush hour, it was simply impossible. "Rukawa!" Sendoh shouted desperately but the message did not reach its intended destination. Years of playing basketball had taught him to make his way swiftly across the least amount of spaces yet, at this point, his efforts were futile; the automatic doors of the train just closed even before he can ever get near.

The ace walked the rest of his way home, dazed and restless.

"How could it be?" he contemplated, "…If he's actually here, he should have told me, right?" trails of confusion circled around his head until he reached his abode. "Guess, I've been missing you so much, Kaede." He said loudly, trying to convince himself. It had been three years and half a lifetime since Rukawa left. After 5 or 6 letters from the latter, Sendoh had never heard from him again.

With a sudden urge to get hold of a pen and paper, Sendoh began scribbling another letter to Rukawa, though he was more than doubtful that, like all the others, it could ever trigger a response from its receiver.