First of all: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I'm going to keep me promise (or is it a threat?). Here's the next chapter!
Kari's POV:
I will never be able to forget the day I came home and he wasn't there any more. It would have been just a normal day like so many before but in the end it changed my entire life.
The time at school was boring as always and it was quite a relief to get home. Away from all those annoying people. They were tiring me. What do they think I am? A consoler? Why do they have to share all their problems and sorrows with me? What is it that draws them towards me? I'm not going to refuse to help them but do they ever think about my wellbeing? I seriously doubt it.
I'm just glad that there are others as well. People who care about me. My family and my friends. Of course they can be selfish as well but I really can't blame them for being human.
Anyways, I don't want to deal with that right now 'cause I know where I would end up and I'm not in the mood to cry and I certainly don't need the headache afterwards. I really should concentrate on other things and forget about the troubles of life. At least for a while. I know that shutting unpleasant thoughts away isn't helping the situation but sometimes it's the only thing I can do. I'm just too tired. Too tired to live on like that. Almost to tired to live at all.
I know that there are other worlds I could escape to. I've seen two of them already and it's very likely that there are many more not yet discovered. But could any of these worlds give me the peace I'm looking for? Maybe, but I doubt it. I want to believe that everything will be all right one day but it isn't that easy.
Hope is not what I represent. I wonder if light is able to shin without hope. Well, I don't really need to worry about that. Takeru would never fail us. If light starts to fade away it's my fault. I can feel the weakness deep inside myself. I try to hide it but it's still too obvious. The others seem to suspect something. Especially Ken, Takeru and Yamato. They haven't asked me yet but I know that they are watching me. I don't want to worry them. Perhaps it would be better if I stopped concentrating on my troubles and tried to enjoy the positive things life offers. Life isn't all-bad. I just need to keep that in mind.
While I tried to convince myself that things weren't as bad as I tended to see them I didn't pay much attention to my surroundings. That's why I ended up in a park near the school. It wasn't on my way home but I didn't care. I was just happy to get away form school and to me the park looked like a good place to calm down. I found a small white bench under an old tree. Only a few leaves were still clinging to the mighty branches stretching out above me. The cars on the busy streets were so distant and not a single person was there to disturb the beautiful silence. It felt so good to just sit there. Nothing mattered at that moment. It was so peaceful but there was this feeling that it was not enough. All of a sudden I felt very lonely. There was no one around I could share this moment with.
I will never get used to that feeling of loneliness. I wonder how Yamato deals with it. We call him our friend but most of the time he is alone. Only Takeru gets close to him but they are slowly growing apart. Nevertheless I admire their strength. I don't know what I would do if I got separated from Taichi. Even thinking about it already hurts. I almost envy them for their strength and courage. Do they never need help at all? Takeru has his mother and us, his friends, to support him so there is no need to worry about him but how can Yamato live like that? He is so withdrawn and it's hard work to get more than two complete sentences out of him. He avoids his closest friends and he has no parents he could rely onto. I would pity him but he wouldn't want our pity. We know that he isn't as invulnerable as he acts. He is just as human as I am but this masquerade is his way of shielding his heart against all fears and sorrows. He keeps everything out without making a difference between good and bad. Poor Yamato. I am pretty sure that we could help him if he let us get closer but he seems to be too afraid to do that.
I shivered as the cold wind brushed over my body. I looked up to the sky. The temperature seemed to have dropped and the bright blue sky was hidden behind dark grey clouds. Warmth, that's what I need right now and I know where to get it.
It's time to get home anyway. Taichi's probably worried already. Sweet Taichi, always worried for me, always there for me. I don't even need to tell him what's bothering me he will understand non-the less. Perhaps that's the difference between Yamato and me. Both of us are hurting but I have a place where I can find safety, peace and love and he has nothing like that. Sure his family cares for him but they can't give him what he longs for. They are too busy with their own lives or just too far away. Only trying to help him isn't enough. He needs somebody who's always there for him when he needs someone. Somebody who supports him like Taichi supports me.
I had left the silence of the peaceful park behind me and was now making me way back home through the noisy and crowded streets of Odaiba. I slipped through the uncaring mass of people towards my save sanctuary. The cold wind blew into my face and men and women in dark business suits kept bumping into me. I quickened my pace to escape the loneliness within the crowd of busy people. I think I could have collapsed or even died right there on the street and nobody would have given a damn about it. Moments like that remind me of how lucky I am to have such a wonderful family. Yet I am not always as thankful as I should be. I think I'm missing something. I just don't know what it is that they can't give me.
I could see our apartment block now, a building made of steel and stone. There is nothing natural to its grey and cold facade. But inside of this anonym block of concrete there was warmth. The warmth of my loving family.
I was almost running now. I couldn't wait to get away from the noisy streets. Taichi should already be back from soccer practice and mom would be home soon.
As I came closer to the building I slowed down. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. I had spotted a small crowed gathering around an ambulance car right in front of our building.
As I walked closer I tried to calm myself but that terrible feeling in the back of my mind wouldn't go away. I can't explain why but I already knew that whatever had happened had something to do with my family or me. I had reached the crowed now. I could hear the people murmuring things but I didn't pay much attention to their words as I pushed through the crowed.
When I reached the front I recognised one of our neighbours. She was trying to comfort a crying woman. Without much success. The crying woman then raised her head a little allowing me to see her face. It was my mom. Her eyes were red from crying, her hair was a mess and her blouse was stained with tears. I wanted to run to her, to comfort her but my feet wouldn't move. I tried to understand what was going on. Why was she crying? She had no obvious injuries so why the ambulance?
While I was still in shock and unable to move my mother had noticed me. She pulled away from our neighbour and ran towards me. I just starred at her as she hugged me tightly, still sobbing. I knew that she wouldn't be able to explain what had happened so I just let her cry.
The mumbling around us grew louder as the doors of the building opened and revealed the crew of the ambulance. Two of them were carrying a stretcher with a human body under a white sheet. I couldn't take my eyes away form the stretcher. The shape under the sheet looked so familiar to me. As if I had seen it many times before.
My mother was crying even harder now. Slowly I began to realize the tragedy, which had taken place. My mother tried to hold me but I tore away form her and ran over to the stretcher. I had to know. They were loading the lifeless body into the ambulance when I reached them. They were too surprised to stop me from pulling away the sheet.
There he was. Taichi.
***
Personally I liked the prologue better but I'm still somewhat proud of this chapter. I didn't know where to start so it took me some time. What do you think? Review and tell me!