Wasting Time
Kenichi pressed the snooze button on the broken red alarm clock by his bed and sat up, yawning and stretching. Another day, another chance of finding Her.
He got up and walked to the bathroom, smiling at himself in the mirror to convince himself that She was out there, somewhere. Just like he did every morning. But a thought, a depressing thought that he didn't want, crept into his mind every morning, also. The thought- rather, the fact- that he would never find Her.
He frowned at himself now, and continued to frown as he brushed his hair and teeth.
"Kenichi!" his uncle called from outside the bathroom door. "Kenichi, are you almost ready to go?"
"Coming, Uncle," Kenichi called back, leaving the bathroom to change his clothes. When he had finished this task, he joined Shinsaku in the hotel lobby.
"Come along, now. We need to get there before anyone else. We wouldn't want anyone else to find Her, now, would we?" Kenichi shook his head and smiled once more as the hope of finally finding Her ignited within him. They had been searching the wreckage of the Ziggurat for over a month, and the only forms they'd been able to pull out were the bodies of some technicians, engineers, and other workers, along with the bodies of Duke Red and the boy who'd chased Kenichi and Tima.
"You really think today will be the day, Uncle?" Kenichi questioned further.
"Yep!" Shinsaku replied cheerfully. "Today feels lucky, Kenichi. Today feels lucky." Even though it had been so long since they'd started and they still hadn't found Her, Shinsaku Ban's words seemed to add fuel to the flame in his heart, adding to the hope he felt for finally finding Her.
She had been the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen. It didn't matter that he was "too young to think such things of someone," but She had definitely been his first love. Kenichi sighed at the thought of her glowing halo of golden hair, and her shining emerald eyes, and her soft, girlish voice. His heart did somersaults when he thought of her holding that broken red alarm clock like a mysterious treasure, but his heart then sank when he thought of her being crushed under the debris of the tower.
They now stood at the wreckage of the Ziggurat tower, the mountainous pile of debris taunting them, daring them to try to pick it apart.
"Uncle ..." Kenichi began.
"Yes, Kenichi?"
"It will take so long to even get to the bottom of the wreck ... Even if we find Her ..."
"I know, Kenichi. I know."
"It just all feels like wasted time ... Time we could spend rebuilding Her, or, or ..." Kenichi sighed and sank to his knees. The hope had extinguished itself, and now he felt helpless. He'd not been able to help Her then, how could he help Her now, whether they found Her or not.
"We just have to try. We've come so far, we can't just give up now. We can't give up on Tima." Shinsaku held out his hand to help Kenichi to his feet, and together the two waded forward into the sea of endless debris.