Chapter 5: Deep in Thought.
The following day…
Kazuki woke up in the morning. He checked the time on his phone and drew a sigh of relief. He was on time and there was no need to rush for school. After he had his breakfast with tea and he had prepared himself, putting on his uniform, he headed out of his house, on his way to the Misaki Municipal High School.
It was a normal, sunny morning. Kazuki attended his classes of the day calmly, without many worries.
"Today it's definitely different than yesterday..." he thought. In fact, there were no tests for him that day.
At lunch time, the gray-haired boy bought his lunch at the cafeteria, then he headed in class. He enjoyed solitude. Whenever he was alone, he thought. Solitude was a time of reflection for him. He could be miscalled a loner because of it, but he was anything but. In fact, after eating his lunch, he went out in the hallway, searching for company. Among the groups of students strolling about, he found Sayaka, chatting with a classmate of hers, a girl with long black hair and brown-orange eyes.
"Do you know how is he doing, Chiyoko-chan?"
"No, Sayaka-chan… I can't contact him..."
He also recognized the girl she was talking with: Chiyoko Ryoki. She was the youngest daughter of Goro Ryoki, the wealthy leader of an industrial corporation., but, oddly enough, she had nothing of the arrogance her father showed whenever he was in public. In fact, she was a kind and caring girl. She also had a strong will and good wit.
"He's far away now, in Germany..." She looked a little sad as she was talking.
"Don't worry, Chiyoko-chan!" her friend tried her best to cheer her up. "I'm sure he thinks of you every single day.". It seemed she had succeeded, a small smile appeared on Chiyoko's face.
"Thank you, Sayaka-chan..." She then closed her eyes and leaned her head back, thoughtfully "Yeah, knowing him, he probably is thinking… I don't know if it's about me, though..." the red-haired girl listened to her carefully.
"He's pretty thoughtful, but he can be bashful at times." she then said, as a sly glint appeared in her eyes "He is both like and unlike your Aokage-kun."
"C-C-Chiyoko-chan!" she exclaimed, her face as red as a tomato "Now don't be like that!"
"Tee-hee!" she giggled playfully. It was then that the two girls noticed Kazuki near them. He was amused by the chat between the two girls.
"Oh, hi, Kazuki-kun!" she put up a smile and greeted him, even though her face was still red.
"Speak of the devil..." Chiyoko mused "Don't you know it's rude to overhear others' conversations, Aokage-kun?"
"I'm sorry, Ryoki-san." he tried to reply as calmly as he could manage, but his tone betrayed his embarrassment with the situation "I didn't mean to overhear..."
"Well, I'm leaving you two alone for now. See you later, Sayaka-chan!"
"See you later, Chiyoko-chan!"
The two waved at each other with beaming smiles, then Sayaka and Kazuki strolled through the hallway.
"What were you two talking about?" the gray-haired boy asked out of curiosity.
"Oh, it's just about the boy she likes..." the girl answered earnestly, even though her embarrassment from earlier still hadn't completely gone away
"That German Hans guy?"
"Yes, it's him."
"If I remember correctly, he had to leave the country last year..."
"Yeah… And it was the year they met..." the teal-eyed girl hung her head in melancholy "He had managed to warn her just in time, but it's still sad..."
"I wonder why he had to go away in such a hurry..." Kazuki said, cupping his chin with his hand.
"Well, there are reasons. Chiyoko once told me that her father didn't like Hans very much..." Sayaka answered.
"Oh yeah?" Kazuki exclaimed in surprise.
"She also told me that he's had a complicated family life, with place changes at the order of the day…" she mused. "I hope he didn't change his heart, along with his house..."
"I wish I could say something, but I can't..." Now it was the gray-eyed boy who hung his head. After a few seconds he rose it back up, thoughtfully.
"Everything changes in the world, and we can't do anything to stop it." he said "Thats why it's important for oneself to have a point of reference, something that never changes."
"And what could it be?" she asked. After thinking about it carefully, he answered:
"There are many. You can find them either in the past or in the present. It must be something you believe in, otherwise, it isn't of any use..."
Beep, beep, beep.
A beeping sound was repeated in loop. It came from a small bracelet Sayaka was wearing.
"Oh, sorry, Kazuki-kun!" she apologized, bowing "This bracelet beeps when I have to go back to class..."
"Which means I have to go back as well!" Kazuki replied. "Thank you, Sayaka! See you later!". He waved to her as he walked hurriedly to his class. His friend waved back to him as she did the same.
He then attended the remaining classes with no problems, then he went out of the school at the end of the lessons. He waved at Sayaka and Chiyoko as he walked away, as both of them had club activities that day. Sayaka was a member of the Origami club, while Chiyoko was a member of the Archery club.
As he walked back home, he rose his hand to the level of his eyes. That crystal blue light appeared again. Kazuki looked at it thoughtfully, then, still in his trance, rose his gaze to the sky as the blue light eventually vanished.
He was like he always was when he was alone, but not lonely, which is an entirely different thing…
Deep in thought.
"I wonder how Shun is doing..."