A New Family:
(Following Friday Afternoon)
Omi's day was colorless. He woke early to an empty apartment. He got cleaned up and dressed in his school uniform. After packing his backpack, he grabbed a piece of toast. He waited as long as he could, hoping one of the others would show up to open the flower shop.
"Darn them," Omi finally mumbled and headed off to school. He hoped someone would show up soon.
He gritted his teeth and debated if he should just skip school to make sure the shop would be open. No, school always had to come first. The other three were adult men that knew their obligations; he couldn't spend time fretting over them and the flower shop. There were too many things to deal with today.
His classes were normal. His friends and teachers congratulated him. His friends passed him in the hallway and asked if they would finally meet Omi's parents at tonight's banquet. Omi smiled politely and told them his parents had traveled to America on business.
His friends all gave him sympathy and encouraged him to come and get the award anyway. Omi shook his head and told them his boss refused to let him out of work. Of course he neglected to tell his friends he was the one who made the schedules for the flower shop.
Omi found his mind was in a gray fog during all of his classes. He would find his mind drifting towards the few, scant, tangible memories of his family. He sank into a dismal mood as he headed back towards the shop. It was always like this for Omi; he had no family to share his achievements with.
His bleak attitude turned into white, hot rage when he walked in front of the flower shop. It was still closed. Omi couldn't believe not one of his teammates had come around and opened the shop.
"How irresponsible!" he howled after he saw a paper sign that read, 'Closed for the day.'
Omi got out his apartment key and bolted around the building to the back stairway. He quickly unlocked the door and flung it open. He drew lungs full of air ready to bellow at anyone he found in the apartment.
"Surprise!" Ken yelled before Omi could say a word. Omi let his breath out and looked at the coffee table in the center of the living room. Aya, Ken, and Youji all stood around the coffee table that had a large cake with the words, 'Congratulations, Omi.'
"What's this?" Omi asked in confusion. He shut the door.
"Well, we found out about your essay award tonight. Since you didn't mention it, we figured you weren't going," Youji explained. "We decided to throw you a small party anyway."
"Wow. You're kidding," Omi asked, feeling a smile come to his face. "Thank you so much. All of you. This means a lot to me."
"Here. We got you something," Aya said, handing a small package to Omi. The teenager started at it in shock for a silent minute. The square was wrapped in newspaper that's ink had smeared and stained the dingy paper.
"Sorry we didn't have proper wrapping paper," Youji apologized with a smirk. "It was Ken's fault."
"Oh it doesn't matter," Omi said as Ken was about to say something biting to Youji. Omi opened up the gift. It was an elegant gold watch with a stark black leather band and crisp white dial. "I don't know what to say, except thank you."
"Well... all we have is each other," Ken said. "Don't forget to share things with us."
"I could say the same for you three. You can lean on me too," Omi said.
He sat down on the sofa as he looked over to his three teammates. Youji and Ken started bickering over cutting the cake while Aya poured cola. Aya just shook his head as white frosting was flung onto the coffee table.
Omi took his soda from Aya and chuckled when he realized, just for now, this was his family. These were the people he could share sorrow with, but more importantly, he could share joy with them too.
End.