"You came!" Ryouji was waiting at the foot of a hill near the appointed place. He smiled at the boy widely. "Got any problems getting here?"
"No", Minato shook his head. "Mom was angry at first, but then dad said I should use some fresh air and knowing me I'd get lost in the mall anyway, so it's better for the health of all of us."
"He has a point." Ryouji chuckled. "All right, Minato-chan, come with me, I got something to show you."
Minato climbed the little, grassy hill with his friend, feeling sun rays warming his backs. The weather was beautiful, with cloudless sky and refreshing breeze coming from the seaside. As they reached a peak of the slope, Minato was able to see panorama of almost entire city. He sat down on a fresh, but already dried from a morning dew grass, facing the direction of the sea. Ryouji sat next to him, stretched his arm and pointed at something at the horizon, where Port Island lies.
"Tell me what you see."
Minato looked curiously, squinting his eyes. At first nothing seemed unusual, but after a while he gathered an impression that blue sky became blurred near the island, like it was dirtied with smog. Suddenly, the unidentified mass thickened, almost taking a shape, but quickly perished.
"It was… a shadow."
"You couldn't describe it any better." Ryouji smiled, with his eyes showing a great sadness at he same time. "How should I explain it to you… you wouldn't understand, if I make it too hard. Ok. I'll tell you everything that is necessary for you to know. Well… I am not fully real now."
Minato looked at him with a big, confused eyes and a frown. There was something off in a way Ryouji was speaking. "You seem pretty real for me."
"Oh, no, that's not it. I'm not a product of jour imagination or something. The thing is, the me you see now is just my astral projection, and the rest - mind, body and spirit are somewhere else, sleeping. Eh, I'm not sure you know what I mean."
"You're sleeping?"
"Yes, and part of me woke up from the slumber, but that doesn't make this form anything more than sole consciousness. I've been in that state for a very long time, watching people from behind, seeing how everything changes, waiting in my respective grave. And then I met you, boy who has the power to see me, boy with an open mind, whose heart can accept even beings from the darkest realms of this world. That made me very happy, being able to contact with somebody… For a second I event thought you may be my brother, however I was wrong. I was utterly wrong. You see, my brothers… they got summoned by people on that island." Ryouji stopped talking, lost in thoughts.
"So that was your brothers I saw?"
"You can say that."
Minato looked at him, shocked. He didn't know how to respond to all of this, or where Ryouji's story led to. He could only sit and wait for him to continue, like a helpless child he was. He felt his eyes started to get watery.
"Please, could we… just lie here for a moment?" Minato obeyed and lied on his back without giving a sound, now looking aimlessly at the blue sky. Then he felt a touch – Ryouji's cold hand gently grabbed his. They stayed in this position, holding hands, for a long while, enjoying the warmth that surround them, as Minato's heart calm down and he even felt more and more sleepy.
"Minato-chan… they want to summon me too." Ryouji's voice sliced the silence. Minato felt a chill thorough all the body and his head suddenly seemed tight in some kind of vice. Somehow he was afraid of those words. "There is nothing you should worry about. I'd wake up one day eventually, but it's… too soon. People, ones like you, still hold reason and hope. I don't want to take anything from anybody… my purpose here was to… bring a peaceful end. And if they call me and wake up, there'll be nothing to stop me. I don't want to be like a toy in their hands, just as my brothers, but there is nothing I can do about it anyway. I can't oppose my fate. I'm so sorry, Minato. I can't stop what's ahead of us. I'm so useless, ain't I? But at least I can give you a peace. That's why you have to forget about me, and I have to forget about you.
This is our farewell."
No! Why? I don't want it! Don't leave me alone! – Minato wanted to shout, but his mind seemed to drift far away from his body, slowly loosing consciousness. The last thing he felt was the distant, yet strong grip squeezing his hand.