Good thing there's no school tomorrow. Or should I say 'today' at this point...and I guess this chapter exceeds the word limit I set for myself, but eh. Final chapter! *final boss music plays*
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The ripples of his sob came back to him in little wavelets, reminding himself the house - and his life, now that they'd all split - was heartbreakingly, horribly empty.
Wiping his eyes, he picked up his phone again, studying his reflection.
Yep. That's me. Ex-hikiNEET. Still adapting to society. Likes the color red.
Lonely.
He was on the verge of throwing the phone across the room again, when, remarkably, it rang.
He stared at it for a full five seconds, analyzing the peppy yet strange 64-bit tune Ene must've changed it to at some point, the vibration of it on his hand, the light glowing around the black space of words.
Then he scrabbled to answer it, bringing it up to his ear all in a rush. "Yes? Who is it?"
A telemarketer droned in his ear, and the hope drained out of him. He ended the call with a swift brush of the button, and absently scrolled through his contacts. Maybe someone would be online, and he could chat with them to alleviate this all-consuming loneliness. It was almost enough to make him look at the scissors, lying enticingly on the windowsill.
He jerked his gaze away with effort and stared at the words on the phone without seeing them. Why am I always the one left behind in the silence? Why is it I who ends up alone?
He squeezed the fist holding the phone, and his fingers pushed the 'call' button for the contact he'd accidentally selected. He moved to hang it up, except it was picked up immediately by someone on the other end. "Hello?"
His throat clenched at the voice. It was Konoha, but not-Konoha, new and improved Haruka. By some sort of magical coincidence, he'd called Konoha - the one person that he still had a line to, though even he didn't know it.
"Hello?" repeated Haruka on the other side. "Who is it?" called a familiar irritated voice in the background, muffled.
"Ene!" he said, almost without thinking about it. "Can we talk, Ene?"
"Give me that," he heard, though suppressed. "What do you want, Ma - Shintaro? And it's Takane, not Ene, if you've forgotten."
The voice he hated so much, complaining at him, made his spirits rise. Though, now, his infamous skill for mangling the language he'd been taught came into play. "I-I was lon-, er, that is, I kind of m-, ah..."
He could almost hear her rolling her eyes. "Do you even speak this language? I've never had actual proof. And what are you wasting my time for?"
He felt his old fury rising. It was glorious. "Can I come over?"
"Why? Did you spill soda on your keyboard again and want to use ours?"
"I'm just...lonely." There. He'd admitted it, and it'd come out pathetic, like a little boy had taken his place. He closed his eyes, waiting for Takane to make fun of him.
There was another stretch of silence, but this one felt more benign since he knew someone was there., listening.
"I know how you feel," said Takane in the voice she usually reserved for those times when she really was sorry. "It's...it's different. To be back. I kept waking up in the middle of the night, ready to put on another show, and I'm already standing before I remember I have legs, and I'm not a mass of pixels anymore. I might actually miss it." Her voice turned wry.
"So," he said, hardly daring to hope, "that's a yes?"
"Well if you're gonna come, you should come." Again with the verbal eye roll.
"Where are you at?" He was already on his feet, shoving one arm through the red jersey that was so familiar to him. Already, he felt more like a person than an empty doll.
"We're at the house Konoha stayed in when he lived with Hibiya and Hiyori." Takane promptly rattled off the address, and he jotted it onto his hand, then scribbled a note to his mother and Momo, letting them know where he'd be at. "Show up soon!" said Haruka's cheerful voice on the other end. "We'll wait for you before lunch!" And to Haruka, lunch was one of life's Great Things, so for him to put it off was quite a show of affection. "Yeah, okay, bye," said Takane, but he knew her well enough to know that that tone of voice meant she was smiling.
Shintaro smiled to himself. Did I really think I was the one that ended up alone? Ha, how silly.
As he closed the front door behind him, he let the sunlight warm his features. Outside, the street bustled with sounds and colors, chasing away the silence.