A/N: This is a slight revision, more information at the end.
My Sunshine
Friday, June 31st
"...and I thank you for all your hard work. Have fun on your summer break and may you return to school ready to learn again." The principal concluded his speech. He walked away from the podium and went off stage. The students in the gym were chattering excitedly.
"So," CJ asked, "We still on for that one-on-one?" Next to me were CJ and the triplets. All of them looked happy. Who wouldn't? Schools out for the entire month of July because it's summer break. What sucks about it is that the break is only one month long. Back home, it's two to two and a half months home.
"I told you," I said, "it's gonna rain tomorrow." I checked the forecast for the weekend. It said that there was a small typhoon that's gonna hit either tomorrow or Sunday. CJ's insisting that the forecast is wrong and it's gonna hit the day after tomorrow. It is not totally certain if it is gonna hit tomorrow or Sunday, due to its erratic irregularity.
"Hell naw, man," he insisted, "I told you that it's gonna hit on Sunday. Don't you watch the news?"
"Better to be safe than sorry," I said.
"Twenty bucks say you're wrong," said CJ. We both shook on it. Just as we sealed the deal, the three girls stood up and walked in front of us.
"So, Sawyer," asked Rose, "What're you gonna do over the break?"
"Me? I'm gonna just… I actually don't know. I'm staying in Japan for most of the break. Maybe I'll just lock myself to my room or go sightseeing." I really didn't have much planned for the break. All I do know is that I'm going home near the end of the break to visit my family, though I'm not exactly looking forward to flying. "What about you guys?"
"We're pretty much staying in the country as well," said Zara, "We don't really have a plan for the entire break."
"I'm gonna go shopping!" exclaimed Kaylee, energetic as ever.
"I'm probably gonna go to the beach or the park a few times. You know, being a total tree hugger," said Rose.
"And I," said CJ, "am gonna chill nearby. Screw around the city. Nothing much."
CJ and the triplets talked for a little bit more, just talking about random things, then took their leave. I looked around the gym-turned-theater for Ono-chan, for we were gonna walk home together. I ended up finding Saito-san, Nakano-san, and Takeuchi-san all talking together. I approached them.
"Hey," I said, waving my hand. They all turned their heads toward me.
"Hi," said Takeuchi-san, who was standing in front of the two sitting girls, "How are you?" Meanwhile, Saito-san smiled a faint smile while blushing while Nakano-san frowned a little. Can you guys greet me differently?
"I'm good. How about you guys?"
"I'm good as well," said Takeuchi-san. "I'm happy that the break has started. I could finally relax for a bit." Takeuchi-san's just another busy bee in a hive, I thought. You know what they say, work hard, play even harder.
"I am quite splendid, actually," said Saito-san with a graceful smile.
"And I," exclaimed Nakano-san, "am not!" What got her in a bad mood? As if I ever catch her in a good mood.
"I'll be stuck at home all summer!" whined Nakano-san, "With my father no less! I go to school just to avoid him!" Is that why? What's so bad about staying at home with your father? At least she doesn't have to put up with my father… Why doesn't she like her father?
"Are you even allowed to go out?" I asked.
"Y-yeah," she said, stammering like Saito-san, "but my dad's pretty strict! I have curfews and rules to follow when I go out!"
"You probably just have an overprotective father. It's not a big fuss to make. He's your father for crying out loud."
"Oh, you have not met her father yet, if he lets Nakano-san bring home a boy at that," commented Saito-san, "He's more than overprotective."
"Meh, I've seen worse," I said. I honestly have seen worse.
"Ugh, you don't get it," groaned Nakano-san. No, it's just you exaggerating.
Saito-san looked at me with a look of disapproval. Takeuchi-san looked away and shook her head. What did I do?
"What about you?" asked Nakano-san, trying to change the topic, "What are you gonna do over the break?"
"I dunno," I said, shrugging my shoulders, "I'm staying in Japan for a while, that's for sure. I'm going back home near the end of the break, but I'm entirely free for the rest of the month."
"Hmm," said Takeuchi-san, "Maybe you can go with me to my other house at the beach." She got two houses? Damn, is this girl rich?
"You have two houses?" I asked.
Takeuchi-san smiled slyly. "I have four," she bragged, putting her fingers on her chest with her wrist sticking out, as a sort of gesture to show her nobility. My jaw dropped. Four!? Where's the other two!?
"One penthouse here in the city, one beach house in Niigata, a small chalet up north in Hokkaido, and a cottage outside London in England." She got a house in England? Home of Her Majesty the Queen? My girl's out here flexing on all of us!
My jaw dropped even further. Hell, it probably unhinged at the utter shock that has filled my body. I'm just a common pleb compared to her!
"Yeah, yeah, no need to around telling people how rich you are," complained Nakano-san.
"I agree. Monika, please show a little more modesty. Lee-san cannot even comprehend how your life has been so luxurious," Saito-san added. I stayed silent, for I was still in awe at how rich she was.
Takeuchi-san smiled brightly and laughed. "Ha! Sorry about that!"
Meanwhile, I jokingly went down on one knee and genuflected, my right arm clutching my stomach and my left extended outward. "Oh, glory to Her Majesty Takeuchi-sama!" I mockingly announced.
"My glorious goodness reaches out to even the stars up high!" she played along with my joke, "My power exceeds even the sun itself!" She stretched her arms out as if she was welcoming someone with her arms. Both of us laughed hard afterward.
"What about you, Saito-san?" I asked.
"Oh, I-I do suppose that I am free all month like you," she said, "I m-may go to the library and read."
"And I'm stuck at home unless I go out," said Nakano-san. Yes, that is what going out means. That's why you go out.
"Well, it looks like we could hang out as a group one day," I said. Nakano-san and Saito-san both blushed. Perhaps they're not used to hanging out with a boy outside of school. Meanwhile, Takeuchi-san nodded her head in agreement.
"I'll text you if we want to hang out, I guess," said Takeuchi-san.
"Wait, I don't have your email saved in my phone," I said as I reached into my pocket and took out my iPhone.
"Oh! Here you go," she said. Takeuchi-san and I exchanged emails on our cells.
"Alright. How about you, Nakano-san? Do you want to exchange emails?" I asked the pink-haired girl.
"My dad checks my phone a lot. If he sees a boy's contact information on it, he'll go crazy." Perhaps she does have an overprotective dad. Jeez, I had a helicopter mom. I understand why she worried a lot, but it was still annoying.
"Okay, how about you, Saito-san?" I asked.
Saito-san shook her head no. "I do not own a phone. I apologize for that."
"It's not a big deal." I do find it odd that she doesn't have a phone. How does she communicate with Nakano-san? They seem like best buds. Maybe they live close enough that they don't need phones?
We talked for a little while longer about what we could do over the break. We decided that we would all go with Takeuchi-san to her beach house in the port city of Niigata. Further planning is required in order to make travel accommodations and other stuff.
I met with Ono-chan afterwards and told her about the plan. She seemed excited to go. "It sounds like fun!" she said.
"Of course it sounds like fun! We're gonna stay at Takeuchi-san's beach house!" I agreed with her.
"Wait, you're gonna go too?" she said, smiling.
"Yeah," I said, "Why not?"
"Oh, I dunno," she said, clasping her hands behind her back as she approached me slowly, making her silhouette a little smaller, "Four girls, one guy, all alone in the same house. What could go wrong?"
"Wh-wha?" I said, my face burning with the blood coursing in its vessels in my cheeks. Wait! Don't make it sound like that type of vacation!
Ono-chan giggled. "Aw, Lee-kun is getting embarrassed talking about some fun times!" Don't tease me like that!
After a bit, she laid off of me. The both of us walked home together afterward, talking about what we can do over the break.
The next day
Well, it's the first day of summer break. I could finally swim at the beach or at the community pool, or walk around in the nearby park! Or, if you're a fellow otaku like me, stay inside with the curtains closed, the lights off, a blanket around you, and a mouse in hand.
Not like I can go out anyways.
"Damn, it's soaking wet," I murmured under my breath. "It's raining cats and dogs out there."
CJ and I made plans to play a pickup game at the park. Sure, he was gonna beat my ass at basketball, but it's just because of the massive height difference. I should just text him to tell him to call it off.
Above, the sky was a dark gray, with lightning flashing occasionally. The rain was coming down hard at an almost 45-degree angle because of the wind. I told CJ that there was gonna be a big over our heads today, but he didn't listen.
"We can't do it, man. It's a giant storm out there," I texted him. He shortly replied after.
"Damnit. Looks like I owe yo ass twenty bucks," he replied. I could tell that he was disappointed without needing to hear his voice.
"Pay up $$$," I texted him back before dropping my phone on my bed. The incessant rain pounded at my window as the loud thunder sound its horn, filling my room with the boom. The flashes of lightning lighted my dark room momentarily.
I sat down at my desk and cracked open my laptop. I logged in and was greeted with the apps that boots up right when I turn on my computer, lagging up the screen for a few seconds. I closed Spotify because I wasn't planning to listen to music. I also closed Skype because I didn't need it at the moment.
I kept Discord and Steam running because three of my online friends were on a game. I clicked on the Steam tab and started to run the game that they were playing. Meanwhile, I joined the Discord call that they had on. I greeted my friends as I booted up the game.
After playing (more like raging and losing every single game) for about an hour, I turned off my computer and looked back out the window. It was still pouring down rain. This storm was gonna be over our heads for quite a while. Let's hope the electricity doesn't cut out.
I looked outside the window again. I watched the water droplets pound against the thin layer of glass separating me from the maelstrom outside. Lightning flashed through the window, lighting my room momentarily every now and then. The sound of thunder and rain outside filled my room.
This storm gave me time to think for a little while, since I'm stuck in here. I just started thinking about home. About my family. I thought about what little friends I had at home. I actually had met more people with this exchange program then my entire life.
I was surprised about how many people I met here in Japan. CJ and the triplets were the friends I had met who actually stayed with me even though they met my family. Honestly, I can never bring my friends home to hang out. My family's too crazy for them that I end up scaring them off.
Then I met the girls in the club. Ono-chan, the really friendly Genki girl. I honestly think that she fits the childhood friend archetype. Then we got Takeuchi-san, the hard-working and independent woman. She is more mature and responsible type. Saito-san is the quiet and mature type. She probably could fit under the sort of big sister type I guess. Then we got Nakano-san, who is the Tsundere archetype, like the one you see in animes. Jeez, I should get one of those groin protectors baseball players use.
I wish that I had met them sooner. It would've made life back home bearable.
I heard a knock on my door. "Come in," I said. The door peeked open a crack. I could see Ms. Kobayashi peering in. The warm light from the hallway lights were creeping into my room.
"My, my, it's so dark here," said .
"There's so much lightning that I pretty much don't need to turn on my lamp," I said with a chuckle.
"Well," she said as the door opened a little more, "Have this just in case the power goes out." Her arm reached into my room. She was holding a flashlight. I stood up and grabbed the torch as I thanked her. She soon closed the door.
Thunder roared and lightning flashed, while the wind howled and the rain poured. Back home, we don't really get hit with this type of weather. Hurricanes mostly hit the southern states near the Gulf of Mexico, like Texas, the Atlantic, like Florida, and the Pacific, like California. We rarely get hurricanes, even though we're in the middle of the ocean.
I'm not scared though. The only bad thing that could happen is the power going out. That's not a big deal. It's just gonna get a little hotter with the A/C out of commission.
My phone started to ring. Who would be calling me at this time? I grabbed my phone and looked at who was calling. The caller ID said Ono-chan. I only had one picture of her and it was when she had a case of bad bed hair. The caller ID also showed me that one picture. I'll admit, I laughed a little when that picture came up with the caller ID.
"Hello?" said Ono-chan when I picked up the phone, "Lee-kun?"
"I hear you loud and clear," I said.
"First day of summer! How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Well, I'm fine and dandy, it's just that there's a storm over our heads," I explained the obvious, "Ruined my plans to have a one-on-one on the basketball court with CJ-san."
"Oh, sorry to hear about that," Ono-chan said, still sounding upbeat.
"What about you?" I asked, "What were you gonna do today?" I laid myself down on my bed, my head resting on my pillow.
"I was just gonna stay at my house, maybe take a nap." Geez, for someone so happy and energetic, she sure loves to sleep in a lot. My brother was like that, loving to just sleep in, despite being in the Navy. He would try to find sleep whenever he can. They even found him napping in the cockpit of his fighter jet while they waited for their scheduled take off for a routine flight. Good thing he woke up before they took off on the runway.
"Well, why not take a nap now? Rain and thunder can help you fall asleep."
"No, the thunder is too loud. I get kind of scared during these big storms," she said.
"You? Scared?" I said in an astonished voice.
"Y-yeah," she said with a quiet laugh.
"Never thought the always happy Ono-chan would get scared!" I commented. "You're like a puppy!"
"Puppies get scared of storms too," she said.
"My uncle had puppies at home," I explained, "And when it was raining outside, they would always go in a corner, shivering."
"Oh no! What did you do?"
"It helps if you talk to them," I said.
"Well, in this case, I'm a puppy!" she said, giggling. She exhaled a long sigh.
A puppy fits her well. She always follows me like a stray to a boy. She really is the friendly type, with her being really easy to talk to. I never really had a friend like her. I guess the person who was like Ono-chan was my brother. He's always cheerful, at least when he's out of the house. He's always there for me to talk to when I have trouble.
Until when he…. You know what, I shouldn't say what happened. That'll just ruin the mood.
Outside, the rolling thunder almost drowned out our voices. It got so loud that we had to raise our voices a little.
"I told you about my friend, right?" she asked. Well, it came up in our conversations every now and then, but she hasn't told me who it was.
"No, not really," I said, "He did come up every now and then, but you were very reluctant to talk about him."
There was a long pause. For a good ten seconds, Ono-chan didn't talk. It was like she was thinking of what she was gonna say or getting ready to tell me her darkest secret.
"I had a friend that I grew up with since elementary school," she spoke up, "His name was Makoto Chika. I just called him MC.
"He was my only real friend back then. He was like a mature older brother. He looked out for me when I was feeling down." She sighed. Only real friend? What, she didn't have any girl friends like any other girl?
"He was there when I was happy," she continued, "and he was there when I was sad. He was there when the sun was shining, and when the rainclouds won't go away. That was, until last year."
I could hear her sniffling every now and then as if she was crying. I heard her take in a few deep breaths. When she talked, her voice cracked a little.
"What happened?" I asked.
"He," Ono-chan croaked, pausing in the middle of her sentence, "He lived in your house. For some reason, MC left just before the school festival last year without so much of a goodbye."
I heard her quietly sobbing through the receiver now. Through the tears and the sniffles, she continued. Is this why she didn't really want to talk about MC before?
"It felt like a part of me was torn off, as if I was only just a half to a whole piece. I...I…" she stammered, "I loved him."
Now, she was just crying and crying. She didn't stop crying. I stayed on the line because she was my friend. Any other guy would just hang up, but I understand what she's going through. I understand how it feels to have your best friend ripped from your arms, how it feels to leave him forever without saying goodbye, without having your last moments of him being happy. I've been through all of it. I've experienced all of it.
"I'm sorry," Ono-chan apologized through the tears, "I'm sorry for making you listen to me. I should just hang up now."
"Ono-chan, wait," I said, beckoning her to stay on the line. I couldn't leave her like this. She was going through something. I'm her friend. I'm supposed to see this through. Where did all of this sadness come from?
"I see that you're not well," I said, "I can't leave you like this."
"Lee-kun…" her voice croaked, trailing off.
"Lemme help you," I offered.
"It's okay. You don't have to."
There was another long silence. None of us spoke for a while. She didn't hang up, nor did I. We were just listening to the incessant rain and her quietly sobbing. It felt as though the angels up high even wept and wailed, their cries being heard by me.
"Let me sing you a song my mom always sang to me when I was a child," I said. I haven't heard this song in years. My mom stopped singing to me when I became more mature to help out my sister. I've longed for her sweet voice to sing again, though I never asked.
"Lee-kun…" Ono-chan muttered, barely audible over the rain and thunder. I just started singing.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
You make me happy when skies are gray.
You'll never know dear, how much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.
The other night dear, as I lay sleeping.
I dreamt I held you, in my arms.
But when I awoke dear, I was mistaken,
So I hung my head and I cried.
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
You make me happy, when skies are gray.
You'll never know dear, how much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.
I'll always love you, and make you happy.
And nothing else could come between
But if you leave me to love another
You'll have shattered all of my dreams.
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away."
Again, the silence was soon filled with the sound of rain, the angels crying even harder. I felt like crying too. I haven't heard that song since that thing happened a couple of years ago. It brings back memories of my family being close. After that happened, it seemed as though everyone in my family became silent, their songs ripped from their hearts.
Soon, my ears detected the giggle of my friend. The happy giggle of Ono-chan rang in my ears. I smiled, knowing that she's okay again. At least, I think she is. That was quick.
"Lee-kun," she said, "Is that your way of cheering me up?"
"Heh, yeah," I said, "You're my friend. Why would I leave you all sad and depressed?" I stepped closer to my window and looked out. Through the falling rain, I could spy the light coming from Ono-chan's room. I turned on my flashlight and shined the beam at her room. She stood up, for she was sitting under the window, and looked back at me.
I saw her face. Her cheeks were red from the moment of sadness that had descended upon her. I saw her faint smile. I smiled back. That was over. I wonder why she was sad all of a sudden.
The light in her room suddenly shut off. Downstairs, I heard Ms. Kobayashi exclaim something. Keeping my light shined on her room, I saw Ono-chan still smiling. She laughed a little. Same with me.
For the rest of the storm, I was talking to her about the friends we had. I talked about the few friends I had back home. She talked about MC, as well as the club members. I tried to keep her spirits up throughout the storm because if she ever lost that smile, I probably would lose mine too.
I've already lost enough, I can't afford to lose any more.
Honorifics: (Underlined honorifics are the ones used in current chapter)
-san: Most common, it is an all-purpose suffix that can be used in any situation where politeness is expected. Basically the titles Mr. Ms. etc.
-sama: This suffix is one level higher than "-san" and is used to confer great respect.
-kun: This suffix is commonly used at the end of boys' names to express endearment.
-chan: Feminine version of -kun.
Senpai: Superior/Upperclassmen.
Sensei: Master.
Translation notes:
1. Shimoda is a costal city on the Izu Penninsula, south of Tokyo.
2. Hokkaido is the northernmost prefecture/island in Japan.
3. Emails are used instead of phone numbers in Japan.
A/N: I realized that the Japanese sumer vacation starts at around the end of July, not at the end of June. I had some things planned out for the entire month of July, so I'll just keep the start date on June 31st. Oh well, what can you do? It's not like this will get adapted into an anime anyways.
A/N: This is a slight revision to the previous version. I just took out some unimportant details that just interrupted the flow of the story (plus, I found it cringy). I've also noticed that my writing has improved as the chapters went on. Maybe I'll do a full rewrite if I want. AKA, if I have enough time and motivation.
