Fountain of Youth

October 30th, Thursday

It was nearing the end of October. In my opinion, it felt like a really long month, like it was more than thirty-one days. This month, I did remember that time I went to that baseball game with Monika. Not gonna lie, it was a fun night. Well, until what happened afterward. I don't really wanna talk about it. But you know what happened. I told Natsuki about Yuri and somehow one thing led to another and that had put a strain on their relationship. I was able to help Natsuki regain Yuri's trust, but I don't know if Natsuki still trusts me after what I did. Honestly, I don't think she'll truly trust me again.

Besides, I'm just a stupid foreigner.

"Sawyer?" asked Sayori, snapping me out of my daze. I looked around to observe my surroundings before my eyes landed on Sayori, her head quizzically tilted a little. Her bright blue eyes shone in the morning dew. "Are you okay?" she asked, "You were spacing out."

"Y-yeah," I stammered, "I'm fine." I scratched the back of my head as I stood up to get my legs feeling something again because I've been sitting on my ass all morning. "Just… thinking about something."

"You thinking about home?" asked Sayori as she leaned a little closer, enough for me to be able to smell the cinnamon bun that she ate just now for breakfast. If I'm gonna be honest, I don't think I'd catch myself thinking about home. I didn't have any friends growing up. My brother is dead. My sister gets into fights. My father's drunk all the time. And my mother is out trying to get more money. I don't wanna go back home to Hawaii. I really don't.

I smirked as I shrugged off the thought of home and shook my head. "No," I simply said, "Just… ah, forget it. It was nothing."

I looked around. We were sitting at one of the wooden benches that were in the courtyard. The leaves had all turned orange, red, yellow, and all other vibrant colors. In the distance, you could see tall mountains towering over the land, their little details being revealed by the sun peeking its little head from over the horizon. Who knew Japan would be this beautiful?

And then I took a look at Sayori, who was still munching down on the rest of her breakfast: a cinnamon roll (don't ask me how that counts as breakfast) with orange juice. There were crumbs that clung onto her cheeks as she messily chowed down on her rather sweet meal. I had some brotherly urge to wipe those crumbs off her cheeks and lips.

"You, uh, you got a little something on there," I said, gesturing to her mouth. Little pieces of bread crumbs and cinnamon frosting were all over her cheeks and lips. Really, she's so much like a little kid.

"Huh?" said Sayori as she tried to look down at her mouth (and obviously you can't, but it's Sayori we're talking about). "Oh!" She grabbed a napkin from the paper bag that she brought her breakfast in and wiped the crumbs and frosting off of her face. "Thanks."

The sound of a bike bell drew my attention away from Sayori's childish whims. I looked to the source of the bell and noticed Monika riding on her emerald green bike, the same color as her eyes. She wore a black helmet on top of her white bow, her hair still somehow being nice and neat. Her standard blue bag was slung over her shoulder like a backpack. That navy blue bag that almost everyone in this school has. The school didn't have a rule on regulating what bag everyone should get, it's just that those kinds of bags were the cheapest while being the most efficient bag. Though that's why I'm allowed to have that satchel messenger bag. I guess I'm just different.

"Hey, guys!" waved Monika while keeping one hand on the handlebars as she swerved past us before circling around and hopping off her bike.

"Oh, Monika," I said, "You're here early."

"Well, you know me," she said, shrugging as she shouldered her bag. "I am the valedictorian after all." Ah well, duh. Of course, she'd be here early. She's the top student in our class (possibly even our grade).

"I'm also here 'cause the student council really wants me to help them out this morning," she explained, sighing as if she didn't wanna do it. "They're trying to get me to run for student body president."

"Aren't you already president of the Literature Club?" I asked.

"Yeah, they want me to resign and run for student body because our current president is transferring schools," said Monika, a sort of annoyed look on her face. "That means leaving you guys."

"Oh no!" cried Sayori, "I don't want you to leave! I don't know the first thing about being a president!" Oh right, she's the VP.

"Ah, relax," said Monika, chuckling, "I'm not gonna resign. I'm staying in our club. Don't worry, Sayori."

Sayori heaved a breath of relief. I, on the other hand, was a little confused. Why would she stay as president of the club instead of running for student body? Isn't that better on record? Of course, I'd hate for her to leave, but she should look out for herself in my opinion.

"How come you're staying?" I asked, "Wouldn't it look better on your record that you were student body president? Wouldn't colleges look at that?"

"W-well, yeah, it would look good on my transcript," said Monika, "But, to be honest, it's too… shall we say, dramatic."

"Didn't you leave the debate team because of that?" asked Sayori, "Apparently, from what I've heard, some words were exchanged. Bad words."

Debate team. I remember there were a couple of clubs back at my school in Hawaii that focused around arguing. You got your classic debate team, and then there was another one called Model U.N, where people LARP as United Nations delegates for different countries. I joined Model U.N to try it out for a few weeks. Needless to say, despite it sounding fun, it was entirely chaotic and distressing. I bowed out after a few weeks. Yeesh, no wonder why Monika left the debate team.

"Yeah, that's the whole reason why I founded the Literature Club," said Monika, "You can't throw poorly worded insults and collapsible metal chairs at each other if you're reading stories and poems." Chairs? What the fuck happens in Debate Club?

"And besides," she added as she met my gaze, "Sawyer joined the Literature Club. I'd really love to see him more often." ...Wait what?

"A-are you sure, Monika?" I asked, "I don't wanna hold you back from you getting into a really good university."

"No, it's okay," she said. "Besides," Monika clasped her hands together and looked down a bit with a lovingly smile, something typical of an anime. Her hair flowed in the wind as a cool October breeze blew past us, her emerald green eyes glistening in the morning sun. "It's not my dream to get into a good college anyways. And I'm already valedictorian." Ah well, yeah, she can afford to sort of skimp on the education, which how much money she has. Me, on the other hand, I'm pretty much forced to try and go for a successful career. I can't afford to take it easy.

"Alright," I said, sighing, "Whatever you say. It's not my right to tell you how to live your life."

Monika left us on that bench so that she could help out the student council. Sayori and I were just shooting the shit for the rest of our morning before the bell rang. When it ultimately rang, I headed to my class like any other day. Plain and simple.

Lunch

"Yo Sawyer," said CJ as he approached me, "You good, man?"

"Huh?" I moaned as I shook my head, rubbing my eyes awake as I stretched my arms out, feeling the joints in my back crack. I looked up and saw CJ standing over me, his bento box in hand.

"Oh," I groaned as I sat up straighter in my desk. "Y-yeah, yeah, I'm good. Just getting some shut-eye."

"Aight, well," said CJ, "If you need me, I'll be in the courtyard."

CJ left after checking up on me. I stayed at my desk, staring off into space for a second before I reached down into my bag and felt for my own bento box. Man, I'm not even hungry, I thought to myself, Just tired from last night.

Last night, I stayed up doing a lot of homework. One of the most common traits that those in Global Degree have is the ability to procrastinate to the last minute. Honestly, for a program priding itself on academic success, we're really dumb and unmotivated. It was almost a miracle that I was even able to get to Japan, given my work ethic. I mean, I'm not as bad as Sayori, but I still procrastinate all the time.

Speaking of Sayori, I wonder where she was. I haven't had lunch with her in a while. My lunches are usually spent talking with either CJ and the triplets, or Yuri and Natsuki, mainly because I'd end up running into them in the first place. But not Sayori. To be honest, I don't see her around during lunch.

Then again, we're always together after school anyways. She's grown so close to me these past few months, closer than practically anyone other than my exchange buddies. Same with Yuri, Natsuki, and Monika. It'd be cheesy to say that they're family, but they feel like they've been with me my entire life. Especially Sayori and Monika. Sayori's the person I wished I grew up with in Hawaii and Monika's the person I could look up to. Well, she'll never replace my brother, but she could really help me. And with Yuri and Natsuki, I really wanna help them. Whatever they're going through. After all, they're my closest friends.

"Hey Sayori," I typed into my phone, texting her if she wanted to have lunch with me, "You want some company?"

A few seconds later and a cheery reply is sent back. "Sure!" she texted with her usual emoticons and poor grammar, "Meet me in the courtyard, I'll be there." Well, there we go.

Digging my own bento box out of my bag, I stood up and went down to the courtyard where a lot of students were eating lunch.

I met up with Sayori in the courtyard by the water fountain in the center, the structure in the middle spewing water into the basin below, which was filled with water, leaves, and coins. There was a running joke floating around the campus that this fountain was a magic fountain, where if you were to ask it for a request, it would grant you that wish given that the coin that you flip lands on heads when it reaches the bottom of the basin. Frankly, I don't believe in absurd superstitions like these, but it'd be a fun gag that you'd do for shits and giggles.

I sat down next to Sayori on the edge of the basin, my open bento box on my lap. Using my chopsticks, I popped a shrimp into my mouth as well as a little bit of fried rice. "So," I said after gulping down my food, "How's your day?"

"Oh," said Sayori, her mouth still full of rice, "It was okay, I guess. Nothing too exciting, you know?"

"Yeah, well," I said as I placed the bento box next to me and leaning forward put my elbows on my knees, "Looks like the both of us are having pretty boring days."

"Nothing interesting on your end?" she asked as she gulped down another mouthful of rice. Seriously, she's gonna choke on that rice one day.

"Nah," I said, taking a swig from my water bottle to wash down the food I had just ate. I mean, since the whole closet incident with Natsuki, nothing interesting had happened. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Nothing with Yuri either. It's weird. It's not like they're not telling me anything, there's just nothing to tell me.

"Well, in this case," said Sayori as she closed her bento box with her lid, "How about we play a game?"

"A game?" I asked, not knowing what she meant by that. What, are we gonna play rock paper scissors or something? Then again, knowing Sayori, she's probably gonna think of something out of the box. Something unique to my rather dull day.

"Well, it's not really a game, but…" her voice trailed off as she tried to figure out how to word it. She put her finger to her mouth as she racked her brain to find her words.

"But what?" I asked.

"Just… Give me your wallet." My wallet? I thought to myself, Why the hell does she need my wallet?

"Uh, why?" I asked as my gullible ass took out my wallet from my left pocket, "The game isn't 'Give You Money To Get Snacks From The Vending Machine', is it?"

"Oh, relax, silly!" she said with a cheeky grin, "I just need a couple of coins."

"Okay…" I said, my voice trailing off as I took out a few 1 Yen coins that were silver in color, which was about a little less than an American penny. The coins were almost the size of a nickel, while being as thin as a penny. The edges were smooth, in comparison to the reeded edges of a quarter. The amount of money I had in my hands was just pocket change.

"Now, make a wish and flip a coin into the fountain," she said as she leaned in, a smile on her face so large that her eyes were closed. Oh wait, this is what she wanted? Sure, I guess.

"Sayori, you know I don't believe in mumbo jumbo like this, right?" I told Sayori as I put one coin on my thumb as if to flip it. Quite frankly, I don't know what to wish for in the first place. I ain't gonna say something cheesy like "I wish to find love" or something. That'll make me look all sentimental, wouldn't it?

"Oh come on!" she cried and whined, "Please? I want to know what you would like!"

"Fine, fine," I said as I turned to the fountain. What do I even wish for? Should it be something stupid like "I want a burger", or something meaningful like "getting good grades"?

As I pondered on my wish, I looked into the clean and clear water. Only a few autumn leaves littered the basin, but the water was clean enough for me to see my reflection in the midday sun. I looked into the eyes of my reflection, noticing my own facial features. My own nose, my own mouth, the way my hair was parted to the side. The way I had a slight smirk on my face. That's when I noticed something odd.

My brother had the same smile as me. A smile that reminded me of Sayori, somehow. A gentle smile that radiated pure sunshine. Dear God, how I missed that smile. That laugh. The way it made everyone seeing his smile being filled with happiness, kind of like how Sayori makes me feel all warm inside whenever she enters the room. Now it's all gone, faded away, muffled in a coffin under six feet of dirt, a folded American flag on his chest. I want him back.

I flipped the coin and it flew into the air. The coin glistened at the apex of its arc as the sun's rays beamed down on it, only for it to fall back down into the fountain with a tiny splash, the metal coin sinking down into the basin. I watched it sink down until it hit the basin floor, landing on one side. Tails.

"Aw, tails, that's too bad!" exclaimed Sayori. "What did you wish for, Sawyer?"

"I, uh, I wished for a pet. Yeah, a pet," I lied, "Like a cat or a dog."

"Oh, really?" asked Sayori as she took a coin from my other hand. She turned to the fountain. "Well, in this case," she looked at the fountain with a cheery grin, "I wish to find love this year." She flicked the coin and it flew into the air like mine, plopping into the water and sinking to the bottom. It ended up landing on heads. Oh, well, she decided to wish for something cheesy.

"Yes!" she exclaimed with a happy smile on her face, with her giggling like the kid she was. If I'm gonna be honest, I was smiling too. It's kinda nice that she can lift my spirits up with such a simple gesture.

"So," I said, "Who's the lucky guy?"

"Hmm, I dunno," said Sayori as she shrugged her shoulders and put her hand to her chin, "I haven't thought of it. I don't really have any guy friends and I don't have any experience at all, so…"

She met my gaze and gave a cheap and bashful, beaming smile. One that radiated happiness through the entire courtyard. My eyes widened as I braced for what she was about to say. Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

The sound of a ringtone broke Sayori's focus. I looked away as I felt myself beginning to blush. Meanwhile, Sayori took out her phone and placed it by her ear. "Hello?" she said into the receiver.

After thirty or so seconds, she hung up and turned back towards me. "Looks like I won't be coming to the club today," she explained, "I'm getting picked up early for a doctor's appointment. I totally forgot about that."

"Oh, well, alright," I said as I heard the bell ring, signaling the end of lunch. "Well, see you at home, then," I said. Sayori smirked and nodded as she stood up with her bento box and made her way to her classroom to pick up her stuff. Uh, what was that all about?

Later that day

The school day went on as usual. The final hours passed and the bell rang. Like clockwork, everyone filed out of the classroom except for me and Monika. Well, except now Monika was packing up her own stuff.

"Monika?" I asked, "What are you doing? Why you packin' up? You goin' somewhere?"

"Oh, yeah, uh, I have something to do with the student council," Monika sighed, "They still need my help. The needy brats." She grabbed one last book and shouldered her bag. "Sayori'll take over, alright? She can do that."

"Well, that's gonna be a problem," I said, shifting in my seat, "Sayori left school early. She said she got an appointment with her doc. Meaning that it's only gonna be me, Yuri, and Natsuki."

Monika froze as she was about to start heading to the door. She winced and inhaled through her gritted teeth as if she was going to ask me to do something bad. "Oh, I promised the student council that I was gonna help them out after school ended," said Monika, disappointed.

"Ah, don't sweat it," I said, "I was looking to go home early today as well. I wanted to meet up with some friends online."

"And let me guess," smirked Monika, "You didn't write a poem for today."

"That too," I nodded, not even trying to hide the fact that I didn't do the assignment Monika always asks from us every day. "I totally forgot."

"Oh, you naughty, naughty boy," chastised Monika, shaking her head, "In this case, just go ahead and tell the girls that club is canceled then."

"Oh, not again!" a voice coming from the doorway cried out, "Seriously Monika?"

Natsuki entered the room, with Yuri behind her. She stomped towards Monika and I, her face red with frustration. "What now?"

"The student council asked me to help them again," said Monika dejectedly, "I can't say no to them. If I do, they could probably eliminate the little funding that we get at this club while coming up with a BS reason why they're doing that." They can do that? Jesus, that's a huge power trip.

"Damnit!" cried the short girl angrily. Seriously, the only thing shorter than her is her fuze. Don't tell her I said that.

"Now, now, Natsuki," chided Yuri, "If you want, you can stay in my apartment for a bit." She really doesn't wanna go home, does she?

"Well, what about Sawyer?" asked Natsuki, "Are you fine with club being canceled?"

I shrugged my shoulders and said "Meh, I got nothing to do. If you want, I can walk you ladies home as well. I got time."

"Oh sweet!" said Natsuki, smirking as if she wasn't just fuming a minute ago, "In this case, I got something to show you!" Huh? What does she wanna show me?

"Sure, I'm down for that," I said as I stood up and grabbed my books and bag. We said our goodbyes to Monika and left together.

On the way to the girls' place, we stopped by a local coffee shop. I ended up grabbing a cup of hot chocolate because I wanted to be able to sleep later tonight. Yuri got some tea and Natsuki a strawberry shake (which seemed fitting for the both of them). Natsuki also got a bottle of milk, weirdly enough. But even weirder, she didn't even drink it. She just put the bottle in her bag. She told me it wasn't for her, but for the thing, she was gonna show me. Odd. But whatever.

After downing our drinks, we went on our way. We were just having small talk every now and then. Really, nothing out of the blue. While we were walking, the breeze picked up, blowing autumn leaves all around the streets of Japan. Still can't believe that trees become this beautiful in the fall.

We ended up passing Natsuki's and Yuri's place and went down further a couple of blocks. They took me down to the riverbank below, the edge being fenced off so that no one would fall into the water below. They led me under the nearby bridge, me standing at the edge of its shadow.

"Shh," said Natsuki as she put a finger to her mouth in a gesture for me to be quiet. She then turned towards the other side of the bridge. "Here, kitty, kitty," she beckoned quietly in a gentle voice, "It's me, Natsuki." She's showing me a cat?

After a few seconds of calling what I assumed was a cat, a little dark shadow turned to the corner and under the bridge. It was a black cat, one that was sort of long and pretty slender. Not like a tabby cat that looked ridiculously fat, nor as thin as a Siamese cat. I don't really know my breeds of cat, but what stood out from its dark, shiny coat of fur was its golden eyes watching the three of us.

The cat trotted forward into Natsuki's open arms, who cradled it and rocked it like a baby. I wasn't really a cat person, but this was a very cute cat and I had the urge to pet it. "Oh my God, it's so cute!" I chided as I gestured to Natsuki with my arm, silently asking if I could pet the cat. She held it closer to me so that I could pet it on its head.

"I know right?" said Natsuki as I started gently placing my hand on the cat's soft and silky fur on its head, "I found her a few weeks ago when I came here with Yuri. I'd come and feed her every now and then." Keeping one hand holding the cat, she reached into her bag and pulled out the bottle of milk that she bought at the coffee shop. She handed it to me. "Open this, will ya?"

I uncapped the bottle of milk and Natsuki started nursing the cat, slowly dripping milk into its mouth. I stepped back and stood right next to Yuri as we were watching Natsuki happily care for her pet.

"What's her name?" I asked Yuri.

"O-oh," said Yuri, "We named her… uh... S-Shadow." She said the name of the cat a little quieter than normal as if she was embarrassed about the name.

"Lemme guess," I said, "You were the one who came up with the name Shadow."

Yuri looked away, probably blushing like she usually does when she's embarrassed by the littlest thing (not that that's a problem, I'm awkward at times too). "Y-yeah, I was the one who came up with her name." She shifted her stance a little bit as well. "How did you know?"

"Well, I kinda guessed you would suggest something spooky and edgy," I said, shrugging. "I mean, I figured you would be the type of person to say something like that. Not like that's a bad thing. Shadow's a fitting name for that cat."

"O-oh, speaking of something spooky and edgy," said Yuri, "Tomorrow is Halloween. Monika wants us to do something tomorrow as a club. Are you okay with that?" Halloween. Is that really tomorrow? Holy crap, I didn't even know.

Apparently, the Japanese also celebrate Halloween on the 31st, like the Americans. But it's a little different. I'll tell you about it later. Just for the record, it's nothing like how the US does it. It'd be interesting to see how the Japanese do it.

"I totally forgot about that," I said, "Does she want us to dress up or something?"

"Y-yeah, preferably a costume," she said, "Can you do that?"

"Yeah, I'm cool with that. I'll see what I can whip up."

"Great!" she exclaimed with a slight smile. Halloween, huh? What the hell am I gonna wear?


Translation notes:

1. Bento boxes are basically lunch boxes.

2. 100 JPY is roughly about 110 USD, meaning that 1 JPY is less than a penny. There's also different coins that are similar to US mint coins.


A/N: Welp. The ending to this was a little rushed. Honestly, I was backed up with work, so I wasn't able to flesh this whole thing out. But whatever, I wanted to get it out of the way. Not that I don't enjoy writing, I do. I just get backed up with stuff. Mainly because I procrastinate a lot.

In other news, I was thinking of future projects. I write fanfics because I want some practice writing before I try and write actual novels, figured this would be some good practice. So, for now, I'm thinking of doing a Girls und Panzer fic or a Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus story. I'll also be doing a Battlefield story on here while working on the two aforementioned ideas because the ones in the latest game, BFV, were ass and I wanted to write my own short stories. I just gotta decide which to work on first.

That said, I bid you adieu.