"Come on Pablo!" The young man yells at a chubby teen running behind him.
The teen pants heavily as he is trying his best to keep up with the young man, both of them are wearing shorts and simple shirts, and both are sweating, they've been running for a while.
"H...have some mercy! I'm not in top form like you..."Says Pablo trying to recover some of his breath.
"What are you talking about?" Says the young man showing off his not so fit gut to Pablo. "I'm not exactly in top form either, I'm actually glad you suggested this"
Pablo lets out a little chuckle and both of them sit on a bench nearby, this park is their last goal today.
Both of them take out their respective water bottles and begin drinking whatever is left in them.
"A... are you sure you want to waste your vacation doing this with me?" Says Pablo.
"Waste? Doing some exercise is never a waste of time, and helping you develop a routine makes me happy, I know you have been trying to start one so don't worry about anything else alright?" The young man looks at Pablo and smiles.
Pablo relaxes a bit, still trying to recover.
Pablo is the fourth member left of the apartment, he is a bit shy and doesn't like crowds. Most of the crew were expecting him to be one of the firsts to return to their homes but he surprisingly stayed determined. Plus he is doing very well in terms of work, as everyone in the apartment he is working a part time job, but unlike anyone in the apartment, he is crazy skilled with numbers and already got a raise. He will probably leave all of the crew in the dust eventually.
"R...ready to head back?"Says Pablo.
The young man looks at the ground and thinks for a moment.
"I'll stay a bit more, il catch up with you later"
"A... are you going to buy something? I can help you carry"
Pablo seems eager to help the young man.
"There's no need, I'm just going to do a couple more laps before I go back" Says the young man with the same smile.
"A... alright then, see you at the apartment"Says Pablo as he gets up and walks away leaving the young man sitting alone.
After a while the young man gets up and walks towards the pond in the middle of the park, he rest his arms on the metal fence and just observes the water.
It's been three days... I wonder what is he going to do...
Phrases start to slowly appear in his mind.
"Ai told me about you"
I'm worried that he is that close to her... I don't think she has anything to do with it but what if he takes Ai down with him?
I still don't know what is he... My first thought after seeing his eyes was that he is her brother, but that doesn't make sense, yeah they are both good looking and have similar eyes but apart from that they don't have facial similarities and even their hair is different... dyed? Ugh... So many empty spaces...
Lies...
What was that about? I still don't get it... Lies are lies, I just lied twice to Pablo just a moment ago, it's as normal as breathing for us humans , why did he asked me that?...
"Are you telling me that this comes naturally to you?"
...
"I can only shudder at the thought of what is behind that..."
...
...
"Enjoy your sweet and peaceful life"
The young man leans a bit more into the fence, letting out a long and heavy sigh as he relaxes all of his being more than usual.
Why do I even care?
Why do I care what happens to Ai? She has nothing to do with me, I just met her by pure coincidence and I don't even know her personally, yeah she is the main idol of a group I like but that's nothing special, and in that industry she might as well appear dead tomorrow by a crazy obsessed fan...
He instinctively grasps his chest as the image passes through his mind.
Damnit...
He takes a glance at the black sleeve he is always wearing, he narrows his eyes and lets out another sigh.
"Caw caw!"
"Huh?" The young man quickly turns his head to look at the source of the noise, a feeling of déjà vu runs through him as he discovers the visitor.
"Heh... I'm sorry but this time I don't have anything for you"
The crow stares at him but slowly begins to approach him.
"I said I'm sorry, don't bite me alright?"
The crow stops just a few inches away from his arm.
Since he doesn't have anything else to do, the young man slowly reaches the crow's head with his finger, expecting it to fly away like last time.
But the crow lets him reach for its head.
The young man is shocked, but quickly relaxes at the feeling of the soft black feathers and smiles.
He doesn't realize that in this brief moment he is relaxing a bit more than usual, enough for the crow to let him touch it apparently.
On the small eyes of the crow is reflected the face of the young man, but in this moment he seems different, his eyes are as black as the border of the deepest depths of the ocean, with the only light coming from them being the one giving faith that he is still alive, and even that one is dim. His smile is the same he always puts on when talking to anyone, but right now it is more sincere, showing something more sinister combined with his eyes.
In this brief moment he resembles the look the blonde kid had, yet the kid would easily be swallowed whole by such darkness.
After a moment the young man stops petting the crow and returns his sight to the pond, but his attention is soon caught by something happening on the other side of it.
"Hmm?"
He takes a moment to process, think and confirm that what he is witnessing is indeed real and happening in broad daylight.
"Are you serious?" He whispers to himself.
Across the pond he can see what appears to be a couple of girls in a school uniform he obviously doesn't recognize walking with a bit of nervousness, the source being a guy following them from a short distance behind.
The young man is baffled by the sight and he quickly scans the whole park from where he is standing trying to find some kind of officer, surprisingly he doesn't find anyone. He then returns his sight to the scene hoping to see anyone already involved to stop the creep, again, nothing.
Is everyone else blind? Am I the only one that can see what's happening? Or they just don't want to get involved...?
"Tch.."
He starts walking around the pond towards the scene.
They seem scared, the man looks a bit older than me and is wearing a tipical office suit but with no tie and by the way he is walking he is obviously drunk.
He inhales, exhales, and waits for the man to be near one of the benches.
The crow meanwhile hasn't moved, yet its eyes are fixed on the scene.
Alright
The young man starts to walk a bit faster, when he is a few meters away from the girls they notice him and their faces show even more concern, they think the guy behind them has a friend and they are about to get trapped between the two.
The young man quickly notices it and makes eye contact with them, then he makes a gesture with his hand to instruct them to walk right past him, they look at each other, seems like they got it.
The young man moves a bit to the side so the girls can walk past him and they do exactly that. Now he is almost face to face with the drunk man.
"Heeey what's up man?!" Says the young man planting himself right in front of the drunk man.
The drunk man looks a bit confused by the question and tries to walk past the young man but he quickly moves in front of him again, not letting him pass.
The drunk man grunts and tries one more time, just to be blocked once again.
"Watcha think ur doing?!" the drunk man yells at him.
"I'm saying hi to a friend! Don't you remember me?" Says the young man.
"I don know who the heck u are! Now mov away!"
"Oh! Oh I'm so sorry man I guess I confused you with my friend!"
The drunk man just grunts and starts to walk past the young man, but one more time, he blocks the way.
"I'm sorry friend but I think you should try that way" The young man points the opposite way with his finger.
The drunk man doesn't even respond to that, he just grabs the young man by the shirt, but he looks unfazed.
The young man doesn't say anything, just looks around with a smile, the drunk notices it and looks around as well, then he realizes all the eyes that are fixed on the scene, he quickly lets go of the young man's shirt and takes a step back, the sheer pressure of all the people around them making him a bit more sober.
He suddenly feels something resting on his shoulder.
"I can understand your need to drink to endure the hard job, but don't make those girls or anyone else miserable with you"Says the young man in a soft tone.
The now less drunk man lets out a little grunt before walking away from the scene, soon after the flow of people returns to normal and the young man sits on a bench nearby to drink the last of his water bottle.
Ring, ring!*
"Hm?"
The young man takes his phone to see who is calling.
Tap*
"Hey! How is your vacay going?" A familiar voice says through the phone.
"I'm trying my best to take it easy" The young man responds.
"Glad to hear it, anyways, I'm sorry to interrupt your relaxation but I could use your help right now"
"What is it?"
"Well... We just got an order from a kinda far away place and your junior isn't prepared for such a journey yet, so..."
"Well, I'm at the park just finishing up a session of running so It will take a while for me to get there"
"It's all right, take your time and come here, I will communicate the client the situation and if they decide to cancel I'll let you know "
"Perfect "
Tap*
The young man puts his phone in his pocket and throws the water bottle in a trash can nearby.
...
Heh... Alright, just once
He starts to run, leaving behind the park, he has a small smirk on his face.
-Later that day-
After a quick bath and some more trotting the young man finally reaches Kenji's restaurant, he didn't call him again so he guesses the client is the most patient person on earth and didn't cancel the order.
He opens the door to see Kenji and who appears to be his new apprentice, a girl, around the same age as Jay, with long black hair and glasses.
"Yo" The young man says.
"Finally, get on it!" Kenji yells to the kitchen.
"It's nice to finally meet you sir" Says the girl in a very calm, almost shy manner.
"Nice to meet you too" Replies the young man as he lends out his hand for a handshake.
The girl shakes his hand with a smile on her face.
"So, off town?" Asks the young man.
"That's right, technically our policy covers that far but for obvious reasons no one has placed an order from that distance" Kenji explains
"That's alright, where to, exactly?"
"A hospital a bit away from here"
"A hospital? That's rare"
"Yeah, maybe the nurses are sick of the food there or something? But even so why place an order here when there's restaurants near them already?"
"Well, I guess you can only be glad then" Says the young man as he puts his hand on Kenji's shoulder.
Kenji returns a little smile.
"Okay then" The young man lifts his hand once again Infront of the girl, but this time with his palm looking up.
"Oh! Right, sorry " Says the girl as she gives the young man a set of keys.
"Put the order on the bike when it's ready, I'm gonna gear up"Says the young man looking at Kenji.
Kenji gives him a thumbs up.
-A bit later, on the road-
The young man is on his way to deliver the order, but he takes some time going slower to admire the rural vibe, such a change from the crowded city he is coming from.
On the distance he finally has a visual of his destination, the hospital, pretty strange to see such a building in this environment but it gives him a sensation of relief.
As he gets closer and closer he notices that the road is besides a pretty big ledge.
Wow, no wonder she didn't want to come here...
...
Some minutes later he finally arrives, he parks and confirms the long way here by the heat coming from the motor of his vehicle. He takes the order and walks to the entrance.
As he walks he feels weird not having his ears constantly bombarded with the usual noise of the city. Pure silence with a gentle breeze and subtle noise from the trees around is the only thing he can hear right now.
Hmmm... I wouldn't mind living here at all...
...
"Hello there" Says the young man to the receptionist.
"Hi, how can I help you?"
"I have an order to deliver here" He responds as he puts the order on the reception desk.
"Oh! Wait a moment please"
The receptionist makes a quick call and before long someone enters the reception from within the hospital, a man, seemingly a doctor due to his white coat, with square glasses, dark long hair and yellowish eyes.
"That would be for me" Says the doctor.
"Alright, here you go doctor"
The young man hands the order to the doctor.
"If I may be so bold, I'm surprised a doctor would order this in particular"
"Hm? What do you mean?" Says the doctor a bit confused.
"Well... I must admit that although it is one of the best dishes we have, it is not the healthiest"
"Oh! Well, yes I did put the order but is actually not for me, one of my patients asked me to order this specifically"
The young man is a bit surprised to hear that.
Huh?
"Anyways, here you go" Says the doctor with some cash in his hand.
"Thank you very much"
The young man takes the money and prepares to leave.
"It was nice to meet you doctor..." The young man leans a bit forward and squints his eyes to see the name of the doctor. "Gorou Amemiya"
The doctor gives him a smile and a nod.
"Hmm... A fellow fan of B Komachi?" Says the young man with a curious tone.
Gorou shakes a little at the sudden comment and takes a step back almost afraid, but he quickly regains his composure as he notices where the young man was looking.
"A... Ah! That's right, I know it may not seem very professional but..." Gorou takes a more serious tone as he refers to the pin Infront of his name. "It means a lot to me"
"Don't worry, it's just that I also am a fan of B Komachi"
Gorou's eyes light up as he hears that.
"Is that so?" He says.
"Yep, though I don't have any of their merchandise... Unless you count their songs on my phone haha"
Gorou gives him a wide smile and a thumbs up.
"That's the most important thing to have of them isn't it?" Says Gorou with pride. "But you should at least get a pin like me, it's nice to have something tangible as well"
The young man chuckles a little. "Noted"
As the young man finishes his preparations to leave Gorou asks him something with a drop of sweat on his forehead.
"And... What are your thoughts on Ai?"
The young man suddenly stops as he hears the question, flashbacks of a couple of days back come through his mind.
"Heh... Is there anything to say about her? She is the heart of the group, she sings amazing and literally steals the show"
Gorou seems a bit relieved to hear that.
"But it's still weird to take such a sudden break when the group is exploding in popularity"
Gorou gets a bit nervous when he hears that, more sweat runs down his face.
"But you are right! Isn't she a bright star on a very dark but beautiful night!?" Says Gorou trying to return to the previous question.
Images of the concert as well as his first encounter with Ai run through the young man's head. He turns to leave.
"Be careful with that light doctor, you might get blinded by it" He says as he starts walking to the exit.
Gorou just watches him leave, confused by those words.
"Oh right! Better take this before it gets cold" He says as he picks up the order and disappears into the hospital.
...
Before the young man gets on his bike, he glances at the hospital, looking at the windows, wondering how many people are suffering in those small rooms, how many are there temporarily, how many will be there indefinitely... How many are just waiting for their end there.
An involuntary twitch of his right eye is the only expression on his face. He takes a deep breath and gets on his bike finally driving away and leaving the hospital behind.
Author's Notes
Soooo it's been a while huh?... I bet some of the very few people that have read my story already forgot about it and I can't blame them, with how slow the chapters are going out anyone can say that I'm not into it or I'm on the verge of abandoning it. So I will use this note to clear those thoughts at least a bit for the few around and for the future readers, (if I get any :P)
I can assure you, I'm not giving up on this story, the primary reason for the crazy slow chapters is my lack of time ( I know, very standard excuse) but since I'm more busy than ever right now it can't be helped, but I will never stop writing this story, even if it takes me the rest of my life (okay maybe not that exaggerated) I will keep on writing this story, so you can rest assured that even if it takes some time and maybe some more, a new chapter will come out. It's just the beginning after all, there's so much to be told.
P.S : I'm very excited to see that the anime is getting yet another 'season'. When I first started writing the first chapter of this story there were only the first episodes and no one knew a second season was coming so knowing that it is getting more just adds more fuel to my determination, so excited to see how far it will go.
Next chapter : Bright Future