CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 14

Fujio was sitting in his room, at the piano. He had an upright piano that took up a corner of his room. It was old, so he had to work hard to maintain it.

He had been trying to practice, but he gave up after a few minutes. He was sitting and staring at the ground, thinking about Hikari. It felt like this had become a reccurring thing in his life.

“I feel like I need to get back to me,” he thought. Hikari had been taking up his mental space for months.

Fujio stood up and started pacing around his room, still thinking. He decided that he needed a reset. It was 6pm, and he had gotten home from school and done his homework already.

Fujio took a quick glance at the window in his room. Outside, the sun was setting. Fujio was slightly upset after noticing this, because it meant winter was coming, but then he remembered Christmas time and that upset feeling disappeared.

He decided to go take a shower. He grabbed a towel and some pajamas and headed to the bathroom. Then, he took his phone out of his pocket and left it on his desk.

After the shower, Fujio walked back into his room and noticed that it was dark outside. He grabbed his phone and sat on his bed. Then he realized that it was probably time to go to sleep.

He took his water bottle, which was next to his piano bench, and went downstairs to the kitchen to refill. He said goodnight to his sister and went back to his room.

Fujio logged his day in his journal and just as he was about to sleep, he heard a notification on his phone. His phone was always on silent, unless someone specifically wanted him to see their text, which was rare.

Fujio curiously grabbed his phone and swiped up, seeing a text from Eiichiro. He clicked on it excitedly, which led him to their chat. Eiichiro had sent him a video link and a message reading, “Bro, you might want to see this...”

Fujio put his phone down on his bed and looked up. He had a weird habit of doing this every time he felt this sudden hesitation mixed with curiosity. He wanted to click on the video, but a weird dash of hesitation was in the mix.

He hesitated for about five minutes before he finally clicked on the video. It took him to a website full of videos, with the one Eiichiro sent at the top and about to start playing, but not before an ad for a vacuum.

When he saw what was in the video, his eyes widened like they never had before. Once again, he put his phone on the bed, face-down, and stared at the wall. He sat like that for what felt like a year, processing what happened, before letting out a small smile.

The video was of Fujio walking with Hikari, and it didn’t have a caption, or many likes and dislikes. Fujio was just shocked that somebody even saw him.

“Why are they even doing this; it seems pointless!” He thought in his head. Then he smiled. This was more exciting than concerning to him.

He decided to just leave it be and go to sleep. It took him a while to doze off since his mind was spinning with all kinds of possibilities. Eventually, without even realizing it, he was asleep with the lights still on.