CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 15

Friday morning was normally Fujio’s favorite time of the school week; however, he couldn’t get himself excited about something he had seen time and time again.

This morning was no different, Fujio was sitting at his desk reading a book, but mostly just thinking about when Eiichiro would get there. He was constantly shifting around in his chair, sipping water, and glancing around the room between page turns.

Eventually, Eiichiro walked in and Fujio excitedly greeted him. They talked about Fujio’s upcoming piano competition. Eiichiro usually liked to let others talk about themselves, and Fujio loved to talk to him because of this.

The day progressed as normal, with nothing interesting happening. He had a small hope that he would see Hikari, but he tried to bury that thought and focus more on just living his life.

After school Fujio waited at the gate for Eiichiro. They both went to separate after school clubs and agreed to meet up at the gate every Friday. Fujio was always early, but he didn’t mind a few minutes of silence.

Since he had nothing to do, he drifted between thoughts and eventually landed on the topic of Hikari again.

“I wonder... what she’s doing right now,” he thought suddenly. The question felt unnatural, so he dropped it.

“I need to do something at some point...”

He took a deep breath of the dry air. He glanced up, and suddenly all the autumn leaves had lost their color.

Although it came suddenly, Fujio stood unshaken. He recognized it immediately. The colors melted into a grey wash, and the sun hid from his vision.

For a moment, it swirled around him, but he wasn’t concerned enough to do anything about it. It wasn’t new, just earlier than usual.

Fujio thought about this for quite some time before Eiichiro made it to the gate. Fujio glanced up when he heard the heavy doors, and there was Eiichiro. He carried a certain glow around him, tinting his surroundings with warm colors.

Fujio looked up, trying to wash out the grey in his eyes so he could see clearly.

“I need to snap out of it, I'm fine.” Fujio thought, but the thought had no strength behind it.

Eiichiro waved from the gate like a celebrity, something that he always did. But today it seemed like his hand was raised a little lower, and his smile was dripping off his face every passing second.

They started on the way home. It was just another Friday in Fujio’s life, but to him it felt like a major event. The week had dragged on for far too long, and now this moment was here to liberate him. Although, he could still feel the grey peeking in from the corner of his eyes.

They decided to stop by the park that Fujio visited just a few days ago, and they walked around for quite a while. Fujio and Eiichiro’s parents knew each other quite well, so going home late was not a problem. As they were walking, Fujio noticed Eiichiro tripped once or twice, something he had never seen him do.

They talked and messed around like usual, losing track of time.

“Yo, it’s pretty late, wanna just eat dinner at my house?” Fujio asked him.

“Uh... if it’s okay... then yeah. I don’t have anything to do anyway.” Eiichiro said dryly.

That night Eiichiro ended up joining Fujio’s family for dinner. After that, since Fujio’s mom insisted that it was too late to walk home, he ended up staying to sleepover.

Fujio was beyond excited when plans got out of hand, in a good way, like this. They stayed up late into the night playing games, watching TV, just talking, eating snacks, and doing all the typical activities of a sleepover.

Just like they had not long ago, they were sitting in Fujio’s room, this time watching an anime, when Eiichiro started talking.

“So.... have you seen that video I sent y-you?” Eiichiro said, stuttering for the first time in years. He had never received a response from Fujio about it, so he wasn’t sure how he reacted.

“Oh that? Yeah, it’s nothing,” Fujio said, not really paying attention.

“Not the street interview thing, the one about-”
“Yeah, the one about me.”

“...”
“Why are you asking?”

“Just... I don’t want... to be the one who made you worry about it.”

“I don’t really care, but thanks for the concern bro. I doubt it’ll go anywhere.”

Eiichiro simply looked at him with concern and then at his hands. He just twiddled his thumbs and sat silently, clearly lost in thought.

Fujio had always relied on him for help, and that helped Eiichiro find self-satisfaction. He felt overwhelming pressure at the thought of that going away.

For the rest of the night, Eiichiro didn’t have the same energy he usually had. Instead, he stayed awake, trying to blink away the grey fog creeping into his eyes.