Chapter Four Part 2

Yuya was diligently studying, it was English's turn. He was glad that he managed to scan and upload one of his pictures to the website before studying. He used a timer, so the picture was only available to his followers and everyone else later. Next to him, several open and closed books lay on the table, while he was solving tasks from one of the exercise books. Their teacher gave them three pages of tasks, including a grammar test, a text completion, and a letter writing exercise. Yuya was never bad at English, he even liked the language, but he was aware that school English teaching was far from the best. This was true not only for Sendai, but basically for all Japanese elementary and junior high schools. Because of this, Yuya often watched English-language movies, series, or read English-language magazines in the library. He knew that English was an important language and if he learned it well, he could later more easily get a job, perhaps at an international company. But school English education only focused on being able to correctly fill out test papers for exams and university admissions. They were not prepared to be able to speak, which is why many Japanese people didn't even dare to utter a sound in front of foreigners. This was true not only for adults but also for students. They were terribly afraid of speaking poorly, of using grammar incorrectly.

Yuya shook his head, then continued solving one of the grammar exercises. But suddenly he heard footsteps approaching and his body instinctively tensed up. He heard two people, one was certainly his brother, the other... perhaps his mother? So it seemed he really had to apologize for something he hadn't even done. The door opened shortly after and when Yuya put down his pencil and turned around, he saw Hokuto and their mother behind him. He wasn't too surprised.

"Yuya, you still haven't apologized to Hokuto for what you did yesterday," Yuriko stated sternly. "We didn't tell your father, he has enough troubles as it is. I didn't want to add your blunder to it. But your brother deserves an apology from you."

Yuya involuntarily swallowed as he stood up. He was aware of what his mother and Hokuto expected of him, what behavior he had to show, what he had to say.

"Oh, it's nothing!" Hokuto dismissed, but his whole posture suggested something else. "Yuya is still very young and studies a lot for his tests. If I'm not mistaken, they have an English test next week, and I see he's studying diligently for it. It's completely normal to make mistakes sometimes. I'm not angry with him at all, I've already forgotten the whole foolishness. After all, it was just a child's blunder and I know he didn't mean what he said."

"But it's still unacceptable that he attacked you over some foolishness and uttered words that I don't wish to repeat," their mother stated. "Such mistakes have no place in this family! You are siblings, you must get along, you must love each other! Yuya! Apologize to your brother! Now!"

The woman's voice was irritated, angry, and commanding, and Yuya trembled. He knew there was no turning back, that one wrong word or tremor and his brother would later beat the shit out of him. Not that he hadn't already done so last night. But with Hokuto, you never knew what mood he was in. In front of their parents, he played the role of the perfect son, but Yuya knew exactly what kind of person his brother really was.

"I apologize, brother, for behaving unacceptably yesterday and causing you inconvenience," Yuya said in a humble voice, like someone reciting a well-rehearsed text. This was not the first nor the last time he had to apologize for something he hadn't done. There wasn't too much sincerity in his voice, just enough to keep them from teasing him further. It was enough to satisfy his mother.

"It's nothing," Hokuto smiled kindly and patted his younger brother's head. But his words were like poisoned stings. "Everyone can make mistakes. Now I have to go study, I have difficult exams coming up soon. You should also pull yourself together so Dad is satisfied. Then maybe you can go to school for another year."

Hokuto left with his mother, who also remarked that Yuya could really be more considerate of others besides himself. When the door closed, Yuya almost fell into his chair and gasped for air. He was still terrified, and his breathing slowly calmed down. He knew that if they saw he was afraid, it would just be another tool in his family's hands to hurt him even more. Just like his brother did. Hokuto seized every opportunity to deliberately harm Yuya, to make him look ridiculous, and mercilessly trampled on his younger brother's psyche whenever and wherever he could. Because he knew there were no consequences, and Yuya also knew he wouldn't dare to fight back. He was too weak and helpless, as he had learned early on that he was worth nothing compared to his "perfectly wonderful" brother. He didn't have an effective tool to defend himself.

Yuya knew he should hate, or at least dislike, his family for treating him this way without reason. But he couldn't. He loved them, even his brother, and hoped that one day perhaps the others would care about him too. The naive childish ray of hope still lived within him, but it was fading more and more and now barely flickered. After all, the people who should have supported and protected him only hurt him, disparaged him, and kicked him where it hurt the most.

~*~

Hiroto couldn't get Miyazawa Hokuto out of his head. The guy really behaved very unpleasantly, but Hiroto heard that he was an excellent student, a scholarship holder, and a prominent member of the Todai Student Council. Moreover, everyone respected and loved him, and he attended almost all social events organized by the university. So it was not advisable to get into a fight with him, as he belonged to the upper circles of Todai. The boy wasn't overly interested in Hokuto's social status, but he still found it childish that the other person was so upset because his usual seat was taken. Hiroto himself usually sat higher up, but that day there was no room in his usual row. He didn't think it would be such a big problem if he sat somewhere else.

Finally, he shrugged and looked up at the bookshelf. He was in Ikebukuro, in his favorite bookstore, where he almost always found what he was looking for. However, it seemed that this time the stock had run out, even though he had planned to process the next volume of the light novel series he was currently reading, which had been released barely three weeks ago, in a later podcast. In the end, he had to shrug and decided he would drop by the library on the weekend, where they always had new releases. He hoped that no one would take out the volume by Saturday. Perhaps if he reserved it today, the matter would be resolved. But then he didn't do it, he wanted to wait until he got home. Although he suspected that by then someone might reserve the volume before him, as this series was very popular and not without reason. It was really well written, the author paid attention to every detail, and with each volume, the story became more and more interesting and exciting. One never knew what would happen, and it sometimes happened that one had to say goodbye to a beloved character. Hiroto himself read it with great pleasure and had all the volumes of the series published so far, with the exception of the latest one. But he wasn't sad, he knew that sooner or later he would be able to get it.

Hiroto left the store and started walking home. The sky was already dark, the street illuminated only by the light of the shop windows and street lamps."""Many people were on the street, as it was still early, barely a quarter past nine and the bookstore was open until ten. But Hiroto was already tired of searching and knew that no new goods would be brought in until Monday. He reasoned that if he couldn't get the book from the library on Saturday, and then couldn't find it in the bookstore on Monday, he would order it from the publisher. But tonight he still wanted to finalize tomorrow's podcast so as not to disappoint his listeners.

He was halfway home when his phone chirped. He took the device out of his pocket and when he checked it, he was pleased to see the notification that Blue Sparrow had posted a new photo. He stopped under a street lamp, opened the app, and searched for Blue Sparrow's name. He immediately spotted the new picture. It was an ancient, abandoned playground, which showed that no one had been there for a very long time. The swings and other toys looked sad in the reddish light of the setting sun, now waiting in vain and hopelessly for children eager to play. Everything looked weathered, the colorful paint had peeled off the toys, and some of the climbing frames clearly showed signs of rust. The yellowing grass of the playground and the trees with falling leaves only further emphasized the sadness of the whole place. As if the place was dead, or at least dying in its severe loneliness. Hiroto's heart ached at the sight of the picture, as if he could see into the soul of the person who took it. He was sure that Blue Sparrow did not take such sad and melancholic pictures by chance. It was as if the whole thing was crying for help, as if asking someone to save them from something that made them sad. No, not even sad, rather... Hiroto couldn't find the right expression, but he felt he had to do something. Under Blue Sparrow's pictures, there were mostly words of praise, or advice on how to take even better pictures. But Hiroto felt that the other person didn't really need that. Somewhere he knew that the person hiding behind the pictures and the pseudonym didn't want empty words, but something else. Something more real.

First, he thought of writing something encouraging under the picture, but he dismissed the idea. He wanted something personal and didn't want others to see it. The site offered the option to send a private message, so he chose that. When he wrote the message, he carefully reread it and found it to be fine. He pressed the send button, then sighed.

"I hope you can draw strength from it, whoever you are," Hiroto whispered softly, as he put the device in his pocket and continued on his way home.

~*~

Yuya always carefully muted notifications on her phone as soon as she got home and didn't turn them back on until she was done studying. She did the same now, so she only checked her phone around eleven in the evening and noticed the notification that a message was waiting for her on MyPhotoAlbum. She was curious who could have sent her a private message, as all her followers, or anyone who looked at her photos, usually only commented under the pictures. She had never received a message since she registered on the site. That's why she found it strange and opened the message with a slight fear. After all, it could be spam, or even a malicious, disparaging, abusive message. That's why the content of the message surprised her when she started reading it.

Dear Blue Sparrow,

I thought I wouldn't comment under your pictures because what I want to say is too personal for others to see. I've been following your work for a very long time, pretty much from the beginning, and I really like your pictures. They are truly expressive, as if you can see into the soul of the plants and objects you capture. At the same time, I feel that this melancholic choice of theme on your part is not accidental. I feel like you want to say something with your pictures that you can't express with words, but if I'm wrong, please forgive me! It's not my intention to offend you at all; this is merely my observation, my own assumption. But if I'm right and something is hurting you deeply, know that you are not alone. I know how hard it is sometimes to step out of the cage we've built for ourselves, but believe me, even the darkest night will pass, and the Sun will rise to illuminate the world with its light. Whatever you want to achieve, whatever your goal, never give up! Just keep going on your chosen path, and you will reach your destination, believe me! Please don't misunderstand my words; I don't want to pry into your life, as we don't know each other, and I have no business with your private life. I merely want to encourage you not to be afraid; if there's any trouble, dare to ask for help, because believe me, there are people you can count on. I hope I can continue to enjoy your pictures, because you are truly a talented artist who deserves to be noticed.

Sincerely, your devoted fan, White Dragon

When Yuya read the message and saw the signature, her heart skipped a beat. White Dragon! White Dragon had written to her, the White Dragon whose podcasts meant the world and life to her. She looked up at the sender, and it really was White Dragon, with the same avatar next to the name as on the Podcast channel. Yuya had never thought that he would be the one to empathize with her pictures, which until now had only received short comments. She knew she should write something back, as White Dragon was expecting a reply and deserved it, having paid attention to such a nobody as herself. But her hands were trembling so much that the phone almost fell out of her hand, and she was unable to scrape together a coherent sentence. Her heart was pounding with excitement that her favorite, almost idolized podcaster had written to her, with kind, encouraging, and warm words that affected her like warm sunshine after a winter snowstorm. Yuya's heart was filled with gratitude, but she knew she couldn't reply to him now. But she felt that White Dragon didn't expect her to write back immediately, and besides, she wanted to carefully consider every single word that would be worthy of this great person.

"Thank you!" Yuya whispered with a grateful heart, even though she knew perfectly well that no one else could hear her. But that didn't matter.