Chapter 7: Weekend

It was a really hot day and Kei was tidying up the house.

Lunch was already simmering on the stove and his music playlist kept rolling in the background. It had been quite a while since he’d had a free weekend. Between work at his company and that project that kept him insanely busy, days off were rare.

Cleaning wasn’t a problem for him. If anything, it helped him relax.

Wiping, organizing, putting things back in their place, he did it all almost automatically. That way his mind could wander somewhere else and let go of some of the stress.

After lunch, Kei decided to relax with a good book.

He walked over to his bookshelf and started looking for one he hadn’t read yet.

“This one’s really good… but i’ve already read it twice. And this other one i honestly didn’t like it at all.” He kept searching for something new.

“ Don’t tell me i’ve actually run out of unread books…”

Kei changed his clothes and headed out to buy a few new ones.

…

The heat was unbearable, so he stopped at a konbini to grab an ice cream.

Walking along the main street toward the bookstore, he passed in front of the place where he had helped Hana that night.

“ Y’were alwaysh kind and…”

Those words suddenly came back to him. Hana had said them in a low voice, between sobs, so Kei hadn’t really caught them clearly at the time.

Back then, he used to enjoy talking about movies with her. She really knew her stuff and listening to her talk with that much enthusiasm always made him feel good.

Now Sora was part of Hana’s life and in the end maybe it was better that things had turned out the way they did. Sora could probably make her happier. Give her the peace she deserved.

And now Kei had his own life too.

He did miss their high school days sometimes.

At least… the days before the accident.

Kei shook his head, pushing those thoughts away. It was his day off and he wanted to relax. Thinking about things that had happened years ago didn’t

make any sense.

He finished his ice cream and tossed the stick in the trash before stepping into the bookstore.

The man at the register greeted him by name and mentioned that some interesting new novels had arrived a few days earlier.

Kei thanked him and headed straight for the new releases section.

He scanned the titles and a couple of them immediately caught his interest.

While wandering between the shelves, he noticed a particular cover he had seen before.

He picked up the book.

It was the story of a young samurai, who had fought alone against a hundred soldiers of an army, to rescue the woman he loved.

Kei remembered that story. The movie had come out in theaters when he was still in high school , and he had wanted to see it so badly.

In the end he never managed to go, so he watched it years later on DVD.

He looked more closely at the cover and suddenly remembered where he had seen it recently.

It was the same image Hana had on her phone.

Kei picked up that book too. Maybe Hana would enjoy reading the novel of a movie she liked.

After paying and saying goodbye to the shopkeeper, Kei stepped out of the bookstore into the blazing, merciless sun.

“Man, it’s way too hot!” I want another ice cream.”

His phone vibrated. A message notification.

[MESSAGE]

[I’ll arrive at the station early this afternoon. I can’t wait to see you again <3 <3 <3

With love,

RIN]