Happiness depends upon ourselves.

Tsubasa and Yua have already sat in the train for 20 minutes, and the two have not said a word to each other. She took the buri ekiben while Tsubasa ate the yakisaba sushi ekiben.

She pulled the tab from the bottom of the bento box and waited for the food to heat up. Tsubasa looked at what she was doing and did the same.

The girl looked outside the window to her right, trying to process the thoughts of what had just happened. She must be overthinking things. That was all.

She did not talk to him at all for the past few minutes. Tsubasa was just staring at the ekiben in awe. He grabbed it and curiously looked at the bottom, but let go after a few seconds as he realized it was heating up quickly. He probably has never seen a self-heating ekiben in his life before.

The girl chuckled to herself. It was amusing to see his reaction to the ekiben from Yua’s point of view, which made her wonder if he was really from her time period. She brought out her phone to ask exactly that.

Is this your first time using an ekiben? I thought you would know what that is because you knew how to use a phone. Did you die in a whole other time period or something lol

Tsubasa felt kind of attacked by her statement. He scratched his cheek out of embarrassment.

“I might have died just recently, but it doesn’t mean I don’t know what an ekiben is. I just assumed that it was just like a regular bento! I didn’t know that pulling that tab makes it heat up!”

Yua chuckles softly again as he starts frantically explaining himself. He grabs the chopsticks from the bag and angrily hands her one.

“I mean, it is pretty cool though. I was wondering why a single ekiben was really expensive, but I get why it costs more than 1,000 yen per box now. This is amazing!”

Have you never bought one before? Before my mom and dad divorced, I still knew how it worked, even though I didn’t eat it that often. There’s gotta be some cheap ones in Tokyo if you look hard enough right?

Tsubasa looked down at the ekiben at the table and back at Yua again with a smile.

“Hmmm…well, let’s just say I didn’t really have the money or opportunity to eat something as fancy as this.”

Yua wouldn’t really consider ekiben to be ‘fancy’ per se, but they clearly were more expensive than the usual bento boxes you can buy from your local konbinis.

“That’s all there is to it, really.”

Yua was about to type another sentence, but before she could finish typing, her phone screen vibrated. It was a call.

The text displayed ‘Big sis’ with a black cat emoji next to it.

Her sister was calling all the way from China.

She panicked at the moment. Her sister did not call that often. She preferred texting her. The time was now exactly 12: 50. It would currently be 11: 50 in Guangzhou. Her sister would be on lunch break by now. It seems like she wanted to call her all of a sudden, not to mention it was a video call of all things. Yua took a deep breath while slightly fixing her hair and reluctantly pressed the call button.

“Hello, Yua? Can you hear me? How are you?”

Her sister was sitting in a chair with her legs perched up on the side of the table. Her long black hair was now tied into a messy bun paired with a crumpled black uniform. A bunch of paperwork was piled on her table as she stuffed herself full with a bag of chips using her chopsticks. It looks like she pulled another all-nighter in the police station for reasons she has no idea of.

Yua angrily signed using her hands as soon as she saw what her sister was eating on the video call. Chips were not a sufficient meal for lunch after all.

Why are you eating chips for lunch again?! That’s unhealthy for your diet! I already told you weeks ago to buy food from the supermarket! Doesn’t China have those pre-packed meals or something?! I told you to get that instead!

Tsubasa had no idea what Yua was signing to her sister, but he could tell that Yua swiftly used her hands to show how mad she was. Her sister threw the chip bag with the chopsticks still inside out of the camera at the person beside her. A “huh?! what?” could be heard from the background of the video call as the chip bag hit the unsuspecting victim.

“Well, uhhh…I forgot. Sorry. I promise I’ll buy one next time! Really! It’s just that I didn’t have enough time to do it because I had to solve another case asap! I am so sorry! Please don’t get mad!”

If you really are sorry, then you'd better buy it next time! Got it?! Also, you need to go home sometimes! Sleeping in the station is reckless!

The big sister could not do anything but nod. This was the first time Tsubasa had seen a younger sister scold their older sibling, but it was kind of entertaining to watch. Even though he did not understand what she was singing, he knew that Yua was scolding her right now.

Tsubasa curiously leaned in more to see what was going on on her screen. A small portion of his hair could be seen in the camera view.

“Huh? Who’s that? I know that you’re going to Tokyo right now, but is there someone sitting beside you? You can switch, y’know.”

Yua paused signing halfway. She stiffened and stared at the window.

“Hey. I know that’s a boy. Who is that?”

Her sister’s tone became deeper. Tsubasa did not know how to react at that exact moment, so he just went into the frame and smiled.

“Hi, I’m sorry for butting in! My name is Tsubasa Fushihara. It’s nice to meet yo-”

“What’s your relationship to my little sister, hm?”

An immediate interjection. The tension in the call was palpable. It felt all too familiar to Tsubasa.

“I’m her friend. I met her in sch-”

“Yeah, you better stay friends. Yua, your beloved big sister says that she doesn’t trust this pretty guy friend of yours. Don’t ever date him ‘kay?”

The tables have turned, and Yua was the one nodding now. The vibe changed immediately.

“It’s unusual for pa to make you sit next to a guy. I’m guessing he’s been pretty nice so far, but my gut is telling me that he’s bad news. Keep your guard up, lil sis.”

Tsubasa was now slightly pissed off at her words, but all he could do was simply smile and reply.

“I am so sorry you feel that way, but Mr Sheng has entrusted me to take care of your precious little sister for the time being! May I know your name, miss?”

“Hmm…don’t feel like it.”

This mysterious big sister of Yua’s started getting on Tsubasa’s nerves by a long shot. He was trying his best to hold back from replying with a rude comment, but he was stopped by another person entering the camera.

A young man with medium-length black hair tied into a ponytail entered the frame. The man was wearing a matching black police officer uniform with a cap. He was chomping on the chips her sister had eaten earlier. He interrupts the conversation by pointing the chopsticks in his hand at Yua’s older sister.

“Miss Detective! You don’t gotta be too mean to this kid! He’s just trying his best. Plus, your dad seems to trust him, so why can’t you?”

He looked at Tsubasa and winked.

“If you want to know her big sister’s name here. Her name is Sheng Xiao Li. She’s Yua’s half-sister and is my co-worker. They share the same father, but a different mother. Long time no see to you too, by the way, Yua chan!”

Yua bows at the camera. Tsubasa replied in confusion.

“Ah, uh…yeah. Thanks. Nice to meet you as well…”

Xiao Li pounced and was about to grab the man by the face, but he barely dodged the woman’s attack by using his chair. He dragged himself to the other side of the frame like it was natural.

“Shut it, Liang Wei! I’m your superior, and you should be treating me like one! You’ve been getting too cocky since you came back from the Philippines, huh?!”

“Doesn’t mean you have to be so rude to him? You’re a full-grown woman beefing with a teenager. They’ll be fine. Let these kids be kids. Who knows what if Yua chan actually likes hi-”

Xiao Li successfully grabs Liang Wei by the face, and the man raises his hands on both sides in defeat. The bag of chips fell off the chair.

A muffled sound from the man can be heard in the video call. His face was mostly covered by Xiao Li’s hand.

“That’s never gonna happen. I don’t care if I’m being rude to this kid! My gut is telling me that Yua shouldn’t stay with this guy, so I’m telling her not t- Ah?!”

Xiao Li immediately lets go of Liang Wei’s head and wipes her hand on her uniform with a look of horror on her face. The man stuck his tongue out.

“That’s what you get for grabbing my face, Miss Detective~”

Xiao Li looks at the camera in anger and leans in. Her fist was clenched as she leaned on the table.

“Yua. I am going to end the call now, okay? I don’t want you to see this, but I am going to sock this waste of oxygen in the face in t minus 10 seconds. Text me later and be on guard. Love you, bye!”

Xiao Li abruptly ends a call before Yua could even respond. The phone screen illuminated the reactions of confusion on the two teenagers’ faces.

They looked at each other and laughed.

Yua’s father woke up from the sound of their laughter, and his head popped out from the side of his chair.

“What’s going on? Did you kids eat your food yet?”

Yua shook her head while smiling. There were now tears from her eyes from all of that laughter. Their ekibens were now fully warmed up from the prolonged heat.

Tsubasa realized that he had not laughed so hard in a long time, either.

It seems like Yua took these moments of happiness for granted. Not everything was too bad after all. It really depends on the person themselves.

The two proceeded to chat while they ate, while Yua’s father asked about the details of what had happened.

This small moment in her life was not built to last. In less than three days, all of this will be over in the blink of an eye.

——

The Shinkansen came to a stop as the three brought out their suitcases. They were immediately greeted with an even louder sound of announcements and people who walked by.

Tokyo was a whole other beat compared to the small city of Hida.

It took around 10 minutes to get to the East exit of Tokyo Station. A taxi was hailed after a few minutes of waiting, and they were on their way to a new location. The taxi driver packed their bags, and they were back in the same seating arrangement as last time.

“Mr. Sheng? Where are we going now?”

“I rented another house in Tsukishima. It’s around 10 minutes away from here. The funeral hall is a few metres away from the house, within walking distance, so we don’t have to worry about rushing as well.”

“Tsukishima, huh? How hilarious.”

“Hm? Did you use to live there?”

Tsubasa looked outside the window so that Yua could not see his face.

“I used to. My parents did, but it’s fine. I moved long ago with my grandmother to Hida already.”

“Do you want to meet them?”

“No, it’s fine. I can’t divulge all the details, but Mr. Sheng…there’s a reason why they made me go to Hida.”

The silence that followed after that spoke louder than words. The taxi driver was sweating from the tension.

Isamu’s sigh broke through the silence.

“Okay. I get it. You don’t have to tell me. I’m sorry for asking, kid.”

“...Thanks…”

He could not tell them if he wanted to.

It was more like because he was dead. They would never understand.

But there was a real chance he could meet them.

He gripped the door's armrest. Just that thought alone was enough for him to feel nauseous.

All he could do was stare at the sky in anger.

You brought me here again.

I’ve had nearly enough.

Is it really that fun to see me suffer?

I get that I’ve done a lot of bad things before.

I deserve all of this.

Are you still not satisfied yet?

Is this not entertaining enough for you?

I get it, so stop playing with me right now.

Go look over someone else.

I beg of you.

Tsubasa could not see where you were. You were getting more distant by the second.

All you did was watch him. Like the spectator you are.

You really are an evil god.

Day four: I want to go to the city.