Left Behind. Part 2

Hiroshi and I were asleep on the floor of our bedroom, I begrudgingly collected myself from the floor as a felt Hiroshi kick me in my side while he snored. There was a perfectly empty bed unused by anyone, but I drunk too much that evening. Yuta and Misako were soundly asleep together atop my bed. I watched her sleep with a restful face, she appeared calm and tranquil. The sun already had its reach into the room, piercing through our curtains. I decided to try and wake Yuta and Misako up so we could prepare for the last day of the weekend.

“Hey, you two, wake up.” I whispered.

To no avail, they snoozed away. Looking at the clock on my phone, I realized it was nearing the afternoon already. The three of us had spoken for another two hours through the late evening. I found out more about Hiroshi’s childhood as well: he rarely ever saw his father, as he was always busy with work and would only be at home for at most three days before he left again. Hiroshi had no other siblings, and his mother was a staunch woman who hated his antics. Then, his parents one day got divorced, and he was forced to live with his mother, as she was the only one who could look after him. He never had a perfect relationship with her, but I doubted many young people today had amazing relationships with both parents. That evening, I had finally understood why Hiroshi was always up to trouble, he just wanted attention, and causing trouble was the best way to garner it. If I were in his position, I would have done the exact same to get as much attention as possible. Even super-rich families had their own personal problems, that was for sure.

“Psst, Misako.” I whispered, attempting to wake her up without startling her.

I shoved her shoulder as gently as I could. She woke with a single eye open. I realized her glasses were not on, and she looked like a completely different person without them on. I preferred her with the glasses.

“Mmm?” She muttered, trying to see who had awoken her.

“Misako, it’s nearly the afternoon.” I said calmly.

She rubbed her eyes, as she squinted, trying to see who I was.

“Lawrence?” She mumbled.

‘Lawrence? Who’s Lawrence?’ I thought internally.

“It’s me, David. You’re in my bed.” I said to her.

Misako reached for her glasses on my bedside table. As she put them on, she realized it was me.

“Oh, it’s you.” She said, yawning.

“It’s nearly the afternoon on a Sunday, when are you going to wake up?” I asked her.

“It’s the weekend, I wanna sleep~” She said as she dozed off to sleep again.

“Do you need the toilet?” I asked.

But she was fast asleep again. I decided to let her be, I thought that she rarely ever received a good night’s sleep. Instead, I was to wake up the demon-child and his master.

“Hiroshi, let’s go get some food with Yuta.” I said.

Hiroshi shot up from the floor, excited from my request.

“My young pupil, awaken!” Hiroshi commanded Yuta.

“Your wish is my command.” Yuta responded and sprang on his feet.

“Let us enjoy the fruits of last night’s labours, get yourself ready and we shall head out.” Hiroshi spoke.

Yuta and Hiroshi marched out of the room with a quick pace. I followed behind out the door. Before I closed it behind me, I took a last look at Misako.

“Sleep here as long as you want, also call me if you need anything.” I whispered to her, closing the door behind me as I left.

Inside the bathrooms, I listened to Yuta and Hiroshi chant a song that they had come up with together. Hiroshi smiled and was gleeful whenever Yuta was around, I knew that he took the opportunity to have Yuta as his little brother. Since he was a single-child, I knew Hiroshi always wanted a sibling, someone he could be himself with.

“Hiroshi, Yuta, have you ever heard of a man by the name of Lawrence before?”

Hiroshi and Yuta looked at me with confused faces.

“Ew, what’s a Lawrence?” They asked together.

“I’m not going to take that as a no.” I responded.

“Why do you ask?” Hiroshi enquired.

“No reason, it’s just that Misako called me Lawrence when I tried waking her up.”

“Probably an ex-boyfriend of hers.” Hiroshi stated.

I did not know why, but in that moment, I curled my hand into a fist.

“That name sounds dumb… only monsters have the name Lawrence.” Yuta mumbled.

“You jealous, pal?” Hiroshi teased.

I walked away from him before he could say anymore. Of course, I was. Outside the bathrooms, I spotted Mister Takahashi sat by the kitchen table. He sat drinking a cup of delicious smelling tea.

“Glad to see you guys are finally awake.” He spoke.

“Yeah, it was a long night.” I responded as I sat opposite him.

Mister Takahashi spat his tea out as he heard my answer.

“L-long night? How so?” He asked.

“We were up with Misako.” I spoke.

He spat more tea out, I could feel the droplets hit me square in the face.

“And…where is Misako…right now?” He asked, his voice was quaking. I wondered why.

“She’s in my bed right now, why do you ask?”

Without another word, Mister Takashi got up from the table and walked away.

“I-I see. You kids move fast these days…” He stuttered, walking out of my sight.

“Did I say something wrong?” I asked myself.

Hiroshi and Yuta sat beside me as we had a combination of breakfast and lunch together. Missus Takahashi’s cooking was immaculate no matter the time of day. I thought to do some more clothes shopping that day as I only purchased a few pairs of clothing for myself after Yuta and Hiroshi’s paint mishap.

“Yuta, Hiroshi, want to go shopping with me today?” I asked them as we wolved down food.

“Nah, I must return to my mission base today. My mom said so.” Yuta said.

“I have to meet my mom as well today.” Hiroshi said with sadness in his face.

“No worries, I can go by myself.” I said in return.

I received a text-message on my phone, discovering Misako had messaged me:

“Bring snacks.” She sent.

“I’m going to do some shopping; I’ll bring snacks for you.” I replied to her.

“And some cake…And tea.” She sent.

I got up from the table, preparing myself to leave the house, doing what she commanded.