A phone alarm rang across a dark room.
A young man with brown irises opened his eyes, and with a yawn, he sat up in bed.
He pressed the screen and the alarm stopped.
Long messy hair, defined muscles, and several marks running across his bare torso.
"Another day…" the boy yawned again, moving the window curtain beside him.
The morning sun greeted him.
He opened the window, walked closer, and looked out onto the street.
Birds were singing, people were walking, and the blue sky looked very beautiful.
"Good morning Isamu!"
The boy at the window looked toward a middle-aged woman who was waving at him with a slightly red face.
"Good morning!" Isamu smiled, closing his eyes. He decided to get out of bed, and immediately a mass of black fur launched itself at him. "What?"
He grabbed the ball of fur and moved it away from him; it was a creature that began to lick his face.
"Arf!" It was a black husky puppy.
Its tail wagged happily, but there was clear anxiety in how it tried to climb onto him.
The young man smiled.
"Kurogetsu!" Isamu narrowed his eyes. "How did you get in?"
He looked at the closed door of his room, looked at the dog's green eyes, and smiled.
"Arf!"
"You're getting better," he set the dog on the floor and began to stretch. "Ready for another day?"
"Arf!"
First his arms, then his torso, and then his lower body.
Once fully awake, he surveyed the room with his eyes.
White walls, a study desk where his computer and textbooks sat.
A wardrobe with a sliding door, a nightstand where several photos rested.
"Well, time to make breakfast," Isamu, with his torso uncovered, opened the door.
His phone rang, a call.
"At this hour?" He looked at the screen and noticed the image of a yellow, red, and blue flag, knowing who it was, he put the phone to his ear. "Good morning."
"The stocks went up again! I was right again! I'm always right! Screw the leftists!" The voice on the other end of the line was a very lively girl's. "We have more money Isu, money! Take a flight! Let's live together and have ten kids!"
A pause during which ice could be heard rattling and someone drinking something.
"… Are you drinking?" Isamu's tone was dry. "Daniela, what time is it there?"
"That doesn't matter! Come flying, running, or swimming! I'm ahhhh!" She was vomiting on the other side. "… What kind of joke is this… damn karma."
"Daniela," Isamu said in a dry tone. "Try to sleep, please."
"Wait!" Isamu stopped at the last minute; the girl's voice was full of fear. "Can't you stay a little longer?"
Isamu felt something move within him.
"Daniela…"
"The nightmares don't go away…" Daniela's voice trembled. "I still see those things every time I sleep."
Silence.
"I…"
"It was my fault…" There was desperation in the girl's voice. "I trusted my luck too much… and they…"
The girl cried on the other side of the call.
"It wasn't your fault," Isamu said in a firm voice. "You did what you could."
On the other side, the sound of the girl sobbing a little was heard.
"I miss you…" The girl sounded very sad. "… They… they haven't noticed you're gone… they're still happy and ignorant of everything."
There was venom in her voice, along with a powerful rage.
"… Let them be, Daniela, I already made my decision…" Isamu said, looking at the blue sky. "I… I'm better off alone with my real friends."
Silence fell between them.
"I love you, Isamu," Daniela said without any shame. "Don't forget that, you matter to me"
Isamu smiled.
"Goodbye, Daniela," Isamu felt better. "I love you too."
He stared at the phone for several minutes.
"Grrr…"
"…" He noticed something tugging at his pants, looking down he saw his puppy, who was biting the fabric. "Hey, are you going to eat my pants?"
"Arf!"
A little laugh escaped the young man's lips.
Taking the puppy with one hand, he continued on his way.
"Okay, okay. Come on, time to get ready," the young man left his room, went down the stairs to the first floor. "I'll make a little bit of everything today…"
"Arf!" Barked the puppy in his owner's arms.
He passed into the living room.
There were two large sofas on either side of a small table, a television on the wall, and a small dog bed.
The kitchen was next to it; a relatively new fridge, a large stove, shelves, and…
A young woman devouring a cake directly from the fridge.
"Good morning, Willow," Isamu leaned against the wall and smirked at the sight.
The woman froze, like a deer caught in headlights.
Her cheeks were covered in chocolate, a spoon was in her mouth, and her blue eyes held an expression of surprise.
"Arf!"
The puppy also seemed amused by what was happening.
The woman, caught red-handed, chose to finish swallowing the cake and threw the spoon directly into the kitchen.
Then, with a quick movement, she wiped her mouth and put away the rest of the dessert.
She straightened her posture, put her hands together in front of her, tried to maintain a calm expression on her face, and feigned dignity.
"Good morning, Isamu." The red tint on her cheeks was quite lovely.
He laughed a little.
"Cravings?"
"A little bit, I was working late last night."
The young woman had short gray hair that reached her shoulders, perfectly maintained.
Pale skin, almost as if she had never been exposed to the sun in her life, curiously giving the impression of a full-body doll.
Blue eyes that shone with intelligence.
She was wearing a beige long-sleeved sweater, a black skirt that covered her past her knees, and seemed to have white, bunny-themed slippers covering her feet.
"Coffee?"
"Please."
Isamu set the coffee to brew, and while it was dripping, he went to the refrigerator. Willow moved aside to let him pass.
"…" Besides the chocolate cake he had left for another day, the sakuramochi had also disappeared. "Only sweets?"
He gave Willow a slightly accusatory look. When stress overwhelmed her, she would go looking for the nearest dessert.
"I also ate last night's curry," she said in her defense. Isamu raised an eyebrow. "It wasn't just sweets."
"That's progress, but we have no leftovers for Kurogetsu." The puppy let out a sad whimper.
Isamu put the puppy on the floor. Kurogetsu went to Willow to look at her with sad eyes.
"I'm sorry, Kuro," Willow knelt to pet the puppy. "I'll buy you the best snacks I can find when I get off work."
"Arf!" The puppy looked very happy about that.
The click announced that the coffee was ready, and Isamu handed Willow a mug with a drawing of a snowflake.
"Well, well," Isamu said, taking several ingredients out of the refrigerator while the girl and the dog played a little. "Time for a good meal."
With vegetables, salmon, and rice, Isamu went to the stove.
"Do you need help, Isamu?" Willow asked, petting Kurogetsu's head.
Isamu shook his head.
"It's okay, Willow," the boy began to peel the vegetables. "Turn on the television, I want to hear the news while I cook."
Willow smiled slightly.
"Okay, I hope something by Bellum is playing," Isamu heard Willow say. That group had become very famous lately. "Ooh, it's just the news."
'To have such an inexpressive voice, your disappointment is noticeable,' Isamu thought.
[After the earthquakes that devastated different regions of the country last year seem to have ceased, an event is planned to commemorate the victims.]
"…" Isamu felt a pang of pain in his heart. "I'm sorry."
[Experts hope that the tremors will no longer be a problem during the coming months.]
'The source of the tremors is gone,' Isamu thought, the image of a white serpent coming to his memory.
"… Things in the rest of the world are also starting to get better," Willow said in a serious tone. "It's incredible that half a year has already passed."
Washing the rice, Isamu thought about how horrible those days were. For many, it was a nightmare that lasted too long, for him…
They were lucky.
"… Too much." It was not unusual for those horrors to still be spoken of half a year later. "… Too much luck."
[Today marks the anniversary of the Ugouno incident, an event that claimed the lives of 72 students from Yuushakojino School.]
Isamu felt his body go cold, his hand stopped halfway through cutting a radish.
He unintentionally dropped part of the radish to the floor.
"Isamu…" someone in the distance said his name. "Are you okay?"
He suddenly felt dizzy, he was no longer sure where he was.
Voices began to resonate around him.
{Come on, Isamu, I won't go on the school trip, someone has to help you while you're sick.} He recognized that voice, it was someone important.
{Isamu… I managed to see Otohara.} Another person, he knew her.
{No, no! I don't want to die like this!} He had to do something.
{My daughter, bring back my daughter!} He couldn't do anything.
{What's the point of crying over a few crushed cockroaches?} Fury and hatred.
{You are fascinating, Isamu Kuroda, your pain is a delight.} Desolation.
"Isamu," Willow's voice pulled him out of his stupor, she was holding the hand that held the knife. "Everything is fine, there's no need to fight."
Isamu looked down at his hand; from the pressure, he had broken the handle of the knife.
Opening it, he noticed that the metal was bent.
"…" Isamu left the ruined utensil on the table and remained silent. "I'm sorry, Willow…"
He looked her in the eyes; she looked very worried.
"No," Willow shook her head. "It's okay, relax."
"I…"
Willow took his cheek, Isamu closed his eyes to better feel the contact with her.
"It's okay," Willow took Isamu's head and placed it against her chest, her hands gently stroking his hair. "It's all over now, I'm here… nothing is going to happen to me."
Isamu began to feel better, his darkened mind began to clear again until he heard a loud voice declaring:
"I am with you until the end of the world, cheer up, do not fear! Rise up and be brave, Son of Uriel!"
Isamu opened his eyes, slowly he separated from Willow, their gazes meeting, both remained silent for a couple of minutes.
"Thank you," Isamu said, separating their hands, he turned back to where he left the knife and sighed. "There goes another one to the trash."
The episodes were no longer so frequent, but they were still annoying when they occurred out of nowhere.
Isamu felt Willow's hand on his shoulder, turning he saw her with a serious expression on her face.
"Isamu, go get changed, I'll take care of breakfast."
A shiver ran down Isamu's body, his friend was excellent in many areas, but cooking was not one of her domains.
"Urgh…" It wasn't that Willow was a bad cook, it was that her idea of food was… peculiar.
'I'm afraid you'll do something weird with the ingredients.' Willow was very… creative with food.
"Hey… did you just think something insulting right now?" Willow gave him an accusing look, despite her cold exterior she was very expressive. "Are you afraid I'll do something weird?"
Willow was also one of the most intuitive and intelligent people Isamu knew.
Her way of knowing what was going through Isamu's head was impressive.
"Not at all, Willow," Isamu smiled at his friend, there was no point in denying it at this stage. "Fine, I'll go get ready."
The teenager made sure to look into his friend's blue eyes, she averted her gaze with a slight red tint on her cheeks.
"Hurry up…" Willow said in a shy tone. "It's not good to be late for class…"
'What a responsible adult,' Isamu smiled brightly.
"Never change, Willow," Isamu left the kitchen, went to his room, grabbed his uniform, and entered the second-floor bathroom.
Isamu looked at the sink mirror, his own reflection sometimes seemed strange to him.
Scars covered his body of firm, worked muscles.
"And to think that every scar has its own story," Isamu barely remembered the origin of several of them.
But…
One particular memory came to his head when he focused on his right arm.
He was in a hospital bed, looking out the window at the cherry blossom trees that had bloomed.
That spring he had broken an arm and two ribs.
'You're an idiot.' Peeling apples was a girl with tanned skin, her beautiful face had an expression of tiredness.
Dark gray eyes, they looked like molten metal and gave the younger Isamu a look of reproach.
With short, messy dark brown hair with small white streaks scattered here and there.
She was wearing the sailor-style school uniform, which did not hide her developed body or her muscles, even with the bandages she used to hide her assets they were very… noticeable.
'What a novelty,' the younger Isamu said sarcastically, he was a little punk in those days.
'You're right, it's a novelty that I'm still taking care of your butt even now.' The girl seemed annoyed by his attitude, Isamu didn't look at her directly, he was embarrassed now.
She stayed despite his attitude.
She was the only one who usually stayed with him all the time. No matter what happened.
'I'm sorry,' Isamu said after a while.
She smiled.
And she punched him, which made him see stars.
'Apology accepted,' she said while he internally screamed in pain.
'Was the punch necessary?' Isamu asked painfully.
She nodded.
'With your shameless tendencies, I'll have to keep an eye on you all the time,' the smile she gave him was so bright that his heart skipped a beat with excitement. 'Get ready, Isamu, I'm going to be stuck to you until you stop being an idiot.'
He remembered her from behind, watching a steaming stew, wearing an apron.
Both had grown in height and strength, together…
"Aimi…" That name had a bittersweet taste every time he said it.
He hated thinking about that last goodbye.
He had been unable to prevent her death.
He was still not enough.
'You should have saved her.'
'She gave everything for you.'
'Your life has always been a mistake.'
'She's right.'
The voices screamed forcefully at him, Isamu hated admitting they were right.
Clenching his fist, he closed his eyes, trying to calm the pain.
"Aimi…"
"Live." Aimi's voice brought him back to calm.
"It's true," Isamu had sworn to live, for her. "I mustn't give up now."
For all the memories and history gathered within him.
After showering, he returned to his room while the aroma of food reached his nose.
Isamu looked at himself in the mirror after getting dressed.
The long-sleeved gray uniform with gold trim over the white shirt, matching pants, and brown school shoes.
The black tie was slightly crooked, but no one would notice that detail… or so Isamu hoped.
"The food is ready, Isamu," his friend's voice reached him without her raising her voice. "Come down and eat while it's hot."
In a blink, he was at the table ready to eat, Willow, without looking surprised, sat down to eat.
"Enjoy your meal," Isamu looked at the food on his plate, then at Willow.
Willow cheerfully brought the food to her mouth.
Despite her inexpressive face, Isamu knew well that the girl was happy with every bite, the problem…
Fried salmon, boiled radish, french fries, and rice. All in quantities for more than two people.
Isamu was no longer on a diet for his training, but he knew he couldn't go crazy with food, he sighed before taking a bit of fish to his mouth.
"Isamu, is it good?" The young man lifted his gaze from his plate to see his friend with a slight blush and an averted gaze.
Isamu savored the food with pleasure and, smiling, swallowed.
"It's delicious, Willow," Isamu began to eat with more enthusiasm. "Thank you for the meal."
Willow smiled.
"I also made a Bento…" she said without looking at him directly. That's when Isamu noticed the cloth-wrapped box on the table.
He was reminded of the distant memory of a smiling Aimi presenting him with a bento.
Together, plus another person, they would eat in peace, usually between jokes and laughs.
A bit of nostalgia managed to sneak into his mood that morning, to avoid thinking about it, he concentrated for a few minutes on Willow's face.
"Thank you, Willow, you're a great friend," He tried to sound as grateful as possible.
Willow froze for a moment.
The atmosphere around them changed after those words.
"You're still thinking about her, aren't you?" Willow had been a good friend of Aimi's; they used to spend time together
Isamu knew well that he wasn't the only one who had suffered from Aimi's death, in fact…
"… It's weird, I never paid much attention to the fact that she was always by my side…" Isamu looked at the ceiling when he said that, acknowledging it hurt. "But I was too foolish to appreciate it…"
He had erred in believing that Aimi would always be by his side.
He thought she would be eternal.
How stupid he felt thinking that…
"… What do you want for dinner?" Willow said shortly with a tone of voice that showed her concern.
Isamu knew well that she had followed him to prevent him from doing something foolish.
He liked to think that this is what having an older sister would be like…
Well, he did have an older sister…
"Curry?" Isamu said with amusement and saw Willow puff out her cheeks.
"You're mean, Isu."
'She's so cute.' Isamu felt something warm in his chest seeing his friend's expression. Letting out a chuckle, he quickly finished his food, grabbed the bento, and ran toward the door.
"See you later, Willow."
"Wait!"
Before leaving, right in the doorway, Willow walked up to Isamu and with a calm expression, undid the knot of his tie.
"Willow?"
"It's wrong," concentrated, the beautiful girl moved her hands and before he realized it, it was perfectly tied. "Done."
Willow gave him such a radiant smile that Isamu felt like he was in front of the very sun.
'So bright,' Isamu thought with a placid smile.
"Thank you, Willow," Isamu lost himself in his friend's blue eyes. "I… I'll be back home later…"
'Our home,' they both thought at the same time.
"G-good luck today," Willow smiled at him with red cheeks. Isamu took her right hand, crossing their fingers together with an expression of affection. "I'll be waiting for you."
They maintained the connection for two minutes, communicating without words.
"See you, Willow," Isamu turned around and left the house.
The morning sun kissed his skin. With a smile, he touched something beneath his uniform before starting to walk.
The house Isamu shared with Willow was in a place that exuded an idyllic calm.
"My bag!" A woman shouted.
'Well, not everything is calm in this life,' he thought as he looked toward where the shout came from.
Isamu saw a man running with something in his hands, then he took a breath and chased him.
"Hey," Without effort, he had caught up with the thief, taking him firmly by the shoulder. "Give that back."
"Screw you, kid," the thief turned around, he had a knife in his right hand that he pointed at Isamu's chest.
Isamu caught that hand with his right and retracted his left arm.
"You have bad posture."
Isamu threw a punch directly at the thief's face, sending him flying several meters before crashing against a wall.
"Whoa!" A boy who was there shouted with excitement.
"Well," Isamu walked up to the thief, knelt to check his vital signs, he was unconscious, but alive. "You should look for an honest living…"
He took the bag and stood up.
"Ah, thank goodness," the woman who had been robbed came up to Isamu and he held out the bag to her.
"Be more careful next time, miss," Isamu turned halfway around, he had to get to his school. "And don't do anything like that at home, kid."
Isamu said to the boy who was looking at the hole the thief had made when hitting the wall.
"Mou," the boy looked sad about the scolding.
Isamu decided to continue his walk.
"W-wait!" the woman who had been robbed came up to him with a flushed face. "How can I repay you?"
"It's not necessary," Isamu waved his hand, dismissing the matter. "But call the police… Or the hospital, see you."
Honestly, he wasn't sure which one should come for the thief.
He looked at the time on his phone and ran off, he was going to be late at this rate.
The sound of bells made him look to the side, a cat was quickly running over the walls of the houses.
It had white fur with black spots, it looked healthy and shiny, with bells on the pink collar around its neck.
'It's late…'
Isamu knew that cat…
He decided not to think about it, so early in the morning his mind should be focused on school matters.
He saw several office workers, housewives, children, and young people making their way to their respective destinations.
Isamu observed the bright blue of the sky.
'And to think it's the same sky from so long ago.'
On the way, he saw a trio of primary school children walking together, busy with their own matters.
A boy with blonde hair, a boy with black hair, and a girl with dark brown hair.
It was a nostalgic sight.
'It feels like it was another life.'
Isamu concentrated again on the blue sky, the sun's rays covering the world, the young man took a breath before letting it go with a calm expression.
"No matter where I go… I just have to keep living…"
Unknowingly, his eyes shone with an intense blue.