A ginger sat in a construction site, waiting for a sign.
Years of a difficult life had taken a toll on his concerningly skinny body. He didn't mind the malnutrition. He didn't mind the fact that he wasn't privileged. What he did mind, however, were his limits.
Two years he had worked. A child, not even a teen, had worked every job he could possibly get, gathered every bit of money he possibly could.
He chuckled. It was all meaningless now. Even the tiniest spark of kindle of hope he had desperately sparked after years of effort was no more. Not a single man or organization was willing to bet its money on his potential.
No use crying over spilled milk.
Higari detested that saying. If you don't cry over a loss, what else is there to cry for?
His dreams of working as a support had been crushed. Any prestigious school with a good support program would only take students with a background in engineering. A background that Higari had failed to acquire.
Higari could still go back to an orphanage. Live an ordinary life with an ordinary job.
The thought sickened him.
Passively existing simply wasn't enough.
The way Higari saw it, three paths lay before him.
An existence of mediocrity.
Death.
A miracle.
Higari chose to bet on the one less traveled.
Sitting in an unfinished building, he waited patiently for something to happen.
He didn't know why he thought something would happen here. If he was being honest, it was the proximity to the massive construction machines that drew him there. Realistically, there was no reason for anything out of the norm to occur.
Higari's shoulders trembled.
Woah. Am I about to cry?
No. This wasn't his doing.
The very ground was shaking. The unfinished walls beside him vibrated, barely holding on.
Oh shit.
The building collapsed.
It all happened in an instant.
Two walls fell over, heading straight towards Higari.
They crashed into each other before reaching the ground.
Rubble fell on him.
The dust prevented him from keeping his eyes open.
He couldn't breathe.
All Higari could do was lay helplessly as nature ran its course.
He coughed and waited for his demise.
I guess the sign was to pick the second option, Higari thought as his world ended around him.
Then finally, silence.
From afar, Higari could hear a man cursing.
I must be imagining things.
The sound grew louder.
The cursing soon got drowned out by another sound. Higari could hear the screeching protests of a machine forced to tread where it usually wouldn't.
In but a few minutes the rubble over Higari disappeared.
Above him, the boy could see the sky. Covering the sun though, was a gruff man.
He had a weathered face and body. His eyes hinted at an even more weathered soul.
"What do you think you're doing here brat?"
"Huh?" Higari managed to say.
"IF I HADN'T RAN BACK YOU MIGHT HAVE DIED YOU IDIOT."
Higari coughed again.
"I see."
Years later, Higari Maijima, adopted son of that construction worker, stared down at a boy who decided to make his own miracle.