The next day, the news of the plane crash of the 412 flight made the headlines in the newspapers. Everyone in Japan was shocked of what had happened as the families of the deceased who was mourned for their loved ones. Few paid attention to another report posted in the third page of the same paper, about the gruesome death of two teenagers who was killed in a road accident in one of the suburbs of Kanagawa the night before the plane crash.

Why did this happen?? What went wrong??

Mitsui clutched at stomach, wincing at the ache that came after crying for so long and so hard. Everytime his breath hitched, the sharp pain stabbed at the area between his rib cage, snapping him out of his anguish but everytime his head cleared he remembered again about his mother, his father, Miyagi and Ayako, and cried again.

~~~~

It was raining hard that day and everyone in 3-7 class was present for their first period session except for Mitsui and the departed Miyagi and Ayako. Along with the bleak weather that day, the dismal feeling one could feel in the class was brought about by the death of their two friends and the death of the parents of another. Everyone was in low spirits, the boys looking gloomy while the girls tried hard not to cry. Even the sensei's enthusiasm was forced as he stood in front of their class introducing the topic that they would be learning about that day. The class was not listening, all absorbed with their own thoughts - wondering how Mitsui was faring at that moment.

Mitsui lay in his darkened bedroom, one arm slung over his eyes and the other lay lax at his side. He was still wearing his school uniform from yesterday, rumpled and untidy and as messed up as his thoughts in his head. Mitsui rubbed his swollen eyes with his palm as he remembered Kuwata's plaintive cry from last night as he walked away from the boy and his madness.

~flashback

"But sempai! Why are you going home? You don't have to leave!" pleaded Kuwata.

Mitsui turned and glared at Kuwata before turning around again to walk out of the house.

"Mitsui-sempai!"

end flashback~

The rain continued to pour into mid-morning before stopping until it resumed again in the early hours of the night. The distant sound of thunder accompanying the pattering sound of rain was loud in the quietness of the apartment. Opening his eyes slowly, he let them adjust to the darkness in the room before he shut them again with both his palms pressed to the puffy lids in an effort to massage the pain brought by the swelling and to stave off another bout of crying.

Kuwata...

Another roll of thunder broke the rythmic sound of the dropping rain and as the crackling sound echoed in the distance, the hands covering Mitsui's eyes slid down to reveal the ruggedly handsome face hardening with disillusion of faith and the resolution of a young man forced to take action. Sitting up on his bed, Mitsui's head swam for a moment, trying to get used to the sudden shift of equilibrium since he had been lying down for too long multiplied by the gravity of what has happened and the concussion he received the day before.

The third year glanced at the illuminated digital numbers on the screen of the video player sitting across the room for the time before he walked towards it to pick up the phone lying on the player. The lighted numbers on the receiver aided Mitsui to punch the right numbers he has already memorised since the beginning of the year and waited for the other party to answer. When the ringing stopped, a young boy's voice drifted to his ears in answer.

"Hello. Kuwata."



In the small house, Kuwata hooked the puppy's chubby body over his shoulder, ignoring the wet nose nuzzling his ear as he listened to his sempai telling him that he, Mitsui, would be taking a vacation from school for a while.

"Honto ni?! Can I join?"

"Aa," Mitsui said, his heart not warmed as they used to by the delighted tone in Kuwata's voice, "There's a villa that we can use. It'll just be the two of us."

"Can I bring Shi-chan?" Kuwata asked, blushing with pleasure while hoping that Mitsui would allow him to bring the puppy that he has grown fond of.

"Of course," Mitsui replied, trying to keep his tone from sounding too listless, "Alright. Ja."

After hanging up, he turned around and happened to see a framed photo sitting on the built in shelf at the head of his bed. The picture was illuminated by the outside lights from the street and he could remember what it looked like before his eyes managed to adjust to the sight. The picture was taken the last time the basketball team had a field trip organised by Anzai-sensei. In that picture, there was him, Ayako, Miyagi and Kuwata, looking ahead at the camera with the green trees of the woods as the backdrop. The picture held happy memories for him, the moment when he recognised that his life was going well for once - having friends beside him and enjoying the sport he loved all his life.

Then he remembered that he has lost all that.

Mitsui hand shot forward and slapped the framed phtograph face down before he turned away to begin packing for tomorrow's trip. Switching on the bedroom light, he pulled out his backpack from the closet and methodologically began to arrange all the things that he should be taking for the trip. One by one, he packed the necessary items into the pack - a towel, a filled water bottle, a compas, a tube of insect bite lotion, a packet of cookies, his wallet. When he finally came to the last item on the list, he picked it up and stared at it as the light from the dim bedroom light glinted on the sharp metal, paralyzing his mind for an instant as the shine hit his eyes.
Quickly Mitsui wrapped the hunting knife tightly into a thick terry handtowel before stuffing the small bundle into the pack. The sound of the zipper as the backpack was closed was nearly drowned out by another crackling sound of distant thunder. When Mitsui looked up to look again at the glowing numbers on the video player display screen, the shadows that had covered his eyes as he packed slipped away, revealing a hard look frozen in dark blue orbs.


~~~~

The next day, the early sun was out shining in full force and the land smelled fresh by the wetness from last night's rainfall. Mitsui looked out to the west to a picture-perfect scene where the old hills loomed over the canopy of the woods and above the greenery the light blue sky showed promise of clear weather.

"Sugoi!" Kuwata breathed as he stared at the peaceful scenery in front of them, apparently as awed at their surroundings as Mitsui was.
"It's a good thing the rain stopped, ne, sempai?"

"Un," Mitsui agreed, taking a deep breath of fresh air through in nose, "It's a nice day."

Gripping his straps of backpack in his fingers, Kuwata walked ahead the small worn-out path, Shi-chan, the puppy trailing excitedly behind him.

"C'mon, sempai! C'mon, Shi-chan!" Kuwata called out gaily as he continued walking with a slight skip in his steps. The puppy yapped in response while Mitsui made to follow the junior at a leisurely pace.

The two boys and the dog have been hiking through the woods for about twenty minutes before they came upon the path that would lead them to the villa that they would be staying at that night. Feeling invigorated by the hike and having the familiar clean natural surroundings around them and a cheerful companion by his side, it was easy for Mitsui to think of it as just one of the beautiful days in his ordinary life where everything was perfect.

"So that I can become myself."

"This is me."

Mitusi remembered those words intoned from the young boy's mouth and shivered.
The Kuwata I know - that I used to know... was he really just a monster whose mind and soul is appeased only by good memories?

Less than ten minutes later, the two reached the villa where Mitsui and his family spent their family holidays in the summer. Kuwata looked at the white two storey, country-designed building in delight. As soon as they were inside, the young boy took it all in with the joy of a child.

"It's beautiful!" Kuwata exclaimed, looking at the area around him, neat and comfortable in his opinion even with the white sheets draped over the furniture to keep the dust away.
"Are you sure it's okay for us to use this?"

"Hai," Mitsui said, a wistful smile playing on his lips, "Outosan bought this at a cheap price from a friend of his."

Kuwata chuckled. "But now it's yours, sempai," the boy said innocently.

Mitsui's smile disappeared to be replaced by a startled look but before he managed to compose himself from the sudden cruel mention of his family's fate, Kuwata spoke again, "You said you wanted to get some stuff ready for our stay. I'll take Shi-chan out to play."

The boy ran outside, the puppy already at a head start out the door. Before Kuwata reached the stairs leading down from the villa, the brown-haired boy looked over his shoulder and smiled to the still immobile senior. "Come join us when you're finished, okay, sempai?"

When Kuwata was gone, Mitsui looked down to stare at the wooden flooboards of the villa. Just as he was enjoying whatever peacefulness that he has managed to delve from the recesses of his mind despite the knowledge of tragedy, Kuwata has managed to remind him again about the present danger with his innocent remarks and actions.
Kuwata. A boy with immense powers. The boy's mother had been altering Kuwata's memory since he was a child to erase the negative emotions and memories - hate, worry, sadness ... all of the feelings that would have prompted Kuwata to use that dangerous gift. That was the reason why the boy never seemed to grow up. Any bad happenings, the junior would immedietly forget and stay safe, innocent and pure as a child. Ignorance was bliss.

After knowing the story of Kuwata's life Mitsui's belief on cowardice and safety is forever altered, especially when only Kuwata's ignorance holds other people's livelihood safe in its volatile grasp.


~~~~

Mitsui stared at the spread of food in surprise. For someone who has been coddled and protected by people all his life, Kuwata proved to be a fairly talented cook in the kitchen.

"It looks good," Mitsui commented with a grin as he sat on the chair opposite Kuwata's. With a hearty 'itadakimassu!' Mitsui went on ahead to eat under the anxious look from the boy in front of him.

"How is it? I wish there would've been more that I could do, but with what I can only find in the pantry-"

"It's fine, Kuwata," Mitsui said, cutting off the boy's ramble.

Kuwata beamed at the sincerity in the senior's tone. "Honto?"

"Aa," Mitsui replied, taking another bite of his food. When the scarred-face boy realised that he was still being watched, Mitsui stopped munching and said, "Oi, what are you looking at?"

Kuwata only chuckled in response. "Betsuni. I'm glad you like it."

"A," Mitsui mumbled but when he saw that Kuwata was going to continue watching him eat, the senior suddenly felt himself going red under the pleased look.
"Stop it. Eat, will ya!" Mitsui sputtered.

Kuwata giggled making the dog barking in response to the young puppy's delight.

Dinner was a pleasant moment for all, including the puppy who was given a bowl of Kuwata's home-cooked food on the floor. Mitsui took those precious hours to enjoy his friend's company, joking and laughing with the younger boy and feeling himself slipping into a sense of ease, warmth and comfort that always comes when spending time in the boy's company. It was almost easy for him to forget about the outside world. After they were done clearing up after their meal, the two teenagers went to one of the rooms in the middle storey of the villa where they could watch the starry night sky through the open doors of the balcony.

"Sugoi," Kuwata breathed, staring at the bright stars in wonder.

"This is one of the few places in the area where you can watch the sky like this," Mitsui informed him, the older boy also admiring the view of the night with pleasure as he settled more comfortably on the pillow he has brought up for the occassion.

They stayed silent after that in reverence to the nature's night beauty. After a while, Kuwata turned to the senior and said quietly, "I remember the first time when you talked to me."

"You mean when we went against Toyotama? Why are you thinking about that now?" Mitsui said, arching an eyebrow in surprise.

"No, not that. The time that you really talked to me. It was before we were assigned to the duty roster. I couldn't get anyone to practice with me at the gym at that time and you offered to be my partner. I remember that so well. The other moments... just... blurs away. Like they're lost." Kuwata smiled sadly, "You found me, sempai, the moment you talked to me. And when we got to know each other after that, I felt saved. You're the one who anchors me down to prevent me from being totally lost."

Mitsui felt saddened by the words. All of Kuwata's life, the boy's memory was stolen from him. A firm believer that lessons from the past paves the way to the future, Mitsui was shocked by what Kuwata's mother has done to the boy. The scarred-face boy could not help thinking that if Kuwata's mother had approached handling Kuwata with someone else's help, things would've turned out differently. Probably better.

Then, Kuwata yawned before leaning back on his pillow to lay himself on the floor beside Mitsui.

"Hey, if you're sleepy, you should go to bed. It's been a long day," the senior said, trying to urge the boy up.

"No," Kuwata sighed, closing his tired eyes and cuddling close to Mitsui as the puppy joined him to lie beside his head, "It's nice being with you. I wish it could be like this forever. Just the two of us."

Mitsui watched the brown-haired boy quickly fall into slumber. The boy looked so innocent and safe sleeping peacefully next to him. Too innocent for someone who has killed so many people important in his life.

Kuwata attacked his own mother and the coach to protect himself. For Mitsui, he killed the gangsters who has harmed the senior who tried to protect him. But what about Ayako and Miyagi? It was unreasonable, even for Kuwata himself, to kill them just to get the dog back.

Did he do it so that I pay more attention to him? Mitsui wondered in aghast, shivering at the thought.
It makes sense... the plane crash...

"Just the two of us."

He killed my parents just to make sure I have no one else to go to. So many have died because of him. He wants me, more than his own blood, more than just a friend. He wants someone who he feels safe with. His own mother could control him for a while with her powers. And me? What do I have? Except...

"Kuwata..."

Mitsui reached under his pillow to take out the hunting knife he prepared earlier without Kuwata noticing. He gazed at the boy's gentle face with love, affection and regret in his eyes as his hand that held the knife slowly raised itself above the sleeping juior.

The hand hesitated for a moment before it inched slowly down in a trembling motion.
I have no right to hurt him... but... only I have the power to do so...

With that firm resolve, Mitsui raised his hand again and prepared to lunge it down through the younger boy's chest.

Kuwata!

Suddenly, the eyes opened and Mitsui found himself staring back at a pair of brown eyes which stared at him in surprise.

The puppy beside Kuwata began to bark in agitation.





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