On a Monday morning, in a house filled with only one person to entertain...

*Ring ring!*

The sound of an alarm saturates the room, it reflects from one object to another, making it very clear and loud to the ears of the one living there. It startled the boy who was comfortably sleeping in his bedsheets. He grunts in annoyance, he blinks his eyes and slowly his vision comes into focus.

"Agh, it's morning already? Can't today come later..?"

He speaks to himself as he gets up from bed. The warm ray of sunlight touches his skin, passing through the blinds, he can hear the chatter of people outside. So hectic, so wild, so irritating, he dislikes the noises. He heads downstairs, ignoring the voices. The outside world is so noisy, but in his world, it's all so empty, so quiet, so peaceful. The white bricked walls, the beautiful light brown yet stained wooden floors, only one's footsteps and creaks of floors can be heard, echoing through the halls, filling the whole room with a sense of loneliness but soothing atmosphere.

He begins to make breakfast, just a bowl of cereal and milk. He pours the cereal, a silly thought occurred to him,

"Who even pours milk first before cereal? I hate those type of people, if there's an easy way, why make it complicated? Not my problem I guess..."

He sits down at the dining table, one that was once filled with love, laughter, and comfort has now changed to a solitary spot filled with harsh memories. He reminisces about the old times, when his family was still intact. A lone teenager, sitting at his usual spot holding a spoon, digging into his bowl of grain cereal.

He remembers the events that happened in the past so clearly, he knows he can't change what has already been done. In frustration, the spoon in his hand fell and clattered to the floor followed by the spill of his cereal grains and milk. He flinched and snaps back to reality, as he was about to clean up the mess, he hears a knock on the door.

"Excuse me! Delivery for Mr. Aikawa!"

"What? I didn't order anything though."

Confused, he walks toward the door and is greeted by a deliveryman,

"Can I help you?"

"You've got a package sir."

"You must be mistaken, I didn't buy anything."

"Well, the address here is for Mr. Aikawa, 142-1293, Kishi, Musashimurayama-shi, Tokyo. And I see that your address is definitely the same as the address written on this package so I doubt there's a mistake here. Maybe it's a surprise package for you!"

The boy did not have a good feeling about the mystery package but despite being suspicious, he chose to accept it just to escape from further conversation.

"Fine. I'll take it, goodbye."

Before Yukito managed to close the door, the deliveryman stopped him and asked him to sign a form,

"Wait! Before you go, could you sign this form right here please?"

"Ugh, this guy is so annoying" the boy mumbled.

"(Sigh) Where should I sign?"

"Right here please!"

He forcefully signs the form, bids farewell to the deliveryman, and shuts the door.

Yukito puts the package on the living room sofa next to the dining table. After cleaning up his cereal mess, he goes to check the package.

"What is this suspicious looking package? Who sent it here? It feels like there's an ominous aura lurking around this package... Should I open it? I've got a bad feeling about this but... AGHH!"

The boy scratches his messy hair in dilemma, should or should he not open the package?

"You know what, I'll just open it later!

..What time is it right now?"

He looks at the clock and the needle shows that it is currently 9 in the morning. He usually goes to school at 7 AM but ever since the incident, he doesn't attend school anymore.

"Hm, 9 AM huh.."

Memories start flooding his mind again. Just a year ago, he attended school with perfect scores, always present, never missed any classes, had many friends, honorable student, but now.. He has drastically changed. Sometimes, he doesn't even recognize himself.

Just like any other day, Yukito opened his computer, put on his headphones, and started playing. He slowly forgets about the strange package.

***

Hours passed by, it is currently 5 PM. He had been so busy gaming, he didn't realize so much time has slipped away. While walking to the bathroom, he overhears the front door creaking open.

"She must be back, I really don't want to deal with her nagging. Let's just quietly take a shower and go back in peace," Yukito thought to himself.

Turns out, his "mother" had just come home from work. Everyday, she constantly pesters him, telling him to go back to school, or go outside, or just touch some grass and other stuff. But, behind all those nagging, she's probably just worried for her son..

"Yeah right, son? She doesn't even see me that way. That's such nonsense."

As he walks through the hallway, the sun starts to set, leaving hints of orangeness passing through the glassed window behind his back. The warm atmosphere makes him feel suffocated, he hopes to reach the bathroom quickly. But a voice snatches his attention,

"Yukito? Are you there?"

He stays silent.

"Have you eaten yet?"

He doesn't respond and stays still,

"..."

"Okay then, I'll prepare dinner for you. Just..." She sighs,

"...Come down and eat when you're finished."

After the voice disappeared, he eases up and starts to make his way to the bathroom again. Step by step, the thuds and squeaking of floorboards can be heard from downstairs. Eventually, he reaches his destination. Time felt so long in that narrow sun-filled hall, it was warm but the air stifled him. It's alright now, all that matters is that he's finally inside the bathroom.

The room is filled with different colored square ceramic pieces on its walls, a faucet sits next to the door. The moon can be seen from the ventilation gap above the shiny silver showerhead. He takes off his shirt and closes the polyester curtains to prevent eyes from spying on him.

He's refreshed, the dark circles that were hanging under his eyes are now gone. Even so, the feeling of having to go downstairs and meeting the woman who had delivered him to this world drains him. His eyes are as empty as a night sky without its moon and stars. It is as deep as the ocean, and there is no way to understand what's going on inside his head.

Even he, himself, doesn't understand what he yearns for. His mind is always puzzled, his heart always heavy,

"How long will this go on?"

He exits the shower and begins to shake his head, tiny drops of water splashes everywhere. His raven black hair is dried up by the soaking wet used beige towel, such a boring color to be quite honest. He wipes his face, puts on his clothes, and heads downstairs. His heart beats fast, confused on what to say the next he sees his "mother", the thought vexed him.

As he walks down the vintage wooden staircase, he glances over the pictures hanging alongside the walls. He remembers every bit of the story behind each picture and it just made his mood worse. At last, he is now met face to face with his so called "mother".

"Yukito..."

The dining room is filled with awkwardness. Silence filled the air for a moment. Instantly, it was broken by another sentence,

"Let's eat, shall we?"

Yukito, the boy who was alone in the morning till the evening nods his head. He and his "mother" sit at the same dining table. He stares at the food served by his "mother", it's his favorite meal. Omelette rice with a hint of seaweed sprinkled on top.

It sickened him, "I'm not hungry."

"You should at least eat a little, I'm worried about you Yukito..."

"How dare she say something like that. After everything that happened?! Now she's pretending to be worried, what a fake face. I'm so sick of that fake smile, fake affection, fake attitude, fake, fake, EVERYTHING IS FAKE." Those words ran through his mind, filling up every room in his brain, he can't think about anything else.

"I WANT TO GET OUT OF HERE!" He screamed inside his head,

"Yukito? Is something wrong?"

He snaps back to reality, he stands up and slams the table. The deafening bang caught his "mother" off-guard, confused and shocked, she couldn't say another word. Yukito spins around and walks away in frustration. He goes upstairs, this time he doesn't glance at the pictures on the walls. He walks through the initially warm luminous hallway, now dark and cold, towards his room.

As he arrives, he suddenly remembers about the package he had received earlier but there was no way he could go back downstairs to grab it. Especially after what just happened.

A few moments later, at 12 AM, he rose from his bed and went downstairs. There's no one here, his "mother" is probably asleep by now. It's pitch-black, no light can be seen in the room. He tiptoed across to grab the package.

He sharply analysed the package, the name of the sender is smudged. There is zero information about this mysterious box.

"No sender? No date or place?"

With curiousity and cautiousness, he slowly unwraps the odd package,

"What.? How did this get here...?"

There, he sees his old necklace, the one he lost when he was a kid. It was still as shiny as the day he first received it, the yellow necklace glimmered and twinkled. Hanging under the chains, an oval-shaped locket swayed, back and forth. The necklace is made from gold and beautiful motifs are drawn over it. He recalls the person who gave him that necklace.

Now, he doesn't want anything related to them as it just gives him bad memories. He instantly closes the package and hurls it into the trash bin outside of his room. 

The next day, just like any other day, he is greeted by the morning sun,

"It's so bright..." He says half-awake.

He yawns, gets out of his cotton sheets and sits for a while. He feels drowsy,

"I'm too lazy to get up, ugh.."

"Yukito! Are you awake?" A woman's voice passes through his door.

"Right, that woman is still here. Do I really have to deal with this? What a great day to start the morning." He mumbles sarcastically.

"When you're ready, come down and eat okay?"

Yukito stands up and walks to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He washes his face and looks at himself in the mirror,

"How did I become like this..? Why is my life..."

He whispers to himself. He sighs and on the first floor, his "mother" is already prepared to go to work.

"Oh, Yukito, you're up! I already prepared breakfast for you, I'm gonna come home late today, it seems that I'll have to pull an all-nighter haha. You can order delivery or just use the ingredients in the fridge to make yourself a meal okay?" She says while busy getting her stuff ready.

It seems that she has forgotten about yesterday, Yukito was too focused observing the food his "mother" had prepared for him. He glanced at his "mother" and his eyes widen.

"What the heck is that?" He thought to himself,

"Why are there words above her head?" He muttered as he tries to read the floating words on top of her head. His "mother" who was busy getting ready stops her rummaging and turns to Yukito who was squinting his eyes, busy trying to read the transparent writing.

"Is something wrong, Yukito?"

It seems that only he can see the text on his "mother's" head. He ignores her question and murmured the following words,

"Stressed, worried about her son, and... in grief..?"

"What did you say Yukito? I didn't catch that."

"Oh! I-It's nothing."

Her eyebrows raise in confusion for a split second but she ignores her uneasiness as she is almost late for work.

"Well, I hope you go to school today... Or at least just try to go outside for a bit okay?"

The one thing he hates the most in this world is when his "mother" tries to give him useless advices and be nosy about his life.

"I do whatever I want." He replies with his brows furrowed, narrowed eyes filled with loathing and hatred.

"Right. It's your life after all." Those are the only things his "mother" can say. She understands fully that he despises her, she walks out the door in hopes that her son will one day return back to his old self. Yukito doesn't care if his "mother" gets back home late or early, it's not his problem. To be honest, it would be better if his she doesn't come back at all. While he was preoccupied with his "mother", a sudden thought momentarily flashed inside his mind,

"Was it the necklace? Is that why I can see weird floating words now?"

Since the floating words doesn't block his vision, it doesn't really bother him, but the contents inside made him wonder,

"What was the context of those words? But man, this sure feels surreal. It feels like I'm in a game right now."

He eats his breakfast, today's menu is natto with eggrice. As he chews his food, he starts to make conclusions and hypotheses in his head,

"Am I just high? Maybe this is a dream. I should wake up"

He pinches his hand,

"Ouch!"

"Okay, I guess it's not a dream after all. I wonder if it only applies to that woman or... Wait a second! First of all, if this is not a dream then that necklace must be the only explanation to why I can see weird stuff now!"

He rises from his seating position and starts to search for the necklace. He checks the trash bin but it was already gone!

"That witch! The stupid plastic bag inside was probably thrown away somewhere else. I should check the dumpster outside."

As he was about to go out to explore the existence of the necklace, he hears a loud vroom,

"Shoot! It must be the garbage truck!"

He rushes to the front door, but it was too late. All of the trash at the dumpster had already been picked up by the truck.

"SCREW YOU!" He screamed in anger,

"What am I supposed to do now?! There's no way I'm gonna live my life with floating words blinding my eyes everywhere I go!"

He closes the glossy maroon red wooden door and growls in frustration. A few hours passed by, it is currently raining cats and dogs. The wind is so strong, the trees outside of the house starts to dance wildly. Thunder roars, ringing the ears of those who hears. He sits idly in his room, thinking about what he should do next. Should he just give up and live his life like a video game or should he search for other alternatives to solve this problem?

*growl*

He was so busy in thought, he didn't even notice that he hasn't eaten yet. He walks through the kitchen full of wooden cabinets and silver utensils. He reaches the fridge, however, there is nothing in sight.

"Are you kidding me?! Could this day get any worse!?!" He gruffed,

"Seriously. I'm gonna die of starvation, actually that's not a bad idea!"

He laughs at his own joke, he checks the food delivery apps on his phone and none of them are available due to the storm outside. In distress, he couldn't think of any choices other than going to the minimarket for food. He puts on his unwashed used black hoodie, grabs an umbrella located next to the door, and grips the golden doorknob. The dim light from the grey sky outside casts a faint glow through the glass window on the frontdoor. He can see the pouring rain and as he opens the door, he is met with a bizzare menacing storm. The rain is so loud like someone was playing a huge drum inside his ears.

"Well, I guess I'm either gonna die from starvation or this... Must be my lucky day!"

He sprints to the minimarket just down the block from his neighbourhood, holding his umbrella tightly, he tries his best to fight the wind, it's slowly pushing him back. With all his strength, he finally arrives at the minimarket, all drenched,

"I guess I didn't need to bring my umbrella. After all, the outcome will still be the same. The difference is that the umbrella is now broken, I really hope she doesn't realize that I broke her umbrella." He talked to himself,

"It's been a while since I went outside..."

*growl*

"Alright hold on tummy, don't worry. It's time to buy food." His eyes sparkled as he browsed through the aisles, but then he realizes something.

"Oh dang, I have to talk to another human being. Okay, I hate this already. Maybe I should have just starved to death at home."

However, that option was already too late as Yukito has already arrived at the minimarket. Might as well buy the food he needs, right? He looks around and a cup of ramen intrigued him. The packaging seems interesting. He grabs 3 cups of ramen just in case. He walks to the counter and is met with a cashier, a really tall boy, he seems to be the same age as Yukito.

"Your total is 3,000 yen."

Yukito rummages through his pockets to find his wallet. As he opens his wallet, he is faced with a shocking situation. Empty. His wallet had no money left inside, only flies flew out from it. Yukito lifts up his head and lets out a really long sigh showing his exhaustion and anger.

"I should've just died at home." He thought to himself,

"Sorry, turns out I don't have any money to buy those. I think I left my cash at home- Hold on, my e-wallet is... also.. empty..."

"Oh, it's alright. I'll pay for you!" The cashier replied.

"Just take the cups of ramen and eat it here, I saw you outside, trudging through the storm. It seems to me that you really want those cups of ramen huh?" He chuckled,

"But-"

Before Yukito could speak, the cashier interrupts him,

"It's fine. Relax, I help those who are in need. Maybe someday you'll help me too, who knows!"

"Right..."

"I doubt that." Yukito muttered,

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

Before he walks away to the table across to eat, he notices something. The floating words! They're still there!

"I guess it applies to all people huh?"

"Hm? Did you say something?"

"Ah, nothing. I'm gonna go eat, thank you."

"No problem! Enjoy your food!"

He rests on a small navy blue barstool and starts to slurp his noodles in relaxation. He feels energized, like he got a power-up. As he swallows his lunch, he watches the downpour outside, he remembers about his ability to see things above people's heads. He peeks over to see the cashier, checking the words above his head.

"Confused feelings toward a special person?"

That's the label on top of the cashier, a special person? Who?

"Probably some girl." Yukito scoffs.

The cashier notices Yukito staring and tilts his head expressing the question, "What's up? Why are you looking at me like that? Do you need something?" Yukito didn't realize the facial expression he had been putting on, Yukito's face was showing a hint of curiousity. He turns away in a hurry, hoping the cashier doesn't notice his little idiosyncrasies about the floating texts. Yukito continues to slurp his noodles, trying to ignore the words above the cashier's head. However, while he was busy eating, the cashier suddenly pops up behind his back startling him,

(Cough cough! Gasps)

"Ack! What the heck man?! (cough) You scared me!" Yukito yelled,

"Sorry, are you okay? I didn't mean to surprise you, I just wanted to talk to you! You were staring at me for so long I thought you needed my help or something?"

"Oh great, he's one of those nosy extroverted golden retriever type of people. What does he want now?" Yukito thought to himself,

"So? What do you want?"

"Well, since there's a storm outside and we're the only people here, I thought we could get to know each other! I mean, I'm really bored. There's literally nothing to do! Anyways-"

"There he goes, talking like a chatterbox, when is he gonna stop?"

"-My name is Satoyoshi! Sato as in village and Yoshi as in fortune. Well that's my family name but you can call me Taiyo! Tai as in big or great because I'm a great person with a big heart haha! And Yo as in the sun, what's your name?"

"Yukito Aikawa."

"Yukito huh? Too long! I'll just call you Yuki-chan!"

"I'm not your pet and we're not even close. Don't call me that." Yukito responded with a disgusted look on his face,

"So cold~! Fine, I'll just call you Yuki!"

"Seriously, this guy is acting way too friendly! First name basis already?! That's way too quick." Yukito dislikes people who are too buddy-buddy with him, but not until hatred since people like that usually helps Yukito in conversations.

Taiyo Satoyoshi seems like a person who would go to parties and social events even if he's not invited. His hair is blonde, medium length, and wavy, he has 3 piercings on his left ear, hazel-colored almond eyes, and dimples on the corners of his mouth. He's technically a human version of a golden retriever.

"Yuki! What school do you go to?"

Wonderful, here starts the basic conversations. Yukito hates conversations like this because he doesn't like talking about himself. Usually he would avoid it by asking the person the same question before answering or just change the topic.

"Uhm, uh, actually- What about you Satoyoshi-kun? What school do you go to?"

"Hm? Me? I go to Ueno Gakuen High School, it's pretty far from here. That's why I always wake up at 4 in the morning so I can arrive on time! And didn't I tell you to just call me Taiyo?"

"Right..."

"Hey! Yuki, you haven't told me which school you go to!"

"Dang it, he noticed." Yukito grunts in his mind,

"Ahahah... Well.. I don't really like talking about myself... Can we just skip this question?"

Taiyo stares at Yukito with an innocent look on his face,

"But- I wanna get to know you better! We're friends aren't we?"

"Geh- This guy really doesn't know when to stop."

"F-Fine. I go to Zanbori-Fuchi Koukousei High School." He mumbled,

"Zanbori? Ah! Zanbori!! Yeah I know that school! One of my friends go there."

"R-Really..? Haha... They probably don't know me and I probably don't know them. There are a lot of students after all!" Yukito awkwardly smiles, hoping he doesn't know Taiyo's friend. That way, Taiyo won't be able to ask his friend anything about Yukito.

"My friend's name is Daisuke Ichikawa! He's a master at playing football, his name is the same as a popular football player too haha! He's pretty famous at school, you should probably know him! He's also in the student council."

"Of course it had to be him. Daisuke Ichikawa, vice president of the student council in Zanbori-Fuchi Koukousei... And I was the president. What a small world. This is too cruel for me. He's technically the closest person to me at school since we had to organize a lot of events together, he probably knows about the reason why I don't go to school anymore. Just awesome." Yukito starts to panic, he then asks,

"Well, ha-has your friend told you anything about the student council p-president..?"

"The student council president? Hmm... I don't think so!"

*Phew*

Yukito sighs in relief,

"Maybe I'll ask him later!"

"WHAT?! NO!" Yukito shouted.

Everything suddenly went quiet, only the pitter-patter of raindrops and the gurgling of refrigerators can be heard. Taiyo flinched at Yukito's yell and he gave Yukito a perplexed look. Yukito didn't mean to shout so loudly, he was just surprised and scared that Taiyo would learn about his past. Yukito clears his throat,

(Ahem)

"I-I mean, you don't need to ask him! Just ask me! I know a lot of stuff about the school's student council! I probably know way more than him... You know?"

"Oh, that's what you meant! Haha, I thought I said something wrong there but turns out you just wanted to be the one to tell me about those stuff!" Taiyo laughed,

"Yes! Of course that was what I meant." Yukito lets out an awkward laugh.

He is really scared if someone finds out about his past.

***

An hour went by and it is still raining heavily outside. Yukito and Taiyo passes the time talking about a lot of things. Well, Taiyo's the one who mainly talks. Yukito just listens to Taiyo's jibber-jabber, he doesn't really enjoy talking. He has always been like that ever since he was a child. It's been so long since Yukito has talked cheerfully with someone. They both slowly got to know each other better and turns out, Taiyo is actually in a band.

"Oh, well that explains the piercings you got. And your hair..."

"No, no, my hair is not dyed! I'm half American! My mom is from California and my Dad is from Ueno."

"That's cool. Wait, I just realized something. If your dad is from Ueno and your school is at Ueno, why are you here? Musashimurayama is so far away from Ueno!"

"I actually live here with my grandma! My parents already passed away, they died when I was in middle school... But no worries! My grandma is the one who takes care of me now. She's the only relative who took me in, I've already gotten used to it. I work here to earn money, I want to help my grandma even just a little bit. I feel bad if she had to take care of everything by herself for me."

"Oh, I.. didn't expect that answer. I'm so sorry for your loss..."

"I guess we both have one thing in common," Yukito whispered,

"Anyways! No more depressing stuff! Let's go back to talking about my band."

"Ah alright, what do you play?"

"I play the electric guitar! Pretty awesome right?"

Yukito's eyes bulged, the word guitar reminded Yukito of his past. He doesn't like guitar at all, actually, it's his most hated instrument. He's fine with any other instruments but the guitar? He despises it. Not because it's hard to play or anything like that, but because it makes him return back to his past. He wants to forget the bad memories so badly yet it always reaches him again somehow.

"You should come see us play sometime! I promise you, it will be worth it!"

"Oh, uh, sure."

"What about you Yuki? What are you good at? Do you play any instruments?"

"Uhm, I don't really like playing instruments... But I'm good at math and science?"

"Man, I suck at math and science! You must be a genius huh?"

"Not at all, I'm far from genius." Yukito chuckles,

The conversation stops, they both examine the view outside, and at last, the rain eased. The clouds start to disappear, revealing the shining sun. After hours of talking inside the minimarket, the two teenage boys finally have to part ways,

"Well, it was nice meeting you Taiyo."

"You too Yuki! I had tons of fun talking with you!" Taiyo grins brightly,

Yukito gives him a soft smile, he gets up, grabs his remaining ramen cups, his "mother's" broken umbrella, and just as he was about to head towards the exit,

"WAIT!"

Yukito turns around to see Taiyo, holding a piece of paper,

"Here! The address and time for my band performance. You better watch us perform okay? I'll show you the most epic guitar playing skills you've ever seen in your whole entire life!"

At first, Yukito seemed hesitant to accept Taiyo's invitation. But after some reconsideration, he accepts it. Taiyo looked like a dog with two tails when Yukito accepted his offer. Yukito leaves the minimarket giggling, he thought about how funny Taiyo looked,

"Guess I really will have to come huh? I can't go turning his smile upside down haha!"

On his way home, he thinks about the words on top of Taiyo's head earlier. The puzzle pieces are coming together.

"Those transparent floating texts... They show me the problems people have, well I guess we need to venture more to make sure. I guess it wasn't that bad talking to other people. Ah- wait a second, don't tell me I have to encounter more human beings to be able to understand more about my ability..?" Yukito grumbles.

He finally arrives home, and in an instant, he runs upstairs to his bedroom. He plops down on his bed,

"What a tiring day..."

He couldn't believe he had made a new friend. After all that has happened to him, he never imagined he could ever befriend another person again.