Spring Wind

The sound of wind. The breeze that felt more like a strong draft of wind.

Tear, tear, and tear. It vibrated through the lower compartments of the S.S. Akikaze. But nobody ever ever noticed. It was only at 5:38 p.m. that it was too late and the ship..

Back at the college, Professor Jun is still mumbling on about engineering. Well it's obvious why, Oujiro Yagi is the person who chose this major in the first place. His father is an engineer, that's probably why Oujiro chose this major in the first place.

Subaru, next to Oujiro's seat, mumbled something about "wake upppppp Oujiro!"

Oujiro: "Heyyy, I wanna sleep"

Subaru: "No way, you're not gonna pass the test! As Subaru Tateishi, the best friend of Oujiro Yagi, I must ensure my friend passes the test. Remember when we met at the extra engineering courses when we were 14?"

Oujiro: "That's our origin.. fine, I'll wake up now...."

Oujiro, knowing college professors don't care, scroll through his phone, his intention is to scroll for a bit and then tune in into Jun's lesson.

He finds a news article. The thumbnail of the article is the image of the S.S. Akikaze.

Oujiro: "Oh.. the cruise ship my dad worked on? The one he claims will be unsinkable? I hope it's not bad news, my dad is on that ship."

Oujiro read the title word-for-word. His face went from smiling with joy, to the pale and shocked face. His eyes widened in horror as each word brings in more and more anxiety, including dread. Panic filled in his body, part by part, his body is as if it's drowning at the seabed of an ocean.

"Breaking news.."

"The ship nearby S.S. Akikaze, S.S. Hiryu, reported that Akikaze had sank."

Oujiro, still freezing in shock and terror, got back with the pat from the back by Subaru. "What's wrong, Oujiro?", Subaru said, leaning in closer to the news article displayed on Oujiro's phone screen.

"Huh...?! S.S. Akikaze sank?! The ship Neptune Lines came was unsinkable?! That company lied.. didn't they?"

"Isn't this just the Titanic of the 21st century?", Subaru said, jokingly. But it isn't just the new Titanic for him, it's not just a regular "ship crash" for Oujiro. It can't never be like that when his dad's life is on the line.

Oujiro stood up, legs shaking until it goes numb. He walked away.

Subaru: "Where you going?"

Oujiro: "To the toilet, nothing much."

As he opens the toilet door, tears would well up around his eyes and he could not tell why. He doesn't know why. He walks to the second stall and goes in the stall. He needs time to chill and relax, his tears if it's there, can fall down with any freedom it wants. No humiliation from Subaru.

Just before he knew it, he is in the stall for 20 minutes already but it felt like just "three minutes" to him, and the bell rang. Today's college lessons have finished and everyone decided to left except for Subaru. The toilet door creaked open again, and a voice was heard.

"Hey Oujiro, you've been in the toilet for too long! Taking a dump?"

Oujiro: "Oh, Subaru- HUH?! I THOUGHT IT WAS ONLY 3 MINUTES!!"

Subaru: "Well then I guess flow state really does exist. It's already end of class by the way, go home with me."

Oujiro: "Well then, that means it's already 6 p.m. I won't be eating dinner with you too. My old friend is in that ship, I'm scared he will die."

Subaru: "Well then, you can deal with that privately. It's your personal issue after all."

Oujiro hopes Subaru doesn't see through that lie. If he does, then Oujiro's cover will completely be blown. If that happens, it's up to Subaru to determine if Oujiro is still a trustworthy and good friend or not.

Back at the dorm, he stared at the glass door that led to the balcony blanklessly. It's going to get dangerous for Oujiro from here on out, meaning he has to do something. Anything that could maybe extend the life of him still being a normal college student. He doesn't wanna adapt to the life of a man that will have to travel everywhere as a false suspect. If that ever happens, it will be very bad for him. Adapting will be the same as going to live in a cave and never come back to the modern society.

It's just almost the middle of spring - 4 April. The spring wind would probably come strong.

But isn't spring wind suppose to mean hope and vitality? Gentleness and kindness? Isn't that the whole meaning of spring wind? Spring wind for him, is his life flipping upside down. And another meaning of spring wind does fit that - a new beginning.

Spring wind marks the shift from winter to spring, meaning a rebirth and a new beginning. Maybe.. maybe a new beginning is waiting for him someday.

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