Chapter 2: echoes of a friend

The morning was the same as always. Silence. Darkness lingering at the edges of my room. My alarm hadn’t even bothered to sound—time had no meaning anymore. I lay there, staring at the ceiling, listening to the faint hum of the city outside, but it felt distant, like someone else’s life.

Nothing moved. Nothing mattered.

Then my phone buzzed on the bedside table. I barely stirred, reaching for it out of habit.

A dozen notifications lit up the screen.

“Hotoke! Are you awake??”

“Dude, seriously, answer me!”

“What’s going on, man? You okay??”

“I’ve been waiting outside your house, and no one answered…”

“Hotoke!!”

I frowned. My thumb hovered over the screen. Each message radiated Daiki’s chaotic energy—loud, insistent, impossible to ignore.

I scrolled through them mechanically, reading without really processing. His worry, his frantic energy, it was the same as always. He wouldn’t leave me alone. He wouldn’t let me vanish into silence.

I let out a slow, quiet sigh.

I’m… fine, I typed finally, fingers stiff, unwilling to give more. Not that he’d accept it, not that he’d stop.

stared at the screen for a long moment, thumb hovering over the keyboard. Fine. I typed, almost mechanically. I’m fine. Don’t worry.

Almost immediately, another message popped up:

“FINE?! You always say that. That’s not fine, Hotoke!”

I scrolled down, there’s dozens of messages, all flooding in like a relentless storm. Where are you? I’ll come over. Don’t make me come over.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Words felt heavy. Breathing felt heavy. But the phone buzzed again. And again.

Finally, I typed back: “I said I’m fine. Just leave it.”

The reply was instantaneous:

“Nope. Not buying it. I’m coming. You can’t hide from me.”

I sighed, letting the inevitability sink in. Of course he wouldn’t just let me disappear. I didn’t want to see anyone. Didn’t want to move. Didn’t want… anything.

But I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop him.

A knock sounded on my door less than five minutes later. Loud. Persistent. Impossible to ignore.

“Hotoke! Open up! I know you’re in there!”

I lay back on my bed, staring at the ceiling, counting cracks as if they could shield me. But deep down, I knew I’d open the door eventually.

Because Daiki… always found a way in.

The knocking didn’t stop. Each thud against the wood sounded like it was shaking the quiet from my room. I rolled onto my side, staring at the floor. I didn’t want to move. I didn’t want to deal with anyone.

But the voice came next, cutting through the silence with relentless energy.

“Hotoke! I know you’re in there! Don’t make me break the door!”

I groaned, dragging myself out of bed. My feet felt heavy, each step a deliberate effort. The doorknob was cold in my hand. I twisted it slowly, opening the door just enough to peek out.

And there he was. Daiki. Standing there like a burst of sunlight I didn’t want but couldn’t ignore. Hair messy, bag slung over one shoulder, eyes wide and anxious. He spotted me immediately and grinned, as if nothing in the world could ever bring him down.

“Finally! About time, Hotoke! I was starting to think you’d disappear forever,” he said, shoving his hands into his pockets.

I leaned against the doorframe, silent. His energy washed over me, loud and impossible to shut out.

“Look, I know you don’t want to talk. You never want to talk,” he continued, voice softer now, just a little. “But you don’t have to go through everything alone, you know?”

I didn’t answer. Didn’t move. Words were useless anyway.

Daiki crouched slightly, meeting my gaze. “Come on. Let’s at least get breakfast. Or walk to school. Or… something. Just… be with me for a bit. You don’t have to say a word if you don’t want.”

I finally stepped aside, letting him in without a word. His grin widened, victorious.

“You’re lucky I like dragging you out of the void, Hotoke,” he said cheerfully, clapping me on the shoulder. “Now come on, the day isn’t going to waste itself!”

By midday, we found ourselves near the foothills of the nearby mountain. The climb had been easy for Daiki, who skipped ahead effortlessly, while I trudged behind, dragging my legs like they belonged to someone else.

When we reached a small clearing, he flopped onto the grass with a satisfied sigh, brushing dirt off his hands. I sat down beside him, letting the quiet stretch between us. No words were exchanged. Not that it mattered. The breeze carried the scent of grass and soil, and the sun was warm on our skin.

Daiki..

I watched him. Daiki always grinning, always loud, always corny. Even now, resting quietly, there was a faint smile on his face, like he couldn’t stop himself from smiling at the world, at me, at nothing at all. It annoyed me. Or maybe it intrigued me.

Why was he still here? Why did he care?

I turned my gaze fully toward him, trying to see what it was that made him keep coming back. Even when I didn’t respond. Even when I stayed silent. Even when I didn’t want him around.

Why did he always smile at me? Even when I was a dull shadow beside him. Always cheerful, always goofy, always… impossibly kind.

Was it… genuine? Or just his way of tolerating me?

I didn’t know. And part of me didn’t want to know. Yet I found myself studying him, tracing the lines of his face, the way his eyes crinkled slightly whenever his grin appeared, the ridiculous way he seemed to carry joy like it was a shield for both of us.

And I wondered, silently why Daiki? Why me? Why did he choose to stay by my side, even when I didn’t deserve it, even when life felt meaningless?

He was corny. Annoyingly, hopelessly corny. But somehow… sitting here, in the sun, on the mountain, in silence with him, it felt… lighter than usual.

I closed my eyes for a moment, the mountain breeze stirring memories I had long tried to bury.

I was six. Small. Fragile. Walking the familiar path back to my town alone. Everything felt… wrong, though I didn’t know why. The streets were empty, the houses silent. My family… they weren’t there.

I didn’t understand. At six, the word gone didn’t make sense. I believed, deeply, that they would come back. Any moment now, they’d appear at the end of the street, calling my name, smiling, and everything would be as it had always been.

But the murmurs started. People in the distance, whispering as I passed.

“He’s too young”

“He was surely traumatized”

“How sad… the poor little boy.”

“Too young to experience this… it’s cruel.”

Their voices were soft, pitying, but they cut sharper than any knife. I didn’t want their pity. I wanted my family.

And then it all came crashing down.

I sank to my knees in the middle of the empty street, tiny fists digging into the dirt, shaking uncontrollably. Tears streamed down my face, hot and relentless.

“They’ll come back! They’ll come back!” I screamed, though no one could hear me. “Please… come back!”

Then I felt it, a small hand, warm and steady, gripping mine.

I looked up. Ten-year-old Daiki stood there, grinning. The same grin I would remember forever, bright and unshakable. The grin before the world got cruel, before accidents and hardships could chip at it.

“Hey,” he said gently, his voice light, almost teasing, “get up. You’re not supposed to sit in the dirt like that.”

I blinked at him, stunned. Nobody had ever spoken to me like that before. Nobody had looked at me and treated me… like I still mattered.

I slowly open my eyes,

the ten-years-old boy who offers me his small hands was here, right besides me.

The sun had started its slow descent, painting the sky in streaks of orange and pink. We stayed on the grass a while longer, neither of us speaking, letting the quiet stretch around us. Eventually, Daiki let out a long sigh and stretched his arms.

“Well, I guess I should get going,” he said, hopping to his feet with his usual energy. “Work won’t do itself, unfortunately. Some poor world has to keep paying my bills.”

I didn’t respond, just watched him move, noting the familiar bounce in his step, the impossible grin he never seemed to lose.

Daiki glanced back at me, one eyebrow raised. “Oh, right. Before I forget… don’t just sit here doing nothing all day, alright? Eat something, get some fresh air, maybe… you know, exist a little beyond your bed.”

I said nothing.

“Fine, fine, I’ll take that as a promise,” he said, waving one hand dismissively, though his smile softened slightly. “I’ll be back later, so… don’t make me regret leaving you alone, alright?”

He gave me one last ridiculous grin, the same one I’d known for years, and turned toward the path leading back down the mountain.

I stayed on the grass, watching him go. Even as his figure grew smaller in the distance, his words lingered in the quiet around me. I also get stands up and I take my steps forward.

“It’s pretty tiring today..” I murmured.

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