Hey, wake up, you silly fool. It’s already morning, you know.

Huh? Who is talking to me?

You really are a fool, huh. It’s me, dimwit. I managed to be part of you again after what happened last night.

I don’t understand what you’re saying…

Just shut up and wake up! She’s probably awake now, you goose! Do I need to say her name right to your ears?!

Alright, just this once because you’re dumb... She is your gi-

“Apples!

…”

What… was that?! Was that a dream? A nightmare?

6:43am.

“Oh, right.”

I didn’t even know what time I fell asleep.

It’s all very sudden. I’m such an idiot for blurting out something that immediately ruined the happy vibe. Why and how did I do that in the first place?

Last night, I was just like the truck that hit me. I lost control of my brakes so I don’t know how to stop talking.

…

It’s foolish to ask if that scenario really did happen yesterday. There is no going back anymore to what had happened.

I should stop being selfish now and think of how others feel before I even open my mouth. I always thought of myself only and I wanted to people to look at me. It’s wrong. It’s definitely wrong.

~ ~ ~

After some time of sorting out my thoughts, I opened the blinds of my windows and the light suddenly entered the room. Unfortunately, the sunlight does not really get into my room every morning so it’s a little dark even when it’s already bright outside.

I opened the windows and stepped my foot back but I stopped. I almost did something that I will regret for the rest of my life—I did not notice Rin staring at me for a split second.

“Uh… R-Rin. Were you there for a while now?”

“I just woke up a few minutes.

Anyways, good morning Gin.”

I can’t help but smile. It’s like my face moved on its own after I saw her. I just can’t contain my happiness that I sought for a long time.

“Good morning too, Rin.”

~ ~ ~

White Street.

I always take a walk on this street because it’s very peaceful. Sometimes I also use my bike to go to school. But it’s different today and onwards.

Starting today, I decided that I will stop wearing any bandages.

The cold breeze of the morning is pressing onto my skin while I am pedaling on my bike. Yes, it’s cold, but I know that there is warmth on my back that will keep me from fighting the cold breeze.

“Hey, Rin. Even though it’s just September, what do you think is the reason why the temperature is at 18 degrees Celsius currently at this time?”

“Why ask me? You can ask the weather forecaster, you know.”

“Eh~ So cold. No pun intended.”

“But seriously, I think we should wear another layer next week. The cold is still penetrating.”

“You’re right. Next week we will be going to classes earlier. Instead of 10am, it will be at eight. I remembered the first day of school when it was still fairly hot.”

“The first week of August?”

“Yeah.

Now that I think about it. I didn’t tell you last night that the temperature inside the Void is constant at 20 degrees Celsius. So I’m not really bothered in this weather, but now it’s colder here.”

“Yeah, you didn’t say that.”

“Alright~ we’re here. I’ll just lock this then we can head in the classroom…

Actually, on second thought, let’s go sit on a bench under a tree first.”

“…?”

I remembered that there is a 90 year-old tree inside the school grounds. There is a circular stone bench under that and it is well shaded because of how big the tree is.

“Rin… for the last time, I’m sorry.”

“Huh? For… what…?”

“It’s not really that serious-“

She immediately let out a sigh of relief after hearing that it’s not really serious.

“Actually, just a tiny bit. In both of our sides too.”

“Say it already! I’m really getting nervous here…”

“Okay, okay. Hahh…

So when you fell asleep, it’s no use waking you up. Well, that’s what Uncle did say…

I’m apologizing because…

I carried you back to your house because you fell asleep on me. I won’t be surprised if your parents did not tell you anything last night. I already told them about us yesterday.”

While I was talking I realized that her face is slowly turning red and it’s written in her face that she’s really embarrassed.

“It’s been a while since I saw your face turn red-akaaaaaaa~!”

She punched me again. She literally punched me on the face again. SHE PUNCHED ME FOR THE SECOND TIME NOW.

“I guess I deserved that.

And don’t spam the caps lock.”

“Pfft… Hahahahahaha!”

“Hey… I thought you were mad, you know. Here I am worrying about you for no real reason…”

“What do you mean…? I was so embarrassed for a second but I can’t help but laugh after I punched you…

It’s not that hard to imagine myself being carried by you…”

“Eh…

I guess I can tell you already.

I can’t tell if you’re cuter today or when you were asleep. So either way, you’re cute.”

“B-b-b-by the way… why does your sister always call you ‘Nii’ and she calls me ‘Nee-chan?’”

“Umm, Rin… you know, changing the topic is unnecessary if your face is red while you are talking.

But anyways, I did tell you that she’s also an otaku, right? She’s actually more of an otaku than I am, in fact.”

“That makes sense.”

“Though I guess your father is not that different, honestly.”

“Huh?”

“After I told your parents about our relationship, your father suddenly declared that he will call me ‘musuko’ from now on.”

“What?! He’s being hasty again! Was he drunk last night?!”

“As far as I have observed, he’s not. He actually looked serious when he told me that. No joke.”

“Goodness… There’s no taking it back now.

Ah.”

“Hey… Are you crying, Rin?”

“…Look at yourself first, dummy.”

Rin is almost in tears for some reason. Then I realized that it’s the same for me. Remembering what happened last night still makes me a bit moody.

“Hey, we should at least sober up before we go to our classroom.”

“Yeah…

Come on, Gin. Let’s run. I don’t want people to see us like this.”

Ahaha… we’re such crybabies…

~ ~ ~

There are still twenty minutes before the classes start. I opened the sliding door and entered our classroom.

“Oi, Gin! And also Ringo.”

“We are just waiting for you two. I thought the two of you will be-

EHHHHHHH?!?!!!!”

“Oi, Akira. Keep it down. I know, it’s my eyes, right?”

“How can I keep my voice down when I see the eyes of the two of you swelling?! Were you two stung by a bee on the eye?!”

“It’s nothing to be fussed about.”

Well, so there is such a thing where two people cry at the same time. And whose eyes won’t swell after crying for a solid ten minutes?

Nagi waved his hand and called out to me. He took my head down to his desk and whispered.

“Hey, hey. Did something happen yesterday when we already went home?”

“You could say that. My parents made a fuss and started teasing me after you all went home. Then I cried when they told me that I don’t have friends for the years of my being.”

“That doesn’t add up as to why the both of your eyes are swollen.”

“Don’t ask.”

“It’s seems like the two of you cried.”

“Don’t ask.”

“I’m not asking, you idiot.”

“Alright, I cried, okay? That’s the only thing I will say.”

▪ ▪ ▪

Let us go back in time when it was a few hours ago before going to school.

“Should we tell them about us later today?”

“Hmm…”

“Honestly, we’re a bit impulsive, aren’t we?”

“As much as I think about it, I agree, Rin. So I guess we should not tell them yet. I think that’s the best choice.”

“So we should keep it a secret for now?”

“Not exactly. We won’t be hiding it from them—what we’ll do is just not telling them.”

“Oh, I see… That’s so like you, Gin. You want others to answer your questions without getting help from you, who asked the question.”

“You’re right about that. I’m the game master, after all.”

“Actually, Gin. I have something to point out about last night. Something changed on you. I’m not sure if you noticed it, though.”

“What is it?”

“Your right eye… it changed its color to blue.”

“Oh… I see… No pun intended.

I’m aware of it. Somehow, when I was inside the Void, my right eye experienced some pain for quite a bit. I had it for a checkup already, but there are no complications.

Right now, both of my eyes turned complete black in color instead of dark brown in the past. It’s probably because I aged for two years. I still don’t know what is it all about but I can change the color to blue if I want to.

Look. Is it blue again?”

“Wha- Yeah, it’s blue again. I think your case is called Heterochromia?”

“…

I actually thought you wouldn’t believe everything I said last night. I was really surprised.”

“I’ve already believed what you will say when you said that you trust me. That’s more than a valid reason.”

“Thank you…

Thank you for being my light.”

“Light…?”

“That means I am your shadow, and you are my light. The shadow is always just beside the object, right?”

“I guess you are right.”

▪ ▪ ▪

“My sister did tell yesterday that she will be studying here starting next week, right?”

“You were really surprised when she told that, Gin.”

“More so, she will be living here again. She will be using my room from now on.

I spent so much time cleaning it. I hope she won’t create a catastrophe there.”

“And I said some embarrassing things to her last night.”

“By the way, I heard her calling Ringo as ‘Nee-chan’.

Honestly, I’m sensing a ship sailing already.”

“And it means ‘older sister’. She probably agrees that-“

“You two are suited well. I’m bluntly telling you already, you two.”

“Is that so? You’re making me flustered.”

“Is that so? You’re making me flustered.”

Rin and I both replied at the same time faking our obviously blatant, dumb and nonchalant faces.

Shiro then face palmed while sculpting a disappointed expression on her face.

“The two of you really are clueless, huh.”

“Jean, what was the homework again?”

“Hey, hey, hey, look at that! Mister Seventh Seat in prelims forgot to do his homework!”

“Contemporary Issues, Corruption, Page 56 on the book.

You better hurry up on answering them because it’s on the second period.”

“Oh, thanks.”

“What?!”

I wasn’t the one who thanked Jean. It was Rin who also forgot to answer her homework. I guess we forgot that we are students.

“Seriously, you and Ringo are really alike. You’re not even aware, are you?”

“So the four of you really do ship us, huh…”

“They’re not asking, so it’s safe.”

“Of course, you idiot!”

How many times have I been told I’m an idiot today?

Anyways, they are not asking if we’re in a relationship so I have no reason to tell them.

Now that it reminds me, the two of us decided something. I agree that we were a little impulsive, but people are hastier than that. They always hurry up.

I am 17, and Rin is 15. We are still both very young so with both of our parents, we came up with an agreement that the two of us should be content on our current relationship and not rush things. As long as we see each other, we’re both fine.

Rin herself even told me that our relationship may still be the same even if we graduate from college. That is what we both want and agreed—to seriously take our time. If anything, that may just be the reflection of a very normal relationship.

Dear Uncle Shuu, if I ever hurt your lovely and adorable daughter, please kill me.

▪ ▪ ▪

It’s the last day of September today. I haven’t even stayed for a month from the time when I left the Room of Reality, but a lot of things already happened.

I moved out of our house, had a cat as a housemate and not as a pet, started a relationship with Rin, my sister coming back home and started studying in the same school I attend, and became a sous chef at Giotto’s.

Thanks for the opportunity, Hiro and Sean.

And today, after a knock on the door on my place, a cousin of mine showed up. His name is Mochizuki and he’s also a Sakato.

With him, he’s carrying a child around one or two years old.

“Mochi? Apples, I didn’t know you’re coming today! Come in.”

“Morning, Gin. I haven’t seen you since my wedding. You’ve grown really tall already!

Are you free today? I have a favor to ask you if you are free.”

“Aside from drawing, I’m not doing anything today. I’ve already shopped earlier so lunch and dinner is covered for today.

Yep, I’m free today.

Wait, is that Ichi with you?”

“Yep, you are right! This is Ichi!”

“I only saw him on pictures and he really looks like you!

By the way, where’s your wife?”

Mochizuki Sakato is my cousin and he was married three years ago (five years, in my case). Ichi is the name of Mochi’s first born child. Since he’s their first child, they named him ‘Ichi’ which means ‘one’.

“She’s in the car right now and I can’t stay for long, so I’m asking you a favor just for today.”

“A favor… What is it, then?”

“We will be on a business convention today and we will be coming home late tonight. So, can you babysit Ichi for us?”

NI.

“…

I assume you already asked Mom and Dad about babysitting them but they can’t. Kei is out for work today and Anna can’t really handle children.

I can’t handle children too, but the hyper ones only. Wait, is he okay with fur in the house?”

“Fur? Yeah. We have a dog in our house and he’s good with them since he always play stare with our dog. Hold on, how did you know that I went to your parents’ house?!”

“Haku!”

Question ignored.

Haku quickly ran to the front door and immediately climbed on my shoulder.

“The cat’s name is Haku and he is my housemate, not a pet. He’s a boring cat so he won’t do anything to Ichi.

Alright, he’s welcome in my house.”

“Thanks, Gin!

I’ll be back by 9 o’clock later.”

“Ok, see you later.”

“Wait a second, do you remember what I told you on my wedding?

You were just 12 that time… then your parents told me earlier that you’re 17 now. That’s so strange…”

“Well, it’s true. Look at my birth certificate if you’re not convinced.”

(!)

“The next time we meet again, I’ll ask you if you have a girlfriend in that time.”

“Yeah, I remembered that. I thought you were drunk but you’re not.”

“So?”

“Yeah, yeah… I have and she’s living next door, alright?

Now get your sore thumb out because your wife is waiting for you.”

“Oh, oh. Alright, Gin! I’ll be heading out now! Take care of your girlfriend and Ichi!”

“I want a burger later tonight!”

“Right!”

With that, they left and now my job is to babysit their kid.

“Ichi, behave well. I’ll teach you how I do art.”

~ ~ ~

I’ve been observing this nephew of mine for some time now.

Ichi is really behaved. He’s just watching everything that I’m doing. He walks from place to place but he mainly stays in one place and he doesn’t touch anything.

He’s probably not a child who throws a fit every second and he’s probably not fond of playing with toys. I think he got that from Mitsuka—Ichi’s mother. But what’s adorable is Haku who’s just sitting beside him is staring.

Someone knocked on my door. It was Rin.

“Hi, Gin!”

“Ossu.”

“Doing something?”

“Just drawing and babysitting at the same time. I think this is the most laid back day I had for a bit.

I have a shift at Giotto’s tomorrow, though.”

“Babysitting?”

“Yeah, my cousin asked me to look for their two-year old today. He’s at my room right now, chilling there.”

“’Chilling,’ you say…”

“He’s playing with Haku right now, I think.”

~ ~ ~

“Aww, he’s so cute!”

“You’re cuter.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.

Ichi. Look, look here! Meet my girlfriend, Ichi~”

“Don’t brag on kids, Gin.”

Someone knocked on the door again. This time it was Anna. I can hear her shouting from below.

“Nii! Are you there?”

“Is that Anna?”

“Yeah. Coming!

…

Anna, what’s up?”

“C-can I also look for him today…? I felt guilty when Mochi asked me-

…

You know, you and Nee-chan looks like a family right now… with a cat.”

Since Anna is going home with me and Rin from school, we decided to tell her about us. As expected, she started teasing us.

“Anyways, come in now.”

“Hey~ seriously. You look like a family now…”

“I wonder if Anna knows when is our wedding anniversary…”

“So you’re riding her boat now, huh, Rin.”

“Lol.”

“Don’t be scared at Ichi, Anna. He’s really behaved so he won’t be a problem to take care.”

“Yeah, when was the wedding then?”

“You two are sailing on a calm ocean, huh. Should I rock your boat?”

“What does he do in the whole time?”

“Ichi? Hm…

Watching me draw, playing the stare game with Haku, sit like he’s meditating, watch me cook, take a nap, staying quiet and behaved.”

“He’s far better than your classmates, Nii…”

“I have to agree on that.”

“Our classmates?”

Now that I think about it, I have never said anything about the history of our class and its reputation. I would also guess that Yugare-san is still not finished on his research about our class.

“So you still didn’t know about it, huh…

Well, I guess it’s reasonable that you’re still unaware of those so-called ‘wild animals’ because they haven’t shown their fangs yet. But I’m surprised that it’s almost two months in the school year already but they’re still hiding their true colors.

Actually, we could talk about this later otherwise I will make Ichi cry.”

Her hands are rested on her chin displaying a gesture of deep thinking and curiosity and a hint of worrying. She probably got intrigued about whatever happened to our class when Rin and the other transfer students were still not studying in Blue Ink.

“Knowing you, you will eventually tell me, so let’s set that aside and focus on cute little Ichi for the rest of the day.”

~ ~ ~

Ichi Sakato could probably grow as a nonchalant person, actually. He did not wander off anywhere or go to every nook and cranny of my place but stayed put in one place or he just observes me instead. I do not know if it is a positive or negative.

I always get uncomfortable when children stare at me with curiosity and they don’t avert their eyes even when I look at them. They are innocent kids after all. That is not the case about Ichi, though. When I do something, Ichi looks at me not with curiosity but with fascination.

One more thing is he’s not stubborn and he did not cry for the whole day. He seems like a special case but he’s actually not. Even if his silence can break other’s ears, or even if he’s acting different from other children, he is a normal human being. But being born in a world with hierarchy, cruelty and injustice, it is not clear to me if he will stay neutral.

Even though he’s just two years old, in my own perspective, he has the potential to be someone that can stay calm and keep his composure and be a kind person if he will be guided well. But we’re talking about Mochi here. He’s one of the people I do respect the most.

▪ ▪ ▪

At long last, 9 o’clock came and the door started making a sound from the knocking outside.

“Welcome back, Mochi. How’s the trip?”

“Fortunately, we escaped the traffic and made it in time.

Burger!”

“Thanks.”

“How’s Ichi? Sleeping?”

“Come in and get him. He’s fallen asleep earlier.”

Then Mochi and Mitsuka went upstairs with me to my room. There lies an innocent child sleeping on my bed.

Mochi started looking around my room and smiled.

“As expected of my kid, he did not bother you.”

“Is that how you two raised him, or he’s really like that?”

“We gave up on giving him toys when he was one because he did not play with them. He instead watches us when we are working, for instance. I will let him sit on my lap and he does not touch anything. For example, when he’s with Mitsuka, he either looks at her writing and such or he will give her an ‘Interesting…’ look on his face.”

He continued to talk while carrying Ichi to his arms.

“As you may have noticed, he’s well-behaved even for a two year-old.”

“I like Ichi, and please take good care of him every time. Mochi and Sis.”

“That is why I decided to only do my work in our house, stupid.”

“You don’t need to look so grumpy, Sis.

Let’s go downstairs now.”

We are back at the front door again and the family is about to take their leave from my house.

“Well then, we need to take our leave now for a rest.

Right, Gin. Make sure to introduce me to your girlfriend the next time we visit.”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t get too excited about it. Time will give a way for that.”

“’A way’ for what? Wedding?”

“Good grief, did Anna develop a virus or something?”

“Alright, see you later, Gin!”

“Have a good rest, you two.”

With that, my day as a babysitter came to an end.

…

“Can they at least wait ten years later for me to ask out her hand?”