On Monday morning, Shizuo woke up to the loud ringing of his alarm. "I promised myself I would go today," he thought to himself. He hesitated for a second. "Should I let him know?" He shook his head as he stared at the call log to his father.
Shizuo slowly rose from his bed and walked to the bathroom. "I can't wait to see the face Dai makes when he sees me," he thought as he washed his face with the cold water from the silver faucet.
He rummaged through his neatly folded clothes for his uniform. He slowly put it on, blankly staring at the floor. When he was done, he picked his bag up and walked out the apartment, locking the door behind him. As he walked along the blossoming trees, he couldn't help but keep looking at his phone for direction. "A left here… a right two blocks later…,"
After a while, he was finally at the gate of Minato Mirai school, but he couldn't help but notice that something was wrong. "Did I miss a notice… why is it so empty… whatever it doesn't matter."
He took a deep breath before walking past the gate. As he made his way past the building entrance, he caught a glimpse of his reflection on the glass door. He back tracked and stood in front of the door.
He stared deeply into his own eyes, he knew the man standing in front of him very well, but he felt an uncanny fear towards his reflection. The reflection waited for a second before it opened its mouth to speak.
"You have run for long enough, Shizuo…"
The reflection slowly reached its hand out to Shizuo. Shizuo tried to look away and run, but his body wouldn't obey him.
"We have been through this over and over again," said the reflection. "I- I don't… want to leave," whispered Shizuo. "Neither do I… but we can't stay here forever…" "I hate it out there… It's cold and dark… my skin has lost all color… my body feels numb all the time…"
Shizuo tried to fight for control, but he could feel himself slipping out of consciousness.
"We will get through this like we always do… we have never asked for anything… we have never complained…" whispered the reflection, smiling.
"We have been to hell and back… we can get through this…" The reflection extended its arm pulling Shizuo into itself. "This is goodbye, Shizuo."
As he slowly opened his eyes, he felt the cold breeze of the evening against his face. He could hear a faint humming, one that he recognized. He could feel the hard wood against his back, but his head was cushioned.
Everything was blurry. The shape of the trees and the cloudless sky painted with stars were all hazy. But, illuminated by an overhead lamp, he could make out a face. The humming had stopped. "…Nomura?" his voice cracked.
He reached up with shaky fingers to be intercepted by Nomura's hand. Her other hand landed on his face, which was now overflowing with tears. She ran her hands over his face, wiping his tears.
"Nomura…" Shizuo called out again.
"Thank God you woke up…" she said, looking at Shizuo, who was laying in her lap.
"Hey Nomura…" called out Shizuo slowly. "Yes, Shizuo?" she answered. He paused for a moment. "Why?... Why did you wait… for me?" he closed his eyes. He felt Nomura's other hand land on his face. "It's because… I care," she replied smiling.
When Shizuo opened his eyes, their gaze met. She was radiating the same warmth as the day he met her. She slowly rubbed his face. "Why else would it be, silly?"
Shizuo's dark brown eyes were filled with tears again. The tears flooded his face as a slight smile formed on his face. She started running her hands over his face again. He looked at Nomura's light hazel eyes illuminated by the street lamps before whispering, "Thank you, Nomura."
When Shizuo realized where he was laying, he hurried to get up. He sat up straight with Nomura to his left. "Hey, so… sorry for making you put up with my BS…" he said, fidgeting with his hair.
Nomura chuckled quietly. "Wait… what's so funny?" asked Shizuo, confused. She looked at him with a smile on her face. "Your face is all red, silly…" Shizuo tried to hide his face in his hands. She slowly extended her hands, pulling Shizuo's off his face.
"Don't stress it, OK… I wouldn't mind if you depended on me from time to time," she said. The street lights sharpened Nomura's hazel eyes as she looked at Shizuo. "What do you say we head home?" she said standing up from the bench. "Y-Yes… it's late already… how about I walk you home?" asked Shizuo. "Sure… I don't mind," Nomura replied with a smile.
The night was cool. The sky was clear and painted with stars, amplifying the moon's crescent beauty. Shizuo and Nomura had started walking out of the park until it hit Shizuo.
"Wait I have a question," he said as he looked at Nomura. "What's wrong?" He looked around before speaking again. "How exactly did I end up on the bench?" he looked at her confused.
"Soo… you passed out while I was holding you…" she said, her face turning red. She stole glances at Shizuo who had also turned beet red; but this time, he wasn't hiding his face. "I didn't know what to do… so I called a lady to help me move you to the bench," she continued. Shizuo stopped.
"Nomura… I can't say it enough… I truly thank you… from the bottom of my heart," he said, bowing down. Nomura smiled. "Come on… I already told you, it's fine… now get up, we have to get home."
As they walked in silence, Nomura noticed Shizuo's feet. "I just noticed… you stopped dragging your feet." Her eyes lit up as she faced Shizuo. "Ohh… yeah, I've been trying to work on it."
Shizuo smiled awkwardly. "You see," she stopped walking. "This is what I call 'The Influence of Miss Nomura Misaki'," she said, putting her hands on her hips, with a triumphant smile. She couldn't keep the stance as both of them broke into laughter. "My God, that was stupid," she said, breathless.
Before they knew it, they were standing in front of an apartment complex. As Shizuo was about to speak, Nomura cut him off.
"Hey, so I want to ask a favor before you leave," she said quietly. "Does she hate me… did I do something wrong… ohh God," thought Shizuo.
"This might be a selfish request… but I want you to call me by my first name…"
There was a pause. "W-What?" stammered Shizuo.
"You know… I always call you by your first name… It feels kinda weird when I'm the only one doing it…" she said as she averted his gaze.
Shizuo took a deep breath before smiling. "If it makes you happier, I'll do it." "Ok, then… promise me Shizuo," she whispered.
"I promise… Misaki," he whispered back.