With his eyes focused on the road in front of him, Takaki Yuya quicken the speed of his bicycle. He closed his eyes for a moment to feel the cold wind blowing hard against his face, letting all his thoughts go away with it. He sighed in contentment.

 

As soon as he opened his eyes, loud curses and a shout went out of his mouth. “What the hell?!”

 

Abruptly, he directed the bicycle toward his right to move away from a fast-paced motorcycle. He managed to dodge the vehicle. But he didn’t manage to stop himself from falling down the low hill he was oblivious to.

 

As soon as he stopped from tumbling down, he groaned in pain. “Can you at least be more careful on driving next time?!” He shouted, hoping that the motorcycle driver will hear him. He breathed fast, his heart thumping hard against his chest. He looked at his side and found his bicycle together with his notebooks scattered around. He remembered his misfortune and hissed. 

 

“Very lucky,” he muttered sarcasm to himself.

 

He pushed himself up, not minding the pain in his arms. He pressed his lips tightly as he irritably brushed away the grass clinging on his white uniform and on his hair.

 

He stopped cleaning himself when he heard something moving. He turned around and saw a girl picking up one of his notebooks. Not knowing what to say or what to do, he stared at the girl. He clearly recognized her uniform. She’s from the same school as him. 

 

Feeling a bit embarrassed for spacing out and letting someone pick up his things, he bent down and picked them up on his own. 

 

“Here.”

 

He shot his head up as soon as he heard the girl’s gentle voice. He took his notebooks from her and placed those inside his bag. He stood up straight and faced the girl. “Thanks.” His voice sounded distant. But it’s normal for him. He isn’t friendly. Or more like, he used to be friendly.

 

The girl nodded and smiled. The wind blew and he watched her chestnut brown hair moved with it. Using her slender fingers she tugged her hair behind her ear and walked away.

 

He faced his bike and made it stand up. He checked its wheels and when he saw nothing is wrong, he sighed. He placed his black body bag in the basket in front of it and walked with it since he couldn’t ride on it while going uphill. 

 

 

“I’m home,” he called out as he walked toward the kitchen where his mother is cooking their dinner. 

 

As soon as his mother saw him, her eyes widened. “What happened?” she asked.

 

“I..” He scratched the back of his head, not sure on what to say. “I fell down the hill?”

 

She furrowed her brows. “You should be more careful. What if you broke some of your bones earlier? No one will see you. No one will bring you to the hospital. You’ll cry there in pain. You can’t help yourself. Then you’ll wait until you faint. Then the next morning--”

 

“Mom.” The side of his lips went up a bit. He found it funny when his mother talks about the worst case scenarios with a surprisingly calm voice. He knew she’s always calm and reserved but that attitude of her is really funny. “I’m okay.”

 

She pointed his small wounds on his arms. “Does that look okay?”

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