17 years past, many things changed, many things happened... that's life. nothing stops in stationary, the world revolves... things come and go. But memories stay, good or bad, it is the only thing that transcends time and space. Those who weren't part of the shared memories, would never understand a person entirely. and there are some who were part of the shared memories but never knew they did, and their very existence triggers off this shared memory yet they never knew they were capable of that. If it was memories that one would never want to recall, want very much to wash off their brain, then the very triggers that set it off would become deliberately excluded in their lives. However, unknown to them, the memory triggers and themselves are very much bonded for life, impenetrable to external force...just like how memories are said to stay for good, engraved at the very center of our heart and soul, defining who we were, are and will be.

In a cozy two-storey terrace lived a well-to-do family of 4. Like any nucleus family, there live a father, mother, elder son and younger daughter. That evening, the house was unusually quiet until the clanging of a set of keys startled the 16 year old boy who was deeply engrossed with his sketch of the scenery outside his room window. He lifted himself from his seat and made his way down the stairs towards the source of the sound.

"okasan~ are you going out?" he asked as he saw his mother dressed in her usual smart-casual outfit, wearing her lavender fragrance and a pink lipstick.

"yes. sorry Ryuu, I've to stand in for my colleague who fell sick"

the boy having lived 16 years of his life, didn't want to reveal his mother's excuse. he saw through his mother's lies immediately. Well, his mother was never a good liar, she's known to be an open book.

"okay~" he answered, with his usual calmness and ignorance.

"Akira is in school camp and otosan will be in his office for overnight shift, you know that right?"

"yes." the boy answered.

"maybe you can go over to your uncle Daiki's place for dinner. I'll notify him if you are keen?"

"it's okay, okasan. I'll make the call if I'm heading down" 

"then, take care. call your dad if there's any emergency"

"okay"

the conversation, right up to farewell phrases were largely cold and unbearable. for a mother- son, they were considered an extremely awkward pair. Ryuu strolled down the dark alley with a thick knitted scarf on his neck and his sweater, trying hard to recall the sweet memories he ever had with mother. but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't list even 5 such instances where he felt her motherly love. as far as he remembered, since he reached 13, his mother never looked directly at his eyes when speaking, deliberately giving all sorts of excuses to avoid spending alone time with him, even being in a single space with his mother was a distant wish. Ryuu sighed at himself as he told himself countless times not to care about this cause he received loads of love from his dad and his little sister. That's sufficient. He pat himself on the back and took a deep breathe before lightening his footsteps towards his destination.

He pressed the bell at a slightly bigger terrace compared to his family's, and from the voice from the other side, he could already identify the person before the door swing open.

"Ryuu!!! Konnichiwa!" a man who looked slightly older than his father opened the door with a cheerful face.

"Konnichiwa, ojisan~" the boy replied is his fashionably calm tone and his usual zen face.

"come in, it's freezing cold!" the older man ushered the boy in.

"Gomenasai ojisan, I forgot to drop you a call before coming..."

"it's okay, your mother told me you may drop by. so I cooked some of your favourites" Daiki wrapped his nephew under his arms and brought him to the dining table. At the sight of the sumptous dinner, with his favourite yakisoba, ebi fry and more, Ryuu can't help but smile slightly to himself. Daiki saw it and felt comforted since he seldom saw the boy smile.

"Smile more Ryuu! you look so much more dashing than you already are when you smile"

"yametteyo ojisan" he blushed at Daiki's teasing.

"it's true! hmm, you have a girlfriend don't you?"

"no I don't. I'm not interested at all"

"don't say it so simply. I saw girls flocking around you but you seemed to be okay with one of them"

"I don't know who you meant, ojisan, but lets eat okay? I'm famished" Ryuu managed to divert the attention to something less centred on him.

*****
"where's Obasan?" Ryuu asked casually while at the dining table, finishing his last few portions of the food.

"working overtime, so I'm kinda alone at home too. Ryuu, wanna sleepover at my house?" 

"sure! it's too quiet at home anyway"

"your dad is out too?"

"yes, he's working night shift for today"

"great! how long have you not slept over at my house. 5 years? 6? /giggles/ I'll let your mother know later so she won't be worried"

"(guess she'll be happier since that means she don't need to stay out)" Ryuu mumbled.

"huh?" 

"nothing. arigatou ojisan!" he took his dishes and evacuated from the table before he blurt out more of such rude statements.

He observed his nephew rushing to the upper floors, to the spare room he's assigned, after washing his own dishes and his. he felt concerned for his nephew, not just because of the depressing expression he worn half the time, but also those words he uttered of his mother. He heard what Ryuu said over the table, but feigned ignorance cause he knew what he said of her was true. but he has been glad that at least his father and his little sister, Akira could fill in some of the gap.

"Mirai~ look what you've done to the poor boy" Daiki uttered to himself. 

Daiki crept up to Ryuu's room and peeked in, seeing him already lying in bed, staring blankly at the celling.

"ojisan~do you need anything?" without even turning his head, Ryuu spotted his uncle at the corner of his eyes.

"nothing. just checking if you're asleep. actually, I can't sleep so wondering if you could accompany me for a chat or something" Daiki randomly pulled out an excuse though his real intention was to spend some time with his nephew to make up for the hostility the boy's mother showed to the poor boy.

"sure ojisan" Ryuu shifted himself to one corner of the bed while his uncle took the other side, both guys now stared at the sky-wallpaper on the celling. there was a long pause of silence then Ryuu spoke.

"ojisan... there's something I'm always curious about..."

"what is it?"

"about okasan and otosan... many things happened before me and Akira were born right? I'm just curious what exactly... could you tell me?"

"Ryuu~" Daiki showed his distress all over his face. He thought recounting the past would never be one of his worries.

"ojisan... I understand Akira is still young so no one wants to answer her, but I'm not young anymore. I'm 16, I'm old enough to ask just that right? whatever happened in the past that my parents were involved in, I wanna know. ojisan please. it's important for me..." 

Ryuu thought in his mind..."I wanna know why okasan feels down at occasional nights where she crouched in a corner of her bed, holding a piece of letter that she locks it nicely in a box... I wanna to understand why otosan seemed so troubled sometimes when he looked at her... most importantly, I wanna know why okasan didn't quite like me"

Daiki sighed and pulled his nephew into his arms, having him leaned on his shoulder. Taking a deep breathe, he tried his best to give a full recount of what happened 17 years ago, the time where the first April snow touched the ground. 

***
It has been 24 hours since Ryosuke was taken to the sterile room. He has been very much unconscious, an his face was pale as paper, his lips as dry as bark. He has lost all former shine; there's almost no need for any medical experts to remind of his condition. Tears ran, stopped, ran, eyes swell over and over again... that was almost the scene that occurred around him. Ryosuke's family, Mirai, Yuto, Daiki and Chinen have stayed overnight to wait for the moment he regained consciousness and the medical report is available.

Ryosuke's family cuddled together, worried for the only son in their family. While on the other side, Yuto stayed beside Mirai the whole time.

"Yuto, do you think he'll be fine? I don't understand what's happening... the treatment is finished, he should be healthy already though he may experience side effects. but what happened just now, doesn't just seem like side effects" Mirai sobbed.

"lets not guess. believe in the doctors, the nurses who would take good care of him. most importantly, have faith in him. he needs your optimism" he brushed the tears from her face.

"everything will be fine" Yuto gave a comforting smile that eased the tension in her mind. the more sh