Tale of Discovery

Chapter 8: Dream

We wake up early the next morning and are informed that we are to move our stuff to a new apartment rather than go to school.

Ayumi and I collect our stuff and place them inside of boxes. Then, we head towards the location sent to us.

Once we arrive there, I am dumbstruck by the sheer size of the building, and the way it's been built. We pass by two security guards at the front gate and get into one of the two elevators. Upon reaching the designated floor, we make our way to the room number assigned to us.

Before I could react, Ayumi rushed inside and began jumping around while exclaiming how big and nice the place is. I move my boxes and one of the workers is behind me, holding a big box.

Ayumi moves towards us and says to the worker,

"Let me help you although there isn't much I can help you with!"

I notice the worker visibly sweating and looking at me, his eyes asking for assistance. I let out a sigh and say to Ayumi while smiling,

"You can't do that Ayumi."

"Why? Won't it be better if I help them?", she asks with a puzzled look on her face.

I rack my brain for an answer, and manage to come up with one,

"It's their job to move the boxes. If you help them, you will be taking away their job."

Ayumi suddenly has a look as if realization just dawned on her. She then proceeds to lift her arms up and jump cheerfully while exclaiming,

"Ayu didn't have such a way of thinking!"

I shake my head lightly and go back to moving boxes.

------

A couple of hours have passed and we're finally done moving. Nao and the weirdo volunteered to help us, which we gratefully accepted. For some reason, the weirdo wore a pink apron while working. I guess he is just being himself.

I head to Ayumi's room and hear some noises from inside. I look inside, and find Nao sitting in front of Ayumi asking her,

"Would you like to see a magic trick?"

To which Ayumi replies,

"Oh! That's something I want to see."

The next moment, I see Ayumi freaking out over nothing, and see Nao move behind Ayumi and lightly poke her back. Ayumi turns around and freaks out, even more, when she sees that it was Nao.

"Wow! That's even more amazing than the people on TV!" , Ayumi exclaims with stars in her eyes.

"That's very amazing indeed." , I say as I enter the room, getting their attention.

The weirdo then enters the room and announces that they must leave.

"Oh... but I wanted to eat dinner with you...", says Ayumi in a sad tone.

"That's right, why don't you stay over for dinner, Tomori?" , I ask her.

"I would like to, but you don't have enough food for 4 people, as if you've just moved here, right?", she replies.

"But there are 3 of us?" , I ask while looking confused.

"Hey! Don't forget about me!", exclaims a certain weirdo.

"Whoops. Forgot you existed. Sorry man, my bad." , I say.

I can see veins bulging on his forehead as he tries to hold himself back from retorting. This is so fun...

"I will head over to a nearby convenience store and buy some ingredients. It shouldn't take me long." , I inform them.

------

Why? Why is this weirdo following me? I was planning to take advantage of my speed and stamina, and get it done quickly...

"So, how is your new apartment, do you find it to your liking?", the weirdo inquires.

"You talk as if you own it." , I retort.

"Hey man, why are you so salty towards me? What have I done to you, in order for you to act like this?", he asks.

"Oh nothing, it's just that I'm not used to a freak covered in bruises rushing towards me at breakneck speed, grabbing me and dragging me with him to the sky." , I reply monotonously.

He just smiles like an idiot. Ugh. You know what? Forget it. Better get friendly with him sooner than later. Who knows what he's like, he might turn out to be a good guy.

------

We're back. We are all sitting at the dining table with Omurice in front of us, watching TV. The show we were watching ends and an idol show starts playing, with a blonde teenage singer dancing and singing on the stage.

Suddenly, both Ayumi and the weirdo exclaim at the same time,

"YUSARIN!!!"

My ears! What are they even shouting for? I notice Nao holding her forehead with her hand, while slightly shaking her head out of exasperation. And so, our eventful dinner comes to an end, with both Nao and the weirdo heading home.

After cleaning up the table and plates, we lay down a futon, and lie down beside each other. Ayumi then turns and looks at me with stars in her eyes as she asks,

"Hey, Brother Yu! Our schools are right beside each other now, so we can go to school together right?"

Not letting her down, I lightly stroke her face as I reply with a gentle smile on my face,

"Of course. I will even give you a piggyback ride to school if you want to."

I notice her excitement grows as she begins to imagine what it would be like for that to happen, I assume. I pull her close to myself and kiss her on the cheek before I drift off into the land of dreams.

It might be because of what Ayumi had mentioned earlier yesterday, but I dreamed of a younger version of ourselves walking with a gray-haired guy. I couldn't make out his face no matter how much I tried, but in the end, it doesn't even matter. Because he doesn't exist... right?