A boy opens his eyes. He finds himself in a black school uniform, resembling those worn by middle school students.
Standing infront of a blossoming sakura tree while stood on a concrete path — a confused expression was worn on his face, as if he had woken up to a place he wasn't supposed to be at.
Nevertheless, there are things that seem out of place. Such as the vibe of the encompassing scenery being heavenly in nature, the white lights piercing through the clouds, and birds chirping in the distance.
The entire space was almost liminal in nature — it felt lived in, but there was no life. No outside noises such as voices laughing or passing conversations. It was eerie. The boy looks around with blurred vision. He looks down at his hands in fear, "W-what am I doing here?"
His voice echoes out into the vast nothingness of the unpopulated pathway. Nobody answered. Now casting his gaze downward in defeat as his arms go limp, he begun to think, "R-right, I'm alone... just like always..."
"Kane-kun~! Over here!"
Another voice unexpectedly echoes out from what was seemingly nothing. His eyes light up as he looks back up with regained hope.
Desperately looking for who had called out to him, he turns his head to where the noise originated from. As his eyes lock onto the person approaching him, the once blurry vision in his eyes gradually improves, but not enough for the petite figure in the distance and their more complex features to be noticeable.
He turns his entire body over to the direction of the slowly approaching figure, who was now waving to him as if they were in slow motion. His expression changes to that of confusion as he squints his eyes — his vision improves slightly once more.
The boy extends out using his hand to the blurry figure getting closer and closer, seemingly trying to reach out to this person. He begins to ask himself using his head, "That voice...! It has to be..."
As his vision begins to become less blurry, the figure in the distance becomes clear to him. This unbelievable sight causes his pupils to dilate and his eyes to widen. The voice calls out once more...
"Kane-kun~!"
BZZT... BZZT... BZZTTT...
The scenery then changes in an instant. From the heavenly and supposed school pathway, to a bleak and depressing bedroom — the sudden change is jarring, to say the least.
The alarm incessantly blares as the sound from the phone plays repeatedly within the room.
A long and pale hand reaches out to the phone and grabs it, before lazily dragging it off the wooden frame.
As the phone starts blasting the bright light onto the face of our protagonist, his features are instantly blatant: unkempt black hair that shows a lack of care, dark-brown eyes that hold a no shine, and a small frown accompanied by furrowed brows that clearly expresses...
"...Annoying..."
As if his expression wasn't enough. The same complaint, albeit in a more raspy voice, escapes the lips of the boy in bed. The phone that was being tightly grasped by a hand falls limp, before having his thumb press a button on the side of his phone, turning it off.
Silence begins to fill the already dark and devoid room. The silence eats away at him as he is lying there, motionless and unmoving. He rolls over onto his back and covers his eyes with his arm while pondering, "That dream again... what a pain."
The silence lingers, until it is then suddenly broken by a long and forced sigh accompanied by the deadpan boy pushing himself up and out of the lying position he was in.
With his back now slouched over, he turns over to his window. He had begun to notice the gaps in the curtain letting some of the golden light leak into his room.
Somehow, from this sight alone, he feels something devoid, something missing — somewhere in his life, but he just can't figure it out.
Without any motivation whatsoever, he pulls the blanket off his lower body. A shiver crawled up his legs. He then threw his feet on the hardwood flooring — the feeling of the cold floor makes him curl his toes.
Beginning to look around his room for a moment, he first glances at his computer setup, then his bookshelf filled with light novels, and lastly, a picture frame fitted with a picture of him in junior high school and somebody else. The shine of the casing hides the eyes of the figure beside him. Despite that, they both look happy.
Standing up with a grunt, followed by a stretch, and ending with a scratch of his rear end, he turns to his window with a blank gaze.
Now walking over to his window, he spreads the curtain apart before opening the window. He lets all that golden light and cool breeze enter his room, before resting his hands on the window sill.
Inhaling deeply, he absorbs all the air that is coming into his room straight into his lungs — supposedly a tactic in order to wake up his body, which is indeed working in his favor.
As soon as he exhales, a light yawn reflexively rolls off his lips. Unexpectedly, he proceeds to make a questionable remark with his deadpan and emotionless expression, "Another great day for me: Kane Koyasu, a normal fifteen year old in Goshogawara..."
…I think this protagonist is insane... nobody does or says that in that tone! Either you have to be clinically insane or just depressed!
...or maybe he's just the most boring person to ever exist. I-I'm getting off-track, where was I?
"Hey, I can hear you."
Huh!? Who just said that?
"I did! And... to be honest, that was kind of rude of you."
Wait... are you talking to me? Y-you can hear me? The narrator? You can hear an omnipresent being?!
"Look, I've been doing this thing of mine where I tell myself, 'another great blah blah blah' for about a year and four months now, and I only do it because it wakes my body up — not out of self-pity or anything."
... E-eh... We-well, I'm... I'm sorry for judging, my bad.
"Good. I'm glad we handled that like mature adults, now if you'll excuse me, I'll stop breaking the fourth wall and continue my completely normal life."
Agreed.
As Kane — which I will be calling him for the rest of my narration — turns around with a grumble. Completely forgetting the fact that he had just spoken with an entity outside his dimension, a thought passes through his mind, "Honestly, does anybody have manners anymore?"
I'm still here... you know? Kane grabs the handle of his door and slides it open. Stepping out of his room and closing the door behind him, before proceeding down the hallway to his left.
The hallway itself is unremarkable. Although, there are some key features, such as some family pictures hung in their own respective picture frames, and a large potted plant strategically placed to the side to fill in an empty spot in between the two doors.
Out of the corner of his eye, he notices his mother who had just turned the corner from the staircase. They both stare at each other for a moment.
His mother's eyes widened as her dark-brown pupils pierces her son.
Although it may seem somewhat disrespectful with the way she looked at her son, her demeanor quickly shifts to that of a warm motherly look.
With her eyes now closed, she warmly speaks, "Ara ara[1]~, you're already up, Kane-kun~?"
This was Kane Koyasu's mother. She holds that elegance and beauty even after giving birth to Kane fifteen years ago. Aside from her surprisingly attractive appearance, she is also seen wearing a beige turtleneck and black jeans with an apron as the final layer. With her brown hair being tied up in a ponytail, it seems as if she was in the middle of cooking.
His eyes widen after hearing her call out his name, he gets a flash of the dream he just had earlier enter his head.
He closes his eyes and slightly shakes his head, trying his best to forget it completely.
Kane had known that it was just a dream, yet, he was so affected by it... no, he was plagued by it, due to the fact that everyday — specifically during the winter vacation in his second year of middle school — that always made its way into his dreams, no matter the occasion and no matter the circumstance.
With a solemn face, he looks back up at his mother before saying, "Good morning, Mom."
"I don't want Mom getting worried about me, after all... she has been stressed from all the work and the house work she has to do. My problems should just be my problems... and nobody else's." Kane had thought as he looked at his mother's innocent gaze.
Kane, who is now doing his best to change the topic, changes his expression to one of confusion as he tilts his head innocently, "Although, why did you seem shocked when you saw me in the hallway?"
His mother lets out a chuckle as she covers her mouth. Before abruptly clapping her hands together. "You see~, today is your first day of school, and I thought you had forgotten and overslept!"
"Do you really see me as the type to forget – "
With his vibe completely morphing into something new as a pang of realization hits his brain. His back slouches and a forced yet awkward smile forms on his face.
Kane then speaks with a confused tone, "W-wait, is it... Tuesday today?"
His mother answers as she puts a finger to her lips and looks at the schedule on the wall, her dark-brown eyes contracting as she focuses on the date. "Yes~, it is April 1 today; a Tuesday."
With the answer reaching his ears, he lets out a lengthy groan as he looks up at the roof. "Damn it all! Of all days, it had to be the first day of school..."
"I was fully prepared to sleep in after eating breakfast... Hah~, there goes my plans, just straight out of the window." A chibi[2] version of himself then appears, effortlessly throwing an imaginary corkboard lined with papers out of the window.
Kane proceeds to look back at his mother. His expression remaining cold, before telling her with a defeated voice, "Alright, I suppose I should get to the dining room, then."
Her mother nods her head in agreement; her expression softens however as she remembers something. "Ah right~, your father is waiting as well. You should go say good morning to him. Don't worry, I'll be right with you guys shortly~."
He nods his head in acknowledgement before making his way past his mother... who had suddenly remembered something even more important as she stops him in his tracks using her voice. "A-ah~! I completely forgot, Kane-kun..."
She completely turns her body toward him. Kane stands there with bated breath — his mother gives the warmest smile any mother is capable of giving while saying, "Good morning, Kane-kun~!"
Kane takes a moment to feel her greeting, before smiling with his eyes and responding back — despite him saying it earlier.
"Good morning once again, Mom." As soon as he finished speaking, he made his way past his mother and down the stairs.
His father is currently sat at the head of the somewhat medium-sized table reading a newspaper.
Before Kane could even open his mouth, his father — possibly due to a secret sixth sense — greets him without even looking toward his direction. "Good morning, Kane-chan."
I... I guess I know where he got the majority of his traits now; a man with simple black hair. His father holds that scary and daunting aura, thanks to his emotionless expression and his glasses which are eerily opaque. However, he still holds the dad vibe, as he is dressed casually with his gray polo and white shorts.
"Good morning, Dad." He spoke as he approached an empty chair and sat himself down, before pulling himself closer toward the table that seems to have glasses of water ready.
Kane began using the phone he has been unconsciously holding in his hand for the past few minutes.
A few minutes pass, and his mother arrives to the dining room holding two plates of omurice[3]; she puts the the plates down infront of her son and husband, before returning to the kitchen and getting one more plate of the meal and a coffee mug.
As soon as she sits down, Kane and his father sets aside the things they are holding. The Koyasu household then speaks in unison while clapping their hands together, "Itadakimasu[4]~."
Kane grabs a glass of water and begins to sip on it. At the same time, his mom asks a very simple question just to start up a conversation, "Nee[5]~… Kane-kun~, have you heard anything from Erisa-chan during these past few months?"
Spitting out his water to the side, Kane is absolutely taken off-guard by such a question. His airheaded mother continues on, "You guys were always so close when you were children, but lately… you never mention her name, even when you went out with your friends."
"You always acted so cold when I mentioned her name, and every time you told me she was busy doing other things..."
She then gives off a playful aura while covering her mouth, fully embracing her childish side despite being middle-aged. "Ara~, did you guys get into a lover's quarrel?"
Kane looks back at his mom with a distressed expression. Respectfully, with water still dripping from his mouth, he rebuts in shock, however his eyes remain dead, "We never became more than friends, Mom!"
He looks down to his side, and his inner eyebrows draws up as as he continues with a downtrodden voice, "I-It's honestly hard to explain... sorry."
His mother looks at her husband with a worried expression, before turning back to her son. She reaches out to him and apologizes in a soft tone, "H-hey, I'm sorry, I was just curious..."
Kane shakes his head, "No, don't worry, I understand..."An awkward silence fills the room as they eat their meals — I suppose that isn't a good way to start so early in the morning.
[1] The term "Ara ara" (あら あら) is a Japanese expression that is mainly used by older females and means “My my”, “Oh dear”, or “Oh me, oh my”.
[2] "Chibi" is a super-deformed art style where characters are drawn smaller than normal with exaggerated features like big heads and short limbs.
[3] Omurice is a Japanese dish, essentially a Japanese-style omelet rice, featuring a thin, fried egg omelet wrapped around seasoned fried rice, often ketchup-flavored. Yummy!
[4] The term "Itadakimasu" (いただきます) is a Japanese phrase, meaning "I humbly receive," or "Let's dig in," that is said after receiving a gift — which is an uncommon way of receiving a gift, you would usually say "Arigato gozaimasu" (ありがとうございます) which means "Thank you very much"— or before eating a meal.
[5] The term "Nee" (ね) is a versatile phrase used at the end or beginning of sentences to add a touch of emotion, ask for confirmation, or express agreement.