250 Silent Morning

The graduation ceremony is the only event on the agenda for the last day of school. It is technically considered a school day, but there were no classes to attend. It is only considered a school day because of the graduation ceremony at 5:00 PM that graduating students are required to attend. Attending the ceremony require tickets that are handed to every graduating student a week before the ceremony so as to prevent any unrelated individuals from showing up. Of course, extra tickets can be purchased if the student's family so desires. However, the ceremony is free for any current Nocsinis Imperial High students wearing school uniform and with a school ID.

Last year, I stayed home. The graduation ceremony last year has nothing to do with me. I knew no one in that graduating class, so what is the point? Besides, even if I did go, I would be sitting by myself. Therefore, I never really saw a point. Even when this school year began, I thought that I wouldn't be attending the graduation ceremony this year as well. But...things have changed since then.

Although no one has sent anything in the group chat about attending the ceremony, I decided that I would stop by. It was rather weird for me as this desire to attend the ceremony just magically sprang up on me this morning when I opened my eyes. I don't know exactly why, but...I suspect it's because deep down, I know I will miss Luna's and Erith's presence. Over this one year...I've become rather weak mentally.

That battered and mute boy in the prison cell...he now sees cracks in the prison walls...

After finishing with my morning routine and having breakfast, I sat down on the living room couch and stared at the television as it played a commercial for an upcoming event in Palisia. By the looks of it, the event will be an opening celebration for a movie that Irina and Henvle are staring in as the main cast. I remember the times throughout the year that Irina would skip school and after school club activities to film for her job, so I guess this movie is the reason why she missed all those days of school.

"It's in two days..." I muttered to myself as I checked the calendar on my phone.

The event will be held on a Saturday, starting at 3:00 PM and ending at 8:00 PM in a plaza near Nocsinis station. Apparently, the whole place will be reserved for the event during that time frame and the entire cast will be present.

With the information of the event stored in my memory, I took note of the time and location as I do not know whether or not I would choose to stop by. I always tend to get bored during that time of day during break, so maybe leaving the house and walk around the city for a bit will help with that. But the thing is...there will be plenty of people there. It'll be extremely crowded, and I'm not the biggest fan of squeezing through a crowd of people. I'll have to think about this decision.

The commercial soon ended and the game show that was playing resumed. In silence, I sat there motionlessly and stared at the television screen. There was no one else in the house right now, as Loriana had left for work in her preparation for her new research assignment, a rather top secret topic assigned to her by the government. As for Alvelyn, she is out with Elise at the moment, enjoying themselves. That is the reason why I am sitting here and watching television alone and by myself...

With a bored yawn, I glanced down at my phone, taking in the time of day. It was only just past noon at 12:07 PM. In the summertime, lazy afternoons like these are...the best, that is if you can fall asleep and take a nap. The soft humming of the central air conditioning system as it pumped the perfect temperature air into the house was rather hypnotizing, and when I wanted to get up and walk about for a bit, I walked out onto the balcony. The city is rather silent during this time as people are at work, meaning the overall traffic flow of the city is decreased. That thus lead to the decrease in ambiance volume with the usual sound of the outside world being dimmed to a dull and calming lullaby. The warm summer breeze blew by, gently caressing my face. I yawned due to this comfortable breeze, yearning to fall asleep on the couch and take a quick nap. However...when I did try and nap on the couch, it was rather difficult for me to fall asleep.

I'm not the type that can sleep easily during the day unless I am at my physical limit, so the end result for me was an extremely sluggish and drowsy state of no sleep. With a sigh, I sat up on the couch, shaking my head as I yawned. I walked back to my room and changed out of my indoor clothing into a t-shirt and jeans. I grabbed the case for my wireless earbuds and slipped them into my pocket. After inserting both of the wireless earbuds into my ear, I navigated to the music app on my phone and began playing songs in random order.

Just before I was about to leave my room, I stopped myself. I glanced over to the smartwatch resting on my desk that Irina had bought for me for my birthday. I walked back over to my computer desk where my PC was in sleep mode, flashing its alternating LED lights underneath the desk, and grabbed the smartwatch before slipping it onto my waist. The metal underside of the watch was rather cool when it rested on my left wrist, and on the dark display, the watch showed the time of day, date, and current weather in a neat and stylish user interface.

I walked to the front door, exited, and locked the door. Then, I walked over to the elevator, waiting for it to rise to my floor. I have no idea where I will be headed to pass time, but I know that staying home will be rather boring. There is not much that I have interest in at home, and since I can't fall asleep, leaving the house and walking around the city might help pass time.

As I entered the elevator, my eyes wandered over to the touch screen monitor and lingered on the floor number that Emilia, Ralus, and Noah lived on.

Noah did told me to come by and visit from time to time...

Without any further thought, my body automatically moved, causing my finger to tap gently on the screen to choose that floor. It was as of my body didn't want me to think about this issue any further... But whatever the case may be, a decision has been made, so that's that. I would suppose that having an objective is better than roaming around.

The elevator soon stopped at the twenty-ninth floor, and when the doors slide open, I exited as well. I walked over to the door with the number 2902 displayed on the digital doorplate. After taking a deep breath, I rang the door bell.

It didn't take long for the door to open, revealing Noah, who appeared to has recently woken up as his hair was a bit disheveled and he was yawning. He stared at me for a second, squinting his blue eyes as he studied my face. After a while though, he simply let out a sigh and shook his head.

"I must be dreaming still," he muttered as he closed the door on me.

"Hey," I sighed and knocked on the door with my knuckles, trying to grab his attention.

This time, the doors opened rather quickly as Noah stared at me with wide eyes of surprise.

"Y-you're...real, right?" Noah's voice trembled in confusion.

"Do I look like I'm fake?" I said in a sarcastic and slightly annoyed tone of voice.

"No," Noah answered. "It's just that...who would've thought you would stop by."

"May I enter?" I looked past him and into the house.

"Of course," Noah said as he stepped off to the side. "To think that you would actually listen to me and stop by..."

He continued to go on about his surprise, which was rather irritating to me. But, I suppose he has a point as...this was rather weird to me as well. Why did I come by? Whatever the case that may be, I am already here, so there's no point in leaving so soon.

After removing my shoes and walking further into the living room, I saw Emilia look over from the dining table from her laptop. A slight smile seem to appear on her face when she saw me, and she got up from her seat and walked over.

"I'm...here to visit," I said in a rather unconvincing tone.

"Did I hear that right?" I heard Ralus's voice say from behind me, and when I glanced over my shoulder, he was standing behind me.

"When did you..." I let out a sigh of defeat as I gave up even trying to comprehend their movement capabilities.

"Looks like someone got lonely," Ralus smiled and said in a teasing manner.

"Fine," I said as I turned around. "Bye then."

"Wait wait wait!" Ralus called after me. "I'm just kidding."

I looked over my shoulders and at his apologetic countenance. Standing by the dining room table, Emilia still appeared to be rather calm. However, on her face there was a slight expression of worry, almost as if she was afraid that I would actually leave. For some reason, seeing her with that expression...made me feel rather protective. Almost as if I want to do whatever is necessary to wipe that look of fear and worry from that face of her's. When I glanced back at Ralus...I felt a rather...nostalgic and warming feeling in my chest. It's almost like...I've experienced something similar before in a long, distant. and forgotten past.