48. Shock

Waking up early, Rei went for his daily jog on his routine path. But this time no matter how many times he saw the park for the boy he couldn't find him. He sat in the park on his way back for a while waiting for the kid but he ran out of luck and couldn't meet him.

Dejected Rei jogged back home and took a shower. Coming out of a long refreshing bath Rei took a small nap till breakfast as he felt sleepy after the bath.

Feeling his body being shaken, Rei slowly opened his eyes, fluttering them. His vision was still hazy but he saw Meiko looking down at him. With difficulty he lifted his body and rubbed his eyes to see better.

He looked towards her and asked, "What happened Meiko?"

"Let's go eat breakfast." and left the room.

Letting out a yawn he stood up scratching his head. He slowly made his way towards the dining room, he saw everyone seated. He greeted everyone and sat on his seat.

He ate slowly, savoring the taste. After eating as he wanted to go back to his room he heard Narumi, "Rei call Shiro, He wants to talk to you."

"Ok Oba-san." and went back towards his room.

Going back Rei sat on his bed and took out his phone. He dialed Shirogane's number and waited on the line. After waiting for a while the call was answered and Rei spoke immediately.

"Hello Oji-san, It's me Rei Oba-san asked me to call you once. Did you want to talk to me?"

"Ah! Rei yes, I informed Narumi to ask you to call me when you are free."

"Yes Oji-san is there an issue."

"Oh it's nothing Rei. I wanted to talk to you about what you are doing as the summer holidays came by."

"I'm not doing anything particular, Oji-san. I'm exercising daily like always and doing homework and also watching television from time to time."

"That's good Rei. It's good to exercise and stay fit."

"Yes Oji-san."

"Um Rei I also got to know what happened to you yesterday, Narumi told me about it." Shirogana felt nervous asking this question. When Narumi informed him yesterday night on what happened Shirogana wanted to talk with Rei immediately but didn't do so as it was already late and Rei was sleeping. He wanted to know how Rei felt as this time it was different. He gained some hope that Rei could play again like Narumi.

Hearing his question and tone Rei replied, "It was nothing Oji-san. I tried to play baseball again yesterday but something Different happened and so I had a session with Dr.Jim. He told me I'm curing slowly now."

Hearing it from him, Shirogana felt relieved and exhaled the air he was holding back. He understood from his talk with Naruumi yesterday that Rei was slowly accepting Tensei's death and is now getting cured. Seeing Rei losing hope made Shirogana sad but this gave him hope again.

He swiftly replied, "That's good Rei. I know you can do it. It will take time but you will play baseball again, Don't feel dejected."

Rei could not do anything but hum in agreement. They both continued to talk for sometime before ending the call. Ending the call with Shirogana, Rei opened his messaging app to talk with Keiko, Mizuki, and both his senpais.

Mizuki and Keiko always go out of town at the time of Summer vacation. Mizuki's family goes to different countries each time as they are rich. This time she went to Spain, and sent many pictures for him to look at.

Keiko goes to her hometown every summer to spend time with her grandparents. She brings back different kinds of vegetables for him every time she goes. She mainly helps in the farms and sends pictures to him with a goofy smile plastered on her face. Seeing the pictures sent by both of them, Rei couldn't help but smile as they are always funny,

Chatting with both of them gave him peace and was fun. He could share anything with both of them making his heart feel light. He continued to chat with him for an hour until both of them had work to do.

Seeing how there was still time left for lunch, Rei sat on the chair and started his homework. Rei was always very diligent in his studies. He always studied everything the same as it was thought and always was at the top of the class. He wanted to get his homework done quickly so he could spend the rest of the summer lazing around and learning some new recipes.

He often learned new recipes from Narumi to improve his skill. He could now make delicious Italian food often loved by everyone in the house. His passion increased so much that he was thinking of becoming chief in the future.

In the middle of doing his homework he hears Sora running the corridor towards the main door. After a while he heard Sora's loud voice, "Oh! You are here already, that's good. Come sit down in the hall my mom is preparing food now."

He could also hear Meiko talking in between sometimes. He didn't focus on their talk as he didn't know him and continued to do the homework. After a while His room door was opened and Meiko came in.

Meiko sat on his bed and used her phone. Stopping his work Rei turned and looked at her wondering why she came suddenly as she was talking with the guest.

Meiko noticing his gaze towards her, "What happened Rei? Why are you staring?"

"I was wondering why you came here suddenly. Weren't you talking with the guest a while ago."

"I was bored so I came here. Continue doing your homework."

Rei didn't say anything and continued on his homework. After a while he felt his stomach rumbling so he stopped his homework and stood up.

"I'm hungry, let's go Meiko."

Meiko nodded and both of them made their way towards the hall. Reaching the hall he saw Sora sitting on the couch with another person seeing some baseball on the television.

Hearing footsteps Sora looked back and saw both Meiko and Rei coming.

"This is my brother Rei."

Introducing Rei the other person turned back but he froze as he saw Rei. Rei who was walking towards them also froze on spot.