Prologue - Moving Forward

It was morning, around 8:00AM. Akihiko was already wide awake and was shifting from kitchen and the dining table, setting up their breakfast.

It was some onigiri that was on the menu. He made it directly after he woke up. It was a perfect light snack in the morning.

After he settled the food, he made his way to Ryuji's room, but not before removing the black apron he was wearing. As he did so, it fully revealed what was once underneath. He was wearing a white long sleeved polo, with a tie wrapped under his collar. He wore black pants that was held to his waist by a brown belt, and black leather shoes that he had just polished.

[Reference Image]

As he reached Ryuji's door, he lightly banged a few knocks and said, "Ryu-kun, are you up?"

He heard no reply. He knocked a few more times but its was just silence that he got.

'He's probably still asleep...' Akihiko concluded. Although he would like to let the kid sleep some more if he wanted to rest, he has to go to work. And he couldn't just leave Ryuji alone in the apartment unsupervised. Who knows what might happen to him?

Grabbing the doorknob, he rotated it clockwise. As he did so, what followed was the sound of a click, 'It's unlocked?' he thought. 'Maybe he forgot to lock his door last night...'

Akihiko pushed the door gently, not letting a creak resonate. The door's already open, he thought that he'll just directly wake Ryuji up himself.

He stepped inside and approached the kid's bed. He sat on the side as he, slowly and gently, jerked Ryuji's shoulder to stir him awake.

"Ryu-kun, wake up..." Akihiko said slowly.

The sleeping boy reacted with a twitch when he heard the noise. As his eyes finally fluttered open, he was greeted by the sight of his... Nii-san, who was sitting beside him on the bed.

"Akihiko-nii-san...?" Ryuji muttered. He sat up, rubbing an eye.

"Good morning, Ryu-kun." Akihiko greeted with a gentle smile.

"Mhm, good morning, Akihiko-nii." Ryuji greeted back, which was followed by a small yawn.

"You're still sleepy? Sorry to wake you up, but I have to go to back to work." Akihiko patted his nephew's head as he continued, "And I can't just leave you here on your own, so I'm taking you with me."

"Huh? O-Okay..." Ryuji stuttered, taken by a small surprise. Oh yeah, his uncle was a programmer. That's what he told him when he asked what his job was. Although he didn't elaborate and just left it there. It left the boy curious and excited to see what a programmer, specifically his uncle, does, which he will probably see when he goes with him.

Akihiko smiled at his response, "Good. Go ahead and take a quick shower first. After you finish, go downstairs and join me in eating breakfast, alright?"

"Mhm." Ryuji nodded as a reply.

And with that, Akihiko stood up from where he sat and exited the boy's room.

~

When Ryuji finished his bath, he went downstairs and saw his uncle idling on his phone as he sat in a chair in front of the table. He was waiting for him.

The boy took a seat, just across where Akihiko sat. 'Onigiri?' he looked at the food served on the table.

"Oh, you're done?" Akihiko noticed Ryuji. He turned off his phone and put it in his pocket before continuing, "Well, let's eat." a nod was all he got as a reply.

"Itadakimasu!" (Akihiko)

"Itadakimasu." (Ryuji)

Ryuji grabbed an onigiri from the plate and took a bite.

"Is it good?" Akihiko asked.

"Mhm." Ryuji confirmed.

The munching form of his nephew looked cute. He was just like a squirrel with how his mouth was stuffed with food. Akihiko released a small chuckle, which went unnoticed.

He felt that his nephew was getting better. Although the pain was still most likely there inside the kid, he has already recovered enough to the point he accepted to go with him outside. If it was the Ryuji a week and a half ago, he might have just stayed silent and insisted on being holed up in his room.

Maybe its the natural resilience of a child's young mind that is at work, and their lack of understanding in mortality. Or it might be their unending curiosity and their ability to be absorbed in random activities that was helping Ryuji distract himself from all that happened. Whatever it is, he, as his uncle, was only glad that his nephew was recovering smoothly and quickly.

As for him? It was also still painful, but he has already accepted his sister's death. Dying is an inevitable part of living, an inherent aspect to the cycle of life. Akihiko understood so, and he also understood that he could do nothing about it other than swallow it in.

~

'Woah...' Ryuji's eyes darted all over as he stared through the glass of the moving car. What he saw left him in awe. It was the tall buildings and colorful background of Osaka. Having lived in the rural city of Iga, it was a new sight for the boy.

However, his sightseeing eventually came to a halt, so as the movement of the car.

"We're here." Akihiko declared so from the driver's seat. He then exited the car and went over the back to open the door for Ryuji. The latter looked on, scanning from top to bottom, at the imposing building in front. It was significant in size, housing multiple floors.

"Let's go inside." his uncle said as he started walking to the direction of the building. He just nodded and followed suit.

Once they were in, they directly went in to the elevator. His uncle pressed the button that had the number 12 engraved in its center. They were heading to the 12th floor.

*Ding*

The elevator stopped moving upwards, as Ryuji felt disoriented for a few milliseconds which quickly went away as it had come. The elevator's door opened. Ryuji was greeted by the unfamiliar view of the room, which amazed him, as he only saw such scene in movies or animes.

This room, which was maybe a half of the whole floor, was enclosed and had no windows. However, big panels of light brightly lit up the room. Rows and columns of computers was on one side, operated by people. And on the other side, there was a big screen on the wall, and just beneath it was a big control panel with countless buttons that can be utilized on the slanted table.

Seeing the surprise of the boy, Akihiko asked, "Like what you see?"

Ryuji stayed silent and looked around, failing to hear what his guardian said as he was still distracted by the place.

Not receiving a reply, Akihiko just shrugged and said, "Let's go. I'll show you around later." He ushered his Ryuji to follow him as they proceeded further inside.

~

"You're back, Akihiko-kun?" a gentle, feminine voice echoed from behind Ryuji, who spoke the familiar name of his uncle who was just beside him.

He glanced at his uncle who turned around, and he followed suit. The boy saw a beautiful, petite woman who was wrapped a lab coat that reached below her knees—just like his uncle's—which partially covered the cyan polo shirt as well as the blue jeans she was wearing. Her hair was a natural black, which was styled in a straight bob.

[Reference Image]

"I am, Rinko-san." Akihiko replied with a small nod as he looked at the woman who he has known for years.

— • — • —

A/N: Read Creator's Thoughts.