A centimeter more closer.

- Kyoka Jiro POV -

"See ya!" Staz said as he went outside the store. If I am going to be honest, this guy seriously pisses me off.

My dad shrugged his shoulder. "Well, that's a shame," he said.

I walked behind the counter, putting my bag in a corner. "How did you know him dad? You two seem very close," I asked, wondering what their relationship was.

My dad looked at the displayed guitars. "Hm.. Just a long time regular customer of mine, a quite hard working one at that," my dad said.

I was surprised. "Eh..hardworking? Kinda hard to believe from someone who always sleeps," I said jokingly.

My dad laughed. "Haha! But Kyoka—" my father said and then turned at me. "—some people aren't just that simple. Maybe he has his circumstances, we don't really know," my dad said, smiling lightly.

I smiled. "Yeah, don't worry. I don't easily judge people like that." I said.

I then looked at my dad. "When are you gonna close?" I said, asking him a question.

My dad put his hand on his chin. "Hmm, maybe a bit early? It's weekdays so there might not be many customers." he answered. "And also, you said that you want to talk about something right?" my dad added as he smiled at me.

Hearing that, I forced a smile. "R-right," I said, feeling extremely nervous.

"Anyway, are you busy?" my dad said.

"No, not really," I said as I looked at the clock.

"Then could you help me to restock some items? And maybe we could go home right after that."

"Yeah, sure."

This guitar store was owned by my dad when I was still very little. And ever since he managed to land an album, he moved to another place to professionally pursue singing. That place got renovated and renovated until it became what our house is currently today.

And since then, he became busy so he didn't get much time now to oversee the store. So normally, he would just come here thrice every week. It is actually quite possible that sooner or later, this place would get permanently closed.

I then helped my dad stock some items. I put things here and there. And after a few minutes, we finished.

I grabbed my bag as I walked outside the store. "Was that all?" I asked, looking behind.

"Yep, that's all," my dad said as he locked the door and pulled down the roll-up doors.

After we went home, I helped my mom to prepare for dinner. And then, we ate together.

The dishes were delicious, but what's the red rice for though? After eating with my parents, I cleaned up the table and washed the dishes.

We sat on a chair, facing each other with a table between us.

As the silence enveloped the room, I tried to say something but I couldn't speak. No matter how I tried to open my mouth, nervousness only came.

My dad was the first one to speak. "So Kyoka, how was your day?" dad said with a smile.

I was startled. "Ah! yeah, um.. It was fine, we didn't do anything special. Well, maybe except for that one thing," I said, trying to recollect myself.

My dad raised his one eyebrow. "Hm? What is it?" dad asked curiously.

"Oh it was nothing. It's just that—pfft! someone screamed at a teacher," I said, laughing a bit.

"Ehhh.? seriously?" dad asked.

"Yeah, seriously," I answered. "He went like, 'Gyaaah!' something like that. Haha," I added, raising my hands as I acted like I just got scared while laughing.

My dad laughed. "Haha! Was he alright?" he asked.

"Probably? That was the first time I saw him scream," I answered, shrugging my shoulder.

And without realizing it, I calmed down.

"Hahaha!" my dad only laughed at my answer.

Then my dad stopped laughing. "So? What is it you wanna talk about?" my dad said with a calm tone.

'This is it, I have to tell them now,' I thought, filling myself with resolve.

"That.., It's about the future career form," I said.

"Uh-huh"

"Dad.. mom," I said, gripping my knees tightly. "I want to be a hero," I said as I lower my head.

"I'm not going to become a musician... I'm sorry," I said as my eyes started to blur.

'.. I've said it now,' I thought, ready to receive whatever they're gonna say.

My dad and mom looked at each other. "Come on Kyoka, did you think we would be mad about that?" dad said, gently patting my head.

"But, you taught me music... And I don't wanna waste that," I said as something swelled up in my eyes.

I don't wanna turn all those years of experience into just nothing!

My tears came out. "It was hard to decide, because— I LOVE music too!" I said, wiping my tears.

As far as I remember, I have loved music ever since. Even when I was just a little kid, I would always find myself enjoying it whenever my parents played.

Heck, we would even play like a little band. My mom would be playing the piano, my dad would be the drummer, and me the lead guitarist.

I would also listen to other singers as well, especially rock music bands like Black Stone and Deep Dope. Recently, I found myself idolizing Black Stone's lead singer— Nana Osaki. I mean, her style just looked so cool for me, you know? I even cut my hair short just like her.

Unfortunately, it seems that she already died years ago. But still, that doesn't stop me from loving music. There are still a lot of people that would eventually shine for me to discover.

Yeah, I definitely love music. But...

"It's just that.. helping others and making them happy—" I said. Raising my head, I looked at them. "—seems so cool!" I said as my tears flowed out.

My dad wiped my tears. "Kyoka.. you can do whatever you want," my dad said as he smiled.

"Just remember this, me and your mom became a musician because that's our great love! You do what you do, Kyoka," my dad said, trying to cheer me up.

"Choosing a career is a big decision. And you would need to consider all your options," my mom said.

"But who said you can't use your sound through other means? Maybe you could use your sound not only for music, but for helping others too. In a sense, don't you think being a hero is similar to a musician~?" my mom said

"Just do what you want Kyoka," both my parents said.

I wiped out my tears. "*Sniff* Yes.. thank you.." I said.

After talking for a bit much more, I headed in my room. And then, I lay down on the bed.

I'm sorry and thanks again, mom and dad. It's just that, I've always admired heroes too. Heroes saving people just seems really cool you know. Even him.. when he saved me earlier from getting hit.

He usually has lazy eyes. But at that moment, even for just a little bit..

I pulled the blanket up to my shoulder. 'He looked kinda co— Ah wait.! Ugh.. never mind!!' I thought, grabbing the blanket to cover my head.

And then, I fell asleep.

...

- Staz POV -

8:20 a.m. I grabbed my bag as I went ahead to go to school.

I massaged my eyes. "Ugh.. I wouldn't do that anymore," I said.

Last night, I worked on video editing from 11:00 p.m until 3:00 a.m. And as I was about to shut my computer off, someone contacted my email.

The client offered me to edit a promotional video that would need to be finished as soon as possible. At first I thought about declining it but, the payment was so GOOD! Kuh!

And because of that, I ended up working for an additional 3 more hours. I then woke up at 8:00 a.m, barely having a sleep.

I entered the school gate, then changed my shoes, and went inside the classroom. And as soon as I opened the door, I heard someone spoke.

"Oh? Here comes the weird one. Haha!" someone wearing a uniform said.

The person behind him agreed. "Yeah haha, it's really weird to see him suddenly start speaking that long!"

I went to my seat, ignoring them. "Yes, yes," I said as I sat down, dropping my head on the desk.

Both of them stood up. "Look, he's starting to sleep again! Haha. Come on, don't ignore us!" "Yeah! Don't ignore us," they said.

The door suddenly opened. "Okay, okay. Quiet down now class," the teacher said as he entered.

He then went to the front, standing in the middle in front of us.

He clapped his hands. "Okay just as I announced yesterday, I will now be collecting your future career forms. I hope that you filled in your forms with sincere consideration as this would greatly affect your future," he said calmly.

After that, he started collecting it one by one. Then he read it.

As he was checking the forms that we passed, someone poked me behind. "What happened to you? You look deadier than usual," the person said.

I then looked behind, it was Kyoka. "I could say the same to you. You like you're in a much better mood, something good happened?" I asked.

"Yeah, something like that. You?" she asked.

I then looked annoyed. "Well it was about work as usual, it just happened that I got overworked. Though it earned me more than usual, I guess it's actually quite good," I said, shrugging my shoulder.

Then, the teacher suddenly spoke. "Okay! zip your mouth for just a moment," he said as he slapped the table in front of him.

"I already checked all of these forms that you class submitted. It seems that more than half of you want to be a hero, while others choose either their passions or dreams. Nevertheless, you guys are already going to be high schoolers and will be now step closer towards your futures. I just hope that during that moment, you guys won't forget to be a responsible person," the teacher said.

"And since we've already finished our discussions, all that's left is preparing for the examination. I don't know what the other teachers will do but, class is dismissed. Good luck to you all!" the said said while smiling.

"WOOAAAHHH!!!" the whole class screamed with joy as they stood up and raised their hands.

Hours later, the school ended as people celebrated the end of semester.

The classroom turned into chaos as people kept shouting and shouting. I then grabbed that opportunity to leave.

I grabbed my bag and headed out the room quietly. I then changed my shoes, and went outside the school.

And as I was walking on the sidewalk, someone came running behind me.

"Hey! ha..ha..," I turned around as I heard the voice.

"Sup'?" I asked, looking at Kyoka.

"Ah, um.. my dad was wondering if you could come over for dinner? He was really pestering me, you know," she asked.

I raised my right eyebrow. "Hm? Wait lemme think," I said, turning back around to think.

'Well since I don't have anything to do later, should I just accept? I mean, I would get real busy sooner because of canon. Wait, there's no need for thinking. It's free food, hell yeah!!' I finished thinking as I turned back at Kyoka.

I gestured a thumbs up. "Yeah, sure," I said while grinning.

Kyoka smiled. "Wow that's a lot of thinking, as expected of professional loner," she said.

"Wow, what a mean comment. As expected of an emo girl," I replied back.

We then walked together, talking to each other as we went towards their home.

...