4

Ayounger smiled and followed her, still in his pajamas.

It was already dark outside and the streetlights cast a bright white glow onto the pavement. Ayounger wondered what it would be like to be outside and not inside. Of course there were things to be done inside, such as cleaning up, but for him it would be very relaxing to leave the house and go somewhere. And yet he also knew that he would be expected to work and study. That never changed.

He closed the door and locked it before following his friend through their backyard and down a dirt path. The air was a little bit colder here. Usually when it got cold like this, a thin layer of snow began falling. It was winter, but summertime. It made him remember the day in August when he'd gone to the beach. How exciting it had felt to run around on sand and swim and play volleyball. Back then, things had been simple for Ayoub; things were going right. He missed those days.

Soon enough, they reached the ocean. The tide was beginning to turn and the water was getting a bit shallower. He stood in silence for a moment, letting the sound of the sea surround him. It calmed him, but he knew it wouldn't last forever. Eventually he turned around and began walking back home.

While he was walking, he began to think of something that could calm the nerves in his stomach. Since the day his father died, he'd found it harder to eat. Or even speak. He couldn't even remember exactly what happened that caused it, but whatever it was, it affected him greatly. He knew that he would have trouble sleeping, and his dreams tended to consist of a black void. There would be people screaming and laughing and crying in pain. Some of them were happy, some were sad. No one ever seemed peaceful, but the worst part of these nightmares were when his mother was dead and blood was everywhere. She was on the ground bleeding out. He couldn't do anything to save her, so he screamed and shouted at every monster in the darkness that surrounded him, hoping he'd hear him. But it always ended the exact same way: her body becoming lifeless and unmoving, her screams echoing through the abyss as it slowly started swallowing her up. He never went back to sleep after that day. Whenever he did, he would see red.

One thing he hated was nightmares where it seems like there is blood everywhere. He couldn't remember which color it had been, all he knew was that it was everywhere. He hated seeing his mother's blood, or seeing any blood of any sort. Sometimes if he woke up scared, he would find himself holding a glass of water in his hand. But most of the time, he would just throw it away and pretend that nothing happened. He couldn't stand to see her dead face anymore. He had always considered himself lucky that his father had not had many scars and was only slightly shorter than him. But now, with her death looming over his head, he regretted not having taken the opportunity to cut his hair and trim it. He wondered what would have been like if his father had died and the wound had been far less severe.

Ayoub knew deep inside that no amount of hair cutting was going to change it. All that mattered was how he dealt with it. So he would carry on, he would continue to push forward until one day he was finally free. One day he would be able to move on and live his life normally. That day was still far, far, far off. But eventually he would get there, and then everything would go back to the way it should be. But until then, everything was fine, everything was good. Everything was perfect. He couldn't let anyone take that away from him, not even himself. Not even his own parents. Not even the man who was supposed to have loved him unconditionally, but apparently did neither.

Ayoub stopped as he approached the apartment complex. He saw Nagisa standing next to the gate with a big smile on his face as he waited for him. His heart fluttered as he looked at his friend. He couldn't believe how well Nagisa was doing lately. It was almost like he hadn't been injured at all. He smiled softly as he walked toward him, feeling happier than usual. As he neared his friends, they noticed each other. Nagisa's grin widened and his brown eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Hey!!" he exclaimed happily as he hugged him tightly, "You look awesome today! Are you ready for the trip??"

Ayoub laughed, returning Nagisa's hug and nodding.

"I am excited for our trip," he replied, looking into Nagisa's eyes with a smile on his face. "It'll be fun. We'll go see different places together and have fun!"

Nagisa giggled as he pulled away from his friend. "We will!! I just can't wait!!" he replied, smiling.

Ayoub smiled at the boy's enthusiasm.

"So when are you gonna tell me where we're going?"

Nagisa looked at him questioningly for a few moments. He blinked a couple times, as if he just remembered something, and smiled mischievously.

"Oh yeah! Where are you taking us?" he inquired.

Ayoub paused, a confused look on his face. He frowned slightly, realizing what Nagisa meant. "Well, uh…"

Chapter 4

Ayoub sighed heavily as he put his bag down in his room and flopped back onto his bed. Today was a day like any other. They were going on another vacation, this time for two weeks. Two long weeks. Two weeks where they would be away from home and everyone they knew. It would be the perfect way to spend two weeks without thinking of Momotarou or Miho and their stupid argument. He wished he could forget about it. But every single minute spent thinking about it brought the memories crashing in again. He didn't want that. But what choice did he have? He sighed.

Today's trip had come as a surprise, one that neither of them had expected. They were planning to spend some time in a nearby city. But when they went to check the weather conditions before leaving, they discovered that it wasn't clear enough. There weren't any flights going out and the weather forecast suggested a storm to hit later on. It was late afternoon by that point, and they knew they had to make sure that they left early so as not to get caught in the storm. Their train ride, though, took about forty minutes and during the entire trip they hadn't said a word to each other. He could tell that Nagisa was angry, but why? He didn't understand. What had he done wrong? Had he offended him somehow? Was it because he told him about the fight he and the boys had? Maybe it was because of that, but why had he reacted that way? He tried hard to keep his temper in check, but sometimes he found it quite difficult to manage. Especially when they argued, even if they were in good spirits afterwards. But it was a different kind of arguing that he found hard to deal with. Something else. Something more intense, more passionate than he'd ever seen coming from Nagisa. He shook his head. He shouldn't care what he thought of him. What did it matter whether he liked him or not? He was going to see him soon, and everything would go back to normal in no time. He had to be strong. For himself and for Nagisa too