Chapter 5

Giggles filled the air and two children played in the leaves near a creek. The boy scooped up a bunch of leaves and tossed them at the little girl, causing her to squeal in excitement.

"Ai! Don't do that!" she giggled as she went to scoop up her own but was stopped by the boy grabbing her hands.

"Mi-chan! I'm going to tickle you!" He said with a big smile.

The girl squealed again "No!" and she attempted to run away but he quickly moved to tickle her sides.

"Ah!" She giggled loudly and squirmed away from him, breaking free of his grasp she ran away.

The boy got up and chased her, the two running and laughing for some time until they finally settled down near the edge of the creek.

They had begun looking for rocks to skip when suddenly the boy gasped and called the girl over to him. Hearing him, she skipped over quickly to see what he had.

"Mi-chan look at this!" he said as he opened his hands.

She gasped and saw two beautiful rocks in his hands, they had many different colors and were soft and smooth to the touch.

Just then, two adults appeared nearby and called out to them.

"Oh that's my dad, I have to go Ai-Kun." the girl said sadly.

"Wait! Here, since there are 2 of the rocks you can have one, and I'll have one. I'm going to write our initials down so we can remember each other." He said with a smile. The girl nodded and the boy quickly ran over to his dad and asked for a marker, after a while, the boy returned to the girl and smiled proudly at her.

He presented her with one of the rocks and she smiled. The rock he gave to her had his initials written on it with a black marker.

A.S.

He showed her his rock with her initials on it,

M.T.

The two children hugged each other and the boy gently placed a kiss on her forehead, causing the girl to blush. He smiled wide and turned to run away "See you!" he called out.

The girl giggled before rejoining her father who was waiting for her.

*****

'Why did I have that dream again?' Aito asked as he lay in bed. The sun had barely started to rise and he huffed, slowly sitting up and running his hands through his messy black hair.

A month had come and gone, not much happening for him in the time but his dad had returned home last night and life didn't change from its usual dullness. He had the same routine every day. Wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, go to school, come home, eat dinner, do homework, sleep. Every single day. He used to play some sports but stopped this year due to wanting to focus solely on school so he could get into a top tech school.

His dad worked in the tech field and was just a step under the CEO, but Aito had planned on taking over the company at some point. He had the skill and intelligence for it, he just needed to bide his time as at 19 he was too young to run a company himself.

Aito reached for his phone with one hand and scratched his back with the other, turning it on he saw messages in a group chat Setsuya started a little over a month back. As he read through the messages Mei announced that her birthday was this Saturday and she expected them to bring her something as a tribute to her.

'How conceited can a person be?' He wondered as he shook his head. He glanced over at the calendar hanging in his far wall, it was already Wednesday, he didn't have long to pick something out so he decided to get something simple.

Once he had enough of his phone he got out of bed, his room was large but a bit messy since he was lazy and couldn't be bothered to clean often. On his desk lay dozens of parts to a new computer he was building, he enjoyed building computers and programming, it seemed to be something that he inherited from his father.

He walked over to his bathroom and began to get ready for school. He paused for a moment and looked at his eyes. He had the same cold lilac eyes as his mother. He hated his eyes. He hated remembering his mother.

Aito clenched his fist and turned away from the mirror. He couldn't help but feel anger stirring inside him. But the past was in the past, he couldn't go back and change anything.

As he finished up getting himself ready he stepped back out of the bathroom, picked up his phone from his bed, and stuffed it in his pants pocket. He made his way out of his bedroom with his things and walked down the stairs into the kitchen. His father sat in a chair by himself with a cup of coffee and a newspaper. His mouse brown eyes looking glum and tired which was made more pronounced by the dark circles and bags under them. His father sported wavy shoulder-length black hair with grey streaks and it was usually slicked back but in the mornings it lay straight down creating curtains around his face.

Looking up from his paper he offered his son a small smile, although he looked tired, his smile always reached his eyes. His father might look intimidating at first but once he smiled it showed how kind and soft his eyes were. Aito envied this about him, no matter how much he used to try to look kind, people were always intimidated by him. His being tall didn't make things any better for him.

Aito nodded at his father as he went over to the fridge and pulled out a boxed lunch. He didn't usually have an appetite in the mornings anymore but he would have miso soup and a boiled egg just for the sake of his father.

"Aito, how'd you sleep?" The man asked, his voice gentle.

"Mm." That was all Aito said. It was difficult to look at his father sometimes. He would always be reminded of his younger brother.

The house was very quiet and Aito's father put his paper down taking a long sip of coffee and sighing afterward. It was nearing the anniversary of the death of Aito's brother, it was always a difficult time for them both to handle.

Just then his father spoke again in a soft voice. "Would you accompany me to visit your mother later?"

Hearing the mention of his mother caused anger to instantly rise in his chest. He tried to keep his voice steady but failed "No." He said, not looking at his father.

"Aito, just this once... Please." His father's voice was as calm as a quiet lake. Aito looked up at him and saw that he had a pained look in his eyes. He didn't want to cause his father distress so he got up from the table and huffed. "Fine." He said as he walked towards the door, leaving his father at the table alone.

After putting his shoes on he stepped outside, he decided to ride his bike to school today but then he saw a sleek black car pull up on the street. The window rolled down and Mei's father Akihito smiled warmly. "Good morning! Come get a ride."

Aito tried offering a smile but he was sure it looked more like a grimace. The Tetsuo family had started giving him rides to school and back home a few times a week and every time, Mei didn't speak to him or even look at him. Aito wasn't phased by it, he didn't care about winning some spoiled brat's attention. What good would it even do him to consider being with anyone anyway? He didn't care about ever being married and he wasn't thinking about ever having children. Marriage and love were useless to him.

As he got into the car he greeted Akihito and Mei. Akihito started on the way to their school, once they arrived the two got out of the car and walked to class close by each other.

Just as Aito was about to ask Mei a question, the blonde girl from class marched up to her glaring daggers. "Hey, you." She said, her face bright with anger.

Mei stopped and turned to face the girl, an arrogant smirk on her face and her head titled upwards. "Yes, Asuna-chan?"

Asuna stormed up to her and sneered "What are you doing walking with Aito?"

Mei scoffed and gave Aito a dirty look "You think I'm with him? He's not even worth my time."

Aito pulled his lips into a thin line and knitted his eyebrows together, "We rode to school together." He said. Asuna scowled at Mei, raising her hand out to slap her. Aito caught the girl's wrist and held it in place, staring deep into her blue eyes. "What are you doing?"

"B-But Aito, we were supposed to be betrothed?! What are you doing with this slut?"

'Slut?!' Mei narrowed her eyes at the girl. Just then Aito stood between them, facing Asuna. "Asuna, if I wanted to marry you I would've already. Just back off and stop wasting my time."

Asuna's face turned bright red and she let out a loud huff before storming off, stomping her feet.

Mei burst into laughter and mocked the girl's huff. Aito stayed silent, moving away from her.

"I see you two are getting along." Called a voice, it was Setsuya with her arm around Fugaku's shoulders.

Mei flicked her long curly hair and held her head high once again. "She thought she stood a chance against me, I'm way out of her league." She stated, arrogance pooling her voice.

Aito rolled his eyes and walked away from the group, he didn't have time to deal with them. Fugaku frowned "Hey, guys I'll catch up to you, go on ahead." He said before running off to catch up with Aito.

"What's his deal?" Mei asked as she and Setsuya began walking to class.

Setsuya shrugged "I heard Asuna's dad wanted them to get married but Aito's dad didn't even fully agree to it... It's known in the school that Aito hasn't even ever dated anyone, he doesn't seem interested in that kind of thing."

"So she's just being desperate?"

"Mei" Setsuya laughed "You're so mean."

Once they made it to the classroom they saw the two boys in their seats. Aito was looking down, he seemed lost in thought.

Throughout class Mei snuck glances at Aito, he didn't seem focused and he had barely taken any notes down. She frowned but before she could say anything the teacher spoke up.

"Okay everyone, we will be having our annual sports festival soon! You'll be competing against class B and C, there will be teams of 4 and teams of 2 so be sure to organize into your teams for the festival next Friday."

After she said that the class came to an end, Setsuya and Mei chatted happily and Fugaku stood suddenly, grabbing Aito's arm to pull him away. "Let's go." He said in a serious voice.

Aito complied and followed him out of the room silently, leaving the girls confused. Mei wanted to know what it was about so she stood to follow before Setsuya could stop her. The boys walked down a hallway and turned the corner, Mei followed but kept a distance and listened.

"Are you doing okay?" she heard Fugaku ask.

"He wants me to see my mother." Aito sounded angry.

Fugaku sighed "But your brother?"

"I know... I never wanna see that woman again for the rest of my life." He started to sound sadder with each word. "But my dad, I don't want to grieve him." Aito sighed.

"Do you want me to come with you guys?"

"No. I wouldn't want you to see me like that."

Just then it went silent, Mei decided it was best to leave and snuck off as quiet as a mouse. 'What happened with his mother and brother?' She wondered.

After some time she saw the two boys exiting the building, Aito looking more distressed. She couldn't help but feel bad for him. What could be making him so upset? Why did she even care? She sighed and turned back to Setsuya who was sitting in the grass with her. They were reclining in the small field area in between the 3 school buildings, some students played frisbee, some students were sitting and chatting or studying.

Fugaku suddenly made his appearance and smiled warmly at the two girls "So Neko-chan, what do you have planned for today after school?"

Mei smirked "My father is taking me and my mom to a fancy restaurant in Shibuya."

Setsuya pouted "I wanna go to Shibuya! Can I come too?"

"I can take you Setsuya." Fugaku winked at the girl and she pretended to be flattered.

"Wow, a date!"

Fugaku and Setsuya laughed together, they actually wouldn't make a bad couple. They seemed to have good chemistry. "Why don't you guys date?" Mei asked curiously.

Fugaku turned his head expectedly at Setsuya. "Well?"

Setsuya laughed "Well I like girls... But I'd date you if you made it romantic enough." She crossed her arms and winked at him.

Mei pulled her face, she was shocked, she didn't expect her to say that kind of thing so casually.

Fugaku got on his knee and took Setsuya's hand as if he was about to propose "Setsuya Honda, out of the 5 years I've known you, I've always thought you were the best girl."

Setsuya smirked "But you dated other girls the whole time and even hit on Mei."

Fugaku gapped, "W-Well that's" Setsuya laughed and cut him off.

"You don't have to try so hard Fuga, we've been friends all this time, I think we'd be better to stay as friends don't you think?"

Sighing Fugaku let go of her hand and sat down, slouching over. "You're probably right... I'm not sure we would be any good as a couple."

Mei shook her head "You two already act like a couple, always hanging off each other and laughing together."

Setsuya looked at the girl with a challenge in her eyes "And what about you? Always blushing around Aito, if he even looks at you, you start melting."

Mei's face burned and before she could defend herself Setsuya laughed "See what I mean!"

Fugaku laughed and Mei crossed her arms with a pout on her face "That's not what it's like at all, I don't like him! I'm way too good for him anyway."

******

Aito sat in the car with his father, it was quiet in the car and Aito had his fists clenched almost the whole day. Aito's father took notice and placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "I'm here for you." He said calmly.

Aito's gut twisted 'How can you be so calm? How can you still want to see the woman that killed your son?' His inner thoughts caused him to let out a frustrated sigh as he turned to face the window. 

(Trigger warning.)

9 years ago, Aito was in his room playing with his toys when he suddenly heard his little brother Daiki, cry. As he rushed out of his room and into the living room he froze in place, his mother stood over his younger brother with an evil, twisted grin and a knife in her hand. Daiki had a stream of blood pouring down the side of his head and he was begging for her to stop. 

"Please mommy, please." He cried, his little body shaking.

"I should've never had you!" She screamed, raising the knife.

Before she could strike him, Aito ran over as fast as his legs could carry him and stood in front of his brother. His mother brought the knife down and it cut the left side of his face down to his jaw. Enraged she knocked the boy out of the way and he hit the floor hard, hitting his head.

"Out of my way! You're lucky I favor you Aito, or you'd end up like this one."

Aito's vision blurred and he struggled to get to his feet. Seeing his mother raise the knife once again he stumbled over to grab her legs, causing the knife to drop out of her hands and her to fall over. 

She kicked Aito off of her, her foot landing on his head, and stood upright again. Aito's little body heaved and he weakly tried to rise again but to no avail, just then he felt Daiki's hand on his shoulder, the younger boy crying profusely. "Aito... Aito!" 

"D-Daiki..." Aito called out to him weakly, his consciousness slowly fading as he saw his mother picking his brother up by his neck. The last thing he heard was his brother weakly crying for help as the world turned black.

****