The sun had set behind the mountains by the time Souta arrived on the doorsteps of his family home. Located some ways off the village center, the small two story house stood alone between the rice fields and the old forest that adorned most of the valley. His hand raised, ready to knock, a certain thought flashed into his mind.
Have they gotten even more grotesque?
*Knock Knock*
Not bothering to wait for a response he walked right in, dropping his backpack on the floor and kicking his shoes into the pile of clothes that were laying on the ground
"Anyone home?"
No answer.
"Mooom, daaad?"
Silence.
I can't believe they went to sleep when they knew I was coming tonight.
Stepping silently, Souta made his way into the kitchen. The entrance had been a mess, but the hallways seemed recently cleaned. He managed to sneak his way in without a sound.
*growl*
The rumbling of his stomach seemed to echo in the halls in the silent house.
Of course my stomach had to go and ruin it.
Grabbing a cup, he found some cooked noodles in the fridge. Not daring to use the microwave fearing he would wake his family up, he submitted to his fate and enjoyed the noodles cold.
Now that I think about it, why do we even bother warming up food that's already been cooked. Not that it becomes more nutritious or anything. And especially now…
He looked at the food in front of him
A grey mass, the noodles reminding him a bit of worms.
Maybe I should try to eat with my eyes closed.
***
The sun had long risen by the time Souta woke up.
What time is it…why was I not woken up earlier?
Rubbing his eyes and fighting against the bed to let him get up he flipped his phone open to check the time.
10.47 A.M — 21.7.2001
Could be worse.
The comfy sheets finally let him go, and he wobbled over to the mirror. From there dark blue eyes stared at him from behind long messy black hair.
Crap, I left my piercings on .
He hurriedly took the silver earrings out, threw them into the drawer's top compartment and took out a hairbrush.
Untangling his hair, he examined himself in the mirror. With each stroke of the brush his messy hair straightened, "breaking down the bird's nest" as he often said. His deep blue eyes, which he in all honesty really liked, looked back at him, unbothered by the world around him. Despite his pale skin and a pointy jaw giving him a malnourished look, he didn't spend all his time inside.
Well at least I look a bit more representable now.
One thing the "dullness" as he called it had not taken away from him was a sense of smell. He was immediately reminded of this by the scent of rice and tuna floating over from the kitchen. The craving for food overtook his fears and he stepped inside the kitchen.
"You should cut that hair away"
"And for the moon's sake wear something colourful for once, why does it always have to be black"
Right.
"yeah...good morning"
Souta made sure to keep his face down, but judging from the directions the sounds were coming from, his dad was sitting in the living room. The faint rustling of paper told him that he was most likely reading the news. His mom's voice was coming over from the kitchen's counter, where the aroma of food was also coming from.
He walked over to the dining area and sat on the tatami, waiting for the ordinary questions to come in.
How are studies, are you dating yet, did you bring any gifts from the city, have you been eating well…
…
Nothing
"So uhh…has anything interesting been happening in the village?"
The silence was so loud that Souta avoided even moving a finger as he feared the creaking of his joints would break the sound barrier.
"Are you coming to the festival this time?"
*Thunk*
Souta hit his knees on the table, scared half to death by the sudden break in the silence
"Yeah I think so"
Why did I say that.
Why.
Why did I have to open my stupid mouth before thinking.
He could hear his dad put the newspaper down and get up from the chair, his steps disappearing upstairs.
"Here's two onigiri for you, I put some tuna inside of them"
His mother's voice was so gentle that he had to look up to make sure that she hadn't turned back normal, instantly regretting that he had done so. From the kitchen an abomination stared at him; a face with a grin so wide the skin around her mouth had torn apart, the other eye intact and the other…hanging out of its socket.
Souta quickly turned his gaze back to the floor.
"Thanks mom."
He could sense tears forming in his eyes, so he quickly nabbed the food from the counter and sprinted outside. That was enough of that for the day.
***
Souta wasn't heading anywhere in particular. He liked the feeling of the summer wind on his face as he cycled along the small dirt road that led to the village.
Though the world was without color and sometimes without form, it didn't mean that sometimes it was beautiful to him in its own way.
As the grey fields passed by, more and more houses started to pop up. First, more rundown and isolated. Lone shacks surrounded by fields, behind them the deciduous forest which rose up to the sides of the mountains. As the town center drew closer, more and more houses were built in groups. There were people working on their gardens; watering the plants, children playing and old people sitting on the porch, enjoying their day.
After roughly 20 minutes, Souta left his bike laying against some tree on the outskirts of the village center. He didn't want to go too close the market square, too many people were there going about their daily business.
I wonder if things have changed around here, it's been a few years since I last came to the center itself I think.
Probably not though, the people here don't like change. Or more like, they don't need it.
Sometimes it really feels like this place is stuck in time. That's not so bad though.
The sun had risen high above the mountains, and the day was getting quite hot. Thankfully it meant that more people preferred to stay inside instead of wandering about.
What should I do…I ate the onigiri so I'm not really hungry yet…Maybe I'll just find some tree to lay under and listen to that new album I've been meaning to get to…Now where was that tree we used to have a treehouse in as kids…I remember it casting quite a shadow…down that street and then to the right. Yeah that's probably it.
The walk was even shorter than he remembered. Soon the towering tree, just on the edge of the forest, was towering in front of him. Located on a small hill, it cast a long shadow over everything.
Even the tree looks bigger now…I must have been tiny the last time I was here.
The long grass tickled his ankles as he made his way to the tree. Just as he was about to lay down against the trunk, a voice rang out
"So- Souta Ao..kawa?"