The powers

Chapter 3:

Souta put in his AirPods as the clouds started to darken. He was playing a music track meant to calm people down. But he didn't need to calm down.

He felt the wind pick up around him as he walked. He loved the wind. He loved the rain. He loved the presence that you could feel in the air before a storm. It almost felt otherworldly.

The rain began to fall, it started slowly but picked up speed. Souta smiled, one of the very few full, warm smiles he ever showed.

As the rain picked up he began to walk faster. He didn't want to arrive home soaked. He managed to make it home quickly, although he was still wet. Souta walked in, wiped his feet, and closed the door quietly. He heard the voices and the sounds of his grandmother making dinner so he assumed he could make it to his room in time to get changed without getting caught.

He began to creep through the house to get to his room but then he heard "Souta." In a warning tone.

Shoot.

Grandma. He signed, with a slightly nervous smile on his face.

"Souta! Your soaked! You must be freezing! Why do you do this to me? I swear your going to be the death of me." She said in Japanese. Souta's grandmother did speak enough English but she wasn't fluent in any other language than the one she grew up using. She pulled him in to a strangling hug that he couldn't pull away from due to her being his grandmother and also just because she was so strong.

I'm sorry grandma, I tried to get back before the rains, but I just- His signs were cut off as Souta's grandmother shuffled him to his room.

"Get cleaned up for dinner. Once you're done go sit with Lyn and Noah. Hurry up!" She called as she returned to the kitchen.

Souta smiled, his friends/neighbors were over. They came over fairly often, Lyn an Noah were cousins and Souta's grandmother was friends with Lyn's parents and grandmother. Noah was two years younger than both Lyn and Souta, but they didn't mind. They were all best friends.

Souta quickly got dressed and hurried to the table. They were both sitting there, talking, and getting very excited for Souta's grandma's Gyoza dumplings.

"Hey, Souta! Did you really get "stuck" in the rain, again?" Lyn asked sly, exhilarated manner. Noah giggled at her funny demeanor.

Well you know how I feel about the wind and storms. He signed, with a smile smile.

"And I love your Grandma's dumpling. That doesn't mean that every chance I get I'm going to come over here and eat them." Noah said with an awe full expression on his face when he caught the smell of dinner.

That's exactly what you do! He gestured, smiled in a way he rarely did. Souta imagined he would laughing right now if he wasn't mute.

"Oh. Right." Was all Noah could say before Souta's grandmother approached the table with the dumplings. Noah was gaping and to be honest, practically drooling at the sight of the food. Lyn laughed at his expression and Souta couldn't stop smiling.

...

Later that night Souta sat on his bed, listening to music, while looking out the window at the rain. It was completely storming now. With thunder and lightning and all. And as always, Souta loved it.

But as always, his mind drifted towards his mother.

I wonder if it's raining at her hospital. And if so, is she sleeping or lying awake alone? Is she in pain or simply unconscious?

He thought about these things often. After all she spent more time in the hospital, getting heart surgeries than she did with her own family. It made sense that he thought about these things.

Souta had never been close to his mother. Or really anyone. The only blood relative he had was his Grandmother, well, besides his father. But he had left almost as soon as Souta was born.

Did he leave because of me? Because of mom's health issues? Because of me being mute?

His grandmother told him not ask these questions because it was more complicated. But how much more complicated could it be? They never spoke about this sort of thing, Souta didn't even know the disease his mother had, for crying out loud!

Souta sat there for what seemed like hours. He thought about these things, over and over again . It didn't help. Eventually he just layed back and gave in to the music and the sounds of the thunder and rain beyond that.

Peace. Balance. Calm. These were three things he tried to maintain at all times. Externally don't internally.

He just closed his eyes and thought about nothing.