Bokutachi Ga Yarimashita: TOMORROW'S HOPE

CHAPTER #2

In the cab ride to her house Ayano asked, "you mentioned that guy Tobio went to a different school, were you childhood friends?"

"No. Before the bomb I thought he was weak trash and after he seemed to be the one who'd planted the bomb. Anyway, he fell off his school's roof or maybe he jumped, only he knows. A tree broke his fall and so he ended up in a cast at the hospital. My legs were useless after the bombing and I was in a wheelchair. He lost one of his crutches and fell on his face. I handed him the crutch. By then I was mostly indifferent towards him. We played games and sometimes talked about girls. We did physiotherapy together and eventually couldn't help competing during rehab. He recovered and got discharged. Tobio helped me sneak out a few times too. Our friendship grew like that."

"What's your LINE ID?"

He searched his pockets, then remembered where it was. "I left my cell on the hospital bed."

"Here, use my phone and text yourself, so when you get back you've got my number." After he did what she said, Ayano ordered food. "We'll get to my house shortly."

They arrived before the food, but it came almost directly after. She answered the door and brought the food to the kitchen table where Tetsuto sat. "Thanks for the meal. This is pretty good."

"They've got the best seafood yakisoba, it's my favourite." Ayano put her hair into a ponytail.

"You're hair looks nicer when it's down."

"Maybe, but eating gets messy if I don't tie it up."

He looked around, she wasn't excessively rich, but definitely her parents were wealthy.

She noticed and offered, "I'll give you a tour after we finish eating."

"At least your parents left you in a nice place. The apartment my Grandma and I shared was small. It's gone since both of us were hospitalized. The day of her funeral, I had to put our stuff in storage."

"But I bet it felt like home, because of her."

"Yeah, she made the best food too."

Ayano smiled, "I can see it on your face that you loved your grandmother a lot."

Ichihashi helped her clean up the empty food containers. He was following her and she suddenly stopped, making him bump into her. She spun around, eyes wide, stepping backwards until the counter touched her back.

"Sorry. My fault for the sudden stop." Ayano said softly.

Tetsuto gently asked, "it wasn't just a mugging, was it?"

Her eyes grew wider and she stuttered, "h-h-how?"

"Those guys who turned against me, tried to rape Renko and make me watch. I stopped it in time, but it's how I got this scar." Tetsuto lifted up his shirt and showed her the healed stab wound.

"I-I c-can't talk about what happened to me.... Can I touch the scar?"

He shrugged, "if you want to."

Her fingers lightly dancing over the old wound, as she traced its path. "That must have hurt a lot... the knife going in causing this and the emotional pain too."

"You're the first person who understands that. Anyway, when you want to tell me, I'll listen."

"Thanks. Um... would you like to stay the night?" Ayano suddenly realized how that sounded and quickly clarified, "in the guest room of course."

"Are you sure that's okay?"

She nodded confirmation. "Let's see if my dad's closet has clothes you can use."

He followed her into the parents' bedroom on the ground floor. They had a walk-in closet and she handed him a few items to try on in the ensuite bathroom.

Tetsuto asked, "why are you trusting me like this, since we just met?"

"You saved my life... that's why you agreed to stay overnight right? To make sure I don't kill myself here at home?"

He recognized that to be a rhetorical question, but still nodded in confirmation. Her father's track pants were designer ones, but fit pretty well. Ichihashi tried on a long sleeve shirt, but it was too tight in the arms and across the chest. The NIKE t-shirt that looked bigger across the shoulders, fit him perfectly. Coming out of the bathroom in the borrowed clothing, he held his own over an arm.

"If you give me your clothes, I'll put them in the wash." Ayano took the items he handed her, continuing the tour after putting the washing machine on. "The guest bedroom and my room are upstairs. We share the Jack and Jill bathroom."

He slowly went up the stairs with her. On the landing was another living room or hang-out area, with a huge TV and a comfy looking couch. "Is that a bar? Your parents allow underage drinking?"

"I moved a few of the bottles up here. The fridge is stocked with water, juice and pop."

"You drink?"

She shrugged, "sometimes... when I want to feel numb." The tour ended by the last two doors down the hall. "This one is mine and yours is across from it." Ayano opened the door to her room.

He went in and looked at the posters on the wall. "Not what I expected."

"I use to love Karate, but I was told by my dad that girls should play the piano and not fight."

"Do you still like it?"

"Karate was a way to control a least some part of my life. I guess now I could start doing it again, but I'd rather learn how to do Taekwondo, to channel my anger and pain. I should take down these Karate posters one day."

"I took Karate as a kid too." He looked at the bed, "do you like the colour blue?"

"I prefer it to other colours. What about you?"

Tetsuto grinned, "I mostly wear black, and yes I know it's not a colour but a shade."

"You'd probably look good in any colour... except pink and yellow." Ayano yawned. "I should go check the laundry and then turn off the lights downstairs."

"Alright, good night." He left her standing in the hall.

** ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ** ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ **

Ichihashi had been sound asleep and suddenly woke up, heart pounding. He looked at the clock on the nightstand. It displayed 1 am, he'd been asleep for at least three hours, so what had woken him up? He got out of bed and opened the bedroom door, listening to the quiet house. Then Ichihashi heard something from Ayano's room. It was the sound of sobbing.

Tetsuto knocked on her door, "hey... are you okay?"

The door opened and she apologized, "sorry if I woke you. I've been having nightmares a lot lately." Ayano wiped the tears from her face, but they kept falling.

"I'm going to hug you," he announced and when she didn't move, Tetsuto did exactly that.

Her head came to rest on his shoulder, but her arms remained at her sides. "It's always the same dream... I want it to stop."

"Talking about it might help...."

"I-I can't... Thanks for the hug."

He released her and she went back into her room, closing the door. Ichihashi rose one eyebrow, but returned to his assigned bed, it didn't take him long to get back to sleep.