Ayano's Theory Of Happiness

Chapter 3

Ding ding ding

The school bell rang out at 6:30 and students walked out talking to each other, Ayano’s friends surrounded to her and were all laughing, talking and asking her questions if she was going to the festival next week. Grabbing her bag, she waved goodbye to her friends and smiled to them, even though they begged her to stay and gave her puppy dog eyes.

“With my white headphones
 I look to the side and give a slight grin as a signal to you
The moment I knocked on the door,
The heat permeating me floods out.
"You still don't see?"
A staring contest with strained eyes.
When I faltered then
The chord rang out:
"Now's the time, take it back!",
As from inside my mind.
The world is lovable yet harsh.
There were some who loathed it.
With their cruelly irrational "system"
If I approve, then the future won't exist...

Boys and girls, face forward
Finding hope in even the unbearable heat.
"Bring it back!", "Bring it back!"
The crescent moon rises in red flames.
Now, come, write the code in 0's
Head to the World outside the imaginary,
To the overstated warfront of fantasy.”

Ayano sang, it was the song her ‘siblings’ Kido, Kano and Seto had made for their Mekakushi Dan- a music group/ gang and Ayano was the founder. As she sang another verse a soft meow stopped Ayano from her singing, “Oh hello kitty, what are you doing here?” Ayano asked, kneeling in front of the little black kitten and stroking its tiny furry head, the kitten purred against her touch.

“I wonder if I had those red eyes, would I be able to save someone else’s future then?” Ayano asked expressionless, as she crouched picking up the small black cat, who meowed in reply.

Rain started to pour down from the sky, little pitter, patters of it. Ayano glanced up and sigh, winter was a troubling season in Japan, and it brought terrifying things along with the freezing wind. The kitten wriggled in Ayano’s hand, so she gave it one last pat and placed it gently on the ground, her hair slipping in front of her face.

As she walked alone in the raining weather, the sky was getting darker. Quietly opening the door, Ayano sighed and dropped her bag and slipped off her shoes next to the door and played with a strand of her drenched hair.

“Dad… I’m home,” she called, walking through the hallway and making her way to her room. There was no reply in the eerie house, which Ayano was fine with. Closing her bedroom door, not bothering turning on the lights she made her way to her bed, only tripping on a couple of things. She hugged her knees on her bed exhausted, another day of pretending, with a fake smile and fake laughs.

It wasn’t easy for Ayano to pretend nor did she enjoy doing it, lying to her friends always hiding behind a smile every day. But no one seemed to notice or bother to notice that her smiles or laughs were fake, so it made it easier. Ayano’s mind raced through unthinkable thoughts, of committing suicide wand which one would be less painful for her, hugging her knees tighter, she sighed and laid back on her bed, staring aimlessly at the ceiling.

Downstairs the front door creaked open and Ayano sat up and walked downstairs, to see who it was. “Ayano-chan, sorry I’m late, what’s for dinner?” her dad called, Ayano smiled politely to her dad and walked to the kitchen. “I haven’t prepared anything yet so I’m not sure, why don’t you decide on something, I’m not really hungry today,” her dad nodded and went into his study, Ayano sighed again, he always went in there to do experiments, she tried calling Shintaro, but he didn’t pick up.

The voice also came again late at night, trying to keep poor Ayano from sleeping and tormenting her with words and nightmares. So it became another sleepless night.