Would you like a cup of tea? || Shigeo Kageyama

Lemon Tea

"I had a long dream." Mob sipped his lemon tea - or to put it simply, his hot lemon water. The sourness of the lemon shot through his nerves, waking him up, before the sweet tanginess rested in his mouth. Somehow, it was calming and made him feel warm inside again. "In this dream, I was friendless with no one supporting me. But even then, I tried my best to live in that dream and to forgive anyone who did me wrong."

"That sounds unpleasant. Were you relieved that it was all a dream when you woke up?" Hotaru also drank her lemon tea.

"Yes. It made me feel lucky to have my friends and my family...and it strengthened my desire to have the qualities of the type of person I want to be." He looked down at his tea in a serious manner.

"And what would that be?"

"To be even more grateful towards what I already have." Mob closed his eyes for a moment as if relishing the present time.

She smiled gently at him. "Family and friends, huh..." She glanced out the window in a daze. "When it comes to family and friends, we might think about love and everything surrounding love."

He looked up at her curiously. "Love...?"

"Yes, love... After all, don't you think it's strange how everyone worships love, but takes it for granted when they do have it? And then once they lose that love, they become obsessive over blaming others for losing that love or end up falling into despair - filled with regrets about how they took it for granted." She leaned against the back of her chair, fidgeting with her fingers. "You know, Hope. I feel like people are innately selfish, but even then, the only thing we can do as one of those people is to do our best to be grateful for what we already have, right?"

"...I don't know about whether people are innately selfish or not, but being thankful for what you already have isn't a bad thing to do - or at least, it wouldn't be a waste of time. Don't you think so, Taru?" Mob set his cup down as he locked eyes with her. She stayed silent. "At the very least, I want to believe that I can do it." The resolve in his eyes strengthened.

Hotaru smiled again. "As I thought, Hope is strong, even if you might not think so yourself. To be able to live in that kind of dream and still be able to do your best to forgive those who do you wrong. Not many are capable of doing that, you know."

That was when Mob's cheeks flushed a light pink. "It's only because of everyone around me... If it wasn't for them, I don't know how I could have survived in that kind of dream."

"I see... Because of everyone around, huh..." She leaned against her arm as she used her teaspoon to swirl the lemon tea in her cup absentmindedly. That was when he noticed a lonely emptiness in her eyes - almost out of place. When he tried to focus on her eyes again, she smiled at him brightly, erasing any signs of that emptiness in the next second.

"Now then," she clapped her hands together. "We can't have us being all serious the entire time!" She stood up from her seat. "Let's listen to some cheerful music and drink a new cup of tea. This time with honey!"

Mob nodded in agreement. "I do like cheerful music!" He smiled at her in a warm manner.

"I do too since it relieves stress, just like what tea does." She then skipped towards the radio delightfully. "Now then... Which song should I play...?"