Ever Since | G. HIMEJIMA

01★ TOUCH

" Hamasaki? "

THE BLIND BOY
in late teenage years with spikey black hair turned his head in the direction where he heard the noise of the door outside the temple slide open. His eyebrows went up a little when he also heard the children inside leaving his space and swarming to the familiar figure in front of him.

"Ms. Hamasaki!"
He heard the children's voices in sync to the point that their voices are all overlapping with each other. Gyomei sighs softly, before he turns to the direction of where he heard the muffled noises of the children, happy to see the childhood friend of his again.

"I got something for all of you,"
He heard her speak once more. Mie's voice was sounding so gentle and soft, it was enough for a small child to be in slumber. In fact, her singing voice can enchant anyone to sleep, as she always sings a lullaby to calm down the children every night.

Gyomei notices that a small child, probably aged over seven years old, was still sitting beside him. Possibly because he was trying to braid the little girl's hair.

"Candy!"
The children all spoke in sync once again, truly happy with the gift that she gave them.

Gyomei smiles at the moment the children all yelled 'candy', he was truly grateful for the effort Mie was also giving to provide for the children.

Thanks to her, at least, the children and including Gyomei have been able to eat a decent amount of food, since Mie was working two jobs to help.

"Himejima..."
Gyomei's smile widens so much more after hearing Mie's voice calling to him, as he suddenly stands up from the mat.

He felt Mie's hand touching his shoulder, as he tried to face her. It was successful this time. Sometimes, Mie had to poke Gyomei's shoulder for him to face her properly in her direction.

"Hamasaki, how's work? Is everything alright?"
Even though Gyomei was blind, it was clear to him that something was wrong. He can sense that Mie was having problems with something.

Mie shook her head almost immediately, as she doesn't want Gyomei to worry about her too much. Before Mie would reply, she felt a small tug of her kimono.

She looks down, and saw the small child with her hair slightly messy, the same kid that Gyomei was trying to braid her hair a while ago.

"Ms. Hamasaki..."
The small child looks up at Mie with puppy dog eyes. The braid on her hair was almost finished- but her hair still looks slightly messy.

"Ah, do you need help with that?"
Mie sighs softly before looking back at Gyomei with a warm smile on her face.

"I do..."
Gyomei can sense that Mie was asking the question for him as well. Besides, how would a blind guy braid a little girls' hair?

✧

IT WAS
late at night. Mie couldn't sleep on the small futon of her space. As she weakly opens her eyes to wake up, she looks beside her. Gyomei wasn't around.