| The Summer of My Youth | KTH

1. My eggs!

"Suki! Go and buy some eggs from the convenience store for me." her mother called out loudly from the kitchen.

The girl opened her eyes, blinking away the remaining sleep. It was just the beginning of summer. The season to be lazy all you want. For her, it was rather boring, just sitting at home, munching on snacks without doing anything because of the summer break.

Tanaka Natsuki. Her name, Natsuki, literally means 'summer child', but to the irony of life, she wasn't really fond of the heat summer has.

"Yes, Mom!" she stood up unwillingly, heading towards the door.

"Don't forget to close the door, we don't want Kei to run out on the streets now." her mom reminded her to be careful. The last time she forgot to close the door, her dog, Kei, went out in the rain and had to be bathed again.

"Okay," she yelled through the closed door as she stepped outside the house.

The birds chirping in the background while the main attraction to her ears was the sound of the ocean waves coming from near her house as well as the rustling of tree leaves when the warm breeze blew past the trees. The sun was shining above her head as the scorching heat was burning her skin but it was bearable.

She threw a hat on her head to stay protected from direct sun rays and made her way to the store. She could see the beautiful shadow patterns made by tree leaves under her feet; one thing she loved to watch in summer.

The streets were almost empty with one or two vehicles passing by now and then, other than that it was a peaceful early summer afternoon. Natsuki walked on the hot pavement road, gazing at the ocean waves that captured her attention as they repeatedly hit the big rocks scattered across the shore making a satisfying sound.

"Oh, Suki-chan! Going to the market?" the aunt from her neighbourhood yelled out, peeking her head from the window of her house which faced the street. She must have spotted Natsuki walking alone on the road.

"Good afternoon, Aunt Kimura. Yes, I'm going to buy some eggs. See ya." Natsuki waved her hand at her, continuing to walk down the street.

•~•~•

She stepped inside the convenience store as the cool air-conditioned air welcomed her, saving her from the heat.

"Good afternoon." she cheerfully greeted the person who was standing at the cash counter when she entered and the bells jingled at her arrival. The cashier greeted her back with the same enthusiasm.

She quickly went to the aisle which had eggs and picked out a pack of 6 eggs, now going to the cashier.

"It'd be 200 yen." the cashier informed as she rummaged through her pocket for her wallet.

But seemed like she forgot to bring it with her.

"Is there a problem?" the cashier asked her.

"Uh, I think I forgot my wallet," she said with a troubled look on her face, more like frustrated.

"I'll go back and get it." she mumbled and started to step back but a hand stopped her.

"Let me help." when she heard a voice, she looked up to meet a pair of dark brown eyes.

The voice belonged to a boy probably the same age as her but he didn't look Japanese. Was he a foreigner? But he was speaking Japanese...?