A Hero I Look Up To

Reminiscence

Tobio is now a fourth grader now, which means he's a year away to graduate elementary school! Two weeks have passed and Tobio thought of doing something to surprise Mia and Loid once he arrives at school. Chris drove Tobio, as usual, but things were a little different. Back when Tobio was in pre-school, his mother would do the honors to take him to school. In third grade, she suddenly stopped and got Chris to take him to school. Tobio looked out the window to see he has finally arrived.

"I'll see you after school, Tobio." Chris said with a smile. "If you see Loid this time, tell him that things will be ok!"

"Alright." Tobio grabbed his backpack and walked out of the car. He enters the building to see Mia waiting for him.

"Hello Tobio!" Mia yelled.

"Heya." Tobio said back.

The way Tobio talked to Mia was different, which surprised Mia. Usually, Tobio was a shy kid, but now he's trying his best to communicate. This all started in third grade, where Tobio asked Chris on speaking tips. That way, Tobio could learn how to talk better than what he did in back when he was a kindergartener.

"Heya...? That's new!"

Mia laughed at Tobio's new way of speaking, which got Tobio to laugh to. They laughed for a great while, until Tobio decided to ask something a little different.

"By the way, where's Loid? It's been over 2 weeks since he came to school."

Mia looked away from Tobio and hung her head low. She looked like she was about to tear up like in a funeral. Seeing her pained face made Tobio raise his eyes. The look on Mia's face got Tobio to knew something had happen to Loid.

"We could... no longer get in contact with..." Mia said with sadness. "Even during his bakery's financial problem..."

"You knew about that problem?" Tobio asked Mia.

"I found out through mom... she was... devastated. How I found out Loid moved... I found out through one of his classmates. Enrolling here is expensive, so it would be impossible for his family to pay for Loid's school... maybe that's why he moved...!"

This was the first time since Kindergarten Tobio saw Mia in a state like this. They lost a friend... and now he's somewhere else... and transferred schools. With Loid gone, it's just Tobio and Mia. If Chris were to find out, he'd also be devastated... just like Mia's mother. Tobio felt like he wanted to cry, but Mia said something to cheer him up.

"Well... Loid's still our friend, even if we're far away! You may not know, but one of us may reunite with him in the future. Once that happens, share some amazing stories to him, and maybe ask about the bakery. Mom also told me I can't interfere or help, so we're both probably alike!"

Tobio raised his eyes. To think Mia was also in the same situation as him during that time in winter break during second grade. Back then, Loid told them updates in the bakery and how it was doing, but stopped near the end of third grade, which made Tobio and Mia worried sick. Since then, he didn't arrive at school the first two weeks of fourth grade, and Mia finding out later he transferred. Tobio chuckled a bit, hearing Mia's words.

"You're right." Tobio said with a smile recovering from his tears. "Loid wouldn't want us to worry. I know from far away, he's smiling at us... he wants us to continue on, even if he's no longer at our school!"

"That was so inspirational!!" Mia said with tears of joy, praying to Tobio as if he's some god.

Tobio raised his eyes in shock as he saw Mia praying to him. He was laughing it out, even if it meant that he wanted to fake it. Mia also laughed out loud with a big smile around her face. Seeing Mia laugh and hearing his own laughter made Tobio realize he hasn't laughed so much ever since 3rd grade, where one of his classmates drew a funny photo of a lion running with pretty cursed legs. That day was the first time he ever laughed so much. Another time is when Tobio was with Chris, he saw one of Chris' photo's with a friend in high school. She had green eyes and long black hair, and she was smiling with a funny face, which shocked Chris, leading to Tobio laughing.