Anemoia

PART 2: CHAPTER IV: BE CAREFUL, BE SILENT

JUNE 2027

It all starts on Wednesday, June 17th, 2027, exactly one week before my birthday, not that I was excited, but it's a day I won't ever forget. I woke up around those times feeling cold, most of the days. Some other days I woke up sweating. That day was cold though. I was wrapped around in sheets, listening to the rain pouring.

My room was messed up, like it always was. The clothes were on the floor and I had a disaster over my desk. I had painted until 2a.m that day and forgot to clean up. I had become an artist, but at what cost.

Classes started at 8:45a.m, and it was already 8:15 a.m. I just had 15 minutes to have breakfast and get ready. It took 5 minutes to get to school on my old blue bicycle. I had done my backpack the day before at night so I wouldn't lose time. When I opened the door, I was expecting to see my mom there, but she wasn't. I supposed she must've gone to Shibuya to her work earlier for something that had happened. She did that some times. She had been promoted throughout the years, so she didn't want to leave the place. Now, she had to attend more people, and more cases. Little did I know that this one involved me.

I loved Kichijoji to my heart, but I really thought we had to move closer to my parent's work to keep things going. It felt scary again, but I knew it could be great. I had moved once, so why not twice? The memories from the two-floored brownish house that has always been home would fade away. Things come and go, anyway.

I felt kind of lonely, and my sister leaving all of a sudden, really hit me. Our relationship was breaking apart. I wondered if that would also happen with my friends after we graduated. However, it didn't take much time before I would lose my mind instead.

I was running late for school. I hadn't even showered. I thought I would need to go to school by car or I wouldn't make it, but my dad was out and I didn't know what to do. I supposed I was going to be late for the first time that year, before it became normal to miss school, to get in fights, to hurt myself.

I got into the shower so I wouldn't be late. If I didn't hurry up, I was probably going to get absent. Getting late was really shameful for me. The water was colder than usual, so it felt good. Soon after, I noticed I had a small wound in my left foot, near the toe. It wasn't bleeding, but it was still visible. I was kind of confused because I didn't remember doing anything the day before to get that cut. Before sleeping, I hadn't seen it there. However, I decided to ignore it that time. I convinced myself it was just something that I didn't see through as well as I should have.

I was really observant, and almost noticed everything. Maybe I had missed something, maybe I was thinking about something else. Only after that, I remembered that I had dreamed something related to a cut in my foot. I couldn't clearly rewind the things I had seen in my dream though.

I looked at myself in the mirror. I saw a young man, with nothing special. I put on my black uniform. It was all in black, I looked like an agent. I stepped outside of the bathroom later, with nothing particular on my mind, except the random wound.

Walking around my house, right down the stairs, I saw a figure which scared me for a second. Then I distinguished it was my dad after. He was reading a newspaper, an old-fashioned thing to do. He had that habit since his young days. In his big hands, he was holding a cup, probably filled with coffee or black tea. I had forgotten he was free that day. He looked at me with a proud look and said.

Son, do you need something? Anything? Maybe something to eat? Here's some money, take it.

I don't-

I know you need it, don't look at me like that.

I didn't like it when he gave me money. Nevertheless, I hadn't eaten anything for almost a day, and my stomach was desperate for anything. I had been craving some bread from Toho's Bakery for some days. I agreed with him and took the money, then hugged him.