Tsuki-Dayo

Thirty-One | 三十一

Thirty One

[Name] looked out to the tall, ceiling to floor window, placing her hand on the glass. She watched the gentle breeze stir up the leaves of the large tree in the hospital's yard. She had almost forgotten how to fresh air of the cool breeze smelt like and subconsciously traced her fingers on the cannula right under her nose.

What a wonderful day to be playing volleyball... She thought to herself and became upset with herself for ruining her own mood. She sighed and turned her wheel chair away from the window, deciding that she should retire to her room and read a book or two. As she pushed herself down the hallway where coughs and distant cries echoed, she noticed a boy around her age leaning against the plastic chairs comfortably.

She could hear the loud music blasting from his earphones while he tapped his shoe against the floor. He seemed somewhat familiar to her which came to her as odd, because she barely knew anyone ever since she came to Tokyo. She noticed the bright red and maroon streaks in his hair. Though she had been in Tokyo City for a while now, she still couldn't seem to get used to how bold the people could be in the city. Even her classmates have different colored dyed hair and piercings and excessive make ups. It shouldn't really be a culture shock for her anymore.

Wait... Classmates? She tilted her head, trying to recall the classmates she met only a handful of times due to her frequent need to be in a hospital. Finally, she realized that she had stopped right in front of him. Embarrassingly enough, he had also taken notice of her and pulled his earbuds out of his ears.

"You...?" He raised a brow at her.

"A-Ah! Sumimasen!" She apologized, trying to control the intense burning on her cheeks. She was about to quickly push herself away from the awkward situation when he stopped her.

"Wait!" He jumped right before her, caging her in her wheelchair. She leaned back as far as possible. "You... You're from my class, aren't you?"

"U-Uh..." [Name] glanced around frantically, not sure what to reply. She wasn't sure if they were really classmates. After all, all their faces were blurred out in her memory. "I don't know..."

"You go to Tokyo Central Middle School, right?" He confirmed, looking at her intently. "And your class is Class 1-4 right? You're the new transfer kid who's always absent."

"I g-guess so?" She shrugged. Though he was right about her class, she wasn't sure how he remembered her, after stating that she was always absent.

"Then you are my classmate!" He smiled, standing back up. "I'm Shimada Mamoru."

--

A feeling of slight discomfort tugged onto Tsukishima's chest as they both remained where they were before the mysterious male. From his poorly dyed hair to the punk and fierce piercing scaling up his ears, none of the vibes felt non-hostile to the blond.

[Name] eyed the male standing before her. Something about his blue and teal dyed streaks contrasting his jet black hair seemed distantly familiar, but she couldn't quite place a finger on it. She knew that she had heard his voice before, though now it was a little rougher than she remembered.

"Have you forgotten about me? How cruel..." The boy pretended to pout.

She scanned through his face once more for clarification. A spark lighted up in her memory when she recognized one of his piercings, a matt black cone shape piercing poking through his ear. "M-Mamoru-kun!" She exclaimed.

"At least you didn't forget me completely!" Mamoru breathed a quick sigh of relief and grinned at her. He reached out to her face and pinched her cheek playfully. "You've got all the color in your face now,"