The Tale of a Century \\ SoraMafu

>> Forty Five <<

Soraru's breath quickened as he reached the pavement of the sidewalk. He pulled out his phone and dialed Hashiyan's number. As he waited for the boy to pick up, he looked down the sidewalk, hoping to catch something. Preferably Mafu.

The ringing stopped, and Hashiyan's groggy voice came from the other side. "It's 1:30 in the morning, Soraru, what do you want?"

"What did you tell Mafu?!" Soraru yelled into the phone.

"Oh. That's what this is about.. I told him where to find his home. Did the boy really go for it?"

"I never told you to go that far!"

"Come on, Soraru, you're not the only one who doesn't want to tell the poor boy. Don't throw that responsibility onto someone else for convenience."

"W-What am I supposed to do now? Mafu probably went to his hometown.... The last bus left at around 12! That was an hour and a half ago!"

"..."

"Say something! I can't just leave him there..."

"Go find him. Go tell him."

"He probably already found out."

"Then go comfort him."

"But... I'll get there by foot then. Even if it kills me. What else can I do? It's twenty to thirty minutes away by bus... I can probably get there in about an hour and a half. It's the only option," Soraru paused. "I hope he didn't find out."

"Well, if he didn't then you have to tell him. The least you could do is let him have the person he loves most tell him." There was another pause. "I don't think going by foot is a good idea."

"... Hashiyan, I'm going to go. What else can I do, can I take? No one can know about what happened and what will happen. Mafu... Mafu is..."

"... I don't know...."

"Hashiyan, this is between Mafu and me. I can take care of myself. I'm turning eighteen at the end of this year."

"You're taking this way too far!"

"I don't want anyone there. I don't want to..."

"... Yeah, don't die," Hashiyan seemed to understand.

Soraru hung up and took off running.

|*|*|

The wind rushed past him. His legs burned, and his throat was becoming sore. Taking even the smallest of breaths was suffocating. But he couldn't stop. He had to get to Mafu.

His thoughts distracted him from the physical pain. Among those swirling like a tornado in his head was the thought of Mafu's past. Whose fault was it really? Had he done anything wrong to try to protect the one he loved? Was it really so bad of a choice? The others were wrong, right?

Who was it that made the mistake?

Soraru squeezed his eyes shut as he felt his eyes burn. However, the loss of his vision causes him to slip over an icy patch. He felt his body come into contact with the ground, but he didn't have the strength to get up. Getting on all fours, he bit his lip, trying to keep tears from falling.

Get up.

Soraru pushed himself up on one leg.

Keep going.

He started off at a walk, which turned into a jog, which turned into a weak sprint.

This time, he focused on the physical pain. He tried to suppress one thought that kept resurfacing. A thought he wanted to disappear.

It was my mistake.

Mafu is more important than anything.