28 DAYS [MakoHaru]

epilogue

Epilogue

March 30th, 2018

Haruka still has exactly six minutes of precious snooze time left on his morning alarm when Asuka bursts into his room. He automatically throws his pillow over his head to block out her frantic shouting, wishing his cousin had a snooze button as well.

"Haruka, wake up," She whisper-shouts, jostling him awake. "You're going to want to see this."

Haruka's eyes feel like they're glued together, and he uses the last of his early-morning strength to push himself up into a sitting position. His forehead hits the top bunk, and he rubs the sore spot grumpily. "Ow. What is so important it has to be dealt with at," he checks the clock by his bedside, "7:02 am?"

"The mail just came," Asuka reveals a large manila envelope, reading the label. "To one Haruka Nanase, from the University of Tokyo School of Design admission offices."

Suddenly, Haruka is wide awake.

"Gimme that," He grasps for the package, his fingers curling through air as his pesky cousin jumps back.

"Nope! Not until you come out for breakfast. Mom made bagels, and they're getting cold. We want to watch you open it together!"

Before Haruka can respond, she races out of the room, leaving Haruka squinting at the overhead light she left on. Sighing, he flops back into bed and hides his face in the pillow. Sleeping had become a favorite pastime of his. Ever since...

No.

Not now, Haruka, he tells himself. Just... make it through today.

His alarm rings again, and he groans. Sliding out of bed, he slumps into the kitchen, running a hand through his disheveled bedhead. When he passes the dining room table, his aunt and cousin look up expectantly at him, the package in the center of the table, next to a bottle of soy sauce.

Haruka makes a beeline for the package, but his aunt pulls it away before he can grab it - again.

"No. Sit, eat. I want to make sure you get a full breakfast this morning. You've been slacking on that lately," Miss Amakata says.

What's the point of eating, anyway? Haruka thinks. Food means calories, and calories give energy that I don't want.

Despite his intrusive thoughts, he plops into his chair and starts shoveling rice into a bowl. His cousin places two bagels on his plate, one with cream cheese, the other with raspberry jam.

"Where are Oji-san and Suzuka?" Haruka asks, mouth full.

"Robert's already gone off to take Suzuka to primary school and work," Miss Amakata tells him. "But he's expecting a call from us any minute now," Her knowing smile turns towards the package Haruka's been eyeing all morning. "Go on. I know you're dying to open it."

Haruka picks up the manilla envelope. With it in his hands, it feels heavier than he expected. Almost like his entire future is contained in this package; in a way, it is. But heavy is good, he decides.

Carefully, drawing out the moment, he apprehensively pulls open the manilla envelope and grabs the first thing he sees inside, which is a brochure for the Tokyo School of Design. Happy-looking Japanese students are sitting in an art classroom, drawing and making sculptures. He sets it aside and searches for what he's really looking for: the admission status letter.

Unfolding it, Haruka realizes it's too late for anything to change. He wants to fold it back up, but the words have already caught his eye.

Dear Nanase-san,