All it took was a plane crash, and Kise Ryota was no more.
Strangely enough, he didn't feel sadness, only regret. Regret for not checking his engine beforehand. Regret for missing out on his friends with his job as a pilot. Regret for not spending t...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Happy birthday, Mikaël dear," Renée congratulated as she grabbed a bag from under the kitchen table. Taking a present from out of it, she gave it to the excited teen in front of her. The packaging wasn't anything fancy, it was a rectangular looking box with a midnight blue wrapping and a yellow decorative bow on top of it.
Happily receiving his gift, Ryota almost squealed. Age didn't matter when it came to presents, much less when the said present was for one's birthday and came from someone you held dear. Unsticking the birthday card from the wrapping, he hurriedly set it aside too immersed in discovering his gift to read the message.
The granny only smiled at his action, already used to it. Every year was the same, Mikaël would jump on his gift first and read the letter second, this no matter how many time they reminded him of the birthday card. But Renée didn't mind, on the contrary part of her felt grateful every time he behaved this way, it was a type of childish behavior her grandson rarely displayed and seeing him act his age from time to time without any need of sham performance only warmed her heart. She wasn't dumb, she had known the boy his whole life. Of course, she would notice the way he acted with time.
She didn't know why nor did she know how her small Mikaël developed this type of conduct, but for as long as she could remember her grandson had always been peculiar when it came to socializing. It wasn't bad per se, Mikaël was anything but antisocial, in fact despite his unusual childhood he was one of the most social kid, always had lots of friends and was well-liked by everyone he met.
Liked, so liked she sometimes found it a bit disturbing. Though, she supposed that was because of her personality that wasn't what one would call 'outgoing.'
Mikaël seemed to have everything when it came to relationships if you excluded a father and mother. His mother had passed away less than a week after his birth and, since Pierre, his uncle didn't want to raise him Renée as his grandmother had become his guardian. As for the father, the thought of him made the old lady release a sigh. She had never talked to him, in fact, the only one who had met him, excluding her daughter, was her son whose impression of the man wasn't the best.
Wryly smiling now, Renée's attention was brought back to her grandson by his sudden exclamation at the view of his gift. It was a pair of sneakers, black with some green and yellowish pattern on each side of it. Those, to Renée, were similar to parting gifts, a present for him to remember them every time he wore them while playing his beloved basketball in Japan.
Even though he had received tons of shoes with his contract as a model, Ryota felt immensely touched upon receiving his grandmother's gift. He knew his grandmother's pension wasn't anything to scoff at, but it didn't mean she could afford anything either. Gladly receiving the pair of sneakers, Ryota engulfed his granny in a hug, the tear ducts in his eyes not letting any of his tears roll down his cheeks. "Thank you mamiecchi, I love them!" he chirped, earning an affectionate chuckle from the old lady.
