It was a Friday morning, I got up to the sound of the alarm. I looked at it with a slight feeling of emptiness, the crawling sensation I felt on my back tells me to get up on my bed already.
"Thank goodness I'm not gonna wake you up again just like last time. Come on, the meal is ready." a faint voice I heard coming from outside my room.
As I looked towards the door, I saw JJ, looking at me with a smile on her face. She then steps away from the door and heads up downstairs. Maybe the emptiness that I feel is the reason my senses feel numb right now, my visions are blurred and my hearing is impaired that her steps are so soft I almost can't hear them.
"Yeah, right" I said to myself.
I then washed my face and put on my uniform, just like any other day. On the dining area, I saw her, reading her favorite magazine as usual. On the table was nothing at all.
"Hey, where's the meal that you promised me?" I said to her.
"Well you are such a slowpoke that I ate it all already." she replied back.
I then walked to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, trying to find any 'ready-to-eat' foods available. I found a cup of ramen.
"Eh, this will do." I said to myself as I let out a sigh.
I proceeded to boil the water on a kettle, waited for it to boil, then poured it unto the ramen cup. I sat on the dining table, on the other side is her, still reading the magazine. The women's magazine that came out every month is different to this one, I guess that is a limited-edition serialization of some sort? I don't know really... I've never seen it either.
"You seemed so calm today? Usually, when I got up late, you would punch me in the face or throw random books at me." I asked her as she continues to read the magazine.
She then lowers down the material and said...
"Why would I rush today? Of all days, I mean... I've kinda like already grown accustomed to it." she replied in a calm voice.
"Figures" I said back to her as I ate the ramen.
Upon finishing the entire cup, we then packed up our things and proceeded to go out. As we are walking I noticed her, shivering and frightened as we walk along the road where the accident happened. It was 3 months ago, we rushed her to the hospital hoping she can recover from that horrible accident. All our classmates, friends, and relatives came, but I was the only one who continued to be there for her.
"You know, you can hold on to me, I won't mind it." I said to her in a low voice.
"You sure?" she said back to me.
"Sure" I replied.
She then proceeded to cling unto my arms, I felt the warmth of her hands touching my skin, but then it got cold. Maybe she's still frightened by that accident, I told to myself. As we walk past by that part of the road, we then crossed through a bridge, walked a little more, and then finally, for how many minutes we've been walking, we've finally arrived at our school.
"The Sakura High University, huh" I commented to myself.
"Having second thoughts? You want to back out?" she whispered to me.
"Nah, I'm good, besides it's already the end of terms, why would I back out now?" I replied back to her.
The pink-tainted school is like nothing out of ordinary, maybe it stands out more since there are Sakura Trees that surround the school or the fact that the main building of the school is an actual skyscraper? Either way, the tuition here is no surprisingly huge.
I then entered the main building since that is where my class is, JJ is following closely. We've got up on the elevator, lucky for us we both have elevator passes for our class is actually on the 47th floor of the tower, other students will have to resort on the stairs or the public elevators and escalators scattered throughout the premises.
As soon as we got up to our destination, we then walked by the hallway basked under the morning sun, the city below is clearly visible to us. Even the towering towers from afar, they are such a marvelous sight when one look at it on a high elevation.
We walked towards our classroom, I opened the sliding door. Everyone is doing their own thing, but as soon as I entered the room, everyone stopped and looked at me. I'm pretty sure it's because of the accident that I and JJ are involved in. It's such a rare event when one of us are involved in such horrific events.
Then a figure in the distance slowly walks towards me, it is my friend, Gus.
"Dude, I'm sorry for what happened. It's such a terrible accident and no one deserves to be put in such a tight spot like that." he said in a calming manner.
"Bro, if you're gonna say you're sorry, tell that to JJ, she's the one put on a tight spot." I replied back. Everyone whispered in the background, murmuring kinds of stuff that I couldn't understand.
"Bruh" he continued "We know how you... both of you... feel, that's why we are here for 'you' whatever happened to you." he said to me in a serious tone.
I tapped him on the shoulder, he got back to his seat. The bell rang, and the teacher entered the room. All is going smoothly, the city below is still bustling. I saw JJ seating on the very back of the room. She always sat beside me, but I guess she's not up to 'popularity' like this.
Going into our recess, I've decided to go to the cafeteria to buy some food then headed to the rooftop where I and JJ are always hanging out.
I saw her, alone yet enjoying the tranquility she had. I sat beside her and ate my lunch.
"You don't want some?" I asked her.
"No, thank you." she replied
"Usually you are always going to devour my whole meal, is this the food that you hate or something like that?" I asked her again a second time.
"No, I'm fine" her reply was bland and lifeless, unlike her past replies to me. She is loud and spontaneous all the time I am with her, this time was different.
Something definitely changed.
She then got up from her seat, I didn't pay attention to where she is going for I know that she'll just return to our room. Her silhouette grew longer yet smaller as she walks out from the place. I continued to munch on my lunch. As I continued to enjoy my own peace, the door for the rooftop suddenly opened, I looked behind...
It was Ruby.
