What You Asked For

02

The nights just felt lonelier every time he came to the rooftop. The stars just don't seem to shine as bright as usual.

Tch, like he ever cared about that before.

One thing was for sure though; tonight's the night he'll end all that loneliness. Blasting 'On My Own' into his earbuds and holding onto Karamatsu's old guitar, he decided to check out the stars, his first and last time. The skies were dark, way too dark for anything. Just the perfect touch to this miserable ending.

He fiddled around with the strings, reminiscing the old times when they'd both laze out on this very rooftop, Kara playing some tune from a song, him listening and getting lost in his train of thoughts. Thinking back, his older brother always spent his free time with him for some reason. Maybe with Choromatsu sometimes but those two would usually just go out drinking and talking about each other's lives. Just scraping the surface from what was actually happening beneath.

But with Ichi, boy did he just go full-blown personal. He knew everything about his older brother; dropping out of college after knocking back on his grades, how their parents were furious when Kara decided to do busking on the streets, even when he told about the little apartment he rented recently. "It's pretty obvious this household ain't for me, bruzzah", he said, fixing his glasses on before heading out.

But did he know everything?

'Oh, he could not break surface tension

He turned to the wrong place for redemption'

He clearly remembered Karamatsu singing that particular song once. That night when they sat up on the rooftop. It was midnight, Kara had just returned home from busking. Thank God it was me who opened the door, thank God, Ichi thought. Everyone else, even Oso, was asleep that time.

Like magic. And that doesn't happen often.

They sat up there, going as per usual.

Kara played, he listened. Then the questions came pouring in.

"Say, Ichi. If I were to ever, well,uh-

tsk, how do I even say this? Heheh".

He strummed to the tune slightly, as if he could pass the message through melody. Ichi could only stare at him. Then he straightened himself up before saying, "What, nii-san?".

"Well, if I were to, perhaps di-no,wait. If I were to get involved in,say, an accident, what would be the one thing from me you'd use to bring me back?".

Ichi froze. What on earth..?

He took it to some thought before dismissing Karamatsu's question with a typical 'why would you say that'. Looking back, he wished he could tell how much he would give anything, even his own life for him to be right by his side for even just a moment.

Ah, how painful it is to just be a person for now.

"Well, I won't be one for long anymore", Ichi sighed. He stood up and walked towards the edge of the roof. Taking off his earbuds, he held the guitar tight one last time before setting it down beside him.

Klunk!

Strange, Ichi thought. Sounds like there's something inside this guitar. He peeked through the strings and fished out a small gacha ball, smaller than his own palm. Who even throws stuff like this in here?

He began eyeballing the small capsule. It was blue, Kara's favourite colour. It couldn't be his, Ichi was sure, he certainly had no use of keeping it in his guitar at home. Weird stuff like that would be inside his apartment instead. He shook the toy around to hear metal hitting against the plastic skin of the capsule.

Strange indeed, Ichi thought as he tried to pry it open for the rest of the night.