・・・ xxix ・・・
Cameras were taken out.
An ecstatic hum reverberated through the crowd.
Everyone stared fixated as the sun slowly continued to rise from the border between the sky and the sea.
Normally, he didn't bother.
For him, a new year meant nothing.
If it did, then it simply was a reminder of the time he had spent dully in the past.
A sunrise was nothing special, nor important.
He did not understand why people valued it so much.
Yet... somehow, as he stood there,
he slowly began to realize something.
Right now, he felt different.
A slow hum echoed in his ear.
His heartbeat paced loudly.
There was a strange feeling at the tip of his fingers.
For some reason, he couldn't look away.
・・・ xxx ・・・
It was a slow process.
Yet at the same time, it felt too quick.
"..."
He blinked slowly.
In those few moments, something happened.
For some reason,
Fujiwara Ao suddenly forgot everything.
The lingering pain.
The silent fears.
The weighting guilt.
The horrible nightmares.
—He forgot everything.
In those few seconds, all that mattered was the fact that he was there, anchored to the ground.
I'm still here.
This is real.
It was pointless, worthless, and repetitive, yes.
But it didn't matter.
He blinked again.
A single thought passed through his mind.
... She would have loved to see this.
It was a beautiful sunrise.
・・・ xxxi ・・・
He couldn't say anything.
He simply watched as the sun crawled and lightened the sky,
signaling the start of yet another day.
A small breeze ruffled his clothes.
Suddenly, he remembered Rie beside him.
He turned to her,
expecting to see her usual smiling face.
When he did, he did not expect to see the expression on her face.
Because Hashimoto Rie was forcing a small, choked smile.
There were tears falling down her cheeks.
She was crying.
・・・ xxxii ・・・
He had never seen her cry before.
For a second, all he could do was look at her.
He wanted to ask what was wrong.
He didn't know what to do.
He didn't know what to say.
Why are you crying?
Why are you crying?
Why are you crying?
"... Rie..."
She flinched, hearing him.
Rie blinked.
Then, she abruptly shook her head,
hastily wiping away her tears.
She turned to him.
"—S-Sorry, Ao-kun. This must seem really weird, huh?" Rie said, her voice hoarse.
It seemed painful for him to hear.
"This scene... just brings back memories."
A short pause.
Rie shook her head again.
She took a small breath.
Her voice was very quiet when she spoke.
"Before... you asked me why I was doing this, didn't you?"
She stared at the sunrise. Her voice had cracked.
He didn't say anything.
"I... told you it was because you seemed lonely.
But I lied.
That was only part of the reason why."
She suddenly looked at him again,
forcing another smile.
"You see, Ao-kun, I... had a brother, once."
YOU ARE READING
re:Happiness | Cell Phone Novel
General Fiction「 Can you teach me how to be happy? 」 Fujiwara Ao has been living the past nineteen years of his life in ease. Born with the ideal background and blessed with enough talent, that's what most of the people presume. In their eyes, he was sim...
