re:Happiness | Cell Phone Novel

unhappy story | xlvii - li

  ・・・ xlvii ・・・

In the end, things didn't go as he thought it would.

When Ame disappeared,
the house became devoid of laughter.

It as as if she had taken all the brightness with her.

Suddenly, there wasn't anyone who would barge into Ao's room in the middle of the night and talk to him anymore.

Suddenly, he had nowhere to turn to when he wanted to speak to somebody. Anybody.

No matter how hard he tried, in the end,
his father didn't even try to look at him.

His mother noticed his existence,
but found it difficult to connect with him.

Unlike Ame, she had given up on Ao years ago.

It was like Ao wasn't even there.

Suddenly, he was seven years old again.

Hated.
Ignored.
Forgotten.

Alone.

But he was used to it.

Or at least, he pretended he was.

  ・・・ xlviii ・・・

Days passed.

Then weeks.

Then months.

Slowy, slowly,
Ao felt more and more suffocated by the mere act of breathing.

It was hard.

It was so hard.

He studied and reviewed until he scored full marks.

He stayed obedient and quiet until he felt like a doll.

He did his best to be acknowledged.

To be noticed.
To be seen.

And he did.

Soon, people began to see him in a new light.

'Ah, so the other child wasn't as useless after all.'

'Perhaps he may have hope yet.'

'So the second was also a brilliant child.'

Whenever Ao heard these comments,
he ignored them and forced a smile.

Because it wasn't for them that he was trying so hard for.

It was for someone else.

But... for that one person that really mattered,
he never even once turned to Ao's direction.

In the end, it was all meaningless.

  ・・・ xlix ・・・

"Question: what would Ame like for her birthday?"

Leo turned to Ao with an expectant look.

Both were aged seventeen and eighteen then,
in their senior year of high school.

They were leaning at the bridge and staring at the skyline as the sun sank down.

Ao paused. "... I don't know."

Leo frowned.

"But... you're her brother!"

"I'm sure you know her just as much as I do, though. Are you planning to get her a present?"

"Yeah... but... now that I have, I realized it seemed too weird. So I'm getting her another one."

"Why? What was it?"

Leo glanced at him.

Ao noticed the way his cheeks turned pink.

Then, very quietly, Leo whispered his answer.

He sounded embarrassed.

"It was... well... um... it was a... a ring."

Ao blinked in surprise.
A slight wind passed them.

One second.

Two.

Three.

Then, he finally whispered a quiet reply.

"... I see."

  ・・・ l ・・・

He knew.

He had known already for a long time now.

Ao had noticed that Leo began to like Ame almost two years ago.

He had decided to keep quiet about it.

At first, he was happy for them.

Ao and Ame were both similar in personalities.

They were kind, and thoughtful, and gentle.

Both of them were brilliant, too.

If there was something Ao didn't mind,
it would be to have Leo as a relative.

From the very beginning, he had felt more like a brother than a friend to him, so it seemed natural for them to become a family.

Once, Ao pictured Leo and Ame together.

They would be an ideal couple.

Always laughing.
Always happy.

They would have children.

They would grow old together.

They would be a happy family.

However the longer he pictured that idea,
Ao finally realized something.

He... wasn't in it.

In the end... where does that leave me?

  ・・・ li・・・

Months later, on his eighteenth birthday,
Ame came back to Japan.

She never should have.