“Dear diary, today was another great day at school! I got to talk to my friends again, and have some fun during class break. It's been a few days since I first met them, but we have been having lots of fun! And also I'm finally getting used to living in this new home that is our 2 room apartment. I can't really jump, run, or cause too much noise like before. otherwise we would get flooded with complaints from the neighbors both up and down but that's fine, it was a bit too childish even if it was fun. Oh yeah, back to my friends, Chie talked a lot about Phoenix Quest today! Something about the quest to find the barbarian, the trials and challenges to power up the Brave Magician of the West and something about a queen cursed in a deep sleep, all of that completely flew over my head. I'm still at the first boss of the game, but it was fun hearing her talk about something she has great passion for!”

“Something was a bit strange today however… Hiroshi felt a little bit… distant today. He usually has a stoic or funny line to comment during our group banter, but today he was just silent and completely out of it. We asked him if something was wrong, but he said ‘I'm just a bit sleepy today, don't mind.’-”

“Distant…” I think to myself, “Did something happen to him? He usually doesn't say much about his personal life… I wonder what happened…”

“Seiko!”

“AH!” I scream, the loud voice calls my name followed by a few knocks at the door.

“Dinner is ready!”

Jeez, I was so deep in my own thoughts. Dad really scared me this time, my heart almost jumped out from my throat! Dinner is ready though, time to eat and think later.

“Commin’!”

Leaving my diary open and getting up from my chair, I ru- Wait! No, no, no, I can not run anymore! I'm gonna bother people, so I will… walk fast to the living room, which is much better and quieter! And so I dashed my way to the living room.

There it is! The living room, mom and dad are already sat down ready to eat!

“Oh, you are already in your pajamas?”

“You are always so adorable in that pink pajama with a bunch of red bird stamps.”

“Thank you mom! And I will go straight to bed after dinner!”

“Oh? Are you doing something special tomorrow?”

“Nope! I just wanted to be responsible and not sleep late today!” I said, puffing my chest.

“Look how much she has grown dear, that's my daughter alright!”

“Hm-hm!” Ah, the praises for being responsible are so good and rewarding~

“Sweetheart, you are very responsible, yes, but if you don't move quickly, your food will get cold.”

“Ah! You're right!” I scooted from one side of the room to the table, sitting down opposite to them.

Today's dinner is a regular serving of rice, meat, beans and even sweet potatoes, the classic family meal anyone can enjoy… even if I don't like and skip the sweet potato portion…

…

Hm? My parents seem to be talking about something.

“Nothing unusual today, just your regular work at the shelter, lifting spirits up and all. How about you dear, how are things at the Café?”

“Things are fine so far. I'm still not good enough at making coffee in a great efficient way however.”

“Nonsense! You are pretty much a master already! The morning coffee you have been making recently are absolutely phenomenal!”

“Thank you honey. Still, some of the old clientele are very demanding and only accept perfect brews. There's still a lot I must learn in the ways of a barista.”

“Hmmmm… That boss guy is not threatening you to work harder than you already are, is he? He might be strong and tall, but he would never be able to keep up with me!”

“Don't worry, he has been nothing but kind in teaching me how to be a barista.”

“I still don't trust that guy one bit. he looks like a guy with mean intentions…”

“Oh! Oh yeah!” My mom continues, “I won't be here until very late tomorrow.”

“You'll come home late?”

“Yup, I was invited by a coworker at the new work place for a hangout after work!”

“Hangout?”

“Yeah! We are going to check a new store that opened last week at the mall, and see some other exciting things! I need to strengthen my bond with my new coworkers since I'm new there, and this is the perfect way to do so!”

“Please be mindful of the spending, we don't have much we can spend on leisure…”

“I know, I know, you don't have to worry a single bit dear!”

“Hangout…” I thought to myself.

I wonder if I invited Hiroshi to hangout somewhere, he would maybe open up a little bit about the problem he is facing… of course I would invite Chie too, but where should I invite them to? I don't have many good places in mind where we could have fun… Maybe the Shizen Park? I enjoyed my stay there last time I went with my mom and dad…

“Seiko?”

No, no. I need to think of a place Hiroshi would enjoy going! Let me think… he seems to like flowers and plants a lot, a place with a lot of nature… well, when put like that, Shizen Park might already be the perfect hangout place…

“Se-i-KO!”

“Ah!” My thought train is interrupted by my mother calling me in a loud way, like how a cheerleader would for her team.

“Sweetheart, is everything okay?”

“Oh, ah… everything is alright, dad.”

“Come on sweetie, you can tell us. We know that when you go silent to think, you make some very silly and interesting faces.”

“Ah, hm…” do I do that???

“One of my new friends at school felt a little distant today, like he was hiding something from us…”

“Is it that boy named Hiroshi you talked to us about a few days ago?”

“Yeah, it's him. He's the quiet type, but today he felt. So I have been thinking of inviting him to hangout, and maybe after that, he can open up a bit to Chie and me.”

“Hmmm… Maybe he has his own reasons for not telling both of you, sweetheart.”

“Hmm?”

“Maybe he does a reason not to tell, regardless, you shouldn't pry people for their secrets, Seiko.”

“Oh… sorry…”

“You don't need to feel bad, I personally think you are doing a great thing.”

“I agree, you should totally invite your friends to hangout.”

“He might not want to tell you about the problems he's facing, but if you three had some fun together, that might make him feel a lot better.”

“You can't know what the other is thinking, but you can always help them by putting a smile on their face!”

They're right… I should focus on making him smile and having fun instead of trying to force answers.

“Alright! It 's settled then! I'll invite him to have fun, that's the best way to help him!”

“Yeah! That 's my girl!”

“Where are you inviting them to Seiko?”

“I know! You should invite them to the café your father works at.”

“Is that really a good place for a bunch of teenagers to hangout? that place feels more appropriate for old folk…”

“Delicious coffee can cross any age barrier, dear!”

“I wanted to hangout at the Shizen Park, but we will make a stop at the cafe first!”

“Hangout! Hangout! Hangout!”

“Al-alright you two, calm down before we start bothering our neighbors.”

“I'll write down the address of the café and give it to the youfirst thing in the morning sweetheart.”

“Thank you dad!”

“Alright! Let's continue this wonderful feast and then prepare ourselves to sleep!”

“Yeah!”

After finishing the fine dining, putting aside the sweet potatoes, everything else was very tasty. As expected of my dad's cooking skills! I decided to head back to my room and got back to writing in my diary…

“We asked him if something was wrong, but he said ‘I'm just a bit sleepy today, don't mind.’. Something is happening to him for sure, so I'll help him by putting a smile on his face! You can't know what the other is thinking, but you can always help them by putting a smile on their face! Let the hangout plans commence! Tomorrow of course.”

“Done!”

I close my diary and head straight to bed.

Turning off the lights, I let my mind wander to the sleep realm…

~~ ❀ ~~

. . .

. . - BEEP - BEEP - BEEP-

“AH! WHAT 'S GOING ON!?”

BEEP - BEEP -

“AH, THE ALARM!”

BEE- Click

“There we go.” Geez, that alarm always gives me a scare, the beeping is just so looooud.

Time to prepare for school! Today, I will put my plan into action! Operation Make Hiroshi Smile begins now!

I both carefully and very hastily went to the bathroom. After taking care of all my necessities, I get myself dressed, check my backpack for all the necessary equipment one needs for school, and eat a toast toast made by the toaster with the help of my dad. Opening the apartment door, I am all ready to take my first step outside today! Seiko ready to take o-

“Seiko!”

“Ah!” I said while almost losing my balance.

“You almost forgot the paper with the address!”

“Address? Oh right, the Café address!”

“Here.”

My dad hands me a paper with the location of the Café. The handwriting is very impressive, as expected of my father, he even drew a little map showing the path from school to the cafe with a blue line going from the School to the Café.

“Thanks dad, See you later today!”

“Please be careful going down stairs and crossing the roads, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I will.”

Seiko is ready to take off now! For real this time!

The walk from home to school was uneventful as always, and so are going to be the classes…

The current topic of history class makes me sleepy, especially when there are 2 classes back to back…

The math problems were so simple, but now they feel like I am trying to build a robot from scratch…

Science was not too bad, I got to partner up with Chie, we are in the same class after all. Since that day, it is still a little scary when Miss Yuka looks at me…

DING DONG

Ah, finally lunch break! Time for the three of us to meet at the same usual spot, the garden, where I will also invite them to hangout after school. We decided to find a spot for lunch break since Hiroshi is from another class and he really likes that place.

Me and Chie arrive there and… Hiroshi was not there. He usually is the first one to arrive here though.

“I saw Hiroshi entering the school today for sure, but I wonder where he is…”

“Hmmm…”

“He's probably had a little problem along the way, let's wait here for him!”

“Alright.”

We sat down and began talking about a lot of things while eating our lunch, but as time passed by, Hiroshi never showed up.

“Hey, Chie.”

“Hmm?”

“What do you think is happening to Hiroshi? He feels so distant all of sudden…”

“It's hard to say, we don't know much about his home life…”

“Yesterday I thought of inviting both of you to hangout after school, since you know, he might not want to tell what he is thinking of. But maybe it would help him if we had some fun together.”

“Hangout after school?”

“Yeah, I was going to propose the idea right now but he's still not here…”

“...”

“I know! You said he entered the school for sure right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then after school, let's go to him!”

“What do you mean?”

“We would go to his classroom and ask to hangout there!”

“Su-sure, let's go meet him there and ask.” She continues “I need to ask my mother first about this though.”

“You have plenty of time to ask her over the phone now I suppose.”

“I'll have an answer for sure after class, but we should still go talk to him even if I can't go to the hangout.” said Chie with a worried expression, she is just as worried as I am about him…

Hmm…

“Alright! After class we are going to find that boy and invite him to hangout”

“Ye-Yeah!”

Since the lunch break was almost over, we decided to head back to class.

DING DONG

Finally the classes are oveeeeeer…

They felt sooooooo loooooooooong, having something important to do right after class really makes these boring moments feel like an eternity…

Getting up from my desk, I dash over to Chie's desk right on the other side of the classroom.

“Did you get an answer already??”

“Ah. Oh, uhm, yes.”

“What did your mom say?”

“My mother said yes.”

“Yay, awesome!”

We shared a bit of time smiling.

“Alright, let's go find Hiroshi now, he's in classroom B right?”

“Yes.”

“Good, let's go go!”

At the entrance of Class B, we look inside and…

He is not there either???

“Look!” Chie points to a desk on the back of the classroom with a backpack and a notebook still on the desk. “That's his bag and things, he is still here at Gakumon.”

“But not in his classroom…”

“Hmm… What do we do now? Should we just wait here until he comes back?”

“We could wait, but I don't know what the council members would think about two students from class A taking camp at the entrance of class B…”

“I have an idea!”

“What is it?”

“He's still at school right? So how about we split up and search for him! You search around here and I'll look for him on the ground floor. That way we can definitely find him!”

“Hmm… Al-alright, I'll try my best!”

“Great, let's find Hiroshi!”

“Ye-Yeah!”

We wave to each other and I set off to the stairs for the ground floor.

Running through the hallways, checking almost every classroom on the first floor, I only see people going or preparing to go home, no sight of him at all…

I decided to go to the announcement board to take a breather for a bit, it is roughly in the center of the ground floor. I wondered if Chie found him…Hmm?

There is not a single soul other than a girl with long brown hair and stars glittering through her hair, much like the night sky. She is intensely staring at the board, almost like a statue. What is on that board that caught her interest that much? I wanna see it. I dash up to the board and… there are many announcements about club activity opening up soon in the school, and some clubs are even recruiting members already for when they open for activity… clubs huh…

Wait, snap out of it, I need to find Hiroshi! I look over to the girl, her face mimicking those of people who are “half asleep”- Oh, this girl has a council badge, maybe she knows something.

“Hey, uhm, sorry to bother but did you see a guy about my size who looks like a punk with black hair and a bit of green around here?”

. . .

She does not move or even acknowledges my presence. actually, she has not moved and still has the same facial expression ever since I first saw her, even waving in front of her face did not grab her attention!? For how long has she been doing this!?

“Hellooooo?”

. . .

She ignored me again, feels like her mind is somewhere else!

“Helloooooooooo? Earth is calling you!” I said, a little annoyed, but to no result. How can she keep this level of focus… it is kind of impressive actually. Is she maybe focused on something specific on the board? There are so many fliers about recruitment, I can not tell which one… hmm…

“Yumeka, Yumeka!”

Hmm, what a familiar voice I heard just now…

“Yumeka! There you are!”

“Huh?”

I look to her left and see a person with blond hair that goes down to the shoulder, wearing the boy's uniform, wearing a blue hat and a council badge on the right side of their uniform…

“I have been searching for you for a long time! Don't you remember we have a council meeting in about 5 minutes?”

“Ah, right. I forgot…”

WAIT, THAT IS THE COUNCIL MEMBER I RAN AWAY FROM A FEW DAYS AGO!!! They are distracted by this Yumeka person though. I am taking this opportunity of a lifetime and scram before they recognize me!

“You know how the president is about people coming late to meetings…”

They stopped talking as we exchanged stares, while I was making my escape attempt… It's over, been busted!

“AH! IT 'S YOU!” They say, pointing at me with an annoyed expression.

“You are the runaway student from that other day!”

“Runaway…” She begins to point at me too “Criminal…”

What a trap to step on Seiko! Two council members right in front of you while being a runaway criminal, quick think of something!!

“Ahahahaha, I just remembered that a teacher called me to the faculty office.”

“Faculty?”

“Fault…”

“Ye-Yeah, the fault- I mean, I mean, faculty office, ahahaha…” The time to go is now Seiko! “Se-See you two later!” I said as I began to take steps back

“Hey, wa-” I stormed off before they could even begin their sentence. Another crime added to the list…

Okay, this should be far enough, let me stop to actually take a breath now, still no sight of Hiroshi huh… I need to think, where could he possibly be? Let me think, he likes flowers and nature. He would often tend and protect the ones at the garden from other mean students and… Wait, the only place where this could take place is in the garden… AH! Why did I not think of this before!?

Whatever, time to go to the garden!

Taking this turn and… almost there, I just need to get past the science lab corridor. I carefully take very light steps making a minimal amount of noises, to avoid another Science Teacher disaster…

I managed to successfully pass the door without any trouble this time, and dashed to the garden entrance.

At the garden entrance, I take a peek from the gate to look inside and… there he is! He sat down close to some white flowers that kind of resemble a stick… I believe he said he planted those flowers himself…

Hmm?

I can hear him talking? Is there someone else there? I can't see anyone from here though… Are they behind the garden's tree maybe? No, he's not even turning to them, he's just facing the flowers…

No-