Void • Memoria [1]

7. Light In The Fog

Tempo Memoria ( Keiko's Point of View Part 1 )

I leaned on Isao's shoulder as we watched the drama playing on the TV. I tried my best to ignore my thoughts, even if my friends said they were okay with my behavior a part of me was always scared they'd find my need for physical affection annoying.

But being able to hug and lean on my friends made me so happy, I couldn't help it.

Isao, probably felt how I was feeling.

Somehow, he always knew.

He carefully wrapped his arm around my shoulders and patted my head as if he was trying to ease me down.

"You good? The look in your eyes changed." He whispered to not draw attention from the others sitting behind us.

I nodded softly.

God my friends are so kind to me. Every time they showed me they cared I wanted to cry, I really didn't feel like I deserved it. I'm always so loud and clingy, and I always drag them into things they don't wanna do even if I can't control myself in the moment of excitement.

But I'm too greedy of a person to let them leave me. I've been with them for so long, that the thought of us all splitting up when we go to university scared me.

I don't feel safe without them.

"Oh yeah, Isao," Hiro called out to get his attention.

"Hm?" Isao turned his head to look back at him.

"Are we staying for dinner? I can order us and your family takeout," Hiro suggested, he never really bought things much, even though he has the money to. I assume he wants to cherish the moment, in case we do somehow drift apart.

"Oo! I want take out!" A little voice called out happily. We all looked to see Isao's adorable little sister Chie holding a messy stack of papers.

She was only 11 years old but I can never get used to seeing her grow up.

"Hi, Chie!" I said happily, now sitting up straight to open my arms for a hug.

She grinned happily and walked over to me.

"Hi, big sis Keiko! Hi big brother Hiro, Hi big sister Nyoko!" She said happily, trying her best to give me a hug without squishing her papers.

"Hey Chie, what ya got there?" Hiro asked curiously, leaning forward on the couch to see her better.

"Hi, Chie!" Nyoko said, waiting for her hug. We all see Chie as our little sister, and since she was often in the hospital or having to isolate in her room on doctor's orders it was rare that we got to say hi and hug her.

She looked at her papers shyly before looking back at all of us. "I uhm... Big brother said you guys were coming over, so I wanted to draw you all pictures," She explained, she's so cute and sweet. Isao truly is lucky to have such a loving family, I really hope my family can be just as kind one day.

I gasped with joy and held out my hands.

"Can I see mine?" I asked excitedly.

She nodded happily and handed me one of the pieces of paper.

I looked at the messy drawing, it was a stick figure covered in red with long brown hair. A giant clock was in the background.

"Am I in a clock?" I asked curiously.

"I had a dream you were all superheroes! And you had time powers, it was so cool! You were speeding all over the place fighting monsters with a big clock!" She explained with excitement, bouncing on the heels of her feet.

"What about me?" Isao asked with a pout, waiting for his drawing.

She looked through the drawings before grabbing one and handing it to him.

"You had this cool power that slammed monsters like boom! And you whacked them with a stick! It wasn't as cool as Big Sis Keiko though." She explained as Isao looked at the drawing.

Isao looked over at me as if he was jealous and in return, I just stuck my tongue out at him.

"Haha," I taunted. He rolled his eyes and gently pushed me in return.

Chie walked around us and carefully made her way to Hiro and Nyoko who were on the couch. "And here's yours!"

"Aww so cute! Thank you, Chie!" Nyoko said happily, looking at her drawing.

"You had cool plant powers!" Chie described to her.

Hiro stared at his drawing silently before speaking.

"What are those dots behind me?" He asked.

"Those are monsters, they all had different colors but I forgot what they looked like."

"Ah I see, did I beat a lot of monsters in your dream?" He asked.

"No, you just talked to them. You were really boring." She said bluntly.

"I talked to them?"

Chie nodded. "Yeah, I don't remember what you said but they didn't seem like mean monsters to you. All 7 of them just talked to you."

Hiro stayed quiet for a few seconds before smiling at her.

"Thank you, Chie, your drawings are always amazing," He said to make her feel proud of herself.

"You're welcome!" A large grin was on her face as she squirmed slightly with joy.

I looked to see Isao mouthed to Hiro to ask if he was ok and Hiro just nodded slightly in response. I wish I had his emotional intelligence, but knowing Hiro was possibly upset for whatever reason made me a little worried.

Chie glanced around the living room and pouted.

"Where's everyone else?" She asked, rocking back and forth on her heels.

"Should be here soon, they said they were on their way about 20 minutes ago," I explained.

"Can I wait with you guys until they come?"

"Of course! Come sit and watch TV with us!" I said happily, patting the space on the floor next to me.

"Ok!" Chie walked next to me and plopped down excitedly.

About 5 minutes later when the episode finally ended, the doorbell rang.

Isao carefully put the drawing he received from Chie down on the living room table and stood up. "I'll get it,"

He made his way to the door to let the others in, the way I was sitting on the floor made it difficult to tell who came.

The four of us who were left in the living room waited patiently until Isao returned with Yuki, Seina, Natsumi, and Den behind him.

"Looks like everyone's here," He said.

"Did you guys all walk together?" Hiro asked.

"A bit of the way, I saw the three of them when I was walking so I tagged along," Den explained.