Takaki leaned against the brick wall outside of the studio, the sun rays almost penetrating his dark glasses. He pushed his left shoe further into the dry soil, his hands in his pocket. He looked up at the clear sky again, then at his watch, again, and bit his lip. It was almost five in the evening, but the sun seemed ready to shed its light ( Read more... )

                But it was his heart that was in pain the most.

“Do I make a turn here?” the taxi-driver was asking, looking at Takaki in the rear-view mirror.

Takaki peeled open his eyes and looked outside of the window. The world seemed to be in a blur, but he recognized that familiar dark-brown door of his house ( Read more... )

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Yabu flipped through his magazine. His eyes were looking at the words, but his brain wasn’t registering them. His mind felt empty, yet heavy. He felt tired, yet he couldn’t sleep. He felt like shopping, yet he wanted to be away from the world.

He gave ( Read more... )

       Takaki stole a sideward glance at Yabu.

His chest was rising and falling softly, in perfect symphony with the faint way that he was breathing through his mouth and nose. His eyes were focussed straight ahead, his lips slightly pursed, as if he was pondering over something that mattered to him a lot. Takaki smiled to himself - this ( Read more... )

                Takaki watched as Yabu embraced Hikaru in a long hug. Yabu had said something, but what exactly, Takaki wouldn’t know. But it must’ve been something brave, because the tears that stained Yabu’s clear face were real enough and apparent enough to see. He hoped that Hikaru would be smart enough to not question Yabu any further. The ( Read more... )

                Takaki had dragged an almost lifeless Yabu out to the small open-air garden in the building they were working in. There wasn’t anybody around, thank goodness for that, and there was a slight breeze in the air that he hoped would refresh Yabu a bit. He brought him to sit on a wooden bench under the shady umbrella of a large tree. It ( Read more... )

                It was already 10.56pm on Takaki’s wristwatch, but he wasn’t leaving the dressing room just yet. He sat in perfect, still silence as he watched Yabu punch the keypad of his phone furiously. In all honesty, Takaki felt uncomfortable each time he drew a breath. He didn’t want Yabu to know he was there, though. He was just fine, ( Read more... )