It’s stormy once again, just like the first time we met. I still remember it as thought it was yesterday, probably because it was yesterday when we first met. The clouds with their shady looks, the sky with its depressed tone and the light that expressed its anger through thunder, it’s all the same like that day. I sit here alone on this bench waiting for you to come running through the street and sitting on this bench for a little while. I look like a child who just lost his favorite toy and is desperately searching for that one thing that he was affectionate about, although to others I might as well as be a stalker who is about to commit another crime. I wait and wait for her arrival, but she is not here; it’s almost 30 minutes past 10, but she is still not here. Why didn’t she show up, was I amiss about the time or was it all a dream? I am here on this bench seated for a welcome, a welcome for her whose eyes radiated in the darkness, whose hair glistered and fluttered as she shivered in the rain; who took my heart and lived her life. Who hypnotized me with her beauty and then left me hanging. I turn to look and I can see someone running this way, is it her, is it really her I ask myself. The person got closer and closer till I could finally see who it is clearly and it was a guy. My luck was messed up, I was deluded by my own dreams of meeting my love that I became unable to tell the difference between a male and a female. As the guy came towards the bench, I get up and open my umbrella to leave, I should never have come here today, I say to myself. I stop and advice the person to not stay there for long or you might end up catching a cold. I was so stupid to believe that she would come meet me here. It ends up like that every time and every time I come believing and hoping that she would show up. They are all the same, trampling on my feelings because they think I am a carpet laid on the floor, I should have never trusted them again. I wonder why I end up believing and trusting women every single time even though I know they would end up hurting me. This is the last time I ever do trust them. I reach home and turn back just to look at the light that shimmered in the dark, I now wonder when last I smiled and when was the first time I actually started to lose faith in women. I enter my house and hang the umbrella at the side of the door, take of my jacket and head straight off to bed to sleep. I look towards that coerced ceiling which was to forever stay there, I wonder when I became like that ceiling, just stuck there with nothing but the never ending days which repeat every day. My eyes slowly close as my memories start to seep out like water through rocks. 

A Rainy Encounter

"Damn, I am going to be late for mom and dad's anniversary party. What do I do, should I take breakfast or not, I am so not going to be okay, well off I go without eating." I sighed as I rushed outside after locking the apartment so that I could make it on time for the anniversary party.

I am Kizoku Tomei, an average 18 year old who lives in an apartment away from home due to his studies. I am the youngest amongst the siblings and the only one who was given permission to study away from home so I have to work harder than everyone to achieve my dream of having a fairytale like life. The anniversary party that happens each year is like a birthday, so it's important to all of us since that is the day when mom and dad met. It was first decided when I was at the age of 7. We wanted to do something for our parents who had been working day and night to make sure we faced no problems so for that very reason we the Kizoku siblings decided to celebrate today every year. Later on we decided to have turns on who arranges everything for this day. Thank goodness today it was Hiroko's turn, Hiroko was the oldest amongst us; she is already married, although I still don't like the groom (my sister's husband). He is a nice guy, but to me who knew the pain of getting back-stabbed, naturally I was suspicious of this character. He was my sister's classmate back in high school and they only talked once before the opening ceremony and after that they didn't talk again. There was a rumor I heard that he was a former delinquent so I put him under surveillance for a year. I would follow his every movement, if he had indulged himself with other women I would have not hesitated to file a complaint in the police and ask my sister to forget about him but turns out the rumor was just made up. With that in mind I just kept a small or maybe I should say a minuscule device for listening on him after giving up on directly tailing him. I never thought that jerk would tell my sister I was tailing him for weeks. 

Okay, I admit it was my fault for being caught but at least pretend you didn't notice is what I would have said if I didn't regret it. In the end I agreed on their marriage though I still keep on listening to his conversations when he is away at 'work' or "work". I still don't have a definitive proof of him being a playboy but I can't give up now, not after all those wasted... not wasted... after putting in so much effort and yes I still do listen to him through the recordings so that I do not miss out a single act he carries out. Well moving on, I am currently out of the apartment and running hurriedly towards the bus stop. As I arrive at the bus stop with sweat cumulating upon my body, I realize that the bus is leaving and after I catch my breath by resting for a minute, I head again towards my destination; well to say it truthfully I am panting ... ha .... Ha..... Ha. I stop running after realizing I was being stupid. Why you ask, it is because I could have just waited five more minutes for the next bus to arrive. I then head back to the bus stop and seat myself on the bench while waiting for the next bus and also to recover my stamina a little bit. Waiting on the bench for 15 minutes, I sense no sign of the bus arriving here anytime soon due to this I start to stand up again to go running back to my apartment to take out my bike but before I could even leave from this place I chance upon someone. I look towards the person approaching and it's a girl with beautiful hazy azure colored eyes, a tanned complexion, silky silvery smooth waist long hair, with her lips having this crimson gloss which almost makes one unconsciously stare at her lips imagining kissing her. Her frilly grey dress which goes well with her complexion, her azure eyes and her small stature or probably average height (I am not sure of this since my height is 6,2 and hers might be something like 5,6 or 5,7, is it small or average for a girl but anyways she is small compared to me so it is all forgiven). This alluring and ensnaring beauty which I chanced upon, made me fall in a trance before I regained my posture and put up my guard against her. I shall not fall to temptation for I am free from desires, which run rampant in every person. I am not righteousness nor am I completely free from desires and emotions but I shall choose my desires myself; fate and destiny can go rot in hell for I, Kizoku Tomei, am saying this today in my mind that I shall not falter before any temptation that is presented to me. I await for her to start speaking or asking me something but she turns away her head as if scorning me for looking at her or is it for thinking she is small, that I am unsure about yet to look away out of contempt towards me is wrong isn't it? Since I was looked at with disdainful eyes, I decided to ignore and leave her here and go on my way towards the apartment. Upon reaching there I am met with a misfortune, my brother is here and that means either I wasted 3 hrs waiting on the bench or I am about to spend 3 hrs on a bench. I approach my brother in the hope of not getting beaten up by him for forcing him to come pick me up. "Hello, my dear brother what brings you here today on this lovely and celebratory day whence an important anniversary is to take place; perhaps you might be here to pick me up so we can get to the location of the anniversary a little earlier or are you here for some work?" I ask him in hopes of knowing the reason for getting on the 'bench'.

"Tomei, you don't need to come for a celebration or party, I am here to pick you up for ......." He replied as he burst into tears. W-why, w-h-wh-why is he crying and why do I feel that something is wrong. I don't want this; I have never seen him cry before and it feels so wrong. I seeing him also started crying for some reason. I try to stop my tears by rubbing my eyes with both my hands and sniffing but it was all futile as I heard him say 'Mom and Dad, they died.' My legs fail me as I fall to the ground, my head is thumping, my heart is beating loudly, my sight blurring upon the sudden news. I fall unconscious.

Waking up later, I find myself in a dark place – wait why can't I see anything, ah, is it finally that I am unable to see anymore- and feeling cold I sit up just to find myself unable to move – it can't be that I have been completely disabled right? Maybe I am just dreaming-, which means either I am bound or I am half dead but that sort of thing is quite improbable to occurring as I remember seeing my brother crying and then everything blurring out thus leading to this situation. My brother crying, why would he cry, I am not sure about it but since I can't remember it wouldn't be anything that important right. I feel uneasy when I think about the reason my brother was crying, it feels conspicuous, ominous and eerie, like something that I wish I would not know was lurking around that question but I shake this feeling off. Ah, it is mom and dad's anniversary today or was it yesterday, I am not sure how long I was out cold for but it feels like days have passed by. I yawn, I feel sleepy maybe I should just go back to sleep and see where I am later.