Tokyo Color Sonic!! Special Story, Intermediate point—Arashi x Sora

[odorekijin]

Two weeks have passed since Color Sonic came to an end.

I remember it all, clear as day: the heat and tension, the loud cheers filling the stadium—and yet, it already feels like an eternity has gone by. 

We had put our everything in the three and a half minutes that made “NEW DEVIATION”. We did all we could.

That’s just how life goes: there’s winners and losers; we can only accept the outcome and move on.

But… I will never, ever, forget the look on Sora’s face as he cried his heart out backstage, that night.

That’s why, next time… Next time, I swear to give him reasons to smile instead.

*

Nothing had really changed between Sora and me though—save maybe for that odd absent feeling, that purpose that Color Sonic had filled as our end-game. We spent the following days unsure, unable to know how to fill the gaping holes that poked our hearts.

And considering all our options, days flew by in a blink.

We were at the dawn of returning to our families.

Everything, including this shared-dorm routine, would soon be over.

”When will you get your luggages sent back, Arashi-kun?” Sora broke the silence, shoving in a mouthful of toast for breakfast.

“Dunno, some time around next week. Anyway, don't talk with yer mouth full, yer makin’ a mess.”

”Showwry!

A sigh escaped my mouth as he hurriedly poured some milk.

”Just watchin’ ya wears me out, ain’t a dumbass fer nothin.”

”Hey, hold on! You’re forbidden from calling me that!” 

”Whaddya think of ‘moron’ then?”

”That’s even worse!”

”Aight then we’ll stick with good ol’ ‘dumbass’.”

Sora puffed out his cheeks, scowling.

I sneered back, which made the glare in his eyes grow more intense.

”You ain’t scarin’ me one bit with that upset face of yers, y’know?”

”Well, first, I’ll have you know that I am not upset.”

”Sure.”

I wonder—How many times will we be able to have that same conversation before going our separate ways?

”Anyhow, I wonder how many times I’ll have to repeat that same conversation with you, Arashi-kun, hmm?”

“...! The hell, I was exactly thinkin’ that.”

”Really?”

”Yeah.”

“Wow, that’s crazy! This has been happening pretty much every time lately, yeah? It’s like we’re synching up our brains!”

”...No we’re not, you just pick up habits and stuff when you live with someone else all day.”

”I see! It’s proof that I’ve been by your side since forever then!”

”Can you not say it like that, gross?”

”What, why!?”

Compared to our first meeting, it’s true that we know each other much better, down to the other’s taste—what we enjoy or can’t stand, eating habits and daily routines.

(...Actually, there's nothing we don’t know about the other, is there?)

This made me properly realise how much time we actually had spent together, how much we had shared.

Coming to Tokyo gave me more than just music: I got to cross Sora’s path.

It was beyond any other encounter: that day brought the most treasured bond I ever made in my whole entire life.

“Arashi-kun? Hellooo? Are you alright?” Sora waved his hand in front of me. 

“...Ah, my bad.”

“What’s wrong? You look tense.”

“I was thinkin’ about somethin’.”

“You’ve been spiralling like that a lot too. It’s like you’re doing all the conversation by yourself.”

”...No I don’t.”

”Be it your troubles or worries, I’ll be there to hear you out any time you need.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

”You’re quick to bottle it all up, you know? If there’s anything, just tell me, okay?”

(...There’s a lot I wanna tell ya.)

I have to properly thank Sora—for everything.

But if I do, I feel like something in me will shatter to pieces.

I just have to say it, just a “Thank you. I'm glad I met you.”

(Though once I do, once those words are out, it really will be over.)

I'm deliberately trying to ignore that this life shared with Sora will soon be over, aren’t I.

I didn’t know.

I didn’t realise how scary goodbyes could be.

“Didja think about what your life will be like once you're back in Aomori?”

”Why this question, all of the sudden?”

“Just like that.”

”Hmm... Maybe I’ll get a part-time job with school on the side, I guess?”

”Y’know you can’t, you’d get fired on day one.”

”Uh, first, I’ll have you know that I would not!”

”And what kinda job wouldja go for, since yer bringin’ it up?”

“Probably somewhere where I can have a stylish uniform, that’d be cool!”

“Yer already not takin’ it seriously, dumbass.”

As I listened to Sora's one-sided conversation, I quickly realised how surprisingly positive he was about returning back to his hometown.

(...Seems like I’m the only one who’ll miss all that, huh.)

A strange uneasiness rose within my heart.

”Anyway, why wouldja suddenly need to work? You never actually had a job before, haven’tcha?”

”Besides helping out my parents with their piano classes, I’ve never really gone through the trouble of looking for one.”

”Got somethin’ in mind you wanna get?”

”Um well, you see, it’s for studies.”

”Studies?”

“It's the first thing I realised when I came to Tokyo—how close-minded I was, how diverse the world is, how much I needed to understand. My goal now is to improve not only as a musician, but also as a person: I don’t think I would be able to compose any worthy song otherwise.”

“...Sora.”

”I will fulfil my promise, Arashi-kun, I mean it. Just you see: I will go back to Aomori, and will improve a whole lot!”

A warm fuzziness progressively filled my chest.

Ever since that day, Sora had his eyes set on the future: he was already climbing the stairs to his dream, one step at a time.

Whereas I am still stuck at the bottom of the stairway, barely reaching the first steps, terrified of parting.

”You’re freakin’ incredible.”

”...You think so?”

In that, I'm much more childish than Sora—on top of being a hell of a coward.

Is that why I always get drawn to people like him, with that blunt honesty that I clearly don’t have?

That day, when he took my hand, when we made a run to the airport; there was a reliable determination, an unyielding strength to his footsteps.

“You'll have to take full responsibility, okay? I’m trusting your words seriously here!”

“...’Course.”

Beaming, I couldn’t help but avert Sora’s smile.

Maybe I just need a little bit more time to climb those stairs.

Just a little more, just enough until the day for us to part with a smile comes.

”Hey, Sora.”

“Yes?”

“...Wait for me.”

——Because I know, I know that I’ll catch up to you soon.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Hmm, I wonder.”

”Uhhh, what’s with the attitude?”

”Not tellin’ ya.”

”Wai– I don’t get it, at least explain yourself!”

”Maybe next time.”

I ignored Sora’s pleas and other complaints, and went back to my room.

(...I, too, need to look at what the future holds for me.)

I want to be able to leave this room full of our memories with laughs behind us.

I loudly clapped my cheeks with both hands, pulling myself together.

“Aight, we got this.”

First things first, I needed to finish packing before he did—thus, I picked up the flattened cardboard boxes piled on the floor.

We only have a few weeks left before all this comes to an end.

Everything will be alright. We’ll see it through the end, with a smile.

Fin.