Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Small Accident- Part 1

Maki anxiously watched as her soon ate each spoon of his cereal looking completely withdrawn, which was the complete opposite of how Haruki usually was. The kid had always been chatty at the table, so seeing him suddenly behave so well almost made her panic.

She nudged at her husband who had too busy enjoying his toast, bacon and eggs from under the table and made a gesture for him to take a look at his son.

Akashi did so, but saw nothing wrong with his son's behavior and gave a small shrug, wondering why his wife was overreacting so much.

Maki, unable to stand it anymore, finally spoke, "Haru, sweetie, are you sure you'll be okay on your own?"

The boy nodded, "I'm fine."

"We could stay for a few more days if you want and spend the first bit of summer vacation with you," Maki coaxed, trying hard to cheer up her son.

However, Haruki simply smiled and shook his head, "Nah, I don't want you to ditch work because of me. A lot more people need you right now. Remember, you and dad are on demand."

Since both Maki and Akashi were both business people, marketing managers at that, which meant they hardly had time to spend at home. They would always attend conferences and business trips, going to places far from home. Since he was little, Haruki had always known this and had accepted it a long time ago. That'd been why he'd more or less spent his entire life with his older sister. Back when the family had still been living in Kyoto a few years back, Haru had lived with a few of his cousins and his grandparents, and Ayame had always been there. Now that she'd gone abroad, Maki couldn't help but worry a little.

"We'll be gone for an entire week or more," she said, "You'll be alone the entire time."

"I'm sure I'll manage," he said with a chuckle, "Besides, this isn't the first time you've left for a trip like this. I've long grown used to it."

Yes, this wasn't the first time the two parents had left the house for a long time. But this was the first time they'd left their son completely alone.

"If he says he'll be fine, then he'll be fine," Akashi joined the conversation, taking a sip from his coffee mug. He rested his back against his chair and continued, "He's already a teenager, and a guy for that matter. If it'd been a younger version of Ayame then they'd be need to worry. What, you afraid that he'll throw a wild party or something?"

Maki had long since accepted the fact that Haru would never do something like that, especially since he'd never had an actual long-lasting friendship bond with anybody before. The few people he'd tried getting familiar with once had either left town or broken ties with him for reasons he couldn't say. That's why he'd only been close with his sister his entire childhood.

"If that could happen, it'd actually make me a little happy," Maki answered Akashi's question with a sigh before turning back to Haru, "Well, this is an opportunity for you to make new friends and create bonds. Ayame will do the same too."

"Yeah," he agreed with a small forced smile. But he knew that making friends would be too bothersome and difficult. To him, a friend was a betrayal waiting to happen. But he could never say that to his mother who had such high hopes for him.

An hour later, Maki and Akashi left for their trip, and Haru was completely left alone for the first time. The house became unbearably quiet.

Nevertheless he decided to suck it up and watch some television.

After a short while, he grew incredibly bored. As he watched the uninteresting shows on the big screen, he played around with his mobile, contemplating on something.

He'd planned on calling his sister and demand some answers about why he'd been left in the dark the entire time, but after a while of thinking he decided against it. If she wasn't willing to talk, the he'd also ignore her, fair play.

Having decided so, Haru stood from the couch, leaving his phone there and left the house a few minutes later.

...

He'd originally planned on just walking a couple of blocks from his house and getting back when he suddenly found himself going in a familiar direction. Sure enough when he looked around, he spotted the park entrance from yesterday just a couple of blocks away and immediately thought about that kid.

I wonder what ever happened to him.

Without much thinking, Haruki sauntered towards the entrance.

It didn't take much for him to recall the tree's location, so as soon as he walked through those park gates, he headed straight for that tree. This time, since it was only morning, the park was full of people. There even seemed to be more of the love-sick couples than yesterday, and the place was so crowded that he was almost tempted to turn back. In all honesty, if it turned out that tree would be crawling with 'those' kinds of people, he'd never come back.

Surprisingly, there was no one there. Just like the day before, the tree had been completely isolated, even seeming as if it wasn't part of the park at all...

But that only made Haruki feel a little crept out.

It'd been understandable yesterday since it'd been during the late hours of the day but now? What prevented people from going there now? Was it a sacred tree or something?

Those thoughts almost made him turn back for sure, but after thinking that there was a chance he'd see that kid again, he gathered up his courage and approached the familiar swing.

**

The little ginger-haired kid held down his book and straightened his sitting posture when he heard the sounds of dry leaves and sticks crumbling under the force of someone's approaching footsteps, and couldn't help but feel a little dismal. By now, he should've long gotten used to people always trying to invade his space, but it was simply something that still bothered him. He didn't enjoy being disturbed, which was why he always made sure to carry a handful of tiny rocks each day he climbed up this tree. And since he could easily conceal himself within the tree's environment, people normally wouldn't know where the flying rocks would be coming from.

He'd normally faced such problems from young couples who'd have come to make out at a hidden area, but now a lot of people knew to avoid the tree as much as possible. The incident with the flying rocks would always remain a mystery to them.

So who was this daring person, approaching such a legendary tree?

If it was one person, he could ignore. As long as they kept their noise to themselves.

He watched as the figure walked up to the swing and look around, as if looking for someone. Finally, the person moved his gaze upwards and stared directly in the kid's direction, his brown gaze calm and collected.

The kid's heart paused.

That person... from yesterday? But what is he doing here?

Haruki saw no one atop the branch from yesterday and scratched his head, a little confused as to why he felt a bit disappointed. Had he been secretly hoping to find the kid and apologize for fuming at him before? Maybe.

But at least now that he knew the kid had gone home, he felt a little relieved.

"So dumb, why was I so concerned?" Haruki mumbled, taking a seat on the swing, but not planning on swaying even a little. Since he was already here, there was no rush in getting back home.

A few minutes after he'd already been engulfed in his thoughts, he finally heard a voice.

"It's you again."

He immediately sat up straight and tensed, startled. In the next moment, he turned to stare back at the once empty branch, only to find the kid from yesterday perched on top of it once more, staring at him. Just like yesterday, the kid held a book in his hands, and he wore no shoes, dangling his clean feet off the branch he sat on.

Haruki stared at the kid for a while, waiting for him to say something else, but the two just held gazes; one looking composed, the other looking as if he'd discovered something terrible and would snap at any moment.

Haruki finally glanced away, a stiff smile forming on his lips as he already started to break into a cold sweat.

A hallucination. It's a hallucination.

"Hello?"

Haru felt his heart stop when the child spoke again, feeling as if he'd landed in some kind of great misfortune for coming here uninvited.

Seconds ago, he was certain he'd seen no one there. Then why was he seeing that kid again now?

This kid. Could it be that in actuality he's a gho—

He immediately shook away the horrific thought and calmed himself, inhaling deeply as he did so. He really hoped that by the time he turned to look again, the illusion would have disappeared.

Slowly, he looked up again, only to find the kid still there. However, his attention had already diverted back to his book again.

Haruki decided to speak, his voice a little broken, "H-hey kid, you can... hear me, right?"

The kid shifted his gaze back to him.

Haru's heart pounded but he still decided to continue, "Are you, maybe... a ghost?"

"......"

There was silence for a good while, the kid's expression seeming confused. Finally, after letting out a sigh, the kid nodded, "Yes."

Haruki, "???"

The boy continued, "I'm the ghost of the kid who died on that swing, so I'm bound to this area for all eternity. That's why I'm always in this tree."

Haru immediately stood from the swing, horror-struck. So his intuition had been correct? This place really wasn't normal. No wonder people avoided it. He was so scared that even the 'ghost kid' could see it.

The ginger-haired boy scoffed to himself. It really doesn't take much to scare this guy, he thought. He's a little dumb.

Haruki awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and avoided the boy's indifferent gaze, his feelings complicated.

"Look, I didn't know... that this was your sacred place, so I'm sorry," he spoke. He was really struggling to find the right words, especially now that he'd made such a shocking discovery. He'd originally planned on apologizing for also being mean the previous day, so of course he said that next, "And for yesterday."

The boy stared at him in disbelief. He then fumbled in one of his pockets for a small round thing before aiming it square onto Haru's shoulder and letting it loose.

"Ow," Haru had been too slow to react and could only rub his stinging shoulder once the small hard thing had already bounced off it, landing on the grass beside his foot. He bent over to pick up the object, only to find out that it was a tiny stone. He stared back at the kid, "Why did you—?"

"See, I'm not a ghost," the boy said.

"Then why hit me?"

"To show you that I was human. I was sitting two branches above, so you didn't notice. "

"You could've just said so from the start you know," Haruki mumbled indignantly, but goodness knew how relieved he was. "Still, I meant what I said. Especially the part about yesterday. I was mean."

"Is that why you came back?" the boy asked.

"What, I can't come back to the park anymore?" Haru arched a brow and crossed his arms, "I only came back to check if you were okay. When I left yesterday, the park was closing so I wanted to make sure you hadn't been locked in. Judging by your change of clothes, I'd say you reached home safely then."

The kid raised his brows, stunned.

Haruki only realized what he'd just said and immediately looked away, a little flustered, "Hey, look kid, I'm not being weird. I just don't think that kids should be staying out so late. You never know what might happen."

The kid: "......"

Haruki stayed quiet as well, feeling as if saying more would only make him a whole lot creepier, so he stubbornly kept his gaze away.

"Why would you be concerned though?" the kid finally asked, evidently confused, "Aren't we strangers?"

"Yeah, so what?" Haru sat back onto the swing, picked a long dry stick from the ground, and began poking at the grass, "Even if we're strangers, we belong to the same cluster. We're both kids."

The boy sat quietly in his tree, taking in Haruki's every word.

They were both on the same level.

They were both kids.

That was something he'd never heard anyone else say when talking to him specifically. All the other people he'd met would always put themselves on much higher ground than him, even though in reality, they were the same. At times he'd even be better than them.

Yesterday when they'd briefly exchanged words, the boy had been certain that the other party was just like the other spoilt and pompous kids he'd encountered so far. Who knew he'd come back with a completely different temperament the following day? It seemed too unnatural.

"So hey, what's your name?" the kid suddenly heard the question coming from the person below.

How straight-forward!

Even Haru noticed and laughed a bit, "Sorry, I'll start. My name's Haruki Fukuda. Or just Haru, for short."

Even more straight-forward!

The kid furrowed a little, as if silently judging this person.

However, Haruki didn't seem to notice at all and continued to burrow through the grass with his stick as he pondered, "If you were telling the truth about the initials under the swing, then your name either starts with K or N. Hmm, but you look more like a K."

The kid was even more stunned and became a whole lot more suspicious.

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"Still, I think I'm going to call you... 'Ginger'."

The kid, "..." Ginger???

For some reason, the kid felt a strange sense of familiarity the moment he heard that nickname, but he didn't know why. Still, he furrowed.

"Not bad, right," Haruki continued to himself, "You've already got the hair, so it shouldn't be hard for you to get used to."

"Don't call me that," the kid spoke. "It isn't my name."

"Then what is?" Haru asked with a hidden smile which caused his dimple to show a little as he stopped poking at the grass.

The kid almost let it slip but immediately shut his mouth once he realized that he'd be falling straight into Haru's hands

Haru turned his head to see the kid frowning at him and shrugged, "Well, worth a try, right?"

"What do you want?" the kid asked coldly.

"To just enjoy my time at the park," Haru continued to burrow through the grass using the stick. "Oh, and just so you know, I didn't lie about my name."

"Casually giving out your name to strangers," the boys scoffed and turned to his book, "You're just asking to get in trouble."

"Didn't we meet yesterday though?"

"It's not like we planned a second meeting," the kid said.

"Oh," Haru thought for a while then chuckled. "Well, it's a good thing that the stranger I gave it to happens to be a helpless kid then."

"How do you know I work alone?" he challenged.

"Because you seem like the type who doesn't have a social life," Haruki said frankly, not holding back at all, "Reading a school textbook alone in a tree at a park full of people? A novel would have been better, but a textbook? If that's what you call 'social stability', then god have mercy."

The kid was quiet for a long time, dwelling on Haruki's words. It wasn't like he was wrong in his assertion. The kid really had no social life whatsoever. No friends to hang out with. Not even one.

"So what, you a middle-scholar? I recognized that Math textbook, since I have the same one at home. We're probably the same grade—"

"What are you doing?"

Haru stopped poking at the grass and looked at him, "With the stick?"

"Not that."

"... Eh?"

"Stop talking like we're acquainted or something," the kid narrowed his eyes.

Haruki raised his brows a little, "Why? Is it a bad thing?"

"Enough with the innocent act already," the kid actually lost his cool first this time, pointing accusingly at him, "Yesterday you clearly couldn't stand me, and even said I was annoying."

"Yeah, but that was only because you dissed me first..." Haru grumbled to himself, now feeling more embarrassed and a little guilty.

However, the boy didn't seem to have heard what he's said, only knowing that he'd mumbled something to himself. Of course his guess would be that it was another insult, so he only became angrier and seethed through gritted teeth.

"I hate bullies who play 'pretend' the most."

Haruki was stunned. Him? A bully? How'd he suddenly become one?

"If you've got something to say, then just say it!" the ginger-haired kid fumed.

Haru tried to clear things up, wearing a nervous smile, "Hey, listen, Ginger—"

"Stop calling me that!"

Jeez... He really looks pissed, Haru thought. But what am I supposed to do to clear the air with him? He mentioned something about yesterday, so I guess that's why he's so angry. But I already apologized for that.

"What is it that you really want? Money? You're with that fat kid's gang aren't you?" the kid complained, "You guys already took my watch, so what more do you want from me?"

Haru was even more baffled and could only raise his hands a little, trying to calm him down, "Shush, you'll grab a lot of attention if you start yelling. What are you even talking about? Calm down..."

"I am calm!"

"Okay, then don't calm down."

"Huh?!"

Haruki sighed and traced his hands down his face, feeling suddenly exhausted for some reason, "Look, I honestly don't know about this 'gang' or 'fat kid' you were talking about, but from what you just said and how you suddenly acted up when you thought I was part of that gang, I can tell that you're being bullied."

The kid fell silent.

"Yesterday I admit that I was pissed, and said a lot of mean things as a way of letting out my frustrations," Haruki avoided his gaze again, a sense of shame creeping into him, "Something was bothering at that time, and it's a miracle I haven't broken down a second time..."

Ginger calmed a little after hearing that. He hadn't wanted to believe it, but the amount of sincerity in the other person's voice only made his heart soften a little. Especially when Haru said with a gentle smile:

"Just now, you asked about what I wanted, right? I guess the real answer to that question is 'A person to talk to and get my mind of things'. Although, saying it out loud now only makes it sound strange, doesn't it?"

The fire that had been burning inside Ginger's heart gradually faded, and he returned once more to his previous composed demeanor. He simply stared at Haru as if he was some kind of strange being, before bluntly speaking.

"In other words, you have no 'social stability' whatsoever either."

Haruki smiled stiffly before admitting, "Yes, you're completely right."

Ginger scoffed and sat back against the trunk, holding up his book, "As long as you're the one regretting it."

I understand. I had this coming, Haru thought while shedding invisible tears.

"So?" the kid suddenly asked glancing at him from the corner of his eyes, "Did it work?"

Hmm?

Seeing the confused look on Haruki's face, Ginger felt a little annoyed, "Tsk, you're the one who said you needed a person to get your mind off things! Have a sense of awareness."

Haru puffed out a laugh, and nodded, "Sorry, yeah, it did work. Thanks."

"Whatever," Ginger muttered to himself.

Haruki kept quiet for a while, a smile still dancing on his lips before he suddenly remembered something and focused on the kid again, "Hey, I've been meaning to ask you something. You changed clothes, sure, but how come you're not wearing shoes again? Do you maybe, enjoy being barefoot?"

"Did you maybe consider that I might not have shoes to wear?" Ginger asked.

Haruki took another glance at the kid's foot then cocked a brow, "Even if you're a little high up I can still tell that those are well-maintained feet." He then came up with another conclusion and slapped a fist into his palm, "I know, it makes it easier for you to climb doesn't it?"

Ginger had just been about to say something mean when he suddenly noticed the expression full of expectation Haru was giving him, as if being told he was right would make him ecstatic.

"Does figuring that out make you that happy?"

"So I was right then?" Haru seemed even happier.

I can't deal with this. Hence Ginger decided to ignore once more.

"So do you have your shoes up there with you or...PFFFT, what am I even asking? Alright, we've settled how you climb, now I've got to know how you get back down. Do you use the ropes from the swing to get back down?"

Ginger had already told himself that he wouldn't be answering any more of Haru's questions, however, was greatly shocked when his mouth moved before he could stop it, "Rarely."

Haru thought for a while, "Then what do you do?"

"I jump."

Haruki, "...Eh?"

He calculated the distance from the lowest tree branch to the ground and discovered that it was quite high. So in the end, he gave a disbelieving laugh, "Ha-ha..."

Ginger's expression was grim.

Haruki immediately stopped, "You're not kidding?"

"Why do you look so surprised?"

"You're so small. A jump for that height could cause some serious damage," he told him.

"I have sprains here and there."

"And you think that's normal?" Haru was even more baffled.

"I've grown used to the pain."

Haruki really was speechless. He even furrowed a little.

"What's with that expression?"

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me," Haruki said with a sigh.

"What is it?"

"Yesterday, I met a strange kid sitting in a tree," Haruki spoke casually with a shake of his head. "Today, I learnt that the kid was a little stupid."

Ginger felt a muscle twitch on his forehead, "Is this your way of making fun of me because you think I can't make the jump?"

However, Haru continued with his act, "Alas, he was truly stupid beyond saving..."

Ginger immediately shot to his feet angrily, not bothering to close the text book he'd been reading as he held it in one hand.

Haruki suddenly became anxious, "Hey wait, what are you doing?"

The kid said nothing, only focusing his eyes onto the ground below him. It was pretty obvious by now what he planned on doing.

Haruki also stood up from the swing, very much alarmed, "Look, I was only kidding okay. I know you can make the jump."

As if Ginger would just calmly sit back down and act obedient. He wanted to prove to the loser below that he was more badass than he thought. Thus without much hesitation, he pounced off the tree branch!

Haruki's words died in his throat and before he knew it, he'd already moved a couple of steps forward, arms spread wide and ready receive the idiot who thought he could fly.

Ginger, who'd still been in the air, widened his eyes, surprised by this sudden action.

In the next moment there was a loud collision, and both their visions went black.

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