After picking up the photograph near the park, Eiji continued riding around the neighborhood, in search of something fun. Eiji always enjoyed riding his bike, and he thought it would be even cooler when he got his own cool motorcycle in the future.

On his way around town, he spotted a familiar, thin figure leaving “Dream”

Eiji quickly hit the brakes and came to a stop “Ueno…san?”

“Oh, Eiji-kun!” The man turned around with an aloof grin, seemingly as relaxed as ever.

“Where are you headed, Ueno-san?”

“Hayato sent me on an errand to the convenience store…” Shigeru replied calmly and steadily. “And please, call me Shig. I’m not fond of my family name.”

“Okay, Shig? The convenience store is this way though…” Eiji pointed out somewhat hesitantly.

“Heh, I’ll just go around then. I need to feed the pigeons in the park too.”

“Feed… the pigeons, huh?’ It was already evident to Eiji how carefree and “my-pace” person Shig was. Quite frankly, it baffled the young boy, since it felt like he was in a constant state of nirvana.

As Eiji turned to pedal forward, his eye twitched just slightly “Eh?”

There, in front of Eiji, and around the corner of the shop the same monstrous figure from yesterday night had appeared. Although this time, and to the boy’s delight, it wasn’t fixated on him at all. The mysterious creature loitered around the back of the shop, and disappeared into an alley.

“Wait!” Eiji cried.

“What’s wrong, Eiji-kun?” Shig cocked his head, but the young boy quickly pedaled forward, following the entity. For some weird reason, Eiji was drawn to it, like a moth to a flame. Besides, he didn’t really believe it would attack him in broad daylight.

As the boy rounded the corner, the monster was nowhere to be seen, like it had just vanished into thin air.

“Wha?”

Although the thought of it wasn’t quite as puzzling, the event of it appearing altogether seemed quite unnerving to Eiji. Why would it appear at a time like this?

“Eiji-kun, something the matter?” Shig rounded the corner too, looking as clueless as ever.

“No I just…” Eiji stuttered for a moment, not sure it would be wise to say anything. Yet, judging by Shig’s potential brain capacity, would it hurt if he tried?

“There was a monster, so…”

“A monster?” Shig looked on, unfazed.

“Yeah, and I thought about following it—“

“You can see… monsters?” Shig asked, appearing almost intrigued.

“Kinda…”

“You must be special then, Eiji-kun.”

Special?

Such a simple statement, yet it never occurred to him before. He’s seeing things, his sister and Asahi can’t see, so he has to be… Special?

What did that entail?

“Never mind that, I need to go. The pigeons are waiting. See you, Eiji-kun…”

Wasn’t Hayato waiting too? Eiji wanted to say, but decided against it. It wouldn’t be wise to stress out such a carefree person after all.

As he watched the man leave though, Eiji stood and pondered on those words over and over.

“Special, huh?”

...

With his ride around town growing stale, Eiji opted to stop by Hayato’s shop, and maybe have another juice with the change he received from the photography studio.

After the boy had parked his bike outside, he made his way into the shop, despite the sign’s lights being turned off. If no one was there or the door was locked, he could always try again another time after all.

To his surprise, the door opened at his touch, and he soon found himself inside the familiar atmosphere of the bar.

Eiji scanned the room, searching for Hayato, who was seemingly nowhere to be found.

“Hm?”

What he did find though, was another kid, a little girl staring back at him.

At the sight of the mysterious boy, the young girl with the short, light brown hair and the mole next to her lip, trotted towards the back room at once.

“Who was that?” Right as Eiji pondered on that, a faint, high-pitched voice echoed from the back.

“Nii-san, there’s someone at the door…”

“The door? But I told you to—“ Hayato swiftly emerged from the backroom, with the little girl stuck like glue behind his leg. “Oh, Eiji! What’s up?”

“Yo, Hayato.” With his usual greeting, Eiji waved back at the owner.

“What brings you here?”

“I was wondering if you were open.”

“We’re not, but have a seat. A juice, right?” Hayato chuckled, getting some oranges prepped.

“Thanks.” Eiji nodded with a small smile, and climbed up on the usual stool.

“Uhm….” Behind the tall counter, a low voice echoed once again “Nii-san, who is that?”

“Oh, right. Eiji this is Yume, my sister. And, Yume, this is Eiji.” Hayato nonchalantly introduced the two, as he masterfully prepared the beverage.

There was a brief silence between the three, before Hayato took the lead once more.”Aham!” The skilled bartender turned to the girl beside him, “Yume is a year younger than you but I hope you get along. Now go on, say hi!”

The shy little girl, albeit hesitantly, rounded the counter and walked up to where Eiji was sitting, ultimately bowing her head deeply.

“I-It’s… Nice to meetchoo!”

“Meetchoo?” Eiji couldn’t help but repeat after her.

There was another silence, before the girl ran back to her brother’s side with hurried steps.

“Heh, she’s a little shy, so…” Hayato served a glass to Eiji, with a wry smile, “And to you too, Yume.” And handed another to the girl silently hyperventilating right around his feet.

“Uh-huh.” Eiji grabbed the glass, taking a sip “I saw Shig just now.”

“Shig? You mean Shigeru?”

“Yep.”

“What?! That idiot! I sent him to the convenience store 3 hours ago!”

“3 hours? I saw him not too long ago just around the area…”

“Man, how difficult is it to just grab a few things and come back…” Hayato sighed and leaned against the counter. “Wait! You don’t think he made off with my money, right?”

“How much did you give him?”

“10,000 yen…?”

“I don’t think anyone can live off of that, Hayato…” Eiji sighed, and sipped his juice once more.