Shiro turned the shower off and wiped his face with a towel. He felt more relaxed now that he had time to wind down. He had a new plan. He was sure it would fix everything. Father would be thrilled. He’d get to meet Kenshin and his Fiance. She was a third year, too. Mayne he could get to know her before the wedding.
Shiro hurried into his boxers. The thought of his new life filling him with excitement.
He walked down the dark hall and peeked into the twins’ room. The kids were already asleep. He still felt guilty for yelling at Aya. He would make it up to her at some point.
Shiro sat at his desk and opened the application for Tetsudori. He filled it out to the best of his ability and sent it off to Kenshin.
He’d text him in the morning to let him know. It was getting late, and he was exhausted.
Shiro threw himself on his bed, hearing a thud on the ground beside him.
He reached over to grab his backpack and all the items they had fallen out of it. He checked the ground to see if he’d gotten everything when he saw a purple book he’d never seen before.
He reached for it and examined the foreign journal.
“Huh? How’d this get in here?”
The book was maybe a little bigger than his palm. It had a band looped over the front with KM initially on the bottom.
“K.M?”
Shiro flipped the book over, searching for any clue as to who it belongs to. But found none.
He opened to the front page, hoping to see a name or some more information.
Dear Diary,
Keiko here. It’s been a week since I’ve arrived in Spain and still nothing from Shiro. I told big brother to let him know where our house is so I’m sure I will hear from him soon. I wish I would’ve gotten his address before I left, but I’m so bad with directions. I couldn’t find his place to ask. So far, it’s been a little weird here. Aunty says momma is suffering because poppa is gone. She’s been really quiet lately and didn’t want to eat. I’ve been making all sorts of meals. But momma hasn’t wanted to try any. My aunties love them though they were so impressed! Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow. I think I’m being enrolled in a school nearby soon.
“This is…” He flipped to the next page.
Hey it’s me again.
I waited by the phone all day but nothing yet. Sosuke doesn’t answer his phone anymore, so I sent him a letter asking for Shiro’s address. I made a bunch of new recipes I want to send him. Since I can’t cook for him anymore, maybe he could try to make them himself. I hope he’s doing okay. I never got to tell him we were leaving. I started a new school but I haven’t made any friends. No one speaks Japanese here and I’m still learning Spanish. I’ll see you tomorrow. Momma is not feeling well today, so I’m trying to help her with the chores.
“How did this…” He looked through his bag.
Did we mix up our bags when we left today?
He searched through his things, but his items were all there.
He scanned his brain for all their interactions. They did sit next to each other. He could’ve picked this up by accident.
Then he remembered. Bumping into her on the first day of school, Her rummaging through her bag searching for something.
He held the Keiko’s diary with both hands.
Should I return it?
He flipped through a page in the middle. He knew he shouldn’t have, but his nosiness got the better of him.
Hi,
I know I haven’t written in this thing for a while. It’s my last year of middle school already. I’ve been sending Shiro letters every day for the past two years, now that I have his address…but I haven’t received anything back. I wait by the mailbox every day. Momma says I’m worthless and he’s probably always hated me. Maybe that’s true. Maybe he has forgotten me…like Papas friends forgot about him when he died…Maybe he really does hate me. But I can’t give up. I called Sosuke again yesterday and asked him to help me enroll in Bura Bura. He said he’s doing the best he can. I hope it’s not too late. I hope Shiro kept his promise. I’ll see you tomorrow. Momma’s in a bad mood. I don’t want to get hit again.
Shiro gripped the sided of the journal. He didn’t know what to make of it. What she wrote and what he knows to be true were so different. He wasn’t sure if he believed a word of it.
It’s Keiko.
Sosuke confirmed. Shiro’s in Bura Bura. I’m so glad he’s pursuing his dreams of being a writer. I’m a little bummed than I’m stuck attending the online classes. Sosuke is making arrangements for me to go back to japan but mother has been an issue. She wants to stay in the house with Sosuke, but he said he doesn’t want to deal with her. The only way he’ll take us is if she stays in the crazy house and I take full responsibility for her. I agreed, of course. I’ll do anything to get out of here. Mother is losing it. Most days she just lays in bed, she stopped showering. She won’t let me cook anymore. I can’t eat anymore instant noodle, the thought of them makes me want to vomit. I have to go. She’s really mad today.
Shiro sifted through the book. Page after page of entries. Anytime she wrote him a letter, when she received good marks at Bura Bura…when she was losing hope he would ever speak to her again.
His hands dropped to his sides, taking Keiko’s journal along with them.
Ding.
His email notification sounded. He checked his phone, dropping the journal in the process.
His eyes blurred, so he put the phone down without reading Kenshin's messages. He didn’t know how he could when his head was spinning. He felt his stomach churning as his thoughts raced.
Keiko moved to Spain without telling me. She moved away and never bothered to reach out. Never tried to keep her promise.
At least, that’s what he had always thought. That’s what made the thought of her sitting next to him everyday fill him with rage.
He picked up the journal again; he wanted to throw it away and put it out of his mind.
It’s too late for this.
He tossed the diary toward the trash from his bed, but a folded up envelope fell beside the bin.
He stayed on his bed, eying it for a while before picking it up. It was still sealed.
He turned it over to read who it was addressed to.
“Ishida Shiro” It read. March 31 of this year.
A few days before school started.
“A…letter? For me?”
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