Chapter 2

Morning went by for Hana like any other morning. Her alarm went off at exactly 5 AM, but by the time she got out of her bed half an hour had passed by. She brushed her teeth with her favourite toothpaste, washed her face, slipped into her tracks and went out for a morning jog. It wasn’t that she was a fitness freak, but she could not spend a minute in that house without feeling suffocated. That’s why she did her best to stay aloof her house only to return for meals and to sleep in her room.

After a refreshing jog, she returned home, to find her mother preparing breakfast whilst silently sobbing, her father (she didn’t know why she still called him that) sleeping in his room. She went up to her room, took a long shower, letting the warmth of the hot water sink into her. There was one thing that was different that morning she would be wearing her uniform after many days, that also a new one as it was her first day in her new school. She put on her crisped ironed shirt and skirt, she put on her bow-tie, she applied a touch of make-up, not too light nor too heavy, she neatly tied her clean and blow-dried hair into a high ponytail, and finally covered herself in fresh lavender perfume.

While packing her stuffs, she noticed the handkerchief that annoying guy had given her the previous day, lying on her table. She picked it up and put it inside her bag.

She went down to have her breakfast, while eating she looked at her mother across the table, looking outside the window, with expressionless eyes, as if waiting for something.

“I’m sorry”, she said without looking at Hana

“What are you sorry for?”

“For yesterday, I know it’s hard on you”

“No biggie”, Hana said, “ So when are you signing the divorce paper?”

Her mother looked at her abruptly with tears almost rolling down her cheek and with grief plastered across her face.

“Shit”, Hana thought, “Dammit whenever I ask her this question she gives me the same sad look every time”.

“I’m sorry baby, I know it’s difficult for you, but once I sign those papers it means everything is over, all over”.

Hana said nothing, she silently ate her breakfast and left for school. As she closed the door of her house she ran, as she too was on the verge of crying.

Like every other morning, two boys were racing towards Shimizudani high school, to determine who would buy today’s lunch. Ken and Kai started from their neighbourhood (they were next-door neighbours) and raced to their full potential till the school’s gate. At the final stretch of their course, both hit their highest gear (all thanks to the several hours they put into soccer). When Ken was about to overtake Kai, he remembered that he had forgotten his purse and in no way, was Kai gonna lend him money if he had to get in line to buy the lunch. So, he acted out of breath and let Kai win him.