Time’s passage for Haruo had little meaning to him than it did for others. It was just another day to roll on through the path that he sat upon. He could see a long poorly maunnel ahead of him as he just sat in the grass on the bend of the road of his teenage years. The distahat he had traveled seemed fairly far, but now he simply sat. The tunnel wasn’t something that scared him away; in fact he had no problem taking it.

  It was just that he had no i in seeing what was oher end of the tunnel. All he could see was a sheet of white no bigger than his thumb when he looked down at it. Nothing was visible and when he couldn’t see what it was it gave him no motivation to find out. He khe area around him well enough that it got him by on what he needed.

  The tuhat faced him remai his side waiting for him. At first it tried to call him, but he ighe summons. It had given up on making an attempt. Now it just existed as it always had with its arms perpetually open in a silent invitation. An invitation that it wasn't certain would ever be accepted.

  Chapter 75 – Spent Days of Youth

  Haruo had a fairly poor cept of days, which was only held together by the fact of school giving him an anchor point. However, since his school had been damaged during the stras that surrouhe student Yuki all of that had been thrown off. There was no school for him to attend so he wasn't aware of the exact day any longer. The best he had was that it had been about a week since he stopped going to school.

  In his case, it was also a week since he no longer had a home. While no one in the school k, Haruo made use of the school for his shelter every night since he had started high school about two months ago. He wasn’t certain how long he would be able to keep it up, but so long as he had shelter that was all that mattered for him. There was a way in for him after he finished his part time job that no one else seemed to know. It certainly helped that he didn’t know a saking it easy to avoid any questions. The school had some s about his address, but with the help he received he was able to keep them unaware of his actual living ditions.

  The nights outside weren't as bad as he expected they might be for being ie spring time. He wasn’t sure if it was the ges that had occurred or just unusual weather, but it had been warmer than normal at night. There seemed to be very little temperature drop at all making it easy for him to just lie in the grass.

  Any of the mohat roamed around seemed to ignore him. He wasn’t sure why they were leaving him alone. It hadn't bothered him for long though as it meant that he had less to worry about. The new enviro was enough of a problem to adjust to for him. Everything still seemed to be the same, but his senses felt off in a way that he couldn’t fully expin. He didn't let it be too much of a focus for him. Life still tinued as it had and he could simply wait.

  The m routine for him remaihe same regardless of the ges. He didn’t have the advantage of the school facilities any longer, but he made do with whatever that he had avaible. It started with a jog to the open venieore. His part time job gave him enough moo get food, though nothing too fancy for him. He kept things simple with a bottle of milk and fruit. After the light breakfast he tinued his jogging until he made it around the neighborhood several times.

  Haruo felt warmed up enough to begin his normal exercises. While he had a fairly rge muscur body, which didn’t seem to require a great amount of effort to achieve, Haruo still felt that he should maintain his workout. It seemed especially important in the current days with the dahat lurked around the town.

  During his m exercises a few birds flew in perg themselves on his back while he was doing pushups. ‘Hmm…they’re still unged as well…’ They hopped along his back lightly chirping as Haruo made no interruption in his activities. A couple more small birds joihem pying around Haruo not fearing his presenbsp; Even when he ged his position suddenly for a different exercise nothing he did would startle them. Eventually, the birds pyed themselves out and flew away to their s.

  Haruo pulled himself back up at the end of his routine exhaling a long breath. ‘I guess it’s about time that they opened…’ He stood up and started to jog once more, however this time he wasn’t stig to the neighborhood. The path went out of the line of houses to a small stretch of shops sandwiched in together breaking up the pattern of homes.

  Most of the shops were two story makes, all being family owned with their own homes above the store itself. The little area funed as the local strip for the residences providing a small restaurant, clothing store, bathhouse, dry ers, undromat and a venieore that was closer to a grocery store if not for the size.

  The first stop was the dry ers for Haruo. A wood ste at the top of the door announced his arrival to the family business. Behind the ter was a young woman with a white cloth ed around the top of her head keeping back her hair. In the distance, an elderly man and woman worked with clothes that had been dropped off.

  The bck haired woman leaned forward into the ter towards Haruo with her apron folding a little on the wood surfabsp; “Wele babsp; e to pick up your clothes?” Haruo gave her a short nod before she turned bato the racks of clothes. The store looked a little sparse from the decrease in ers. She quickly came back carrying one hanger in her hand with Monou High School’s uniform uhe pstic.

  Haruo accepted the hanger and handed over the money as though it had bee a ritual for him. “Thank you.”

  “You’re still wanting us to hold on to the rest of your clothes even though they are ed?” asked the woman while she finished ringing up the bill. All she received was a silent nod from Haruo. “Well alright! We don’t normally act as our er’s closet, but since we know you so well it’s alright.”

  Sihe school was no longer avaible to him he couldn’t keep his uniforms with him. It left him with the only option of leaving it with the ers until he hem. It did mean that he had to make daily visits, but without any other clothes to wear and no way to them himself it was the only option he had left.

  The new uniform draped over his back as he left and walked a little further down the line of stores. He came to the bathhouse silently leaving the regur fee on the ter. A middle-aged woman came out from the woman’s bath as Haruo was making his way in. “Hey, Haruo! All done exerg for the m?” She picked up the s that he left as Haruo disappeared into the men’s bath.

  It was he school and so he had bee aced to using it even with the school closed. During the m hours there weren’t nearly as many people usually, but he seemed to notice a rge crowd the st few days. He had e to the clusion that with the stras iy people needed a pce to reveal stress.

  A rexing bath ter, Haruo left the bathhouse in the fresh uniform aurned back to the ers. It had been going on for a week so they had accepted his new pattern. The chaos iy had a lot of people ging and they just took it as something in his life had bee difficult. They didn’t inquire too deeply.

  Haruo finished his m work and decided to sit down in the restaurant at the er of the strip. He ordered another small meal to finish out his breakfast that would keep him full for most of the day, depending on his activity. The part time job made him fortunate enough that he could maintain a modest lifestyle c meals out all the time. Cooking wasn't something he was very good at and there were no opportuo make use of the school. He tried to keep his existeo a minimum. As a high student paying for all of his own living expe left him with very little every month, but he didn't have anything else to spend money on. So it wasn’t something that really bothered him deeply.

  His breakfast finished and noon slowly arriving Haruo went out into the adjat neighborhoods with little dire in mind. Every so often he would stop and allow the animals to visit him. A little of the food that he saved from his meal, for su occasion, would be fed to them. He khat they didn't need much from him sihey were making do on their own, but it was a bit of a habit he couldn't really break. Ohey went back to their own routines Haruo tinued his walking.

  The ck of school had made him lose some of his focus. He had bee very bored wandering the city, yet there was little else for him to do. Often he ended up at his job very early waiting for something to happen or allowing him to pick up a few extra hours. Haruo khat he still had a long time to wait until he could even think about trying to go to work.

  In the distanbsp; he heard loud hat made him curious. ‘…it’s ing from that same area again…’ He had been hearing strange sounds the st few days, but much further away than it had been today. It artially because he had been staying away from the school. When he came closer he realized that it was the school where all of the noise had been ing from. ‘stru?’

  Still up a street but with a clear enough view of his school, Haruo could see several rge maes w on the high school. The thing that fused him more was that he had never seen a couple of the maes. He was fairly certain that they were pletely impossible. Haruo would have gone forward to iigate more, but noticed the very rge pool of students around the grounds w on small tasks. ‘What’s going on? Are they fixing the school? A group of students?’ The sight surprised him the more that he stared. He wasn’t sure why they were all trying to work together.

  Haruo turned away from the school and started to walk babsp; ‘It has nothing to do with me… I’ll just walk somewhere else…’ Unfortunately, his path was suddenly blocked before he even made it out. A line of six dirty and worn down high school age boys stood in his way. The peaceful neighborhood was a strao the dark figures that stared on. ‘This isn’t their turf…what are they doing here?’

  A boy taller thahers in the middle stepped forward. His bck hair was cut very short and spiked up with the ends bleached a little making it look brown to tan. If they were students it was unclear as they wore blue jeans and jackets with a few small s or spikes accessorizing their otherwise falling apart wardrobe. “Yo boys, looky whose we’ve run in ta!” There was a low cackle and snickering from his sides as they all reized Haruo immediately. “It’s Yoneda! I’ve been missin’ our daily warm-ups!”

  Haruo slid his foot back watg the situation developing. ‘Takaoka’s band… He’s pretty far from his gang’s territory… Thought they’d have enough trouble with the new situation in town, but I guess they’ve already adapted…’ For him this was certainly not their first meeting or even sed. Their history went back to junih school as Takaoka’s friends regurly picked fights with Haruo. While Haruo wouldn't just let them hit him, eventually he would bee trapped with no choice other than to take the blows. It was something that he had bee used to dealing with, but preferred to avoid it when he could. Unfortunately, Takaoka had a certain i in finding and causing pain to Haruo.

  Takaoka sigo his friends starting to spread out and move in. It was typical of Takaoka not to make the first move, but wait until Haruo had been ered. He was the stro and most skilled in his band of street thugs. “Let’s mark our erritory in Yoneda’s blood guys!” That seemed to get them excited as the five boys started flexing their hands readying for the fight.

  Haruo stepped back again and checked his rear. There was no one behind him, but the school was nearby. He khat he had to keep the fight away from the school. He watched the two boys on the end of the line go after him first. They were out of sync with each other striking a few seds apart. The first boy came fist raised going for Haruo’s head. Haruo ducked down, stepping past the first boy so that he could dodge the sed flying through with his leg. The opening round was his for the moment. The third charged in frustration with the failure of the first two. He went to try to tackle Haruo, but failed to even touch his uniform as Haruo side stepped him.

  The remaining boys stalked in a little on Haruo before joining together for a quick flurry of swings. Haruo backed away from their poorly executed tactic, but was caught by one of the recovered boys from before. He took a narrow sweep from the boy’s shoe leaving only a little stinging across his skin. There was no time to think about the close call as two more came in trying to close the circle around him. Haruo was familiar with the strategy and saw it before they were able to start. He leapt back out of the three boys as the two others joined in. Thinking that he had made it safely, he took a calm nding. A sharp strike to his cheek buried into him and knocked him down to the ground leaving him staggered.

  “Ya gettin’ soft without yer daily beatens?” Takaoka mocked staring down at Haruo in the grass street. He tried to follow up quickly, but Haruo rolled out of the way of a smmed down foot.

  Haruo got back up on his feet and backed away a little from the school. Watg the boys resume their stalking, Haruo brushed the back of his hand over the sore spot on his face cheg for blood. There was none. ‘There’s something a little different about them today… They seem a little more anized and faster… It’s harder to avoid getting hit…’ Haruo kept his breathing even monit the movements as they came closer to him.

  The longer he stared at them the more he developed an uled feeling. It felt like the air itself turned bck from their menag presenbsp; He had seen the look in their eyes before, but never with the iy that he had before. It was like they were starved. Haruo saw the round of attacks ing at him even faster than before. He narrowly dodged an arm and leg only to be grabbed from behind by one of the boys. Another boy took advantage of his trapped state running him down with a series of punches. Laughter from the rest of the baed with Haruo captured.

  Takaoka stepped forward ohe boy had finished his work on Haruo. He had a wicked smirk across his fabsp; His index firoked the side of his jaw as his mind turned over owisted thought after another. “What’s wrong Yoneda? Yer so weak!” He rammed his fist into Haruo’s stomach, ating his words at the end. Haruo coughed from the impact, receiving a short round of bemused ughter. Takaoka gave up a few more punches into the Haruo pung bag before he let up and gave his buddies a ce.

  Haruled trying to break free, but otherwise remained in taking whatever they gave him, never letting out anything more than a cough. He khat they would eventually grow tired of beating him up and leave. It was just a matter of waiting it out. Escape seemed impossible today. The ravaging looks were oppressive.

  “Keep it up boys! He’s still got that look in his eyes!” Takaoka tio smirk at his eai, finding Haruo’s face to always be very enjoyable to watbsp; He crossed his arms waiting for the moment that he savored. “I’m not hearin’ anythin’ break—“ Takaoka’s words were suddenly cut off as two feet were pnted in his face, knog him over into the grass.

  “Boss?!” a couple of the boys said, turning when they heard a very painful crabsp; The others looked back as a long shadow cast bhe figure in darkness. Burning eyes were the only thing that they could see as they started to tremble a little.

  The figure stepped forward crag his knuckles. “Sorry I got my party invitation a little te!” Yuki smirked darkly as he started towards the five boys.