The sky emitted a radiant blue, it wasn't long until noon arrived and the birds sat on the branches of the tree that stood right beside Yushiro's house.
"He was living under pressure. But that pressure was set upon his own greed, it caused his family to suffer. Nobody knew how to help him because he refused to help himself."
Douma and Shinobu were almost there, dormant at the side of the road in front of Yushiro's house was a garbage truck, two men cleared the bins and tossed the bags at the back of the vehicle. They hopped in and drove off to their next destination.
Hearing those words from Douma was devastating, life must've taken a dreadful turn for someone to end up like that. Kaisuke was a victim to his own mistakes and it just kept piling up until he couldn't find a solution anymore.
"It seems Kaisuke deeply cared about his family but he chose the wrong path."
"We tried to get him back on track but he was reluctant to figure things out."
"Douma, if you were given another chance to help him, what would you have done?"
"Shinobu... I..."
That question stunned him for a while there, because nobody ever displayed admiration for his way of handling certain situations. Perhaps Shinobu really saw him as someone who did the best for others and wanted to support him with that.
"You'd keep trying Douma, I just know it. That's why even in desperate times, these people who've received your help once still approach you, because they know, your actions and the way you treat them reflect the sincerity in your heart."
Widening his iridescent eyes, Douma smiled and slowed down in his tracks to take the time to think about everything Shinobu had said which will be ingrained in his mind for as long as he'll come back to it again. Maybe it'll never leave.
"You really see the best in me Shinobu, I appreciate that." Douma said with a radiant look on his face.
The violette glanced to the side, "Of course I do and I want you to uphold this reputation because that's one of your strengths. It really leaves an impact on people, they cherish the memories and keep it with them." Shinobu responded cheerfully.
Soon they arrived at Yushiro's doorstep, Shinobu rang the bell, waiting for someone to answer the door. The birds on the tree sang a soothing melody that aligned with the peaceful state of the day, the streaks of sunlight on the leaves of the trees gave off shimmering bright glows like glittering stars.
"I'll keep this strength within me, always." Douma replied.
Shinobu smiled back at him gracefully.
An excited Yushiro answered the door with an overly enthusiastic look on his face. "Hey guys! About time! I was just about to hide behind that tree over there!"
The green-haired teenager smiled sheepishly at Shinobu who sighed and glanced away from his direction.
"Oh how thoughtful of you Yushiro." The violette replied, as she rolled her eyes at him and crossed her arms.
"Come on in!" Yushiro chimed as both Douma and Shinobu followed him into the house.
The sound of Yushiro's video game was bombastically loud that the entire house could hear it. Yushiro just skipped happily to the living room where Chachamaru was sitting and jamming his claws on the controller.
"This is gonna be awesome!" Yushiro chimed, arms raised up in excitement. "My mom's preparing the onigiri, we're gonna have so much fun today. It's been such a longtime, I'm surprised we didn't plan this sooner."
"Well technically it's only been a few months." Chachamaru replied, stretching his jaw to release the tension building up from the suspense of the video game.
Douma and Shinobu watched the feline moving about on the floor, jamming his claws harder on the buttons when the final boss in the game showed up.
"Listen Yushiro, you can't pretend training doesn't exist. It's a core part of your life now whether you like to hear it or not." Chachamaru continued, gesturing for Douma and Shinobu to sit down and enjoy the game.
"You just had to mention that didn't you?" Yushiro sighed and dragged his feet towards Chachamaru who chuckled at his exhaustion from the topic.
The green-haired boy placed a large blue box in front of Douma and Shinobu who looked at it curiously. "The controllers are in this mystery box, I call it that because there's always an interesting find."
Shinobu peeked at the box which was full of blocks and random figurines thrown in there. "Yeah it sure is interesting, I hope we can find the controllers in here."
"How's your training going?" Douma asked both Yushiro and Chachamaru who exchanged glances with each other, the feline holding a smirk that annoyed Yushiro a little but he had to answer the question anyway.
Yushiro sighed, shoulders slumped, he was about to respond when Chachamaru cackled, "What a tremendous time we had! It's all laughs when it comes to training, Yushiro is an interesting specimen, he's got a lot to learn. Even sensei can't help but admire his unique strengths and abilities!"
"I hope you don't mind but I'm about to make a slight mess here, this box is impossible to search through-"
"Just do what you have to! I wanna know what's inside!" The green-haired boy said loudly.
Douma poured everything out of the box, all the blocks and figures came out but there were no controllers.
Raising an eyebrow, Shinobu turned to look at Yushiro who gripped his hair in horror.
"Oh no! I must've thrown away the remaining controllers while I was clearing my room just now!" Yushiro panicked and stared at the window. "I'm so sorry guys!"
Douma and Shinobu recalled the truck they saw in front of Yushiro's house. The controllers aren't coming back that's for sure.
"Hey Yushiro you're still dodging the conversation!" Chachamaru yelled.
"Stop bringing it up!"
"I know you're thinking about Mia, how about this, just join in on the conversation and I'll tell her you're interested in her, how does that sound?"
"It's not like that at all! She's just clingy!"
While Yushiro and Chachamaru were at the verge of throwing hands, Douma and Shinobu exchanged awkward glances with each other, who would've thought a conversation about training would turn into something else entirely.
But the way Chachamaru described Mia, this girl sounded familiar to Shinobu, it was almost as if they just met somewhere.
"She's clumsy and timid, gets flustered easily and always nudges her glasses when something goes wrong. It's cute and I know someone who'd be the perfect match for her!" Chachamaru said proudly to Yushiro.
That clicked. Mia was the girl she met at the store. Shinobu glanced at Yushiro and Chachamaru, what a coincidence.
"Yeah Mia's bad. If you know what I mean." Chachamaru sat back against the couch and continued playing the game.
Yushiro raised an eyebrow at the feline with a confused expression. "No I don't know what you're talking about. Mia isn't a bad person."
Chachamaru sat up again and brushed his fur. "Listen Yushiro you've got a lot to learn."
"How is Mia bad? She did nothing wrong."
"Of course you're naive, seems like I've got some explaining to do given your age."
"Oh it can't be that serious."
"Remember the time when the wind blew..."
Hearing that made Yushiro quite fidgety. "Don't say that out loud! It's only between the group!" He said softly to which the feline chuckled.
"Someone's excited. You want me to finish the sentence don't you?" Chachamaru added hysterically.
"At the right timing! The wind knew damn well-"
Yushiro was cut off by a hard swipe to the head by an unsuspecting presence behind him. "Yeah we've heard enough." Shinobu replied firmly.
"Let's talk about something else I guess..." Chachamaru rasped. "This game is fun and engaging when's the next one coming out?"
Yushiro rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Oh I'm not sure but I hope it doesn't take too long." He replied, looking at Shinobu fearfully.
The violette crossed her arms and watched both Yushiro and Chachamaru continue the boss fight on the screen. "Victory will be yours guys." She told them, observing their gameplay closely.
"Yeah I'm getting the hang of this!" Yushiro exclaimed.
"Me too!" Chachamaru added.
Douma sat there, thinking about how great it would be if the group could spend more time like this together. If things were different in this world, he wouldn't have to worry about the ones he cared about the most.
However, to secure the trust and bonds he had formed with others, he must put an end to the destructions that's yet to come and it's only a matter of time until the drastic divergence happens.