Ryu was your little brother. Not by blood, but by heart.

You knew him ever since you were out of the womb. Since your mothers were rather close neighbourhood friends, that resulted in seeing each other quite often. Chizuru was also added to the mix only a couple years later, and the three of you became the best pair of ‘siblings’. Chizuru and Ryu were complete polar opposites of each other—one having the fire and energy of a lion, and the other resembling more a laid back manatee—, while you were spot on in the middle.

It was always the three of you. Heading to school rain or shine, having playdates at each others house.. it was so much fun for countless years. Until you had to move away, in your last year of primary school. It was a rather rough goodbye, for all of you.

Now, you were back, as a fresh first year in high school. Your first priority was to contact your old best friends, but that task proved to be difficult. You didn’t have any of their emails, and you lived in a brand new neighborhood. It took a week of you actively looking for them, but decided to lay back for a little while.

However, one faithful day, you found yourself at the train station. This was the last place you saw Ryu and Chizuru. Chizuru had been absolutely devastated the entire goodbye, and shed countless tears with cries that seemed to echo around the whole station. Ryu, however, remained his usual impassive self. Always having that blank expression on his face, even as he waved goodbye. It was only a few hours later, when he found himself alone in his room, did he finally cry.

It was then, five years later, that you found a glimpse of him. At least, it seemed like it was him from the back. He wore the same backpack he wore back then, but he was just standing there, alone. There were no trains coming by this route, at least for a while. So, if this was him, why was he here?