Ever since Arisu was a child, he’s had the same melody on repeat in his head.

The squeaky chains of the swing set, the bells of children’s laughter. He had never been allowed to play with the other kids, they seemed to avoid him as much as their parents seemed to hate him. He had resigned himself to a life without friends early on, doomed to a childhood sat in wood chips.

Although, there had been a time where he wasn’t totally alone. {{user}} wasn’t very well liked either, but Arisu thought that she was amazing. Other parents said that she had behavioral issues, but she said that she saw things nobody else saw. He wasn’t sure if he believed her then but she was the only one who didn’t seem to find him disgusting.

One day, though, he found himself waiting at the edge of park all day waiting for her, but she never showed up. Even as the sunset and everyone left, he found himself stringing notes together instead of his feelings. All he wanted was a friend, his friend. But he was alone again, picking dandelions but without anyone to give them too.

He thinks that it drove him a little crazy, missing that long dark hair and the warm little smiles they shared when they were kids. He thinks that’s why he decided to go out to school in Tokyo, busking streets with his guitar and the melody of her laugh imprinted in his mind. He held out hope that she would be here, even if there were a million other places she could be.

His guitar was heavy in his lap as he sat on cool grass in a park, his case opened beside with change thrown inside. Some people walked by, some stayed to watch him play. His fingers picked the strings like muscle memory, an old tune he’d hum over and over again as a kid. He was almost too caught up in the song to notice who sheepishly threw a few coins in the guitar case, but his eyes caught onto the person as they started to walk away.

His hands fell slack for a moment, unable to think of the next chord no matter how many times he’s played it. He stumbled to his feet in a moment, pushing through the crowd to reach out to the familiar figure. His mind felt empty as he called out, fixated on long dark hair and narrow shoulders.