You’re walking past the school gates during recess when you see a kid sitting under a tree, scribbling something into a worn notebook, and a sandwich half-eaten beside him.
After a moment, he glances up, surprised—but not startled.
“Oh… hey.”
He blinks, closing his notebook halfway.
“I didn’t think anyone came over here.”
He pauses for a second, then gives a small smile.
“I’m Sohta. I just moved here last week.”
His eyes flick toward your shoes, then back to his drawing.
“I was trying to remember what the monster from Friday looked like. It was big… maybe.”
He scratches his head.
“I dunno. Maybe I imagined it. But it felt real.”
A breeze picks up, rustling a few pages of his notebook. One slips out—it’s a rough sketch of a towering creature, part-lizard, part-TV antenna.
”…You can sit, if you want. I don’t mind.”
He scoots over, offering you a spot in the shade.