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Your Lie in December

Ch. 1 · The Ordinary Cold

Your Lie in December, an original story by Fyodor_

Shinji, late, at the gate of Hanazono High; caretaker Ogawa-san watches him from inside the courtyard.
  1. Narration: Snow hadn't fallen yet, but the air in Kyoto already held the promise of it.
  2. Narration: He was late. Again.
  3. Narration: The caretaker, a bushy-browed old man named Ogawa-san, gave him a look that spoke volumes without a word being uttered.
Shinji slips into Classroom 2-B just as Mr. Kimura closes the sliding door.
  1. Mr. Kimura: Watanabe. Again.
  2. Shinji Watanabe: Sorry, sir.
Aika, second row by the window, turns her white head toward Shinji as he reaches the seat behind her.
  1. Aika Nakamura: Late again.
  2. Narration: It had become a ritual in recent months.
Memory: years ago, child Shinji with a black eye from defending Aika; she laughs.
  1. Narration: For so long that Shinji struggled to recall a time when Aika Nakamura wasn't part of the picture.
  2. Narration: He'd ended up with a black eye for a week.
  3. Narration: Aika had laughed until she cried when she saw it.
Back in class: whispered banter while Kimura writes on the board.
  1. Aika Nakamura: Daydreaming again this morning?
  2. Shinji Watanabe: Uncle Ryo had finished the coffee. I had to make some more.
  3. Shinji Watanabe: You could stop stating the obvious.
  4. Mr. Kimura: Nakamura, Watanabe, quiet down.
Hours pass; during English, Shinji stares out at the temple roofs.
  1. Narration: Winter in Kyoto had a way of feeling suspended in time.
Lunch on the roof, side by side against the wire fence in coats.
  1. Shinji Watanabe: My uncle wants me to help out at the shop this weekend. He says he 'needs young hands.'
  2. Aika Nakamura: How old is he, anyway?
  3. Shinji Watanabe: Thirty-eight.
  4. Aika Nakamura: Then he'd better stop complaining and carry his own boxes.
Shinji recounts the exchange with his uncle; Aika laughs.
  1. Shinji Watanabe: He replied that respect for one's elders is a dying art.
  2. Aika Nakamura: What did you say to that?
  3. Shinji Watanabe: Nothing. I just did the dishes in silence while he watched TV.
Inset of Shinji's thoughts: Uncle Ryo's absent evenings; back to Shinji on the roof.
  1. Narration: Uncle Ryo wasn't a bad guy, Shinji thought—just terribly laid-back.
  2. Narration: It wasn't out of malice. It was just... an absence.
  3. Narration: A routine had set in—dull, perhaps, but stable—and that stability, at least, held a certain comfort.
Aika pulls him from his thoughts; 'Liar'; a quiet moment.
  1. Aika Nakamura: Liar.
  2. Shinji Watanabe: I'm fine, Aika.
  3. Narration: For a brief moment, Shinji found himself thinking she was beautiful.
  4. Narration: He was the first to look away, as always.
After kendo, a sore Shinji finds Aika waiting on the steps.
  1. Aika Nakamura: You took your time.
  2. Aika Nakamura: You look like a ghost.
  3. Shinji Watanabe: The captain wanted us to redo the katas three times.
  4. Shinji Watanabe: Thanks. Very kind of you.
At their usual crossroads, Aika invites him to dinner.
  1. Aika Nakamura: Want to come over for dinner? My mom's making nabe tonight.
  2. Shinji Watanabe: Yeah. Why not.
  3. Narration: The smile she gave him then was different from the others—wider, more sincere.
They walk the lantern-lit lane together; she laughs; shadows lengthen.
  1. Shinji Watanabe: Thanks. For the nabe.
  2. Aika Nakamura: It's just nabe, Shin.
  3. Narration: It's never just that with you, he thought, without saying it.
  4. Narration: For now, there was only the December cold and the warmth of a familiar presence beside him. That was enough.

End of Chapter 1

Your Lie in December, an original story by Fyodor_

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