It's been a while, so I decided to upload a new chapter. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this. I went in wanting to write something completely different, but my mind went blank and I came up with this instead. One of my favorite podcasts (The Drunken Peasants) actually mentioned my workplace on one of their shows recently and talked about how shitty it was. Honestly, I freakin' loved it. Lmao

Quote of the day:

"And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair"

― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

She wasn't surprised to hear how both Daisuke and Takeru had gotten detention that afternoon, especially after the way that the very annoyed Miyako had explained it. Apparently, with the help of Takeru rushing into the Principal's office claiming that he needed help and that he didn't have time to explain for what, Daisuke had been able to sneak into the empty office, and succeeded in his plan of letting go of twenty stray cats inside. The punchline of the prank however wasn't the fact that they had released so many felines inside the Principal's office, but instead it was the small little detail that the Principal was allergic to cats.

Hikari had gotten the usual lecture after she had gone to check up on them in the detention room about the fact that a 'good girl' like her needed to be careful considering she spent most of her time with a pair of hooligans. She had responded with the usual line and smile about the fact that she had known Daisuke and Takeru since she was about five years old, give or take a year, and that they were both important to her, regardless of whatever trouble they may have gotten themselves into. It was a response from Hikari that most of the school administration and even concerned upperclassmen reluctantly accepted, but lately it didn't help that Takeru had had to recently miss a bit of school to heal up from the damage Ken caused in their fight.

For now, Hikari decided to simply wait for detention to be over, and after a quick text message to Takeru telling him where he and Daisuke would be able to find her, she made her to the courtyard of the school, and headed for the large tree that provided shade near the edge of the school fence. As she walked, Hikari felt the wind brush her hair, tickling against her cheek, and the young girl smiled, deciding then and there that the breeze was a lovely thing. It was the kind of breeze that brought along with it the smell of the bakery a mile down the street, and the chirping of birds like a tune, and she silently enjoyed it on her short trip to the large tree near the edge of the fence.

As she reached the tree, she studied it for a moment and looked for the familiar carvings in the bark, knowing that they would be where they always were, side by side like a testament to time. The first carving in the wood made her feel nostalgic for a time she never lived, and she watched it with a twinkle in her eye, the small heart containing the names of Yamato and Jun haunting her in the same way that she felt it haunted Daisuke's sister. She didn't smile again until her eyes trailed to the sight of the other heart carved right beside the first, the second heart containing the names of herself, Takeru, and Daisuke. If nothing else was true in the world, she knew that her two best friends would always be in her life.

She trailed her hands across the carved lining of the second heart, and Hikari's smile remained on her face as she looked at it, and as she felt the soft breeze dance across her. Not caring about any possible stains, Hikari laid down on the grass against the base of the tree, and she closed her eyes, almost laughing as she remembered her first kiss under the tree. Her true first kiss had been elsewhere and with Daisuke years and years ago in the most confusing time of Dai's life, and her first kiss under the very tree that she was sitting under was an utter disaster if she remembered correctly. The boy from her class had approached her on a day that both Takeru and Daisuke were sick, had fumbled with what he had wanted to tell her, being awkward but sweet, and kissed her while her mouth was open, before she even registered what was happening. She had backed away and tripped over one of the tree's roots, twisting her ankle in the process, and he, in a panic, had turned away to run, before tripping over another root, causing him to break his nose. After that day, neither of them had ever mentioned it again.

The breeze was a wonderful thing. It was beautiful even though she couldn't see it. It carried a tune like music, even though there was nothing there to make a sound. As Hikari laid in the grass against the base of the tree, the smile ever resting on her face, she decided to try and think of nothing, and to instead simply enjoy the wind for what it was. Like the spring the breeze would only last for a moment of time before vanishing, and yet at the same while it was like the winter as well, replacing the warmth of summer with the enchanting cold that the autumn always comes to herald.

There were a million things for Hikari to do in Odaiba as she waited for Takeru and Daisuke in her spot under the shade. She could pop her head phones in her ears to dance along with the soft wind as if there was no one there to watch her. She could open up one of her textbooks to get a head start on the homework that she needed to turn in the next day. She could sit up and think about the future that approached closer and closer with each passing sunrise, or perhaps, just maybe, she could do absolutely nothing at all and simply enjoy the day for what it was.

The breeze was a wonderful thing, and there was nowhere else in the world where Hikari wanted to be.

Next time on A Home at the End of the Street:

Daisuke ignored Hikari as he looked down at what the label on the shiny box in his hands said, and part of him wanted to just throw it off the balcony and pretend that he had never crossed its path. Another part of him however was curious, and so he read out loud what was written on the oh so elegantly packaged gift, "For: The Honorable Ishida Takeru. From: His friends at The Provincial Tamachi Academy of Esteemed Education. Signed, Ichijouji Ken."