Yurugi

A typical evening in Kanazawa, September 27. It's raining heavily. It's already quite dark; only the headlights illuminate the car ahead. There's a traffic jam. Inside one of the cars sits a family of four. The father is at the wheel — a kind man, devoted to his family, no more than thirty‑five years old. He's wearing a black silk shirt and black trousers.

Next to him, in the passenger seat, sits the mother — also a lovely woman, around thirty‑five at most. She's kind, but can be strict when necessary. Her hair is tied back in a ponytail, and she's wearing a plain T‑shirt with a cardigan draped over it — it's cold, even though they're not outside. Her cardigan is slightly slipped off her shoulders; it isn't that cold after all. They're not outdoors. She's also wearing black jeans.

In the back seat are two children. A ten‑year‑old girl, wearing a T‑shirt; she's holding a denim jacket in her hands — she might put it on later. And a boy, a little younger, dressed just as simply: a little shirt and black pants.

The girl is looking out the window, bored, her chin propped up on her hand. The boy is taking a drawing out of his backpack — a picture of their family: father, mother, sister, and himself.

«Mom, Dad! Yesterday, in class, we were asked to draw our family for a project. We were allowed to keep the drawing».

With his little hands, he holds the drawing out to his mother, knowing that his father is busy with the road.

The mother takes the drawing from the boy and smiles slightly as she looks at it. «Nice, Rayn. Oh… You put a lot of effort into me, huh? It's beautiful».

The girl turns away from the window, still resting her chin on her hand. Hearing her mother's words, she pretends to be annoyed. «What? Why is it especially about you? Let me see too!».

The mother smiles a bit wider at her daughter's antics. She knows her so well. She hands the drawing to her daughter with mock reluctance: «Well, look if you really want to, Mikuta,» but her eyes are full of laughter.

Mikuta takes the drawing and studies it, then hugs her brother wordlessly, putting the drawing aside on the seat. The smile doesn't leave the mother's face.

The father watches this tender moment between his children in the rear‑view mirror and smiles. A couple of minutes later, he says, «We're not far from Uncle Hikaru's, so try not to fall asleep back there, little ones».

Mikuta makes an offended face. «Dad, stop calling us little ones! We're grown‑ups. I'm already ten, for example. It's my birthday anniversary!».

No one answers Mikuta's grumpy protest. They're just charmed by her usual behaviour.

A few minutes pass. Everything seems calm. The rain keeps falling, creating a soothing sound. The car gets out of the traffic jam and moves forward. But soon, another car appears ahead — driven by a careless driver.

Everything happens in a matter of seconds. The father doesn't have time to turn the wheel to avoid the collision. There's the screech of tyres and the noise of the rain, mixed with the smell of iron.

The adults in the front are far less fortunate. The mother and father are unconscious, covered in blood. Mikuta, sitting nearby, isn't moving either. Only Rayn remains conscious — though not for long.

He sees everything with his own eyes: the blood, his mother's unfocused, empty gaze, his motionless father, and the silent Mikuta beside him. Like any ordinary child, he wants to cry, but before he can, he loses consciousness from shock and pain. In that last moment, he clutches the drawing on the seat in his small, bloody hand.

The parents' funeral took place a couple of days after their death. The children weren't there — both were in a coma.

Rayn stayed in a coma for just over two months. Mikuta came out of it a little later.

After they were discharged, they were taken in by a distant aunt on their father's side — someone they'd barely ever seen. The aunt had a daughter (two years older than Mikuta) and a husband who was an alcoholic; he often shouted and sometimes even hit people. Fortunately, the aunt divorced him soon after.

Even though she didn't really care about the two children she'd taken under her wing, she had a conscience and couldn't just leave things as they were. Plus, frankly, she was tired of the whole situation. But even if the aunt was «indifferent» to Rayn and Mikuta, it was clear that she treated Mikuta better than Rayn.

Her own daughter, Saione, also grew fond of Mikuta more than anyone else — partly because she was a girl, and partly because Mikuta was closer to her in age…

Two months after being discharged (so, five months in total if you count the three months before that), the aunt found herself a new husband — a normal, calm man. And because of that, all four of them had to move in with him. There were two rooms. One was a bit spacious and had two beds — that's where Mikuta and Saione ended up. No one objected.