to you, someday:

She thinks about asking him what he thinks about getting a new dad, but figures there will be plenty of time to introduce him to Makoto in the future. Instead, she asks, "Izana, do you like puppies or kitties? What would you name it?"

Getting a pet had been an impossible dream before, but... she thinks they're allowed to move from dreams to plans, now.

Izana fights against sleep.

It is the villain of the night, with its slow, but ever encroaching strength. It isn't always his enemy, but right here, right now, it is as its tendrils slowly pull him away from spending more time with his family.

It isn't often that Izana gets to spend time with his mother at night. He knows she's very busy, and must work very hard, but it doesn't stop him from missing her. He knows other kids go home to their mothers and their home-cooked meals every day, but Izana still thinks his mom is the best. In the quiet moments listening to her voice and the steady breathing of his little sister he ponders the questions.

He likes dogs very much, they're very loyal, and it's nice to have someone who is always ready to play. Cats are very cute too, and he loves touching their paws and watching them walk as if they own the world. Izana wants both, but never asks for either because he knows they're expensive. He thinks a little more, and finally responds "How about Hachiko for a puppy? When it grows up it can protect Emma and you."

Susan Abulhawa, from Against the Loveless World: A Novel

tr: has a large cast of interesting characters with enriching backstories

mayhaps i'll name him rokuro 🤔

Yet , there's something utterly haunting about the way his brother speaks of this as if it were his reality , a stream of words without pause detailing a world that doesn't exist. ( or perhaps never came to pass ? ) Mikey had never once considered what it would be like to be bound to his own flesh , just a shell to watch the world pass by.

" Hey — ? " he places his hand on Shinichiro's shoulder in support. He's too fragile to think of such things. It's Mikey's turn to protect him , even if it's from his own mind. " I'm right here. " but just as suddenly as the story was recounted it seems to stop.

Quietly Mikey brings them to a shaded spot beneath a tree where a gentle breeze passes by carrying a wave of fresh air without the chill of the outdoors. Tentatively he gazes as Shinichiro from the corner of his eyes." Is that the dream you were having ? Were you in a place where I was hurt instead ? "

shinichiro knows dreams, when he is awake and when he is asleep. when he is awake, his dreams are ambition to shout into the winds above the sound of his cheering comrades. when he is asleep, they are naive but hopeful futures, with three siblings instead of two, with two parents instead of none, with a home full of laughter instead of echoes of what should've beens. right now, he is not asleep, but he does not feel awake, eitherㅤ───ㅤhe's stuck somewhere in between, like the lull in time upon waking up late at night, lost and disoriented, lights off with the television tuned to static, wondering if the world was still breathing, fearing he was all alone in the universe.

manjiro is here, but it feels like he shouldn't be. shinichiro's here, but it feels like he doesn't want to.

something's wrong. something's wrong, something's wrong, and shinichiro feels like he's falling down, feels the biting wind on his cheeks that had once felt like a guidance, feels the freezing waters of a turbulent storm. feels his lungs turn to ice, feels the peace of a misery drowned, weighted down by a soul heavier than the world on his back.

ㅤㅤㅤ‘ yeah, somethin' like that. it's just... i can't shake off this feeling, ’ㅤㅤhe mumbles absentmindedly. his breath sounds heavy to his ears.ㅤㅤ‘ like i've done something very bad. something awful. something you might hate me for. ’

ㅤㅤㅤ‘ manjiro, i think i killed someone for you. ’