...
I was born into this world with nothing, but my intelligence
We were a poor family, but nevertheless, we were content with what we have
My mom worked all day and night just to put food in our ptes in my father's pce, which he died in a tragic accident overseas
Mom and I thought that would be the start of our life going better towards on, but turns out that would be the start of our suffering even more
As the only son of my Mother and my deceased Father, I sworn to take the responsibility of taking care of my mother by getting a job at an early age
But as, nobody wants to hire someone younger than the required working age limit
Not to even mention, I am a student studying at school
Yet my Mother never spent a dime in my education thanks to me being a schor
I have to do better in my studies if I want to nd a job that will change our lives...
...I have to...
Who knows how long my Mother can st working?
...
...All these thoughts keep flowing in my mind as I wrote the assignment that was assigned to us
"...Done"
I said to myself, stretching my arms a bit after writing a long 5 page essay
I opened my window to let some fresh air in
"...Oh right..."
Its almost my birthday...
Which is tomorrow, October 11th...
"Even if I told her to not spend anything for me, she would still do it"
My Mother, even though were in a financial struggle, would still buy something to celebrate for my birthday
Cake...a toy...my favorite food...or anything that I would like
I always told her to not spend it on me since my birthday isn't anything special, but she always insists, always saying that its because its my birthday that it is special...
"Your birthday comes only once a year sweetie! Of course its special!"
Of course I knew what she meant by that...but I want her to focus on our finances before me
"...If only I was 2 years older..."
They would probably hire me...
"..."
"I'm home!"
My Mom said, as I quickly left my room to meet her
...
"Welcome back, Mom. You're early today"
She looks at me with a smile on her face
Even in the midst of tiredness and stress, she still was able to give me that kind of smile...
"Today's work went well sweetie! I bought a lot of food today for us to celebrate!"
I looked at the pstic bags that she was holding, which I can easily tell that she would be able to at least cook 3-4 dishes
"Mom! What about the money?!"
"Oh don't worry about that sweetie! Don't worry"
She says as she pats my head
"...If you say so"
Arguing further with my Mom would only stress her more. I took the pstic bags from her hands and brought it to the kitchen
...
Right as I expected, she was able to made 4 dishes with those many ingredients...
Compared to us only having one dish, this was extravagant. Of course I was grateful, but I hope these foods wouldn't spoil
We don't have a refrigerator after all...
I looked at my Mom, who was happily eating, I smiled at the sight
"So how's school, Sweetie?"
"Its going well, I also did the assignment that my teacher gave to us for the week just now"
"You already finished it? Oh my, how smart you are!"
That's an overstatement, the assignment isn't really that hard especially its about an essay about our family...
Suddenly, someone rang our doorbell
"Just eat sweetie, I'll go look who's at the door, okay?"
I nod as she stood up, walking towards the door
I then stood up and eavesdropped through our thin walls...
...
"Yes-Oh..."
...? Who is it?
"Ms. Tenjin, I assume you know why I'm here, right?"
That tone of voice...its the Landowner...
"Please! Just two more days! I will pay okay?"
"HAH?!"
The Landowner's tone of voice raised as he smmed something
"Eek!"
"Its the third time, Ms. Tenjin. THE THIRD TIME I TELL YA!"
"I-I know!"
"Well it seems like that thick skull of yours do not!"
"Just this one time! I just need two more days!"
Two more days...? Is it because?!
"Hmph! So that's how it is huh?! Alright"
"Huh...?"
What...? Mom was able to convince him?
"I'll see to it, Ms. Tenjin"
The Landowner says as I heard his footsteps slowly faints away...
...
As the door closes, I quickly gone back to my seat, pretending I was eating for who knows how long
My Mother sat down with a weary expression on her face
"Mom?"
She shrugs her head right after I called her
"W-What is it sweetie? Oh right! Your assignment! You did it already right? That's very good!"
"Mom, was it him again?"
My mom stopped her actions the moment I hit the nail on the head
She smiles as she responds
"You know how it is sweetie, don't worry, mom will take care of it, okay?"
Her assurance was quite comforting, but unfortunately, I knew the truth already
"Mom, we don't need to celebrate my birthday tomorrow you know"
"?!"
"We have a lot of problem on our hands, I think we should sort them out first rather than celebrating my birthday"
Plus I'm already 16...I don't think birthday celebrations are needed in my age
"No! That's the only one thing we can't miss every year!"
"Mom...?"
"Look sweetie, you don't need to worry about anything, I want to celebrate your birthday because I want to. I want to do it for you"
"..."
"You worry too much about me and our situation but look at you!"
"...?"
"You take school too seriously! Whenever I went to your school for the meetings, barely anyone knows about you. Only the teachers recognizes you!"
That's because I always thought that making friends will just waste me a lot of time on focusing on my studies...
"You need some friends you know! Of course I'm grateful to have a son such as you who's focused on studying, but loose a little, sweetie"
"Loose a little...?"
Why would I? I'm doing this for you...Mom...
She came closer to me with a serious expression on her face
"Listen to me...Hikari...you are a hardworking boy and all, but you cannot do everything in your own power. Someday, you will need someone to help you. That's what friends are for"
"But Mom...I have you"
My Mother shrugs her head at me, showing disagreement
"Mother won't be here in this world for too long, surely my smart, smart sweetie knows it too, right?"
"..."
...The thought of it while I haven't done anything to make her life better...I can't...
"So promise me sweetie, you will start making friends, alright?"
I hugged my mom tightly, as I agreed
"I will...I promise..."
She then lets go as she smiled at me
"Now then, shall we resume eating and tell me what happened in school today?"
I nodded as we take our seats together...
...
...
...
The day of my birthday...I'm somewhat excited, but the thought of our problems rushing in my mind overshadows my enthusiasm
Right after we ate st night, I slept with my belly full of food, but my mind full of complications...
"And I wasn't even able to make some friends today..."
Socializing is harder than I thought...
I said as I try to open our door with my key
...
"...?"
The door's...open?
I didn't pay attention to it further and went inside-
"?!"
My eyes widened, my body froze, my bag dropped from my hands as I looked at the horrible scene in front of me
There she was...my Mother, lying in her own pool of blood
I fell down to my knees after
"M...Mom...?"
I reached out to her hand...which was covered in blood...
...cold...
...
...no pulse...
It was then that it finally came to me
"! MOM!!!!!!!"
That I found my Mother dead, lying in front of our door
"WHO DID THIS TO YOU?! MOM!!!!"
I screamed in confusion, when suddenly-
"I did, boy"
"?!"
I quickly looked behind me, only to see the Landowner looking down at us, smiling creepily
"She can't pay her rent, then she'll pay with her life!"
"Y...YOU!"
I gripped my hand tightly in anger, as I try to get a revenge
"YOU BASTARD!!!!"
With all my might, I tried to nd a hit on the Landowners face, but unfortunately, he grabbed onto it and stopped my force
"LET GO OF ME!"
I tried and tried, as he slowly raised the gun at me
"?!"
"Look boy, out of all the people your mother messes with, she messes with a former loan shark"
"Loan shark?!"
I always had the hunch this guy was bad news! No wonder he let my Mother went into debt!
"I gave ya a pce to stay, a long deadline to pay, yet what she did? DELAYS IN PAYMENT!"
"We're still paying didn't we?! Why did she have to go through all this?!"
"You don't understand boy. those deyed payments wasn't because she wasn't able to pay the rent"
"Huh...?"
My hand suddenly stopped moving the moment I realized
"?! You mean?!"
"Right. She borrowed a hefty sum of money every time its the month of October. Since I'm generous, I always give what she requested"
Mom...why...?
"But today crosses the line! Not only she was deyed for three times, those three times have been deyed for 3 years!"
Why despite all of this...
"But hey, since I'm generous, I'll let you see her again"
You still wanted to celebrate my birthday...?
"IN HEAVEN THAT IS!"
Without even the time to react, he pulled the trigger on me
*BANG*
Right after that...everything slowly faded into bck...
...
