*dripdripdripdrip*

A morning too perfect for the day that was about to unfold.

It was pouring outside with clouds covering the skies, leaving the road, the houses, and the sidewalk, all a murky, wet grey.

Ace woke up and sat up in his bed, lifting his arm and rubbing his eyes.

He had a tired look on his face, not getting as much sleep as he hoped, but who could blame him?

This would be one of the most important days of his life.

Maybe he would look back on it one day and laugh, but he couldn’t do that right now.

His present feelings are way too different from what he would be feeling in the future.

His present feeling was one of sorrow and sadness, mixed in with a little bit of regret for not spending as much time as he could’ve of with his loved ones.

He got up from his bed, his blue basketball shorts rolled up his leg and his back hunched.

He walked over to the washroom in the upstairs hallway, closed the door, and brushed his teeth.

He would miss the small stuff like being able to take a proper shower, brushing his teeth in front of a proper sink, and changing his clothes every morning.

They’re not as important to him as his parents or friends but...

They’re still stuff he will think about while in Felona.

He finished up brushing his teeth and walked back to his room.

When he reached his room, he saw the blue-haired foreigner sitting up in the same position he was in just a few minutes ago.

Aliza stretched her arms out above her head and looked over to see Ace enter the room.

“Good morning, how’d you sleep?”

“Haha... wasn’t the best sleep ever but... just happy to get a few hours.”

Aliza stretched her arm out in Ace’s direction, asking him to pull her up.

Ace grabbed onto her hand and pulled her up, a nervous smile still on his face from the response he gave.

“I’ll try to stay out of your way today but... call on me when you need me.”

“Will do... I might need help with explaining the situation to one of my friends.”

“You’re also going to tell your friends?”

“Just one I’m really close with, he’d be worried if I didn’t show my face for a whole year.”

“Oh ok... tell me when, I’ll try to help you convince him.”

Ace nodded, as a confirmation, but also a way to throw over some gratitude for reliability.

“Oh... by the way... do you know where my backpack went? I didn’t see it when we got sent back.”

He looked around his room, thinking that he missed it the first time he looked around.

“You left it on the floor while we were training so it’s probably in the same spot.”

“Oh yeah... you’re probably right.”

“Do you have a bathroom I could use?”

“Go left from my room and it’s the first door.”

“Thank you.”

Aliza exited the room, and Ace started to think to himself.

What would he do for the whole 24 hours?

He would want to spend as much time as possible with his parents, but if he told them his situation, they wouldn’t be in the mood for any of that.

He wanted a regular day, maybe a movie, some basketball, some video games, just like he did before he left.

He didn’t want the whole day to be filled with tears and sadness.

He thought about not telling them about his situation right now...

“That would be wrong... Telling them at the last minute wouldn’t give them the chance to accept it.”

Ace thought for a little longer, trying to come up with the best solution.

“Ok... I’ll tell them at 10 PM.”

“That should be enough time...”

After coming to his first conclusion, he was already starting to have doubts.

“But would it be...? Is 2 hours enough...?”

“Can they accept it in 2 hours...?”

He didn’t know.

How would his parents take the news?

He didn’t know.

He didn’t want to put a mental scar on their hearts right after their reunion.

But... if he told them early, he wouldn’t get a proper goodbye.

It would just be crying all day.

He didn’t want that.

Whose feelings should he put first?

His own?

His parents?

He had no idea.

Just as his mind started to wander, trying to come to the best solution...

“What’re you so deep in thought about?”

“—?!”

Aliza returned from the bathroom and interrupted his deep thinking, causing Ace’s body to give a small jump.

He had been standing there thinking and talking to himself for a few minutes, not realizing how long he was there for.

“Nothing much...”

He didn’t want to bother her any more than he already had on this return home.

“You were thinking way too hard for it to be nothing, just tell me, brainstorming by yourself obviously isn’t working.”

Those words were pretty tempting, as his thinking didn’t get him anywhere, so he gave in quickly and confessed.

“Ok... I’ll tell you...”

“I’m thinking of keeping me returning back to Felona a secret until the end of the day...”

“I want a proper last day, not just one where my parents will be sobbing all day.”

“But if I tell them at the last minute, they won’t have enough time to properly think about it...”

“I don’t know if I should put my feelings first or my parents...”

He looked over at Aliza with a desperate expression, expecting a clue to the solution.

Before he could fully look up, his hand was grabbed, and he was pulled into the washroom.

“Hey.. what’re you doi--”

*SPLASH*

“Agh...”

Aliza threw some water in his face from the silver, running tap.

“The answer is obvious... both!”

Ace wiped off his face with a nearby towel and looked back at Aliza, his face with a desperate but questioning face on it.

“What do you mean, both? I’ve thought about it. What’s the right time? Will they be okay with that much? Will they be able to accept it? Am I allowed to be selfish? I’ve thought about it! But... I just don’t know...”

Aliza stood there, listening to his worries. After letting him finish, she threw her own thoughts at him.

“You may be their son and it’ll be hard to let you go, but... think about it... when did you accept your situation? Your situation is just as crazy as your parents, maybe even more crazy...”

“Not only that, but you accepted it on your own... they have each other to lean on and receive support from.”

“They’ll be fine. Just pick a time that feels right and that’s when you’ll tell them.”

She gave her honest opinion on what she has heard and seen so far. Ace trusted Aliza, but his worries took over once again.

“But... what if...”

“No buts! If you say “but” after everything, you’ll never get anywhere.”

She could see his worries coming back, so she cut in before he could continue falling into the rabbit hole that was doubt.

Her cut-in caused Ace to look at her once more and pay attention to the feelings and emotions she wanted to portray.

As he looked, he could see that her face was serious, maybe a little more on the angry side.

This made Ace realize... she was getting mad for his sake. She was helping him out of her own pure goodwill.

He decided to drop his doubts and trust Aliza with this.

“Haha... sorry...”

She really was a huge help.

He didn’t know how he could repay her.

“Sorry I can’t repay you at all, you’ve been a big help. I promise to repay you somehow, but I hope you’ll accept this for now.”

And he gave her a huge, genuine smile.

Aliza blushed a little, looked away, and spoke a little fast, embarrassed from the smile she received.

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“Don’t worry about repaying me, I’m a traveler, experiences like this are payment enough.”

“And besides, I already told you that you’re fun to be around so don’t think too much of repayment or anything like that.”

Ace’s smile stuck to him for a little longer after her fast speaking, this time more because she was acting funny.

Once Aliza collected her thoughts, she spoke a little slower and more genuine.

“We didn’t come to this world on the best terms but... it was still nice to get a small glimpse of Earth.”

“Maybe I can return some time in the future if it’s possible...”

“I came here once... another chance might come.”

“Then, you can give me a proper tour and be happy while doing it.”

After thinking of repayment, Ace also thought that sounded nice.

“Maybe... if things go well on the other side, you might get another chance.”

Aliza put on a confident smile and brought her hand to her chest.

“Things will go well, you’ve got me as your teacher.”

That also got Ace feeling confident, remembering back on yesterday’s training.

“You were just as tired as me yesterday. Stop acting so confident.”

“No I wasn’t! I still had 2 hours left in me!”

“Haha, yeah right! In a week more of training, we’ll be out of energy at the same time. Remember this!”

“We’ll see about that, but before that comes, you’ll still be calling me ma’am.”

“And after about a month, you’ll be calling me sir and begging on your knees for some training.”

“Me? Begging in front of you? Hehehe, you’re a crybaby! You could never make me beg!”

“Watch me! I’ll make you beg so hard!”

Aliza blushed a little and looked away from Ace.

“*cough,cough* Sorry, that sounded a little dirty, couldn’t keep my composure.”

“Wha-?! I didn’t mean it like that!”

“Don’t get all embarrassed on me! That’ll make it even weirder!”

“You made it weird in the first place!”

They both looked away from each other for a few seconds.

Then they looked back and...

“Hahahahahahaha”

They laughed in unison, the bickering feeling a little refreshing.

That laugh they shared felt really good for Ace.

He never imagined himself laughing on the day he had to say goodbye to his parents.

Once again, he felt grateful for Aliza being here.

“Haha... didn’t think I would be laughing today.”

“Glad I could help out with that.”

---

------

Ace went back to his room and looked over at his clock to see 8:30 AM printed on the digital screen.

It was still only Wednesday so his parents most likely went to work.

He looked over to the front of his room to see Aliza also back at his room.

“My parents are probably at work, but I’ll go check really quick. Stay here for a little.”

Aliza nodded back.

As Ace left his room and started to go down the stairs...

*DING* *DING* *DING*

Somebody was ringing his doorbell over and over.

He didn’t know who it would be this early in the morning, but he went to check.

Once he got to the door, he could see a figure through the stained glass.

It looked to be someone around the same height as him, maybe a little shorter.

—Who would come to my house this early?

He thought for a few seconds before opening the door.

—Someone who knows me or my parents, is near my height, and knows where I live.

“No way!”

He swung the door as fast as possible once he thought of who it could be.

Only one person came to mind...

“ISA!!!!!”

Ace jumped at the boy in front of him, grabbing his head and putting him into a headlock and then rubbing his knuckles on top of his head.

Isa’s head was a little wet from the rain, but they were neighbors, so it wasn’t too soaked.

“I never thought I’d see you again!”

As he was scraping his knuckles on top of his best friend’s wet black hair...

“—!”

He was pushed back, landing a few steps away on his porch.

“What’re you doing?!”

Isa sounded furious after pushing Ace off.

“What do you mea--”

“What do you mean! You disappear for a whole day without saying anything and then come back acting like everything’s okay! Where the fuck have you been?!”

“Hold on a secon--”

“Shut up and let me speak!”

Isa looked directly into Ace’s eyes, his eyes filled with a worried anger and his hair jumping a little from the force of his yell.

“If you’re gonna go somewhere, at least tell me! I know you can’t tell your parents some stuff, but at least tell me!”

All Ace could think about was that Isa didn’t know anything. Ace couldn’t talk back or get mad at him because Isa didn’t know anything about his situation.

“I can help you with stuff like running away!”

“I’m not supposed to be looking for you! I should be running away with you or convincing you to go back!”

He couldn’t get mad at Isa...

“I’ve known you for so long, why’d you even run away in the first place?!”

“You had no reason to!”

He couldn’t talk back.,.

“I know everything about you!”

“Tell me!”

But...

“What was your reaso--!”

“SHUT UP FOR A SECOND!!”

He couldn’t stop himself. It’s because Isa doesn’t know about his situation that Ace talked back. He was ranting to Ace without knowing anything. He didn’t know what Ace went through, so why is he yelling at him?!

“LET ME EXPLAIN!”

Isa’s mouth shut as soon as Ace’s opened, Ace not giving him the chance to talk afterwards.

“You think I wanted to be dragged away!”

“You think I was having a fun time away from this place!”

“I was crying, bleeding, depressed, looked at like garbage, and too weak to do anything about it!”

“You think I wanted to be alone?!”

“Don’t go spitting stuff you know nothing about!”

Ace wasn’t just throwing around sentences that would get him pity points.

He genuinely believed what he was saying.

The receiving side may not know what he was talking about but...

Anyone could tell that he was pouring his soul into those words.

Isa regretted lashing out at him as soon as they reunited and looked away in response.

“Sorry...”

Ace just let his mouth run, not realizing that he was being a little rude and not considering Isa’s feelings.

“Oh... I’m also sorry... shouldn’t have yelled at you like that...”

The brown skinned boy looked back at Ace, wanting to drop the argument.

He stuck out his hand in front of Ace.

“It’s all good... but, I need an explanation... you’re yelling at me about bleeding and being depressed, talk to me about it...”

“I’ve known you for so long, so tell me, don’t leave me in the dark.”

Ace grabbed his friend’s hand, accepting his conversation proposal.

“It’s a long story and you won’t believe it but... I’ll explain it the best I can.”

“How weird can it be?”

Ace spoke under his breath...

“You’d never believe...”

The memory of his parents' reaction flashed through his mind as he whispered.

“What’d you say?”

“Nothing.”

“Come in, I’ll explain.”

“Wait, bow that I know you’re fine, get ready, let’s go to school, you can explain after school.”

After everything that happened, Ace totally forgot that there was school today.

“Oh yeah... forgot about that...”

Ace thought to himself, wondering if he should even go.

He never really liked school...

“Ok... I’ll be out in 30 minutes, have to take a shower.”

Whatever... he had nothing to do anyways while his parents were away... might as well enjoy the last day with Isa at school.

“You can go ahead if you want...”

“I’m already late anyways... might as well wait for you... I’m coming in.”

“Sure... just wait downstairs today... my room is all messed up.”

“Sure.”

Ace didn’t want Isa to meet Aliza yet since there would have to be a whole explanation on who she is and why she was here.

Ace let Isa inside and ran upstairs, where Aliza was sitting on his bed.

Aliza looked over at Ace when he entered the door...

“What was that noise earlier?”

“Oh, sorry, just a reunion with a friend. He's downstairs, so don’t go downstairs for now... I’m going to take a shower and go to school, so you just wait here for the day.”

Aliza nodded back, keeping her promise to stay out of his way.

Ace took a shower for about 15 minutes, changed into his uniform and went back into his room.

“I’ll leave a breakfast on the kitchen table for you. Just wait for me to leave, then go grab it.”

Aliza looked over at Ace in his uniform and Ace at Aliza in his clothes...

They both thought to themselves...

—Cute...

Aliza looked away slightly and nodded at Ace.

Ace rushed back down the stairs to see his friend sitting at the kitchen table, patiently waiting for the other to return.

As the friend heard the steps down the stairs, he looked behind him to see Ace make his way into the kitchen.

“What took you so long?”

“My bad, I was a little dirtier than usual. I’m gonna get something to eat real quick and I’ll be outside, go out for now.”

“Got it.”

Ace opened his fridge, took out some bread and placed it in the toaster.

He waited for about 2 minutes for a POP! and took out the bread.

He made a quick peanut butter and jelly sandwich for Aliza and just shoved some regular, untoasted bread in his mouth.

He then went to the front door, put his shoes on and yelled to Aliza before leaving.

“I’m leaving now!”

And he exited his house, grabbing an umbrella and locking the door behind him.

“Did you say something? Sounded like you yelled.”

Isa stood outside; hearing Ace say something as he left the house.

Ace walked up to Isa, put his arm around his shoulder and smiled.

You’re imagining it.”

“Whatever...”

Ace started leading Isa towards the school, his arm still around his shoulder and the umbrella over their heads, cherishing the time they have together.

Isa thought of this as a completely normal day, unaware of his friend’s situation.

He would have to be hit with the details later and they would most likely shock him so much that he wouldn’t be able to get words out of his mouth, but right now, Ace wanted a normal day.

He desperately wanted that final day to be normal, so he kept his mouth shut about leaving for a year.

He just kept walking with his arm around his friend, rain hitting the top of his umbrella, and ripples of water being formed in the puddles underneath his foot.

“This weather is almost too perfect, it’s crazy.”

“Perfect for what?”

“Haha... you’ll understand later.”

“What’s up with you not explaining anything today?”

Ace stayed silent hearing those words, not having anything to respond with.

Isa did have a follow up though, remembering a bet from two days ago.

“You better haven’t forgotten; I’m getting you to eat that red popsicle today!”

Ace looked at his friend in disgust.

“Seriously? Can’t we leave this for another day?”

“Hahaha, you already skipped yesterday, not letting you today.”

Ace sighed at his friend and begged to call off the bet for today, wanting a blue popsicle for his last day.

“Cmonnnnn.. just today... I’ll let you double flick me the day after.”

“Nope... today’s the day!”

“*sigh* Fine...”

Ace accepted his defeat but instead of acting depressed...

He looked away from his friend and smiled.

This was exactly what he was looking for.

These regular day activities that made him feel like he had a tomorrow on Earth.

He just wanted to live this final day in the moment...

He wanted this final day to act as a reminder of why he was working so hard to come back in the other world.

If he was ever about to give up, these regular day activities would keep him going.

Some protagonists would have some major goal that determined them, and Ace does have that major goal of coming back but...

These regular day memories are the backbone of that goal.

They made up his reason for living here and wanting to come back.

That’s why he wanted a completely regular, final day and he would do anything to make it as normal as possible...

As he thought this, he took his umbrella off his friend’s head to let the rain shower his short hair.

“Yo! Put it back over, I’m getting soaked!”

“Hahahaha... start begging and maybe I will.”

“Just do it already, it’s your fault I don’t have an umbrella in the first place.”

“My fault?! You’re the one who decided to come running to my house without an umbrella.”

I“You’re the one who decided to run off!”

Ace couldn’t say anything back to that at the moment.

“*sigh* Fine...”

And he placed the umbrella back over his friend’s head when...

*SNATCH*

Isa hopped up and snatched the navy-blue rain-barrier from his hands.

“HAHAHA, IDIOT!”

And he started to sprint away, leaving Ace soaked in the rain.

“Wait! Come back! I’m getting soaked!”

His friend looked back while sprinting away, stuck out his tongue and said...

“Karma’s a bitch!”

This made Ace think of that kiddy god, but he shook his head and continued to run towards his friend, smiling at the partial completion of his goal.

His normal day was shaping up just fine...