Yota closed the book and let out a deep sigh. His fingertips trembled slightly. He put the book in his bag and left the classroom. Looking out the window, he saw that night had already fallen. He walked heavily to the school gate. The cold night air seeped into his skin, and the wind felt as if it were trying to freeze his sadness.

"It's warm... Really," Yota muttered in a low voice. "Warmer than anyone..." His voice was filled with uncontrollable sadness. That one phrase carried all his loneliness.

He walked alone down the deserted night road. The moonlight gently illuminated his path, but the light seemed infinitely lonely. The deserted streets only amplified his solitude. Under the moonlight, his shadow stretched long, making him feel as if he were cut off from all the light and hope in the world.

"Strange... I heard there was supposed to be an event in the village," Yota continued to walk. The thought of being alone was deeply rooted in his mind. Trying not to stop, he kept recalling the last part of the book.

"I'm ultimately alone... What comes next?" Yota walked deep in thought. Memories of past wounds resurfaced.

His recollection began. His memories were always filled with loneliness and pain. His parents were excessively neglectful. He had almost starved to death when he was young. There were no relatives or family around. Of course, he had no friends either.

Domestic violence, bullying from other children, and indifference... His childhood was tragic. He had to endure all that pain alone. His tears had long since dried up. All these memories left deep scars in his heart.

Crying out, he said, "No one really approaches me!" "No one likes me..." He unleashed the pain he had been suppressing. Tears streamed down his cheeks. At that moment, he looked up at the moon. The moonlight made his tears sparkle.

"Oh... Moon... Is my very existence a sin?" "It's so hard..." "Moon, wind?" "Can you be my friends?"

He sobbed, shouting at the sky. His body trembled, and his chest was filled with pain. That pain seemed to gnaw at his soul. He felt as if he couldn't escape his despair.

As he continued walking, he saw a brightly shining shrine on a hill in the distance. The light seemed to offer a moment of solace. However, that light contrasted sharply with his situation, highlighting the tragedy even more. The laughter and festival sounds from the shrine only accentuated his loneliness. He stopped, gazing at the light, realizing he could never enter that light.

"What kind of festival is being held?" "I'm envious..." He sighed, listening to the distant sounds of people laughing. "They look so happy..."

He compared it to his own situation. "But why is there no one here? I heard there was supposed to be an event..." He continued walking, but the streets were empty. This question lingered in his heart like a lonely melody.

Eventually, he returned home. His footsteps were heavy, and his heart even heavier. Inside, endless darkness spread.

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When Yota arrived home, he knocked on the door. Even though he knew no one was there, he called out, "I'm home..." Only an echo responded. He unlocked the door and went inside. Closing the door, he turned on the light. The bulb flickered, as if it needed replacing.

He prepared to boil water as he usually did. He placed a cup of ramen on the table. But something felt strange. The position of something that had fallen on the floor in the morning had changed. Yota felt a chill and shivered. "Did I kick it by accident?" He started to feel his heart race, wondering if his parents had come back. His mind was filled with various thoughts. "Did they really come back?" "Did something happen?"

Caught between curiosity and anxiety, Yota ran up to his parents' room on the second floor. At that moment, he realized the position of the object he saw in the morning had changed, and it wasn't just a coincidence. "Did they really come back?" Deep down, he knew it was unlikely, but his heart was filled with hope. Standing in front of the door, his hand trembled as he grabbed the handle.

He slowly opened the door, and familiar flickering light met his eyes in the dark room. When he turned on the light, the room looked unchanged. But Yota's eyes scanned every corner. Everything seemed to be in its place, but he felt something was off. He walked slowly around the room, approaching the desk.

At that moment, he saw a letter on the desk. Yota felt his heart pound. He slowly approached the desk. "Maybe my parents came back..." Yota picked up the letter with trembling hands. His fingertips were shaking. Before opening and reading it, he took a moment to steady his breathing and calm his mind. The letter in his hand made his chest feel even heavier.

"Sorry" was the short, insincere line. The moment he read it, Yota intuitively understood that his parents would never return. His heart grew endlessly heavy.

Looking around the room again, he noticed that some things were missing. He opened his parents' drawers. The spare passports he had seen while cleaning were gone. "Are they planning to escape overseas?" Yota felt as if he had lost the last bit of hope in his life.

His vision blurred. Upon closer inspection, all the extra money was gone too. His face was soaked with tears. Yota crumpled the letter. "If you're sorry, stay with me..." "Even for just one second..." He looked like a dead man. Yota had nothing left. His heart was completely shattered.

He went back downstairs. "Let's at least eat the cup of ramen I made..." Yota returned to his room. Opening the lid of the ramen, he saw the steaming noodles and the cute character-shaped fish cakes. He smiled bitterly and spoke to the fish cakes.

"Will you be my friend?" "What should I do now?" Tears fell into the ramen. He tried to eat before the noodles got soggy, but his hands trembled with tears. Yota picked up his chopsticks and tried to take a bite, but the saltiness spreading in his mouth was from tears or the ramen, he couldn't tell.

Suddenly, the phone rang. Yota was startled and ran to the phone. "Hello?" His voice was trembling. The voice on the other end was his teacher.

"Hello... Yota, is that you?" The teacher's voice was gentle, but it sounded cold to his ears. "Are your parents there?" Yota couldn't say anything. The teacher continued to ask, and he finally said, "My parents are out for a bit..."

"I see. When they come back, could you tell them I called?"

But the teacher's next words shattered that hope. "The school fees paid online were all refunded. What's going on?" Yota was so shocked he dropped the phone. The reality that he couldn't attend school anymore hit him. He was so shocked that he lost his mind for a moment.

He left the phone on the ground and returned to his room. His heart was restless. He felt a strange sense of foreboding. Yota paced around the room, trying to understand what was happening to him.

First, he checked what was left in his room. The only thing remaining was a small, cute piggy bank he had collected when he was little. He placed it on the desk. At that moment, his heart grew endlessly heavy. "Now I'm really all alone..." Yota muttered as he stared at the piggy bank.

Suddenly, he heard someone knocking on the door. Yota felt his heart pounding as he approached the door. He was wrapped in anxiety and fear.

Bang, bang, bang.

Bang, bang, bang.

Bang, bang, bang.