On the way back home, Ishida thoughts couldn't help but drift to an old memory. Back in elementary school, his teacher went to stand in front of the class. Everybody looked at her, and waited for her to speak. The students sat in pairs of desks, wearing outfits from home rather than uniforms, aligned horizontally from the chalkboard. Ishida was piqued by the question, lowering his book down on the desk.

"Good morning. Today, I have something really interesting to ask all of you." The teacher spoke with a smile on her face. The students were well-behaved, and sat quietly while waiting for the teacher to speak. "What do you want to be when you all grow up?"

The question was framed in a simple sentence, but ironically was a very deep and complex question to answer. For Ishida, it puzzled him. He had never thought about his future before. He didn't care about the future. Ishida noticed a student raised their hand, tilting his head to look over at them.

"I want to be a firefighter!" The student answered confidently, sitting up from his seat and posing heroically with his finger in the air.

"Really? That's a wonderful goal." The teacher responded, clapping her hands. The rest of the students clapped, suddenly wanting to follow up what the student said with their own goals. Another student stood up, speaking with confidence.

"I want to be a doctor like my dad!" The students slowly began to raise their hands to speak out their answers, excited to get their voices out.

"I want to be a musician!"

"I want to be a superhero when I grow up!"

Students piling their voices over another, shouting out their future dreams. Ishida simply watched, amazed by their quick answers. He wondered how he would responded. Another raised their hand, and another, and another one, and another. Until finally, it was Ishida's turn.

"Ishida, what do you want to be when you grow up? You haven't told us yet." The teacher asked, noticing that Ishida hadn't spoken up yet. Everyone turned to look at him, Waiting for his answer.

"I..." Ishida struggled to come up with a response.

He never thought about the future, or who he wanted to be when he grew up. He just read his books in the corner of the class, not catching anybody's attention. How was he supposed to respond to such a serious question? Ishida's mind blanked out, thinking about all the other kids answers. They all answered so quickly... But, I don't know what to answer with. Why am I the only one?

Ishida felt pressured to answer. The first time Ishida had every experienced anything like this before, but he was oppressed to showing that he was uncomfortable. He didn't want to cause a commotion. He tried to answer with what the other students chose, but none of them aligned with what he wanted. They didn't ignite something in his heart. And so, he asked himself:

What do I want to be when I grow up?

Ishida shook his head, bringing himself back to present time. Why am I suddenly thinking about that? He recalled the incident with the shadow, thinking it must be messing with him because of it. He turned a corner, finally arriving back home. He opened the gate with his key, and then closed it and locked it. He usually left the front door open before he left, so he turned the knob and opened the door.

Ishida closed the door behind him, locking it and took off his shoes. But, before he could step onto the hard wood floor of his home. He was pushed back by something solid. He looked up from where he stood, realizing it was his father. "Um..."

"Son, you best put your shoes back on. We are heading out." His father spoke boldly with his arms crossed. He sounded unbelievably serious compared to his more casual self when he's at the dinner table.

"Eh, why?"

"We are going out to celebrate!" A familiar voice from behind spoke with an ecstatic tone. It was his mother. She walked over, and stood right next to his father. They both blocked Ishida from entering.

"C-Celebrate? Celebrate what?" Ishida felt a little intimidated, backing up by his parents sudden enforcing behavior. Did I do something wrong? He thought. They simply smiled before grabbing Ishida by force, and dragging him out of the house.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Ishida shouted, until he realized there was no stopping what was about to commence as they stepped outside the house's gate. He didn't know what the cause for celebration was, but he decided to go with the flow.

I have a bad feeling about this...

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The Hokichi family was visiting a family diner. This particular family diner was a usual spot for hanging out amongst students, which made Ishida feel uneasy. What if somebody from my school sees me here? But, the thought immediately disappears once he realizes that nobody in his school knows who he is. Nevermind, I guess it doesn't matter. The family diner was sitting one story above the ground, with a staircase leading up to the entrance.

Ishida stared out the window, listening to the chatter of the restaurant, and the forks scraping against the plate. Looking over at his mother and father which sat across from the table, Ishida asked, "So, what exactly are we celebrating?"

"You talked to a girl for the first time!" His mother shouted. Mom! Shut the hell up!!! Why do you always do this out in public!? Ishida was automatically freaking out, awkwardly scanning the rest of the restaurant to see if anybody was laughing.

"Don't talk so loudly, Mom!" Ishida whispered. "Also, that isn't that big of a deal... I just... talked... to a girl..." Ishida's voice fizzled out as he said it aloud, realizing how grandiose it was for someone who was so severely introverted like him.

"Try to aim for a girlfriend next time around..." His father said, looking through the menu of the diner. "They really do grow up quickly..." Father suddenly began to quiver, covering his eyes. A tear shed from the corner of his eyelids, and his mother went to go pat him on the back to comfort him.

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"Are you crying!?" Ishida shouted, shocked by the embarrassing situation unfolding before him. "And what do you mean girlfriend, I don't even have a friend yet!" Although... I wouldn't mind skipping a few steps. Gosh, I hope nobody notices what's happening...

Ishida suddenly sees a familiar figure at the corner of his eye. The figure had short black hair down to her neck in the style of a bob cut, and she had bright blue eyes. She wore a sailor uniform, and was absolutely stunning. Her eyes were the most captivating part of her appearance, and Ishida immediately recognized who this was. Hayashi-san!!!?????

The both of them met each other's gaze, noticing each other's presence. Ishida looked down to the table, staring at the menu sitting before him. This is bad... I want to go home. He began to shake violently, tugging at his pants. Sweat dripped down his face, scanning a way to escape the situation. His mother noticed his odd behavior, tilting her head.

"Ishida, are you okay? You're sweating a lot... Do you need to go to the hospital?" Mother asked in a concerning tone, looking up from the menu in her hands.

"No... The hospital is too expensive of an escape route." Ishida muttered.

His mother was even more confused by his response: "What are you talking about?"

His father seemingly didn't care. Father was simply reading all the alcoholic drinks they had, wondering how drunk his mother would allow him to get. Maybe, I'll sneak out again tonight to hangout with the guys and get drunk... This stuff is probably cheap anyways.

Runa was originally walking with a group of friends to hangout at the family diner, but after noticing Ishida, her attention turned to focus on the conversation he was having with his family. Her interest on him had increased since their interaction where he tried saving her. In her eyes, it seemed like the guy had accidentally tripped and got knocked out. But, deep down, she sensed something was off about it. The way Ishida held his cool, and wasn't surprised. It intrigued her. Perhaps, it was all coincidence, but Runa's emotions wouldn't subside.

She turned her head to the side so she could better hear the conversation, realizing that Ishida was trying to runaway after noticing her. This guy really is weird... He's such a scaredy-cat when it comes to talking to people, but he wasn't fazed at all when he was about to fight somebody? That doesn't seem normal at all!

"Mom... I think I'm going to use the bathroom real quick." Ishida pointed to the bathroom that was a right turn away through a hallway, across from their table.

"Oh, okay then. Are you sure you're okay?" His mother asked.

"Yeah... Yeah... I just really need to use pee." Ishida slid out from his seat, quickly pacing away to the bathroom. Runa noticed, deciding to follow. She turned to her friends and spoke:

"I'm gonna use the bathroom real quick."

"Kay," her friend responded.

Runa followed behind, trying to keep a bit of her distance but still following. Both of them eventually made that right turn to the bathroom, and Runa quickened her pace. Ishida could hear her footsteps behind her, and heard what she said to her friends. He was on the verge of having a breakdown from how nervous he was. He was trying to make it to the bathroom before she could grab him, but it was too late.

"Wait!" Runa shouted, grabbing Ishida's wrist. He was pulled back, stopping in his tracks. He slowly turned to look at her, and Runa noticed the sweat on his face. Shocked by the buckets of sweat, she genuinely asked, "Dude, are you okay...?"

Runa loosened her grip on his wrist, letting go and correcting her standing posture. Ishida could barely move his lips, frozen in place as he stared into the wall.

"A-Anyways..." Runa took in a deep breath, "I wanted to talk to you." She tried waiting to see if he would respond, but realized he was way too scared to even look her in the eye. The edge of her lip curved upwards, trying to hold in her laughter because of how awkward he was being.

"Thank you for helping me back there. I don't think I would've escaped if it weren't for you interfering... I didn't get to properly speak to you, since you kept freezing up when you talked to me and I didn't know how to react. So, yeah... Thank you."

Ishida's frozen-self was melted by Runa's sweetness. He was able to meet Runa in the eyes, and internalize what she said to him. She was smiling at him with such kindness. He felt uncomfortable, he never felt this before. His stomach was turning, and he wanted to throw up. But, her kindness pierced through all that and touched his heart. His heart thumped, beating so loudly. His cheeks went red, and he grabbed his arm.

Ishida has never felt this way before. He couldn't understand it when he first experienced it, but he could process it now. I think... I think I have a crush on Hayashi-san. He always an awkward kid. He never had any special feelings towards anyone except his parents. He never experienced a relationship before. He never experienced what it was like to laugh with friends. Ishida had been alone for a very long time. But, for the first time, his heart was beating for someone else. I like... Hayashi-san... Ishida internalized it, but was still baffled by it.

Runa felt a bit awkward with the way Ishida was staring, causing her to speak up:

"Are you... seriously okay?"

"T-Th..." Ishida accidentally shouted, causing Runa to jump back by his sudden words. He looked down at the ground, not being able to look at her in the eyes any longer. He thought it would be easier this way to speak. "T-Thank you... f-for... speaking to me..." He tugged at his shirt's sleeve.

"For speaking to you?" Runa was confused on why she needed to be thanked, tilting her head.

Ishida builds up the confidence to speak again, taking in a deep breath. "N-Nobody at school... speaks to me... So, that's why... I struggle talking to people... So... Thank you..."

Runa couldn't hold it any longer. She couldn't help it. She stared to laugh, stepping back a little bit. Ishida was embarrassed, feeling like he had said something dumb and froze up again. He felt like he was on the verge of tears, but before he could shed one, Runa spoke up to spare his feelings.

"You're funny, Hokichi-kun."

Thump.

She stopped laughing, composing herself. "Thank you for saving me. That bitch of a boyfriend really wouldn't stop fucking me over, so thank you. He's my ex now."

Boyfriend!? Ishida was shocked. Why would her boyfriend do something like that to her? It seems he still had a lot to learn about the world.

Runa ran away to the corner, and right before making the turn, she looked at Ishida. Making eye contact. She waved her hand, and said:

"I'll see you at school tomorrow!"

Ishida was in awe. He simply stood there for a moment, processing the conversation. He realized he had just held a conversation with a girl for the 'second' time, and she said that she'll see him tomorrow. Does that mean... She's going to talk to me tomorrow!?

The walk back home after celebrating at the diner was rather interesting for Ishida. He couldn't help but stare at the sky and think to himself about the conversation they had. It was something he would never forget, he was sure of it. He really did hope that she would approach him tomorrow, like she was a friend to him. Friends... But, that word didn't sit right with him. He wanted to be something more than friends.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" His elementary school teacher's voice echoed in his head, and Ishida finally felt like he had a piece of the answer to that.

I want to be someone that Hayashi-san will fall for.