Ikigai

[Leo Sakurai]

This is the first of a series of vignettes about Leo (or Ryo, before he got his nickname at Hogwarts). Despite being one of my youngest characters, he has one of the most extensive backstories – although much of it likely wouldn’t ever come into play, especially his biological family and the curse on his bloodline. Still, all these are part of his past and have shaped him into the person he is today. The vignettes might seem a bit raw and unpolished at times. Feedback is very welcome and appreciated, so please feel free to contact me on Discord :)

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Hurricane Lily
8th January, 2004

Ryo took one more look at his bedroom. It was the neatest it had ever been. His folded futon was pushed against the wall beside the stacks of empty boxes that had once held his trading cards, figurines and alarmingly large gachapon collection. That very wall used to be full of posters – pop idols and baseball stars and manga characters, typical things that appealed to teenage boys – but now it was a blank expanse of faded beige that almost matched the worn out tatami mats.

His luggage was behind him, just outside the door. There wasn’t much in there, just some clothes and a handful of personal possessions he wanted to keep with him during this transition period. Everything else that he owned had already been packed up and shipped off, together with most of his parents’ belongings and some household items they wanted to take with them to their new home.

He heard his mother calling from the living room. “Ryo, are you ready?”

“No.” The word slipped out before he realised it.

“You have five more minutes.”

That wasn’t anywhere near enough time. “Yes,” he said.

Five more minutes before he had to bid a final goodbye to his bedroom. To this old but cozy apartment in Yokohama. To his friends and extended family. To his entire life in Japan. Five minutes wasn’t enough. He never wanted to leave. But he had been expelled from school, and his father had accepted a new position at an overseas subsidiary. It was a promotion, his father had said, a sign of trust that the company had placed in him.

But Ryo knew better, because Sayo had told him in no uncertain terms why. “Like the leaves and the flowers of the hurricane lily, you and I must never meet.”

Outside, snow was drifting down from the grey skies. He could see the apartment block on the other side of the narrow street, so oppressively close that he could discern every individual tile on its exterior. It was an objectively dismal bedroom window view.

But what he would give just to be able to look at it for a while longer.