Another loss

Yuki later apologized that he had something important to do that day, but he never told us what it was. And we respected his privacy like a good friends we were. However, it didn't take long and he evaporated like steam above the pot. Like Jesper, but less dramatically. And I sometimes wondered if the two of them had fallen victim to some serial killer while no one had figured it out yet. It was possible after all.

One time Mali and I went to visit Yuki's family. His sister opened the door, looking quite dejected... I wasn't quite sure of her expression because she looked so different. She told us that he started a new school and has a lot to do, so he probably won't call. But the catch was that she didn't seem very convinced with her words and he didn't respond after apologizing, while we kept waiting until we stopped hoping one day that he would text us.

Our group thus broke up more with another loss. And since Arno was studying at a prestigious school, he didn't have much time for us anymore. And Mali and I rarely met to hang out together, too. But at least the three of us still kept in touch. It was clear to me that our friendship probably wouldn't last long, since it's kind of a childhood friendship, but I didn't expect such a wordless break-up of our group.

Since I didn't have many reasons to meet with anyone, my journey led most of the time from the apartment to the workshop and back. I spent most of my time in the workshop, although sometimes there was nothing to do. But on the one hand, I made friends out of my colleagues, which I didn't see much outside of work, though. Only occasionally did we find the same path as the spectators of the night races.

However, one day luck smiled on me. Our boss left me an old hovervehicle in the form of a motorcycle. More precisely, he left it to me after a bit of persuasion. He just wanted to throw it out. And so I started spending even more time in the garage for a while.

At that time, it had been about a year since we last saw Jasper and about half a year since "the start of Yuki's studies". I repaired the old hoverbike in my spare time, so I was mostly alone in the garage. But sometimes I started during working hours, and then Hideaki and Christopher offered me a helping hand, nice offer that I didn´t turn down.

I took a short break so I sat upstairs in the kitchen at the counter with a bottle of beer in my hand and music playing in my earphones. I was looking out the window at the rainy weather. It had been raining for a few days now, but it wasn't much, so they didn't report flooding anywhere. But I was a little sorry that it was dark. I thought the rain looked best during the day. Mainly on photos and footage from local forests which I hoped to see in person one day.

After a while, I got up and took the empty bottle with me while I took the other one out of the fridge. I had planned to throw away the glass later on my way home. For now, I wanted to leave the empty beer bottles with me in the workshop.

As soon as I put the glass on the ground, I took the lighter out of my pocket and opened the second bottle of beer. I then put it in a visible place so I wouldn't accidentally kick it, and took out a pack of cigarettes from my pocket, took one and lit it. I didn't smoke normally. Only sometimes when... I didn't even know why. I just felt like it.

I went to the garage door which I slightly let open so the smoke wouldn´t be everywhere inside. That would be pretty annoying. I put the lighter back in my pocket with the pack and blew out the smoke. A few minutes later I turned to my work and wondered what to do next. The hoverbike was almost in its final form. I still planned to improve the varnish a little, though.

That hoverbike was my only happiness for a weeks. I realized that as I stood in the apartment by the kitchen counter and observed the inscription on the small box I was holding in my hand, occasionally glancing at the communicator screen where I had a message from the hospital. It wasn't for me, but for my grandmother, whose health was getting worse.

"Ahhhrg..." I let out a frustrated sound as I ran a hand through my newly short hair. I needed to make more money than I had from work and than my grandmother had from her retirement.

I put the medicine box back on the counter and looked around the apartment. I was here alone for a few days now, because they wanted my grandma to keed her in the hospital for observation. But even with her, it's felt kind of empty lately. She was quite distant lately.

Sighing, I turned around and put on my shoes by the door and picked up my coat that I had thrown on. It was evening, so I hoped that the person I was going to the pub to see would be there.

With my hands deep in my pockets and my hood on my head, I walked through the streets towards a pub where a familiar face worked. She was Mali's colleague's twin and I also met her once at a race. I didn't go to pubs and bars that much. Only exceptionally because I was working all the time.

As soon as I opened the door, my ears were filled with noise and the smell of alcohol. After looking around a bit, I walked in and headed to the bar counter, where I looked out for a familiar face that, luckily for me, appeared soon after.

The short-cropped, rather stern-looking face smiled slightly at me as a greeting, and in a moment she was at my side: "What are you doing here?"

"I need advice."