Chapter 122 - Visiting Sato's Parents 1

Seeing the white specks of snow drifting by, made the little boy's dream come true. He had finally gotten the chance to witness snow in it's true. The purity and fickleness of a snow made it even more enjoyable for Sato.

The boy had read many books since he was young. One of it was a science describing the properties of the three states of matter. Snow was a solid state of water. When it landed and came in contact with Sato's hand, the white fluff gave off a slight chill on the little boy's palm. Eventually, the snow melted and became water, disappearing in front of Sato. The boy knew this was the case for snow and so, seeing it for himself was very enjoyable.

Geraldine and Mahiro sat on a wooden bench overlooking the mountain lake and their son. Mahiro's arm stretched over Geraldine, he embrace his wife lovingly. At that point and moment in their life, they could be considered a happy and contented family.

...

Sato reminisced the happy times that he had spent with his family. The snowy trip was just one of the few moments in life that gave him pure joy. It should be his earliest happy moment that he could remember.

Gray noticed Sato smiling to himself in the car and had asked what was that about. The boy gladly answered Gray back.

"I was just reminiscing my childhood memories. Many years have passed since then. Many things have changed and happened along the way. Nothing was the same anymore."

Gray didn't say anything in return to what Sato had said. The young man was right that people do change. It was inevitable. Even if you do not welcome change, change would be forced upon you by others.

Just like Sato's father, he did not ever want to lose his job, but when the company laid off workers and he was chosen as one of them, he couldn't fight back. He was powerless in the face of adversity, most people are. Unless you are proclaimed as the strongest person in the whole universe, you would forever have to face adversity in some form or shape.

The car ride was silent throughout the journey. Gray was there only to accompany the boy. After reaching his house, it was all up to Sato. Gray could only go that far. Sato had to take the next step by himself.

The neighbourhood that Gray drove by started to become older. The housing situations were becoming more haphazard and messy. Although the houses weren't makeshift, they looked like plain concrete buildings. The roads too were worn out, where the concrete pathings had holes in them. You could tell that the government had neglected this part of society, leaving them to rot.

In fact, the terminology where the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer, could be applied to Country Z. There weren't that many policies in the country that help to mitigate poverty. Even taxes weren't progressive.

"You have reached your destination on the left."

Gray's GPS sounded out. The high end vehicle came to a halt outside the concrete building. The stopping of the Gale X car had caught the eyes of many onlookers, both good and bad. Though none of them took action for they knew only the top percenters in the country can afford such a car. They wouldn't dare to offend those people.

Sato looked out the car window, his memories of his childhood started to flow even more fluidly in his head. This was where everything began. From the time he could remember, he had grown up here. This was the place that he celebrated his birthdays. This was the place that he lived throughout primary and secondary school. This was the place that he made happy memories with his family.

This was the place where it all ended. The building looked as old as ever. It felt like time had stopped indefinitely and only when Sato came back, did the time start flowing again. Was it time for everything to start moving again? Was my heart willing to forgive the wrongdoings of yesteryears?

Sato was woken up from this thoughts from a firm hand on his shoulder. He looked to his right to find Gray smiling at him warmly.

"There's no need to over think things." Gray said. "Just do your best and know that I am always behind you in anything you do."

Gray's comment made Sato chuckle. "For some reason, you last comment made you sound like a stalker."

"I'm glad it helped to make you less nervous."

Sato turned his head to look at building on his left again. He took in a deep breath and opened the door.

"Are you going to come along?" Sato said to Gray.

"No. This is your battle," Gray shook his head and continued to speak, "However, I will wait for you in the car."

"Okay."

"I look forward to good news that you will bring." Gray wished Sato good luck as he watched the boy ascended the concrete steps to head to the second floor.

The neighbourhood that Sato lived in consisted of multiple two storey buildings. Each building had 40 units, 20 on each floor. Sato's family lived in the extreme corner unit of the building. It was built to be slightly bigger than the rest of the units.

Walking down the hallway felt very familiar to Sato. This was the path he took everyday to come home from school. Sato stood outside the door and realised nothing had really changed. The bicycle that his father used to commute to work looked the same from many years back. The sign "Takahashi Family" that was drawn and made by Sato back when he was in primary school, was still hung outside.

Sato raise his hand. His fist tightened. He hesitated to knock. Thinking back to what Gray said, it was all about taking that first step. After that, it was history and everything would move by itself like well-oiled gears in a machine. Decisively, Sato took action.

Knock, knock, knock.