“Hey, what are you reading?”
Suguru jumps. He looks around, to see where the voice came from, but there’s no one else around. That’s weird. Suguru buries his face into his scarf, just his eyes peeking out, and flattens his back against the tree. He takes judo classes after school, so if someone wants to attack him, he’s prepared.
“Up here!” the voice calls out again, jubilant.
Slowly, Suguru looks up into the branches of the trees. Sure enough, someone’s up there – a boy. The boy looks to be about his age, with short white blond hair and blue eyes shining as they look down at him. Oddly enough, he’s not dressed for the weather at all. He wears a white t-shirt that looks to be a couple sizes too big for him, falling down over his shoulder, and pink checkered shorts. Really weird.
“Who are you?” Suguru calls back to him, still wary. His mom has warned him about strangers, and this one might be small, but he’s still a stranger.
The boy jumps down out of the tree, and Suguru’s heart drops out through his stomach. He’s way too high up. Suguru lets his book fall and sticks his arms out, but by the time he’s done so, the boy’s landed in a crouch, totally fine.
“I’m Satoru,” says the boy, standing up and sticking his hands in his pockets.
Satoru. Suguru mouths it to himself, gets used to the feel of it on his tongue. It tastes nice, like the sun shining, and Suguru, only ever the moon, reflects back.
As a child, Suguru has an imaginary friend. But everyone stops playing with their imaginary friends eventually, right? Except twenty years later, his friend reappears...with horns and a tail.
