The fog on the windows from the temperature difference was making it almost impossible to see outside, except for the long paths drawn by the million droplets cascading past the windscreen. Ocean pulled the small lever behind the steering wheel and the two black wiper blades began dancing on the glass. He wanted to smoke so badly but nature’s unpleasant shower waiting for him to open the doors was more than convincing to just stay inside with windows shut tight.

He checked the clock on the car’s dashboard. It was almost midnight. He exhaled deeply and wished he wasn't such a pushover. But, at the end of the day, he couldn't help it. He had to be there. He tapped his fingers on the wheel to the rhythm of the song playing on the radio.

Suddenly, a colourful figure came out of the automatic doors Ocean was keeping an eye on. The figure rapidly approached the car and opened the passenger's door. He was relieved to see Ayaka's wet from the five seconds in the rain face.

"Welcome back," he said and turned the engine on as the girl was making herself comfortable on the seat beside him.

"Thank you for picking me up. I'm finally here! Can you believe it? We had more than three hours delay in Stansted!"

"I'm not surprised with this shite weather. It’s been pissing rain all day, like. The sunshine left us when you did."

Ayaka giggled at his comment and went through the radio stations while Ocean drove off his parking spot and entered the highway. As there was nothing more than a straight road ahead of them for the next half hour, Ocean pressed the pedal with his boot and relaxed.

"Did you have fun?" he asked without taking his eyes off the road.

"It was... interesting,” Ayaka mumbled as she finally decided on a slow blues song. She sat back on her seat and gazed at the fast-changing scene before her. “It was only for the weekend but I’m not sure if I’d survive any longer. My parents are really hyped for Také's graduation and couldn’t shut up about it. Partly because their favourite son is graduating top of his class but mostly because they're finally gonna get rid of both of us!"

"Isn't that nice, they’re going to have the whole gaff to themselves, fool around like the old times-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’d rather not know anything about that,” Ayaka returned with a slight wince on her face. “So listen, we were discussing summer vacations-"

"Seriously?" Ocean interrupted, unable to resist. "It’s literally still April!"

"Will you just listen for a second?" Ayaka barked annoyed. "It's my birthday in August and since it will be the very first summer Takehiko will be free of homework, we managed to convince our parents to let us stay for a few days in our holiday house all on our own. Have a little fun before uni starts, y'know? So, what I'm asking is this: would you like to come over?"

"Nah, I'm busy."

“You’re unbelievable,” she groaned loudly and rolled on the side, laying her head on the soft seat. She watched as other cars, road lights and trees were leaving her line of sight. It was still raining hard and the road seemed smooth, like a river. "You're always busy," she finally let out, making sure her pout was obvious in her tone.

"Don’t you think Takehiko would be looking forward to hanging out just with you? I’ll only ruin the poor lad’s holidays."

"Oh, come on!” Ayaka raised her voice as she rolled back to face him. “It’ll be only for one day, he’ll be fine. Besides, you've never taken a day off unless you're super sick. And you've never been to the English countryside, have you?"

"No, I have not."

"Then do it! It's gonna be fun, I promise! You have to come. Just one day. I'll never forgive you if you don't."

Ocean refrained from answering. It was true that he’d never travel outside work or if it wasn’t for personal reasons and summer was always a very stale academic period. Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad idea, after all, he thought. He remained silent for the rest of the journey, however, his grey eyes fixed on the road, ignoring Ayaka’s angry glare.

When he arrived at his usual parking spot, he pulled over and killed the engine. He took his seatbelt off and lay back. A long sigh escaped his plump lips. He looked at Ayaka and smiled. "No promises, but I'll think about it."

❦

Once Takehiko's high school graduation was over, he was finally free of care. No more classes, no more homework, no more pretentious teenagers making his days harder than they should be. At least until his first semester in university. It wasn’t so secret that he couldn't wait for this new chapter of his life to begin.

He was crossing off the days from his wall calendar until August 10th when he and his sister would pack their bags and leave for their holiday house in Ingleton. Passed on to his mother by her own father, 'the scary cabin in the woods', as Takehiko used to call it when he was little, was a rather remote cottage hidden among tall trees. All the memories from the past summers he’d spend there with his family were still very vivid: his Dziadziu telling them scary stories about WWII and his Babciu baking cookies that would make the whole house smell like vanilla and sugar. But after both his grandparents passed away nearly five years ago, it was very difficult for everyone to go back there.

That was why he could hardly believe it when their parents let them have it all to themselves to celebrate Ayaka's birthday. She was about to become 21 on August 14th and the siblings had decided it would have to be not just a birth-day but a birth-week, filled with lots of fun activities and relaxation.

And so, on that week’s Saturday, they jumped into the first-morning train to London, crossing their fingers that there won’t be any delays for the rest of their journey. It would be quite a long one after all.

The house was rather dusty when they arrived but after Ayaka’s enraged monologue about the English train system (which was absolutely brilliant in Takehiko’s opinion), they only did the bare minimum needed before taking a long nap. Or at least that was their plan and definitely not sleep until the following noon.

Ayaka was the first to rise, her mission to make her brother's favourite breakfast. Pancakes dipped in golden syrup and coffee. There was an absolute need for her to redeem herself after making his ears the target of her frustration, when, in fact, he was not the one to blame that their seven-hour trip had turned into a series of railway nightmares.

As the seductive aromas of roasted ground beans and freshly melted butter spread throughout the house and right into Takehiko's nostrils, the boy couldn't resist but run straight for the kitchen. He poured himself a generous amount of the fragrant dark liquid and sat by the table, waiting with great patience for Ayaka’s famously scrumptious pancakes to be served.

"Excited for your birth-week?" Takehiko asked merrily. "How would you like to celebrate? Maybe go for a hike or two and make a massive cake?"

"Sounds lovely," Ayaka replied, turning yet another pancake in the frying pan. "I've also invited a couple of people over for the 14th if that’s alright."

"Well..." said Takehiko and stared into his coffee for a moment in silence. "It's your birthday, you do what you like. Wish you'd told me about it earlier, though..."

"I would've but I only got both their answers a few minutes ago."

"I see... So who's coming?"

"Ocean and Jesse."

"Jesse?"

"Yeah, my boyfriend. I’ve told you about him, remember?"

"Oh, umm-"

"He's nice. You'll see, you'll like him!" said Ayaka and put an ample amount of pancakes on a plate, poured a lot of golden syrup on top and passed it to her brother. "Enjoy!"

Takehiko gladly took his share and cut a large part with his fork, shoved it in and started chewing the fluffy pancake with his gaze lowered. His mood was already ruined but the sweetness of his breakfast helped him hold it all together.

❦

Early on the birthday morning, the Yamada siblings strapped their backpacks on and headed for a light excursion around the Ingleton falls. They took so many lovely photographs of the scenery and themselves but the trip was over soon and they returned to the cabin tired and famished.

As planned, after having a light snack and a quick rest, they went ahead with the cake preparations. When it was in the oven baking, the girl went outside to enjoy the afternoon sun while Takehiko sat on a kitchen counter, strumming on his ukulele with no particular rhythm in his mind. He was cheerfully jumping from one chord to the other, murmuring along to the melody.

Suddenly, a rush of fresh, pleasantly cool air came through the open window, carrying along strange, unfamiliar voices. Takehiko carefully peeked outside. He saw his sister sitting on a fallen tree trunk while before her, was a man, quite tall, around his mid-twenties, with a very dark complexion and fresh stubble on his plump cheeks. That must be Jesse, Takehiko thought and cringed at his sister's annoying flirtatious titter.

Right next to the new guy there was Ocean’s less surprising figure, holding a cigarette and smiling at Ayaka. He was so tall yet so thin he could fit into a suitcase. His likeness wasn’t particularly noteworthy and his fashion sense seemed to have stuck in the nineties: baggy jeans turned above the ankles, revealing his usual odd stripy socks, a long-sleeved, oversized, unbuttoned black shirt and a simple grey tee. He could’ve been quite caricaturesque and forgetful if it wasn’t for his curious eyes that could pierce the skin like a sharp blade.

"That’s one fierce hat, Aya! Quite a big one too, I almost didn’t know you were under it, like!" Takehiko heard Ocean saying and pointing at Ayaka's gigantic straw sunhat that was covering almost her entire face.

Takehiko chuckled to himself. It is a big-ass hat alright, he thought.

"I bought it last week!" Ayaka replied and proudly showed off, standing and spinning around herself. "Do you like it?"

"I like the way it shows your personality. That big black ribbon around it is darker than your soul!"

"How dare you?!!" Ayaka barked and started playfully kicking her friend, Ocean laughing and hardly protecting himself.

"Now, now, now. That's very unladylike of you, babe!" said the man next to her with his warm voice. It almost reminded Takehiko of a radio-friendly voice, making him wonder if the man had a podcast show of some sort.

To his remark, Ayaka blushed, whispered her apology and leapt right into his arms to steal a long kiss. Takehiko, always watching behind the window, mockingly bleched in silence and went back to playing his instrument. Soon, however, he was interrupted by the door opening and Ocean appeared with a hey on his lips. He bent slightly to come in as the door wasn’t designed for his extra-large, compared to both sides of Takehiko’s family, stature.

“Hey yourself.”

“I heard you playing, thought I’d swing by,” said Ocean and pushed his glasses up as he leaned on the counter right next to Takehiko. “If I remember correctly you owe me some tunes.”

“Maybe later, I’m way too lazy right now. Do you play?”

“I wish,” said Ocean and chuckled. He then sniffed the air around him and with a shine in his eyes he asked, “You’re making a cake?”

“Bingo,” Takehiko replied flat. “Nothing fancy. Just a store-bought mix. We’re keeping it a secret from mum, she’ll be very disappointed in both of us!”

The two laughed in sync and with no remorse or hesitation got their hands dirty with preparing the cake decorations, including the chocolate frosting tasting. Things seemed to look up for Takehiko’s evening and as the dark kitchen lightened up from the candles on Ayaka’s cake so did his mood.