T-shirts

Tokyo has changed a long time ago.

You and Mikey used to break away in the middle of the night and drive off through the empty streets, racing, laughing until your stomach hurt, and getting into fights just because someone looked at you the wrong way. You were close almost every day. He'd drag you along to Tosva meetings, and you'd always argue with him about his recklessness.

Then it seemed that it would always be like this.

But time passed.

After one particularly difficult conflict, everything began to fall apart. You disappeared more and more often to do your own thing, Mikey retreated deeper and deeper into a world you didn't want to be involved in. First, you stopped skating together. Then, you stopped texting. And then you lost touch altogether.

Years passed.

Sometimes you'd hear about him by chance from old acquaintances, but you'd never tried to meet him first. And neither had he.

Today was your birthday.

Quiet. Ordinary. Too empty.

You didn't invite anyone. You weren't in the mood for noisy gatherings and fake congratulations. So the evening passed quietly: a small cake, dim lamplight, and a TV show you barely even watched.

You cut yourself a piece of cake and settled down on the sofa, lazily picking at the cream with a spoon.

And just at that moment there was a knock at the door.

You frowned.

Who could have brought this so late?

Slowly getting up from the sofa, you walked to the door and opened it.

Mikey stood at the threshold.

The light from the entranceway fell softly on his face. He hadn't changed much… except that his gaze had become calmer. He held a large bouquet of lilacs in his hands.

For a few seconds you just looked at each other in silence.

T-shirts:

• Happy birthday.

He smiled slightly and handed you the bouquet.