***
Max has never felt more happy to hear his name, especially from her.
The two kept silent, hesitating on what to say. What should they even say? Soo many words, feelings, just everything. But they didn't know where to even start.
"M…Max." Jiro broke the silence. Her voice shaky.
"Y…yes Jiro." He replied, his own voice equally as shaky. He quickly added. "It's me Max, I'm here. I'm here." his hands gripped the phone tightly as he made sure to emphasize it.
"G…God," she uttered, before rapidly asking. "M…ax, where are you? Are you okay?"
Tears streamed down his face, he knew she was also in a similar state as well. A short laugh escaped his throat. God how he had missed the sound of her voice. "I'm fine, Friend Jiro…I'm fine."
He could hear the sheer relief in her voice as she exhaled. She was silent for a few moments before asking hesitantly "M…Max, what happened…How?"
He knew what she was talking about, she didn't need to complete the sentence. What did that? Not who? Of course, who would think it was not the act of nature or an organized force but…just a singular man. Just one man.
Purple eyes flashed in his mind as Max found himself shaking. He gritted his teeth to stop the fear from reeling it's ugly head again. He didn't want her to worry.
"N…no one knows yet unfortunately." He answered. He couldn't bring himself to tell her.
The line was silent once again for a few seconds before she spoke again "M…Max, are your parents okay?" She asked.
Max face tightened, shoulders tensed and body shaking. He took deep breaths, but his voice still came out shaky.
"Th…they're…"
"O…oh, my God Max. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. I'm…"
"N…no." He cut her off. The lat thing he would want to do is to make her feel guilty. "It's okay."
Silence fell between the two once again. There were so many words Max wanted to say, but he didn't know how. But there was one feeling in particular that dominated the rest as he spoke next. "Ji…ro, where are you, can we…can we see each other?"
"Of course!" she answered immediately, but then it soon turned hesitant. "B…but Max I'm not sure how though? They just announced roads will be locked down till further notice…"
She didn't need to complete the sentence for Max to know what she wanted to say. Meeting would be difficult. But God, Max really wanted to meet her. He knew she was fine, but still it would do him all good to see her face.
"We'll meet Jiro, I promise this." He would try to see if his grandma could help out or maybe sneak out if possible.
"P…please Max, don't do anything reckless. Just wait till the ban is lifted, we'll still meet. Promise me you won't do something stupid."
Ohh, that was going to be hard. "Jiro."
"Maxwell," ohh when she used his full name, he knew she was serious. "I know you, we basically grew up together. So I know you can be reckless, so please..." her voice breaking towards the end a bit before she righted herself. "Just don't do anything okay."
Max's shoulders slumped, with that tone how could he disagree. He replied reluctantly. "Very well friend Jiro."
Though he couldn't see it, he felt Jiro would be idly playing with her earlobes.
"Thank you Max."
Then she followed it up."I'm just really glad you're okay."
"Yeah, me too."
The phone call ended and Max was left there in the backyard. He felt extremely bad at the moment but he was going to apologize later. Of course he was going to go meet her.
***
The days passed quickly as the world moved on. Though a lot of people still haven't moved on from the hand of Kami tragedy, time didn't wait for them to do so. But humans, are adaptable as they say.
But a damning news to the heartbroken is the cause of the disaster still remained a mystery. Who or what caused it seemed to have just have vanished into thin air.
But Max's days have just been focused on what thing. Regardless of the torture his grandmother calls training, he has been vying l to meet Jiro.
The morning training ended as Max collapsed on his back, his lungs greedily taking in air to replenish his stamina.
His grandma said, not one drop of sweat on her forehead "That's today's training Max. Rest up, we'll continue later in the evening."
Max nodded. He got up with tired groans and aches as he trudged to his room.
"I only have three hours of time to get to friend Jiro, I must make haste." Max spoke as he changed his clothes.
His grandma's routine wasn't complicated. After training Max, she would usually go to the dojo in the room to sit and meditate, then the library to read.
After watching the doors of the library close, Max quickly left the house.
"Oh, is there somewhere you might want to be, Maxwell?"
Max froze. 'What?' he thought. Turning around, his eyes met the raised eyebrows of his grandma.
"I do feel insulted that you thought you could sneak out while I am around." she crossed her arms
"Grandma, I…"
"At least if you want to visit her, inform me so you can buy her a gift." She shook her head. "Young men these days, no chivalry."
Confusion spread through Max as he stared at his grandma. "I'm not in trouble? I had attempted an escape without permission."
"Oh, I didn't say you weren't in trouble."
That statement alone made Max shiver.
"But, I know just from the little I've observed, the girl is special to you. So who am I to stop you."
Max couldn't find the words to say, so he just blurted out the words thank you.
"Now, let's hurry along. It's not good to keep a girl waiting." She said
Max nodded as he quickly went to change his clothes. His face stretched in a wide, giddy grin.
OMAKE
"You didn't even think of buying her a gift, did you?" Eleanor asked her grandson as they got into the car.
"No." The boy squeaked, his cheeks beet red in embarrassment. "The thought had evaded my mind."
"That's not the only thing that evades your mind." She shook her head, "Unbelievable, I had thought the stupidity would end with Julius but no, it has found its way to you now."
Max blushed more in embarrassment as he clutched the gift in his hands. It was a pair of purple headphones. He remembered how she always complained about her current ones, he hoped she'd like it.
"Seriously, how would you just want to up and go just like that." His grandma kept nagging him as they drove. So Max had to endure the critiscm from his grandma