Taro: When we talk

At the sound of the doorbell, Taro knew the girls had finally arrived. Luckily, he had already finished making the necessary arrangements.

He had showered, worn a fresh set of casual clothes, brushed his hair, and lightly patted himself down with cologne. He had only ever used deodorant before, but Kokoro was coming over. If there was ever going to be a time he required the extra layer of scent, it was now.

As soon as he descended the steps he jogged over to the front door and opened it. A disinterested Tomomi with an unimpressed look on her face was standing on his front porch, and beside her, a girl with thick blonde hair and giant blue eyes was seated in her wheelchair staring at him.

Kokoro.

She was wearing a long black dress with a blue jacket on top of it. Her knee-high boots were black and were decorated with dark blue buckles, and on her neck sat a Pearl neckless that complemented the rest of her outfit.

She looked incredible.

Taro was once again enveloped by her gaze as soon as their eyes met. The world slowed, and time became everlasting. He didn’t want the moment to end. But after noticing Tomomi glaring at him from the corner of his eyes, Taro quickly regained his composure and ushered them in.

“Please, come in.” he said, with Kokoro moving into the house first and Tomomi following behind still glaring at him. That was when he took notice of what the girl was wearing. A simple white dress, red boots, and a red purse. Taro guessed she looked cute in her own right but he was never really into the whole blunt and bossy types.

The girls situated themselves in the Livingroom and Taro rushed into the kitchen before returning seconds later with a tray of refreshments. He set it down on the table in front of them.

“Please, dig in.” he said, taking a step back and quickly realizing he had nowhere else to sit.

“Looking for something?” Tomomi asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Ah, no. Everything is fine.” He lied, flashing a nervous smile.

Taro hadn’t really had outsiders come into his house before. Because of this, he had completely failed to properly plan against the sitting arrangements for when the girls arrived. There was still some room on the couch as Tomomi was the only one sitting in it, but Kokoro was right next to her on her wheelchair. Sitting between them was an awkward situation Taro didn’t even want to begin to think about.

Not knowing what else to do, Taro sat on the carpeted floor and crossed his legs.

“Wow.” Tomomi commented as she reached for a cup and poured herself a drink. “The life of an otaku is strong in this one.” she said, with Kokoro immediately smacking her lightly on the arm.

“Aw.”

Kokoro then moved over a little closer to Tomomi, then patted the spot on the couch beside her for Taro to come sit down.

“No. It’s really okay.” Taro said, responding to her offer while still flashing his nervous smile. “Let’s just get on with the meeting like this. I’m really comfortable down here so you don’t have to worry. Honest.”

Taro waited for a confirmation from Kokoro before he continued speaking. For a moment, he noticed that Kokoro had this look in her eye as if to say she wasn’t all there with the idea of him sitting on the floor in his own house. But probably knowing that he wasn’t going to change his mind, she then accepted his wishes and urged him to continue talking with a nod of her head.

“It’s settled then. So, what do you think we should do for our class project? What ideas do you have in mind?” Taro clapped his hands together and turned his attention to Kokoro as he asked the questions.

Kokoro instantly began typing on her phone and as soon as she was done, Taro sensed his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and found that she had sent him a message.

“I’ve thought about it, and I have unfortunately come up with nothing lol. But what do you think we should do?”

After reading the message, Taro looked up from his phone and found Kokoro staring at him and smiling. God she was pretty. He thought.

Instead of using his words, he decided to reply by sending her a message of his own.

“Well, since the project says to combine both art and science to create something that speaks to the human life or creativity, I think we should consider something along the lines of entertainment or, and hear me out, genetic modification where we create some kind of rat, bat monkey hybrid.”

Taro looked up after sending his message, and he was glad to see his joke had worked as intended. Kokoro had both an amused and shocked expression on her face, most likely from the latter idea he had suggested they do for their class project.

“Well, tell me more about how we incorporate entertainment into our project. I don’t think I am ready to mess with nature and grow a monster of our own ha-ha.”

For some reason, Taro was elated following her messages. Something about the way they were communicating just the two of them in that moment felt private. They went back and forth, discussing about all the ways they should incorporate entertainment into their project. But they just couldn’t seem to reach an idea they were really comfortable would get them an A.

Taro suggested designing a video game, but Kokoro was not much of a gamer.

Kokoro had an idea where they made some kind of interactive painting that changed every time a different person looked at it, and although Taro thought that was an extremely unique idea, the deadline they had to work with wouldn’t really allow them to be able to finish the project in time.

Then Kokoro began suggesting a different idea as she typed in her phone. But before Taro could get the chance to read the message, Tomomi butted into the conversation.

“Hey, here’s one, why don’t the two of you head out for the afternoon.”

Taro suddenly nearly coughed out the water he was holding, while Kokoro turned to stare at her friend in shock.

“What? It seems like you guys are having a tough time coming up with ideas, and what better way to get the creative juices flowing than a stroll in the park or mall or something.”

Apparently, Tomomi had been keeping tabs on their conversation by sneaking glances at Kokoro’s phone. Taro was not surprised.

***

Taro was now walking beside Kokoro as they made their way to board a hover-bus.

After Tomomi had suggested that they head out together, Taro was simultaneously excited and nervous at the prospect. He was definitely looking forward to spending the afternoon with Kokoro, but he never imagined it was going to be just the two of them.

And that was another thing.

Why would Tomomi have suggested that he go on what was practically a date with Kokoro. Just when he was starting to think that she had no redeeming qualities outside being a really good friend to Kokoro, she went and did something that seemed like she was helping him.

They didn’t really talk as they made their way to the hover-bus and boarded the vehicle. Taro was already aware that people with wheelchairs had to go through the back, so he made sure to help Kokoro board first before joining her.

Taro then sent a message to Kokoro.

“So, where do you think we should head first?”

“I’m not sure.” Kokoro had written back. “But it needs to be a place with a lot of people laughing and having fun.”

Taro thought about it for a second.

“How about wonder park at the heart of Tokyo?” Taro typed, sending her the message.

“That’s perfect.” Kokoro wrote back.

Taro then lifted his head from his phone and gazed at Kokoro. She had a smile on her face, and seeing that made him happy.

“Alright then.” he typed. “Off to wonder-park we go.”