Tea, Time, and Toilets

“Come on, lead the way!” I shouted at Tokukkun. Maybe I’m a bit mischievous, but I was having a lot of fun. It’s like the blind leading the blind. I decided not to use my map and realized I didn’t even know my own -chome, let alone my neighbourhood. Knowing this, I should just totally forget about Ichinomiya.

If you think about it, we really didn’t play outside as kids. That probably has a maladaptive impact that will indeed play for the coming years.

“Are we there yet!” Airi shouted at Tokukkun, who, at this point, was tired. He was wearing his school uniform, which looked like Ichinomiya High’s, but slightly different… I couldn’t put my finger on it and, to be frank, I don’t exactly care about their school.

”Hey Airi,” I noticed her eating her bag of multiple sweets. “Which one of those is your favourite?” She pointed towards the Hi-Chews.

I grabbed them.

“What-“ She said as I cheekily took her favourite sweets. “Don’t worry Aichi-chii~, we can make a trade.”

“You mean a forced trade. Like a hostage situation. Emphasis on the hostage part.” She retorted.

Eh, she was right, but that’s not going to stop the trade. Something about might makes right, which is totally a legitimate and moral way to go about things. Especially interactions with your best friend.

“How about I give all your sweets back, and in return I get a recognition that I am your best friend?”

“Done.” We shook hands and she called me her best friend in the most formal and regal Japanese ever. It was so disturbingly polite that I could not quote what she said.

“I know Aya~ doesn’t like chewits, so how about we pass by the shop near the park and buy some of those agar jellies.” How sweet!

But you make sound like a bacteria… or am I overthinking it? Eh, whatever. Also, chewits? That doesn’t sound like it’s from here.

Poor Tokuyama-san must feel like a third wheel. Just chilling. And you know what? Sometimes mysteries and time travels can be put to the side.

It might sound sad, or whatever, but I do not have a single clue about my own area. I have to repeat the idea because I am neither lying nor hyping up what I’m saying. I caught Takuya-san by sheer surprise. Mrs Fortune just seemed to whisper in my ear the idea of going to a supermarket at night. I would usually just stay in my bedroom and watch something interesting or read some manga.

I have a strange feeling like meeting Takuya-san might be like a mission given to me by Fortune, herself!

Or, perhaps the most likely reason, I’ve been reading so much manga and that this is a shared delusion between me and Aichii. Takuya is not real. Okay, that’s not as likely now that I’m verbalizing my thoughts in my head. That’s as outlandish as time travel.

Whatever. It was a clear blue sky. Summer has never been my most favourite season, that would be spring, but it was the most liberating one. A certain freedom that is both indescribable and unalienable. Life of all mechanisms, shapes, and forms all coexist and thrive. The cicadas will deafen you, the insects will jump in excitement, and the kids are all out in the streets playing. A few middle schoolers are doing some dances for TikTok. It was glorious.

I mean, look, as I think, highly civilized 8-year-olds are throwing water balloons over my head, trying to kill me. The clock struck 13 o’clock. I nuzzled my chin into myself...

And that’s where my ‘original’ thoughts end. You can tell that the dystopia required reading in our school has rubbed off on me. Look at me quoting 1984. Next I’ll be talking to you about standing against a small tide.

“So, how do you feel about the changes then? Does it bother you?” I asked Tokuyama-san.

“I mean, sorta, but it’s not as annoying as waking up to a sunny day. Imagine that I’m wearing clothes for the autumn and now it’s like 30°C degrees.”

I nodded and so did Airi. “True, true!”

I spoke with a genuine sense of seriousness. “It’s still the modern world, you know? What real differences are there?”

Oh. Speaking of real differences, there’s a question I’ve always wanted to ask.

“Do you know how to make your own webpage?” He just squinted his eyes at me and then gave me a quick confused look.

“No? Why do you ask that?”

“Well, there’s this anime from the 2000s… what’s it called… Haruhi Suzumiya!” I then went on to add a bit more context, saying “There’s an episode where the MC, Kyon, writes a webpage in like HTML for the club, or something along those lines.”

He looked fully shocked. “Haruhi got an anime? Wow, I mean read the books, we’re only up until volume 5!” Ah. You’re lucky. The anime adaptations only go until volume 5 too.

I smiled, “So, you don’t? That’s a shame.” He waved me off saying, “I mean, you should know a few basics of HTML if you want to surf the web pages, but other than that, not really.”

Airi jumped in. “Hey. If you return back to your time permanently, and maybe what I’m about to say will cause a time paradox, why don’t you focus on learning how to code?”

What a genius idea from Aichii~. Too bad it might literally change our future. Our conversations about Haruhi and HTML were then rudely interrupted by a familiar sight.

The Kanesue.

“Oh, what a beautiful sight. Welcome back.” I said out loud. Both Airi and Tokuyama were confused as to why I was happy to be at the supermarket. What they didn’t know was that “I need to buy some tea!”

“Do you really need to do that?” Tokukkun said. “I mean, we’re literally by the park, you could do that after I...”

“After you what? Go back in time and then to your normal time period? Or what is likely going to happen is you bring two girls to the men’s toilet for… nothing.”That did come off a bit harsh, but I mean, come on! The optics of a person just doing that look awful.

“Actually, never mind Tokukkun. I just kinda want you to stay here longer, that’s all.” After that, Airi said, “Ooh~,” with an even more stereotypical cutesy girl voice than she usually does. “How about we get some tea and chill together at the park before we try out the time-traveling toilet?”

“Sure!” Both me and Takuya said in unison. But I know Airi just wants to pair me and him together.

Wait.

Just like how I tried to pair them together earlier in the house!