Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Fujio was excited but didn’t bother moving or showing his emotions. It was Eiichiro, his childhood friend. He hadn’t been in school for the past couple of days because of a lavish vacation to New York City, something his family regularly did.

“I’m just sad that I have to see your face again” replied Fujio in a drained tone, not moving or looking up at him.

“Yeah, nobody can handle this much beauty so early in the morning” Eiichiro jokingly said, while sitting down in his own seat right next to Fujio. Eiichiro thought he heard a faint chuckle.

“But seriously dude, are you sure you're, ok?” Eiichiro asked, with more concern in his voice this time.

“I’m fine...” Fujio mumbled.

“Sure... you better tell me the truth later or you’re going to get it” Eiichiro said, with a mix of playfulness and determination in his voice.

“Get what? A tickle?” Fujio said, finally looking up.

They didn’t have time to talk again until lunch. During breaks, other “friends” stormed Eiichiro’s desk, asking him for all the details of his New York trip. Fujio knew that these people didn’t care about Eiichiro as a person, and he was sure Eiichiro knew it too. He was a lot smarter than he let on.

At lunch Fujio was in the same room from yesterday, this time with Eiichiro on the other side of him. "So, what’s going on. I definitely missed something. By the way, you suck at lying.” Eiichiro said, while seemingly focusing more on his food than Fujio.

Fujio realized that lying was useless, Eiichiro would just keep pushing him until he said something.

“Well... there’s this gir-”

“YO! REALLY?! No way, I don’t believe it. My little Fujio is all grown up. So, what’s going on?” Eiichiro’s eyes were glowing, and he was now looking with full focus at Fujio to continue.

“Relax... It's not that serious...” Fujio said, clearly being embarrassed. “This girl walked in yesterday while I was eating lunch, and she...” He blushed and looked down.

“Ohhh! Fujio!! That’s great man, but why were you so bummed this morning?”

“Well, it’s a little embarrassing... but I was waiting outside the school gates this morning to see if I could talk to her again... and I didn’t...” The embarrassment was killing him, he couldn’t finish, but secretly he was glad he could share this with someone.

“I get it, that’s cool for you. If you need help, I'm always here bro.”

Eiichiro had a way of being fun, mature, comforting, and devious all at once, but it was obvious that he cared for Fujio. He was almost a full 10 months older than Fujio, and he thought of him as a little brother. Fujio never showed it, but he really enjoyed Eiichiro’s presence.

They ate in silence for a little bit, before Eiichiro dived into stories about his New York vacation, but not in an attention seeking way, that’s what Fujio loved about him. He enjoyed listening to the stories, which were carefully picked to interest him. Eventually the topic went back to the girl.

“So, do you have a plan other than standing outside the school like a creep?” Eiichiro asked.

“Uh... not really. I’m not sure how to find her any other way. If I could figure out what class she’s in or something like that, I could try talking to her. Talking to her is also another problem though.”

“You just have to not overthink it bro, nobody notices the little details that you do, don’t worry” Eiichiro said with a big warm smile. It did a great deal in comforting Fujio who was drowning in worry and fear.

After lunch, classes went on as usual again, and after school Fujio and Eiichiro walked home together like usual. Their conversation was just about the upcoming test, local news, and just random topics.

Ten minutes of walking later, they reached the part in the road that split into left and right. After saying goodbye, Eiichiro went left, and Fujio went right. Fujio usually looked down as he walked and was usually lost in thought when he was walking alone. This time was no different, which is why it shocked him when he arrived at home and saw her waiting outside the gate.