CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 11

“WHY DID I DO THAT!” Fujio was ‘talking’ to himself in his bathroom mirror.
“You idiot, she probably thinks you're a baby!”

“No, it’s ok. She would understand, if anyone did, it would be her.”

“Sure, yeah. I believe you”

“Yes, seriously.”

Fujio often debated himself in his head like this. It was a way for him to find both the pros and cons of a situation.

He was putting on a suit for a concert he was going to. He had managed to convince Eiichiro to come with him to watch one of his favorite piano players. Normally a suit wasn’t necessary for a classical concert, but he enjoyed dressing a step ahead of others.

The time was 6pm. He had to leave in thirty minutes, and Eiichiro would come to his house in around 10. Even with Eiichiro, he still felt a little nervous when a hangout was planned.

“I really should plan better” he thought to himself. His plan was to shower at 5pm, have dinner by 5:45, and then get ready and have downtime before Eiichiro showed up. He ended up getting distracted though, and he had to rush everything.

It was Saturday, only one more day left in their break. Fujio felt sort of depressed, he enjoyed the slow pace of a break and hated the daily sprint that he had to do when he had school. As he was thinking about this, the bell rang.

“HEY! What’s up bro!” Eiichiro was energetic as usual. He was wearing a red polo on top of some black dress pants. Fujio figured that this was the most formal thing he could put together, since his wardrobe consisted mostly of athletic clothing.

“Good to see you.” Fujio said sheepishly, immediately regretting how corny it sounded. Eiichiro didn’t say anything though, which made him feel slightly better.

Fujio walked to the living room, with Eiichiro following behind. As they walked Eiichiro cheerfully greeted Yuzuki, Fujio’s mom, and even his dad who normally didn’t like talking to anyone outside the family.

They sat and talked for a couple minutes before Fujio’s dad came and told them to get in the car. Fujio always felt uncomfortable talking to his friends in the car, so they mostly stayed quiet.

It took only around 25 minutes to make it to the concert hall. Fujio and Eiichiro got out of the car and slowly went inside. Fujio couldn’t hide his massive smile as they walked up to the lobby. It reminded him of one of his favorite Mangas, which was about piano.

They were both joking around as they found their seats and got silent as the concert started. Fujio was mesmerized by the player they were watching. He observed the way his fingers glided along the piano smoothly, and how he made it look effortless.

Fujio was imagining himself playing up there one day, effortlessly gliding his fingers on the keys and making beautiful music. He was also thinking about his favorite anime character, sitting on that stage and performing. That was his favorite episode of the show.

Eiichiro, although somewhat bored, still appreciated the music. He spent most of the time watching Fujio’s reactions, which he found funny. He almost viewed Fujio like little brother. He would constantly give him advice, tease him, and he knew he meant a lot to Fujio.

They walked out of the concert around 10pm, and because Fujio’s dad took a while to pick them up, they passed the time by walking around the area. They were in a big city-like area, one that Fujio only faintly knew his way around.

As they walked, they talked about how the concert was nice, plans for school after the break, and the new anime that was supposed to start airing the next week. The night city atmosphere was Fujio’s favorite.

The bright lights of cars driving around combined with the reassuring nighttime breeze, and spending time with his best friend. All of this made a moment that Fujio remembered for many years.

Eventually they went back to Fujio’s house, where Eiichiro was also sleeping over. It took them some time, but after a while they got ready for bed. That’s when Eiichiro brought up the topic of Hikari.

It started with a casual comment from Eiichiro.

“How did this week’s tutoring go?” Eiichiro said while doing something on his phone.

“It was... fine. Why do you care anyway? I-it's just turoti—tutoring..." Fujio hated how he stumbled on words randomly. He could never predict when or why it happened, but on the off chance it did it would make him feel embarrassed the whole day.

“You know why...” Eiichiro said teasingly. He was still looking down at his phone.

Fujio chose to stay silent. He knew he would tell Eiichiro about what he said at some point, but right now he wanted to avoid it at all costs. That’s what he thought for about five seconds, before he started talking again.

“Actually... I talked to her a lot more than normal...” Fujio explained exactly what happened to Eiichiro, trying to feel more proud than embarrassed.

It had gotten very late, and halfway through his story Fujio turned off the lights. They talked in the dark for some time, but soon Eiichiro dozed off, right before Fujio could finish explaining what happened.

Fujio noticed after he was done narrating, but he wasn’t angry. He knew Eiichiro was probably trying to listen to him before he fell asleep. He lay in his bed for a couple minutes, thinking about how these days won’t always last. Time went faster than he thought after all. He didn’t let the sad reality bring him down. Instead, he smiled and went to sleep as well, forgetting all about the mirror debate he was having just a couple hours earlier.