Their Clash

“Very well, stranger Aoi, nice to meet you,” Mika’s smile and expressiveness shook Aoi somewhat, not used to the wide range of emotions Mika had. Even though he realized singers like her were usually expressive, the sheer energy of her emotions was enough to shake him somewhat, a feeling he still wasn’t used to dealing with. He was slightly taller than her, yet she seemed to have a deep emotional power that overwhelmed him. “So what do you think about our neighborhood?” she asked Aoi.

“It’s like any other neighborhood in Tokyo. Once you’ve seen one of them, you’ve seen all,” Aoi answered coldly, and Mika looked at him disapprovingly.

“Oh yeah? And what about the people here? Once you’ve met one person, have you really met everyone?” asked Mika, looking straight at him. She stood in a place where the faint lights illuminated her. Her hair was an unusual reddish shade of brown, like cinnamon. She somehow managed to stand out in that dark, ordinary place, as the moon shone like a spotlight on her. Her large eyes, and the unusual colors she reflected from the moon inevitably drew his attention. She stared at the intruder that had gone out of his way to invade her usual park. She wasn’t intimidated by the elegantly dressed outsider, and glasses couldn’t hide his eyes.

For a brief moment, it was just the two of them under the moonlight, the sounds and views of the city faded away from their senses. Mika’s own personal circumstances had cornered her into that park, where she sang into the empty night. Aoi’s distance from the world, a result of years of isolation and inability to deal with other’s emotions, had led him to wander Tokyo aimlessly. For a brief moment their fears and anxieties connected in that particular space and time, before quickly bouncing off from each other. Realizing their situation, their eye contact snapped apart abruptly.

Aoi looked away for a brief moment, before looking at his phone and realizing his ride would soon pick him up. He started walking away from the conversation.

“Yeah that’s right stranger, run away!” she said seriously, “and I was going to give this back, but now I’m keeping your 1000!” Mika, somewhat annoyed by his apathy, tried to get back at him as he walked away. Aoi was relieved she hadn’t noticed that he left ten times more than she thought. “Wait!” Mika spoke louder to the departing Aoi, “Can I ask you something?” Aoi turned back slowly, facing Mika from afar. “What did you think of the music?”

Aoi inhaled slowly as he processed the question. He knew there would be no good answer. Any negative feedback would discourage her from trying, and any positive reinforcement might stop her from improving her flaws. He also knew too much about the subject, yet Mika was unaware how familiar he was with music.

“What did you think?” Mika insisted, as Aoi came back to face the situation at hand. “Answer me,” she commanded. She sounded a lot less spirited than she was moments earlier, and Aoi almost changed his mind about what he truly wanted to say.

“It was… ordinary,” he answered, with some pain in his voice. Aoi, while cold and honest, was not devoid of empathy, even if it appeared that way at first. “Not even outstanding for a karaoke hobbyist. I’m sorry.”

“Is that so?” Mika was visibly downcast, slowly heading back to pick up the guitar she left on the floor. She didn’t want to keep listening to him, or perhaps, couldn’t bear to hear the words.

“It’s not all bad news,” continued Aoi, “I can feel the emotion in your voice, that is a good thing. But your voice lacks strength and your pitch wavers at times. That can be trained, it will take some dedication, but it won’t take you long. However…” Aoi braced himself for the last dose of bad news he was about to give, “Your voice lacks any sort of star power, it just blends into the scenery, it would… be hard for it to stand out if you ever committed to it.”

Mika put her guitar back in its case and pulled the zipper on it firmly, nodding as she heard Aoi speak.

“At least,” she said, trying to compose herself as she looked back at Aoi, “I still have feelings to give. You can stand there and say all that, as if I wasn’t even a person in front of you, no hint of emotion in your voice. Who can say that to someone they just met, and keep a straight face?” Mika rose and walked away, not quickly, but not weakly either.

Aoi knew it was true. He knew he was out of place. He knew maybe he had gone too far, he knew that perhaps even walking away and doing nothing would’ve been better... But at the time, he felt like the girl wanted, deserved honesty. Maybe his feelings of pity and the glimpses of her beauty altered his thoughts. She might’ve been asking for more than she could handle, but Aoi’s response carefully considered all the information that he had, and factored in Mika’s well being. Yet, despite the apparent failure, Aoi had hope. Mika didn’t argue about his criticism, but instead focused on his feelings and delivery. Mika didn’t become overly upset over his words, and in fact seemed to snap back in a cheeky, rather than aggressive way. He felt it was more likely for her to find the strength to improve, rather than crumble. At least, beneath his cold surface, he still had hope.

Aoi walked in the opposite direction from Mika and turned the corner, and soon, his car driver pulled over for him and the back door opened automatically. He then sat down in the car with a subtle smile, before going back to his usually emotionless self.

“Did you find what you were looking for here?” Asked his driver. He had spotted Aoi’s subtle change in expression through a quick glance of his rear view mirror. “It’s been a while since…”

“Maybe,” interrupted Aoi, as he looked back towards the river, the tiniest of parks, and the odd girl he left behind as they drove away.