A Friend's Company

A few months went by and, just like that, it was the summer once more. I was working remotely, helping Hiroaki sometimes, and in exchange he let me live in his apartment. The city was once again covered with the humid summer air, and it had been a year since I first met Mika. I used to love wandering around the city, but now I couldn’t stand the sight of it, neither its buildings, nor its people.

I was lying in bed looking at my phone, scrolling around the internet, unsatisfied, when I heard someone loudly open the door to my brother’s apartment. I was somewhat curious, but figured it had nothing to do with me until suddenly, the door to my room opened.

“Yikes, you look like garbage.” I could recognize that voice and body even in the darkness. It was Eiko’s.

“Since when were you so good looking?” I asked.

“Ugh, you also act like garbage too.” Eiko couldn’t hide her distaste. “This is what happens when you don’t go outside.” She then walked up to me and sprayed me with a perfumed body mist, in some sort of strange revenge. “When was the last time you took a bath?”

“It’s been a while.”

“I can tell.” She seemed disappointed. “You’re telling me this is the guy that broke my heart?” She shook her head. Eiko made her way to the windows and made sure the sun blasted my room fiercely, blinding me in the process. That discomfort felt familiar. “Come on, the least you can do is clean yourself up.” Eiko pointed at my bathroom.

It took a while for me to shower, but I complied with her request out of respect, and once I was clean and changed, I ran into Eiko going through my things.

“So what, are you an otaku now?” Eiko was examining all the Spring merchandise that I had stacked in the corner of my room. She then looked at me, somewhat judgmentally.

“Are you going to tell me it’s wrong to support the things I love?” I asked.

Eiko shook her head. “That’s not what I’m talking about.” Eiko took a few moments to look at everything. “Some of these are pretty cute.” She picked up a Spring figurine. “Oh, and quite detailed too.” She looked at every angle of it in awe.

“What do you want, Eiko?”

“This is her, isn’t it. Spring,” she said, with a sudden chilling tone in her voice. "Or should I call her Mika?"

“Yeah, that's her.” I didn't know what else to say as she stared at the figurine. “Do you know her?”

“Summer introduced us at some point. I just never realized until later.”

“I see.” I’d forgotten the two of them got along somewhat. Eiko gently put the figure back in its place.

“Summer can read minds, I swear. She was aware of all of our relationships, and didn’t even have to ask.” Eiko took a few moments to look outside my window. “You know, sometimes I’m jealous of Vtubers.”

“Jealous, you?” I asked, surprised.

“Yeah. They can be all over the internet, and never have to show their true selves.” She then walked towards me. “They don’t have to deal with fans in person, since they can hide behind their avatar. And they always have their perfect look tailored just for them, no matter what.” She stood next to me. “Isn’t that a bit unfair?”

“I never thought about it like that,” I answered. “But they do have to deal with fans, sometimes really nasty ones online, too.”

“And I don’t?” She looked at me incredulously. I suppose she was right, there were some advantages to that kind of online interaction.

“Still, losing to this-” said Eiko, pointing at the corner of the room with all the Spring merchandise, “that just doesn’t sit well with me.” She seemed somewhat upset. “And they can have a relationship without anyone knowing? That’s just too unfair.” I could understand what she meant, and realized that perhaps she blamed her popularity for making our relationship difficult.

“There wasn’t any winning or losing, Eiko. I didn’t find your popularity that hard to manage, either.” I tried to explain, but Eiko dismissed my words. Even if she didn’t seem to care, I was hoping my explanation would help somehow.

“What’s for lunch, Aoi?” she said as she walked to the kitchen. I followed her and prepared a very simple meal for her with whatever we had available.

“You’ve fallen this low, huh?” She looked at my basic, packaged food meal.

“I don’t mind it. I’ve seen what it takes to live in luxury, and I don’t want that anymore.” I started eating calmly.

“I’m actually glad you can appreciate the simple things. I was afraid you’d never be able to.” Eiko seemed to welcome the change.

“Circumstances change, and it’s all a learning experience.” We both enjoyed a quick meal, and I offered tea to Eiko.

“You know,” she said as she sipped her tea, “a lot of things went through my mind when we broke up.” Her expression made me realize what she was saying was important. “At first I was angry, and I wanted to hurt you somehow,” she said. “I wanted to blame you and make the breakup seem like your fault, so I wouldn’t have to deal with the fallout from my viewers and their speculation, but I didn’t.”

“I wouldn’t have minded, you could handle it in whatever way was easier to you. I agreed to that.”

“Oh yeah? So you would’ve been fine with all the hateful comments and fans everywhere?” She didn’t believe me. “After what happened I was frustrated, I needed to blame something. I felt… entitled to you, after everything I had done for you.” She seemed sickened by her own behavior in the past.

There wasn’t anything I could add. I took a sip of tea, feeling somewhat ashamed of how I had mishandled my relationship with Eiko.

“But then I realized...” Eiko paused, and looked at the table, away from me, embarrassed. “None of those things I did in the past meant anything, or made me deserve anything. Once you had found your purpose, if I truly loved you, all I could do was help you." Eiko stared at her empty cup of tea. "Even if it led you away from me.”

“Does that mean you still love me?” I was confused. Eiko then erupted in laughter.

“No, idiot.” She seemed displeased by my question. “I love myself too much.”

“Then why are you here-”

“This is the least I can do for an old friend.” Eiko’s smile made me realize what an incredible person I had passed up.