The Girl Across From Me

Ten minutes of complete silence passed. He was sitting opposite Satō Fuyumi, yet she hadn't looked at him once since she sat down. It was too awkward that he had completely stopped eating.
"Should I try to get her attention? Should I say something? What if she doesn't want to talk? What would we even talk about?" These types of questions raced around in his head. He was too worried that she would find him weird.

In the end, no words were exchanged.

Daisuke entered the classroom to find his friend with his face flat on the table. It was clear he was in a fit of the sulks, so he left him alone.

Once he reached the pillow on his bed, Kazuyuki let out a huge sigh. To describe the day as a failure was an understatement. Why was he so nervous to talk to her? He never had a problem interacting with people, so why did he hesitate?
There was a knock at the door, but he had no energy to go open it. The door knob turned, and in walked his mother with a cup of coffee.

"Are you okay, Kaz-chan?" Her soothing voice always calmed him down. "Do you want to talk about it?" 

Still embedded in the pillow, he shook his head left and right. He felt comforted when his mother ran her hand through his hair.

"If you ever want to talk about it, let me know. Okay?" His mother got up and left the room.

Laying in his bed, Kazuyuki felt an urge to slap himself for the way he behaved in front of Fuyumi earlier, but he managed to resist it. Realising that sulking in the darkness wouldn't benefit him, he got up from his bed.

The following day came, and Kazuyuki marched to school like a man on a mission. He was determined to talk to Fuyumi during lunch. Before leaving home, he had created a plan: he would invite her back to the table, and he would be the one to start the conversation.
In the hallways, he revised the topic starters he would use. He was committed. He was ready.

When he walked past Fuyumi, she barely glanced at him. He had just lost all his confidence.

Fuyumi disappeared as soon as the bell rang for lunchtime. Kazuyuki didn't bother to try to catch up with her due to his lack of confidence. Daisuke had to talk to the teacher before he could go to lunch, so he left without him.
Once he arrived in the lunch hall, he noticed that the girl wasn't in her usual seat. Did she move after yesterday's awkward situation? Sitting down at their table, all he could think about was Fuyumi. Her beautiful purple hair, her emotionless face. Would he ever see her again? As soon as he thought that, he heard the chair opposite him move, and a person sat down. He looked up to see Fuyumi there, taking out her books. "Impossible," he thought.
He could not believe that the girl he had rudely ignored the other day was taking a seat at their table again. Why was she here? There had to be a reason she sat at the table again. Was she mocking him? No. She may be cold, but she wasn’t one to mock another person.

This was the longest lunch ever. His plan to talk to her was an instant failure. When he returned to class, he did his best to avoid looking at her, but he simply couldn’t take his attention off her.

The next day was similar. He passed her to get to his desk, and she paid no attention to him. He stared at the back of her head during lessons. She would disappear as soon as lunchtime began. He would go to the lunch hall and find her sitting at their table. She was sitting at their table! He could not comprehend her agenda. He could not understand why she continued to sit at the table, but he knew this was his chance. He had to speak to her now, or an infinite awkwardness would forever stain their relationship.

"S-Satō-san…” Five minutes had passed since he sat down in front of her and before he spoke to her.

Fuyumi looked up at him; their eyes locked. His heart skipped a beat. Well aware he couldn’t back out of the situation now, he proceeded with the conversation.

"Did you hear about the new English teacher that’s coming in tomorrow?" He cringed at how stupid the question he just asked was. No way would she ever reply to him.

"Yeah, I did. They said he’s coming from England, right?" Fuyumi answered, surprising Kazuyuki.

“Y-yeah. I think so.” He was still shocked that she spoke to him so casually. “I hope he’s better than the previous teacher.”

“Same. I hated our previous English teacher.”

“I know right! The way she taught the lessons was horrible. She was so boring as well.”

“Agreed.” She chuckled, again catching Kazuyuki by surprise.

Their conversation continued; subjects like anime, manga, and science were brought up. They both seemed to enjoy their time together. Kazuyuki’s anxiety slowly decreased, and he felt unusually comfortable with her. This was the first time in a while that he had fun during a conversation with someone. Behind the mask and the black eyes, there was a side of Fuyumi that not many people had seen except him. “She’s not like how I imagined her to be,” he thought. The bell rang. 

“I guess we have to go.” Kazuyuki said, trying to hide his disappointment that their conversation was cut short. Hesitantly, he asked, “Would you like to walk back to class together?”

“Okay.” 

Due to her mask, Kazuyuki couldn’t tell if she was smiling or not, but he imagined she was.

It was as if lunchtime never ended. As they walked back to class, they continued their conversation. Happiness radiated from them.

When he returned home, he could barely conceal his happiness. Joy and contentment welled up inside of him. It was too much to bear that as soon as he reached his pillow, he let out a celebratory yell. She was the complete opposite of how he imagined her to be. She had a good sense of humour, she was quite kind, and surprisingly, she was actually approachable. He felt like their conversation could have gone on for an eternity. He wanted to get to know her more. He wanted to become her friend.

“Kaz-chan, dinner’s ready!” A voice from downstairs shouted.

“Coming!”

It seemed like the energy he had gained from his interaction with Fuyumi was still high as he sprinted down the stairs.

“Let’s dig in!” He munched on his food at a rather fast rate.

“Slow down, Kaz-chan. You’ll choke.” 

“Sorry.”

“Did something happen today?”

“Nothing much.”

It must have been the special sixth sense that mothers have as she leaned towards her son, forcing their faces close to one another.

“Are you sure nothing happened?”

“Yes. It was just a good day at school.”

She leaned back in her chair. “Hmm. Did you perhaps get a girlfriend?” She jokingly said

Kazuyuki spat out his food due to the comment. “No!” 

“Are you sure?”

“I don’t have a girlfriend. Besides, you told me not to get one right now.”

“I never said you couldn’t have a relationship; I just want you to focus more on your studies first.”

Kazuyuki stayed silent. An obscure feeling overcame him. He couldn’t quite understand this feeling. It was like his heart was trying to tell him something, but it had been restrained by something.

“If you ever do get a girlfriend, let me know. I would very much like to meet her.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He ate the last piece of food on his plate. “Thank you very much for this meal. I’ll wash the dishes today, mum.”

“Oh, alright.”

For most people, washing the dishes was a tedious task. But for Kazuyuki, listening to music while performing the task was an enjoyable activity. With both earplugs in and the music at a reasonable volume, he danced and sang along as he washed the dishes. As he listened to the lyrics of a particular song, he was reminded of his time with Fuyumi, which caused him to smile again. 

Tomorrow couldn’t come sooner.