Midst of Summer: Realisation

MEEN MEEN!

MEEN MEEN!

MEEN!

BUZZ!

"..."

The cries of cicadas.

Doesn't it just... 

Feel, so... 

Nostalgic?

"..."

While your past summer memories suddenly start to flow through you.

"..."

These cries aren't generated by its wings nor legs. But rather generated from their abdomen contracting. 

It's almost like these cicadas carry a boombox in their abdomen.

And innocent that we are, these cries aren't just any noise. 

It is the noise of their mating call.

Yes!

Mating call.

The volume of their mating calls sway based on the summer heat. And over last the few decades, the summer heat has only been increasing, and the biggest contributor to it is no other than, the human race.  

If this could be said with no filters in one sentence.

That would be...

Humans are making cicadas more horny!

It's a worthy sacrifice, but at what cost?

"..."

People believe cicadas emerge only once every decade. 

That is false.

It's a common misconception.

There are actually two types of cicadas, annual and periodic. Annual cicadas emerge every year, while periodic cicadas emerge every 13 to 17 years. 

That's almost two decades.

For a moment you are just a kid listening to the cries of the cicadas and next you know it, you are already a fully grown adult. Not just your surrounding changes but the whole world does too. 

There are times when I can vividly recall memories from my childhood. Where the growth of technology was only in its early stages. Kids would go outside to play and befriend whoever they met. People always had their heads up high and socialised with their surroundings.

There were no pocket devices to be infatuated with. 

"..."

Life was truly...

Simple.

And these littlest of things, made us all appreciate what we had. 

It made us all...

Happy.

The world then juxtaposes the world now. 

Technology aimed to make life easier, physically it did but mentally, it made it more difficult. Kids prefer to stay home all day, infatuated with their devices. People have their heads down on their phones, not even aware of their surroundings nor the beautiful view right in front of them. 

It's a completely new world. 

People socialise through their phones but cannot even socialise with someone next to them. 

No one expresses their true Self through their phones. Rather they attempt to express themselves with a false identity, someone that is perfect in the eyes of others. 

This is evident with a huge mental health crisis sweeping the whole world. Mainly in developed countries. It is so often that people allow their bodies and their minds to grasp control of their true Self. As a consequence, their own intellect fails to discriminate what is right or wrong.

Even I... 

Was on the verge of falling victim. 

"..."

I was fortunate to experience both worlds.  

Maybe that was why I still had some sanity left.

But that wasn't the only thing that kept me sane.

The biggest contributor was...

Blind faith.

"..."

And what was this blind faith of mine? 

It was blind faith in...

A Creator.

A Universal Creator. 

People refer to Him as God. 

Yes. 

God.

No one has ever physically seen this entity called 'God', yet why do many people still express their blind faith in Him? 

Or blind Love?

What pushes these people to do so?

It's true, no one has ever seen Him, and there isn't really 'scientific proof' to back this either. 

So why?

People only believe what they see.

But in reality...

That's not true. 

People will always and always will have blind faith in whatever they do. 

Not necessarily in God.

But people have blind faith that they can sleep in their homes and be alive the next day, blind faith that they can go to work without facing any obstacles, blind faith that their TV show is not cancelled, and blind faith that...

There are endless possibilities. 

"..."

And if you really stay still, just for a moment and look around...

You will realise, life is truly complex.

Look around the plants outside, and observe them closely with great intensity, you'll truly realise how elegant it is. 

And even more elegant you'll find are, the complex life forms, such as animals and humans. 

You would be fascinated by understanding in depth how our bodies work which we think of it as nothing special but bag and bones. 

Every second, within our body, billions of cells perform so many actions, without the need for our intervention.  Each cell has a DNA strand almost 6 feet long, yet no one questions how it manages to accomplish such feats.

Scientists are making progress in discovering the secrets of our bodies, but even then, there are still so many mysteries that they are unable to uncover. 

It would be delusional and arrogant to think that scientists have uncovered the secrets of the human body. 

It's not even close.

Now, doesn't it make you question why and how our human bodies are so complex?

And there is no better simple answer than...

God.

The Universal Creator.

And we use this blind faith as an apparatus to see God. 

It's well known that we cannot see microorganisms with our naked eye. But when we use a microscope (an apparatus), we see millions of microorganisms in a small petri dish. And people think that our physical eyes are the correct apparatus to see God. To really see this entity called God, people need to elevate their understanding above the physical dimension. 

They need to elevate their understanding to the... 

Spiritual dimension.

Scientifically it would be known as the metaphysical dimension. 

That's where the real apparatus to see God lies. 

If everyone's focus was towards that direction, we could finally understand the meaning of life and most of all understand what is true happiness. But life is after all a journey, a journey to understand who we are and why we are here. 

And maybe I will as well.

I will understand, what is Love.

"..."

SIGH.

I let out a deep sigh.

Well, that was a deep philosophy. 

"..."

Where was I?

Ah yes, the midst of summer. 

Hot weather, lighter clothes and busy streets.

But that also means...

Beach Episode!

Maybe too early for that.

Besides I'm no harem protagonist. 

There are no girls in arousing swimsuits. 

No intimate accidents nor sudden character developments. 

And never did it happen even once during my high school days.

Not even once!

Ah, reality...

Disappointing as usual.

"..."

I'm Kobayashi Hayate, 23 years old, Male, Bachelor in Technology, and now an average office worker with no...

Past love experiences.

Not a single romantic encounter occurred in high school. 

Neither did it get better in University.

My university life was plagued by COVID-19.

I had no chance! 

And now it's been nearly two years since I started working. 

But the main question is...

Where are my Office romance encounters!!!

"..."

Maybe I really will never find my perfect 3D waifu...

There are times when I wonder how different my life would have been had I accepted Satou-san's confession. 

Would I be enjoying the fruits of love?

Or would that have ended early?

I wonder what she is doing now. 

She was very pretty and popular, so I am sure she had no problems getting over me. 

But who knows?

I head towards my office across the busy streets of Shibuya. Every corner of this area was overloaded by passersby. I still wonder how we all manage to get by in a small area. I prefer the countryside, it's quiet there and the sound of nature is pure bliss. I used to live in a small village before moving to the main city due to Father's new job.

But this is my life now. 

As I travel to work, I also love listening to music using my wired headphones. I am not much of an explorer in music so I usually stick to the songs I know. But recently, I have started to enjoy listening to this new popular KPOP girl group New Beans which I was introduced to by my younger sister through the SNS platform SLIME. Their songs have catchy lines with deep dark messages within their music videos. 

It's refreshing.

New Beans have become so popular that even my coworkers talk about them. Yes, some of my coworkers are diehard fans of idols across Japan and Korea. Their devotion to idols is impressive yet scary sometimes.

But who am I to judge?

I reached the office building eventually and took the lift to the 2nd floor where my office was based. The office hosts a small consultancy company with 50 employees. We mostly create software solutions for other companies. It's a decent place with a heartwarming work atmosphere, and we all have one thing in common. 

Getting scolded by the head manager. 

That's the beauty of work, I guess.

I tapped my ID card and opened the door.

"..."

"Ohayo, Kobayashi-kun." 

The head manager greeted me as I entered the office. 

Name: Head Manager

Age: 50 years old.

Appearance: Bald man with a big moustache. Blue suit and tie attire. 

Likes: Family.

Dislikes: Mistakes.

The head manager is winning in his life. He has a loving wife and his two kids study aboard at the prestigious Pavard University. He is strict most of the time but he sometimes treats us nicely with free lunches from time to time. And his office is right near the main door. 

No one can ever avoid him.

"Ohayo, big boss. How are you?"

"I am doing alright, thanks for asking."

"You seem a bit exhausted, Kobayashi-kun?"

"Is anything wrong?"

"Yeah, just the summer weather... Ahahaha..."

"Hmmm. Well the AC is on, so you're good to go!"

I always head to work in a formal suit and tie due to the company's formal attire policy. And it can be very exhaustive and sweaty during summers. But the manager believes wearing formal attire shows that you are serious and ready to work. I guess he still holds old beliefs, not that I hate formal attire, but in summer it can be very difficult...

I headed towards my workspace, ready to get started. 

"Hey hey, Kobayashi!"

"Kobayashi Hayate, the man, the myth, the legend is finally here!"

My colleagues next to my workspace greet me in delight. And surprisingly, they are also the same colleagues that are crazy about idols. 

Name: Tanaka Akihito.

Age: 27 years old. 

Appearance: Blonde, Slim Figure, Tall.

Likes: Loves idols, especially the Love Hive series.

Dislikes: Spicy Foods.

And worst of all, he has a...

Girlfriend!

I honestly don't know Tanaka managed to get a girlfriend given his crazy addiction to idols. I have only seen her a few times, and she seems pretty and well-mannered. I wonder how she copes with this guy at home.

While my other colleague, Yamamoto Hiroshi.

Name: Yamamoto Hiroshi

Age: 25 years old.

Appearance:  Glasses, Wide Figure, Black-haired, Small. 

Likes: Anime and Idols.

Dislikes: 3D Girls.

You could say he is a fellow comrade with no girlfriend but only likes 2D girls. Work-wise, he is a genius when it comes to debugging any errors and issues. Despite all the differences, we still get along well and it's quite fortunate our workspaces are next to each other. 

"What's up boys? What's cooking?"

"Nothing much. But Kobayashi, have you heard New Beans are releasing a new song?" 

Tanaka replied.

"Knock it off Tanaka. Stop spreading bad influences. Hayate-kun, their songs may be good but don't fall for these 3D idols! 2D master race only!" 

Yamamoto argued.

"You guys and your idols..." 

I sighed in disappointment.

"But hopefully it's good." 

"Yeah."

Both my colleagues replied in agreement. 

"Kobayashi! We will have someone new joining. She will be here soon, show her the ropes alright?" The head manager shouted across the room. 

"Roger boss!"

A new colleague. 

That means...

I will no longer be the kouhai!

Finally!

I will now be the...

"Senpai! Kobayashi-senpai! Our little Kobayashi has finally become a senpai haha." 

Tanaka joked. 

I am currently the youngest and the newest person in the company. Just before me was, Hiroshi and a group of other colleagues who started at the same time. And soon it will all change. 

Oh, how time flies.

"Don't be bewitched by that 3D girl, Hayate!" 

Yamamoto warned. 

It seems I am going to be a female kouhai. I wonder how she will be. 

A cute girl. 

Or a mature woman. 

Or maybe... 

Never mind I think I will avoid finishing that sentence.

Well hopefully everything goes well, hope she is worth passing the baton to.

"Alright alright, let's get to work boys. Or that client is gonna scream at us through Macrosoft Beams." 

Tanaka and Yamamoto nodded in reply with serious faces. 

Recently, the three of us were in contact with a troublesome client who constantly screamed for changes with whatever solution we provided for them. When we informed the head manager, he only smiled with thumbs up. Like a commander on the battlefield wishing his soldiers a happy death. 

Oh boss, why have you forsaken us...

30 minutes later...

"Kobayashi, come to the front. The new girl is here! I have told her the basics. Now teach her the ropes! Just invite her to your project."

"On my way, boss."

"Ganbare, senpai! Show them how is done!" Tanaka gave a word of encouragement.

"Hayate, remember what I said!" Hiroshi warned me once again about not being bewitched by the new girl. 

Well, we will see soon...

I stood up and headed towards the head manager's office. 

As I got close to the head manager's office, I saw a girl waiting patiently outside his door. 

She had a...

Slim figure. 

Short black hair up to her shoulder.

White shirt with a complementary black bodycon skirt.

Black heels. 

She was almost like the perfect office girl.

Summer Officer Event! 

Here we go! ~ Caprizio Bromano. 

The girl looked quite young, almost around my age. She was holding onto a pen and notebook taking notes from the head manager's talks. Even during my first day, I did the same but the information the head manager spouted never came to any use in the end. I wrote so many notes like my life depended on it, only to find out it was all useless. 

Tough times.

I reached the head manager's office and greeted the girl whose attention was still focused towards the head manager rambling random information.

"Hi, I'm Kobayashi Hayate, nice to meet you."

The girl turned around towards the direction of my voice. 

Her face was truly...

Beautiful.

Beautiful?

"..."

Wait a minute.

"Sa...to"

"San?"