The Hand Sanitiser Incident

They had a lock on the target. Kazuyuki watched as the missile slowly approached across the hallway, but before impact, it veered off course, missing its target. The mission was a failure. He realised that he would need to give his apprentice extra training before she could return to the battlefield, known as ‘making friends’.

Later that day, Kazuyuki and Daisuke trudged through the snowy landscape, heading home.

“So, did you and Satō-san make up?” Daisuke asked

“Yeah. It was just a small misunderstanding. It turns out she just wanted to make new friends.”

“And how has that been going so far?”

Kazuyuki remembers the multiple times Fuyumi tried to make friends, only to face repeated disappointment. He remembered the genuine effort she put into following his advice and trying to approach others. Each failed attempt would leave her in despair, yet he admired her resilience.

“Not well, I presume.”

“Sometimes she manages to talk to them, but she can’t keep the conversation going for long. She’s a bit shy, that’s all.”

“She seems fine with you.”

“Yeah, but I don’t know why.”

“Hmm. I wonder.” It was clear he was jokingly hinting that their relationship was more intimate.

“I guess that’s just how she is.”

“I bet I could become friends with her easily. Everyone loves me.”

“That’s it!” Kazuyuki grabbed his friend by the shoulders. “Daisuke, could you sit with us for lunch tomorrow? Please.”

“I don’t know…”

“Please.”

Daisuke sighed, “fine.”

“Thanks.” 

The following day, Kazuyuki initiated his plan. After buying lunch, the two went to their usual table, where Fuyumi was sitting. She looked up to see the two dark-haired boys taking their seats.

“This is Ueno Daisuke, my friend.”

“Hello.”

“Hello.”

“You remember him, right?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Is it okay if he sits with us today?”

“I don’t mind.”

The two boys began talking about a similar interest among the three: anime. They would converse about theories and opinions, and they would try to get Fuyumi to cooperate, but her eyes were stuck to her book. For every question Daisuke asked, Fuyumi would give short answers. Before they knew it, lunch had ended and zero progress had been made. 

For the remainder of the day, Kazuyuki carried a strong desire to apologise for his actions. Before she could fade into the wind, he went up to her and bowed.

“I’m sorry. I never meant to put pressure on you.”

“It’s fine.” She got up from her chair and began to walk away, leaving Kazuyuki distraught. But then she stopped. “I’ll try my best next time.”

Before Kazuyuki could lift his head up, like a fleeting whisper in the wind, she had already vanished without a trace. Curiosity tugged at his thoughts as he contemplated the significance of the phrase she had blurted out. Why would she say that? Was she genuinely committed to improve? Perhaps she had acknowledged that she needed to grow out of her shell and challenge herself; she had previously told him that she was, while still hesitant, willing to push beyond her limits. From the little time they had been friends, he knew that she struggled to convey her emotions, and he wanted to refrain from pressuring them to engage with others, but was it possible that during lunch, deep down, she yearned to express her feelings, but faltered due to the fact that she couldn’t find the words to convey them? Despite her lack of communication, he was determined to help her make more friends.

For their second attempt, Daisuke began talking about a famous anime that had recently been released. Kazuyuki noticed the girl’s eyes light up after she heard the name of the anime.

“You watched it as well?” She excitedly said

“Yeah. Did you?”

She nodded enthusiastically.

For the first time, the two spoke to each other, with the girl replying with more than one word. They talked about their favourite character, their favourite arc, and their favourite insert songs in the series. As the lively conversation continued, a pang of loneliness enveloped Kazuyuki. He felt like an outsider, a silent spectator of two people talking about an anime he had not watched. Yet he was happy.

Fuyumi pulled out a small bottle of hand sanitiser. Kazuyuki had noticed that every once in a while, she would take it out and clean her hands. With a thoughtful gesture, she extended her hand, offering some to him, which he gladly accepted. She then offered some to Daisuke, who examined the liquid in his hand.

“Do you two ever just wonder what different hand sanitiser taste like?”

Daisuke was known to ask ridiculous questions, so it did not surprise Kazuyuki. On the other hand, Fuyumi had a bewildered look on her face.

“Why would you think about that?”

“I don’t know. I just get curious about stuff like this.”

Fuyumi looked at Kazuyuki; she had that type of expression when one could not believe what they had just heard and needed someone to explain what they had just heard. With their eyes making contact, the two couldn’t help but laugh.

“Why are you two laughing? It’s a genuine question.”

They continued to laugh; their shared amusement created an unspoken connection, and it had become a symphony of happiness.

“I’m going to taste it.”

The two realised he was serious, and before they could stop him, curiosity got the best of him, and he impulsively licked some of it off of his hand. In an instant, their faces contorted in a mix of amusement and concern.

“Why would you eat it?” She scolded him.

“I wanted to see what it tasted like.”

“You idiot!” She swiped the hand sanitiser bottle from him.

“You’re going to get sick from it.”

“I won’t. I’ve tried multiple hand sanitiser before.”

Now their expressions were just pure concern.

“You’re going to regret it later.”

As expected, during class, Kazuyuki could clearly see that Daisuke wasn’t doing well.

Daisuke raised his hand and asked the teacher, “Sensei, could I go to the toilet?”

Kazuyuki watched as his friend dragged himself across the classroom, clenching his stomach. Both he and Fuyumi looked at each other, concerned for him. Time passed, and Daisuke was nowhere to be seen. Managing to convince the teacher to let him check on his friend, Kazuyuki went to the toilets. It was completely silent.

“Daisuke?”

He cautiously stepped into the toilets, a sense of unease settling upon him like a shroud. Each footstep echoed ominously, the hollow sound resonating in the deafening silence. There was no sign of life. An unpleasant sound creeped into his ear, causing him to focus on a particular cubicle. The door was shut. He slowly approached it, terrified by what he would find behind it. As he opened the door, he could see the bent shadow of a figure on the wall of the cubicle. Mustering up the courage, he finished opening the door and found his friend face first in the toilet bowl, covered in his own puke.

“Daisuke!”

When he returned to class, he didn’t speak a single word. Fuyumi turned around and saw his petrified face. She soon realised why he looked like this when they went to see Daisuke in the nurse’s office.

“I’ve called his parents already to come pick him up.” The nurse said

Kazuyuki could not help but remember what he had seen in the toilet. It was like he had come across a murder scene.

“Is he always like this?” Fuyumi asked

“Yeah. He’s a big idiot, but he’s a good friend.”

“He is very funny.” When she said this, she couldn’t help but chuckle.

Kazuyuki smiled at the sight of her chuckling; today was the first time he had seen her genuinely laugh.

“I’ll wait for his parents to come. You can go home.”

“Okay.” She picked up her bag. “See you.” 

As she began to depart, a collection of words began to swell in his mouth, desperate to come out. Without noticing, he called out to her. “Satō-san!”

She turned around when she heard her name being called. Time froze once again, the atmosphere adapting to the situation. The words that he wanted to say disappeared. There seemed to be a pattern whenever they made eye contact; her gentle eyes would always cause him to forget everything that was on his mind.

“Yeah?”

“N-nothing.”

As his friend exited the room, a mixture of longing and frustration filled his heart. There was a lingering feeling that he had something important to say to her. When he thought that she had already left, he heard his name being called out. He turned around to see Fuyumi peeking around the corner of the door.

“I had a lot of fun today.”

A warm red glow spread across his face when he heard those words. A fluttering feeling engulfed his heart when he heard the genuine glee in his friend’s voice. In that moment, his own happiness multiplied, and he knew that today’s incident would become a monumental memory.

A hilarious memory that was etched into their minds, the hand sanitiser incident would become an instant inside joke that the three would joke about later in their lives.