Late Night Gathering

Another week had gone by once again, my routine within Japan was beginning to settle. A sense of normality was within my grasp. Our first university tests had arrived that week, I had made sure to study as hard as possible for them. And it reflected in my results the following days. Hiroshi, on the other end, cried insurmountably for each test. I knew he had forgotten to study, even through my offerings to study together, he brushed me off saying he would find time to study by himself. I speculated as to how Hiroshi was able to make it into the final year of university the way he was. My routine with Misako was becoming set in stone, Mister Mitamo offered to pay me a fee for helping at his work, but I would decline every time, I wanted to repair the watches for free, I needed no compensation. I admit, we hadn’t spoken about the ‘missing-wheelchair’ incident since that day, and I was fine with it being left in the past. I was happy Misako, Hiroshi and I could enjoy our lunch breaks together as well, it gave me hope for normalcy.

“Beers. I need beers.” Hiroshi said.

He paced back and forth in our blue room like a zombie in a movie. I could tell he was exhausted from our week of university.

“You are underage, Hiroshi.” I stated while I continued to read my novel.

“It’s my birthday tomorrow, can’t I just start drinking tonight?” He moaned.

Hiroshi had pestered me about his birthday the entirety of the week, asking me to “invite girls over”. I wondered if he knew the type of guy I was.

“At midnight we can drink. Just wait two more hours.” I said, still reading my book.

Hiroshi fell to the floor on his knees.

“Uwaghhhhhhhh.” He cried.

“Shut up, I’m trying to read.”

“Is Yuta coming over?”

“He’s here, you numbskull. He’s asleep in Misako’s room, it’s late for him.”

“I’m going to wake him up.” Hiroshi said, standing up straight and marching towards our door.

“No. You will not!” I replied, grabbing Hiroshi by the arm.

He turned with a grimace on his face, I had fallen into his trap.

“Ho ho ho, a challenger approaches.” He grumbled.

“Hiroshi, please, no.” I begged.

Without another moment to waste, Hiro grabbed me by the collar. He Jiu Jitsu threw me to the ground in a single move. His attacked caught me by surprise, knocking the air out of my body. Hiroshi proceeded to wrap his legs around my arm, forcing me into a submission hold.

“Okay, okay! You win!” I gulped.

Hiroshi unlatched me like an alligator, he reveled in his victory.

Then, a phone call sounded on my phone. I rushed to my bedside to inspect the caller, it was my father.

‘fwip’

“Hello?” I answered.

“David? Can you hear me?” He replied.

“Yep, what’s up, dad?”

“Did you buy new clothes yet?”

“I did, Hiroshi repaid me in full plus extra.”

“I see, well I was cleaning the attic this afternoon. And I found some of your old things up there.”

“I forgot about the attic, what did you find?”

“Some real old stuff, your baby clothes, toys, some books. Do you want me to send you anything from home?”

“I don’t really care about that stuff anymore, dad.”

“Oh yes, you are an adult already…”

I could hear the sadness in my father’s voice, he just wanted to send me some things, I believed he was missing me.

“Uh, dad…”

“Yes?”

“You can send me some…toys and books, keep the baby things with you though.”

I could hear my father become giddy on the other end of the line.

“Alright! I will see what I can send you!”

“Alright dad, then I’ll talk to you later-“

“Before you go, what about your old…what’s it called…a MayStation? You broke your new one, right?”

I furled my brow. I did not recall owning an old MayStation.

“MayStation? Are you sure that’s mine? That’s not my brothers’ things?” I asked.

“No, it must be yours, it has your name written on it. There are a few videogames next to it as well.”

“Videogames…” I said.

Then, my brain clicked. There was a question I had to ask.

“Dad, is there a game called Human-Hunter in that collection?” I asked him.

Moments of rustling went by, my father hard at work looking through the game titles. Then, he returned. I held my breath.

No, sorry. There is no game called Human-Hunter.”

‘Failed attempt’ I thought to myself.

“Uh, sure dad, if you can you can send it with, I want to try some older titles.” I said.

After I ended my call, I noticed Hiroshi waiting patiently on my bed. He had a smirk on his face.

“Let’s go see what Ishihara-san is up to.” He said.

“We are not waking up Yuta. You can stay here while I go check on her.” I said.

Hiroshi clicked his tongue at me, I saw through his plans. I walked down the stairs, heading to Misako’s door. I knocked quietly, as to not awaken Yuta.

“Hello?” Misako asked.

“It’s David.” I whispered.

‘THUD.’

A bang on the floor came from inside the room, I was worried something might have happened to Misako, but I prevented myself from barging in. As the door opened, I saw Misako in her wheelchair, her hair was messy and she was dressed in her nightwear.

“W-what’s up?” She asked.

“Sorry, Hiroshi asked me to check on you.”

“What does that buffoon want?” She spat.

“It’s his birthday at midnight, he wanted to know if you were willing to join us.” I replied.

“Oh, it’s tonight? Sure.”

Misako turned her wheelchair, and I saw Yuta, awake, in front of the television.

“What- is he…doing up so late?” I asked.

“It’s Saturday, I can stay up as late as I want.” Yuta replied as he continued playing his videogames.

“Wanna go see your master?” Misako asked Yuta.

Yuta shot up from the floor, immediately marching out Misako’s door like a soldier. Without another word, he went upstairs to my room.

“You coming with?” I asked Misako.

“U-upstairs?” She replied bashfully.

“Yeah, I’ll carry you up.” I said.

Her cheeks flushed red.

“I’m not dressed properly…” She stuttered.

“Who cares? Let’s go.” I said, giving Misako my hand.

She accepted, and I hoisted her up again. Without making too much noise, we headed up the stairs.

I should refrain from speaking what I saw next, as I caught Missus Takahashi leering at us in the corner of my eye. She did not speak, simply holding her hands to her mouth in awe of my actions.

I rushed up the stairs with my ears fuming with fire.