The Best Friends I Could Ever Ask For

There was an anime about corruption, social status, and betrayal that had recently been released in Japan. It was the biggest anime in the country at the moment, and everyone was talking about it. Even Fuyumi and Daisuke were having extended conversations about it.

Kazuyuki had no idea what they were talking about.

He didn’t really watch anime unless Daisuke recommended it, or, for lack of a better term, forced him to watch it. But after watching the two have detailed conversations about the themes and messages of the show, he couldn’t help but feel left out.

Later that night, he turned on the TV and watched all the episodes that had been released. His eyes were so glued to the TV that his mother warned him that he would go blind.

Now that he had watched it, all he could talk about for the next few days was the show. He was able to contribute to his friends’ discussions. This was the first series that he was deeply interested in. Even Sanderson-sensei had watched it, and they would have long conversations about it and other shows after school.

There was a time when Daisuke told Kazuyuki that he would wait for him to finish with club activities so they could walk home together, but when Kazuyuki went to meet up with him, he wasn’t there. Left confused, Kazuyuki tried calling him, but he didn’t answer. That was when Fuyumi appeared behind him.

“Sano-san? I thought you had already left.”

“Yeah. I was supposed to meet Daisuke here, which is why I left the club early, but I can’t seem to find him.”

“That’s odd. Ueno-san asked me to meet him here as well.”

“Why?”

“I’m not sure. He said to come pick him up after school.”

“He literally said the same thing to me.”

“What are we, his parents?” She chuckled to herself but stopped after realising she had said something embarrassing.

“We kinda are. He’s always doing stupid things, and we always have to take care of him.”

“Yeah.”

“I guess I’ll wait a bit and see if he appears.”

Fuyumi suddenly sat down next to him.

“What are you doing?”

“I’ll wait for him with you.”

Was this a miracle? Inside the empty school, he was sitting alone with Fuyumi. He expected her to leave anytime now, but she stayed by his side.

Ten minutes had passed, and Daisuke was nowhere to be seen. It had also begun to rain heavily.

“It’s raining really hard, huh?”

“Yeah.”

Kazuyuki took his umbrella out.

“Do you have one?”

“I didn’t bring mine today.”

“Ah. Then why don’t we share?”

“I-I don’t know.” She stuttered.

“You’re small. You’ll fit in fine.”

“Hey!”

“Sorry, sorry.” He opened the umbrella and asked, “Shall we go?”

It seemed like miracles were happening one after the other. Under the umbrella, Fuyumi was walking beside him. However, she was keeping her distance.

“You can come closer.”

“I’m fine.”

When they made it to the crossing, the rain had intensified.

“I’m going this way,” said Fuyumi.

“Ah, I’m going this way.”

They were now going their separate ways, but Kazuyuki did not want it to end. Furthermore, there was a small predicament: only one of them could take the umbrella. Feeling bad for having her stay behind with him earlier, Kazuyuki handed his umbrella to her and ran out into the pouring rain.

“Sano-san!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine!”

He ran away, leaving Fuyumi alone with the umbrella.

By the time he arrived home, he was soaking wet.

“I’m home!”

Kazuyuki’s mum walked out of the living room. “Welcome ho- Kaz-chan, what happened? Where’s your umbrella?”

“I let a friend borrow it.”

“But now you’re soaking wet. You’ll get sick. I’ll go prepare the bath for you.”

“That would be nice.”

As his mother predicted, the next day, Kazuyuki had to stay at home due to a cold. He usually wouldn’t mind being ill since it meant he could skip school, but now he was enjoying being at school, so he was glum that he couldn’t attend.

For the entire day, he laid down in bed, using his phone. He had been awaiting a message from any of his friends, but none of them sent one. This made him even more depressed than he originally was. He felt lonely.

To his surprise, however, later that night, he got a call from Daisuke.

“Hello?”

“Kazuyuki, look outside your house,” he said in a creepy voice.

“Huh?”

“Look outside your house.”

“Wait, are you…” He peeked out his window to see Daisuke and Nori standing outside his house. “What are you all doing here?”

“We came to say hello.” Nori said

The sight of his friends warmed him up and made him feel better.

The next day, he was all alone at home, but Ami came over and tended to his needs. She cooked a delicious meal for him and fed him despite his reluctance. She also did some of the chores he would usually do.

“Thank you, Ichikawa-senpai.”

“No problem.”

The day after, there was a ring at the bell. He heard his mother opening the door and a faint yet familiar voice talking to her. The visitor approached his bedroom door.

“Kazuyuki, can I come in?”

“Yes.”

Kaede entered, which caught him by surprise.

“Kaede? What are you doing here?”

“I came to see you, of course.” She took out some medicine. “Here, take this.”

“Thanks.” He accepted the medicine.

“Have you eaten yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Good.” She took out a bag of food and opened it. Taking a scoop from it, she offered it to Kazuyuki. “Here. Open wide.”

He was hesitant to let her feed him, but he couldn’t refuse and ate the food.

“Why are you doing this, may I ask?”

“You helped me when I wasn’t feeling well, so I wanted to return the favour,” she replied while applying a new cold compress to his head.

Kazuyuki was happy that his friends were doing their best to look after him, but he couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed that a particular person hadn’t come to see him. He realised that she didn’t know where he lived, but she could have at least texted him.

“Oh, this is for you.”

Kaede handed him the umbrella that he had given to Fuyumi. It had a note addressed to him attached to it. He opened it and read it. “This is really old-fashioned.” He thought.

“Thank you for offering me your umbrella. I hope you get well soon.

Satō Fuyumi.”

Although it was short and simple, Kazuyuki couldn’t help but smile at the idea that Fuyumi was worried about his well-being.

“Satō Fuyumi. You are something else.”