Home Visit (pt. 3)

Surprisingly, the next couple hours are relatively uneventful. With Yan having somewhat forgiven Crystal earlier, the two of them are now just sitting on the sofa and going through episode one of multiple different anime. As for why, Yan didn’t know the reason, just that with Crystal controlling the remote, they’ve jumped through at least five different shows at this point, each of them something he’s never watched.

Alas, it’s already pretty late in the afternoon at this point, and just like any other hangout, people eventually separate to go back to their individual lives. With the anime episode nearing its end, it’s also Yan’s cue to leave. A chaotic day, but a pretty fun day. Not bad for his otherwise monotone life.

‘Um… ’ He tries to say Crystal’s name, but for some reason, the word gets stuck in his mouth. It almost always happens, even when trying to call for his closest friends at school.

Dammit, why is saying someone’s name this hard?

‘Yeah?’ Crystal turns her head, noticing he’s speaking, thankfully.

‘I think… I needa leave now, sorry.’

‘Oh, that’s fine,’ she says, albeit with a bit of disappointment in her voice. ‘You said you needed to leave before dinner, right?’

‘Yeah.’ He stands, his legs wobbling for a bit before they remember how to support his body once again.

‘Oh yeah, dude, you should really watch the rest of this after you go back,’ Crystal cheerfully says as the ending song begins to play. ‘One of the best I watched this year.’

‘You said that for the last three shows.’

‘Then you should watch all three!’ she grins.

‘Sure… I guess?’ he responds half-heartedly. It’s perfectly possible he can binge through all three of them next week given his extremely free schedule, but at the same time, who knows what event his parents will suddenly throw at him? Or what if he suddenly has a lot of work to do? Or maybe he just wastes his time on social media like always?

In the end, they’re all excuses. He doesn’t really want to watch them, even if they are pretty cool. Not that he’ll tell her in her face, of course. He can’t risk another mood flip from her.

‘Oh yeah, by the way, you got any recommendations for me?’ she suddenly asks, changing the topic. ‘Manga, anime, anything fictional really.’

Did she notice my lack of interest at her shows? ‘Uh, I don’t know… What genres you like?’

‘Hm…’ She appears to be deep in thought. ‘Romance? Action? Fantasy? I really don’t mind. Maybe your favourite?’

‘Let me think…’ One story comes to mind. He might be a somewhat avid manga reader, but his favourite is a light novel. It’s not exactly child-friendly, but it’s something that’s been firmly his no. 1 for a good amount of time now. The beautiful illustrations, the worldbuilding, the cool mechs… Oh, and the usual masterful storyline and incredibly well-written characters. It’s sci-fi, an area where he has not much expertise on, but also warfare, an area he has maybe a little too much interest in. If not for his brother’s recommendation, he might’ve completely missed it. Instead, it now possesses a special place in his heart, allowing to release almost every single emotion in his capacity. When he’s alone, of course. His parents certainly do not need to see him crying over 2D children. Especially not when he hasn’t cried in front of them in years.

‘... Orphans of the Imaginary War, I guess,’ he says.

‘Ooh, what’s it about?’

‘Uh, it’s a sci-fi light novel that got adapted into an anime.’

‘Wait, SCI-FI?’ Crystal’s eyes light up in anticipation.

‘It’s really, really amazing!’ he exclaims, matching her excitement with his own.

‘Tell me more!’

‘So in the world there’s these people called the Shiro. They’ve been fighting an endless zombie robot invasion from a collapsed former superpower for years and years now, with the war seemingly nearing its end. The Shiro made their own mechs to fight against those robots, but they’re actually all piloted by non-Shiro people the Shiro enslaved during the onset of the war. Those are the Orphans, and the story focuses on a group of elites called Lance and led by a person called Thanatos. Well, that’s actually his call sign, but anyway, the way in which the anime depicts the suffering, the unfairness, the perseverance even in the state of hopelessness the protagonists are in are delivered so beautifully…’

He’s rambling. He knows he’s rambling. His mouth, usually so restrained and controlled, has finally been freed. Crystal has made a serious mistake in letting him talk about this topic. It’s one thing if she also knows about the topic and is passionate about it, as he will just listen instead. However, this is something she has zero knowledge in, something Yan just so desperately wants to share with her. The flood of words pour out as if a dam has been released inside his mouth. His hands move fervently, gesturing to random spaces as if to prove the fact that he has gone mad with his passion. He doesn’t even notice her expression or reaction, only going on and on in his own world. He’s speaking so fast, but he doesn’t care. All he wants is for her to realise just how much he loves this story.

Given the right topic, he will go absolutely crazy over it.

‘... You should really, REALLY read it. Just… mwah, chef’s kiss.’ He finally ends his trance, tears fogging up at his eyes from the excitement. He looks at Crystal with a wide childish grin, panting heavily as if he’s recovering from a full-blown workout.

‘... Oh, wow,’ Crystal says, completely stunned at his rant. ‘I’ll probably not read the light novel, but will definitely watch the anime later myself!’

‘Nice!’

It’s as if their personalities have reversed. Yan with the mouth that doesn’t really know when to shut up, Crystal the one just patiently, quietly listening, not really knowing when to chime in with her thoughts.

‘Oh, um, by the way, when do you need to head back?’ Crystal asks.

Yan looks at his phone, suddenly realising the time. 6:28 pm.

‘Oh right, I really needa go now!’ He grabs his bag and quickly walks to the door, putting on his shoes and opening the door in a nearly continuous set of movements. It’s not that he’s in a rush, but the adrenaline from earlier still hasn’t subsided, his mouth still moving on its own and mumbling inaudible sounds.

‘Dude, take your time!’ She reminds him. ‘I can also walk you outside if you want.’

‘No, it’s fine.’ He heads out the corridor. ‘See you later then!’

‘See ya! I’ll close the door!’

With that, the hangout is over.

Yan rushes down the stairs and exits the building on a high. Sure, it’s been a really chaotic day, but he’s managed to pitch his favourite story to another person—

His sanity returns to him.

Oh. I talked way too much there.

He didn’t intend for Crystal, someone who’s little more than a friend, to see that side of him. And her face before he left… It wasn’t just confusion. There was also a bit of annoyance, impatience, and thinly veiled boredom over his rambling.

He doesn’t blame her. It happens. It already happened when he excitedly explained the things he saw at school on his first day to his parents back when he was 6. It happened when he learned about the brutal unification of China and explained it step by step with all the politics to his uncle who was busy doing calligraphy. It happened when he dove into the rules of a stupidly complicated board game and attempted to drag his siblings to play with him for three whole hours.

He doesn’t really ramble that much now. It bothers people after a few minutes, after all. There’s only a very select few individuals who can actually handle his passionate monologues, those all being people who share a similarly deep passion to the same topic he’s rambling about. He’s not sure if Crystal is one of them, even when she seems so enthusiastic and talks a lot about her interests. Or pretty much anything for that matter.

I really hope I didn’t freak her out or something. He sighs, thinking of Crystal’s final expressions again.

By the time he enters his home, all that excitement earlier has been washed away as Yan returns to his usual self. Taking a seat at the dinner table and immediately getting interrogated by his parents, he only responds in his usual manner of simple words and phrases, keeping them in the dark about the details of the day’s events.