Intersections and Normality

Cold. It was cold. The feeling in the room was overwhelmingly icy. I was cowering in my duvet, trying to combat and push out the chills. Although, it appeared my technique to insulate had failed. It looked like I was dancing under the sheets. It made no sense. We were now in mid-April. Surely some warmth should come in, now? I checked my phone. 9°C? Okay… I’m sure I’ll warm up.

I went downstairs to greet my onee-san. She has been doing a lot of housework recently, but no longer now our parents are back to their regular schedule. Japanese working culture, huh. A shining example for all the world to replicate. Yumi-nee was also going to leave on Wednesday, on a quick train to Tokyo.

My room was messy. I could describe it simply like that. However, the honest truth was that it was akin to a superfund site. Not suitable for life. There were three bags that piled up on the door. My EXO posters had their adhesive slowly decay, and now two out of three were on the floor. That’s right. I bought more. Believe me when I say I don’t care if I listen to ‘girly’ music. Why should I be so insecure over that? My laptop was still running. I looked at the search bar. It read FAN-

Okay. I closed the tab immediately. Looking at the door, it appears to have been in the same position since I fell asleep. That means no one saw the contents. Sadly, I liked to leave my laptop running indefinitely with no sleep mode. I’m sure that’s going to bite me one day, but I don’t care.

Come to think of it, I have PE today. It’s Monday. And it’s soccer day. Our class is twinned with Class C. Actually, we were tripleted with Class A too. Yep. I just made that word up. Soon, you’ll see it in a dictionary in a bookstore near you.

But alas, I just cannot. My condition is too weak. What is sport, but a way to get the masses to accept the dagger inserted in them? Bread and circuses. That’s my true opinion on sport. It’s nothing more than a mere distraction from the truths of reality that nothing matters. Although, well, I actually like sports. Yes, I think it’s a distraction, but I also love soccer and baseball. I even have a Samurai Blue jersey. So, if I think it matters, then it does matter.

I begged all the mitochondria in the world to produce an extremely high amount of ATP. At least something stuck from biology. It didn’t work. According to my philosophy, all particles should have consciousness, so maybe they exerted their free will to not do that. Yeah. That’s a good reason. No need for the scientific method now.

Nothing worked anymore for god’s sake! Except for my breathing, my thinking skills, both fine and gross motor skills and practically everything. So yeah, nothing did work.

I struggled going down the stairs.

In a polite manner, I took my seat. In front of me were my two parents. They were not distant, and they were certainly loving, but they were always working or away from the household. As you ascertain, they traded their time for a decent amount of money. Would I pick that? I’m not sure. My older sister was self-sufficient and was essentially my third parent. She’s definitely a few years older than me. Yeah, I know. It’s a bit embarrassing that I don’t know how old she is.

“How are you Honzo?” My stiff upper-lipped father spoke up. He had a few lines on his forehead. He didn’t particularly age well in comparison to people who shared his birth year. Lightly, he held his spoon and pointed at me. “You were outside on Sunday for a few hours, Yumi mentioned to us.”

I felt a ball curl in my throat.

“Um, yeah. I was with the culture club. Kazumi-senpai invited me.”

“Oh so, you’re a part of a club now? That’s good. A bit of a pleasant surprise, good on you.”

My father seemed a bit disconnected. I certainly didn’t blame him. The warmth hadn't come yet, so of course I’d be a bit direct. To no one’s surprise, the conversation was still as cold as the temperature. This was how it was in our family. We still loved each other, but things haven’t been the same since I reached high school. Same time, my parents picked up more work.

Shortly after, my mother spoke up. She had a bit of rice in her mouth. At least she kept up some resemblance of friendliness.

“As long as you’re doing fine, Honzo, that’s all us two ever wanted.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

My father put more rice on my plate.

“Eat more Honzo. You’re skinny and it’s a PE day.”

My father may seem cold, but he was thoughtful and loving in his own way. As for Yumi-nee? She was enjoying her egg, fish, and rice. Two proteins! I guess I’ll see her as a bodybuilder soon.

I was the first to leave. As quickly as one can, I sprinted up the stairs and entered the bathroom to shower. The PE kit and backpack were already there, plus my school uniform. Personally, I didn’t like duffel bags or messenger bags. Nor did I like pouches. A backpack is simple. It does the job. Utility.

Sometime later, it was time to walk to school. On my own.

~~~

I kept yawning mid-walk. It appears I did not sleep well. Let’s fire up something in my brain. I then pictured a 3D structure of a ball. Next, I converted that ball into another smaller ball. Imaginative. Yeah, that result is more than enough to confirm that I’m still clearly tired.

Wait.

Is that… is that Azumi Shibuya? Next to Mai Ohara? From a distance, they looked like a married couple! That’s kind of cute. Alright, I’ve recovered all my energy and skills. Today is a new day! One ripe with opportunity! Money, friendship, and love! Anything is possible, you just have to take it by surprise! Yeah… I can’t lie to myself anymore without getting angry. Moribund thinking. I am fully aware I’ve made up another term. Maybe I should have a glossary? By the way, I don’t know what moribund thinking really means. I just assumed it was negative. Deathly, maybe?

Shibuya-san gave me a light smile. She must’ve seen me on the other side of this cursed boulevard. Stupid urban planners. Why so car-centric? All it does is lead to children getting by cars. Suburbia is cursed.

Let’s just put that thought away. Instead, here’s this one. I do not deserve to call Shibuya-sama her given name. Saint A**mi. Just ignore that I had already said her given name earlier.

I then crossed the road. With a quick glance towards the two, one could easily notice the obvious aside. Mai-pie whispered in her ear. That was a nickname Kenji gave to her in middle school. Nostalgia strikes. Sometimes old memories like to appear out of prompt.

“Hi Fukaze-san.” Shibuya spoke first.

I had barely even finished crossing. It was a normal conversational tone. Mai then suddenly kept her distance between us. Clearly, she’s picked her ship. Internally, I think I agree.

Azumi Shibuya. She didn’t go to my middle school, so it’s pretty crazy how quickly she and Mai became best friends. They clicked. Not just two peas in a pod. More like the x and y chromosomes. Too niche? I wouldn’t say so but okay, two tires in a forward-wheel drive. Is that okay?

Everything about her was normal. I’m going to repeat it three times. Normal, normal, and normal. There’s a phenomenon I’ve heard. I’m not sure about the actual name, sorry to say. It states that people with average everything, such as face, nose, and other characteristics, will always be conventionally attractive. Shibuya fit that to a T. Perfect example. The only thing I’d say was different about her, was the way she styled her hair. It was night black. Short-cut bangs. The curtains really were beautiful on her. Shibuya’s eyes were dark brown. As a matter of fact, it’s genuinely hard to compare her to anything. Do you remember what I said about Mai being the next-door girl type? Scratch that and throw that description in the bin. It’s really only applicable to Shibuya.

In actuality, the contrast between the two was yin and yang. Water and fire. Me and a healthy outlook on life. And yet, it worked. It would be the most unsurprising and dullest moment if I found out they were dating. Although, I don’t think so. Mai keeps pushing her onto me.

I don’t mind. There’s also another thing that is exceptional about her. Although, I’m not willing to say it directly. It’s a bit objectifying. The gluteus maximus. It’s the heaviest muscle in the body! And one could say it was larger than average on her.

Too weird? I don’t disagree. We were more like colleagues than friends too. Rarely did we speak, so I’m just going to stop.

Rather, I now had to come up with a plan to actually continue conversating. Sadly, me and myself are nothing in unison. When are we ever?

“Hello, Shibuya-san.”

I said it with such deadpan emotion. How is anyone going to continue the conversation? I’ve killed it! Someone put me against a jury and judge so they can sentence me to prison!

Shibuya-san replied. She spoke in a very formal, but gentle tone.

“How was your weekend?”

Next, I kept blundering in my speech. Errs and bumbles.

“I… you know… well I… I joined a school club called the Culture & Travel Club…”

I gave a deep pause to collect myself. Mai looked like she was holding back laughter, meanwhile, Shibuya was still candid, looking at me. Waiting for me to finish. So that’s what I did.

“And on Sunday, the club had to… volunteer at… some kind of community event… we helped out Japanese, I mean immigrants with speaking Japanese.”

I finally let it out! Yeah, the way I said it was bumpy and full of pauses, but she got the gist?

“It sounds like you had a busy day, yesterday. Seems like you’re a good person for doing that.” Shibuya gave a weak laugh. I followed through to continue the mood.

Mai jumped in between us. Her arms rested, respectively, on me and Shibuya. With a swift speed, my eyes wandered towards Mai’s hair. It was redyed and it was fresh. More strands of her hair were now lavender-like. It was a deep and fresh type of purple. I hadn’t noticed it in a while, but Mai had pretty big eyes. She turned around and poked her tongue at me. Weird.

She also actually killed the conversation. Replaced it with her own.

“Oh, so you helped people speak Japanese? Not shabby Honzo. Although, I’m afraid to say you need to get your grades in Japanese literature up too. Maybe help yourself?”

The devil herself. Even the same hair colour as the emoji on my phone. I think. I don’t like emojis, unsurprisingly.

“Shut up Maipie. Some people have better things to do?”

I did not shut up the smug Mai. She had now dropped her arms and stopped. Then, she raised her hand and pointed at me.

“How dare you, bad wind! Maipie is gone. Call me Mai! And what better things do you have to do? I don’t know you as well anymore, but you probably still watch YouTube and lament that your life sucks.”

She’s not wrong. It’s painful how little I’ve changed in two or three years.

Mai gave a massive smile. She seemed happy with herself. It was also apparent to everyone that it was a joke. Except for Shibuya, who chastised her for being rude. Even I had to laugh.

“Don’t worry Shibuya. It’s kind of the dynamic we have.” I informed the ever so kind, Shibuya.

“Even if so, I don’t think one should be rude to friends like that.”

Wow. A real-life princess! Are we sure she’s not an issue of the Japanese royal family?

And with that, we were greeted at the Aisaihashi High School gates.