V2 - Nara, Shouko, & Katsumi's Apartment: Part One

Katsumi relegated himself to his room. His room was veiled in darkness even though it was only late afternoon due to shut blinds and no lights. He lay on his back mindlessly scrolling some social media app.

For a second two female voices got annoyingly loud then quickly quieted down. Those two voices were the reason for him trapping himself in his room. The source of the voices was Nara and Shouko. The latter of which had come over after her classes let out to hangout with Nara.

He rolled onto his side, and as he did, the phone slipped out of his hand. His hand remained hovering in the same position, holding nothing.

A sigh escaped his mouth.

I’m almost at the point of doing extra studying…

His eyes brought the empty hand into focus.

What’s the point?

Thin walls didn’t provide any insulation from Nara and Shouko’s noise. The two girls weren’t doing anything wrong per-say, but Katsumi preferred people being quiet.

His stomach rumbled.

I don’t wanna cook… And there’s nothing in the apartment…

He turned back over and was looking at the ceiling again

A minute passed.

Then another.

And five more passed.

The talking was almost soothing at one point—it was consistent. Acting as a sort of reminder that there are people nearby. Kind of like a white noise people would fall asleep to. Actually, in this context that’s a little creepy.

Katsumi sat up.

I’m gonna go out and eat something… Why not?

He took a moment to change into something that was presentable. Something decent enough so that he wouldn’t be mistaken for a homeless person.

Occupying the couch was Nara and Shouko. They’d spread out a bunch of beauty products across the small living room table and were chatting incessantly. For a moment Katsumi tried to listen in just out of curiosity as he passed by but realized he couldn’t possibly care less.

He stopped in the kitchen for a glass of water before heading out when Shouko called his name.

“Hey, Katsumi.”

“Huh?”

“Where’re you goin’?”
“I think I’m gonna go get something to eat.”

“Oh, alright—” She paused in a way as if she had something more to say.

Nara nudged her.

“You know Tahashi in my year, right?” She kept talking, not giving him time to answer, “It’s like cool if he comes over, right?”

Unlike most of his other friends, Shouko was also a university student. However, she still felt more in line with those older friends because she was a third year.
Katsumi’s honest feeling was he’d rather everyone leave his apartment and no one come over. But for whatever reason, a part of him felt like a push-over today. “Yeah, sure, I don’t really care.”

“Seriously? Thanks,” Shouko responded, sounding surprised.

Katsumi waved to the two as he slipped on his shoes and stepped out the front door.

The air was humid, as if it was sticking to his skin and weighing down all around him. It was a familiar feeling, but one he couldn’t get used to.

Do I just get something quick and cheap?

He stood at the crosswalk with his hands jammed into his pockets, waiting for the signal to turn green.

With Tahashi coming over, Katsumi expected to not be able to return for a few hours… More realistically, probably all night. That being said, he had a decent chunk of time to kill.

It took about ten minutes of walking until Kashiwanoha Campus station soon came into view. The foot-traffic wasn’t bad at all because of the odd time he was there. But nonetheless, it was still busy most times of the day.

The ticket gate beeped and the small gate swung open. Only a few short minutes passed and the train slid into the station.

Katsumi boarded the train. This line was unfortunately on the Tsukuba Express line, meaning that it did not directly connect with Kashiwa’s downtown station. As that station was on the JR Joban line.

This meant that someone, Katsumi, would have to board at Kashiwanoha station and ride south to Minami-Kashiwa station. From there, that line connects to the JR Joban and downtown Kashiwa.

While sounding tedious, it was a very short trip, being only fifteen to twenty minutes in total.

But why was he going through all of that when he lived in the Kashiwanoha Park City Campus? A place that had plenty of places to eat and kill some time. Well, he didn’t know either. It was only after walking out onto the busy downtown street that Katsumi realized he autopilot-ed there.

At an intersection, the corner building was a McDonalds. Not just any one though, it was two stories with a massive glass front that showed the entire interior.

It’s crazy… So many people fall for this marketing. There’s nothing special about it other than the building. I’ll admit, it looks cool, but it’s still McDonalds. It would be the same if you ate at the worst looking one.
Katsumi gazed inside to scattered groups of people ranging from teenagers to the elderly.
I’m not stupid enough to fall for marketing like that.

The crosswalk light turned to a blue man and everyone at the corner began filing across the street. Katsumi remained still though.