CHAPTER 3 - NEW FRIEND?

He rests on a small navy blue barstool and starts to slurp his noodles in relaxation. He feels energized, like he got a power-up. As he swallows his lunch, he watches the downpour outside, he remembers about his ability to see things above people's heads. He peeks over to see the cashier, checking the words above his head.

"Confused feelings toward a special person?"

That's the label on top of the cashier, a special person? Who?

"Probably some girl." Yukito scoffs.

The cashier notices Yukito staring and tilts his head expressing the question, "What's up? Why are you looking at me like that? Do you need something?" Yukito didn't realize the facial expression he had been putting on, Yukito's face was showing a hint of curiousity. He turns away in a hurry, hoping the cashier doesn't notice his little idiosyncrasies about the floating texts. Yukito continues to slurp his noodles, trying to ignore the words above the cashier's head. However, while he was busy eating, the cashier suddenly pops up behind his back startling him,

(Cough cough! Gasps)

"Ack! What the heck man?! (cough) You scared me!" Yukito yelled,

"Sorry, are you okay? I didn't mean to surprise you, I just wanted to talk to you! You were staring at me for so long I thought you needed my help or something?"

"Oh great, he's one of those nosy extroverted golden retriever type of people. What does he want now?" Yukito thought to himself,

"So? What do you want?"

"Well, since there's a storm outside and we're the only people here, I thought we could get to know each other! I mean, I'm really bored. There's literally nothing to do! Anyways-"

"There he goes, talking like a chatterbox, when is he gonna stop?"

"-My name is Satoyoshi! Sato as in village and Yoshi as in fortune. Well that's my family name but you can call me Taiyo! Tai as in big or great because I'm a great person with a big heart haha! And Yo as in the sun, what's your name?"

"Yukito Aikawa."

"Yukito huh? Too long! I'll just call you Yuki-chan!"

"I'm not your pet and we're not even close. Don't call me that." Yukito responded with a disgusted look on his face,

"So cold~! Fine, I'll just call you Yuki!"

"Seriously, this guy is acting way too friendly! First name basis already?! That's way too quick." Yukito dislikes people who are too buddy-buddy with him, but not until hatred since people like that usually helps Yukito in conversations.

Taiyo Satoyoshi seems like a person who would go to parties and social events even if he's not invited. His hair is blonde, medium length, and wavy, he has 3 piercings on his left ear, hazel-colored almond eyes, and dimples on the corners of his mouth. He's technically a human version of a golden retriever.

"Yuki! What school do you go to?"

Wonderful, here starts the basic conversations. Yukito hates conversations like this because he doesn't like talking about himself. Usually he would avoid it by asking the person the same question before answering or just change the topic.

"Uhm, uh, actually- What about you Satoyoshi-kun? What school do you go to?"

"Hm? Me? I go to Ueno Gakuen High School, it's pretty far from here. That's why I always wake up at 4 in the morning so I can arrive on time! And didn't I tell you to just call me Taiyo?"

"Right..."

"Hey! Yuki, you haven't told me which school you go to!"

"Dang it, he noticed." Yukito grunts in his mind,

"Ahahah... Well.. I don't really like talking about myself... Can we just skip this question?"

Taiyo stares at Yukito with an innocent look on his face,

"But- I wanna get to know you better! We're friends aren't we?"

"Geh- This guy really doesn't know when to stop."

"F-Fine. I go to Zanbori-Fuchi Koukousei High School." He mumbled,

"Zanbori? Ah! Zanbori!! Yeah I know that school! One of my friends go there."

"R-Really..? Haha... They probably don't know me and I probably don't know them. There are a lot of students after all!" Yukito awkwardly smiles, hoping he doesn't know Taiyo's friend. That way, Taiyo won't be able to ask his friend anything about Yukito.

"My friend's name is Daisuke Ichikawa! He's a master at playing football, his name is the same as a popular football player too haha! He's pretty famous at school, you should probably know him! He's also in the student council."

"Of course it had to be him. Daisuke Ichikawa, vice president of the student council in Zanbori-Fuchi Koukousei... And I was the president. What a small world. This is too cruel for me. He's technically the closest person to me at school since we had to organize a lot of events together, he probably knows about the reason why I don't go to school anymore. Just awesome." Yukito starts to panic, he then asks,

"Well, ha-has your friend told you anything about the student council p-president..?"

"The student council president? Hmm... I don't think so!"

*Phew*

Yukito sighs in relief,

"Maybe I'll ask him later!"

"WHAT?! NO!" Yukito shouted.

Everything suddenly went quiet, only the pitter-patter of raindrops and the gurgling of refrigerators can be heard. Taiyo flinched at Yukito's yell and he gave Yukito a perplexed look. Yukito didn't mean to shout so loudly, he was just surprised and scared that Taiyo would learn about his past. Yukito clears his throat,

(Ahem)

"I-I mean, you don't need to ask him! Just ask me! I know a lot of stuff about the school's student council! I probably know way more than him... You know?"

"Oh, that's what you meant! Haha, I thought I said something wrong there but turns out you just wanted to be the one to tell me about those stuff!" Taiyo laughed,

"Yes! Of course that was what I meant." Yukito lets out an awkward laugh.

He is really scared if someone finds out about his past.

***

An hour went by and it is still raining heavily outside. Yukito and Taiyo passes the time talking about a lot of things. Well, Taiyo's the one who mainly talks. Yukito just listens to Taiyo's jibber-jabber, he doesn't really enjoy talking. He has always been like that ever since he was a child. It's been so long since Yukito has talked cheerfully with someone. They both slowly got to know each other better and turns out, Taiyo is actually in a band.

"Oh, well that explains the piercings you got. And your hair..."

"No, no, my hair is not dyed! I'm half American! My mom is from California and my Dad is from Ueno."

"That's cool. Wait, I just realized something. If your dad is from Ueno and your school is at Ueno, why are you here? Musashimurayama is so far away from Ueno!"

"I actually live here with my grandma! My parents already passed away, they died when I was in middle school... But no worries! My grandma is the one who takes care of me now. She's the only relative who took me in, I've already gotten used to it. I work here to earn money, I want to help my grandma even just a little bit. I feel bad if she had to take care of everything by herself for me."

"Oh, I.. didn't expect that answer. I'm so sorry for your loss..."

"I guess we both have one thing in common," Yukito whispered,

"Anyways! No more depressing stuff! Let's go back to talking about my band."

"Ah alright, what do you play?"

"I play the electric guitar! Pretty awesome right?"

Yukito's eyes bulged, the word guitar reminded Yukito of his past. He doesn't like guitar at all, actually, it's his most hated instrument. He's fine with any other instruments but the guitar? He despises it. Not because it's hard to play or anything like that, but because it makes him return back to his past. He wants to forget the bad memories so badly yet it always reaches him again somehow.

"You should come see us play sometime! I promise you, it will be worth it!"

"Oh, uh, sure."

"What about you Yuki? What are you good at? Do you play any instruments?"

"Uhm, I don't really like playing instruments... But I'm good at math and science?"

"Man, I suck at math and science! You must be a genius huh?"

"Not at all, I'm far from genius." Yukito chuckles,

The conversation stops, they both examine the view outside, and at last, the rain eased. The clouds start to disappear, revealing the shining sun. After hours of talking inside the minimarket, the two teenage boys finally have to part ways,

"Well, it was nice meeting you Taiyo."

"You too Yuki! I had tons of fun talking with you!" Taiyo grins brightly,

Yukito gives him a soft smile, he gets up, grabs his remaining ramen cups, his "mother's" broken umbrella, and just as he was about to head towards the exit,

"WAIT!"

Yukito turns around to see Taiyo, holding a piece of paper,

"Here! The address and time for my band performance. You better watch us perform okay? I'll show you the most epic guitar playing skills you've ever seen in your whole entire life!"

At first, Yukito seemed hesitant to accept Taiyo's invitation. But after some reconsideration, he accepts it. Taiyo looked like a dog with two tails when Yukito accepted his offer. Yukito leaves the minimarket giggling, he thought about how funny Taiyo looked,

"Guess I really will have to come huh? I can't go turning his smile upside down haha!"

On his way home, he thinks about the words on top of Taiyo's head earlier. The puzzle pieces are coming together.

"Those transparent floating texts... They show me the problems people have, well I guess we need to venture more to make sure. I guess it wasn't that bad talking to other people. Ah- wait a second, don't tell me I have to encounter more human beings to be able to understand more about my ability..?" Yukito grumbles.

He finally arrives home, and in an instant, he runs upstairs to his bedroom. He plops down on his bed,

"What a tiring day..."

He couldn't believe he had made a new friend. After all that has happened to him, he never imagined he could ever befriend another person again. 

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