A Friend's Time 3

The scenery changed every single minute. From small towns to plain old rice fields, it was a sight to behold. Despite the speed they were going, it wasn't going to take long before they reached their destination. Not long before Emi was finally home.

Little by little, more and more, slowly but surely. The train kept going through the tracks, nearing their stop. Emi indulged the moment by staring out the window. The sky was turning bright orange, and the ground was turning dark due to the shadows casted by the mountains blocking the sun. The day was almost coming to an end. Only a day left before school was about to start.

As she savored the moment, her eyes slowly became that of a heavy anvil. It was getting harder to keep up, and the sight in front of her was just increasing the temptation of holding it up. Before she could close her eyes, the train swayed, startling her. It managed to get her up a bit.

Although she was tired, she didn't want to go to sleep just yet. After all, this is the part where all the fun begins. Emi could see him again after a month of winter vacation.

Once the train came to a stop, she didn't wait for her family to get off the train and immediately ran off without a care in the world. She was excited because it's been a while since they both hung out with each other.

Navigating the streets as if she already had the roads memorized in her head, she kept running, and when she was tired, she slowed down to talk a walk. It was like this repeatedly. Over and over, as if she was impatient.

Night was just about to roll in. The cicadas were already making their noises, and some people were already going home. The street lights started turning on, illuminating the concrete floor and helping her navigate in the dark. Before long, she reached her destination, which was the park.

It was completely barren. Not a single person could be seen anywhere, not even the tiniest trace of humanity could be seen. There were benches scattered around, but there was only one that stood out from the rest because of the streetlight beside it. And in the middle of it was a single person. It was him, the one Emi had been expecting. Emi started walking towards him so she could surprise him. Little by little, more and more, slowly but surely, just like a good old train ride.

It was supposed to be like that. Just slow movement so as to not startle him. But as she grew near, she could hear a voice. Not the one Emi had been expecting, but two pairs of voices talking to each other. The other one sounded like a female.

They were both happily chatting. They were lost in their own world. It looked like they were a good couple. And that's what crushed Emi's heart. Without a moment's notice, she ran away.

All she could feel was nothing. She didn't know where she was going and just kept running. She knew that it would've been hopeless. After all, there was no way a middle-aged office worker and a young highschool girl would work out. Society would surely not allow something like that to even happen. That made Emi sad, and tears started forming from her eyes. The only thing that comforted her were the tears that flowed down her cheeks as the wind cooled it down.

Even though she was just wandering aimlessly, she was suddenly drawn to the one place she had not been expecting. She was in front of her house. She could smell dinner being made inside. The light from the room upstairs was lit up, but she didn't want to go inside her house. Instead, she sat down in front of the entrance outside.

She stayed like this. She wondered why almost everything in this world is hated by society. Siblings couldn't be couples, people with a large age gap couldn't be couples, everything. It feels like she was the only one that got the short end of the deal. The things that she loved were hated by everyone. She couldn't be together with the one she loves, whether it'd be an office worker or her elder brother.

Everything was hated by society. There was no way anyone would approve of whatever she did. That's why, from that point onwards, she would just stay silent. She would just crawl down her hole and keep everything about her sealed up. Little by little, more and more, slowly but surely. In the end, she felt empty.

It wasn't long before her family started eating. It was obvious. They're also part of society, so they wouldn't care much about their own daughter. Emi knew that. She was hurt knowing that. In the end, all she could do was sit.

"How long are you going to stay there for?" someone asked from above.

When Emi looked up, she saw her big brother who was staring at her. He was holding a book while placing his other hand on the window. She immediately wiped the tears that was still slightly visible from her eyes.

"I already saw those once," he said, referring to her tears. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna tell Mom or Dad. Just come up here."

Having no other choice, she did as her brother said. After silently opening the front door, she entered and then immediately went upstairs. There were three doors over there: one that lead to a bathroom, one that had a sign in it with Emi's name, and the other with no sign at all.

When she entered the door that had no sign, she saw her brother staring out the window. His other arm that wasn't holding a book was now hanging a stick of cigarette between his middle and index finger.

"Don't tell 'em, okay?" his brother said in a playful gesture as he flicked the ash that was clinging on the end of the stick out the window.

Emi just nodded. She was thankful for her brother for not telling their parents about her crying, so she needed to return the favor by doing the exact same thing.

Emi's brother has been doing this for a while now. He wasn't influenced by anyone, but he started smoking ever since he entered senior high. There were no strings attached; he just picked an interest in smoking and wasn't influenced by anyone. He hasn't stopped since, but not because of the nicotine it contains that's addictive.

Emi sat on her brother's bed which smelled like him. Despite his smoking habit, he always kept his room tidy. The scent of the cigarette was nowhere to be smelled from his room. He was a rather disciplined brother, but he wasn't exactly putting a good example to his sibling.

"What happened to ya?" Emi's brother asked after he finished smoking. He threw away the stick to his hidden trash can, and sat next to Emi.

"…It's just the usual."

"There are so many usuals you keep saying, Emi. I don't know what usual you're talking about this time because of you crying. Come on, tell me about it. Maybe your unreliable brother can help you out."

Emi lightened up a bit when he said he was unreliable. For Emi, that wasn't true at all. Even the brother knew that. That's why Emi just took the insult as a joke, making her mood brighten up a little.

She started telling the story to his brother. About how she just randomly met a middle-aged guy and fell in love with him. About how they met up every now and then at the nearby park. About how she saw that middle-aged guy talking to a woman about his age. About how she was incredibly hurt by it. Little by little, more and more, slowly but surely, she emptied out the sadness that was in her heart.

At first, it started out as a playful story. When Emi met the guy, it was kind of fun. Full of happiness and rainbows. But as the story went on, it transitioned into something like a sad story. By the end of her story, tears were already flowing down her cheeks. All the brother did was silently listen to her sad story.

"Hmm…guess men really are scum through and through," his brother said.

Despite the tears flowing, her mood was once again lightened up. She slowly wiped the tears coming out of her eyes. Although his brother was a man himself, he said that line that was somewhat comforting for Emi. She gradually started to forget about her problems. As long as she's with her brother, she would be alright.

The fatigue was now catching up to her. She was already pretty tired back when she was in the train. She even ran a pretty far distance as well. It's no wonder that she was going to be tired. Her eyes were already feeling much more heavier than they did earlier.

"Seems like you're not going to last any longer now," Emi's brother said. "Doesn't look like you want to eat anything right now. Go back to your room. I'll be having dinner now. I'll request something from Mom tomorrow, so get a good night sleep, okay?"

She was too tired to even come up with a response. She walked out of her brother's room feeling a little heavy, and made her way to her bedroom. Little by little, more and more, slowly but surely. She dropped herself on her bed, and bid farewell to reality to visit the world of slumber.

"…Before I knew it, the next day, they were all gone," Morimoto-san said. "The house was completely empty, and I was late for school. There was a boxed lunch wrapped up in cloth with a note stating that I could skip school for the day if I felt like it. Seeing as I was still a little bit hung up, I kind of just listened to myself and decided to stay at home for a change, even though it's just the first day."

After hearing everything she said, I now understood why she didn't feel like sharing her story with me.

Her story felt sad. I didn't know much about different people's types of people they'd want to get together with, but just from the story of Morimoto-san, I could tell she wasn't that experienced with love, nor does she know the boundaries of it. I could understand completely why she was uncomfortable with sharing that with me. It was admirable.

"Huh, seems like I spoke a little too long. Homeroom's already about to start."

I looked around and saw everybody back at their respective seats. Matsuda-sensei had just entered the classroom. It seems to me that Morimoto-san and our conversation had come to a close. After the class representative did their thing, Matsuda-sensei started checking attendance and the day had begun. I couldn't even say anything to her, so I felt bad.