V1 - The Right Direction: Part Two

"Pardon the intrusionnn" 

Mayumi took Katsumi's confused noise as an invitation in and walked past him. She felt a hand set on her shoulder.

"Murakami-kun do you mind? Could you please not—"

"Do you mind?" 

The grip on her shoulder tightened. Her eyes widened and moved so that Katsumi was in view out of the corner of her vision. Mayumi began getting pulled backwards out of the apartment and ended up back in the hallway. 

"Remember? You said you'd give my way a chance this weekend."

"Well… It's only Friday, not actually the weekend."

"Hello? Police? Yes there—" Mayumi had pulled out her smartphone and put it to her ear.

"Okay okay okay, Friday is part of the weekend… Please, make yourself at home."

"Thank you."

"You've started using an ash-tray and there isn't garbage everywhere. That's an improvement I suppose." Mayumi walked through the apartment, inspecting it before taking a seat at in front living room table. 

Katsumi stood by the doorway and rubbed his face with both hands in a circular motion. "Ahh… Alright, let's do this…"

"Murakami-kun?"

"Yes coming, sorry. I was just… just… yes I'm coming." Okay okay, I'll just get this done quick then she'll go home.

He sat down on the couch across from her, stretching out his legs then trying touch his toes. No. I gotta sit up straight. Focus. 

Mayumi was giving him directions and explaining the project but all of her words were going in one ear and out the other. He simply continued to blankly stare past her.

What are we doing here? Modern Japanese? What? I can't do this… I haven't been in class at all... No, I've been in class, I just haven't been listening. Gotta sit up straight, stop slouching. Focus

"Murakami-kun, are you listening?"

"Y-yes! Hm? What's up?"

"Alright… so let's start over on this—"

Oh my god my eyes… This static… my eyes are so fuzzy again—

"Murakami-kun…"

"Yes!"

"We need to get this done." Mayumi tapped her pencil on some papers. "We have to present it Tuesday."

Why am I slouching again? Come on, sit up straight. "Alright, yes, I'll get serious."

"...Okay… So what we need for—"

My eyes are fuzzy again… I just gotta get rid of that feeling then I can focus. He hunched over and started rubbing his eyes. He rocked back and forth while making a low-pitched humming noise.

"What are you doing?"

"Fixing my eyes." That feeling of fuzziness had gone and he looked up at Mayumi who was resting her head on her hand staring at him.

He rubbed his eyes for another ten seconds then looked back up. "Sorry, I'm ready now."

 During those ten seconds Mayumi had already continued to work. Katsumi intently stared at her pencil moving, tracking every movement it made. Seeing each stroke, each line being meticulously drawn on the paper.

"What's the uh, the uh project anyways?"

 Mayumi set down the pencil and started tapping the paper with her index finger. The rhythmic tapping of her finger penetrated his ears. Each tap rang out like a church bell. Mayumi's hair tucked behind her ear slowly came loose and fell in front of her ear. The black cords on her red sweatshirt swinging from side to side like a pendulum. Each passing second felt like a lifetime. Mayumi's mouth was moving but no sound came from it.

He blinked and his senses came flooding back. As if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. "Mm, what? Sorry I'm ready now."

 Mayumi abruptly stopped mid-sentence and silently stared at him for a moment. "Ahh— alright. I did start this assuming that you knew what was going on but that was my mistake. Let's take a break. Maybe go take a bath then come back. Hopefully you'll be focused then. Sound good?"

"Arata-san… what the hell are you saying."

Mayumi looked at him in silence for a moment longer then stood up. "We need you to—" She stretched an arm above her head and with another grabbed it from behind her head. Standing on the tips of her toes and arching her back she let out a small sigh. "Focus on the project." 

"I bet we do…"

Mayumi ignored his comment and walked over to shut the curtains. She put her hands on them and paused. Then in an instant they were thrown open and the last remaining drops of the setting sun's light filled the room. Silhouettes of buildings as far as the eye could see. Looking up, a few wispy clouds dotted the golden horizon. This is the picturesque scene Mayumi imagined, however it was far from reality. 

"..."

"You think we woulda heard this uh… this downpour. The rain's coming down. You know, it's so violent. That is really weird though we should've heard it raining this hard—" Katsumi continued to mindlessly babble on as Mayumi stood motionless, gazing out of the window.

After a moment longer Mayumi broke the silence. "I forgot to shut my windows. I'll be right back. Please try to focus."

"Uh, alright."

Mayumi swiftly left the apartment. 

The harsh smacking of rain against the window had faded into the background, leaving Katsumi in a mental silence. The tops of distant Skyscrapers were clouded from sight by large, dark cumulonimbus clouds. Lit-up windows scattered throughout them gradually went dark. People planning to stay at the office late into the night, trying not to miss their deadlines. Others leaving early excited to get home to their partners or for a night out with coworkers. A man in a business suit opened the glass front door to an office high-rise. For a moment he stood motionless, staring up into the dark sky. With a worn out sigh he reached down to his briefcase and grabbed an umbrella, setting off down the busy street. At an intersection the traffic-lights changed to yellow then in a moment flicked to red. All of the traffic came to a halt and a sea of colors flooded into the intersection. Each one moving forward, each one with a destination in mind.

"Huh… Are my windows shut?" He pushed himself up with his arms and stumbled around for a moment before finding his balance. He peered out the window and every noise of the city hit him like a wave crashing against rocks. 

"What the hell am I doing…"

"..."

"..."

"AHHH!" Katsumi slammed his fist into the wall—however no mark was made. He stared at the unphased wall.

"...I'm done with this shit… I'm gonna take a bath."

The silence of the bathroom was abruptly interrupted by a torrent of hot water shooting from the nozzle. As a pool of water began to form in the bathtub Katsumi stood expressionless, thoughtless, emotionless, gazing into the eyes of his reflection. The loud sound of water filling his bathtub droned out the rest of the world, the only things left were him and his reflection. Leaning forward closer to this reversed image of himself he saw someone who was happy, someone with a path forward, surrounded by love. Someone with a smile on their face.

"I don't get it, that's me… What's wrong with Arata-san?"

Through the noise of the bathtub filling and rain crashing onto the building he heard a single drop hit the tile floor. Katsumi looked down to his feet and saw another drop of water fall between them.

"What? Hah— haha— why? What the hell?"

He looked up again and tears were streaming down his face. Katsumi stood their laughing, trying to wipe the tears from his face but they kept coming. His laughing soon turned into screaming. Then into hysteria. He harshly brought his fist down onto the sink, then again, and again, and again.

"Fuck you Mayumi Arata! What are you doing!? It's you're fault! I'm fine! What's wrong with you!?" 

The sound of the bathtub filling turned into the sound of water flowing onto the floor. He looked into the mirror and saw his reflection still smiling back at him. 

Katsumi thrust his fist forward and the one reflection turned into one-hundred. Every one of them smiled back at him.

He looked down at his hand and his knuckles were red, this redness spread over his hand and down onto the floor… Katsumi looked straight ahead and straightened his posture. "Ahem— okay. I'm better now!" All better! He turned off the water and slowly submerged himself into the hot water.

Y'know, this isn't so bad, nothing bad is happening, I'm fine. 

"I just want to beat the living shit out of that bitch!" Katsumi sank deeper into the water, now only from his nose up wasn't submerged. Her ego is so big, thinking she's always right… 

"She knows nothing about the real world!" 

"..."

It's fine…

"Why the hell is the water turning red…? I'm getting out…" 

Katsumi spent the next twenty minutes sitting silently in the bathtub, unmoving, expressionless.

"Ahh— much better…" Katsumi came out of the bathroom and walked into the living room with only a towel wrapped around his waist. 

"Hey… She's gone… hah— finally…" 

Am I still high…? Shit, should I go out and get dinner…? "Ahh whatever, I'm just gonna drink…" 

Katumi opened the refrigerator door and the light illuminated a small part of the dark kitchen. He squinted his eyes and stared into the refrigerator for a moment, at the back was the can of beer he was looking for. He thoughtlessly shoved bottles around knocking some over. By the time he got his beer a quarter of the refrigerator's contents were on the ground.

"...Shit… Eh, I'll clean it later."

Sprawled out on the couch he let out a quiet sigh and cracked open the can. He grabbed the TV remote and pressed the power button—the red light on the Blu-ray player turned green and the screen lit-up. 

'Ethics-kun, did you really think—' A not so safe-for-work scene came on the screen and it suddenly went black. 

"What the hell…? Did the storm knock out the pow—"

"Murakami-kun."

"AHH!" His can jumped out of his hand but he quickly snatched it out of the air. "What the hell!? W-what? You— I told you to stop doing that! And I thought you left?"

"Stop doing what?"

Katsumi gave her a dumbfounded look followed by an exasperated, "...Haa— You know what, never mind… I'm guessing we still have to finish the project?"

"T-that's right. But first, please make yourself decent." Mayumi turned her head away and held a hand in front of her eyes. With the other she began tapping the table with her index finger again.

"...You know what? If you don't like it you can just leave, it's my apartment." Hopefully this will get her to leave. But isn't this sexual harassment? She could probably report me for this too… Eh, it doesn't really matter…

"Murakami-kun, please don't be such a child."

"Being a child? Ha, don't give me that." Is she really not going to threaten me with calling the police?

Mayumi stopped tapping her finger and curled her hand on the table. She quickly turned her head towards Katsumi with a determined look on her face. However, her cheeks had turned a very faint, yet noticeable, shade of red. 

"Fine… It looks like you're more focused now, so let's get this done."

Wow, she really is determined to try and help me… Still don't get why. But damnit guess I'll follow along. "Alllright. So, what do I need to do?"

"W-well I've been working on it over the past few days so I just want you to look through it for some grammatical errors and any other minor mistakes."

"What is 'it' anyways?"

"You really haven't known this whole time?"

"...No."

"We were assigned to write a short story or play with a specific theme in it."

"A play? Does that mean we're gonna have to perform it?"

"That's right. Next Thursday we have to perform it for the class. So you need to memorize your lines by then."

"My lines?" Katsumi grumbled in response. He picked up the script and started flipping through it, skimming the lines. "So what's our 'theme'?" 

"There's a lot of ways to look at it. I'd say it's open for interpretation."

"But you just said, 'a specific theme'."

"I think themes are always open for interpretation. Even if it's spelled out for you, people will still understand it differently depending on their experiences."

"But since this is for an assignment shouldn't we clearly outline what it is?"

"Even if we did, there's still no one definitive way to find meaning in it. People will get the message that they need or want from it, whether that's good or bad doesn't change that people got something from it. 

Mayumi didn't bother looking up or pausing what she was doing. She kept her gaze downward, proof reading what she just wrote. 

"That may be so… But what is it?"

"Ahh— Hm. You'll probably realize it once you read through the script."

This girl… 

The sun drifted beyond the horizon and a darkness blanketed the city. The sound of rain still makes itself heard by continuously tapping on the windows and battering the roof. As the night went on the two worked on the project. It was finished an hour past midnight and Mayumi made her way back to her apartment.

Katsumi flicked the TV back on. His mind began to fog and a drowsiness overcame him. A final thought bounced around his mind as he drifted off to sleep. 

"Do things her way huh…" I don't need to change…

A ray of morning light found its way through a crack in the curtains—its trajectory: Katsumi's face. After a moment of his face being bathed in the light he began to twitch. Then, he slowly opened his eyes. He put a hand in front of his face in an attempt to block it, but it was no use.

Hey, I actually don't feel like shit after waking up today… "craazy…"

Katsumi felt the place where he remembered putting his phone. However his hand only felt the couch. He blindly felt around in hopes that 'it' didn't happen. After another moment of feeling around a look of dread washed over him, an emotion that was very evident on his face. He grit his teeth and clenched his fist, "Damnit."

A couch cushion flew across the room, shortly followed by another, then a third. Katsumi was furiously ripping apart his couch, jamming his hands in all of the couch's crevices searching for his phone. He dropped to his hands and knees and pressed his cheek against the cool, hardwood floor. He peered under the couch but it was too dark to discern anything.

He remained in that position; with his head pressed against the floor, "...This feels familiar…" 

The chirping of morning birds distantly rang. The light shining through his curtains was momentarily blocked by a passing cloud. Katsumi pushed himself up and blankly stared at the couch. 

"Hnnnng—" The front end of the couch was lifted into the air revealing nothing to be under it. Katsumi was quivering, his face turning somewhat red. He started to lower it but by halfway his arms gave out and the couch hit the floor with a loud thud. 

When did I become so weak…? 

He turned around to go pick up the cushions, but when he did the first thing he noticed was his phone sitting nicely on the table.

Grabbing at the air as if he was strangling something, rage building up inside of him. Katsumi snatched up the cellphone and instantly thought of throwing it. He got in position to whip it at the wall; yet he refrained.

The display read: '6:07 AM'.

"Oh how nice! I can get a nice early start to my day! It's gonna be great!" His grip on the cellphone tightened. "Yep…" He stared at the electronic device with widened eyes. Katsumi brought the hand with the phone in it back then launched it forward. The cellphone sailed across the room and smashed against the wall. 

"Wooo! Yeah! Good day!" He brought his hands above his head and started clapping with a huge smile on his face. "I could just jump off this balcony! Make this day even better!"

He stood motionless in the center of his living room, staring out at the balcony

"..."

With a blink all the sounds of the city simultaneously came rushing to him, the air rushed around him and he stepped backwards. 

"Ahah… ha… hahaha… oh— I'm gonna make some coffee…"

An electronic crackling sound came from the machine, a familiar sound that made Katsumi comfortable. A drop of brown liquid fell into the pot and hit the bottom with a sizzle—followed by another, then a third. It soon turned into a constant stream and the pot began steadily filling. 

"Haaa… Seriously, what's been goin' on with me? Ever since she came around a few days ago I've been acting kinda strange. Even I can tell that much…" 

He looked at the coffee in the pot slowly filling up, passing measurement lines one by one. No… I think she's the one that's been acting 'weird'. Seriously? Who goes out of their way like that? 

Katsumi reached into his pocket for his cell phone but found nothing there. He paused for a moment then looked into the living room where his shattered cell phone was lying. He rubbed his forehead with his palm and sighed. "Figures…"

He reached back into the same pocket but this time produced something out of it—A carton of cigarettes. After a few clicks of his lighter he inhaled then blew out smoke.

Jesus, I'm acting like I'm forty… He glanced around his apartment then looked down at his cigarette, "If someone saw this they'd probably think I'm forty…" He smothered his cigarette in an ashtray then slank to the bathroom. 

"Hello Mr.Mirror, still broken today?" Katsumi greeted the shattered mirror as he flicked on the light switch. One hundred broken and misshapen reflections met his gaze, silently staring at him.

"Who is that…?" 

"..."

Ah, whatever…

Humming a theme song he recently heard on T.V he walked into the kitchen drying his hair with a towel. He stopped moving and carefully scanned his apartment. 

"Nooo— Arata-san?" 

This put a faint smile on his face and he went to pour a cup of coffee. However, his good demeanor was short-lived. He heard someone say 'Pardon my intrusion' followed by his front door opening. 

Absolutely not. "Uh, don't come in, I'm… Naked right now."

"I'm going to assume you're lying."

"...Alright, suit yourself."

Mayumi walked in and entered the kitchen to be greeted by a fully clothed Katsumi.

"See? I knew you were lying."

Katsumi grumbled to himself and turned to get a cup of coffee, "Well what if I wasn't?"

Without changing her tone, Mayumi responded, "Then I would have screamed 'kyaa~' and turned red." She set her handbag down on the kitchen island and then took a seat at it.

Sipping from his coffee Katsumi stared at Mayumi with an annoyed expression. However she didn't see this because she was busy fiddling with her phone. 

Hold on, why is she dressed like she's going— Damnit, don't tell me… "Whyy are you dressed like you're going out somewhere today?"

"How perceptive…" She set down her phone. "We are going to Tokyo today."

Katsumi momentarily choked on his coffee. "Tokyo!?"

"Please don't be so dramatic. You're acting like you never went there on a day trip with your family."

"I haven't." 

"Well… It's roughly only twenty minutes by train so it's not far at all."

Sitting in silence for twenty minutes next to her? I really rather not. And I thought it was further? "Why do you even want to go in the first place?"

"It'll be good for you."

"Good for me?"

"That's right. I think you'd really benefit from meeting and talking to some new people. Also I wanted to do some shopping so I thought I'd combine the two."

Katsumi stared at Mayumi with a blank expression. Damnit I really have no choice… Going on a trip with her is the last thing I wanna do. But it's not up to me... If only Nara had been more careful with that box... Whatever... I don't wanna look homeless again I guess I'll have to find something decent… Y'know Arata-san is actually pretty fashionable, but even with what she's wearing it's like she has no presence. I mean I look like I'm homeless most of the time… Shit, I have to go all the to Tokyo. This girl I just met is blackmailing me, she could report me and get me drug tested and investigate Nara's family. I just had to get involved with her. 

"Mu—"

"Yeah, sure." Before Mayumi could even finish saying his name he cut her off.

"Hm?"

"I'll go… make myself presentable then we can go."

Mayumi paused for a moment before responding, "Thank you."

Katsumi walked into the kitchen from his bedroom. "Alright Arata-san, I'm ready, let's go." He was looking at his wallet checking how much money he had so when no response came he looked up and saw Mayumi resting her head on her arms on the table.

He remained still and after listening closely for a moment he heard the faint rhythmic breathing synonymous with sleeping.

She isn't that annoying while she's asleep… Shame I have to wake her up.

"Arata-san." Katsumi said in a soft tone. No reaction came from her. 

Katsumi moved closer to her and brought his hand up to her shoulder. He hesitated for a moment, then tapped her on the shoulder, "Arata-san." This time she shifted her head, then she slowly raised it. 

"Oh, Murakami-kun." She looked him up and down then added, "Not bad." Mayumi picked up her bag and headed to the front door leaving Katsumi in the Kitchen.   

"What the hell? 'Not bad'? What's that supposed to mean…?" Wait was she checking me out? Katsumi face turned sightly red and his thoughts began to spiral. He quickly shook these thoughts from his head and caught up with Mayumi who was already out the door.

The two boarded a mostly empty train at Kashiwa station. It was early enough in the morning where there was no massive influx of office workers going to the offices to get extra hours in. The train only had a few passengers that were most likely coming home from a late night out on Friday.

I swear this train ride was almost an hour. Where'd she get the idea it was twenty minutes? As he thought Katsumi took the seat closest to the door and Mayumi sat down next to him. She set her bag on her lap and pulled out her cellphone, browsing various social media apps.

Why the hell did I break my phone… This train ride is gonna be terrible. But ya know I probably have enough money to buy a new one, not a very good one but still should get one.

After a few minutes the train lurched forward then began steadily increasing in speed. Katsumi blankly stared at the passing buildings, slowly being overcome by drowsiness. He crossed his arms and with shut eyes he let his head fall forward. As he was about to drift off to sleep he felt a tap on his shoulder. He'd assumed Mayumi had accidentally bumped into him but now there was a presence on his left side like something was leaning on it. 

Please don't tell me. He slowly opened one eye and looked to the side, the first thing he saw was a head of black hair resting on his shoulder. "Haa— come on…"

"Arata-san… Arata-san… Arata-san."

"Hm? Oh… sor…ry—" Mayumi slowly sat up straight and nearly instantly fell asleep again. Leaving Katsumi staring at her with a confused expression. 

I could never imagine her like this… He turned his focus back to the windows in front of him. She's probably not used to staying up that late— Then his thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he felt another weight on his left side. He looked to his left and sure enough Mayumi had fallen onto his side again.

Do I even bother getting her up again? I mean she'll probably just fall onto my side again… or maybe even fall the other way and hit her head… But damn is this nice, I really don't deserve this. I really have just been an asshole haven't I? Still though, no one just goes out of their way like this, I really don't like what she's doing at all. He continued to look down at her and slowly but surely became entranced by her faint rythmatic breaths. Damn she's cute… He brought his focus back to the windows and shut his eyes. Maybe I can pretend I'm not failing just for a little bit…