His Friend

Touya had died in an accident.

He was struck by lightning, apparently. It didn't make any damn sense...

He'd been my buddy since junior high, and he'd always been a little bit weird.

It wasn't like he didn't know the kind of guy I was, but he came up to me in class

one day without a care in the world.

Everyone else treated me like a pain in the ass, but he was different. Even

though I was a delinquent... even though I'd been kicked out of class multiple

times, he just sauntered on over one day and asked to borrow a hundred yen.

Honestly, I thought he was a real dumbass at first. But then we actually got to

talking, and that was that. He even helped me one time when I got into a fight

with some guys from another school.

I was surrounded by five guys, about to get my ass kicked... when Touya

showed up on his scooter and got me out of there.

The guy didn't even have a license. Apparently, his grandpa taught him how

to ride, and he'd conveniently borrowed the scooter to come get me. Luckily,

he never got caught, but the guy was crazy enough to pull something like that.

After that, we started hanging out more, and I made more friends along the

way. Thanks to him, my junior high life turned out okay.

Touya was kind and punctual with his friends, but he was ruthless to a fault

with his enemies. Sometimes I had to calm him down a little, since he had a

habit of getting really pissed. I was just glad I never got on his bad side, since he

could be really scary.

Though, maybe he was right all along... He always said it was better to do

things instead of never doing them and wondering what could have happened.

Maybe I could've stood to be more like him.

But he died, even with that mindset. We went to different high schools, but

we planned to meet up again. Unfortunately, that never happened.

I attended his funeral and helped out at his wake. I figured I at least owed his

parents that much. They'd always treated me well, after all.

A little while after the funeral, I started having strange dreams. This old guy...

I think he might have been god or something, appeared out of nowhere to show

me the weirdest things.

All the dreams revolved around Touya. In one dream, he was wearing a weird

outfit and swinging a katana around. He was fighting monsters like the ones in

my video games.

The dreams were a little weird, honestly... Still, it was nice seeing Touya alive

and well... even if it was just in my imagination.

In another dream, he saved some girl who kind of had a classic samurai vibe

to her. That one was funny, since it felt so absurd.

Then, there was another dream where he got engaged to a princess. But she

was like... twelve or something? It was a little weird that I dreamed about my

dead buddy being into little girls, honestly...

I kept on having dreams like that, over and over. It almost felt like they

weren't just dreams, like maybe Touya really was alive in some other place I

sometimes caught glimpses of.

On New Year's Day, I was looking through the cards I'd gotten from my

friends... and it kind of hit me like a truck that I wouldn't get any of his shoddilymade cards ever again.

He could play the piano and stuff, but he wasn't much of an artist. I think his

dad was pretty great in that department, though, so the talent must have

skipped a generation.

He used to like my sketches, to be honest. Not to brag, but I'd always had a

bit of a knack for drawing.

I used to draw just as a hobby, but then an idea formed in my mind when I

saw Touya's dad's work lined up on a bookshelf. It might have been a dumb

idea in hindsight, but it was something I didn't want to regret.

I went to Touya's house and rang the doorbell.

"Hey. Teach me to draw."

"Uh... I dunno about that, kid. I'm hardly a master, you know?"

Touya's dad seemed a little bewildered by my sudden arrival. He had bags

under his eyes. And I wasn't exactly sure if that was because it was early in the

morning or not.

"Why do you want to draw?"

"...I want to write a story. One with, uh... Touya... as the main character."

I told Touya's dad about the dreams I'd been having. He nodded along slowly

as I spoke. And eventually, he gave me a small, gentle smile.

"...Those dreams sound quite funny. I'd certainly like to hear the full story,

personally. I suppose I could take on an assistant in my work... The pay's not

great, but do you wanna give it a shot?"

"I'm in!"

I didn't know if I could become a professional manga artist like Touya's dad,

but I was determined to draw Touya's story. If my friend really was alive,

somehow, in some other place... then I wanted to keep the memory of him

alive in our world as well.

I'll do you proud, Touya.

◇ ◇ ◇

I had another dream. But it was one about my junior high years this time...

Back then, I regularly hung out with Touya.

"Hey, Touya... You're taking it a bit far, man..."

"Think so? Well, maybe he shouldn't have pissed me off... Guess it was a bit

much, though."

"...Yeah, I'd say so."

I glanced at the long-haired blonde man, who was naked on the ground. I

couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

He was the leader of a motorcycle gang in the area, and apparently, he'd

been stalking a woman. His advances were getting really scary, from what I'd

heard. The girl had a boyfriend, and he went to confront the stalker as soon as

he heard about what was going on. He was a pretty damn brave guy. But

obviously, those bikers didn't just listen to him. They beat the crap out of him

and sent him to the hospital.

That boyfriend was one of our classmates. We went to visit him in the

hospital, and his girlfriend was there. She kept crying and blaming herself.

Touya managed to get the girl to explain the situation. Then, he left and

started making some calls on his phone.

"Hey, Mr. X? It's been a while. I'm Touya, Mochizuki's grandson. Yeah, that's

right. I had a favor I wanted to ask..."

"Hey, Mr. Y? I need a few men taken care of. Yeah. I don't mean to bother

you, but I feel like my grandpa would've gotten a kick out of it."

"Yeah. There's a local gang leader. Need help dealing with his cronies, you

know? No, no... You don't need to bring a carpet and duct tape. This situation

demands a little more tact."

I remember being a little unnerved by the snippets of conversation I'd

overheard.

After that, events started unfolding even more quickly. Touya found out

where the gang leader was, slowly separated him from his goons, and caught

him in a one-on-one situation. Well, technically, it was two-on-one, since I was

there too.

Touya turned around and told me to keep out of it, so I just watched from the

sidelines as he goaded the furious guy into a total fit. We didn't even have to lay

a single hand on him. The guy just flew into a rage and ended up charging

forward.

He had a steel pipe and a switchblade, so Touya technically acted in selfdefense, but still...

After beating him unconscious, he stripped off the guy's clothes and took a

few pictures of him.

"Okay... Sent."

"Who'd you send that to?"

"His gang's second-in-command. Apparently, they don't get along well, so

giving him some blackmail material should solve this little problem for us."

"Wow..."

Touya laughed so casually despite the extreme subject matter. It was a little

scary. He didn't look like a bad guy, but there was clearly something terrifying

lurking inside him. Still, he dealt with his problems in a pretty smart way, for the

most part.

A while later, we found out that the gang leader got usurped and chased out

of town. Naturally, the stalking stopped as well, but nobody ever found out it

was Touya's doing.

"I don't need any credit. I just did it because I wanted to do it, and that's all

there is to it."

"You didn't even hesitate, man."

"Only because I didn't want to regret hesitating. My grandpa always said that

you've got to be prepared to do anything."

The look on Touya's face made me think he really would do anything... Maybe

even killing someone wasn't unreasonable in his eyes. I vowed then and there

to never get on his bad side.

"...He really was something else."

"Yeah... That sure sounds like Touya. He really was influenced by his grandpa.

I don't know how my wife managed to turn out so normal with that guy raising

her..."

Touya's dad let out a soft sigh as he set down his pen. I wondered if calling

him "boss" seemed better, given my new job with him.

"Things were a little tense back when my father-in-law died, honestly..."

I wanted to ask for more details, but I decided to keep my mouth shut.

Instead, I looked at the tall stack of papers on the desk.

"I spent a good deal of Touya's youth working hard on my projects, and my

wife has a lot of work too... so I guess he was raised in part by his grandpa. I

think they went to a lot of strange and interesting places together."

Touya's parents both worked from home, but they were often very busy with

that work. Apparently, his grandpa had stepped in to help look after him.

"What kind of guy was he? Touya's grandpa, I mean."

"Hmm... He was a pretty interesting man. He had friends all over, from ones

in show business to politics to the criminal underworld... We even have a baby

photo of Touya being hugged by a former prime minister."

"Wow..."

"The stories about him are pretty wild, too. Apparently he wrestled a bear,

saw an alien, and took out a mafia organization."

"Wait, seriously?!"

"Well, they're probably at least a little bit embellished."

Touya's dad laughed softly, but I found myself quietly taken aback. If that was

the guy responsible for Touya being the way he was, then those stories could

have easily been true...

"Well, enough small talk. Let's carry on with our work. I'm done with the

penciling, so I'd like you to start filling in the lines."

"Guh... I hope we make it in time for the deadline."

I took another half-finished page from my boss. The end was near, at the very

least. And so, I rolled up my sleeves, ready to give it my all.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Wh-What do you think?"

"Hmm... Let's see..."

I got a little anxious as I presented my rough draft of the story to my boss.

"It's too long-winded. I think you should cut out the stuff unrelated to the

main plot if you plan to actually pitch this. This panel isn't necessary, and these

two can be combined. Personally, I think the story would be more exciting if the

protagonist was less passive, too."

He looked ready to continue his criticism, but then paused and looked up at

the ceiling.

"Though, I guess Touya isn't really a proactive person, is he?"

"Exactly."

My story framed Touya as the main character, so I wanted to keep it true to

the kind of person he was. His advice made perfect sense for a wholly original

character, however.

The story was one I planned to write as a hobby. I also wanted to pen another

manga as my actual professional work. Naturally, my boss would be overseeing

that one as well.

In the modern age, there were plenty of ways to publish your work. You could

make self-published content in print form or just post stuff online.

I wanted to draw Touya's story simply because it was something I wanted to

share with the world.

"But still, this is interesting... It almost feels real, you know? Maybe it's

because you knew him so well, but these things really feel like actions Touya

would take."

"Heh... Yeah, it does feel like him, doesn't it?"

We laughed together a little bit. This story was just something I'd written

based on my dreams, so I couldn't say for sure if it was entirely my doing.

...Although they were my dreams, so it had all clearly sprung from me.

"Do you still have those dreams, by the way?"

"Yeah, once in a while. Not every single day, though."

I had dreams about Touya once every couple of weeks. Oddly enough, I could

remember them fully, so I started writing them down the moment I woke up. It

was almost like watching a TV show.

"The other day, I dreamed about him beating a Black Dragon and heading to

another country."

"Hoho. Dragon-slaying, huh? That's a pretty interesting turn of events. I

wonder if he's going through some kind of hero's journey."

Once I went over those details, I started asking about my other story. I

wanted him to look over it, since I was planning on submitting it for a monthly

magazine contest.

"Huh...? Wait, it's not a fantasy story?"

"Yeah. I guess I got influenced by Touya..."

Instead of a tale in a fantasy setting, I'd drawn a regular school manga for the

contest.

I'd managed to write Touya's story easily enough because it was just the

things I'd seen in my dreams, but it was a lot more challenging to come up with

my own original manga. That was why I was looking forward to hearing what

the boss had to say about it. An even mixture of fear and excitement swirled

within my chest.

"S-So... how is it?"

"Hmm... Well, it's pretty good overall, but maybe in this scene you should..."

I focused on his advice as my eyes glanced over my manuscript. I knew Touya

was working hard in the world of my dreams, so I resolved to work hard as well.