Chapter 5: Why the Monkey Dances

The dancing "monke man" represented something different and unique to Suzuki. To him, the dancing monkey, nicknamed "monke man," represents loneliness and how anyone can find genuine happiness within themselves rather than within others.

The monkey represents the freedom from being happy with yourself and the world you live within. Suzuki's program ran on complex numbers and data, but what truly made the monkey dance was the freedom he sought after. Wanting to be himself, the monkey danced till the code commanded him and forced him to laugh and fake the expressions on his face.

While watching the monkey, Suzuki deleted his code in hopes of releasing his character along with his dream to gain true freedom. "Oh, I will miss this fella, but time for a new code." He sighed as he laid back in his seat.

He stood up exhausted after spending the last of his free day hours coding and brainstorming ideas for his tech company. "What a hassle," he uttered as he stretched out.

"What time is it?" He thought, walking over to his phone and turning it on, "eh? barely eight o'clock?" His brows drew together as he began thinking about what to do for the remainder of his free time. "Mmm, perhaps a cup noodle will do!" his mouth twitched, "I'm so hungry," he deviously laughed. "Them cup noodles won't last long." He said, laughing while heading towards the kitchen.

Beep!

Then, a beeping noise came from the kitchen. The noodles timer was up and ready to be devoured. Suzuki proceeded with malicious intent to thank God for the food, consuming every last bit of noodles. He huffed and burped out loud, "what a meal!" He shouted in enjoyment. "Mmm. Mmm. A full stomach is man's happy hour. Well, not until he needs to use the toilet." He said while chuckling to himself.

"Uh, what should I do now?" He asked himself as he looked up into the ceiling while supporting himself with his arms on the floor and started reminiscing about his first encounter with the "girl" he used to watch over in the schoolyard in elementary. "Oh, she was so nice. She always smiled at me. I wonder what she looks like now." He said to himself as he lay down on the floor. Curving into a ball, his Conscience started to slip away to the dream world. "I wonder if she would still smile at me." He embarked on his loneliness. "If only I were confident enough back then, maybe I could have had a friend or two by now."

As the train of thoughts stopped, he slowly fell asleep on the floor. However, this time he forgot to set a timer for himself. In the morning, Suzuki never woke up on time and remained asleep on the floor, scratching his back end. He accidentally woke up. "Huh? what time is it?" Suzuki said with a grumpy tone. Turning on his bright phone caused his eyes to strain, immediately closing them, "ouch, now that hurts," he said as he rubbed his eyes. Looking back at his phone, he finally noticed, "oh no, oh shit. Its already 11 p.m.? Agitated and scared to make a phone call to the faculty room, he built the courage slowly. "Come on. I can do it! I need this day to get excused!" As he dialed in for his school's faculty room, his heart slowly started to race.

B-dump!

He started to feel and suddenly heard his heartbeat against his chest, "impossible, I can't do it." Then, as he was going to hang up, a teacher picked up the phone.

"Hello, Tokyo University. How may I assist you today?"

His arms were twitching, his thoughts running wild. "Too late, they answered. I don't want to be rude, so here goes nothing!" He raced through ideas before speaking. "H-hello, t-this is Suzuki Nara. I am a student at T-Tokyo university. I-I made this call to inform my teacher and the faculty office of m-my absences today. I-I'm very sorry, I-I couldn't attend school today due to illness." He spoke slowly into the microphone of his phone.

"Okay, Mr. Suzuki. May I please get your Identification number to access your account." Said the lady over the phone.

Replying slowly, he gave her his school ID number. "Y-yes, o-of course. Its TU07101109."

"Okay, thank you. I will take care of the rest from here. I'll pray for you to feel better and have a good day, Mr. Suzuki." Said the lady with a soothing voice. "Hmm, thanks." Said Suzuki as he teared up over the phone while thinking. "No one, apart from the landlady, has ever been this nice to me."

Outside, he walked toward his favorite location, StarCafe. Suzuki stumbled and bumped a strange drunk man. A young lady, perhaps in her late teens, and a second guy with a similar muscular build to the first one. They had her in their arms, and she seemed zoned out, almost like she was under the influence.

"I'm sorry," said Suzuki. Though he quickly apologized, the drunken men seemed to look for trouble.