“Reiko-chan... I-It’s been forever..." My gaze at Reiko-chan was longing.

She stared at me for some time. She shrugged and smiled. “I never thought I’d see you looking like this. Why are you wearing a suit? Do you think you can impress me?”

I winced. “Ah, no. I left work a few hours ago. I work for an advertisement firm.”

“So... is this supposed to win points with me?” she asked me. I’d never seen her wear a dress before, too. My heart thumped so hard it practically ricocheted between my ribs and spine. It was baby blue, breezy-looking and leaf prints all over it which accented her dazzling green eyes. She wore a white purse over her shoulder, and the makeup she wore this day was a bit thicker since I’d last seen her. She’d always been a trendy girl next door dream. The simplicity of her clothes made her look cute, so adorably cute.

“Not really, it’s just... I thought maybe I wasn’t worth anything. I’d best get this fixed, you know?” I ran my fingers through my hair nervously.

“You’re right.” Reiko-chan shook her head. “You’ve never had any dreams, no motivations, Susumu.” She was direct and blunt as always.

I winced and stared. It was like old times already.

She smiled a little at me. “I guess you won Mom over, otherwise she’d have called the police already. We know how my parents have always felt about you. I never could change their mind, not that I had any decent evidence you were anything but what they thought of you.”

“Hahaha... why would she... ?” I complained. It was true. Others I didn’t know did it to me too, namely a particularly nosey neighbor in my apartment building. She was always calling the police on me. Once or twice they raided my apartment, but they found I wasn’t guilty of any wrongdoing, and so they left. Despite the fact she knew, I protested, “I’m totally harmless! I wouldn’t hurt a soul! I’m not really so very ugly, am I?”

“You literally are... the ugliest and meanest-looking person in the city,” she laughed. “You could stare down a yakuza boss.”

I cracked up. The joke hurt, but when she said it, I couldn’t help laughing. “Everyone keeps calling me names... I mean really... I never did anything to anyone.”

Reiko-chan shook her head. “They don’t know how different you are from how you look.”

“I never saw your home... can I see it?” I begged. “Pretty please!”

Reiko-chan rolled her eyes and grinned with a soft sigh. “I shouldn’t, you pest. But fine, come in. You have a serious problem, so I have an idea. I never had to bother until lately, but I’ve acquired a few skills. Mom will make us some tea.”

I blinked at this. What could she have in mind? Skills? Is she going to interview me?

She walked up to me. My face flushed and I froze like usual. I stared into the deep pools of her eyes. She looked at me impatiently and I saw the moment her anger surged within. “MOVE YOU IDIOT! MY FEET HURT LIKE HELL!” I blinked, looking down at her feet. They were clad in high heels to go with the dress.

She kicked out of the high heels to slam a leg up. I saw it coming, so I backpedaled. It was just like old times. I was deliriously happy! “You’re still in the way! Don’t get cocky, moron!”

She closed the distance between us to twine her fingers in my suit. “Eat dirt!” She tossed me aside violently into her mother’s garden alongside the path. I was covered in well irrigated soil. She hadn’t grown anything there yet, thankfully, but I heard she was planting magnolias. It might have screwed up my relationship with her mother had they started to grow. Neither seemed upset about the damage to my suit, which was covered in mud, and possibly fertilizer.

I entered the house and was given an old yukata to hold. Reiko-chan showed me her home. It was simpler than mine. My father made a great deal and to be honest, the family house was a bit too big. She showed me the bath first, and the moment I’d stepped in, she slammed the door closed. I was incredibly flustered. “Take a bath now, and don’t make a mess of the bath!”