6:30 PM

It was the night of February ninth, Wednesday.

And it just so happens that this is a mere coincidence of Aka wanting to talk to me, and I have things to talk about to her. Finally, a win-win situation.

With the detective getup of Aka and my casual wear which looks out of place, she did me a favor to come to her room at this hour after telling me downstairs that I've got mail.

But the design of her room is even more out of place considering what Aka is wearing right now: A heavily Japanese-designed room with its owner wearing Western clothing. Nevertheless, it's unique and beautiful on its own.

Her room very much resembles Tomo's room back in Merumeru; the same yellow mats with black grids—or actually, Aka oriented me that they're called tatami mats, woops. The walls are more on to a yellowish tone with black frames supporting the entire room. Finally, the room is divided into two, with a sliding door in the middle. So half of it is where her bedroom and bathroom is, then the half we're currently in now acts as her kitchen, dining room, and living room.

And wouldn't it be a Japanese-style room without a shrine in front, a rack of katanas, another rack of Japanese clothing—from various jinbei to hakama (the robes kind of clothing), a bookshelf that mostly contains Japanese culture and religious books, the living room having a very short coffee table instead of a coffee table with sofas (yeah you sit in the floor by this short coffee table). I can finely say that the kitchen-dining room combo can easily fit in a plethora of other room designs.

We situated ourselves at the dining table, consisting of four chairs as opposed to two back in my room.

"Ah, I forgot that this is probably your first time in my room."

"Sheesh." I kept glancing around while sitting. "For an apartment room, it's a remarkable feat of interior design."

"Well kid, this also used to be a bare room like yours, so you can thank me for the beauty you're seeing 'cause I designed everything." she pointed a finger to herself.

That's a flex, but she isn't kidding.

"Anyway Aka, what's with you holding the mail, am I supposed to—"

I was immediately shushed by Aka's finger. Moreover, it's like how ninjas do a pose in front of their mouths every time.

"Boy, before we commence an intensive task, it's better to fill your stomach first." she interrupted with an accent and English resembling that of a native Japanese trying to console me.

I simply nodded on the notion...

. . . .

She placed a small yet somewhat tall bowl and a pair of chopsticks in front of me—well shoot, I don't know how to use chopsticks. After that, Aka made herself busy in the kitchen counters beside me as she made dinner and cooked rice for the both of us.

From the contagious and sweet aroma of the steam, I wonder what's going to be at stake for today because I barely get a chance to eat Japanese cuisine nowadays.

"So kid," Aka conversed amidst the sizzling noises of the pan. "How's the outside world? You've been going out a lot lately."

"Auntie, I thought you told me to save the conversation for later."

"First, I take that back unsaid. Second, don't call me auntie, jeez... now wouldn't you mind telling me how's your day?"

"Really outgoing, but I still don't like mingling with people that much. I got myself to eat with Tomo and Miko at Merumeru earlier, then I hung out at Tomo's house for the rest of the afternoon."

"Merumeru...?" She looked up at the ceiling while cooking our food, pondering. "Oh, the Venetian of the North! Yeah, it's a fancy town. 'Been so long since I've visited there though."

Hold on, my eyes were right all along about those being Venetian architecture? That could easily be Spanish, Italian, French, or Vatican Architecture—or basically an architecture of any country circling the Mediterranean Sea.

Well frick, that goes to show that I could be qualified as an architect.

"'Nuff said, you seem to be hanging out with ladies most of the time Akko, isn't it your age to rustle your youth with your own brethren? Or it's just me not riding by the wind of today?"

I groaned. "Aka, doesn't mean I'm a boy, should I get the most out of being a boy." Remember the last decade where some cartoons are contested that this is purely for boys, and cartoons contested where this is purely for girls? That hoard of interests has later boiled down to toys, patterns or mindsets, and even poses. I'll give kudos to society for being more open and erasing that boy/girl mindset, but I still hate society for accepting it as a means of humiliation.

We went a step further, but we went backwards. It's like an early tech launch, it was later retracted because 'it was launched too early to become mainstream'.

"Haha, sorry I don't quite get it. You mean that there are things that you can do even though you're a boy?"

"Yeah, I cook, you know. Wasn't that a locked-down chore to women back in like what, the Victorian Era?"

She oddly touched the kitchen spoon on to her chin, "Hmm... you're right. I bet that's a green flag for some ladies that their man can cook."

"Tell me Aka, what's the most unwomanly thing that you do?"

"Hmm... vaping?"

"Exactly."

I mean from plain sight outside, you could calculate that you can see one out of fifty smokers that are actually women. So it is by majority that more men smoke than women, but in terms of vaping, it's the polar opposite; there are more women who vape than men.

"So in plain nature, a woman vaping is an unwomanly, manly move." I added.

She walked towards the table, holding a bamboo sort of circular container with an oven glove and placing it on the table. "And in plain hindsight, a boy who majorly hangs out with a girl is a womanly, unmanly sight."

"... ... Heh."

"... Bahahaha, cheeky kiddo!"

We both laughed off to such a dead-end like drunkards outside a bar. It's common for us to end up cackling with most of our arguments. But, where the heck did she learn about Ala-chan's '____ Akko!' shenanigans?

Getting real hungry because my food's been really basic lately, I immediately opened the circular bamboo container, the steam bursted further up-forth as I saw dozens of steamed tidbits wrapped in white.

"Er... what's this?" I looked back and forth between her and the food.

"Oh, it's Pork Shumai, or if you don't know, it's shao mai, siomay or siomai." she replied, saying it in various accents and articulations.

Okay, I recognized siomai. Ah, what a nostalgic side dish back home, but I never got to know where it actually came from.

"I know siomai, but Aka, is it Japanese cuisine?"

She split the pair of wooden chopsticks, and took some of the siomai, "If I remember correctly, shumai is of Chinese origin, then it just so happened to spread across Asia."

Shucks, I've been scammed about trying Japanese cuisine, but hey, at least I'm trying a cuisine one form or another.

We put our hands together, and clapped lightly before munching on our dinner.

I split my chopsticks with great nerve because I have no idea how to use them. I darn hope Aka has some backup utensils back in the kitchen.

So if I remember from plain memory, you usually hold one stick and make it still, and hold another on top of the static stick as if you're writing. In conclusion, the stick that's only going to move is the top, and you just clamp like you write. Here's the issue, I barely knew how to write well, so god knows how I'll do that with most people's advice.

I tapped both chopsticks against the table to make it level, and so I began picking a siomai from the container.

. . . .

. . . .

"Uh, Akko, you okay there with chopsticks?" Aka looked at me intently while I hopelessly tried to use these daring chopsticks.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine." as if!

Oh! There we go, I finally picked up one.

But as soon as I aimed it for my small bowl, I realized it was lacking something. I looked keenly on the bowl, then by coincidence, Aka and I looked at each other like chimpanzees discovering a glowing banana on the ground.

"Oops." Aka exclaimed. "I forgot the rice." She ended up with two siomai in her bowl, without the rice.

I sighed, stood up from my chair and to the kitchen. Looking for the rice cooker, I raised it from its platform and brought it back to our table, placing it beside the siomai. Can't forget about the rice ladle.

"Ah, thank you kid." she lightly clapped, opened the rice cooker, and grabbed some with the ladle.

"Auntie Aka, you really need some glasses to distinguish the silky white bowl from rice." I sat afterwards.

"Oh come on!" she exclaimed back with a heavy pout.

Auntie Aka sounds like a really good bakery name for pretzels.

With nothing to mention, I simply went back to my seat and despite the difficulty of these chopsticks, guess I'm getting the grip of it as I struggled.

Aka, 22. Me, 18. It's quite your ordinary age gap. You might think that Aka and I have a senpai-kouhai relationship, a senior-junior, master-rookie, or basically any interrelationship that deals with hierarchy over another. But no, our atmosphere just tends to click on to the same wavelength, where age is a thing of the past in our bubble. Instead, we're like co-workers slacking some coffee on the food corner of the workplace or in plain hindsight, an extroverted sister and her introverted younger brother bonding endlessly.

Because of that, I do have my trust for Aka. The shenanigans, Japanese fanatic, and mochi addict things aside, she is quite what I'd call a mature and independent woman.

From there, we ate on quite you call a typical ordinary dinner with Japanese—Chinese cuisine. The siomai dipped in a black fine liquid mixed with soy sauce, vinegar, and lime, it was finally a fine meal at home.

⁂

Burp.

Oh good, that wasn't loud enough. I burped to the extent that only I could hear it inside my body.

You could tell that the dinner, while simple, is appetizing when there's no siomai left on the bamboo container, and the cute rice cooker is already barren.

About the I-can't-use-the-chopsticks crisis, I managed to survive and empty my bowl. Perhaps I've gotten proficient at a new way to eat. After all, it's a new experience, even though I had some fun trying.

"Haaahhh.." Aka left a deep sigh of relief, "That was good~" she added while patting her stomach.

"Yeah, it was good."

"Hah, you'll forever fear the cuisine and culinary of Aka Honda!" She stood erect and pointed her thumb to herself.

"You know what, you win." I slowly clapped because damn, my stomach really needs some variety from me just cooking and eating the same thing over and over back in my room.

Aka continuously laughed—gradually shifted her laugh akin to an antagonist of a witch who'll seek another vengeance to Snow White. Maybe it's not the "poisoned apple" anymore, but a "poisoned house" per se?

After she got tired of her own fame, we slowly started to clear the table. Aka's in charge of washing the bowls, bamboo container, and rice cooker, while I was tasked to just simply get the table squeaky flawlessly clean. "Make sure it's a five-star resto squeak!" she added upon laying out my chore.

. . . .

"Phew, all clean... I hope."

I hope Aka isn't a complaining kind of aunt because I'm known for being told that what I cleaned isn't fully cleaned.

"Just in time!" Aka approached in this direction with both hands rubbing vertically.

"Right... so Aka, about the mail—"

Shush! A finger silenced my mouth. Aka silenced me for the second time.

What's this, do I have to get through a series of trials before knowing what the hell my mail's all about? If we start counting the dinner that we just had, I'll call that the Siomai Trial.

"Follow me."

She approached the back-hand side of the room; the wall facing the entrance door. It has more of her Japanese antiques and stuff with the back having thick curtains. Moving out the things obscuring the curtains (which she has to call me moments later because these are mostly heavy stuff) and clearing the space around, Aka swung the curtain to the right, revealing a glass sliding door to a balcony.

Walking outside, the apartment has quite a backyard from up here with big trees surrounding it like a fort. Even going back here earlier and the day before, the back of the apartment is obscured by big trees so I didn't really suspect of extra space around this lot. Though I kept on suspecting every time I come back here that there's a very narrow passageway right next to the stairs to my room. The backyard more or less looks like a whimsical wonderland because barely anyone goes around here; tall grass and shrubs that makes the greenery too green.

I haven't known until now that some rooms in the apartment have a balcony or backyard of some sorts. Perhaps the availability of a balcony around here is patterned alternately between rooms. So looking to my right where my room is, I don't have a balcony, but the room after mine has one.

Of course, the balcony on most apartments are made to be a place where to hang and dry clothing, and this one's no exception. However, this one has a fun little twist in that there are two white lowly-inclined chairs paired with a small table.

Aka and I then settled ourselves in the balcony, taking my seat in one of these cool inclined seats. She left a deep sigh of relief upon sitting down.

It's breezy outside, probably around past seven already.

"Haah, wew, it sure is great and cold outside. I could've made ourselves some hot choco."

"Nah, it's fine..." But in reality, that kind of stuff makes my stomach acidic to death.

I stared at the bright night sky. It's a great view here considering that there aren't that many lights around here, so it makes a great place for staring up the starry sky. I can't help it, even so with the inclined nature of this chair.

"Aka, I have a question" I asked whilst staring at the sky.

"Hm?"

"Why are you wearing a completely different setup with the Sherlock Holmes vibe?"

"Oh!"

I looked at her, she immediately sat up and tidied up her detective-esque outfit.

"Well, I just found this slacking around my room when I cleared it up earlier, and it's not too shabby. When I looked myself into the mirror, I look like one of those badass waifu-material detectives you'd see in anime. When I untied my hair, I suddenly look younger!"

The Aka that I usually see in her mochi store and the Aka that I see tonight look worlds apart, it's a fact. But hasn't she realized that she accidentally did a cosplay?

I smirked. "Not gonna lie, you do look good in that outfit."

"Ah gee, thanks kid." Aka somewhat concealed herself, scratching the back of her head. "Now do that to your future girlfriend or something and you'll win her heart."

Oh for pete's sake.

"Anyways kid, here you go." Aka handed over the envelope to me. Finally, no such trials exist just to get ahold of my mail!

"Thanks." I leaned forward and grabbed it. "But, where's it from?"

"No such sender was written around it, but it came from Sapporo."

"Sapporo—you mean the Sapporo in Japan?'

"Yup."

It was written on the back of the envelope on one corner: Sapporo, JP. I can see that Aka didn't tamper the envelope in any way since it's secured in a seal in front. I intently unsealed the envelope and opened it.

But who in tarnation would send such a mail to me at this time of year, worse with no sender written on it? I swear that only my family knows where I go around the world.

While opening it, it revealed to be a letter that's folded four times.

"So what's in store for 'ya, Akko?" she asked whilst I slowly uncovered the letter.

Mumbling to myself, "Hmm... ... ... huh."

The heading of the letter reads that I'm invited to a batch reunion on the fourteenth.

"So I'm invited to our elementary batch reunion on the fourteenth at some private convention center in Seiru."

"The fourteenth huh, it's Valentine's Day. They sure really meant about pinpointing the date on Valentine's... How about it, you're going to it or nah?"

Strange. They even went an extra mile on inviting me, a completely average boy. Even so that you can call me a complete shut-in back then, I wasn't that much open-minded, more so a strict concealment of my own accord.

"Yeah... I just slack off my room anyway so I'll be going." I folded back the letter, placing it back onto the envelope.

"Elementary batch reunion huh, they say it's pretty a hidden gem to plan such a thing, let alone a High School or College batch reunion. It's not just the reunion, but also how you still sharply remember your comrades. What'ya going to do there then?"

"Eat."

Yes, I'm coming there just for the food.

Aka pulled off a chuckle, "Hah, but seriously do you happen to know anyone in your elementary batch?"

"No, that's the scary part for me."

. . . .

She gave me a pat on the shoulder, "Don't you worry kid, I admire your courage for going there despite your reasons that I cannot ask nor know—feels like there's things better not to be known nor asked. I bet you'll remember them by face when you get there or when someone randomly hits up a conversation with you."

Man, she recognizes herself that there are things better left unknown, I like that. If only everyone's like that.

I admire the advice, but what saddens me is that I don't think nobody recognizes me in my batch. You see, when I mean by being a complete shut-in back in the day, I meant it literally, socially, and figuratively. To be frank, I've been mocked by my signature frown on my face that's been with me for a lifetime. Not only that, but I just conceal myself from completely socializing because like I said, it's tiring, costly, and I feel like academics is just enough for me to get past this life.

To the point that if you were to carry that elementary attitude of mine to today's time, I wouldn't even have the balls to socialize with Aka, like I'm always locked in my apartment room unless if I really have to go to uni.

Plus points for character development of who I am today slowly starting to mingle with friends, but I still have tropes of dislike for society. It's an unfair and muted atmosphere.

I sighed and just went back stargazing up the starry sky. I bet Aka went to do the same thing as well.

We went on to compliment the starry night, identifying various constellations, asterisms, stars, and even planets. Envily, Aka identified significantly more than I did.

"Aka, I have something in mind..."

"Hm?" she glanced at my direction.

"Are we all hypocrites trying to act differently person after person?"

While it's true that Ala-chan and I have our own sentimental talks around midnight, there are just some things that I felt like not talking about in front of her. As pessimistic as I could ever be, there are things that I love to talk about to her, but might hurt her or make her think I pose a threat or bad influence towards her.

That's why my backup is to have a talk with Aka. It's my first time that we'd do such a thing at her balcony which is a total planetarium. We'd usually have it in her mochi store.