Chapter Text
There is about 0.2 milligrams of gold in the human body.
Yamaguchi looked back to the small gold cube that was on display. Further, it stated that gold was one of the softer metals there were, so it often needed to be combined with other metals to make it more stable and stronger. People have used gold for 6000 years. People have used and protected their gold, even when there were better options around them. Gold has been used for everything around the world, from tools, to accessories, for food and for art. Even in astronaut suits.
Just for the simple fact that people find it beautiful.
They were at the Sendai City History Museum. It was fairly huge in size and felt even bigger on the inside. There were lots of things to do and with the holiday; there were a lot of families visiting. There were a few levels to the building with different exhibitions, and one story reserved for a cafeteria and a lounging area. There was even a planetarium, but there were breaks between each movie. It was a very interactive museum, with things and machines they could touch and try. Mainly for the younger visitors but Yamaguchi secretly wanted to try all of them. He had been to a few museums on school trips and family outings, and he remembers them as being really fun.
They arrived some time ago. Yamaguchi didn't really pay attention to the clock. They just chose one exhibition and just started. While they didn't have a time limit, it would take a few hours to complete the whole museum. Tsukishima said they had time for it all. They saved the biggest exhibitions for last, it was the one about the entire universe and history and was clearly the center of attention now, as it had both been posters on the outside, on the website Yamaguchi had checked before they drove over here and even on the inside. There were ads all over the place and arrows pointing them to the biggest to the floor where it all happened. He also wanted to check out the gift shop. Maybe he could buy a cool poster or a new keychain.
Yamaguchi had tried a few of the practical machines and puzzles, but with the kids here and their families; he mostly watched on the side lines. It was still fun to see all of them enjoying themselves. It was even more fun to see how they had tied the different machines to the point in history. He remembered how fun it was as a kid to get to play and discover new stuff, so he gladly let the children have the most of it.
They were at a part that showed all of the natural elements and even some of the non-natural ones. Of the natural ones, they had samples of it, to varying degrees. The metal ones were mostly cubes and had some examples of common use. The gasses were harder, since not every gas was visible and well, it was hard to show how oxygen differs from just plain air. Still I was excited by the different usage of all of the elements. He still thought that bismuth must be some of the prettier metals he had seen.
Tsukishima was a few steps ahead and looked at some of the more recognizable radioactive elements. He was looking at uranium. It was in a small container and of course, properly sealed and protected. All the radioactive elements they had on display were probably sealed and some of them just had pictures and replicas of it.
He read over the metal plate that was beside the small glass cube. “....they used 64 kg of uranium in the atomic bomb…it destroyed 90% of the land…” more was written, but he stopped himself. A little bit speechless as he looked over the pictures of the bomb and disaster zone. It didn't help that previously he had looked over a few of the other radioactive elements and some of them were used to detect cancerous tumors, used in medical equipment and used to further discover all of earth’s different wonders.
Humanity was really the destroyer and the creator of this world.
They walked further, looking at the elements and their usage. They even had another section that showed other materials and their usage, like wood, different metals blends, plastic and organic material. They showed small handmade tools to massive machines. They even had real industrial machines. He liked the setup and it was exciting to get a good look at machines he knew existed but had not necessarily seen in his life.
They even had a big news paper printer. It was behind a low fence, Yamaguchi secretly touched it a little bit as they passed it.
The exhibition ended in a nice way. As they walked towards the end, each machine had become smaller and smaller. They showed photos of big man made dams, windmills to the tiniest of needles and the world's smallest computer.
They stood under a sign, showing arrows to the next one.
“Do you want to have lunch?” Tsukishima asked.
He nodded and looked at the signs that showed the way to the canteen. Even though he knew it was on the fourth floor, it was hard to navigate. The canteen was probably packed, but they had ads about funny themed pastries and lunches and he really wanted to try one of them. He couldn't complain, since he was also one of the customers here.
“Is it going to be packed, maybe we have to sit in the lounge area?” he wondered as they went for the stairs. The elevators had a few groups waiting in line.
“We can go to the workers' lunch room or take a meeting room or something,” Tsukishima smiled at him. “Less traffic.”
“Oh, another perk of being an employee here?” he smiled.
Tsukishima nodded. They had gotten a free pass since Tsukishima knew the receptionists at the ticket line. Pluss, he had his worker ID with him, and after some chit chat and updates, they started exploring.
The canteen was packed. People, of course, took the seats closest to the windows, but it didn't matter, each table was in use and occupied. The line was long, but the shelves still looked packed. It smelled good too. Of course, the museum was a little overpriced, as it often was. It looked good and the museum didn't allow food from outside, so there were no other option than to buy something. Well, he did think that Tsukishima would be allowed something from the outside, being a part-time employer here. It was still exciting to eat out. There were also people that made sure that no food or drinks were taken out of this floor.
There were a lot of choices to choose from. Cupcakes with decoration from a lot of different departments. Dinosaur shaped cookies and cake pops that looked like planets. They even had a few rice balls shaped into animals. It was on the kids menu, but cool nonetheless. There were also just normal stuff, like sandwiches, some udon noodles and some rice dishes. Easy stuff.
He was still a little boring with his choice, and just chose an egg sandwich and a cake pop as a little dessert plus a soda. Tsukishima also took a tuna sandwich and a dinosaur cookie. He led him out of the room and up a level and then through some doors were it stood staff only; Yamaguchi found himself in the break room. There were a few people here that greeted them. He bowed politely and let Tsukishima continue to lead him to the right room.
It was a small meeting room, with tall windows. While the view only showed other skyscrapers, mainly, it was nice to see the outside world and they had already been a few hours inside.
“So what do you think so far?” Tsukishima asked.
He chewed and swallowed, “it was very exciting. I liked reading about the elements and seeing the machines. I also wanted to try more of the brain teasers, but the line was too long.”
Tsukishima chuckled a little, “Well, maybe we can go back to check by the end of it, a lot of the families with the younger children will probably be out by then. They have changed some of the samples.”
“Yeah?”
“They probably broke or something.” Tsukishima just hummed, “or just needed to replace: I just noticed.”
Yamaguchi nodded, “what did you do when you worked here? There are so many levels and so much to do. I can’t imagine it was easy.” He only had a one floor bookstore to take care of, and the most annoying thing there was when people left their tea bags on the table or didn't put things back on the proper shelf.
“I worked in the dinosaur exhibition and the plant one, and had set days where I worked in the gift shop. I didn't do guided tours, but I was mainly on the floor to answer questions of the visitors and keep an eye on the floor.”
“Do you need to clean the stuff in here, it seems tedious?”
“Ah, no, a conservator does that. I have only watched how they do that, but they don’t allow anyone that isn’t licensed to touch the stuff here. There are other people here that work on the exhibition part and decide how they want them to look.”
He smiled a little, “that makes sense. Must be fun working here.”
“It is, but sometimes in the summers it gets really stuffy because of the humidity and the amount of people. You should be glad we aren't here in the summer, even the air conditioning can’t keep up. Plus, kids tend to be antsy when they are in here too long, so hearing at least five kids having a meltdown on each floor because they are overstimulated is a daily occurrence. There's also a big dinosaur they can climb on in the kids area, and you also hear the kids yell and the parents call out to them to be careful. There’s also a whale heart that allows kids to crawl inside, but all they do is yell from the inside. I think they believe they are in another dimension when they go in there.”
“ A circus, in other words,” Yamaguchi laughed. Kind of glad that his little books store mainly had students and older people. The kid section in the store wasn't that big; but it was there.
“I suppose so.”
“Still more exciting than a bookstore. You don't know how quiet it is in summer and how humid it is,” he complained. In the middle of the summer, they closed earlier sometimes and closed on Sundays. Still, there were regulars that came into the shop, to continue their routine.
“Sometimes, I wished this place was as calm as a bookstore.” Tsukishima said and took a sip of his drink. “Also, you’d be surprised that people still lose their trash even when there are arrows here to show them to the bins and bathrooms. It's like they can’t understand the simple signs we have all over the place. Plus the kids always touch the glass screens and that is a thing us extras have to clean.” He grouched out the part, which made Yamaguchi chuckle a little bit.
Yamaguchi smiled, “well, I kind of get that. We have a few that come into the store that ask about were the campus ground lies, and there's literally a sign right outside the store that points into the direction of the university. Ito-san even started to get those university brochures that have a map of the surrounding area.” He laughed again. “If they just had stopped for a second to breathe they would have seen it.”
“Annoying people,” Tsukishima said.
“Well, kind of, but I can't really fault them if they are new to the area.” Yamaguchi said, “When I first moved to Tokyo, I still walked wrong even when I had google maps out.”
“Huh, guess I'm spoiled since I live on campus.” Tsukishima noted.
“So, how did you land a job at the museum,” he asked. He had been wondering, the guy seemed fairly interested in history and evolution.
Tsukishima thought for a moment. “Well, I was actually thinking about becoming a curator or a conservator; you know.” Tsukishima started to explain. “So, my parents said it could help me figure it out if I got some experience working part time. They had some open positions for high school students. Saw a poster on it after we had a school trip here and applied. I knew it wasn't exactly the picture of the fields I envision; but I would get some experience and understand more on how a museum runs.”
“That is so exciting,” he mused. “What made you decide on law school then?”
“Well, I do like to look at history through museums, but well, I don’t know- I liked working with here, but I found out that I didn't really care for the things I didn't really find interesting. Plus, I also found out that I’m really not working in this kind of overly social workplace.”
He just hummed back, all of it was in line with the Tsukishima he knew now. Didn’t mean that he was curious to know about other sides of the guy.
“Plus, well, I just never saw myself working in a museum day in and day out for life. When my dad and my homeroom teacher started to talk about what I would do after high school, I just never really felt like a curator or a conservator fit like a lawyer would. Also, while I liked reading up on the stuff here, I mainly answered all of the same questions about the same things to the visitors. It can become a little monotonous with a work position like that. Plus, it's a work field with limited options. It was either work at a museum, and not guarantied that it was in something I found interesting. Or work as a professor or something like that. Which I did not see myself as.” He explained further, "I think I would go into medicine or nursing school before I would work as a professor or a teacher."
"Can I tell your mother you said that?"
"Shut up, Yamaguchi," Tsukishima told him flatly.
"Gomen, Tsukishima," he laughed a little. “I thought about going into IT.” Yamaguchi told him. “I have always liked mathematics and such, but I don't know. I don't think I would do too well in an office setting and programming all day. So I decided to pursue a field where I would smell like dog shit all of the time and deal with angry cats.”
Tsukishima nodded, “well, it’s good work. At least honest.”
“Arent environmental law, honest?” he raised an eyebrow.
Tsukishima seemed to think for a moment. “Well, not always. I think there are a lot of people that go into that field with good intentions-but you know. The world doesn't work that way. I care about nature and don’t want a concrete building on every available land field there is; but I also want people to live comfortably and safe. I think I can only make changes on a more local thing, than just change the global environment.”
“Of course, not a single person can change the world.” Yamaguchi pointed out. “If it was that easy, it would have been done.”
“Well, you are right about that, but every industrial country uses more and more materials to either expand, sell more or they need it for the people. You can’t really fight nice scenery with human needs.”
“Even if you are just able to make a park with green grass or a nature reserve, it will make good ripple effects for the people nearby. I grew up in a small city, and while Tokyo has a lot of nice and different parks, I have to travel by train or bus to get there. It would be nice if someone would see how important nature is for us just on a daily basis. I do get sick of the light pollution, limited sky view and just constant traffic noise. Also not to talk about the impact industrialising has on animals. Like just power lines kill birds everyday and people are just used to it being the status quo. ”
“Yeah,” Tsukishima agreed, “you can at least see people be happy with being a veterinarian. I feel like going into law school, you kind of just meet people that are a little too cynical. It's like working towards a goal that will never be reached.”
“Well, I'm not the one to talk. Veterinarians sometimes help the animals, but a lot of the time they are just a bearer of bad news for families. Plus, it’s not all glory, sometimes families swear they want to keep old animals alive, even though they are suffering. It can be hard. Some of the older students have shared they started to not care about those reactions when they were having their practicum weeks. I’m kind of scared it will be like that for me too. ”
Tsukishima just nodded, “do you think humanity will ever be satisfied.”
“Hmmm, I don’t know about that, but also, I guess it's better to try to make a change than just let misery win. At least we can pretend that it will work.”
“Ignorance is bliss,” Tsukishima hummed back, “and doing nothing worthwhile when you know something is wrong; just makes you a hypocrite or just kind of a bad person.”
“Well, we haven't reached the dystopian.” Yamaguchi chuckled a little. “So you can’t give up yet, Tsukishima.”
“Fine,” Tsukishima agreed, “At least this is still nice.” He looked outside of the window.
It was. The sun was still out, just lover in the sky. The skyscraper didn't completely block out everything. Maybe that was because they were a few floors up; they had a little more view up here. The pedestrians, cars, trains. The buildings.
All man-made, some because people thought it was pretty, some because it was convenient for people. And some because it would better someone's quality of life. All of it in it’s way of nature of some sort, all of it used everyday.
Really, in this life, they had the option to be either the creators or destroyers of the world.
They continued the tour. Yamaguchi was especially mesmerized by the timeline exhibition. Some showed what era and what tools and structures humans had used. Everything from simple spears and hammers to industrial machines to small computers that were hidden inside their phones. Some showed each clothing and how that had evolved. It was very interesting to get a perspective on that. He got very into the evolution of toilets- everything from the stick to the modern plumbing system and the modernised smart toilet and bidet in one!
There were a few taxidermised animals and some statues of the extinct ones. There was also a structure of a blue whale heart, that Tsukishima spoke about earlier, that the smaller kids could play in. Very interesting.
“One time when I was little, I climbed up to the roof of that heart and fell down,” Tsukishima told him.
He chuckled a little as they watched a few kids try and climb up. All of them are a little too short to really get any height and progress. So no falls were witnessed by them. “When I was in elementary school, we were at this museum too. There was this playground thing there and one kid fell off and as a get well gift; she got a lolly pop. Which just prompted the whole class to pretend to fall off to get some free candy.”
“Did you do it?” Tsukishima raised an eyebrow at him.
“No, but that was more because the kids swarmed the playground and I didn't want to get stamped and pushed.” Tsukishima snorted a little. “Didn't really matter, they decided to give us each a lolley just to calm us down.”
Tsukishima snorted at that, “I gave one kid some free candy here too, because they were too young to understand one of the brain teasers. The kid was screaming and people looked concerned.”
He just chuckled back and shook his head.
They finished the whole museum. Yamaguchi hadn’t paid attention to the time, but he was starting to feel it in his feet after walking so long and it was kind of becoming stuffy. Probably because he was a little thirsty. They went to the tourist shop last. Also because the exit signs led them through it. They couldn’t really avoid it.
It was a nice shop. Lots of posters, lots of replicas from the machines and other things they had displayed throughout the museum. They had more than a few brain teasers and games. They had small things for the travelers like neck warmers and supports, playing cards and even a few bowls and stuff like that.
He took a thorough look through it all. Tsukishima tagged along and let him take his time. He commented on some of the stuff, even pointing out a few things he had bought himself a long time ago.
“Maybe a poster?” Yamaguchi wondered out loud and looked through all of the posters they had displayed. “And maybe a few cards.” Not that he had anyone to send postcards too, but he could maybe start a collection.
“Hmmm,” Tsukishima hummed beside him, “what kind of poster.”
He looked through them. While some were just art pieces and some were just prints of the machines. Some were copies of old fashion posters about intervention. He chose a poster with a lot of different paprika plants, all listed with names. He was debating on having it in his kitchen. Maybe it would inspire him to be more adventurous with his cooking. He also chose a poster with the periodic table and two others that looked like blackboards with chalk images. One of a microscope and one with a sample of bacteria on it. He was a biology lover, so he deemed it fitting. He also bought a deck of playing cards, which he really didn't need. When was the last time he had ever needed playing cards, but the theme was interesting and it was nice. He also chose a magnet rubix cube, because it was cute.
He also debated on buying some salad pots and spoons, but when did he ever make enough salad to need salad spoons. He also knew that most of these were just here so the museum could earn some extra money on his dime and he had already bought a few unnecessary things.
However, Tsukishima showed the cashier the working card, and he got a discount. So he turned around and picked up two mugs with the periodic table and that changed colour when hot water was poured in. He also grabbed book supporter that looked like some kind of deep cave crystal.
It all was bagged properly, and then they were on their way towards the parking lot. Another perk was that they got to park at the workers parking places, so it wasn't as crammed. When they finally were ready to drive to Tsukishima’s home, Yamaguchi noticed the time. hey had spent over five hours there. Well, one hour was lunch and maybe half an hour in the gift shop. Maybe more, he didn't care since they were done now either way.
“Ah, we were out for a long time.” Yamaguchi said it took around half an hour to drive here. And now traffic was probably picking up. He didn't complain though. It would be nice to have a little drive after being inside for so long and getting so much stimulation from new things and the noise.
“Yeah, trust me. I think I have seen visitours be there from, opening to closing. I don’t know how they managed.” Tsukishima chuckled a little bit “So what do you think? Did you like it.?”
He nodded, “yeah, it was very cool. Like you said. I liked how they had made the exhibitions and didn't just stop when the humans had evolved. I liked that they showed the tools and clothes we made in the early stage and I liked how it was all connected. It was very nice and I really like the elemental part of it. Maybe next time, we’ll go during a school day, so there will be less people there.”
“You just want to play with the brain teasers and machines though.”
He chuckled a little, “well, some of them were cool. Don’t pretend you haven't tried all of them.”
Tsukishima laughed a little. “I haven't tried them, just inspected them. It was work related.”
“You told me you have been there as a child. Of course, you have played with them.” He teased and laughed a little as Tsukishima decided not to continue this banter. "Maybe those machines was why you wanted to work here."
Tsukishima looked at him, a little surprise and little e happy. he also had the same face when Kuroo and Bokuto was three minutes into teasing him and he was building up an eye twitch. It just made him giggle a little bit.
They drove home, talking about the museum and whatever they came to mind. It took over forty minutes with traffic, but it wasn't really noticed. When they returned, Tsukishima’s parents were very interested in how their museum tour was, and Yamaguchi filled them in on what they had seen and done.
“It was very nice to get a private tour,” he half joked, but it was nice to have Tsukishima as a companion. Probably because he also cared about that stuff and could give him additional information about some of the stuff. Tsukishima also let him geek out when he could deep dive into whatever topic that was on display.
Ena chuckled, “Kei gets so into it, when he starts doesn't he.”
“Please don't start” Tsukishima told him in that monotonous voice that Yamaguchi had learned that was him trying not to show his teenage angst coming through.
Hana giggled too, “you also went to the gift show, right?”
He nodded and got the bag and showed them. He also gushed about the discount he got. He told them all about the posters he had to frame them and how he would decorate his apartment with it. The parents complimented him on his choice. Hana even dragged out the few mugs Tsukishima had bought there before. And with much protest from their child, Yamagichi got to look at them. There were two dinosaur mugs where the handle was the tail. One in a green colour and one in a purple. There was also a mug with just the logo from the museum and one much that spelled coffee using element symbols.
“Ah, these are cool,” he pointed out as he looked through them. “You should take these to Tokyo. Would have loved drinking tea out of Mr. Dinosaur here,” he teased a little bit as he picked up the green mug.
“Maybe, but these are discontinued and if they break I won't be able to get them back.” Tsukishima said.
“Understable.” Yamaguchi agreed.
They made some more chit chat with the parents and they got the information that dinner would be ready soon. Tsukishima helped him with his stuff and they went up.
“So, mugs can’t be the only things you bought?” Yamaguchi commented as he made room in his bag for the stuff he bought.
“I bought a few posters, dinosaur and animal ones, and one word map. I also bought two different rubix cubes. Plus, sometimes when they were discontinuing posters or got new updates; we got them for free. Some of them are in Tokyo, some of them are rolled up and put in the attic.”
“Different?”
“One regular one and one small one.” Tsukishima explained. “I needed something to do during my break,” Tsukishima found one in a drawer. The small one, which only had two squares along the width, length and height. It looked cool.
“Can you solve it?”
Tsukishima thought for a moment. “I could one summer, but I forgot one of the few moves. So now i just leave it alone since I can't be bothered to relearn it”
He chuckled a little bit. “I was the same way in grade school. My grandparents gave me this set of different rubix cubes. And I learned it only to forget it all a few weeks later.”
Tsukshiam chuckled too.
“It was nice that you used your discount on me, thank you.” Yamaguchi said as he scanned over his bag.
“It's nothing.” Tsukishima said nonchalant. “I might as well use it when I can.”
“Plus it was very cool how we got to eat in the meeting rooms and not in the canteen. I really liked to get a little breathing room from the others.”
Tsukshiam nodded. “Trust me, on the most hectic days, I have never thanked those in the meeting rooms and the workers lounge enough.”
He smiled knowing the feeling and knowing how good it was to have a safe space for when the store got too busy and stuffed.
“We could do this in Tokyo too,” he started. “A lot of the museums have university discounts.”
Tsukishima nodded, “that would be nice. I have never checked out the modern art museum or the national museum.”
“Let’s make a day of it when we can then, Tsukki,” he beamed. They heard Hana call them for dinner, and Tsukishima just agreed as he motioned him to follow.
Have you decided?” Tsukishima asked as he came up with a tray full of snacks, soda and some candy. He had tucked a soda bottle under his arm and had balanced an extra crips bag too.
“Ah, no.” Yamguchi said.
He looked down at the movie options. In front of him, he had the vhs tapes and some old dvds too. Tsukishima said that most of the dvd stuff was now on streaming services; but it just felt better to watch it this way.
Tsukishima took a seat beside him on the floor after he had placed the stuff on the table. They scanned over the titles again. All of the covers were chipped and worn out at the corners and edges. Some of them had labels that said either Aki’s or Kei’s in black or blue markers.
“It's been a long time since I've watched any of these,” he said.
“We could start at the beginning and just watch them in order.”
“We don't have to watch pokemon.” Tadashi said. While he would love to, there were other options here. Tsukishima didn't have to bend to his wants and needs all of the time.
He had to put them in order, which wasn't hard since there were three pokemon movies, one vhs that had a few pokemon episodes, and the rest were either Japanese, or American movies and even some indie productions. He wouldn't mind anything really.
There were something nostalgic to be sitting on the floor like this. He used to do this a lot in his childhood on the weekends. His parents often liked going on date nights. Then his grandparents would come over and watch over him. They were kind of like his parents, the more distant ones, but his grandfather was always kind and often came with some pocket money to him and his grandmother cooked up a feast and gave him dessert. He would find his vhs tapes and put them on the floor and use maybe too long of a time to choose which one. Which was often pokemon, since that was mainly his limited collection.
It were cooler if Haku was also there, as he often was when they were younger. Then, more often than not; they would play video games.
Sitting like this in Tsukishima's small tv room, it felt normal. Felt like they had done this together a thousand times before and would do a thousand times more. Yamaguchi had to admit it, while he did find Tsukishima a little too mean and blunt at the start, once their friendship had started- he found himself connecting with him in ways he had never connected with someone before. Found out that he could be himself, even when he was figuring all this friendship stuff out.
They decided on the first pokemon movie, Mewtwo's return and then just watched the other other ones in chronological order if they wanted to continue.
“If I eat more, my pants won't fit me when I come home.” Yamaguchi complained, but still took a few chips in his hands to eat. Tsukishima chuckled as he poured them soda.
“I always use the excuse that I need to eat good food now, since my student meals are nothing to brag about.”
“Thought you, Kuroo and Kenma made dinner together?” Yamagichi asked, “it seems like you three eat well enough.”
“Well, we found out it was cheaper if we just bought groceries together. Mostly because Kuroo and Kenma already buy groceries together. It was more a hassle to start dividing up the fridge and cupboards when we eat practically the same kinds of food. So it makes sense that if some of us make dinner, we just make enough for all three. If not, we just don't use up whatever ingredient if we can help it. It's also pretty easy to see if someone has bought snacks for themselves.” Tsukishima explained. Believe it or not, we are locals at the 7/11 shop right outside of campus. Plus Kuroo and Kenma always get left over from home and my parents send care packages.”
“It’s nice that you got roomies like that.” Yamaguchi said. Before he moved, when he still thought he would share an apartment with others; he read up on what to expect when sharing a living space like that. And it seemed like all of them either ended with someone movie out or just this mild annoyance the whole time they shared living space. He didn't wish for that for himself. “Hmmmm, well I'm still not looking forward to energy bars and instant ramen packages”
“I have seen you make food, I believe you can make more.”
“Probably yes, but if it takes longer than 20 minutes, I'm usually over it. I'm also a regular at the corner kiosk you know. I like tteokbokki.” Yamaguchi said to him. He was very lazy in that department and since his appetite wasn't great- it was easy to just make minimal effort to just buy something on the way.
“I like carbonara ramen.”
“Weirdo,” he said back. “I like the spicy and sweet ones. Or just spicey ones.”
“7/11 has pretty cheap cakes too. Plain in taste, but good.” Tsukishima said.
“What cake haven't you tasted?” he teased and Tsukishima took a seat and was steady to start the movie.”
Tsukishima just chuckled and started the movie.
“I’m so excited for this,” Yamaguchi said and sat up a little as the movie started. “I feel like a kid again.”
“Think the last time I watched these was when I was in elementary school or something.”
They watched as Satoshi and his friends traveled to the island to save the pokemon and probably the world. They watched him sacrifice himself and then watched the power of the pokemon tears bring him back to life.
It was nostalgic and how he remembered it. Although the new modern smart tv couldn't really show the intended colours of the more grainy vhs; it was good enough for now.
“So, was it like you remembered it?” Tsukishima asked and took the old vhs back in its cover.
Yamagchi thought for a moment, “I always thought that the main plot with Satoshi and the pokemon lasted for longer. However, build up took most of the screen time. Always felt it longer when I was younger.”
Tsukishima agreed. “I think the plot of those kids movies just felt longer since we were so young. I remember I watched one that I always felt was so long, but it barely passed an hour of running time.”
Yamaguchi laughed. Because a lot of his childhood felt like that. Everything felt so big and long when he was younger; now years seemed to fly by and one hour passed too quickly. “Still good, though.”
Tsukishima noddeed, he touched the player, “It's so hot, even though I made sure nothing is touching it or covering it.”
“Well, Akiteru-san said it made a lot of sounds,” Yamaguchi said, “do you want to watch the second movie, or another one?”
Tsukishima agreed and took out the second movie. “You want to watch them all?”
“Well, it makes sense like that.” Yamaguchi said and just placed the chips bowl in his lap. “Maybe we should just watch all of it in order. Like the whole franchise.”
Tsukishima looked over the tapes, “well, I have three pokemon movies here, so that's as much order as you are going to get. And then the first four episodes of season two.”
“Why season two and why only four episodes?”
“My older cousins had the first season. Our grandparents bought us all each pokemon vhs this one summer, but they gave us different parts.” Tsukishima explained.
“That is so cute, actually.” Yamaguchi smiled.
Tsukishima shook his head. “Well, we could never really start or finish a season, since they live in the west.”
“Seems like something grandparents would do. Good intentions though.” He laughed, “We might have to pirate the rest then.”
Tsukishima came back to the sofa after he had to rewind the tape, and they watched the next one. And then they started on the second. It was very nice to see this kind of static movie on the screen. Of course, it was a kids movie from the 2000s, so the story was easy and the main problem got resolved quickly. They enjoyed it and that was enough. Ena and Hana had come to say goodnight and Yamaguchi half expected Akiteru and Maria to do the same, but he reminded himself that they had left. Then they started the third one.
He didn't know when he fell asleep during the third movie. Yamaguchi was between listening to Satoshi shouting some pokemon move and dozing off into nothingness as he felt someone remove the bowl from his lap.
He woke up and saw Entei on the screen, “did I doze off?”
Tsukishima yawned, “a little, but I did too.”
He looked at his phone, and saw that the clock had passed one in the morning. Tsukishima pushed the movie. It was over halftime.
They cleaned up to the best of their abilities. Which was just placing everything on the tray. Dusting crumbs into their hands and discarding it on some napkins. They fluffed up the pillows and turned off the electorings. They used a minute to watch the vhs player shut down and stop and make that buzzing sound. When it did, Tsukishima just told him they could take the rest tomorrow.
Yamaguchi yawned as he went to the bedroom. Tsukishima went to the bathroom first.
It's nice. Living like this. He has only been there for a little over a week, but it already felt like some sort of normalcy of his. Maybe because he was getting into what he used to do. Instead of being cooped up in his old childhood bedroom while his parents ignored him, or being cooped up in his dark apartment with take out food he pretended was better than it was; Now he got to relive all of that again. Maybe this was even better. Maybe it was celebrated with someone better.
He got the christmas dinner, the community of this family, the hanging out with Tsukishima’s friends and now a proper shine visit and some proper new years ramen. He was kind of not looking forward to going back to his apartment. Just because there was a lack of familiar warmth and lack of his friend there.
He started to fidget with the little magnet rubix cube and completely messed it up. He turned it a few times in his hands, trying to at least get one side right.
Creation and destroying.
It was weird. Yamaguchi always thought that he was some sort of bad omen. At least they followed him. It was weird how one invite to a volleyball game had created all of this. Had led him to lying on a futon in his best friend's home. He always thought that bad things always followed him. Bad people certainly did. Bad memories was always with him. Yamaguchi had looked at himself like something that was destined to stay in the darkness.
He thought about creation and destruction, and as he started to wash up for the day when it was his turn. He thought that maybe, just maybe he too could create something good. Maybe he could do something good and worthwhile, in this little life he had created for himself.
He could save some animals, make a good dinner and share it with someone special; and that would be good enough.
His little life was in one small corner of the world. His little life was shared with a handful of people, a small bookstore, a coffee shop and a university. They all had created space for him in their home, so he could do the same in his lonesome apartment.
He thought for such a long time that he was winning over his parents' coldness, hatred and the harassment he had faced, by just existing. Like the job was halfway done, but it was awfully convenient for Shino, Noru and Noboru that he walked around already miserable. In a way he let himself be destroyed, because then the world couldn't touch him.
If he could create a barrier and make himself untouchable; he would win. But he couldn't. So he could do the next best thing- create something more stable.
News years, new me, he absolutely thought. Yamaguchi was really never the one for resolutions, since he never cared enough to even follow them. Or to even make them in the first place. In his teenage years, he had rather easy tasks such as being a little active each day, eating a little more fruit and such. Even that didn't last through the first month.
It felt like a good time to create something new for himself. A few days ago, he vowed to work towards something greater for himself and the others. That also meant small steps in the right direction. He wanted to hang the posters up and make his apartment a little more homey. And then maybe invite the others to his home for a proper evening so they could hang out.
Maybe he could do the silly little things to make his life better. Like eating a breakfast that was semi healthy. He walked to university everyday and back. That was 40 minutes of walking time. He could take a walk outside whenever he wanted really, and just call it exercise. Maybe he could buy an extra floor pillow for the people he spent most of his days with now, just so they all had a place in his home with him.
“Tsukki?”
“Hmmm?”
“Do you think you could create a better world?”
“No, I dont," was the flat reply he got.
“Not even a little bit of faith.” Yamaguchi asked.
“Not the whole world.” Tsukishiam said.
“You are not very optimistic?”
He didn't see Tsukishima, but he could picture him raising one eyebrow, half a smirk and somewhat bewilderment. “You think you could change the whole world .”
“No, not really.” Yamaguchi admitted. “I think you could make a change. At least one smaller scale."
You changed mine , he could say. That would just either earn him a weird look and he would have to go to sleep in an uncomfortable atmosphere. Or it would earn him a shut up and a blushing Tsukishima, they might also then just go to sleep with a little weird atmosphere. He might still giggle though.
“How small?” Tsukishima asked, and he could hear the small smile building up.
“Maybe garden size, or village size. Maybe even city size.”
Tsukishima hummed, “that is a pretty big scale.”
Yamaguchi chuckled a little too. “I believe so. I think my impact stops at my room or something. Or whatever vet clinic I will end up at. One cat scratch at a time.”
“I think you could do more than that.” Tsukishima laughed a little.
Yamaguchi snorted, “if you say so.”
“I think you could do it. At least house scale, maybe even neighbourhood scale.” Tsukishima said. “You could participate in a neighbourhood festival and have a stand with kids games.”
He nodded, even though he was unsure if Tsukishima was looking at him. “That is a much bigger scale than I thought you would believe me to change. Always felt like my impact wasn't that much.”
“Don’t we all have a little bit of saving the world in us,” Tsukishima started, his voice kind of rough by the late hour. “Isn't that what they say?”
Perhaps he is right. People- humanity has always changed things for the better. Some used stone and wood to make hammers, thousands of years later, they made houses and utensils of the same stuff. All of them are made of almost the same materials, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and different metals and more; a little bit of it all.
Humanity has always changed and created, and now it was his turn.
“When we get back to Tokyo, I'm gonna hang up all of the posters and frame some pictures, and then invite you all over,” he told Tsukishima. He was determined to do it now. It took some time for him, but now he was feeling confident.
“Like an art gallery?”
“No, you butt,” Yamaguchi laughed a little. Maybe a little too loud since there were two people sleeping here. “Like a pizza night or something, but I want to change the apartment to be nicer and cooler.”
Tsukishiam yawned, “that would be nice. I still don't think you need to change anything for us to come over.”
“Maybe I could make the curry I got from Kageyama?” he wondered out loud.
“Didn’t you say pizza-night?”
“Oh, yeah, I just did, Sorry.” He laughed a little again. He was perhaps very much overtired now. That also got Tsukishima to chuckle. “Maybe both, I think the others could eat both, maybe curry pizza.”
“Sounds so wrong,” Tsukishima said.
“It does,” Yamaguchi agreed. “Maybe I just stick to one cuisine.”
“Probably a good plan,” Tsukishima yawned again.
Change the world or change his routine. Perhaps the same, perhaps not. Yamaguchi thought that maybe he had already changed a little bit. A year ago, he would have been anxious about a shrine visit. Too many people and too long of a waiting time. Too much to think of and too few people to share it with.
Without knowing he had already taken leaps to a better self.
He heard Tsukishima snore softly and wondered how long he had been thinking.
Yamaguchi closed his eyes and wondered how big of a leap hanging a few posters up, using a few new cups out and inviting friends over for dinner would be.