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The comfort of a pocket-size magnifier had never been appreciated to its true potential.
The revelation dawned on the scientist, and she promised herself to investigate more into the matter. The only downside to it was that the whole supermarket stared at the user as if she were an alien. Better than brushing her nose against the labels, though.
Manami dropped her bags down on the tatami carpets in the hallway and sighed. She absolutely hated her poor vision, but she had somehow managed to cope with it. As long as she had glasses, that was.
She sank into the sofa, rubbing her temples. She should have instead gone into the kitchen to put the groceries in the fridge, but her brain had difficulty in accepting the blurred image of the world and seemed to have figured out that the best way to revolt against it was to give its owner terrible headaches. I don’t like it either! Manami argued with her brain, but it was useless. The thing wanted to work after laws of physics and biology which she found herself hating for the first time.
Why did Yamamoto-kun had to drop his heavy pile of documents on her glasses in a fit of anger directed to his girlfriend? Who knew? The only certain outcome was that her glasses had been a collateral victim. She had just taken them off to take a better look at the microscope-how could she have possibly foreseen the tragedy?!
Of course his colleague apologised, but that didn’t change the situation much. She wasn’t particularly angry at him, though a bit more attention and less anger would have done the younger scientist good.
But she did have to repair her glasses. The assistant had said it would only take two days, and had offered her a reassuring (and somehow pitiful, she now realised) look.
However, Manami wasn’t aware that two days could seem so much longer than 48 hours. She also was unaware of how poor her sight actually was: she could barely read a normal sized text from more than 25 centimetres away. Which meant she had to stay abnormally close to the computer and to her papers. And to look ridiculous, to say the least , that mean voice in her brain reminded her. She suppressed it with a frown.
The true hell was the city, though. A hazard of lights and advertisements assaulted her, but all she could distinguish was a mass of color blending into a mass of paint, without well defined edges or frames. And the subway announcements… She had to keep her phone open on camera to see what was written, and looked like a tourist photographing everything. Of course everyone stared at her!
Manami groaned, too caught up in her thoughts to realise that her boyfriend was staring down at her, half-worried and half-amused. She started when he spoke.
“Hard day?”
“Karma!” she exclaimed, bringing a hand to her heart to calm it down. He sat next to her, watching her intently. “I’m fine,” she argued unconvincingly. He raised an eyebrow at her. Manami slumped back into the pillows and shut her eyes. “I miss my glasses,” she admitted.
“Just one day left,” he chimed, sounding carefree and even mischievous.
Manami’s eyes snapped open and she squared her shoulders as she brought herself upright. Her tone was bitter when she spoke, “You don’t get it. It’s hell! Do you know what it’s like to go around and only see people, not faces? Not details? Not to distinguish expressions or body language that is vital to communication?” She huffed; she sucked at talking to people anyway. She didn’t need another impediment.
Karma wanted to say something, but Manami cut him off, “Do you know what it’s like to narrow your eyes just to see if you’re taking the right subway and to use a magnifier glass at a supermarket to see the prize? Do you?!” Manami panted. She hadn’t realised she had gotten up and inched her face closer to a sitting Karma just to see his expression better and make sure he wasn’t mocking her.
But there was no hint of irony in his eyes. In fact, he looked hurt. She felt guilt poking at her guts, sending her stomach up and down a rollercoaster of flips. She hadn’t meant to lash on him. She was going to exorcise that little devil in her head one of those days. Karma had done nothing wrong and didn’t deserve to have her screaming at him after what must have been a tiring day for him, as well. She was about to apologise for taking her frustration out on him when he got up as well. Manami had to tilt her head to meet his intense look.
“You’re right, I don’t,” he said in an even voice, betraying no emotion. Manami felt her heart squeeze uncomfortably. “And I can’t pretend to understand you,” he continued. “Also, I don’t see any way I could help you with that. However,” his haze melted into a fond look, “I want to try and be your support. So please stop yelling at me and tell me how I can help.”
Manami stared up at him for a few seconds and gulped down her guilt. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, tearing her gaze from him and eyeing the carpet.
“Apology accepted,” she felt the grin in his voice without having to look at him. When she kept staring at the ground in shame, Karma pulled her in for a tight hug. She felt the blood cells in her cheeks suddenly multiply, coloring her skin beet red. Karma was too soft on her.
“Manami, come on, look at me!” He nuzzled her hair with his nose, but she only buried her head deeper into his shirt. He still smelled like his office.
“I’m really sorry,” she repeated in a miserable tone.
“You’re human, Manami. You’re allowed to get angry and yell, okay?”
“But you hadn’t done anything wrong!” she protested, now angry at herself.
She suddenly felt Karma tucking her head under his chin and heard his muffled chuckle. Manami dared peer at him, and he didn’t lose the opportunity to cup her face in one of his hands and keep his eyes on hers.
“If you’re so angry with your sight, why don’t you just look at things that are closer to you?”
“Because the world is an evil place that keeps labels and flasks at at least one meter from my eyes,” she spat ironically.
“Then I'll change this cruel reality,” Karma proudly declared and planted a kiss on her lips. She furrowed her brow at him curiously. “I’ll keep myself at twenty centimetres from you all night,” he explained in a teasing voice.
Manami stared at him blankly for a few moments, amusement and embarrassment fighting for the veto right on the expression she should make. Eventually, she decided his smug grin was absolutely hilarious (and somehow adorable). Her lips peeled into a smile and she couldn’t help giving in to the redhead. He was as mischievous as always, with that mop of red hair she couldn’t ever miss, even without glasses.
Manami sometimes wondered if physics hadn’t made an exception for her to see Karma’s features just as well without glasses as she did with them. Because she clearly hadn’t missed the triumphant smirk on his face when she giggled.