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Kita comes home after a long day at work and finds, yet again, a towering pile of boxes and packages blocking the entranceway to his apartment door. He sighs and looks at the one on the very top. Why is he even surprised at this point? It’s your name.
Kita picks up the stack of boxes and makes his way to your apartment a few doors down the hallway. He carefully sets them on the ground and prepares to leave. Before he can take two steps away, he hears a very frustrated ARGHH through the door. It startles him and he halts in his tracks. Kita decides to knock on the door.
“Coming!” you call out from the other side, fumbling around boxes and packing materials to get to the door. You swing the door open. “Hey.”
Kita blinks at you, dumbfounded for a moment before pointing at the boxes he just set down. “Oh um. Your packages are here.”
“Thanks.”
An awkward silence.
Kita clears his throat. “I’m Kita Shinsuke, um your neighbor…I think you have been sending packages to the wrong address, by the way.”
“Huh? No way, it’s auto-inputted.” You pull your phone out to check the delivery confirmations. It’s not your address, you grimace. “Sorry about that,” you apologize sheepishly. “I’ll be careful next time…”
“It’s okay...”
You introduce yourself too. But from the number of times your packages are delivered to Kita’s residency, you’re sure he knows your name already. Then the awkward silence comes back.
“Well, if there’s anything, I’m just four doors down.” Kita says, preparing to excuse himself.
“Actually!” you blurt out, “do you happen to know how to assemble furniture?” You open the door wider and point at the mess you currently have in the living room.
“I’m not an expert but I can take a look if you’d like.”
You welcome Kita in and notice how he takes his shoes off at the genkan and lines the pair with precision neatness in the corner. Meanwhile, a quick glance at the haphazard pile of shoes you have in the corner has you jotting a mental note to clean that up later.
Kita asks for the instruction manual of the furniture and takes a look at the diagrams and numbers, taking careful inventory of the delicate metal parts in the little bags. He’s so attentive and careful. Incredibly polite as well. You fall into ease, looking over the manual together, and finding the right bolts and screws for the next assembly step.
Some of the assembly requires one person to hold a piece in place while another person tightens the joints. The two of you work really well together. Small talk goes smoothly too, as the number of awkward silences dwindle away. Kita asks about how you are liking the new neighborhood. You tell him how unfamiliar everything is. He assures you that the neighbors are all welcoming and you’ll easily fit in.
If the neighbors are half as kind as Kita, you think you have a lot to look forward to. And Kita, especially, his whole presence puts you at ease. He’s not very talkative, but when he does speak it’s lively and genuine.It doesn’t take long before the two of you finish assembling the shelves and chairs that will decorate your new home. It’s almost too fast.
“Thanks for all your help Kita,” you tell him, seeing him to the door.
Kita slips on his shoes. “It was nothing.”
“Um—
You don’t want him to go just yet. You feel so embarrassed at the thought of asking for some more time with him. After all the time of his you have already taken up? The two of you are neighbors right? There are plenty of chances for the two of you to talk again.
Still, it probably won’t be the same again. It won’t have this same atmosphere or the magic of the moment. At most, you wonder if it’ll just be the same courteous “hey”, “good morning” like between typical neighbors. There’s still so much to Kita that you want to know and hear. You swallow the lump in your throat. Come on, at least ask for a phone number or something. Use furniture questions as an excuse, perhaps?
A loud growl cuts in.
You laugh awkwardly and quickly hold onto your midsection to quiet the noise that has already made itself known. “Excuse me, hah.”
Kita laughs briefly and checks the time on his wristwatch. “It’s certainly dinnertime already. Seems like you haven’t eaten yet either. Do you want to go together?”
“Sure!” you blurt out almost too eagerly. You quickly grab your wallet and slip your shoes on, closing the door behind you. In your zeal, you don’t realize that you actually left the house keys on the counter. You probably won’t realize until much later that evening that you’re locked out.
It’s been a while since Kita has heard such lively chatter from another person. He’s so used to planning his days out with all the tasks he needs to do. So, unannounced visits, impromptu socializing really aren’t on his mind. But it’s so nice. Relaxing and just simply so.
The walk with you down the apartment hall is particularly pleasant, and he isn’t quite sure why his steps feel lighter or how the overhead lights seem brighter.
Kita feels his face flushing and asks, “Do you like onigiri? I know a good place not too far from here.”
You smile back. “Sounds great!”