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Leanbox - June 8, 2014 G.C.
“You’ll never know how C-Sha feels until you ask her, S-Sha,” E-Sha counseled.
S-Sha walked down the park, not saying a single word, as she knew that E-Sha was right. Uncertainty would only continue to gnaw at her if she didn’t ask C-Sha how she truly felt about her. Not in a romantic way, but in a more platonic way.
However, S-Sha could never bring herself to ask the question, even when the time was right for her. There have been times when she was so, so close to asking C-Sha. She would pull the hunter aside to talk to her privately, only to freeze up in silence and back out at the last second.
With a little encouragement from E-Sha, S-Sha decided that she and C-Sha should have a picnic in Lowee. That way, S-Sha could finally ask her best friend the question that she had been dying to ask for the past few months. Of course, C-Sha eagerly agreed to have a picnic. She even mentioned that she would bring some red meat that they could cook together.
“Don’t worry. I won’t chicken out… this time,” S-Sha reassured, although she didn’t sound too convincing.
“I mean it, S-Sha, ” E-Sha asserted. “ You can’t leave the picnic until you ask her how she feels about you.”
“I will, I will, I will,” S-Sha acknowledged.
Suddenly, a female voice cried out. “Hey, S-Sha!”
S-Sha turned around to see C-Sha, waving at her with the happiest smile on her face. She was standing next to a red barbecue grill with a pair of tongs in her hand.
“I’m so glad you made it!” C-Sha beamed. “I smoked some brisket for you. I cured some bacon too! I made pulled pork for good measure, and I’m about to grill some steaks! Hope you’re hungry!”
S-Sha’s eyes widened when she saw the various meals that C-Sha made on the wooden table. It was as if the brunette was preparing a banquet for a party, even though there wasn’t going to be a party at this park (at least not that S-Sha was aware of). The only people that would be eating this lavish meat dinner were her and C-Sha.
Although S-Sha assumed C-Sha would be eating most of the food because there was no way she would be able to finish all that in one sitting.
“Wow…” S-Sha marveled, jerking her head back a bit. She knew her best friend was a glutton, but she couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by the amount of food that C-Sha brought to the picnic.
“Um… S-Sha, you did tell her that this was a picnic, right?” asked E-Sha, who was just as overwhelmed as S-Sha was.
S-Sha was sitting across from C-Sha while eating one of the many pulled pork sandwiches that her best friend made.
“Now is your chance to ask her, S-Sha!” E-Sha said.
S-Sha put her pulled pork sandwich down on the plate. “Hey, C-Sha?”
“Hm?” C-Sha was about to take a bite of her steak but stopped halfway when she heard S-Sha call her name.
“Do you remember the first day that we met?” S-Sha asked.
C-Sha put her fork down. “Of course I do! We were in first grade at Sunshine Elementary,” She responded with a grin. “You were the only kid that showed up on the first day of class with two Dogoos!”
“Yeah…” S-Sha chuckled softly. A picture of a young Dogoo Man and Dogoo Lady flashed in her mind. They were only ordinary dogoos at the time, not having legs… or a humanoid body, but they could still talk. “I remember that day like it was yesterday…”
Lowee - April 1, 1999 G.C.
“Alright, children. Take your seats,” Ms. Fujita instructed the class.
7-year-old Sayaka was already sitting at her assigned seat with Dogoo Boy and Dogoo Girl sitting right beside her. Back then, before the film incident with E-Sha, Sayaka was a tall girl with spiky black hair and blue eyes that were cold as ice. Dressed in all black, she looked like a cross between an emo and a punk.
“Hi, there!” Sayaka looked up to see a smiling brunette wearing a plain t-shirt and blue jeans walking towards her while waving.
Once the girl sat down, she reached into her pocket to bring out a bag of goldfish. “Do you want some?” She asked, holding the bag out.
“Not interested,” Sayaka responded in her usual flat tone.
“Oh well. More for me,” The girl was about to open her back but stopped. “I forgot to tell you who I am! My name is Chisato Tsukada, but everyone calls me Big C. What’s your name?”
“…Sayaka,” Sayaka answered.
“Sayaka,” Chisato echoed. “That’s a pretty name!”
Sayaka blinked. No classmate has ever complimented her, let alone said liked her name. “Thanks.” She smiled slightly.
“You’re welcome!” Chisato chirped. Suddenly, she gasped. “Are those dogoos yours?!”
Sayaka glanced at Dogoo Boy and Dogoo Girl before looking back at Chisato. “Yeah,” She nodded.
“They are so cute!” Chisato squealed while petting Dogoo Boy, who purred in response. “Where did you get them?!”
“My dad adopted them for me,” Sayaka answered. “They work for me.”
“Work for you? Like a butler?” Chisato inquired.
“We’re Sayaka’s loyal servants!” Dogoo Girl resounded proudly.
“Wow! That’s so cool!” Chisato chirped. “I wish I had my own dogoos, but my sister Remmy is allergic to them.”
As she listened to Chisato go on about her sister and some other things, Sayaka had the feeling she had finally made a friend.
“And we have been inseparable ever since,” S-Sha concluded as she took a bite of her steak.
“Heck yeah, we have!” C-Sha beamed, pumping her fist in the air. “Hey, are you going to finish that pulled pork sandwich?”
“But your plate isn’t even empty yet,” S-Sha pointed out, staring at her gluttonous friend’s plate, which had three strips of bacon, two pulled pork sandwiches, and one piece of steak.
“So?” C-Sha said, blinking.
“ So , shouldn’t you eat what’s already on your plate before getting seconds?” S-Sha tried to reason, but a part of her already knew what C-Sha was going to say. “I don’t want you getting sick.”
“Oh, don’t worry about me! I’ll be fine!” C-Sha reassured. “Besides, I have a high metabolism!”
“ Riiight …” S-Sha deadpanned, unconvinced. “I still think you should finish your plate first. You know your eyes are always bigger than your stomach.”
“Oh, alright!” C-Sha conceded, taking a bite out of pulled pork sandwich. “Can you at least save me some if you don’t finish it all?”
“You know I will,” S-Sha said.
“Don’t forget the question, S-Sha!” E-Sha reminded.
“Don’t worry, E-Sha. I will,” S-Sha reassured.
C-Sha slightly tilted her head to the side. “Will what?” She inquired.
“Nothing. Just something E-Sha wanted me to do before I go home today,” S-Sha grabbed the wine bottle to pour her glass with her favorite blue wine. “You always bring the best drink.”
“What kind of best friend would I be if I didn’t know your favorite wine?” C-Sha chuckled, brushing her bangs to the side. “Say, how’s E-Sha doing? I hope she’s treating you well.”
“Tell her I’m doing fine,” E-Sha told S-Sha.
“E-Sha says she’s doing fine,” S-Sha answered. Suddenly, an image of her being bedridden in the hospital after that fatal film incident flashed into her mind. She could recall C-Sha sitting in a chair beside the bed, practically in tears. “Do you remember that day when you visited me at the hospital?”
“How could I not? My heart sank when I heard what happened on the news!” C-Sha exclaimed with a pained expression. “I dropped everything I was doing just to see you!”
“And you fussed over me, too,” S-Sha added.
“I was just making sure my own best friend was okay!” C-Sha defended quickly, pouting. “I had no idea if the hospital would save you!”
“The hospital didn’t save me. E-Sha did,” S-Sha corrected.
“Still, you could’ve died that day!” C-Sha countered. She lowered her head a bit and huffed in frustration before giving S-Sha a stern gaze that a mother would give while scolding their child. “I told you to—”
“To not summon phantoms to make the film feel more real. I know, I know,” S-Sha interjected, staring at her steak and poking it with a fork.
“And yet you still didn’t listen to me!” C-Sha went on. She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. “However, I’m still glad E-Sha saved you.”
“Same here,” S-Sha agreed, still staring at her steak. She then looked up at C-Sha as if she was trying to read her best friend’s mind. “How did you do it?”
C-Sha tilts her head, squishing her eyebrows together. “Um… what do you mean?” She asked.
“Stay by me through all those years as a kid?” S-Sha clarified. “I remember all the kids thought I was a weirdo, and… they were right. I pretended to be a DQN, for god’s sake.”
S-Sha’s cheeks burned, cringing at the stuff she did during her “delinquent” phase in fifth grade. Bragging about all the “fights” she’s been in, how she and her “gang” (which only consisted of Dogoo Man, Dogoo Lady, and C-Sha) would cause all sorts of mischief after school.
To this day, S-Sha still doesn’t remember why her younger self thought posing as a delinquent would make her the most popular kid in class. This negative sentiment towards her DQN phase was further reinforced after C-Sha started to hang out with the wrong crowd in high school. It was then that S-Sha got to see what real delinquents were like, and they were not cool at all.
“But even when I was acting like a loser, you still stayed by me. Why?” S-Sha inquired.
A smile formed on C-Sha’s face. “Because you’re my best friend, S-Sha,” She answered. “You were a bit eccentric sometimes, but you were still a good friend. You were always there for me, even when I was lonely.”
“Lonely?” S-Sha repeated. “What about Irem?”
“Remmy was there for me when I was younger,” C-Sha acknowledged. “But she started to get busy with school work and baseball practice, so I couldn’t spend time with her like I used to.”
C-Sha lowered her head. “Then there was dad, always working late at Tsujihara Estate,” She sniffled. “Even during his off days, we didn’t spend that much time together. He would always be in bed, wishing mom was still here.”
“Oh my…” E-Sha murmured.
“You can say that again…” S-Sha muttered under her breath. Suddenly, C-Sha always wanting to come by her house when they were little was starting to make sense.
C-Sha quickly wiped her tears. “But when I got to school to hang out with you, I didn’t feel lonely,” She continued. “We had our ups and downs every now and then. All friendship go through that. But at the end of the day, we’re still friends.”
“Awww…” E-Sha cooed.
Without warning, S-Sha got up from her seat. She walked over towards C-Sha and gave her a hug. A big, warm, tight hug.
S-Sha usually wasn’t someone who would cry at the drop of a hat, but today was an exception. A part of her feels like she doesn’t deserve to have a best friend like C-Sha, another part was grateful that she did.
“Thanks, Chisato,” S-Sha sniffled, hugging C-Sha tighter.
“And thank you, Sayaka,” C-Sha cooed, hugging back.
“A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.” ―Bernard Meltzer