Chapter Text
I should have left work earlier that day.
“__, come on, it cannot be that bad !”, my friend Kumi said while her and Tomiko were trying to convince me to go to that party.
Apparently, some dude had managed to win his fourth world champion belt, decided to throw a party two days after his big win and somehow it had become my problem.
“And why would I want to go to that party in the first place remind me ?”. My exasperation would have already dissuaded anybody by now. Well, anybody except my friends, evidently.
“But it’s going to be fun, I promise ! Right Kumi ?”
“Yes ! Tomiko is right, plus it would be the occasion for you to finally meet the people Tomiko and I are always talking about.”
“Exactly, and we are going to a karaoke, you love karaoke.”
“Yes, I love going to karaoke with you guys. Not with people I only know through the anecdotes you tell me about them.”
That was true. Even though I love meeting new people, it is always a bit awkward when everybody knows each other and you just stand there, wishing you had stay at home. Plus, it is also true that I can be a bit anxious around new people. I am always so scared of doing the wrong thing or saying the wrong thing that I usually end not saying or doing anything at all. And today had been a long day, way too long for me to go to those social events.
“Well, you’ve already met my sweet Masaru.”
“What do you mean I’ve already met Aoki ? I literally saw you two fucking in a hospital bed when he was supposed to get some rest from his fight ! That was really unprofessional by the way.”
Okay, I admit I only said the last sentence just to annoy her.
“It is not my fault if there is so much passion between us. You’ll understand when it’s your turn to be in love. Especially with an incredible boxer such as my Masaru ! He has so much stamina with all of the training he puts himself through and he does that thing with his-”
“Okay, okay, okay, I don’t need all the details. Keep your bed activities to yourself please.”, I said with sullen look on my face.
Kumi’s face was all red, and I felt a bit sorry for her poor innocent ears. Tomiko really didn’t know when to stop when she was talking about her relationship with Aoki. And it’s not like I was jealous of her couple or anything, I definitely wasn’t ready for a relationship right now, but it was true that a long time had passed since I had sex with someone. I didn’t want or need anyone but a bit of sex from time to time was undeniably great for mental health.
“Please come with us, __ ! I really want you to come and have fun with us. And if you still feel uncomfortable when we are over there, just tell us and we’ll find you an excuse to go !”, Kumi said with the tone of someone who just means well.
“Yeah, we’ll help you escape if you’re not feeling well.”
They were being so cute and understanding, how was I supposed to say no to them when they were acting like that ?
I sighed, resigned. “But are the others okay with it ? I’ll understand if they’re not, we don’t know each other after all and I’m intruding their party.”
“Don’t worry about that, but let me tell you something : there is going to be a ton of food.”
Okay, so that was without a doubt a very good point for me to join them. Being a broke student was not for the weak. I hadn’t eaten a proper meal since I can’t even remember when so the fact that was going to be food was something I could definitely not disregard. Well okay, I was paid but it certainly wasn’t enough for me to live comfortably, especially with my apartment rent, the costs of owning a car and the costs of owning a cat. Let just say I rarely saw the color of my money after being paid.
“But aren’t we going to a karaoke ? Why would a ton of food be there ?”, I asked, confused.
“Yes, we’re going to a karaoke, but since it’s Takamura big night he got to decide the place and he chose a karaoke-restaurant.”
A karaoke-restaurant ? Who was the genius who invented that ? Because he definitely needed a Nobel Price or something and I was willing to present him with a medal mysel- Wait, what ?
“Wait, wait, wait, what did you just say ?”
Tomiko looked at me, confused. “Hum that we were going to a karaoke-restaurant ?”
“No, no, before that”
“That it is was Takamura’s big night so he got to choose ?”
“And why are we going to that party if it is celebrating an absolute asshole ? Does he not literally bully your sweet Aoki every day of his life ?!”
“Well, he certainly does, and I hate it but I guess it is kind of okay for my Masaru since he doesn’t complain.”
“Yes, and I think it’s undeniable that those two are close friends, but I agree Takamura has a weird way of showing to others he actually cares about them.”, Kumi replied.
“Yeah, it is sort of a boy-thing”
“Well, I think it’s a more of a dumb-thing but if you say so…”
I never understood why boys think that they seem cooler if they act tough or violent towards others, especially other boys. I mean, guys who are able to express what they feel with words instead of fists are much cooler from my point of view. I’ll blame it on the patriarchy which makes little boys believe they need to behave a certain way for them to be accepted and considered as “real men” by the society. Someone should really teach them that being strong has nothing to do with being cruel.
Tomiko looked at me with wide eyes and an excited look on her face. “But wait a moment, didn’t you just agree to come with us ?”
“..I did.”, I confessed with resentment.
The two nurses immediately jolted with joy, expressing it with small excited sounds that could have been compared to the little squeals squirrels make.
“But I swear if one of you forces me to sing a dumb song I’m out of there in a minute.”
They both swore they wouldn’t dare to do something like that (I don’t know about Kumi but Tomiko would definitely do something like that) and the three of us headed towards the hospital exit.
Tomiko spoke up to summarize what had just been said moments ago. “Okay, so we all agree that we are going home to change and then we all meet in front of the entrance of the karaoke ?”
“Yes, it’ll be less awkward if we all go inside together at once.”, I nodded, supporting her words.
“Okay, great ! Don’t be late, bye girls !”
Tomiko waved at us while walking away. After she left, a small silence settled between Kumi and me. A silence she broke by speaking.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this party thing ? I know you had a rough day so it would totally be comprehensible if you couldn’t make it tonight.”
Oh my god, that girl was too cute for her own good well-being.
I had had a rough day. Since I was in my final year of psychiatry, I had a lot of hospital internships and let just say I was on the edge of mental burnout with each passing day. Furthermore, my internship supervisor was not a gentle man and I suspected him of secretly taking pleasure in torturing me like that. I was almost certain that I was doing way too much work for a last year but I couldn’t do anything about it and it was getting on my last nerve. So I guessed a party could maybe let me relax a bit before going back to work on Monday.
“No, don’t worry, Kumi. Actually I think it would be a good thing for me to just relax and to think about nothing except the amount of food I’ll be swallowing.”
She chuckled. “Yes, you definitely deserve a little break with all the work Satō has asked you to do lately.”
I sighed. “You said it.” I added, mischievously. “Plus it would be the occasion for me to meet the famous Makanouchi Ippo you’re always day-dreaming about.”
The young nurse started to stutter, flustered by my words, and she desperately tried to justify herself by saying things like ‘we are just friends, only friends !’, ‘we don’t have this kind of relationship yet !’, and a bunch of other incomprehensible sentences.
After she ruminated about how mean I was for bringing her situationship into the conversation, Kumi looked at her watch before displaying a surprised look.
“Oh is it already that late ?! I must hurry if I don’t want to be late. See you in an hour __ !”
“Yeah, see you later Kumi ! Say hi to Mashiba for me ! And tell him to bring me the front rows tickets for his upcoming match, or else I won’t be able to come since the tickets for a world match are always so expensive.”
“I will not miss it !”
She waved at me like Tomiko did earlier and left me alone in front of the hospital entrance.
Well, this evening promised to be memorable. I just hope everything will go without a hitch.