Fool's Love

I was really fascinated by him then.

We walked along the school building.In the backlight, the glass of the school building separates into blocky areas, like the surface of water.

I and his shadow passed from one small puddle to another.He followed me, small in stature.

Or maybe I'm too tall.I deliberately slowed down my pace, but he still seemed to follow suit.

"My last name is Masumi. Could you tell me your name?"

"I'm Yamagishi."

He repeated my last name in his usual lilting, pleasant voice reminiscent of sparkling water.

During the journey to the library, I learned that someone Masumi knew was also studying in this school, and the reason why he was looking for the library was for no other purpose than to take the opportunity to go around the school.He's a freshman like me—I can see that.

"Have you been to this school before?"

he asked again.So I nodded and said of course, otherwise I wouldn't know where the library is.

"About a week ago..."

At that time, I came here by bicycle.My home is not a short distance from here, and my original plan was to enroll in a school that I could walk to and from school near my home.

We chatted a few more words afterward.After sending him to the library floor, I said goodbye to him and parted.

Unfortunately, I forgot to ask his class before leaving.This small omission pushed our second meeting back a few weeks.

-

Considering that it will be difficult to find an opportunity to describe myself later, let me talk about my own situation first.

My name is Ryoji Yamagishi, I was born in Osaka, and I am a native of Kansai.My parents run a Chinese restaurant with good income.

My older sister, Mimi Yamagishi, is currently studying at a university in Tokyo, majoring in literature, and doesn’t pay much attention to studies.

This may be a commonality in my family.Although my parents said very little about it - I think they actually expected me to study hard, and I would probably fail their expectations.I am such a person.

I want to be free, but also want to make a living. I look forward to a pie in the sky that will make my life worry-free, but at the same time I am afraid of the same degree of bad luck that may follow. People like this can be seen everywhere in society, and it is easy to describe it as "Half hanger".

Occasionally, when my buttocks were burned by fire, I would get up and take a few steps. At other times, I would procrastinate and lie down.

If there is no interest in comics, my future plan may be to enter an ordinary company, squatting in front of the computer all day, doing nothing, thinking about nothing-just waiting for get off work.You can see people like this everywhere in society.

After being promoted to Yangdo High School in Osaka, my heart was immediately rushed by a strong sense of tension, as if a life of working hard and studying hard was in front of me.

Fortunately, this mood was diluted on the first day of school, and I think it was probably because of that encounter.

I met a classmate named Masumi.It might sound like I was obsessed with appearances, but at the time I was fascinated by him.

On the morning of the first day of school when I was supposed to be anxious about my studies, I was sitting in the classroom of the 1st year group 4 thinking about him.

When Masumi walked beside me, there was a mild, pleasant smell of detergent and shampoo on her body.

He speaks Osaka dialect, but his tone is very strange, and he can’t hear the Kansai flavor. It feels like Kansai people who have been using standard language and English at work have started to speak Kansai dialect again after many years.

In a word, stylish.This is my strong first impression of him.It's hard for you to imagine the scene of him bargaining with others in front of a small shop wearing leopard-print trousers as a stereotyped Osakan, and I, who is also an Osakan, don't quite fit the impression of Osakans who are enthusiastic and informal , but in terms of "soil" it fits well.

——I guess he may have lived in a big city in Kanto for a long time.The reason why I think so is because I think of my older sister, Mimi, who goes to school in Tokyo——

Soon after she went to Tokyo, she became very fashion-conscious, and she was completely different from before.

When the family went out for dinner, she would complain sharply about the troubles of Tokyo people in Osaka dialect, and brag about her experience in Tokyo.

While chewing vegetables, I vaguely responded to her words with modal particles, but what I thought in my heart was that she was not qualified to say——

This person dresses very differently than in the past.The hair was also cut short and dyed a gradient color.

He was wearing socks with complicated Chinese characters printed on them, and his nails were painted with bright fluorescent nail polish.

It's not that I hate the fashion.Rather, my heart seems to have a longing for it.

Like the fast-paced, simple and clear lifestyle unique to big cities, and the dazzling array of merchandise shelves full of goods-maybe I am looking forward to these things.

Or maybe it's just that I'm used to the wind and smell of Osaka, so I have too positive fantasies about the terroir of other regions.Are there people who have lived in big cities for too long and envied country life?

Perhaps it is because of the empathy for that kind of "fashionable" that I am full of curiosity about this "Masumi" who only met once.

Which class is he in?What kind of person is he?I want to know, but my mobility doesn't allow me to look for it one by one.

How should I respond if someone asks me why I am looking for him?Because I'm curious about him?

Such an answer must be impossible.It was the age when we were best at booing. I heard rumors that the girls in the class were discussing which class the two boys in the next class were dating.

To put it bluntly, in my opinion, this is personal privacy and should not be commented on by outsiders.

Studying and living is like boiled boiled boiled water. Maybe the emotions will be mobilized when you are in it, but after a while, you will have no taste after relishing it.

Before I entered school, I was most worried that I would not adapt to school because of my lack of academic ability, and I would even be bullied. It turns out that I was too worried.

On the contrary, I have earned a lot of attention by virtue of my expertise in painting.The homework for the first art class was to draw a scene of a corner of the campus, so I drew a sketch with a high degree of completion facing the barbed wire covered with roses and handed it in.

Since then, I can hardly miss the activities that need to be drawn by hand in the class. This is another story.

I haven't seen Masumi in a while.It doesn't mean I forgot about him, on the contrary, he always lingers in my mind.

My position is in the last row of the classroom by the window, which is the most suitable position for a daze.During class, when I feel sleepy and close to falling asleep, I will look out the window.

Below is the playground that Masumi used to walk through, it is lush green, just looking at it can clearly feel the eyes are relaxed.

Every now and then, I seem to smell Masumi's unique, faint fragrance again.