To anything above my comprehension, can you please influence urban planners in this city? Because I hate the layout. I despise the fact that this city has numerous 8-lane avenues that cut through the city like walls. I know Nagoya got bombed, but come on, surely they should’ve promoted more organic growth or something?

As I walked with Kazumi and Minoru, all I could think was how awful the road designs were. Why are there so many vans driving? Big vehicles. Awful. If there was a child on the road, they would’ve just easily hit them without realising. Maybe I’ve been slightly radicalised, due to a certain road accident, but do we really need that many cars in our society? It’s like Japan being a drug manufacturer and is also taking some of its own supply! Let’s just export all the cars we make. Not a good idea? Yeah, probably not a wise economic decision, since what would I know?

“So Kikuchi-san? Why did you join our club? Did Honzo-kun here tell you to join?” She asked Minoru-san.

“You could say he did, but it’s rather just like a ‘why not’. Me and him have recently been friendly with each other, so why not?” He lied with efficiency.

Good save for the actual reason.

“But I never knew that the student council president would be so friendly with Honzo-san?”

Another good question. Why is Minoru good at conversing?

“You could say me and Honzo are basically family. Takanishi Erina too, if you’ve heard of her.”

“Yes, I have definitely heard of Takanishi-san. She’s like the idol or actress of the school, no?”

That stings to hear from a third-party perspective. Yeah, she is.

“I suppose you could say that…” answered Kazumi-senpai. “But to me and Honzo, she’s more like that peppy-type little sister. Even though Honzo is only a few minutes older than her.”

I decided to jump in.

“Yeah, me, Kazumi, and Nishi-chan share the same birthday. June 19th. And we also live on the same street, well I would say so. What are the coincidences of that?”

In her own idea of a ‘witty comeback’, Kazumi responded by saying, “I don’t know, why don’t you calculate it before asking questions, silly Honzo-kun.”

That’s not very nice.

Next, I saw Minoru give a slight laugh. I hadn’t really seen him do that. Maybe he was actually opening towards us? I hope so.

“All three of you share the same birthday? So how do celebrations work?”

Kazumi-senpai, in a strangely dignified tone, said “We just celebrate it at each other’s house and we alternate each year. Last year, we were at my house and this year, it’s going to be in Erina’s apartment.

“I see.” said the rather intrigued Minoru-san.

“Enough about us two, Minoru, I heard that you were in trouble in a fight. As your student council president, I’m meant to ‘condemn acts of violence’ but as Kazumi, I think you did a good job.”

“I don’t know what to say, student president?” said the puzzled Minoru-san.

“Well, I’ll say it again more clearly. Don’t fight again, but good job.” She smiled and gave a huge thumbs-up. Is she not encouraging his behaviour?

“Don’t listen to Kazumi-senpai,” I said in a definitive tone. “She’s clearly trying to get you suspended. Just report anything you see to the teachers, or ask someone believable to tell the teachers.”

Minoru gave another smile.

“I guess living life like this is better than what I had earlier.” Minoru just said something completely out of the blue. It must be even weirder for Kazumi.

“Kazumi-senpai, you can keep secrets right?” I asked her.

“What type of secrets? If it’s a crime, no. I’ll report both of you straight to the nearest police station.” She said with such unseriousness, I feel like she’d join in with us in this hypothetical crime.

Minoru-san, perhaps noticing what I said, “It’s just about my background.”

Kazumi-senpai was explained briefly by Minoru. He’s from Cambodia Town, someplace in California that's apparently known for having issues with crime, he’s lost his mother to gun violence, two of his uncles are in prison for a retribution murder, he has three dead childhood friends and… he lives with his formerly deadbeat father.

I think that’s enough?

Surprisingly, I kind of feel indifferent to it now. I think it’s the problem when you keep talking about it. Honestly, I still feel a huge amount of sympathy for Minoru, but at the same time, it’s like… what can you do? We also had to avoid the fact that Minoru-san sells counterfeit goods. I’m not sure about the logistics behind that, but well I’m sure he’ll tell me, one way or another. Kazumi probably would tell the police about that.

Our walk became, I suppose, a tad more serious than one would expect for a Friday afternoon. But nevertheless, we all had our places to go. Minoru started to disclose a lot more than I expected. I didn’t even know about some of these things.

“I have a screenshot of the last thing one of my closest childhood friends said to me, too. I’ve really been holding a few things in.” He said with… quite an insane amount of honesty.

With such candidness, I’m surprised this personality of his hasn’t come out in the middle of another conversation? Master of acting. What foreign actors could I compare him to? Ryan Gosling. That works, no?

Yeah. I’m just trying to dodge the emotional impact of having to hear that. Wow. All sides of me, myself, and I really do not want to discuss it. But I suppose we’re going to go in a direction that makes me uncomfortable. Whatever. Sometimes hearing hard experiences can make your own seem easy. That was my attempt at being profound.

Kazumi decided to continue it. She spoke with a concerned pitch. If you could even have a concerned pitch. "What do you mean by that? Like you actually have their last voice message to you or is it like a text?”

Minoru responded.

“I have it on my phone. I always see it when I feel a bit… down.” What is this trauma dumping? Why am I always so skeptical of people?

Both of us said yes to that. He showed it.

Firstly, it was in English. I think it was heavily accented English. I don’t know how a text message could convey that, but I guess that same thing happens in Japanese. A lot of emojis, too. From what I could see it went:

<Yo M what’s up with you ?🤞 How’s it been in Japan u good folk? Back in the hood it’s been active gang one of the suckas got dropped and they been shooting up man it’s sad 🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️ they shooting innocents it’s sucka shit. My momma telling me stay inside for my own safety but i have to be frontline 🔥 On hood♿️. But enough about me how’s Japan ? Your folks say that you been good that’s whats up… 🙏🏽🙏🏽 I always think about ur mak… it really hurt me when I heard she past… 💔💔💔 It makes me realize how life really isn’t a game I’m only 17 they kept saying it but as time goes past u only recognize how true it is. I know u gonna think i’m emotional wit this big ass text whatever but whatever happens you my family fuck a bloodline. You really 🩸Our folks is our folks i love u M my brodie be good fr 💙💙🇰🇭 Hit my line when u can🤞>

I simply couldn't read that. But Minoru explained it in Japanese for us. He said that his friend was sending a hello text, asking how he’d been. He said that the area he was living in was getting ‘hot’ and that there were a few shootings. Both of us were really surprised that this even happened in America.

Apparently, he said at the end that he considered Minoru his family, even if they weren’t related. Then, he explained he was shot and killed only a week later. He said it as a matter of fact, but even I could tell that his voice was trembling as he explained it to me and Kazumi. A few tears came out of him.

“I don’t even cry about this anymore,” Minoru stated.

I just wanted to hug him. But, you know, sadly I had to stick to what is expected of me by my peers. Softly, I put a hand over his back and patted him.

“You know, Honzo, that’s why I’m just going to calm down now. Everything I do is out of misguidance or ignorance. I really just want to be a functioning member, whether that’s in Japan or even back home.” He said it with such resolve, that even I felt compelled.

He continued his monologue with a tone of melancholic acceptance.

“I don’t mind saying it to you two, because it finally clicked on Thursday. Have you ever thought about the same thing but you suddenly gain a different view? I’m literally living a life full of trauma. I never really thought that until I realized it.”

Minoru gave a long sigh. Both me and Kazumi were patiently awaiting what he was about to say. Suddenly, he straightened his posture.

“Kazumi-senpai, you’re the student council president, right? So I just feel like telling you would somewhat help my case, when it comes to the school. I’m sure you know the real reason why I’m in the culture club, on top of being a part of the soccer team.” He said with a tone that suggested he was accepting of his position.

“I’m tired. But mostly, I’m tired of seeing people I know, dead. Honzo, you saw that memorial to Koto, right? He got chased out of a nearby McDonald’s because he was trying to find enemies to fight. Koto did it out of his own initiative, but I feel that it was me being looked at as the ‘older generation’ that influenced him to do that. That’s my biggest mistake.”

Then he walked forward, with him cutting a dominant figure on the world around us. His presence seemed bigger than any of the buildings in Takabata. More important than even the ward office. The final sakura of the year still kept petaling the scene. As if a typhoon of petals approached and bloomed.

“I just want to be a normal kid and chase my dreams of playing football.”