His Equal

A Crack

I wasn't expecting to run into Asano, but I saw this as the perfect opportunity to see more of who he really is. If I can get him to open up, maybe he will finally get over Sakura, and move on with his life. He could end up stuck on a girl that he couldn't have. Sakura is a sweet girl, smart definitely, but when it comes to guys, she's a bit too dense unless it's about her boyfriend.

So, what does one do for a lovesick guy? Take him around the city, and show him something that he has never seen before, obviously!

"That shop with the cats inside, that belongs to a foreigner who moved into the apartment above the shop two years ago. She's very sweet, although her Japanese is a bit flawed. I helped her bring in the cats that were strays in this area awhile ago, now they all have a comfy home til they get adopted."

"Do you really have this much time on your hands?"

"Yeah, I do. I don't like being stuck at home all day, so I go out and help around the city. Or just take photos for the fun of it. It's pretty fun actually. Oh, look it's the music guy!"

I ran over to where there was a crowd on the sidewalks, pushing through them so Asano could see who I was talking about. I wanted to show him the music man, who always has a new instrument playing every time I walk by. Today though, he is playing on the guitar. 

"I know how to play an electric guitar actually."

I looked over at Asano, a smile forming on my face. I didn't know that he could do that, that's really cool actually.

"Really? I can't play any music instruments for the life of me, I have no musical talent."

"It's not about talent, you just need good memorization and good finger coordination."

"Sounds like you didn't learn the guitar for your personal enjoyment. Why did you learn how to play guitar then?"

I watched as Asano furrowed his eyebrows, and I could just feel his irritation radiating off of him. Must have not worked out the way he wanted it to, if he's getting this irritated.

"I did it for the festival last school year, just to beat the E class. We may have gotten first place, but they managed to get third place even though they shut down halfway through the second day of the festival."

I felt my eyes widen hearing that, not knowing that was even possible. I guess these guys used to go head to head a lot of the time. Sounds like it was a pretty fun rivalry though.

"Do you ever do anything for yourself? Like, do you just have a hobby that you do yourself and no one else?"

Asano looked at me, and I could just see the gears in his head ticking, so I let him think about his answer, as I got lost in the music the man played. I wonder what song this is, I haven't heard of it before. Is it a song from a different country? I'm not sure honestly.

"No, guess I don't."

I glanced at Asano, to see him staring at the man playing the guitar, and something I saw in his expression, it wasn't as guarded as it usually would be. It was as if he was getting lost in thought. I took a picture on my phone, just to make sure that I didn't alert him to what I was doing. Then, I grabbed his hand, which caused him to look at me, while I just grinned at him.

"Well, I still have loads more to show you, so let's go before the sun sets!"

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

I took Asano to an abandoned park, hoping over a fence. I waited for him to do the same, but he didn't move a single inch.

"Come on, the fence isn't going to hurt you. Besides, there's something I have to show you on the other side. Or, you could just go home and be absolutely bored for the rest of the day."

I watched as he thought about what I said, and I was expecting him to go home honestly. But he climbed the fence, and joined me, which brought a grin on my face. I then began walking towards a giant tree, and began climbing up said tree. I looked down at him, as he stared up at me.

"You coming or what? Once you climb up this tree, you'll see what I wanted to show you!"

He sighed, then he began climbing the tree like a pro. I finally entered the tree house, sitting down in my beanbag chair, while Asano just looked around, curiosity radiating from him. I arched a brow at him, noticing the tiny crack in his facade.

It's slowly coming down, and I'm starting to see a different side to Asano. I decided to not tell him that, and just smiled while he looked around.

"Did you find this?"

"No, my grandpa built this since he owns the property. He wanted me to have a place I could go to when I needed to relax, so I come here a lot. This is also like my personal workshop, just look at all the photos on the wall."

I glanced at the wall, seeing all the pictures of people I've taken over the last couple years. I started this project in my first year of junior high, at an all girls school. It wasn't that fun, but at least I had my camera back then as well. 

"You don't have any pictures of landscapes. Why is that?"

"Because a landscape can't tell a story in the way a person can. A person with loads of scars on their face, just shows that they have fought long and hard battles. A person with lots of wrinkles by their eyes, tells us that they smiled a lot in their life. Every single person is different, based on what they decide to show the world. But I want to see and show their stories, so taking pictures of people is what I do best. Because I want to learn about them, and see them in a different light."

Asano stared at me, and his eyes gave away exactly what he was thinking. He was surprised to know that's why I did it. I'm not afraid to be open with people, it comes naturally to me. But to someone like Asano, it takes a lot to even make a crack in their walls. But I'm slowly seeing through that crack, and I already see someone who needs to live their life to the fullest.