That Stupid Girl by the Vending Machine
She banged her head endlessly to the vending machine next to her, holding on to her can of Coke so tightly it seemed it was going to get squished.
"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! All you had to do was introduce yourself!" the girl with jet-black hair yelled at herself as she slowly stopped her repeated head-banging. "Now all your Japanese lessons are just worthless!" She had just got to Japan for work earlier this year and had taken Japanese lessons before she started working. It was the moment she had always been waiting for. The day she meets her idol, and long-time, love interest, Yoshizumi Kenshin.
"Is this Miyazaki Midori?" a familiar voice said over the phone she had just picked.
"Yes. Who is this?" she replied in perfect Japanese. That was her alternate name the Embassy had allowed her to use while working here in Japan, and she had somehow come to like her name, since Midori meant green, which was her favorite color.
"It's Kaori, your officemate!" Ah, yes. She remembered now. Kaori was the friendliest of her officemates, and was her first friend. Midori has just started working in a call center, and was now resting in her apartment room after a long busy day.
"Oh, yes! I'm real glad you called. So, what's the matter?" Midori asked.
"I just heard from a friend of mine that Yoshizumi Kenshin is releasing his new album next Wednesday at the Kanagawa prefecture! You're a fan of his, aren't you?" Oh, right. She remembered just now that she had told Kaori about it earlier that day. "Plus, it's in the day and you're a night-shifter, so you can just go there!"
"Thank you so so much for telling me this! I swear, I'll be treating you for this! See you at the office tomorrow! Bye!" she replied enthusiastically as she put down the phone. As she plopped into her single-size bed, her heart raced as she remembered the first time she knew about the man called Yoshizumi Kenshin.
It was way back seven years ago. Midori was just fifteen then, and an avid fan of a singer called Hatsune Miku. She was more like a software, though, with millions of people making songs using her voice all around the world. But among all those amazing composers, the one who stood out the most in Midori's sight was Kenshin. She had already become a fan of him after listening to just one song of his, and just recently, he had began singing his own songs himself, which left Midori even more in awe. By the time she had listened to all the songs he's ever made, and read all his tweets and things he said on his blog, she had fallen in love with him. Even though he was already quite popular, especially in the Vocaloid world, he remained very humble, to the point of having very low self-esteem. He was a nonchalant type of person, and not one who talks much. But he was one of those people who would amaze others with his intellect and of course, his musical and artistic talent. Yes, he was not only a singer, a musician, and a composer, but he was also one of the greatest illustrators or artists. He never failed to make Midori gasp in awe with each of his wonderful drawings. Furthermore, he drew quite uniquely, in a style that always caught Midori's attention.
He was not only amazing, but he also reminded Midori a lot about herself, which was the reason she always seemed to understand him. At times, she also gets the feeling that Kenshin felt unloved, by the way some of his tweets sounded. So many times had she wished back then to fly off to Japan and make him feel loved. But of course, she can't. She was just a mere teenager back then, and her family's money was just enough for them to live each day normally. But now she has become a mature adult with a decent job just enough to live by herself in a foreign land. She was no longer that weak little teenage girl who could only dream about seeing her beloved idol. She was now here, and finally had a chance to express her feelings to him. But of course, that chance flew right out the window just minutes ago when she saw him. She was too astonished to even speak. She couldn't believe Kenshin was right in front of her eyes. But when he looked straight at her with a smile and shook her hand as he said something along the lines of "Nice to meet you", right then and there, she froze. She just stood there agape, wide-eyed, and looking like a total idiot. She remained in that same state even after Kenshin returned to his seat and signed the album he was giving to Midori. Once he handed it to her, she handed him the money she has prepared beforehand, took the album, and bowed low before leaving the line. She walked unknowingly backwards out the building's back exit, capturing every detail of him and gluing them to her mind, since that would probably be the last time she'll ever see him.
And now she's here, sitting on the bench beside the vending machine at the back of the building, complaining and regretting her actions like some kind of drunk idiot. Suddenly, she sensed someone sit beside her, but she didn't even bother turning. She just kept on staring at the ground, feeling like the saddest person in the world.
"What's wrong?" the person asked in a masculine voice and Midori was sure by then that it was a guy. He sounded about her age or a few years older, and spoke as slowly as he can, noticing that Midori didn't quite look Japanese.
"Everything!" she half-moaned in reply as she slammed down her Coke on the empty seat to her left. "I get my once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet the guy I've loved and admired for seven years and I go screw it up and just freeze right in front of him without even saying anything!" She was almost screaming now, but it seemed to not bother the guy one bit. He just smiled and leaned back in his seat, as if interested to hear more.
"So, if you had another chance to meet him, what would you tell him?" Indeed, he was becoming more and more interested. Midori took another gulp of the carbonated fizz and slammed it down again. Suddenly she stood up, and the guy watched curiously, awaiting whatever she will do next.
"Hello, my name is Miyazaki Midori!" she said to no one in particular as she bowed and smiled. She was acting as if Kenshin was right in front of her, to the guy's amusement. "It's such an honor to meet you! I've been a fan of yours for seven years now and I've been waiting all those years to finally meet you!" Then she plopped back into her seat and sipped some more Coke again. "Then he'll say something, and if it's a question, I'll answer it in all honesty. But no way knowing what he'd say after that now."
"Well I think he'd then say, 'Wow, you've been a fan of me that long? Well, that makes me real happy' or something like that," the guy said as Midori's eyes again stared at the floor.
"Yeah, I guess he would say something like that. Then I'd say, 'Of course, why not? Your songs are all so amazing! Some break my heart, some comfort me in times of sadness, and some just confuse the hell out of me!" She gave a little chuckle, and so did the guy.
"Then he'd probably say, 'Well, that makes me very glad. I'm glad you liked all of my songs. Lots of people didn't like the songs I sang, though. Maybe I'm just a bad singer after all,'" the guy replied.
"Of course you're not! For me, you are the best singer there is! And composer! And musician! And illustrator!"
"I believe I've still got a long way to go, but thanks for telling me that."
"Well, about that time, he'd probably be done with the signing, and then I'll pay for the album, and then I'll say, 'Thank you so much! I'll be looking forward to all of your works in the future! I'll be hoping for your success and happiness!' And if I'll have enough courage, I'll give him my phone number and address just in case he needs someone to talk to, then I'll leave and hope we'll meet again."
"Won't you ask him his phone number and address?"
"I'd want to, but I guess it would be real rude of me, wouldn't it? Plus, he might think I'll stalk him or something."
"I don't think he's that kind of person who would consider a fan of his a stalker. So I guess he wouldn't mind at all." Once these words escaped him, Midori felt a piece of paper slipped under her right hand. When she finally turned to see who she was talking to, she froze. The world seemed to stop, even her own heart beat. That dark, ruffled hair. Those green eyes. It was Kenshin. She was talking to him all along. She had told him everything, even the things he wasn't supposed to know. She told him she loved him.
"It was nice meeting you again!" he told her as he stood up, raised his hand, and ran off to enter the building. She watched his retreating back until he entered the building and disappeared. She closed her eyes and punched herself real hard to see if she was dreaming. But she wasn't. When she opened her eyes, she was still there at the back of the building, sitting beside the vending machine, the album she just bought still resting on her lap, and the piece of paper still in her right hand. She opened the tiny folded paper and saw it had a phone number and address written on it. She smiled. This was the most embarrassing day of her whole life. And the best one at the same time. It didn't even matter if he'll remember her as that stupid girl by the vending machine. At least she has said everything she wanted to tell him, and was even given a chance to talk to him and meet him again whenever she wanted. And that was more than enough.
