Some Things Cannot Be Fixed, They Can Only Be Carried

Chapter 18) Ordinary; Something He Was Supposed To Be At Twenty

"When you're ten, they call you a prodigy.
When you're fifteen, they call you a genius.
Once you hit twenty, you're just an ordinary person.
About three years until I'm ordinary. Man... I can't wait to be ordinary."

- Haruka Nanase

∙

♥

∙

June 30th 2015

Haruka's grandmother always used to say that once Haruka reached twenty years old, he wouldn't be a genius or a prodigy anymore. He would just be ordinary.

Haruka could never shut up about how badly he wanted this. He just wanted to be a normal person, without the world around him gaping at him. First, people did this because he was an amazing swimmer, someone who could possibly represent Japan in a competition on the world stage. Now they stare, not because Haruka's a prodigy or a genius, but because he's different from them.

Today is Haruka's twentieth birthday, and it's no surprise that he didn't miraculously turn "ordinary" when the day finally came. And even though we don't word it that way, we both know Haruka will probably never become an ordinary person.

And now that Haruka's fully conscious, he's well aware that he's neither the guy he used to be, nor is he ever going to be. He knows that his grandma wasn't talking about this Haruka. Maybe in some other universe, Haruka was able to become an ordinary person at twenty, mixing in with the crowd.

But today, he's turning twenty; not as an ordinary person, but as my special best friend.

I accepted that a long time ago. I made that clear by accepting him fully the way he is.

Haruka seems to have accepted himself this way too, working really hard to live a fulfilling life this way. Though he hasn't been able to actually tell me that's why he's working his ass off, pushing through hours of physical therapy. We're close to him being able to tell me what he really thinks, though; only weeks away from him, hopefully, starting to speak again.

And when he can do that, he can actually tell me why he's working this hard; is it for himself, to live a relatively normal and fulfilling life, or does he have some other reasons? Who knows? But honestly, I don't care what his reasons are, I just want to know them so I can support and help him reach his goal to my best ability. That's what I want, and why I'm by Haruka's side.

Obviously, that's not the only reason why I'm still here, taking care of him every hour of the day. It's also because I feel it again; that we're best friends, always have been and always will be. This makes it even more my duty to take care of him, and make sure he's happy and living an eventful life.

Even though I spend most of my time taking care of Haruka, I also work, which is why we try to have more fun on the days that I do have an entire day off. I'll make sure to make those days extra special for both Haruka and me; taking him for a longer walk or such.

And on holidays, like Christmas or Easter, I try to do something even more special than that.

Haruka's birthday, as one of those important occasions, deserves to be celebrated in the most Haruka-like way possible. I want to spoil the crap out of Haruka, and make today a birthday to recall for many years after it has passed; starting by letting him sleep in for very long.

Sleeping in has become one of Haruka's favorite things. He's never been quite the morning person, always being kind of grumpy when I had to wake him up for schooldays in the past. And that's still the same; he whines and struggles every single morning that we have to get up early, which is almost every morning, since he has to be changed early, have breakfast and a bath even earlier.