The Odd One Out

SS. 19 - Youth Is About To Bloom

Spring break is slowly coming to an end.

Today, I have another date with Arisu.

I don't know what's up with her, but she's been inviting me for a lot of dates over the course of spring break.

However, today, I'm the one that invited her.

Apparently, it's generally up to the man to invite the woman on a date. I don't find that to be equal.

Though it doesn't matter since she had already invited me for plenty of dates and I hadn't invited her once.

Equality does not exist anyway. These days everywhere you go there's talk about the fight for equality. Truth be told, at the end of the day, equality is just a fantasy. And most of us go through life denying the fact that we live in a meritocracy.

My thoughts were interrupted by my so-called childhood friend.

"Kiyotaka, you're early as usual."

"I just got here."

I don't know how many times I've said that.

"Fufufu, you really have no creativity. Let's get going, then, shall we?"

We went to the movies, and I let Arisu pick a movie as I wasn't really up to date with all the new releases.

However, she was just as clueless as I was. Movies weren't really her thing.

In the end, we randomly picked a recently released movie that was set some time in the future. It was set in Tokyo where a bizarre phenomenon made gravity -defying bubbles rain down, cutting off Tokyo from the rest of the world. The city skyline then became a playground for young people competing in parkour team battles.

If I were to be honest, the movie was incomprehensible. It wasn't like the other movies I had watched. I didn't really understand what the meaning of the movie was, but I suppose the visuals were aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

"What did you think about the movie?" Arisu asked me as we left the theater.

"I'm still confused about it."

"Fufufu, I would say the same. I didn't really understand what the meaning of the movie was, but I suppose the visuals were aesthetically pleasing to the eye."

Wait, is she a mind reader?

"I was thinking that too," is what I ended up singing.

"Where should we go now?"

"Let's just walk around the mall and see," I said.

With that, we walked around the mall. We were currently on the fifth floor so we had a good view on the entirety of the Keyaki Mall.

"Say, Kiyotaka, why don't you head over there and give us a performance?" Arisu said as she pointed at the piano that was in the middle of the mall at the ground floor.

I wondered why I didn't notice the piano when I arrived. Perhaps, they had just moved it here. The fact that there were a few staff members around the piano supported my theory. There was a student who was already playing.

I could play the piano if I wanted to. I was particularly talented in piano, tea ceremony and calligraphy. At least that's what I liked to think.

"I don't enjoy being the center of attention," I lied.

"Come on, Kiyotaka, I've never heard you play the piano before. I think everyone should hear your majestic musical talents."

"That's high praise, Arisu. I'm average at best."