How to Start a Fire

CH8 [Can we keep him?]

If there was one thing I could not stand then it was watching people exchange loving tenderness. I already have had a problem with it when my brother had his girlfriend over, but the two boys were a whole different level. They were always touching each other in some way- if they weren't holding hands one of them had his hand on the other's shoulder or something and when they had to be parted they said good bye as if one of them would leave for war. The worst part was that usually I had to work together with Mamoru- they found out that the kid was alright at math so they thought he could help me, but jokes on them: I was still better. It's my ability. What did they expect?
Whenever Mamoru would sit in my office, working on files with me Aleksander would visit us randomly to exchange long kisses and gentle touches right in front of my eyes, mostly as if I wasn't even there. I always tried my best not to make gagging noises next to them, but thinking about it making gagging noises was just as rude as just walking into someone's office to make out right in front of the office's owner.

Even though they were like mended together, Mamoru left rather early one night. When I came down for breakfast he was talking to Millicent, but before I came close enough to hear something they were done. He walked past me with a big smile on his lips, giving me a cheerful "good morning!" as he walked right out of the front door. I thought maybe he was going somewhere with Mold-man, but that guy came downstairs only a few minutes after me, asking if Mamoru was gone already.

We had breakfast the usual way and a little while after we were done we heard the door and sudden, quick Japanese coming from outside. I had never heard Mamoru speak his native language, but I could swear that wasn't him. The voice was rather nasal and higher than Mamoru could speak, but who was I to talk, I could barely form a sentence in any other language, so maybe that's what languages did to voices? But no, only a second later he rose his voice and I directly knew it was him. Whoever he brought along must be Japanese too, I thought.

He walked back into the kitchen, smiling brightly.

"I'm back!!" He said happily and when the other boy followed him into the room, he added: "Oh, and that's Isamu! I know him since elementary school."

They would always makes jokes about how all Asians looked the same, but these two boys were visually different as can be- even if you ignored the fact that Isamu was really boney. His face was super slim and his eyes were thin enough to make him look as if he was squinting constantly- but maybe he was, I wouldn't know. His unkempt hair was reaching until his shoulders and put together in an awfully messy samurai bun and he had a three-day beard that looked less intended than just lazy. If I met this guy on the streets I would probably not even really see him, because he had nothing extraordinary about him aside from how messy he looked... but he looked like the kind of guy that can leave a conversation without having anyone notice it. He rose his hand, waving awkwardly.

"Hey." He said as he took his hand back down and buried it in one of the pockets of his black skinny jeans.

Mamoru jumped between him and the table and started pointing at the people in the room. "So... that's Millicent... and that's Selem... And Nelly and that's Elise... and you know that guy over there." He said, finally pointing at Sasha who was standing up and walking towards Mamoru to greet him with a long kiss.

"...yeah... yeah I know that guy...." Isamu sighted, walking past them with the expression of a man who wants to un-see things but can't. When he talked I could hear a thin accent. He gestured us that he was annoyed by how much they kept making out in public and while Millicent made a scolding face and Selem, who had gotten used to the situation by now, just smiled and shrugged I felt like he had touched my heart right there. That guy just earned so many sympathy points, you wouldn't believe it. If Mamoru felt only half as good kissing that Moldy dude as I did realizing I had someone to probably connect with his behavior was almost excusable- but only almost.