from afar. | takata mashiho

✧ out loud

valentine's day's a bust. instead of giving gifts that last two days (or even worse, those that eventually land in a trash can) and wasting your own hard-earned money, why not invite your crush on a date. treasure the experience rather than eat crappy chocolate in which you actually paid for the box, not its contents. if that doesn't succeed, bring close friends close friends instead. you'd probably enjoy it more since you have more to converse about. if you have little to no friends like me, buy yourself a nice mug of hot chocolate and later spend your time in an arcade or something fun. no need for fancy dinners that cost your arm and a leg on a silver platter; you could probably make their dishes on your own for way cheaper. what a steal!

✧ ༺━━━━༻ ✦

i heard yuri's popular at her school and all i can ask is: how? i get it, she's fucking beautiful but she's really blunt and can come off as cold. i guess they're severely intrigued by witches in disguise. i'm kidding, yuri's the best. when we were younger she would always do the most random things. she once jumped in front of a busker who was singing songs and became his dancer. it looked like she was having the time of her life. another time, this was on valentine's day about three years ago, she stole an avocado from a small shop and gave it to me without context. just handed me an avocado. i asked her, "where'd you get this? you don't have any money, you're broke?" all she replied with was, "i know." an estranged child. she didn't know that i can't eat avocados, i'm allergic to them. so i did what i could to showcase my gratitude, hello, hello! when i was young, i used to sleep with an avocado beside my head. that is until it went rotten and yucky.

after school, i go straight to my job, deux amis. it's a cake shop! as suspected, lots of couples. a lot of student couples too. already? it's only been an hour since school time ended. it all makes me think: how many of these relationships will actually last? how many will just continue on as friends? how many will stop seeing each other no matter what? the few couples that actually last from highschool to college seize to amaze me. i do my usual thing. take orders, clean tables, you name it. but i don't want to do it for forever.

✧ ༺━━━━༻ ✦

yuri
7:25pm

yuri
let's meet up after work?

sori
sure, where we meeting?

yuri
your place. i've got
heaps to share with you!

sori
okie dokie, see you soon

yuri
baiiii~

✧ ༺━━━━༻ ✦

11:00pm. i could literally fall asleep any given point. literally. i will fall over and sleep on the cold, hard ground if that was socially acceptable. the stars are particularly dull tonight, overshadowed by the light that emanates from stores. light and time is fascinating. the stars we see are light years away. we see stars of the past. they could be gone for all we know. the mystery of the unknown. that raises the question, if we went back on a star far enough from earth, would we see dinosaurs? would we see pangaea splitting into each continent? i stare into the abyss. bonk. shit i fell over. "i'm so sorry," he says as he hands me a bottle. i run.

i make it home. and i open the door to see yuri building a fort out of chocolate boxes. "you used the key i gave you, right? i didn't just leave my apartment unlocked, right?"
"yes sori. don't worry! here." she chucks me a box, "you like these, don't you?"
"thanks." she salutes and continues to build her fortress. it's astounding how much she receives on valentine's day. girls aren't really meant to be gifted, the girls usually gift the guys! save it for white day. one month for this mountain to double. "what took you so long to come here?"
"i had to stay back a bit at work and i was tired. i bumped into a random as well. he gave me this." i chuck the banana milk over to her.
"you should chill this, it'll be better cold. ooh. i almost forgot! i put something in your fridge too. you'll know when you know." she lobs the bottle back to me. i penguin walk to the fridge, wary of the fact the yuri may have put a moving thing in the fridge. reaching out, i cautious pull the door open...

an avocado. i take it out, replacing it with the banana milk. thanks for the calcium, banana milk boy.