Origami Girl

Chapter 9: The Floating World I

Origami Girl

Chapter 9: The Floating World I

"Living only for the moment, turning our full attention to the pleasures of the moon, the sun, the cherry blossoms and the maple leaves, singing songs, drinking wine, and diverting ourselves just in floating, floating, not caring a whit for the pauperism staring us in the face, refusing to be disheartened, like a gourd floating along with the river current: This is what we call the Floating World, 'ukiyo'."

-Asai Ryoi, Ukiyo Monogatari

It was lunchtime, so I made my way to the cafeteria and got myself a seat. After an entire morning of boring lessons, I sure needed a break. I made for myself fruit sandwiches that day, slices of white bread, brown crust trimmed off, filled with a thick layer of blueberry yoghurt mixed with small bits of strawberry and kiwi. I had placed them in the fridge overnight, but it didn't really serve a purpose really, since by the time I wanted to eat them they were already warm. I might as well just prepare them right before I left for school. Sandwich in one hand, I held my phone in the other.

I scrolled down the page on my phone screen, reading the highlights of the Tokyo Girls Fall Collection that year. Once again, they held it at the Yokohama Arena, which was quite a disappointment for me. I've always wanted to attend the biannual fashion event, but they always held it in places so far away. Nevertheless, I still kept track of the event through the official website, and I had totally no regrets about it.

"Look! This outfit is so adorable!" I squealed, thrusting my phone into Adam-kun's face, bidding him to take a look.

"Oh, okay," he replied, nodding his head and smiling awkwardly, obviously not really interested.

"But it's cute don't you think?" I remarked, "Baby blue looks great on her! And her shoes! They're just heavenly don't you think?"

He just grunted in reply, so I stopped showing him anything. I continued with my sandwich while Adam-kun had a curry bento. I supposed it was one of the rare occasions where his mother made something for him, as most of the time he always bought food from the vending machines. His mother was a working mother after all. Once before, he told me that his mother was a practicing lawyer at a medium-sized law firm in Sapporo, and had to wake up really early to catch the first train, and she would only come back late at night, sometimes past midnight even. I then, instinctively without thinking, asked him what his father's occupation was, but he kept silent. I regretted immediately at what escaped my lips.

"Ah, you'd brought your own lunch today?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he replied, slightly muffled, his mouth full of rice, "My mom packed it for me."

"That's rare," I said, "That's really nice of her, with her busy schedule and all."

"Yup," he replied, curtly, before stuffing another clump of rice in his mouth.

Seeing his hasty replies, I stopped talking. I wasn't mad or anything. It was just that I felt that he must have been so absorbed in his food, which I kind of understood, since he rarely got meals made by his mother's own hands. He was way different when he just had a sandwich he bought from the vending machine, he would listen attentively to me and look at me in the eyes. Now, he only took glances at me before returning to his food. I couldn't get mad. How could I ever get mad? He even made me smile as I saw this boy relishing his precious meal.

Other than that, you could also say that I lost to a home cooked meal of humble curry. I must have been such a terrible conversation partner.

 "What's wrong?" Adam-kun asked all of a sudden, looking up at me.