CHAPTER TWO – Best bad buddy

Sunohara?" The teacher calls out the name of a single student.

"Not here as usual?"

I look to Sunohara`s seat beside me. His absense count is higher than mine. We`re the only two students in this class known as delinquents. I guess that`s why we get along .And also, he`s the only person I can really talk to freely. We`re that kind of people. The lesson is starting. I spend my time by looking out the window. Ignoring everything that the teacher is saying.

The class ends and school is now over. That Sunohara didn`t show up at all. In the end, the only person I talked to today was the female student from this morning. Today was no different from any other day.

I`m not part of any clubs so I pick up my empty bag and slip out of the classroom while the rest of the students chat.

Even if I went home, there wouldn`t be anyone there at this time. I didn`t have a mother to begin with. She died in a car accident while I was young. I don`t even remember her face. Probably affected by the shock of her death...

My father, left behind, fell into a depression. He`d go out to get drunk and waste his time gambling. My entire childhood was wasted by fighting with him all the time.

But after a certain accident, our relationship changed. We had a fight, and I was injured. From that day onward, my father would keep his feelings to himself. Then, instead of calling me normally, he started calling me "Tomoya-kun" with a -kun at the end, as if he was respecting a stranger.

Without a doubt, it made us feel unrelated. Just like a closed shell. Just like a point in time that separates the present from the past. It would`ve been better if he just honestly shunned me away. If he cared enough to cause me pain, there was still hope. But now, if he sees me come home, he smiles as if seeing an old friend... and begins to chat. My chest would hurt so bad that I couldn`t take it any more... I rush out of the house.

And so, in order to avoid him, I have lived a life of not returning home until late at night when he would be asleep. I`d go to sleep at dawn, and wake up in the middle of the day. Ever since I entered high school, I`ve been late every day. This has been going on for three years. Today, like always, I took a change of clothes and left the house before my father came home. That`s the lifestyle that I had become accustomed to. I roam around the town at night .And I end up going to the same place at the end of the day. I buy a lunch box for dinner from the convenience store...

With the box in my hand, I head down the school slope to the student dormitory. The school heavily encourages club activities,so there are a lot of students here. They spend their three years here while being separated from their parents. They`re very different from a person who lives out his school life with no dreams, such as myself. It was none of my business, but in this place, he... Sunohara lives here. Even Sunohara got into this school for sports, for he was once a part of the soccer team. But he got into a big fight with students from another school in the first year, and was suspended. He was removed from being a regular player .And then, when the freshman campaign ended, he completely lost his place on the team. All he could do was leave the team. As he couldn`t really afford to move anywhere else, he ended up remaining in his dorm which is specially reserved for students of sports clubs.

"How many times do I have to tell you?!"

"But the volume was really low..." Sunohara was there. He was in front of a different room, talking with a student with a huge body.

"Even if it was really low, it goes right through the thin walls!"

"Use your headphones!" The huge student continued.

"I told you, I can`t afford that, haha..."

"Then don`t listen to it!"

"No, but, if I don`t, then I can`t really get in the mood, you know?" Also, it`s a really cool song, you know?"

"..."

"Look, if you listen to the lyrics, you`ll know what I mean!"

"I don`t care what the hell you mean... All you`re doing is pissing me off! If I hear it again, I`m kicking you out of here!" SLAM!

"Eeeek!!" Sunohara freak.

"..." Sunohara`s head slumped down in front of the closed door.

"Damn... that rugby player..." He mumbled.

"He`s not gonna hear you with that kind of voice… DAMN THAT RUGBY PLAYER!!!" I corrected him as such with my yell as he stood beside me.

"Eeek!!" Sunohara grabbed me by the head and dragged me into his room.

In the hallway there was a large voice bellowing, "Who the hell was that?!"

"Pant... pant... Are you trying to kill me?!"

"You`re the one who said that, didn`t you?"

"You know, Okazaki... I`m not on good terms with the residents here these days."

"So let`s go all out right now."

"We still got a year left!"

"You really don`t have any guts, do you?"

"Hey… I wouldn`t back down in a one-on-one fight, even if it`s with a rugby player. But you see, everything around here are rugby players` rooms. If I stir up something here... it`s gonna be too dangerous..."

"But, well, when it`s near graduation, going all out would be nice. When that time comes, Okazaki, you`ll have my back, won`t ya?"

"Lucky! I`ll stab you well!"

"Not me! Go at them!"

"But I`m on the rugby team`s side, you see?"

"Since when?!"

"Well, at that time."

"What?! Why?! Then what the hell have we been doing for the last two years? Huh?!"

DONG! The wall shook. An angry shout saying, "Be quiet!" follows after that.

"Eeeek!!"

"I`ll kick back." Tease me.

"Don`t do it!"

"Sheesh, you`re all talk."

"Please, try to put yourself in my shoes, will you..." He`s crying...

"I`m begging you, just be quiet, will you, please!"

"O-okay..."That miserable look is overpowering me.

"Munch, munch..." I began eating from my lunch box, sitting between the kotatsu and the wall of this small room.

"Tea, please." Ask me.

"I don`t have any!" Sunohara reply.

"That`s why I said `please`, didn`t I?"

"I don`t care even if you bow, I said I don`t have it! You`re not confusing this room as a cafeteria, are you?"

"This is your room, I know."

"Okay."

"And you`re my slave."

"You don`t seem to understand at all, do you?"

"Come on man, I forgot to buy it."

"Doesn`t it even occur to you that you should get some yourself?"

"But you said helping me is your only purpose in life, ever since I saved you, right?"

"I don`t have that kind of made-up backstory!"

"Didn`t you say it like this after I saved you? The man called Sunohara died at that moment... The person here right now, is just someone who will serve you tea...` So, tea."

"Don`t make up such crap!"

"Then, I`ll settle it as a last cup of tea."

"There is no such thing as first or last!"

"Oh god, this is touching. If you listen to this, you`ll definitely want to get tea for me. Losing the battle against a fatal injury, there was no hope left of saving you. You, in that condition, committed to bring me tea, for I was thirsty. From there, you squeezed out every last ounce of your strength as you crawled up to me to pour in some tea. And then... Master Okazaki... here`s some tea... And this will be your... last tea... You were smiling...when you died."

"I was all satisfied with that, huh?!"

"That was your wish, after all. And then, while crying, I drank that last tea. Touching, isn`t it? So, tea."

"I said I don`t have any!"After that, I spent the rest of the day reading the magazines.There wasn`t a TV to watch, so there was nothing to do except read.

"Whew... Isn`t it time to sleep?"The sun has already set, and it`s night time.

"Yeah, you`re right."I didn`t plan on sleeping in Sunohara`s room. If I wake up seeing this guy in the morning, I`d probably feel depressed.

"Then I`m gonna go take a shower."

"Okay."

Sunohara grabbed a towel from a mountain of clothing in the corner and left the room.

"..."I want to avoid having to see Sunohara when he comes back. I guess I should go home. I stopped reading the magazine and got up. Then I notice a cassette player in front of me. It looks like there`s a tape inside it.I push the play button.

This is old-fashioned hip-hop. "Disgusting... Who`s gonna listen to this crap..."

Okay, I`ll record my own original rap instead. The theme will be, "To my best friend, Sunohara rap." This will definitely impress him.

"Here we go..." I take a deep breath and press the record button.

Tomoya"... YO-YO! I`m Okazaki! You`re..."With the tempo down, I began to spin my words.

"You`re..."Damn it, nothing comes to my mind. Forget it, this is stupid...

"A Mongolian-Chop! No, I`ll-give-you-a-Mongolian Chop! Well, it doesn`t make any sense however I say it."

"... forget it, this is stupid..." I throw a swift punch in frustration. Why the hell do I have to do something like this for him anyway? It`s not like we`re close friends or anything to begin with.

"I`m out of here..." I decide to leave before Sunohara returns.