The Promise of Yuuko Asahino - Volume 1

Chapter 3 - Aberration

—wait.......revenue......? Since when......

He sat himself upright.

............what am I doing?

To think about something like that?

Is that why he did it? Is that why, even though he hadn't intended for those people to be fired, he felt nothing for them?

For something so..........shallow.

He turned towards the other side of the train, where various men in suits held on to bags and briefcases. Each of them was engaged in an activity as they waited to arrive at their destination. One of them was asleep with his mouth hanging slightly agape, another— a man who seemed a bit older than the rest— was simply staring down at his watch. The rest were either on phones or reading a book.

They reminded him of the other workers on his floor. Many worked diligently, yes, but at the same time they always looked as if they had something missing.

He couldn't help but notice that each of them looked shallow.

...................there.

Just there.

I'm................just like them?

Was that all he was? A salaryman to be used and fired at any given time?

A man who only thought of profit when it became convenient?

A hypocrite?

No.

No, of course that's not true. He's a loving husband, and a caring father.

Like them?

He was different than them. He didn't believe in simply working for one's whole life; after all, there's no meaning in a life such as that. He believed in meaning— in living for someone, or something, greater than oneself. He taught—

Is such a difference a good thing? Are you actually accomplishing anything?

To barge into the front of his consciousness like that before he could finish his inner monologue, how rude.

But rude or not, he had to offer a response, because it was a valid question. One that had actually been on his mind quite recently; the one that wouldn't let him sleep.

And after a moment of deliberation, he offered his answer.

I may not be the best— no— I know I'm not; but even so, I do everything I can and everything within my power to do right, to become better! Because that's what it means to be a man!

A faint smile grew from this satisfactory answer until—

Your own power? Being a man? If your own strength isn't enough, what will you do then? You know the people around you, you've even begun to think like them.

—it vanished.

People of the world, molded by what they can see and touch as opposed to their will— that's what they are, because that's what's important. Even if you make a difference, will such differences matter? Look around you— there is no such thing as an ideal in a modern world.

You're living proof.

The people around him.... of course he's seen it. How could he not? People whose expressions show nothing but day-to-day monotony. Their faces, when unguarded, reflect an exhausted life. Tired eyes that held no glow. Windows with nothing behind them.

Yes........ it wasn't their lives, but rather, what's in them.

Or in this case, what's not.

There's nothing wrong with living a mundane, peaceful life; but without a belief to carry one through the days, without something to look forward to or strive towards, without something to move them... it becomes noticeable to anyone who cared enough to look.