Eiji Okumura
11 Aug. 2018
Research got much easier after Ash gave into the fact that he should just read up on the plants and medication and diet for the treatments only. He stopped having daily panic attacks, and he also seemed to have more fun doing his part of the research; spreading around fun facts he read in the books all the time, which made it clear that he's enjoying himself.
I bet he's reading in a book about herbs right now, even though I never asked him to work so hard on Saturdays. Even I don't usually work on Saturday.
But today that's different.
I might be at a shopping village and not be at work, but I am busy with work-related activities. That's because I found out a little something when reading through Ash's medical chard; tomorrow, on the twelfth of August, is his eighteenth birthday.
I cannot go there tomorrow, knowing that it's his birthday and not bring any presents, so when I left work yesterday I asked his best friend to come shopping with me today.
Obviously, Shorter said yes right away. And now we're meeting up at one of New York's shopping villages, so we can search for the best presents for Ash.
It's not hard to spot him, with his purple dip dye and bright clothes, standing near Subway.
"Morning, Eiji!" He happily waves at me, probably in case I didn't see him yet.
I wave back and greet him too when I'm close enough. "Thank you for coming."
Shorter grins and says, "Well, Ash's my friend too! So I want to be part of his birthday party too."
I chuckle, and tell him I completely understand that. "But I'm still glad you want to help me too, because I just cannot think of anyone who knows him better than you do."
"Well—" Shorter starts walking, clearly expecting me to follow him. "—I don't think I know Ash as well as you think I do," he admits with an apologetic smile.
I wonder how it's possible that after - what did Ash say? - twelve years Shorter still doesn't know everything there is to know about Ash. "But you've been friends for so long?" I ask, before realizing that Ash is actually pretty private when it comes to himself and his feelings.
Shorter shrugs. "Yeah, we've been talking for years, but we don't really talk about personal stuff."
I tell him that's totally fine, to have a less personal friendship with someone. Especially when it comes to someone like Ash, I don't want to ask Shorter about it, but maybe he also kept Ash at an arm's length because Ash could literally die any moment; that's not the easiest in a friendship.
"Anyway," Shorter says to change the subject. "What kind of present were you thinking off?"
I shrug, looking around the street to search for a good shop. "Maybe some books, he reads a lot."
Shorter nods and tells me that's true, but something about his tone tells me he's hesitant about buying Ash more books. So I decide to ask him what he thinks about that.
"I don't know," he admits with an apologetic wince. "I don't think he'll have much time left to read books." Shorter glances at me from behind his sunglasses. "If you know what I mean."
I stare down to the floor and feel a little sting of pain in my heart; I know exactly what Shorter means. Ash has reached stage 4 quite some time ago already, his reading skills will start going backwards any moment now, he won't be able to read much anymore indeed.
"Maybe we can still buy him one book," I suggest. "Do you know if he likes audio books?"
Shorter chuckles. "You wanted to buy him an audio book?"
I shrug and tell Shorter it's actually pretty good for his brain to stay connected to language closely, so maybe buying him a book with audio file would be the best option. "Don't you think?"
"But wouldn't that just remind him of the fact that he can't read what they're telling him is on the page?" Shorter asks me, and he's actually very right. "What about a movie?"
I smile and nod. "That would be our best option indeed."
We go to the closest store that sells movies and start looking at what they've got to offer.
There's everything from superhero and romantic movies, to animated ones. Some are even from my own country, and it gives me a very nostalgic feeling when I spot my all-time favorite children's movie on the shelf. It's in an English cover, but I immediately recognize the face of Ghibli; Totoro.
I take my hand up to it and take the movie off the shelf.
I hold up the movie so Shorter can see it and ask, "What about this one?"
Shorter looks up and says, "What about these?" gesturing at the three movies in his hands. They're all superhero movies, he seems to have a nostalgic feeling towards Superman and Captain America.
I chuckle. "Is Ash the type to like superhero movies?"
Shorter shrugs and tells me he hasn't got the slightest idea. "He's never been someone who likes fiction, but I'm not going to buy him a movie like Planet Earth or something."
Shorter's right, if Ash wants to watch documentaries about the earth or animals, he can just turn on the little television in his room and go to any random channel; they broadcast documentaries all the time. That's why we're here to buy him some actual movies, with plot.
Shorter glances at the movies in his hands again and it's like a light bulb turns on in his head.
"What?" I ask, referring to the massive smirk on his face.
"What if—" Shorter smiles even wider. "—we both buy Ash our personal top five favorite movies?"
A smile appears on my face and I nod right away. "That's an amazing idea!"
We do exactly that; Shorter starts searching for his favorite movies, while I do too. Even though this store doesn't have most of my personal favorites, since they're all Japanese, I still manage to find some of them. I end up getting My Neighbor Totoro, The Conjuring, The Ring, The Nightmare Before Christmas and IT. All movies I loved watching when I was stuck at home with my broken leg.
Shorter also manages to find five movies, and it surprises me that two of them are actually tragic romances and not superhero movies. I'd never taken Shorter for the type of person who'd like The Fault in Our Stars and The Titanic, but then again, maybe he chose them because Ash may like them.
"And which did you choose?" Shorter asks when we walk out with our bought movies in plastic bags.
I name the ones I choose because I feel like Ash has to watch at least once in his life.
"What!?" Shorter glares at me, shocked. "You like horror?"
I shrug, thinking about the movies I picked. Except for My Neighbor Totoro and The Nightmare Before Christmas, which I watched as a kid, they're definitely all horror movies. That's what I like.
"I thought you'd like tearjerkers or something," Shorter says, I have no clue why he would think that.
"Not really," I reply. "They're either realistic but boring or very unrealistic but then they leave you broken for multiple months after watching them. I don't like that."
Shorter chuckles. "No need to get defensive, I'm just surprised that the soft nurse is a horror fan."
I want to make a comment about Shorter's choice of movies, but realize that especially the superhero movies he chose are completely on brand for someone like Shorter.
I snort at how Shorter's looks completely identify his taste in movies.
"What are you laughing at?" Shorter says, but he's laughing just as hard.
After having a little laugh, Shorter goes silent.
Too silent.
"I really hope as is going to enjoy his birthday," Shorter mumbles after a while.
"Huh?" I reply, looking at the Chinese's gloomy expression. "Why wouldn't he?"
"It's his first birthday without Griffin," Shorter explains. "But I don't think Ash has enjoyed any of his birthdays. Especially since--" His voice falters and he winces.
"Since, what?" I ask him.
"Let's just say his fifteenth birthday wasn't the greatest," Shorter mumbles, glaring down at the pavement. "He hasn't been able to look forward to his birthday ever since."
I swallow, wondering what happened three yearsago. But I don't have the guts to ask. Instead of ruining the mood, I force asmile and say, "In that case, let's make sure tomorrow will be his bestbirthday ever!"