"Ahh!~ That hit the spot..." Yumiko exclaimed with satisfaction.
"Glad to see you're enjoying yourself," Y/N sarcastically says, leaning back in his chair.
"And you're not? And here I thought you'd be happy that you were able to carry my things," Yumiko teased with a slight grin. "Most guys would kill to spend even a single minute with me."
Y/N looked unamused. "If you're implying that I'm like those guys who will act like dogs the minute they see their deity or some crap like that, you're mistaken. I, for one, have dignity."
"Oh? You have dignity? I could've sworn that you looked a little giddy when I shoved my groceries into your arms."
"You're imagining things." Y/N took a sip from his cup of tea, as opposed to the coffee Yumiko had ordered. "So? How's life been going for you? You know, since I've been gone and what not."
"Hmm? Oh, I guess it's been fine. Things have been normal as usual."
Y/N raised an eyebrow. "And by normal, do you mean to say that you're ordering people around like you're high and mighty?"
Yumiko snorted, "You sure have a colorful imagination as to what happened back then."
"It's kind of true. I had to put up with your shenanigans as you dragged me around and ordered me to do whatever. Much to my chagrin, anyway." He sighed, "Well, I can't say that I didn't enjoy it from time to time. They were some of my most precious memories from childhood, so I can't say it was all bad."
"Exactly. We had a great time with each other back then." Yumiko put on a proud smirk. She soon returned to a neutral expression. "But... I suppose you can say that I have mellowed out a bit..."
He looked surprised. "Really? The great and mighty Yumiko Miura has mellowed out? I don't believe it."
"I really did, you jerk!" She stood up and slapped his shoulder, to which he recoiled playfully.
"Alright, alright, I believe you," Y/N laughed, "but care to tell me how you mellowed out exactly?"
Yumiko grumbled in slight frustration. "As much as I hate to admit it, it was thanks to this really annoying person in our grade."
"Not surprised. Nearly a hundred percent of the people in the classes we've been in together annoy you."
"Shut up," she said with a glare. "Anyway, if this girl hadn't stepped in, I suppose I really wouldn't have become friends with Yui... Still doesn't change the fact that I hate the way she acts," Yumiko mutters bitterly.
"Huh. With the way you described her, it sounds like she's a real ice queen."
"And you're a real prick."
"Ouch. Your words sting me, Yumi-chan."
"Hey, don't mock me, idiot." She kicks his shin.
"Ow! You didn't have to do that!"
She playfully sticks her tongue out at him. "Then maybe you should choose your words carefully next time."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
"Anyway, enough about me. What about you? What have you been up to?" She asked.
Y/N points at himself, "Me?"
She simply nods, taking another sip from her coffee. Y/N does the same, a brief sip from his cup of chai and leaning back in his chair a little. What was there to talk about?
He spent quite a bit of time overseas. Y/N's father was an entrepreneur of sorts for a pharmaceuticals company, devoting a lot of their research in trying to develop the latest cures and vaccines to some of the world's deadliest viruses and diseases. And aside from just going to a business prep school, he was also spending his time learning the craft of taking the family business whenever he comes of age.
Other than that, however, everything was quite dull and boring. Nothing of interest in his mind, really. He knows that the work his father is doing is quite critical as it can help hundreds to thousands of others. Hell, billions, even. But this was something that didn't really interest him. When it came to careers and what not, he wasn't sure what to become, and the whole time he spent with his father was to prepare him for a career he would inherit in the future. If anything, the only thing interesting during that time he spent with his father was his own despair.
However, Y/N noticed his train of thoughts were soon going down a dark turn. It didn't help that his silence only earned a persistent and expectant gaze from Yumiko, who was impatiently tapping her foot on the ground repeatedly, her arms crossed as she waited for an answer from him. Y/N couldn't blame her. She was curious. They had been separated for quite a long time and this was their first encounter, so it was granted that she wanted to know everything that had happened in their time apart from each other. But with those dark thoughts of his brewing within his mind, he didn't want to dampen the current mood they were in, the atmosphere of the coffee shop they were in was quite a happy and tranquil one. It was an atmosphere he didn't want to ruin, so he simply shook his head.
"Nothing, really. Not unless you want me to go on a whole spiel of my dad sending me to a business prep school and preparing me to take over the company one of these days."
Yumiko rolled her eyes. "Booorring. Nothing interesting happened?"
"Yup. Exactly what you said. Boring. Nothing too exciting, unfortunately." He just sighs. "I'm honestly just glad to be back here in Japan."
The blonde girl hummed.
She couldn't help but feel he was hiding something from her. When he sighed, she noticed that he had briefly looked away for a moment. But it was in that brief moment that she noticed a flash of emotion in his eyes.
Now, she couldn't quite grasp the feeling of emotion he was currently feeling, but she suspected that it was a conflicting one at least. But she wasn't sure if she should press on it. Through all the years she's known Y/N, he wasn't the best at expressing his feelings around others, but he was able to comfortably express a part of himself to a certain extent. However, with how they've grown apart in the years they haven't seen each other, she wasn't sure how comfortable he would be when it came to sharing things with her. To be quite honest, it wasn't a surprise to either of them if they weren't able to confide in things in a certain fashion they used to do. People change over time. It could be a good change or a terrible one. It was the determining of whether it was a good change or not was the difficult part.
However, all this internal thinking and talking with herself was hard to wrap her head around, almost like this thumping feeling of giving her a headache was the best way to sum it up. It was probably best to switch to a different topic.
She soon cleared her throat. "Onto another thing..."
"Hmm? Yeah?"
"Have you talked to your mom yet?"
"Oh, no. Not yet. By the time I got home, she wasn't there yet. Probably at the office." Y/N takes another sip of his tea.
Yumiko nodded her head. "I see. If I remember correctly, she does have the tendency to overstay herself there."
"Well, that is the life of a mangaka," Y/N stated. "Doing back breaking work of drawing panels and creating storyboards in order to meet the deadline."
Y/N's mother is in-short a mangaka artist. Although her real profession is that of a doujin artist and creating the rather more adult works, she has dabbled in creating "regular" manga for the average consumer. It's a bit of an odd profession in Y/N's eyes, but he can see how much his mother enjoys it, so he doesn't seem to mind it.
While his mother has spent a lot of her time in the office doing her work of drawing and creating panels, she has always tried to make time for her son. Unlike his father, his mother has been around more than him. If anything, there are times Y/N can remember his mother's face more than his father, mostly because of how much of a workaholic he is. He could argue that his mother is a workaholic as well, but she knows her limits and knows when to stop when she knows her work is too controlling of her life and ethic itself. In the manga community, she's one of the few artists known to go on frequent breaks and hiatuses to not wear herself down. One of the few people that were able to turn their hobby into work, but still able to find joy in being able to do and continue it. Unlike the others that have found their hobbies turned into a job and only doing it for the sake of earning money and not for the sake of keeping themselves happy.
Y/N soon found himself leaning forward and resting his face into his arms.
"God, I'm so tired..."
"What the heck?" Yumiko stared down at him. "You sound like some old geezer. Stop that."
He laughed wryly, "Sorry. Just mean to say that life has been rather dull and dry recently. Almost like there's nothing to do and boring."
She kicks his shin for the second time. "Are you implying that spending time with me is dull and boring?"
"Ow! No, I didn't say that!" He shot up and straightened his posture, sighing in the process. "Sorry, spending time with my dad overseas was rather drab."
"Huh..."
She didn't know much about the relationship between Y/N and his father. Yumiko assumed that it was a somewhat healthy one. But he never discussed it a lot.
"You two doing okay?"
"Huh? Yeah, we are. Why do you ask?"
"You're making it sound like you two don't like each other at all."
He laughed wryly again. "I wouldn't put it that way. It's just... It would be great if he didn't make me do things I'd rather not want to do..."
Y/N said this a little bit quieter, his eyes beginning to dull a little. In his head, some sort of white noise began to fill his ear, a ringing irritation beginning to occur. Such dark thoughts began to take over him again.
But of course, the person in front of him knocked him away from his dark thoughts. Flicking her index finger against his forehead, an annoyed look on her face, Yumiko made Y/N focus on her again.
"H-Huh?" Y/N briefly shook.
"When did you get all condescending and dark? It's kinda gross," Yumiko recoiled in disgust. "You're reminding me of a classmate who looks dead all the time. Stop it."
Chuckling to himself, he straightens his back and fixes his collar. "Sorry that I got moody all of a sudden. Just can't help but think that being in Japan is a breath of fresh air, you know? It's a nice change of pace to what I was previously used to."
"I see..." Yumiko fell silent before speaking up again. "Hey, N/N..."
"Hmm? What's up?" His full attention was now onto her. It made her heart race a little, due to how intensely he stared at her, a slight tint of red coming to her cheeks.
"You know you can talk to me... Right?"
"We are talking. Right now."
She grew annoyed, "You know what I'm talking about, dumbass. God, do you like acting dumb? It's like you're asking for me to hit you most of the time."
He laughed, albeit sounding a bit forced. "Sorry, sorry. Teasing is kind of fun, I can't help it. But, yeah, I know what you mean."
"...I really meant what I said. It's really great to see you again, N/N."
"...I know. I meant it too."
This time, he genuinely smiled at her. A smile that she hadn't seen in a long time, for what seemed like forever. Even though she saw that smile when they first met again back at the park.
"It's great to see you too, Yumi-chan."
It was interactions like these that warmed her heart. Despite it being such a long time, a lot of aspects changed between them, there were some things that didn't change.
Although it seemed like they were having trouble readjusting back to how it was before, it was still moments like these where they could relax.
Feel like things haven't changed at all. Feel like things had continued off right from before they separated.
[Chapter Two] | A Meaningful Talk
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Yo. How was the chapter? Made it a bit longer than last time.
With how this story is going, I wanted to go with a little bit of a different approach with this story. I want to go with some darker themes to it.
Probably should've put these disclaimers in the description and first chapter, but they are kind of there, but I will remind you of what this book will have and entail. There will be mentions of serious topics like self-harm and depression, things like that. I kind of want to draw this story a bit closer to reality and serious mental problems that people are experiencing to try and raise awareness.
I'm saying this because I am also going through this.
Basically, here's my little PSA:
If you're feeling and experiencing things like depression and thinking of doing self-harm, talk to people. It isn't the best solution to talking with a therapist or taking medicines, but it is a start. Try and confide with people you care about, don't try and hold it in and bottle up your emotions. That was a mistake that I made when I bottled up my depressive emotions for like four years from my parents before I ended up crumbling, the walls of protection that I had put up all falling down. Things like these are serious and should be taken seriously.
That being said, I am also not a licensed therapist and you shouldn't take my words for granted. But it truly is important that you discuss this serious things with people you care about, especially your parents. You have pillars of caring people to lean on out there. Someone will be able to listen.
That's all I wanted to say.
Another and last reminder, this book will contain serious topics and themes such as depression. If you are uncomfortable with topics like these, it's best that you stop reading or read with a guardian or older parent. This book is trying in hopes to be made of a interesting story while also sending a message.
Do not take this as something as making fun of others that are suffering from topics like these.