❝ ah, well, i don’t expect you to have known the place, ❞ goro says, then he pauses, quietly backtracks on what he just said, ❝ i don’t mean that in a negative way, of course, ❞ he adds, ❝ the place is almost hidden. i only stumbled upon the area because i got lost. ❞
the memory is rather pleasant one, if he has to be honest, one he doesn’t mind recalling a lot. he got off the wrong stop on his way back to the orphanage from school, and he ended up doing a little sightseeing and missing curfew that day. it was a problem the next day, especially when he had to sneak back into the orphanage, but at that moment, he truly didn’t mind.
wandering around the quiet neighbourhood and spending hours in the cafe, it was the first time he didn’t feel like he always had to have something to do. it was an odd feeling, but one he didn’t mind, surprisingly.
❝ i can say the same for myself, you know, ❞ goro says after with an amused smile, ❝ i barely had anywhere else to go beside school, that cafe, and…home—i think you underestimate the number of people who haven’t been touring around japan. ❞
“I didn’t take it negatively, don’t worry. Like you said if it’s a place that’s almost hidden how would I know about it.” His weight shifted to his left leg, fingers twisting his frontal bangs together. Akira wondered if he would even be able to notice such a place. This was definitely something to keep in mind.
For whatever reason, Akira can’t recall too much about his own childhood, he’s not sure why but the memory doesn’t come to him unless it was something he would rather forget. All he knows is that his years were spent with mostly silence, refuses to talk to people unless he had to, failing to understand others. A simple and repeated lifestyle.
It’s not like he didn’t want to socialise with people, the boy was just unsure of how to, leaving him to fear for the worst. Then like any other kid, those years of social hardships only sent him further into his shell. It was only now, nearing his years of adulthood, that he was starting to crawl out of his hiding place and fully experience the world by his own hand.
“Maybe. I don’t think I consider other people’s lifestyles unless they tell me, since well...I never know what to expect. We’re all different.” And it’s not like he could abruptly ask people, as tempting as it was. He had to wait for the right moment before daring to ask such prying questions.
