The moment Haruki's feet stepped outside the wooden door of the house, tongues of sunlight beamed onto his face with a hot glare.
Haruki half closed his eyes to let them adjust to the intense brightness of the daylight, then gradually opened them, saying to himself in a low voice filled with hope and optimism.
"What a beautiful day."
A smile spread across his face, and he set off on his way, trotting quickly across the street toward his school, full of excitement for the end of this year.
He suddenly stopped when he spotted one of his friends hunched over a math book, deeply focused on studying as if this exam could change the course of his entire life.
"Hiroshi!"
Haruki shouted, and without waiting for him to return the greeting, he dashed forward, running quickly until he leapt onto the back of the boy with black hair and glasses. Hiroshi's glasses nearly slipped off his nose, but he caught them before they fell.
Hiroshi let out a sigh of relief, then turned his gaze toward Haruki, who was still clinging to him from behind. A frown formed on the face of the boy who studied a lot, and he said in annoyance.
"You idiot, do you know how much these glasses cost me just so I can see your ugly face?"
Haruki ignored his harsh words and took the glasses from him to put them on his own face, even though he had no problems with his vision.
"Whoa, man! How can you see through these? It's like watching a movie at 144p!"
Hiroshi sighed, for he had already lost hope in Haruki. He reached out and took the glasses from him with a hint of disgust, while wiping the lenses with a cloth to remove the fingerprints of this fool from them.
"You left your fingerprints on the glasses, you idiot!"
Hiroshi spat the words out in irritation, but even with that tone, Haruki was completely unaffected.
Haruki raised two fingers directly in front of Hiroshi's face and asked in a doubtful tone, as if he were about to solve a great riddle.
"How many are these?"
Hiroshi looked at Haruki's hand, then back at his face with a weary expression, fed up with the minutes he wasted daily enduring this person. He pinched the bridge of his nose impatiently, but answered anyway.
"Two."
At that, Haruki smacked his fist into his other palm forcefully, then pointed a finger at Hiroshi as if accusing him of a crime, and said with a decisive tone.
"Aha! You can see! So you don't need the glasses you're wearing!"
Hiroshi drew in a breath into his chest, then released it in frustration, trying to suppress the urge to throw something at Haruki's face. He clasped his hands together and placed them before his lips before asking calmly.
"And where did you get this information, that someone who wears glasses cannot see?"
"Cartoons."
Hiroshi's shoulders and jaw slackened at Haruki's confident answer, leaving him completely unable to respond, as if he had been struck by a wave of stupidity impossible to deal with.
At that very moment, a large-built boy approached, his black hair streaked with blond highlights he had dyed earlier, holding a sandwich in his hand while continuing to chew a bite in his mouth.
It was Fuji himself.
He looked at the situation between his two friends in confusion, then greeted them and asked awkwardly.
"Uh… what exactly is going on here?"
Haruki turned to him with a wide smile on his face before replying enthusiastically.
"Hey, Fuji! Nothing important, Hiroshi and I were just having a discussion."
Hiroshi shook his head vigorously to snap out of the state Haruki had put him in, then said in a displeased tone.
"You call this a discussion? While you bring your information from cartoons made for kids under the age of thirteen?"
"Hey! And for your information, it's fun!"
Haruki replied in a defensive tone, as if he was protecting with all his might the children's shows he watched. He received instant support from Fuji, who placed his hand on Haruki's shoulder and raised his thumb in agreement.
Hiroshi furrowed his brows, and the eyelid of his right eye twitched at what he was hearing and seeing from the two of them. But he reminded himself that anything was possible with them, and he shouldn't be too surprised; after all, he had been enduring their stupidity for nearly ten years of friendship.
Hiroshi took a long breath and refocused his gaze toward the school gates before saying in a tired tone.
"Let's get inside the school before the doors close."
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Thank you for reading! If this moment touched you even a little , please consider adding it to your library.💐