[Team 2] The boy next door
I've read this interview in which Kitayama talks about his new neighbour. I started talking about it on twitter with a couple of people and without realizing I was kind of shipping them u__u; sorry about this. Of course the neighbour is ooc. u__u;
“It’s nothing” said the man, smiling as he waved a hand in front of his face like he wanted to confirm it was no trouble at all that he had to open the door in his pajama.
Kitayama wanted to thank him immediately for his kindness, he didn’t want to wait for the next day. He needed to talk to him now, and he knew the man was still awake. He looked tired, but Kitayama thought he was sincere when he admitted that he wasn’t bothering him.
Kitayama thought about when he had started to notice him. His landlord had told him somebody was going to move in the vacant flat next door and that he shouldn’t make much noise. Kitayama usually played music or his guitar at ungodly hours, because that was the only time he had to play it. His schedule was always full, unlike the apartment next door, so he never once bothered to keep the volume down. It kind of annoyed him that he had to start taking care, but that was just common sense. He surely didn’t want to upset his new neighbour.
He caught a glimpse of him for the first time one morning. They crossed paths in the aisle and the neighbour quickly muttered a “good morning” as he fled down the stairs dressed in a suit and holding a briefcase. He was a middle-aged man, most probably a salary man, or maybe a manager, unmarried and with a tired aura surrounding him and carved in the dark circles under his eyes. His hair was still black and thick and he was taller than Kitayama, although that wasn’t a difficult achievement.
The second time Kitayama met the man was the very same day, in the evening. He went up the stairs with his conbini-bought dinner and saw the neighbour in front of his flat door, obviously having some trouble getting in.
“Excuse me,” Kitayama said, looking warily at the man struggling with the key. He raised his head and acknowledged Kitayama’s presence. “May I help you? These doors are a bit whimsical sometimes.”
The man stepped aside as Kitayama took the keys from his hand and started working on the keyhole.
“There, done!”
“I don’t know how you did it but, thank you.”
“You just pull the door towards you while turning the key.”
“Thank you, really. Ah, by the way, nice to meet you. My name is Tanimura. I just moved in this city.”
“Nice to meet you, Kitayama Hiromitsu.” Kitayama answered bending his head. “Did I bother you yesterday when I played the guitar? I hadn’t realized you moved in already. Sorry about that.”
“Oh it was you playing? It was a really nice song. You have a nice voice.”
“Well, uh it’s kinda my job... sorry if I was loud, I’ll keep it down from now on.”
“Don’t worry you didn’t bother me.”
That night Kitayama tried to keep the volume down, thinking about his neighbour and hoping that he hadn’t caused his dark circles.
In the following days, he had more occasions to be curious about the mysterious man who lived next door. Thanks to the thin walls, he could hear a lot of what happened in the aisle outside and in the flat next door. Usually, even though his neighbour had long working hours, he spent his time at home watching comedy on TV. The sound of his laugh often made Kitayama smile. He wondered if he’d ever seen him on TV. He wondered what he thought of him and suddenly felt like his opinion could be important.
They were both kind with each other, behaving like perfect neighbours. They rearranged the post better in each other’s letterbox when the postman had been too much in a hurry to take care, or they signed for parcels when the other was out. Kitayama knew that he could count on his neighbour whenever he finished the soy sauce and was too lazy or too tired to go buy it.
When Tanimura ordered a pizza on Pizza Day, Kitayama couldn’t help but thinking how cute that was that a man who looked so serious was actually doing something like that. Maybe, Kitayama thought, next time I should buy beers, so we can have pizza together?
Kitayama was living his life, the neighbour was living his, but sometimes, those lives touched and Kitayama started to realize how those daily moments were becoming important to him. Maybe it was silly, but Kitayama felt like he had something he could rely on. Until one morning, his neighbour came to knock at his door holding a tray on his hands.
“I made a bit too much food so I was wondering if you’d like some?”
Kitayama’s face lit with a smile as he accepted the food, promising to give back the dishes later. He ate everything that evening and it was all delicious. On the tray there was also a napkin, but as Kitayama took it in his hand he realized it wasn’t a napkin, but a folded letter addressed to him. He opened it and read the content in silence.
To Kitayama-san,
I know I might seem a busybody saying this, but I always see you work so much (yes, even more than me) and I know your job must be stressing even though it’s certainly fulfilling. You might think, what is this older stranger trying to say and why is he writing me a letter? It’s so old fashioned, isn’t it?
But I really wanted to thank you because since I moved here from my city, I felt somewhat welcomed by your kindness. How many times did I fall asleep listening to your songs? AH I’m not saying they’re boring, I’m saying that you really can do your job very well, and since it’s about making people smile, well then, it worked for me too. The idea that someone took care of me, even if it was just putting the mail in the letterbox, helped me relax a lot and I got used to my new life much easily. Also the idea that I could be of any help for you if you needed me was comforting. I don’t want to seem crazy, but, having a person you can take care of, even for such small things, it’s really important to me.
I’m really thankful for your kindness and glad to be your neighbour. I hope we could become more than that, if you’d like to have a friend.
Kitayama knew that Tanimura was home, because he heard him coming in a little while before and the shower had stopped running just ten minutes earlier. He quickly washed the dishes and put all back on the tray. It was late and Tanimura was probably tired since he appeared to have worked overtime that day, but Kitayama didn’t want to wait the next morning.
He rang the bell and after a little while Tanimura came to open the door. Kitayama gave him the clean dishes and thanked him for the food.
“It’s nothing.”
“And thank for the letter too. It really encouraged me. You’re such a good person, Tanimura-san.”
“Oh no, I’m sorry about that. It must have been awkward.” Tanimura looked embarrassed.
“Not at all.” It would have been if Tanimura were just a neighbour to Kitayama, but Kitayama knew it wasn’t like this anymore.
“But you know,” Tanimura continued, “I saw one of these idols magazines the other days, so I was a bit curious about you and what you do, and I started reading it. You were talking about your neighbour and... I don’t know, I just felt it was nice that you were so concerned about me, even though we don’t know each other much.”
“Maybe I should come over with beers sometimes. We could order pizza and watch TV.” Kitayama said.
“That would be good. I always order too much and I can never finish it. I can only eat half of it.” Tanimura replied.
Kitayama smiled. “I’d be really glad to eat the other half.”
“It’s nothing” said the man, smiling as he waved a hand in front of his face like he wanted to confirm it was no trouble at all that he had to open the door in his pajama.
Kitayama wanted to thank him immediately for his kindness, he didn’t want to wait for the next day. He needed to talk to him now, and he knew the man was still awake. He looked tired, but Kitayama thought he was sincere when he admitted that he wasn’t bothering him.
Kitayama thought about when he had started to notice him. His landlord had told him somebody was going to move in the vacant flat next door and that he shouldn’t make much noise. Kitayama usually played music or his guitar at ungodly hours, because that was the only time he had to play it. His schedule was always full, unlike the apartment next door, so he never once bothered to keep the volume down. It kind of annoyed him that he had to start taking care, but that was just common sense. He surely didn’t want to upset his new neighbour.
He caught a glimpse of him for the first time one morning. They crossed paths in the aisle and the neighbour quickly muttered a “good morning” as he fled down the stairs dressed in a suit and holding a briefcase. He was a middle-aged man, most probably a salary man, or maybe a manager, unmarried and with a tired aura surrounding him and carved in the dark circles under his eyes. His hair was still black and thick and he was taller than Kitayama, although that wasn’t a difficult achievement.
The second time Kitayama met the man was the very same day, in the evening. He went up the stairs with his conbini-bought dinner and saw the neighbour in front of his flat door, obviously having some trouble getting in.
“Excuse me,” Kitayama said, looking warily at the man struggling with the key. He raised his head and acknowledged Kitayama’s presence. “May I help you? These doors are a bit whimsical sometimes.”
The man stepped aside as Kitayama took the keys from his hand and started working on the keyhole.
“There, done!”
“I don’t know how you did it but, thank you.”
“You just pull the door towards you while turning the key.”
“Thank you, really. Ah, by the way, nice to meet you. My name is Tanimura. I just moved in this city.”
“Nice to meet you, Kitayama Hiromitsu.” Kitayama answered bending his head. “Did I bother you yesterday when I played the guitar? I hadn’t realized you moved in already. Sorry about that.”
“Oh it was you playing? It was a really nice song. You have a nice voice.”
“Well, uh it’s kinda my job... sorry if I was loud, I’ll keep it down from now on.”
“Don’t worry you didn’t bother me.”
That night Kitayama tried to keep the volume down, thinking about his neighbour and hoping that he hadn’t caused his dark circles.
In the following days, he had more occasions to be curious about the mysterious man who lived next door. Thanks to the thin walls, he could hear a lot of what happened in the aisle outside and in the flat next door. Usually, even though his neighbour had long working hours, he spent his time at home watching comedy on TV. The sound of his laugh often made Kitayama smile. He wondered if he’d ever seen him on TV. He wondered what he thought of him and suddenly felt like his opinion could be important.
They were both kind with each other, behaving like perfect neighbours. They rearranged the post better in each other’s letterbox when the postman had been too much in a hurry to take care, or they signed for parcels when the other was out. Kitayama knew that he could count on his neighbour whenever he finished the soy sauce and was too lazy or too tired to go buy it.
When Tanimura ordered a pizza on Pizza Day, Kitayama couldn’t help but thinking how cute that was that a man who looked so serious was actually doing something like that. Maybe, Kitayama thought, next time I should buy beers, so we can have pizza together?
Kitayama was living his life, the neighbour was living his, but sometimes, those lives touched and Kitayama started to realize how those daily moments were becoming important to him. Maybe it was silly, but Kitayama felt like he had something he could rely on. Until one morning, his neighbour came to knock at his door holding a tray on his hands.
“I made a bit too much food so I was wondering if you’d like some?”
Kitayama’s face lit with a smile as he accepted the food, promising to give back the dishes later. He ate everything that evening and it was all delicious. On the tray there was also a napkin, but as Kitayama took it in his hand he realized it wasn’t a napkin, but a folded letter addressed to him. He opened it and read the content in silence.
To Kitayama-san,
I know I might seem a busybody saying this, but I always see you work so much (yes, even more than me) and I know your job must be stressing even though it’s certainly fulfilling. You might think, what is this older stranger trying to say and why is he writing me a letter? It’s so old fashioned, isn’t it?
But I really wanted to thank you because since I moved here from my city, I felt somewhat welcomed by your kindness. How many times did I fall asleep listening to your songs? AH I’m not saying they’re boring, I’m saying that you really can do your job very well, and since it’s about making people smile, well then, it worked for me too. The idea that someone took care of me, even if it was just putting the mail in the letterbox, helped me relax a lot and I got used to my new life much easily. Also the idea that I could be of any help for you if you needed me was comforting. I don’t want to seem crazy, but, having a person you can take care of, even for such small things, it’s really important to me.
I’m really thankful for your kindness and glad to be your neighbour. I hope we could become more than that, if you’d like to have a friend.
Kitayama knew that Tanimura was home, because he heard him coming in a little while before and the shower had stopped running just ten minutes earlier. He quickly washed the dishes and put all back on the tray. It was late and Tanimura was probably tired since he appeared to have worked overtime that day, but Kitayama didn’t want to wait the next morning.
He rang the bell and after a little while Tanimura came to open the door. Kitayama gave him the clean dishes and thanked him for the food.
“It’s nothing.”
“And thank for the letter too. It really encouraged me. You’re such a good person, Tanimura-san.”
“Oh no, I’m sorry about that. It must have been awkward.” Tanimura looked embarrassed.
“Not at all.” It would have been if Tanimura were just a neighbour to Kitayama, but Kitayama knew it wasn’t like this anymore.
“But you know,” Tanimura continued, “I saw one of these idols magazines the other days, so I was a bit curious about you and what you do, and I started reading it. You were talking about your neighbour and... I don’t know, I just felt it was nice that you were so concerned about me, even though we don’t know each other much.”
“Maybe I should come over with beers sometimes. We could order pizza and watch TV.” Kitayama said.
“That would be good. I always order too much and I can never finish it. I can only eat half of it.” Tanimura replied.
Kitayama smiled. “I’d be really glad to eat the other half.”