As his finger glided and pressed the white keys. As the clacking sounds were created, he sat, focused on the computer monitor infront of him, radiating the corner of his dark room. Doors locked, blocking out the tumult and distressed atmosphere that lied outside his bedroom walls.
Moving his mouse, he clicked on the link.
Alibi Forums.
Hovering the mouse over the link marked 'Login', he typed.
'Alter-Ego'.
Scrolling down the browser page, he skimmed through the many topics and threads. He stopped.
Crash!
Sniffling and weeping could be heard from outside his room.
Bang bang.
"Aniki! Please open the door!"
Yuushi indulged himself into the thread. There was only one post on it. The topic: Romance movies.
He smirked.
Escape from Reality
Oshitari Yuushi.
Birthday on October 15.
Attends Hyotei Gakuen.
Loved by women.
A star player on the Hyotei tennis team.
A Prodigy.
He smirked as he sauntered the halls of the prestigious Hyotei Gakuen, waving to
the female fans that had the courage to even slightly wave at him and conversed
with a few of his fellow teammates.
The bell rung, signaling the start of class.
He took his seat and focused upon the front of the room as the professor taught his lesson with passion in his voice.
Minutes passed by as the class jotted down notes. The navy-haired prodigy sighed and glassed out the window. Oh, why did he have to be stuck inside on a day like this?
"What is aqua regia?" asked the professor at the front of the classroom.
He glanced around the room. No one had dared to answer the question in fear of getting a wrong response; looking uneducated in the eyes of their fellow classmates and peers.
A hand rose.
"It is an acidic mixture that dissolves gold."
"Very good, Oshitari."
Oshitari Yuushi.
A prodigy, indeed.
***
"Tsuki no wa otoshi!"
The lime coloured tennis
ball landed on the other side of the court with no hope of returning it.
His opponent fell to the ground from exhaustion. Oshitari had won his match.
His fans screamed for joy as the pushed themselves against the metal-chained fence while they expressed their joy.
Yuushi smirked and walked back to the bench, grabbing the white soft towel that was hung against the rest of the wooden seat.
He whipped the perspiration off his front, the smirk still apparent, sending his adoring fans into a frenzy of cheers.
He changed and proceeded home.
With what other people can see, Oshitari Yuushi was living a life of excitement. It looked like his life was going just right. It was easy breezy.
Opening the door with the shiny silver key, Oshitari was welcome into his home with the sound of panting and stuttering of someone's voice. He took off his shoes and placed the key in the bowl that was planted on a tabletop in the foyer.
He followed the sound of distress to come face to face with his crying mother and infuriated father. Looking around the room, he saw what is described as a 'mess'. The chairs were tossed to one side. Broken pieces of glass and wooden pieces scattered over the hardwood floor.
The teen looked at his
mother, who was only staring down at the floor, head hanging low.
"Stop it."
***
Oshitari walked into his room and closed the door behind him, but not after comforting his younger sister and mother in their rooms.
He walked into his bathroom and removed the shirt from his torso.
Staring at the mirror, he did not see the same person that was at school. Instead, he saw a broken man, one covered with the bruises of abuse and the scars of anger.
He turned the faucet of the sink and washed his face with the cool water to poured from the tap. Staring back at the mirror once more, he didn't recognize the person staring back at him. He was living a double life.
He needed an escape.
Putting on a new shirt, he proceeded out the washroom and stared at the contents ahead of him on the opposite side of his room.
His desktop.
Maybe this was going to be his escape from reality.
***
There she sat, with her eyes on the screen as she navigated her cursor around the monitor screen. The room was quite except for the humming sound of the fan from the electronic box. The home she lived in was quiet. She was alone.
She reminisced about last month. She had just recently broken up with her now ex-boyfriend, in fact, just an hour earlier.
'What a waste of time.'
That was the 3rd relationship had been in this year alone. All previous relationships had the same impression on her. They were all a waste of time. Why did she accept their feelings in the first place? She needed something to occupy her time.
Click. Click. Click.
***
.
Birthday on .
Attends St. Marion.
3rd year,
junior high.
Lusted after by men.
A Soprano in the choir.
Reserved.
She walked along the corridors of St. Marion. A few greetings were directed to her and she nodded in response. It was early in the morning and she made her way back from the church for an early prayer before classes.
took her seat by the window, next to the teacher's desk, and placed her books and writing utensils on the hard wooden desks.
A nun walked into the room and began to take attendance. The sunlight beamed into the old-fashioned classroom.
"Shall we begin the lesson?" The woman dressed in black and white asked to her pupils.
"Yes, Sister Margret."
wrote her notes as Sister Margret lectured. Stopping, she rested her head on her hand and looked out the window. She sighed.
This was going to be a boring day.
***
"! !"
The girl turned around to see the person calling to her. Expressionless, she answered.
"Yes, Charles?"
The blonde-haired boy stopped in front of her and planted his hands on his knees, panting and gasping for air. All the girl did was wait for him to finish.
"Heh heh heh…"
He had a goofy smile on and had a hand behind his head.
"Is there something you need?"
Charles' expression turned blank. But it wasn't too soon that his expression turned cheery once more.
"Awww… Don't be like that, , especially to your own boyfriend."
He threw an arm around her shoulders but she did nothing to remove it.
They walked together and he dropped her off at her next classroom then they parted ways. The boy waved goodbye.
"I'll see you afterschool!"
watched, as Charles retreating figure grew smaller then walked into her classroom, taking her seat by the window. Looking out the window, a smile formed upon her lips.
The day didn't have to be completely boring afterall.
***
"W-what?"
A shocked expression was on the blonde-haired boy's façade. He had stumbled back a few steps.
The wind softly blew over the courtyard. Their hair wavered and danced along the wind. The distance from each other was evident.
"I'm breaking up with you." She replied with a smile.
The youth's jaws were slightly ajar and quivered from shock.
"W-why…?"
"You were a waste of my time."
He closed his mouth and hung his head low, trying to grasp the situation.
"Then why did you go out with me in the first place?"
looked at him and smiled brighter.
"I needed someone that would occupy my time."
***
Clack. Clack. Clack.
She looked around and searched on search engines, looking for something she could possibly do. Since she was no longer in a relationship, she had to find something else to occupy her time with.
The games she found didn't interest her enough. The fictions online bored her. But then she found a forum.
'Alibi Forums?'
She clicked on the link, registered and looked around. After a few minutes of searching and browsing, she didn't find a topic or a thread of her favour. She sighed and moved her cursor to the red 'X' button on the top right hand corner until her eyes focused on something: The New Thread button.
positioned the white arrow and clicked on the button. She began typing.
After 5 minutes, she wrote what she wanted to write. Checking it once more, she had concluded that her post was legible and clicked 'post', refreshing the browser window.
Romance Movies.
She waited for a response, even to the extent of constantly clicking the refresh button. She sighed. What were the chances of someone clicking on that thread, let alone reading it anyway?
The girl clicked refresh once more. She sighed, having gone through the process of refreshing the page several times already. wasn't exactly someone who visits forum often.
She had gotten up but froze in place.
Someone had replied to her post.
Alter-Ego
March 9, 3:27 AM
I found that movie quite refreshing and it seemed to stand out from the others similar to it out there. It is possibly one of my favourites by far.
'Alter-Ego, huh?'
A smile found its way back to her face.
Maybe this could be something to occupy her time with, her escape from reality.
***
The two teenagers discussed about their favourite movies and eventually, their topic expanded from that one genre to others including science fiction then moved onto the topic of books. Little did they realize that they were the only ones talking.
This continued for 3 months.
Each day, they would go home, lock themselves in their rooms and head towards this quaint little forum and clicked the thread, always expecting the other to reply. They always got what they had hoped for.
Oshitari and had recently discussed about the movie 'The Notebook'. However, the communication link between each other was to be severed soon.
Their 2000th post was coming up.
Alter-Ego
June 3, 2:41 AM
It seems as though this thread is going to be closed soon.Postmodern_Balance
June 3, 2:57 AM
Yes, it is. It's a pity, really. I had a great time talking to you.
Oshitari read and leaned closer to the screen. Did she really write what he thought she wrote? He read the last sentence over and over again, inspecting it for any traces of sarcasm or cynicism. The boy wasn't able to find any traces of it.
Over the span of 3 months, Oshitari Yuushi was slowly building a relationship with the user known as 'Postmodern_Balance', in which their username alone is as intriguing as the person behind the name. The more they talked, the more Oshitari wanted to learn more about her. He had concluded it was a female due to their speech, that and the fact that he had looked up her profile. But they soon wouldn't be able to communicate on that thread. He knew he had to do something, and hastily.
It was the 1983 post.
refreshed the page every 2 minutes, hoping that 'Alter-Ego' would reply. It had been almost been 20 minutes before she would see a response from him. Their time together in their own thread was slowly waning.
Alter-Ego
June 3, 3:16 AM
The conversations between us have been interesting and insightful. Would it be possible to get your e-mail so we can further converse outside the forum, with your permission of course?
She leaned back into her chair having just read the response from the boy her attention was focused upon on the forum. repeated his request over and over again in her head. Would she do it? Who was she kidding, she wanted to do it, however, there was something holding her back, a strange force that she couldn't control, but only maintain when away from the computer.
'I'll give it a try.'
Postmodern_Balance
June 3, 3:22 AM
I am alright with that. I will send you a private message with my e-mail.
She did so but it took her a while to press the send button. She commanded her body to do so, but it was as though her body wasn't abiding by her rules. But in the end, it was sent.
The boy checked his private messages as soon as his e-mail notice had informed him. He smirked as he noticed the simplicity of the message and quickly added her onto his instant messaging program.
A box appeared on her monitor screen.
'Casanova has added you to their list. Do you accept?'
'Casanova?'
Weary of who it could be, she hoped it was who she thought she was. She accepted and clicked 'yes'.
Casanova says:
Hello. This is Alter-Ego, just in case you were wondering.says:
Oh, okay! I was wondering who that was. How are you?
This was going to be the start of something new.
***
The two teenagers would converse with each other whenever time permitted them to. With their time difference, Oshitari had to stay up late in the night while rushed to get home early afterschool.
They talked as if they had known each other for years, but in reality, they were strangers in real life. Never had they seen the other's face. In a world like that, was there really a point? Their company with each other was enough.
Casanova says:
I'm sorry. It's getting quite late. I'll talk to you later?says:
Alright. Sure. Goodnight then.
And he signed off. He shut down the computer and returned to his reality.
would now find herself staring at her screen, unknowing of the minutes that passed since they last talked. The reality that she knew of was boring. Cyber reality was her only amusement now.
***
Yuushi returned home after a long day of education and extra-curricular to a home full of deception and sadness.
"Why…?"
He walked to his room and locked it behind him. He didn't want to deal with this now.
Laying against his bed, he placed his frameless round specs on his nightstand and closed his eyes. It was going to be a few more hours until the person known as goes online. There was no time for homework. He was exhausted.
Bang bang.
"Aniki, open the door!"
Bang bang.
Oshitari drowned the sound out slowly until it was nothing but a whimper.
He no longer heard the sounds of yelling and crying from the room outside his own.
After a few hours, Yuushi awoke from his slumber and peered at the digital clock.
3:28 AM.
He rose from his bed and walked to the washroom to clean himself up. After a few moments in the washroom, he exited, closing the light behind him and walked towards his desktop. He pulled out the seat and started the computer. The screen loaded and his desktop appeared. Navigating his mouse, he clicked on his instant messaging program and logged in.
sat in front of her desktop. She had arrived home late from school and, therefore, thought she had kept Oshitari waiting when it fact that it was him that was keeping her waiting. She looked at her clock on the bottom of her screen.
6:28 AM.
She knew the person known as 'Casanova' should be online by now. This was odd.
'Why isn't he on yet? Did something happen to him? Does he not want to talk anymore? Am I too boring for him? What—'
She cut herself off from her thoughts.
'Why am I asking those questions?'
Her heart pace had sped up a little, little did she know.
A window had popped up; one of which had belonged to her instant messenger program.
Casanova says:
I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. Did you wait for long?
looked at the window and felt somewhat relieved. However, even with her moment of relief, she realized that her heart beat had quickened from before.
'What's going on with me?'
Casanova says:
Hello? Are you there?
'Am I here?'
***
rushed home quickly and dumped herself in front of her computer, clicked on a certain name from her contact list and started typing rapidly.
says:
CASANOVA! I have some great news! You will not believe how happy I am right now! I have been accepted into the exchange program and will be studying elsewhere for a while, approximately a year! I can finally get out of this place and see the world! I'll be leaving in 2 weeks.
Oshitari adjusted his glasses as he read her message. He had never seen her this happy before. She had mentioned to him about how boring her life at school was and wanted to travel. But reading this message had sent the boy into a bit of a frenzy.
'Away for a year?'
He had grew accustomed to their daily conversations and had befriended her. What was to happen to him if she wasn't there to talk to him for a year? Would this '' forget about him? Is this even possible? Oshitari hoped not.
Yuushi begun to type out his reply when he stopped. Why did he think about those things? Was he-? No way. There was just no way that was happening. He wasn't developing feelings for her. He never even met her before!
says:
Hey. Are you there? What? Not happy for me?
The teenager shook his head from those thoughts and continued.
Casanova says:
I'm happy for you. Congratulations.
This was getting weird. As he pressed each key and typed each word, Oshitari could feel his body slightly slowing down.
'This can't be happening.'
says:
Good. Did you see that new romance that is out?
He read her recent reply. Yes, he did see that new romance that was out, but he was beginning to feel as though a new one was just about to begin. He had two weeks left before her departure. It was best to spend what time was left with her as much as possible and without regret.
***
Two weeks had passed on quickly. With each day, and Oshitari had grown deeper in their friendship and had realized an important feeling they had towards each other even though they have never seen each other before. Being the teenagers that they were, they never expressed their feelings towards each other, and besides, who would take it seriously if it were an internet proposal anyway?
says:
Ahhh… I'm sorry, but I have to go to the airport now. I am so sorry. But thank you for talking to me these past few months. Hopefully, I'll talk to you again in a year's time, that is, if you still remember who I am.
found it hard to type that one message. A message. She read it again and mentally kicked herself. It sounded as though she was never going to talk to him again. She mentally kicked herself harder when she thought that she was expressing her feelings to this internet person. Even with this, she was going to miss him, most definitely.
'It's ok if you don't know how I feel.'
Oshitari read the message over and over again. This was it. This was going to be the last time that he'd talk to her for a year. Yes, it was going to be a year but a year is a long time. Lots of things can happen within a year, good and bad.
He typed into the message box.
I like you.
He quickly backspaced what he wrote. That would be just too sudden and what if that sudden confession freaked her out? He would never hear from her again.
Casanova says:
I wish you luck on your studies. I'll see you in a year.says:
Thank you. I'll see you later, much later.
And she signed off.
Oshitari leaned back in his seat and sighed.
'This is going to be a long year.'
closed down her computer and stood up; staring at the computer which connected her into the virtual reality of cyberspace.
Beep beep!
The sound of her taxi honking was sounded and picked up the last of her belongings and walked to the doors. She stopped and looked back at the desktop.
'This is going to be a long year.'
***
Two months had passed and had adjusted to life in Japan. This was definitely interesting, she thought. The culture was different from what it was like back in London. She could get used to living like this. However, she still missed the person known as 'Casanova'.
Oshitari still kept up his usual social presence at school. It seemed as though things were always the way they were, but he felt differently inside. He was starting to feel as though he was going crazy. Talking to '' was as though it were a drug. It was addictive and he craved more for it. He signed knowing that couldn't be done. He just had to wait.
Clouds began to group together as they turned gray. The sky thundered, signaling for rain to fall soon afterwards.
felt several raindrops fall upon her. She quickly pulled out her umbrella and opened it, hoping it would shield her from being pelted from the rain.
Yuushi opened his umbrella as soon as he heard thunder. He looked around to see many people scrambling to get their umbrella opened or looking for shelter. The wind begun to pick up speed and intensity soon after the first rain drops fell.
walked through the bustling crowd of people trying to get out of the rain as soon as possible. This was an issue along with the fact that she was having a hard time holding onto her umbrella. Her hands were going numb for she had forgotten to bring a pair of gloves. Feeling a push from behind, she almost lost balance but quickly regained it, but her umbrella slipped out of her hand and landed several meters away.
Oshitari could feel the jumbling of bodies as she collided upon each other. It really didn't help that it was beginning to rain hard and get colder due to the wind. He stopped in his tracks when an umbrella had landed in front of him, almost hitting him. He saw a person, a teenage girl, running towards him and instantly figured that it was the girl's umbrella.
He picked it up from the floor quickly as to not get it trampled over by pedestrians. The girl stopped in front of him and panted, hands on her knees.
"Here."
Oshitari held out the umbrella to her. looked at the person then her umbrella. The people around them continue to move in a hurry. She took her umbrella and said a quick 'thanks'. They both walked their own separate ways through the crowd; little did they know that their escape from reality had just walked pass them.
fin.
Lui
3.November.2006