Youth Unsupervised

Chapter 1- Brief Encounters

"Do you think we got enough?" Hiromasa asked, heading down the dimly lit platform towards the underground train stop.

"Obviously." I held up the two plastic bags stuffed to the brim with snacks and candy. "You know you're only staying for one night, right?"

"I can't help that I have a big appetite," he said.

We stopped to wait for the train. There were only a few people waiting, but I suppose it was pretty late at night. You wouldn't usually catch two thirteen year-old boys out this late by themselves, but snack runs are important business.

"Remind me again why we had to get on a train for snacks in the first place?" I asked.

He set his two bags down, then pulled out a red bag of potato chips and held it up. "Because they don't have the pizza flavored ones near your house."

"That's probably because they're disgusting," I said.

Hiromasa gasped and hugged the chip bag to his chest. "How dare you say that about them." He gave the bag a kiss and stroked it. "It's ok my lovelies. Don't listen to him."

I chuckled.

Shiganori Hiromasa. We had been best friends since kindergarten. He had always been a goofy guy with messy hair and a cheesy smile. I'm not really sure why he picked me as his playmate. He was friendly and nice to everyone, so he could have chosen to play with anyone, but for some reason he picked me, the quiet kid sitting alone in the corner.

We had always been nearly identical in build and size, a little lean and around average height, but his hair had always been a lot thicker than mine. Plus, I don't think I could mimic that grin of his if I tried.

We were getting ready to start yet another sleepover. This was probably the fourteenth one this summer already. They usually took place at my house. My parents worked a lot, so there was no one there to tell us to keep it down, when to go to sleep, or to lay off the junk food.

"Hey, Kaito." Hiromasa tapped my shoulder and pointed.

I followed his finger to a girl with long black hair standing only a few feet away from the edge of the platform. She looked about our age, but I couldn't see her face. Her feet inched over the yellow line on the floor. Why was she getting so close?

"She's got really pretty hair," Hiromasa said. "I wonder if she's got a pretty face too."

He bent his neck a little and leaned forward, as if that was going to give him a vantage point at all. The train rattled in the distance and the girl's fists tightened. It clicked in my head all of the sudden, like someone turning on a light. She was going to jump.

I dropped the bags and dashed towards her. It was like one of those dreams where you're trying so hard to run, but you hardly get anywhere, like you're stuck in mud. Time seemed to slow down.  All I could hear was my own heart hammering away in my ears while I held my breath, praying I'd make it in time.

Her body tensed as she prepared to jump. I grabbed her arm, pulling her back just as the train went speeding past.

It slowed to a stop and the doors opened. People got in, I guess. I wasn't really paying attention. I couldn't tear my gaze away from the girl's eyes. She was staring so intently back at me. I expected her to be crying, but she wasn't. Her eyes were perfectly clear and focused. For just a second, I felt like I saw her, really saw her. There was so much loneliness and rejection hidden behind her gaze. I'd seen those eyes before. I'd seen them every morning in the mirror for as far back as I could remember.

Hiromasa cheered and slapped me on the back. "Nice save. That was a close one."

I didn't answer him.