Skip to Loafer – 06

「シトシト チカチカ」 (Shitoshito Chikachika)
“Drizzling and Flickering”

Mitsumi learns a new lesson-not about academics but matters of the heart. Fumi educates her on the formula of love- the contradictory co-existence of two states of mind that shouldn’t go together but do, like sodium and toxic chlorine mixing together to form tasty salt. Mitsumi starts to experience some of these elements- wanting to run and stay near him at the same time, agonizing over one’s words and wanting to talk.

When you become close enough friends with someone, you’re probably eventually going to get in a spat- it’s human nature. The fight in question occurs when Mitsumi, worried that Sou is becoming the bad boy from her rumor-fueled imagination (that purple yakuza act lol), berates him for skipping class and Sou passive-aggressively lashes out at her, throwing her phrasing back at her that she used a few months ago on him “For you, maybe it is”. For Mitsumi, who is socially inexperienced and still getting her feet on the ground where making friends and reading people are concerned, this fight is a huge deal. Mitsumi spends a whole study session trying to puzzle together Sou’s reaction (her initial instinct that Sou was pissed was indeed correct, as gut instincts usually are). Sou’s even shaken enough to confide in his childhood friend, Chris.

Chris is, understandably, shocked that Sou actually took something someone said to heart. I don’t find it surprising, however. Seeing how close he’s become to Mitsumi, accompanying her all over the place and listening to her talk, it was only a matter of time before he got in so deep, he couldn’t help but care about what she says/thinks. It’s one of the marks of friendship and respect when you care and respect someone enough that you want them to think the best of you.

That Mitsumi’s comment rankled at Sou the way it did goes to show how close he’s gotten to her. He cares about what Mitsumi thinks, bothered that she takes seriously the ridiculous rumors like dating a model or being a night crawler. It’s a good thing that he’s come to care about what Mitsumi thinks-while it’s definitely not healthy being hyper-sensitive to what others say, the same could also be said of the reverse, not caring about anyone or anything. His uninvolved attitude is most likely a product of the hurt from burning himself out as a child actor and his tough family situation. Convincing himself it doesn’t matter and thus can’t be hurt by something. But Mitsumi, Mitsumi is different, her earnest, type A, kindly personality peels back his layers of indifference, even bringing Mr. Passive to the point of becoming vulnerable with Mitsumi.

Though brief on his part, you could tell even just saying a sentence about his family situation took a lot for him, a huge deal for someone who doesn’t open up to others. He sees Mitsumi as someone he can trust, someone who it’s worth making up with despite his “we don’t need to talk it out” attitude. We can really see the dynamic between these two here, how being total opposites works well for them. If Mitsumi weren’t the more straightforward, let’s talk it out type, I don’t know if the air would have cleared between them. That she drags the issue into the open with him and honestly explains that she enjoys seeing him at school disarms him, forces him to address the situation as well and be open with her in a way that I think is healthy in their friendship, as well as, on an individual level.

Judging from the mutual blushes at the end there, I think, subconsciously at least, there’s a more than friends element going on there, no matter how much Mitsumi claims “You can think that way about a friend too!”, it might not stay that way for long. I’m pretty sure Sou realizes his feelings but probably won’t pursue anything given his passivity hurdle, so it’ll be up to Mitsumi to drive things forward, if she comes to acknowledge her feelings for what they are (which might take a while, given that it’s Mitsumi we’re talking about).