The four headed to the coffee shop Jarvis and Bastiaan had chosen. When they arrived, the place was almost full of loud students drinking, smoking and generally enjoying themselves on this languid, free-of-classes day. 

Takehiko never liked crowds and this was no exception. Even though he had worked several times during rush-hour, being a spectator was extremely different. 

He could feel every single voice from every direction reaching his ears. If he could he would do a U-turn and run. Instead, he let his anxiety build up and whisper in his ear all about the imminent dangers that lurked in the shadows of every corner. Everything became distant, cone-shaped. He felt his consciousness disconnecting and dipping into a sea of terrors, with his only anchor the pain in his chest.

“Alright, mate?”

Jarvis’ soft voice pulled him back into his own body. The gentle smile, the pat on his back. He nodded and took a sip from the fizzy drink in the glass that had appeared before him. He couldn’t recall ordering it but he knew he needed it badly.

“So hey,” Jarvis continued enthusiastically. “Where are you from? I’ve been trying to figure out your accent but I can’t just wrap my head around it. I’m guessing... Southampton?”

“S… s-southampton?”

“You’re English, right?”

“N-no, I’m not.”

“You’re serious? I could swear- Then? What’s your deal?”

“Mum’s Polish, dad’s Japanese. I-I’m somewhere in between.”

Jarvis had his aha! moment. “I thought you looked Oriental! But I didn’t want to assume anything, yeah? These days everyone is everywhere so I didn’t want to sound like an ignorant prick, although sometimes I guess I can’t help it. So what’s with the accent?”

“Oh, umm, m-my mum grew up in Brighton a-and that’s where we live now, too.”

“I see, I see,” Jarvis nodded. “You must take after your ma, right?”

Takehiko chuckled in agreement. “Y-yeah, it’s mostly m-my sis that takes after our dad. I got all the Polish side had to offer.” 

“Thank goodness, eh?” Jarvis said and poked Takehiko’s sides with his elbow. “I’m from Manchester myself, Northern Quarter, born and raised, couldn’t be any whiter or any more boring. You know Morrissey once said that all action and adventure happen somewhere but never in Manchester, or something like that. I absolutely agree. And how the bloody hell a Polish lass ends up with a Japanese chap?”

“Well um-” said Takehiko and paused. He had heard the story hundreds and hundreds of times but he was never the one to tell it. His father would always spend at least half an hour narrating the good aul tale, including every detail possible and turning it a tiny bit cheesier every time. At this point, he wasn’t even sure which version was the original one and, honestly, he couldn’t quite bother. “Long story short, mum always dreamed of going to Japan so she did. Worked there for a couple of years until they met one night due to some common friends and the rest, as they say, it’s history.”

“That’s so nice. Do you get her love for foreign places as well? Is that why you came here?”

“Nah, that’s for the females in our family. Aya, my sis, loves everything about the Netherlands. Mostly the cheese. I simply followed. Not that I complain. Although…” Takehiko wondered for a second if he should say his thoughts out loud. In the end, he decided he didn’t have much to lose anyway. “If I was to dream about going to a single place, it wouldn’t be terrestrial. If someone recruited people for Mars missions I’d sign up in a heartbeat.”

“You’re serious?” Jarvis giggled.

“Yo Mars, for real?” Bastiaan chimed in the conversation, pushing his girlfriend away. “You know if Mars is to become a new colony they’d send only the poor and the worst criminals, right? It would be all about the water mines, I’m telling ya.”

“I’m sure the Dutch will make great use of it,” Jarvis mused and without waiting for Bastiaan’s offended reaction he continued, “but for real. As if any rich people would want to go there. Not until all the good stuff has been built. And not to mention when the Earth is free from most scum, the richest of the rich would want to stay here in their private islands, countries even. Sucking every last bit of clean air until they die from suffocation or whatever, don’t you think?”

Takehiko was about to give his answer when his phone began vibrating continuously. He glanced at the screen and before heading outside he said, “Sorry I need to take this.”

He shivered and cursed when he realised he should’ve brought his jacket but it was nearly impossible to take a call inside. He answered and Ocean’s mellifluous voice from the other side of the line somewhat warmed him up.

“All good?”

“Yeah. I don’t think I’ll need to do this again. Not for this semester at least.”

“Well done. We should celebrate.”

“Are you done?”

“No, just taking a break for a fag. We need to wait until time’s up and then gather the papers. Might take another hour. I’ll text you when I’m on the way back. Sound?”

“Sound… I-If you want you can come to our place for lunch. You haven’t seen it yet, have you?”

“No, I haven’t.” 

Takehiko heard Ocean’s breath and guessed the man was taking a drag. He felt mesmerised by the sound and the image it created in his head. Ocean’s lips parting to embrace the cigarette’s bum, the way they would part to embrace the lips of a lover and then continue exploring the skin, tickling as they would brush against it. Leaving their mark behind when they decide to be a bit rougher. Deep red like fine wine, coarse like sand but gentle and kind and-

“You there?”

“Y- yes, sorry.” He rubbed his closed lids and breathed all those strange thoughts away. For a moment he wished they would disappear completely. “You don’t eat beef, right? Or any meat for that matter?”

“I’d rather die.”

“So maybe some fried vegetables and tofu with rice? Would you eat that?”

“Will you cook?”

“Yeah, of course.”

 “Then I’ll eat it.”

“Good. I’ll see you soon, yeah? Don’t forget to text me when you’re done.”

“I won’t.”

Takehiko pressed the round red button on the screen of his phone and pocketed it swiftly. He didn’t want to go back in, neither did he want to go home. If the weather was any better he’d go for a very long walk, but at that moment he only wanted to curl next to a radiator and honour the law of inertia: a body at rest will remain at rest. He rubbed his arms, took a long breath in and went back inside.

“Yo T!” Jarvis raised his hand and waved at Takehiko merrily. Once Takehiko took a seat, Jarvis slammed his hand on the other’s thigh. “You said you don’t have a girl, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s perfect,” Jarvis said and a wide smile carved his face. “You’ll join me at the anti-V’s party next week, then? Classic bro-mantic lad-entines? Because this wanker,” Jarvis pointed a thumb at Bastiaan, “isn’t single anymore and I can’t go alone! What do you say?”

“I-I don’t know. Is a maybe acceptable?”

“Will that maybe become a yes if I buy you a few drinks?”

“How many?”

“Four. This is how desperate I am.”

Takehiko considered this for a moment. He’d always spend Valentine’s Day ignoring the fact that pretty much everyone he knew was out either drinking their hearts out or fucking their eyes out, and would usually indulge in a box of Cadbury Roses he’d buy for himself. Perhaps, he thought, this was a good opportunity to get to know his classmate, have a few free drinks and gain something he could never dare to dream about: another new friend. Fuck it, he thought. “I’m in.”