Ding. Eizan looked down at his phone, his lips curled into a small smile as he looked at the name displayed on the screen. It was a message from Sakurai “Hey can I come over for a bit?” He looked at his phone and replied. “That’s fine but I was going to head to the library to return some books. Do you want to come with me?”
Sakurai looked up and watched the scenery of the city pass by the out the window of the train. “Sure, that sounds fun. How about we meet at the train station in twenty minutes. It’s closer to the library and I’m on the train anyways.” She was staring at her phone lost in thought "I thought he didn’t want to be seen with me. I guess that only applies to school." The train continued for the next twenty minutes until her stop was announced over the train’s speakers.
Eizan looked at his clothes and hair in the mirror. "I bet she wont even recognize me" he thought looking at himself. He burst into laughter for the next minute. He had been dressing like this to go to the library since he moved here. He thought it was hilarious a couple of weeks ago when he went to the library for the first time dressed normally. The girl at the counter kept looking at him in shock instead of the scowl she normally had. He started doing it so no one would recognize him, he was afraid his reputation might follow him to his favorite spot. But then he got a better idea. "If they are going to think I’m one I might as well look the part."
Eizan arrived to the station and sat down on a bench five minutes before she arrived. Sakurai got off the train and started to look around for Eizan. He was giggling looking at the girl fifteen feet away from him looking in every direction but his. He stood up and walked towards her calling her name. “Sakurai what’s up?” The look of shock on her face was clearly evident.
Sakurai was standing there staring at Eizan for a few seconds before she snapped out of it. “W-why are you dressed like that.” Standing there in a black grungy band t-shirt, ripped up jeans, glasses, spiked up blond hair, a spiked leather wrist band, piercings all through his ears and lip, and a pair of black rimmed glasses was Hashimoto. His hair spiked and styled in a crazy way. No more was the handsome looking blonde princely looking young man. Standing before her was a cool looking punk rock delinquent looking character. The look of shock on her face was evident. “What happened to you?” He burst into laughter.
Stifling his laughter to the best of his ability. “What are you talking about, I’m a delinquent remember.” A giant smile was plastered across his face. “Don’t worry about it the piercings are fake.”
“B-but why did you change your look so much. Were going to the library won’t people look at you funny? Wait I’ve seen you dressed like this before.” She stared at him suspiciously for a few seconds. "You were at the library every weekend dressed like this weren’t you? I’ve even bumped into you a few times. Why didn’t you say anything? I didn’t even recognize you.” She looked a little angry.
Eizan was giggling a little still. “Calm down, I was just having a bit of fun. I always dress like this when I go to the library. I’m just having a little fun, the looks on peoples faces makes it worth it. Honestly the last time we bumped into each other at the library was the first time I had ever gone there dressed how I normally do.”
Sakurai was standing there with a strange look on her face. “Ok, I’ll except that this is a strange thing that you’ve for some reason decided to do. But why didn’t you tell me it was you at the library?”
Eizan face straightened a little, giving him quite the intimidating look with him being dressed the way he was. He leaned in a little closer to her and her back straightened up. His voice was deep but soft as he whispered “Didn’t you here, I’m the villain that’s just what we do. I bet your parent’s told you to avoid guys like me.” Sakurai’s eyes widened. He immediately burst into laughter. “I-I just can’t keep a straight face when you react like that.”
Sakurai puffed out her cheeks which were a little red at the moment obviously a little miffed at his behavior. “You jerk. You did this on purpose didn’t you? How long have you been planning this?”
Eizan laughed a little. “Since the first time I realized you didn’t recognize me as the delinquent of the library. I’ve actually seen you, dozens of times at the library. I thought you would for sure recognize me the first day of class this year. I actually can’t believe it took you this long. Every time you started looking at me suspiciously, I would think here it comes. But it just never happened.”
Sakurai stared at him with a slightly sour look on her face as they started to walk towards the library. “Did you know you have quite the reputation at the library? I’ve heard people whispering about you.” She put her hand on her forehead thinking back to all the times she had seen him in the public library. “I’m usually so observant I can’t believe I didn’t realize. Hey wait since when do you wear glasses?”
Eizan looked up and thought. “Since I was eight, I think. I usually wear contacts. I only wear glasses when I feel like it. I’m not like you though, I can see pretty well without them. Things are just a little blurry but I could go a whole day without either of them if I wanted. I just can’t read at a distance.” They slowly made their way to the library. People would give them weird looks as they passed. They definitely look out of place together. A prim and proper girl dressed in a pretty blue dress and a delinquent walking side by side conversating with happy looks on their faces. At one point a shop owner about a block from the library even stopped them and asked if she was ok. She sighed “He’s fine. He just likes to play dress up apparently.” The shop owner gave Eizan a strange look as they walked away.
Stolen novel; please report.
The couple walked into the library and the strange looks continued. As they approached the counter the librarian gave Hashimoto an exasperated look. “Hashimoto, why don’t you dress like you did that one day? You’re such a handsome young man when you dress normally.” He gave the librarian a small mischievous smile. “But then where would I wear my library cosplay?” She sighed and shook her head.
The librarian looked at Sakurai with a look of shock. “Sakurai what are you doing with a strange character like this? What will the others think?” Sakurai sighed. “We are classmates and normally he doesn’t dress like this. Honestly, I was kind of surprised when I saw him like this earlier. I had never even put it together that they were the same person. It’s kind of giving me a headache actually.”
The librarian was shaking her head looking at the unusual pair in front of her. “Hashimoto did you finish all those already. I can’t believe how many books you borrow on a weekly basis. Some of the other librarians don’t actually think you can read them all in a week.” Hashimoto tilted his head to the side. “What do you mean, it only takes me about an hour and a half per book unless it’s really large?” Sakurai was looking at the pile of six books on the counter. Her eyes widened in surprise.
“When did you check these out?” She stared at him suspiciously. He scratched his cheek. “Um last Saturday if my memory is serving me correctly.” Sakurai’s eyes opened even wider in surprise. She looked back and forth at the books and Hashimoto. The six books on the counter were rather lengthy novels and even a rather difficult looking book on plant ecology. “You’ve got to be joking with me right. It would take me two weeks to read all of these and I would have to really work at it.”
The librarian sighed. “Don’t try to make sense of this boy Sakurai. He’s been doing this for a little over a year. He has read one hundred and sixty-eight books this year, it’s frankly astonishing.” Hashimoto laughed a little. “You know you make it sound like that’s a weird thing.” The two girls looked at each other. Sakurai looked at him “Hashimoto it is definitely a weird thing. You know I once thought I was the person who had read the most at this library. I’ve read eighty-two books this year and the next closest person has only read fifty-eight.” She picked up the largest book on the counter and flipped to the last page. “This novel is thirteen hundred pages. How long did it take you to read it?”
Hashimoto looked up at the ceiling and thought for a second. “About 2 and a half hours, I think. I usually read a novel a night before bed. That one kept me up a little later than I wanted. Plant ecology is kind of interesting to me though so I took my time with it.”
Sakurai was shaking her head again with a weird look on her face. “You know it would take me days to read a book like this.” Eizan looked at her strangely. “Really, my father never really reads at home the only reference point I have is my mother and she reads at about the same pace as I do, well actually she’s a little faster. Is it really that strange to read a book in a night? I mean I don’t read every night though, just when I feel like it. My mother and I used to have contests to see who could read the most in one day sometimes for fun when I was young. She always beats me though. Her record is eleven books in a day my record is only nine.”
Sakurai was rubbing her temples. “I need to sit down.” She made her way to a table and laid her head down mumbling to herself. “And they call me the goddess of the library more like an angel and he’s the god.” The depression set in hard at the moment. Eizan walked up to the table and sat down. “Are you ok?” She looked up at him with a tired look. “I just found out the delinquent of the library is a more prolific reader than I am. I expected it to be some nerdy looking guy or some solitary old man.” He scratched his cheek a little in embarrassment. Then a mischievous smile rose on his face. “I think I could pull of a nerdy cosplay if you like. Or if you wanted, I could help you dress like a delinquent.” Her cheeks puffed out. “You really are something else.”
He stood up and walked around the library for some time picking up random books leafing through them for a second and moving on to another. She eventually stood up from the table and followed him around, glancing at the books he was picking up while picking up a few of her own off of the shelves. Eventually she couldn’t help but ask “I’ve seen you pick up about 30 books off of the shelves and leaf through them. Can I ask why you do that?”
Eizan without even looking up from his book spoke “I simply flip through and get an idea of the authors writing style. If I find it to be intriguing than I’ll pick it up later when I decide on the books I’m going to pick up for the week. Sometimes I take a risk and pick a book by its title or cover. I’ve already chosen five books for this week. Actually, I’m just waiting for you to select the books you want, if your done I’m ready to head home whenever you are.”
“I really haven’t found anything I want at the moment.” She was looking down at the book in her hand. “It’s hard to sift through everything here and choose something I will like. Normally I spend a few hours here rummaging through books to decide what to read.”
He put his hand on his chin and was lost in thought for a few seconds. “If you would like I can recommend a few things I’ve read that I think would match your tastes. I have a pretty good idea of the novels you read from the books I’ve seen you with in class.”
She gave him a weird look. “You’ve been watching me close enough to notice my reading preferences. I guess I’m not opposed to it.” Eizan sauntered off down one of the isles with Sakurai following closely behind him. He was skimming his hand down the shelves as he walked. He grabbed two books from two different isles and handed them to her. “These two should be to your liking I think.” She stared at the two books in her hands. “Are you sure you know what books I like? One of these is a romance novel, I don’t think I’ve ever read one in my life.”
Eizan nodded his head. “Yeah, I think the writing style fits perfectly with the types of books you like to read.” The two looked around for a while longer before checking out a few books and heading to their respective homes.