Free Time Events: Yuichi Asakura (Side C)
EVENT 1: Asakura-san is not happy about the idea of spending time with me. Neither am I, so I guess we have more in common than I thought.
Note: Free time events are only available in Cruise Mode
I met up with Asakura-san, who greeted me with a curt nod. After a few moments of awkward silence, I finally spoke.
"I'm surprised, Asakura-san," I said. "I didn't think you'd be willing to spend time with me."
"I'm gonna be honest," Asakura-san said. "Nagato-sensei pretty much ordered me to at least be polite to you. Being the teacher's daughter in addition to being the teacher's pet has its perks, doesn't it?"
So Asakura-san didn't know about my father, and instead continued to believe the more obvious narrative that Mom was the reason I got into Talent High School. I had no intention of telling him the truth, lest I vindicate his suspicions that I hadn't earned my title, and instead decided to focus on educating him on a more useful topic.
"My mother believes that everyone should try to get along in spite of their differences," I said, deciding that treating Mom as my teacher wouldn't do any good as far as he was concerned. "When I got in a fight with a girl who'd been bullying me in third grade, Mom punished me, even though she knew the bully had wronged me. According to Mom, too many people justify doing bad things by saying that the victim provoked them, or otherwise 'deserved' it, so she always seeks to be the better person, and hopes that her daughter will do the same."
"How noble," Asakura-san said sardonically. "So is that principle the reason why you deign to speak to me?"
"That's one reason," I said. "Another is because I can't understand why you're so hung up on our having the same title."
"Well it's only the thing I'm best at, my claim to fame and how I will be remembered," Asakura-san said. "Did you think I'd be OK with sharing that with you?"
"I suppose not," I said, "but do you think I'd give it up just because you asked me to?"
Asakura-san chuckled and shook his head.
"Not at all," Asakura-san said. "I certainly wouldn't."
"I'm glad you understand," I said, "since I certainly wouldn't expect you to surrender the title willingly. I don't get why you're so determined to have the title to yourself, but at least you understand that we have that in common."
Now that I thought about it, people fought because of their similarities as because of their differences. Two nations might go to war over their opposing religious beliefs, but both would have the same zealous devotion to their religion and willingness to kill anyone who stood in their way. Perhaps there was practically no hope of Asakura-san and I getting along, but at least I understood him a bit better.
EVENT 2: Asakura-san has disdain for the idea of lying, or befriending anyone he considers to not be worth the effort.
I met up with Asakura-san again, greeting him formally, to which he gave a curt response. At that point, I realized that if he got a job as a tech support professional, he'd only last until someone complained about him.
"I'm curious, Asakura-san," I said. "Don't you know how to at least be tactful and polite, even to those you don't like?"
"You mean lie," Asakura-san said. "Yes, I can do that... but I don't see the point here."
I sighed and shook my head.
"I don't think of it as lying," I said. "It's simply treating others as you'd like to be treated."
"So what do you want?" Asakura-san said. "Everyone to suck up to you and kiss your ass?"
I paused to think for a moment, then shook my head. Akira-san wasn't exactly polite by most people's standards, but she was a good person and a true friend, so I didn't mind that she was much more casual with me than I was with her. In fact, I was considering dropping the "-san" and just calling her "Akira."
"No," I said. "I'd like to be friends with most people, or at least get along with them. The operative word is most, of course."
"Got it," Asakura-san said. "There's no point in wishing for the impossible, after all. In my case, most people can't stand me, and the feeling's mutual."
"And you're fine with that?" I said.
"Basically, yeah," Asakura-san said. "Most people out there aren't worth your time, so if they decide you aren't worth theirs, you shouldn't take it personally."
I was left at a loss for words. Many of my classmates and other peers had been rather cold to me, so I had to agree with Asakura, albeit for a different reason. The girl I'd gotten into a fight with in elementary school also happened to be one of the most popular girls in the class, which was a large part of the reason why I was so despised for raising a hand against her. That being said, I also knew how cruel she could be, and wondered if she secretly held her admirers in disdain.
"I can't deny that some people will never be your friends, and others aren't worth the effort," I said, "but you should at least give people a chance. Some people might decide that if you judge people to be unworthy until they prove otherwise, you may not be worth their time, either. Conversely, if you're nice to people and make a good first impression, they might decide they like you."
"I thought you'd say that," Asakura-san said. "After all, I've already gotten my first impression of you... hell, maybe even a second impression."
I could sense a certain subtext in Asakura-san's remarks. He was implying that I'd already put my best foot forward, and it had done no good, so I should probably give up on him. That conclusion was obvious enough, but what was he saying? Was he trying to get me to give up on him, or come over to his way of thinking? Or perhaps both?
EVENT 3: Asakura-san is only good at tech support, and only thinks it's worthwhile to do what you're best at.
I told Asakura-san about how I'd helped my mother and schoolmates with their tech-related problems. Unsurprisingly, he wasn't impressed; it was a bit like if I'd asked Sayuri-san to take a look at a comic strip I scribbled in class, or lifted the lightest set of dumbbells available in front of Kumakura-san.
"I would like to know something, Asakura-san," I said. "How did you get involved in tech support in the first place?"
"I've always been told I have a way with technology," Asakura-san said. "I decided I might as well go with it."
So in other words, he relied on other's opinions of him to form his own vision for what he wanted to do with his life. Then again, considering how important grades, performance evaluations and recommendations could be, maybe he wasn't completely wrong about how necessary people's approval was.
"I see," I said. "And why not become a programmer or something else of the sort?"
"I'm good, but not that good," Asakura-san said. "There's a girl a year younger than us who's already working for big corporations, and there's a rumor that she's working on a true artificial intelligence. She's the person you need to beat when it comes to programming, and I've got to admit that when it comes to her, I don't stand a chance."
So even someone as arrogant as Asakura-san acknowledged there were people out there who were more talented than him. Perhaps he did have some humility... as well as a way to acknowledge the blatantly obvious.
"Yes, it's true that there are many people who are better than you at whatever you choose to do for a living," I said, "but does that mean that if you aren't the best, your contributions are worthless?"
"Don't put words in my mouth," Asakura-san said. "That wasn't at all what I was trying to say."
I sighed. While Asakura-san could choose to rudely deflect my questions, I could ask them in a way that would be more likely to get a response from him. I could think of many ways to phrase the question that were a lot better than "Then what were you trying to say?" but I could only pick one, so I gave this some careful thought.
"Let me put this another way," I said. "When Akira-san auditioned for Magical Girl Sakura, there were at least a hundred other people who tried out for the part. Obviously, everyone besides her got rejected, but a couple of Akira-san's rivals tried out for and got supporting roles. Isn't it possible that those people, as well as some who didn't get any parts, are good actresses in their own right?"
"Maybe they are," Asakura-san said, "but if they got those secondary roles, they did so by being the best among those who auditioned for them. Most of the time, there's no prize for second place- either you're the best, or you're a loser."
I let out a long sigh, realizing there was no point in arguing about this with Asakura-san. That being said, I was a bit surprised at how strongly my mind chose to reject Asakura's vision of a winner-take-all society that only judged people by what they could offer in comparison to others. I couldn't be proud of myself as the best at tech support or anything else, but I saw a certain value in all people- even Asakura, of course- and nothing would change that.
EVENT 4: Asakura-san doesn't care for people's pity or for meaningless victories. He simply wants to be the best.
I met up with Asakura-san again. He wasn't any more pleased to see me than the previous few times, but luckily for us, we seemed to be close to running out of things to talk about. After one or two more conversations, we'd be through with each other.
"Be honest with me, Nagato," Asakura-san said. "Are you really fine with sharing my title with me?"
"Yes," I said. "Even if everyone in the class had the same title."
Asakura-san chuckled.
"Good for you," Asakura-san said. "Some of us are content with everyone being a winner, after all. A gold star means jack shit if everyone in your kindergarten class gets it."
"Maybe it doesn't serve any purpose in determining a winner," I said, "but kids that young don't need to think in terms of winners and losers. At that age, it's simply enough for them to focus on doing their best, and worry about whether they're better than the others later."
I remembered Araya-sensei, an old schoolmate of Mom's who was my kindergarten teacher, and the two were practically like night and day. Mom called me "Nagato-san," while Araya-sensei called me "Chiyuri-chan," and both gave similar treatment to my classmates. Mom wore suits while Araya-sensei wore business casual. Mom, a Literature teacher, had her students read famous Japanese books, while Araya-sensei read storybooks to us. Despite her differences with Araya-sensei, Mom thought of Araya-sensei as a friend, and the feeling was mutual (which was good, since not many of Mom's old friends had kept in touch with her).
"Well, I don't remember being coddled like that," Asakura-san said. "If I sucked, the adults in my life- mainly my dad- told me I sucked, and didn't lie to me to spare my feelings."
"I... I see," I said. "I don't know how to put this, but feelings aren't just trivial things. If you deliver criticism, you have to phrase it constructively, since if you end up insulting the person receiving it, they'll never listen to you."
"Then that's their problem," Asakura-san said.
After I finished wondering how Asakura-san could possibly be a tech support person if he didn't care whether his callers listened to his advice, my mind turned to a more relevant question. Was it possible that his harsh upbringing had worsened his self-esteem, hardened his heart and turned him to the insensitive egotist he'd become today? It wasn't entirely unreasonable to connect the dots between the two, but maybe it was oversimplifying things. Only Asakura-san knew the truth, and while he'd shown me some evidence, he'd never tell me the answer.
EVENT 5: Asakura and I will never be friends, but at least we understand each other better.
I met up with Asakura one last time, hoping to end things on a semi-decent note.
"Hello, again, Nagato," Asakura-san said. "Are you going to treat me to more platitudes about being nice to others?"
"Not this time, Asakura," I said. "You've made it abundantly clear that they won't have any effect on you."
"Just Asakura?" Asakura said.
"Yes," I said. "All this time, you've called me 'Nagato,' without honorifics when you've bothered to address me by name- the least significant but most frequent way you've disrespected me- and I thought I should respond in kind. You don't have any right to complain, after all."
Asakura laughed out loud.
"Touche, Nagato," Asakura said. "So, you gave up on the whole touchy feely bullshit, right?"
"It's more like I'm being honest with myself, and with you," I said. "I realize that we'll never get along, so making an effort to win you over is a lost cause. Still, you have taught me a lot, so our time together wasn't wasted."
'If you say so," Asakura said. "Then again, I think I've spent enough time with you, so I'm looking forward to getting back, so we don't have to see each other again."
"That makes two of us," I said.
I turned around and left him behind, planning on never speaking with him again unless I had to, adding him to a long list of people that included several of my former bullies. It was as Asakura said- some people simply weren't worth my time, him least of all. Still, I felt I had some understanding of him, so maybe, if I had the chance, I could give my former tormentors a listen and find out what I could learn from them.
Author's Notes
Asakura's Free Time Events are meant to be unavailable outside of Cruise Mode, since in the main story, he wants nothing to do with Chiyuri.
There's just two Free Time Events to go- Kumakura and Yamazaki, the Cabin M1 boys.
