The State of In-Between
He was once made a talk at school where this distinguished psychologist came. "Juvenile deliquency and violence." He tuned out most of the psychobabble, but he remembered one thing vividly, a slide projected on the large screen. It had a thin line running across it in the middle. Above it: "euphoria". Below it: "depression". The doctor talked on and on, which side are you on? Which side would you rather be? How do you get where you want to be?
He likes walking down the quiet roads of Karakura. They are so empty he could walk right in the center. It is a line he toes carefully, self-consciously. When a cyclist or a car comes from the opposite direction, he would step aside. Left side: "euphoria". Right side: "depression".
When he is with her, he sees the line so clearly like it was projected and magnified a few times unto the space between them. Her side: "euphoria". His side: "depression". Or is it the other way around, her side: "depression", his side: "euphoria"? Which side does he want to be? He is not sure. Sometimes he finds himself almost at the line, almost crossing over.
She looks at him from the other side, always expressionless, never offering.