Mitsuo Kubo 24/ 05

You had friends once. You still do, technically. Or at least people you call friends, even if it doesn't feel reciprocated. After all, when's the last time you actually did something together? But you can't admit that, like some kind of friendless loser.

The one you have known since childhood is always doing work, or school, or the school play he doesn't even seem to really like being in. He won't let anyone watch it, even if you want to be supportive. You are not allowed to buy tickets to it at any rate. You might cause an active rift, instead of the passive widening gap that comes from decayed connection.

Do you want to hang out later, you ask. He never takes you up on it.

Maybe you want that active rift. Maybe him being angry at you would actually result in a conversation. Maybe he would look at you. But he still lets you in his house, and after that he wouldn't, so you bite your tongue until it bleeds.

Play games with me, you invite him? You used to do it a lot, but now it's like he feels too adult for it or something, as he rarely takes you up on it anymore. It's something you used to do a lot with him to connect over, and without that you are left floundering for something to forget a connection over. He's not giving suggestions, always claiming he doesn't know what he wants to do when you ask him. You have a library of multi-player games, and no one to play them with.

Your other friend visits monthly, and you have a routine that you play out for the visit with little variation. Even your online friends are often busy with work these days. You think about getting one, but that would probably make you more miserable.

Enjoy the games, your much older brother told you once, when he gifted you a new system.

You will. It's not like real people seem to like you anymore.

Maybe next year will offer something new. Or maybe you can make it new.

Get a girlfriend or something.

You're at that age, right?

So in- game, he's at a place hard to connect to, so I went back further than I usually do, and made something for him to spiral from