Let's Play A Game: Chapter One

“Why do you think you are coming too?”

“I don't know? ‘Cause you need a ride?”

“You know what Shuzaburo…” he paused, glaring up at the tall man in front of him.

“It’s true isn’t it Ryoka?” The tall man looked down to the little man in front of him, flailing around on a bench.

“Leave him be, I'm going too you know and I have a car.”

“Then why don't you drive him Taisuke?”

“Because we need you to come too.”

“Why?”

“Because you are big!”

Shuzaburo looked down to his feet, seeing it as normal as he always would.

“I'm not that big.”

“You're kidding right?” Taisuke stood up from the bench and looked up to the big one.

“You're bigger than me and I'm six foot!”

The small one still sat on the bench in the back yard, allowing two of his oldest friends to battle it out.

“Children.” Ryoka mumbled to himself, playing with a loose thread from his shorts.

“What’d you say?” Both of them looked to their sides, glaring down at Ryoka.

“Eh?” He looked up to his two taller friends, almost scared. “No, nothing. Continue.”

The two of them looked to each other again with the same glare in their eyes.

“You are coming Shu!” Taisuke gripped Shuzaburo’s collar tightly, pulling their faces in close, threateningly.

They both stood silently glaring at each other for only a few seconds, the tension growing in Ryoka as he watched them, biting his lip. In just a moment, Taisuke dropped his hand from Shuzaburo’s collar, both of them bursting out in laughter.
“Fine, fine I’ll come!” Shuzaburo fixed his collar and looked down to one of his best friends and chuckled lightly again.

Ryoka dropped his feet from the bench, standing up on it to be at least eye level with his tall friend.

“So you are coming to see George?” He placed his hands on Shuzaburo’s shoulders and hopped up and down on the bench.

“Don't do that Ryoka, that's dangerous!” Taisuke grabbed onto his hips and stopped him from jumping like a kid.

Shuzaburo picked up Ryoka from the bench and placed him down on the ground.

“Yes I’ll be coming to George’s with you two. I have nothing to do today anyways.” Shuzaburo rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Why am I coming again?”

Ryoka looked from Taisuke to Shuzaburo, gritting his teeth nervously.

“George hasn't been acting himself lately. We just want to see what is up.”

Shuzaburo tilted his head with furrowed brows.

“What do you mean he isn’t acting himself?”

Ryoka, Taisuke, Shuzaburo and George were all childhood friends, always playing in the courtyard of the apartment complex they all lived in. since they could all remember, they were always together, making up games and creating new languages in order to talk to each other without others knowing what they were talking about. Yet recently, one of the infamous four had gone off in his own world, shutting him away from society to do something on his own in his house that itself, was somewhat secluded from society.

Ryoka hopped up and down trying to get to Shuzaburo’s ear.

“The last time I called him, he sounded um, wired? And not in his right mind.” Ryoka looked over to Taisuke worried. “He was laughing and his voice was gargled like he was, I don't know. Salivating?” Ryoka looked down to his feet, his bottom lip quivering slightly as he held back tears for one of his best friends.

“He laughed at me, telling me that there was nothing more interesting in the world that this. Then he hung up on me.”

Shuzaburo shot a second look of disbelief to Ryoka. Worried as to why George would do something like that.
“When did this happen Ryoka?”

“Two days ago. I was hoping him and I could go to that coffee shop that we would all go to and have a cup of coffee and catch up about his project that he was working on. But that happened.”

“When I called him Shu, he told me almost the same thing. Instead of ‘this’ being the most interesting thing in the world. He said ‘us’. I didn't know what it meant, but he said I should come see it. Not a second had passed and he said never mind, it wasn't ready.” Taisuke looked up to Shuzaburo, placing a calming hand on Ryoka’s shoulder as he did. “We want you to come just in case he is putting himself in danger. Remember what happened a few years ago.”

Shuzaburo looked up from the ground to Taisuke, his browns furrowed tightly.

“I do. I think we all don't want that to happen again. This is why we all got him to buy that house. So it could never happen again.”

“Right. So you will definitely come right?”

“Of course, there is no doubt about it.”