On a cold Wednesday, as dark clouds gathered outside, a librarian in her mid-40s navigated the straight shelves, her footsteps quiet on the floor. She put in place any book that seemed unorganized and allowed herself to straighten up all slightly bended ones. While gracefully moving, her eyes drifted of to a corner. She let out a soft sigh as she approached a particular desk, her gaze fixed on the young man engrossed in a book. His eyes seemed glued to the pages, his brow furrowed in concentration.
Was he even blinking? The librarian's curiosity was piqued - what could be so captivating? She stretched her neck to see if she could figure out what he was reading. It seemed like an intellectual book which spoke about how the human mind worked. She gently tapped him on the shoulder, making him look up towards her with his green irises staring into her brown eyes through his glasses. She smiled and pointed towards the clock on the wall to alert him about the time. It was past 11 pm, which was time to lock up the library, meaning he had to go home.
He nodded his head without stubbornness and stood up to leave. He walked to the shelves and placed the book down before gently bowing at her.
"Thank you, Mrs. May," he said with a soft smile. Mrs. May smiled at his softness and wished all men were as calm and intellectual as him.
"You are welcome, dear Takuma. You need to rest for school tomorrow. As much as I love your interest in reading, you shouldn't stress too much on books. Your young mind is energetic and pounding for knowledge but too much of everything can cause havoc. Get home safely and rest ok? Don't go back home just to open your books again," Mrs. May said as she placed her hands on Takuma's head and patted it gently before watching him leave for home.
Takuma sighed as he adjusted his glasses and walked on the path leading to his home. The neighborhood was quite and elite because his family was considered rich . He lived alone since his parents were living in another country. His father was a world-renowned scientist who participated in top projects, and his mother was a popular model who chose her career over being with him. Both were never home, and he had to be taken care of by a lot of strangers who were babysitters throughout his life until he turned 13 and restricted contact from anyone ever since. All his life was filled with loneliness. He didn't really need to have anyone around to feel at ease or at home. He had no friends in school, and the only thing he did was obsess over mathematics, computer science coding, reading dark psychology books, and mastering mind-cracking games. He went to the library to read because no one waited for him at home anyway, so he preferred sharpening his intellect instead.
A flash of the Headmistress handing over the prize of best Computer Science student 2025 to him, accompanied by the loud applause, made him feel awkward. He always tried his best to get normal scores to avoid standing out, but his classmates were overly struggling to even beat him at his worst. Takuma wasn't the kind to be sweet. He was gentle and did what was right, but he was allergic to anyone he deemed dumb and unworthy of his attention, which made him switch off his heart. Most students channeled their energy into things Takuma considered irrelevant and therefore blending in was difficult, making him to prefer to blend out. His parents' absence had taken a toll on him. He remembered the days when his mother would come home from her modeling gigs, exhausted but still managing to cook him dinner and telling him stories of how she conquered the stage. His father would occasionally take him to his laboratory, explaining complex scientific concepts in a way that made sense to Takuma's young mind. But those days were few and far between; they lived together until they both blew up in their careers and had to travel outside the country. At times, he wondered if they still acted married ; ignored each other or were they still keeping their relationship solid?
As he grew older, Takuma became increasingly independent. He learned to cook for himself, do his own laundry, and manage his time effectively. But despite his self-sufficiency, he couldn't shake off the feeling of loneliness. He longed for human connection, for someone to talk to, to share his thoughts and feelings with. But every time he tried to reach out, he was met with rejection or indifference.
His legs finally reached the doorstep of his home, where he stepped inside and locked the door. He walked towards the couch and sat on it, switching on the TV to find a dating show playing. His mental health was at stake as he tried analyzing his life; he knew that he ignored females. Some tried talking to him since he was always at the top of the class, but he always acted as if he couldn't hear them because he knew they all just wanted to take advantage of him and weren't genuine. He didn't need a fake team, neither could he create a real team. What would have been his life if he was cheerful, had friends, or if he approached women? Takuma thought to himself. What were the traits of a woman he would like? Would he be interested in her mind, body, behavior, or sense of humor? He sighed and shook his head to ignore all these thoughts. Hopefully, now that the prize ceremony was over, tomorrow would be like the old usual days of no one coming close to him. "Finally, some peace," Takuma said as he watched the time to realize that he had been overthinking till 3 am. He used one hand to cover his face and drifted off to sleep along with a loud sigh.