As soon as I got home, Hanzo greeted me and I sat down on the couch. He sat next to me. "So, how was it? Your training with Thanatos?"
"Oh, you know," I shrugged. "This time, he taught me how to properly throw a talisman. Like, there's a certain way on how you throw the talisman for it to work."
"Ohhh," Hanzo says as he nods.
I rummaged through my bag and grabbed a blank talisman that Thanatos gave me for practice. Of course, he also gave me a couple of talismans in case I encounter a Yokai.
"Here, let me show you." I got up and got into a stance. I focused myself and threw it forward. It flew straight and it stuck into the wall.
Hanzo was pretty impressed. "Ooh, can I try?"
"Sure!" I grabbed another blank talisman and gave it to Hanzo. I first taught him how to hold it properly, and that a comfortable stance can help. He then concentrated and threw it. It was successful. He jumped in joy and I cheered on him.
"That was great!" I cheered on him. "By learning this, you can defend yourself just in case."
"Yeah, even though I can't see them," He slightly chuckles.
I did as well. "Oh, yeah."
I picked up my bag and made sure that every talisman was there. Thanatos gave me plenty of Talismans, especially red, blue, and yellow. He gave me a few greens to protect our dorms from evil Yokai, and white, I only have three, just in case I need to banish extremely dangerous Yokai.
Everything is arranged, and I sat down on the couch.
"Oh by the way," Hanzo says as he sat down next to me. "I'm going out for a while with a friend that I met earlier in P.E."
"Oh, who is this person?" As I say that, a knock was made by someone behind our door.
"Ooh, he's here!" He jumped out of his seat and jogged towards the door.
As he opened the door, he said, "Come in!"
The person enters and it was a guy as tall as Hanzo with a brown skin tone. He wore a purple tracksuit with yellow lines. He has a military cut, sides faded and the top trimmed off a little. He looks sweaty and he's catching his breath. He carries a duffel bag with him. He looks like an athlete.
"Kazu, this is Juwan," He gestures at him.
"Hello, my name is Juwan Tanaka. Nice to meet you!" He says, then bows.
Hanzo asks him to sit down. He sits down on the solo couch right next to our long couch on the left against the wall beside the window. Hanzo sat next to me.
"Hi, my name is Kazuya Shinozaki. Call me Kazu. Nice to meet you!" I said as I reached for a handshake. He cheerfully accepts.
Juwan talked to us about himself. He said that he's a Filipino-Japanese. His mother is a Filipina and his father is Japanese. He grew up here in Japan and moved to the Philippines and studied there until 9th grade. He then returned to finish High School and then go to college here. He has lived in both cultures, and he's fluent in Japanese, Filipino, and English.
"And he's incredibly agile and fit!" Hanzo says. "He can do all these stunts like cartwheels, backflips, somersaults, and all that stuff! He stands out in our P.E."
"Well, I am part of the cheer squad, so that's why I need to keep training and be fit," Juwan adds.
"Ohhh, that's awesome!" I said.
"I just finished my 15-minute jog around the campus as I got here. Also, can I take a bath here? Don't want to be stinky when we go outside."
"Oh, sure!" I said. "Just turn left as you enter the kitchen."
"Thanks!" He got up and grabbed his duffel bag. "Oh, by the way, are you coming too?"
"Oh, me?" I said, "Sure, I guess."
He smiles. "Awesome! This could be like, our first hang out as friends."
He then proceeds to go to the bathroom.
"This guy seems cool, Hanzo," I said.
"Right?" Hanzo says. "I was having difficulties somersaulting, and he offered to help me when he saw that I was struggling. After that, we talked and I realized that he's into anime as well!"
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah! He said that he admires all the fight scenes in the superhero anime that he watched, so he trains himself every day for him to do stunts. He even joined the cheer squad because of an all-boys cheer squad anime he that watched!"
It's great to see that anime has a good influence on some people. Because of it, they learn skills that they don't even know how to do.
Hanzo leans closer to me and whispers, "Even though he is in the cheer squad and practices stunts, he's pretty much of a scaredy-cat."
"Eh? Is that so?"
"Yeah," He says, still whispering. "When I mentioned a horror anime to him, he just turns it down and says that he hates scary stuff. I tested it and showed him a gory scene with a scary man in it and he is begging for me to stop showing it to him. I can sense fear from him as I showed him the picture, man."
"Ah, I see…" I can't blame him. I don't hate horror, but I get scared of them too. I also can't stand gore. "I hope he's not scared of ghosts. Everywhere we go, I can see one."
He laughs. "Yeah."
We sat and waited for Juwan to finish his bath.
***
Juwan finally got out of the shower. He was wearing a comfortable looking black shorts and a plain white shirt with a printed black text that says シャツ (Shirt).
"No way, where did you get that shirt?!" Hanzo says. He seemed thrilled about a plain shirt with a printed black Katakana text.
"Oh, this?" He looks at his shirt. "There was an anime convention in the Philippines back when I still lived there, and I manage to find this sweet shirt!"
Hanzo punts and grunts. "Hmmm, lucky."
Juwan laughs. "Maybe someday, we'll go to an anime convention and get all them sweet merch."
Hanzo laughs as well. "Yeah."
"Oh, by the way, can I leave my stuff here?" Juwan asks. "I'll just pick them up after."
"Oh, sure," I replied.
Juwan grabs a small sling bag from his duffel and puts his keys in there. He puts his wallet and phone in his pocket. "Let's go?"
"Mhmm, sure," I said. "Oh wait!"
I approached Hanzo and whispers to him, "Hanzo, bring the salt from our Shinto shrine. You'll never know when they attack."
Hanzo nods and got back inside.
"What was that?" Juwan asks.
"Oh, I asked him to bring the spare key, just in case."
"Oh, okay good," Juwan says. "I can't lose mine because my roommate has the spare key and he's out of town for a seminar."
"Ahh, I see."
Hanzo got outside the house and closes the door behind him.
"Let's go?" Juwan looks at us.
"Yes." Hanzo and I replied.