---
-Hey, Miyuki-chan! How are you doing? Just passing here to say that I'm taking care of your cat these past weeks, as your family is out on a trip. (¯▿¯)
-Hi, Sayuri-chan! Thanks a lot! You've always helped us with Misa. I'm fine by the way, I think I've made a friend already!
-Ah! I knew you'd betray me as soon as you'd arrive!!!
-Hey! Don't be silly! You know you will always be in my heart <3. Her name is Maria, she is a very cheerful person and is helping me find my way around campus. I have my first classes tomorrow, and my first lab reunion after tomorrow, so she has been a real lifesaver showing me around.
-Well, anyone who makes you happy is already my friend!
-Glad you think so! Have a pleasant day, Sayuri-chan!
-You too, Miyuki chan <3
---
The next day, Maria was waiting for me in front of the campus gate; she was wearing a high-waist skinny jeans, a fine striped blouse and had also chosen to use a very elegant ponytail that highlighted her bangs. Me, on the other hand, preferred to let my hair loose as it was a cloudy and windy day, making it way less hot than the weeks before. As soon as she saw me, she shouted my name and ran in my direction, picking up my hand, pulling me around and telling me how excited she was to show me around the campus. She really was intense.
"Miyuki, morning!"
"Ah, morning Maria, nice to see you."
"You look fabulous with your hair loose, you know? It's so silky and" - she sniffed my hair as she picked it - "It smells so good. What do you Japanese girls use to have such silky and fragrant hair?"
I'm sorry, but for me it is YOU who looks amazing, I'm just a mere mortal near your gorgeous hair and nice figure.
"Hmm… I don't think I use anything special. Your regular conditioner and shampoo, probably…?"
"Yeah, right, ha-ha" - She laughed, mocking me as if I was hiding some truth.
"No! Seriously!" - I replied.
"I doubt it ha-ha, but you will tell me your secret later. Come with me! I want to show you something!"- Said her while dragging me through the campus hallways.
As my main reason for coming to Brazil was research, I had only a few classes that were spaced out along the week, so I didn't need to get to the campus as soon as I had that day. But Maria insisted that we should come earlier so she could show me around the place. I wasn't that excited for it, and was actually pretty tired as I had spent most of the night before reading and reviewing the papers Prof. Fukuda gave us to study. But her aura was so blissful and she was so excited that I didn't have the courage to say that I didn't want to have a walk around the campus with her that morning.
Maria was definitely intense! That being said, after dragging me along through most of the buildings and spitting nonsense throughout the whole way, out of nowhere in a rapid turn of the mood she changed her overly excited personality to start questioning more deeper meaningful things.
"You know. People judge me wrong "- Maria whined while still pulling my arm.
"Uh?" - I wasn't following her pace at all. What's with that statement?
"You know, even you must judge me a bit. I mean don't get me wrong, please, it's not that I think anything bad of you, but that's how things are"
"...Why do you say that?"
"I don't have the stereotypical appearance or personality of a 'nerdy' person. And generally, beauty is not often associated with intelligence. People even think that they know your tastes or your personality based on your looks, don't you agree with me? But deep inside, ironically, I'm a nerd to the core." - "I like studying, getting good grades, playing games, RPGs, Galaxy Wars and that kind of stuff you know?"
She wasn't wrong in her statement. People really judged others by their looks. Ever heard of the expression "don't judge a book by its cover?" Well…. We do.
But... To bring that up now. Did she find in me something that made her want to open herself to me like this? I didn't question and decided to go along with it.
"To be fair, from a first impression I wouldn't even imagine you'd like this kind of things… So in a sense, yeah, we can't help but make the first judgment of people solely based on their appearance. But it doesn't mean we can't change our opinion about it, and I do think there is nothing wrong with liking those things, right? I mean, nowadays being a bit nerdy is becoming popular, right? Even I like playing something strange sometimes like Creatures Intersections on my Flip, or watching again a Galaxy Wars movie now and then. I guess that we shouldn't care too much about what people say about us, right?"
"Yeah, you're right, I just feel that boys can get away with this kind of 'stigma' much easier than girls. We still get judged a lot if you say you like that stuff. So, it kind of makes me angry."
"Hm... I guess so… In Japan, society doesn't really like otakus, especially girls who are otakus, while otaku boys have a somewhat easier time than girls in that aspect."
"Is that so? I thought Japan was like, the land of anime, video games and all tech related things, so maybe it wouldn't have this stigma against girls who like nerd culture."
Yeah. For some reason we decided to engage in a conversation about gender representation in otaku/nerd culture. But I didn't mind having such a strange conversation. I was quite enjoying myself. Maria was a face-value person, and you could be easily involved in her charismatic aura.
"Well, yes, but... I think culturally our society is not in the most progressive spectrum, so people who like these things are heavily judged."
"That's such a surprise, tell me more-…."
At the moment Maria was ending her phrase, someone turned around the corner right in front of us and at such speed that I only had time to react by putting my hands in front of my face and brace for the impact that was sure to come.
"BANG"
The shock was violent enough to push me into the wall and for me to hit the back of my head, something which made me have a good headache for the rest of the week. Maria jumped to the side and was able to evade the impact. She immediately went after me to see if I was injured.
Ouch….. Ouch…. What the heck was that!?
Two meters away from me I could see a boy on the ground, visibly dizzy from the impact and trying to get up and recollect his things as he indeed seemed to be in a hurry. He too must have felt a hard impact, as he was clearly a bit dizzy and moving in an awkward way.
"HEY!" - Maria shouted angrily toward him.
He didn't respond or even looked me in the eyes, it seemed that he couldn't care less about what happened to me. His things were all over the place, as well as mine, and he was frantically reaching for his notebooks and materials when he shouted:
"Damn!" - He raised his right arm, holding a photo camera.
"It's broken!" - The boy shouted. You could see it was a professional camera, which must have been very expensive, and it was possible to see a slight crack over the front lens. The camera itself should've been okay, but I guess it still would cost a good amount to change those lenses.
"Aren't you going to say that you are sorry, Carlos??" - Shouted Maria again, angrily, as the boy visibly wasn't caring for me and only for his camera even though he was the one who bumped into us.
"Oh, yes, sorry…. Dammit! I'm late."
Seemed like he finally realized that I too was on the floor and hurt, but then again, his apology tone was a bit of disdain, passing the sensation that he didn't really care at all for me, but only for his belongings. As soon as he got his things together, he turned his back to us and started running again.
"Let me help you, Miyuki. I'm sorry this happened! That is Carlos, he is studying journalism and is the editor of the University Journal. He is a bit of a weird guy and is always spaced out running from one side to the other trying to get some journalistic scoop. People don't really like him as he is very antisocial, not interacting in the friendliest way with the people around him.
"He sure is intense…"
"Yeah, and probably worries more about his camera than his own mother. Are you hurt, Miyuki?"
"Actually not. I mean, I can feel a slight pain in the back of my head, but other than that I think it's fine."
"Geez, what a situation! Here, let me help you with your stuff!"
Maria helped me pick up my things and we proceeded directly to our first class. Because of the impact, I got a pretty good headache and wasn't comfortable moving around a lot. And so, Maria's tour of the university grounds would have to be postponed.
I'll be honest, I don't remember much of the first day of classes because of the discomfort generated by the incident. The lessons were in English, which helped a lot, but despite the obvious difference in the ambiance, they weren't all that different from what I've experienced in Japan, which was a good thing, since I considered my original lessons back at home pretty good. That being said, I wasn't at all interested in the subjects presented by the teachers that day. I just wanted a good bath, which I'd promptly do as soon as I got home.
"You sure you're okay, Miyuki? Do you want me to take care of something for you?" - Since Maria and I lived in the same region, we discovered that we took the same train back home, so Maria accompanied me on the trip.
"Oh, no, no, it's fine, thanks. I just want to rest a bit and then return to studying the papers Prof. Fukuda gave us, which..." - I didn't complete my sentence, as I was searching for the aforementioned papers, but couldn't find them in my bag.
"AH!" - I shouted in astonishment, which scared Maria and grabbed the attention from the people around me on the train.
"What is it!?" - Said Maria, whispering in my ears, trying not to make any louder noises.
"My papers!" - I replied, now in a lower tone.
"What about then?"
"They're gone! They're no longer in my bag!"
"How's that so? They aren't supposed to have legs..."
"I'm saying they are gone!"
"You must have forgotten back in class. Or back then…" - She thought for a few seconds and continued- "Maybe when Carlos hit you, he picked your stuff by mistake. But, what's all the fuss about just some paper sheets?"
"My annotations! They're all in those sheets, I need them for the discussion of the papers tomorrow."
"Ha-ha-ha, chill out Miyuki, if it's just some notes, then you'll be fine! You are being too strict with yourself."
"Yeah, it's not you who's going to be spending another night pointing all the relevant points of the paper all over again."
"Actually… I didn't even start reading it he-he-he. "
"Like to walk in the line of danger, huh?"
"As soon as I'd get home, I would start going through then. BUT, since you'll study them again anyways maybe you'd want to give some help to your tropical foreign friend, uh?" - She winked at me while trying to make a sexy pose"
"You girl...Well… I guess I wouldn't mind having company… That's fine, Maria, I'd be delighted to study with you. Come to my place!"
"Yaaay, you're the best!" - She jumped on me as she did yesterday, pressing her chest against me, being all clingy and embarrassing me in a public space, once again.