It was a long and tiring, but surprisingly successful day. Normally, people would raise their voices right there and then to scold us for doing pathetic things, being naive and the fact we had no reason to interfere with their and their lives and health alone. But today, we finally got to see people dwell on the point we were trying to make, absolutely stunned by the result and realisation that they needed to stop too.
After having mentally challenged myself for many years on an academic level and graduating medicine, making me a legitimate doctor, I thought that maybe by showing the world something in real life and something they could relate to, it would decrease the deaths of smoking. Even if it was a very small decrease.
For the last couple of days, me and my beloved cousin had tried to make people take medical advice to heart by showing them one of the real-life consequences of people smoking in a little play.
It went something like this...
As we laid our eyes on our next prey, me and my cousin quickly spread ways to seem unrelated and casual. At the side of the river there was a boat slowly drifting as it floated on the clean waters of Edo. Sitting on the windowsill of the boat was a man. By the looks of it, he had lost one eye, somehow quite attractive. The arm, that was supported by a bent leg, pulled the pipe from his mouth as his head tilted back watching the toxic air form smoke in front of him. While the sunshine that seeped through the colourful clouds of the sunset mixed with the light emitted from the oil lamp inside the boat, it illuminated his posture and visage in an almost magical way. Strangely enough, the way the bandages were pulled around his head, surrounded by strands of dark purple hair, seemingly having their own will, made me stare at the handsome man for a minute. From the place I would come out of in our little play, I admired the man. Never have I found a smoking man so intriguing, for I always ignored them and never spared them a second glance. His yukata fell loosely and uncaring on his figure, letting somewhat everything he wore give away the same odd attitude. He seemed somehow dark as he smirked and admired his pipe.
His eyebrow quirked up, looking at my cousin from the corner of his eye when she leaned over the railing and looked at him. She played with her fingers nervously, letting it seem as if she longed or yearned for something, before she asked him the question.
"Could I have a smoke?" She asked, the eye of the man widening a bit in surprise. A smirk lifted his lips,
"How old are you? Nine? Go away kid and don't smoke."
As rehearsed, she lifted an eyebrow arrogantly and asked, "Why not?"
He sighed, "You'll get sick and stuff. You'll be a pain in the ass for your parents."
Almost losing track of the play and forgetting my part came next, I walked by casually, reaching in the sleeve of my yukata.
"Oi. Here, have a cigarette." I said as low-key as possible, pretending not to care. I held out the cigarette and lighter, letting her take it and put the cigarette slowly in her mouth.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, giving kids cigarettes?" The man looked down at me from his position, soon after jumping down from the sill in a smooth motion and walking over to me and my cousin, taking the cigarette and throwing it in the water.
"What do you care? You smoke, so why can't she?" I asked him, looking him in the eye as flat as I could. Though he only had one, his eye was absolutely gorgeous, perfectly fitting the shape and form of his face. He sighed and let out a laugh along with a tch, as if I were the stupidest person on earth.
"Even if I'm all in for the destruction of this world and all the people it has, it's just not right to see a damn kid smoking away her health. She could get addicted and sick, you know. Lungs, die young and all that stuff." He said, putting away his pipe.
My heart skipped a beat at his words. The man was reluctantly telling me, although through hidden meanings behind his words, he did care. He may have seemed dark, but I could immediately tell that he too was able to stop smoking if he so desired. Looking up at the mysterious man, I smiled, making a wash of confusion cover his face. I saw my cousin ran away to the spot where I hid just a minute ago. Just as rehearsed, her part was over and she understood that it was my job to convince him now.
"What if I told you that doesn't only apply to children? What if I told you that you could get sick too and that it hurts every time to see a person smoke, subconsciously getting addicted to the material making them shorten their life little by little? Isn't it ironic how you tell her she'll get sick, when you don't even think about that? Don't you know that kids will try to smoke because they see grown-ups do it?" The words I spoke altered? him and I could tell. He looked at me with a wide open eye, surprise and - hopefully - realisation glistening in it.
He regained his posture, a smirk once again at his lips.
"Why do you do this? To make us smokers feel miserable or something?" He crossed his arms across his chest, looking down at me as I stood before him. Suddenly gaining confidence I stepped closer to the attractive man, who didn't seem fazed by the action. I looked up at the considerably taller man, feeling my body somehow heat up as I examined his face.
"I do this because one day you'll get sick and you'll go get medicine to make you better. But at that point, there's nothing medicine can do. Why make the detour and go through all that pain, when you can stop before it begins? And I do it, most of all, because I care." I said, not hesitating because I knew that every word was fully meant and exactly perceived the way it should be by the look on his face. At this point I was so close to the man's face, maybe emphasising my point by closing in on him or maybe I was drawn by him, I could see the change of heart in his eye.
I knew nothing about this man, though he seemed so nice to be with. Even if I could see the evil in him, I could see a sea of peace and calmness too.
"We're all going to die anyway. Why bother?" He asked, still not breaking eye contact with me.
"That goes for breathing too. I mean, why breathe? 'We're going to die anyway'. But if you can live your life having pain and not be able to breath properly, be my guest. You'll be a pain in the ass for us doctors when you get sick. Both you and I know that there is a reason for telling the little kid not to smoke, though you always neglect it when it fits your purpose." I said, looking intensely into the man's eye and holding myself back from wrapping my arms around his waist and letting him hold me close, to feel his body and warmth hidden under the dark, butterfly covered yukata.
"So what now? Do you think it's that easy to lose interest in something you can't get enough of? In something you look at and smile because it relaxes you and is easy on the eyes, well eye." He said, lastly regarding his solely eye.
"What's you name?" I asked, looking at his lips and back up to his eyes.
"Takasugi. Shinsuke Takasugi." The man, who's name I've grown to love as he rolled it off his tongue easily, whispered as he looked at me. Whispering was enough to be heard as normal spoken words due to the distance between us.
"Well, Shinsuke. I'll make you a deal. If you'll try to quit, I'll help you." I offered, holding out my hand for him to lay his pipe in. He sighed, almost in defeat, and reached in his yukata.
"You're a stubborn woman..." he laughed. Well, in a way where he blows more air of his nose then actually laughing.
"The way I see it, I just care about you." I said when he handed over the pipe.
"Why? You don't know me. At all." He said softly, in a way where he wonders how I did it. How did I care about strangers? And why?
"Let me get to know you then."
Even I was surprised by the way I treated this man. We just met, though I've seen him in this particular spot many times, and I've already been locked in his grasp. Considering the fact that I've never been this attracted to a man before and I've always been the person who didn't talk about my feelings, except for when it came to work. And as this fell inside that category, it was easy to tell him. To tell him I cared and that I wanted to get to know him. All because it was part of the job I did on a daily basis. Though not very work related, I wanted to solve the mystery that this man was. He looked caring, though very mischievous and I was in for an adventure.
"Okay." He said, looking into my eyes, his answer surprising me and, by the looks of it, even him a little.
"But I'm a lot, so don't say I didn't warn you." He said, making me smile. I was in for this, despite the endless possibilities that he could be a murderer for all I know. And even so, I liked this man.
It was a long and tiring, but surprisingly successful day. Normally, people would raise their voices right there and then to scold us for doing pathetic things, being naive and the fact we had no reason to interfere with their and their lives and health alone. But today, we finally got to see people dwell on the point we were trying to make, absolutely stunned by the result and realisation that they needed to stop too.After having mentally challenged myself for many years on an academic level and graduating medicine, making me a legitimate doctor, I thought that maybe by showing the world something in real life and something they could relate to, it would decrease the deaths of smoking. Even if it was a very small decrease.For the last couple of days, me and my beloved cousin had tried to make people take medical advice to heart by showing them one of the real-life consequences of people smoking in a little play.It went something like this...As we laid our eyes on our next prey, me and my cousin quickly spread ways to seem unrelated and casual. At the side of the river there was a boat slowly drifting as it floated on the clean waters of Edo. Sitting on the windowsill of the boat was a man. By the looks of it, he had lost one eye, somehow quite attractive. The arm, that was supported by a bent leg, pulled the pipe from his mouth as his head tilted back watching the toxic air form smoke in front of him. While the sunshine that seeped through the colourful clouds of the sunset mixed with the light emitted from the oil lamp inside the boat, it illuminated his posture and visage in an almost magical way. Strangely enough, the way the bandages were pulled around his head, surrounded by strands of dark purple hair, seemingly having their own will, made me stare at the handsome man for a minute. From the place I would come out of in our little play, I admired the man. Never have I found a smoking man so intriguing, for I always ignored them and never spared them a second glance. His yukata fell loosely and uncaring on his figure, letting somewhat everything he wore give away the same odd attitude. He seemed somehow dark as he smirked and admired his pipe.His eyebrow quirked up, looking at my cousin from the corner of his eye when she leaned over the railing and looked at him. She played with her fingers nervously, letting it seem as if she longed or yearned for something, before she asked him the question."Could I have a smoke?" She asked, the eye of the man widening a bit in surprise. A smirk lifted his lips,"How old are you? Nine? Go away kid and don't smoke."As rehearsed, she lifted an eyebrow arrogantly and asked, "Why not?"He sighed, "You'll get sick and stuff. You'll be a pain in the ass for your parents."Almost losing track of the play and forgetting my part came next, I walked by casually, reaching in the sleeve of my yukata."Oi. Here, have a cigarette." I said as low-key as possible, pretending not to care. I held out the cigarette and lighter, letting her take it and put the cigarette slowly in her mouth."What the hell do you think you're doing, giving kids cigarettes?" The man looked down at me from his position, soon after jumping down from the sill in a smooth motion and walking over to me and my cousin, taking the cigarette and throwing it in the water."What do you care? You smoke, so why can't she?" I asked him, looking him in the eye as flat as I could. Though he only had one, his eye was absolutely gorgeous, perfectly fitting the shape and form of his face. He sighed and let out a laugh along with a tch, as if I were the stupidest person on earth."Even if I'm all in for the destruction of this world and all the people it has, it's just not right to see a damn kid smoking away her health. She could get addicted and sick, you know. Lungs, die young and all that stuff." He said, putting away his pipe.My heart skipped a beat at his words. The man was reluctantly telling me, although through hidden meanings behind his words, he did care. He may have seemed dark, but I could immediately tell that he too was able to stop smoking if he so desired. Looking up at the mysterious man, I smiled, making a wash of confusion cover his face. I saw my cousin ran away to the spot where I hid just a minute ago. Just as rehearsed, her part was over and she understood that it was my job to convince him now."What if I told you that doesn't only apply to children? What if I told you that you could get sick too and that it hurts every time to see a person smoke, subconsciously getting addicted to the material making them shorten their life little by little? Isn't it ironic how you tell her she'll get sick, when you don't even think about that? Don't you know that kids will try to smoke because they see grown-ups do it?" The words I spoke altered? him and I could tell. He looked at me with a wide open eye, surprise and - hopefully - realisation glistening in it.He regained his posture, a smirk once again at his lips."Why do you do this? To make us smokers feel miserable or something?" He crossed his arms across his chest, looking down at me as I stood before him. Suddenly gaining confidence I stepped closer to the attractive man, who didn't seem fazed by the action. I looked up at the considerably taller man, feeling my body somehow heat up as I examined his face."I do this because one day you'll get sick and you'll go get medicine to make you better. But at that point, there's nothing medicine can do. Why make the detour and go through all that pain, when you can stop before it begins? And I do it, most of all, because I care." I said, not hesitating because I knew that every word was fully meant and exactly perceived the way it should be by the look on his face. At this point I was so close to the man's face, maybe emphasising my point by closing in on him or maybe I was drawn by him, I could see the change of heart in his eye.I knew nothing about this man, though he seemed so nice to be with. Even if I could see the evil in him, I could see a sea of peace and calmness too."We're all going to die anyway. Why bother?" He asked, still not breaking eye contact with me."That goes for breathing too. I mean, why breathe? 'We're going to die anyway'. But if you can live your life having pain and not be able to breath properly, be my guest. You'll be a pain in the ass for us doctors when you get sick. Both you and I know that there is a reason for telling the little kid not to smoke, though you always neglect it when it fits your purpose." I said, looking intensely into the man's eye and holding myself back from wrapping my arms around his waist and letting him hold me close, to feel his body and warmth hidden under the dark, butterfly covered yukata."So what now? Do you think it's that easy to lose interest in something you can't get enough of? In something you look at and smile because it relaxes you and is easy on the eyes, well eye." He said, lastly regarding his solely eye."What's you name?" I asked, looking at his lips and back up to his eyes."Takasugi. Shinsuke Takasugi." The man, who's name I've grown to love as he rolled it off his tongue easily, whispered as he looked at me. Whispering was enough to be heard as normal spoken words due to the distance between us."Well, Shinsuke. I'll make you a deal. If you'll try to quit, I'll help you." I offered, holding out my hand for him to lay his pipe in. He sighed, almost in defeat, and reached in his yukata."You're a stubborn woman..." he laughed. Well, in a way where he blows more air of his nose then actually laughing."The way I see it, I just care about you." I said when he handed over the pipe."Why? You don't know me. At all." He said softly, in a way where he wonders how I did it. How did I care about strangers? And why?"Let me get to know you then."Even I was surprised by the way I treated this man. We just met, though I've seen him in this particular spot many times, and I've already been locked in his grasp. Considering the fact that I've never been this attracted to a man before and I've always been the person who didn't talk about my feelings, except for when it came to work. And as this fell inside that category, it was easy to tell him. To tell him I cared and that I wanted to get to know him. All because it was part of the job I did on a daily basis. Though not very work related, I wanted to solve the mystery that this man was. He looked caring, though very mischievous and I was in for an adventure."Okay." He said, looking into my eyes, his answer surprising me and, by the looks of it, even him a little."But I'm a lot, so don't say I didn't warn you." He said, making me smile. I was in for this, despite the endless possibilities that he could be a murderer for all I know. And even so, I liked this man.
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