Lavo Standard (13) (8-25-09)

What brought Keyron back out of slumber was the creepiness of cold sweat on his body, which had been produced overnight. He raised his body, looked around and confirmed that he was inside the tent. Not the light from the light bulb which was dangling from the ceiling and being unlit, but sunlight which filtered in through some openings let him identify things about: a pinkish pillow upholstered with a white cover, a clock ticking, a small electric fan which kept swinging its head, clothes neatly folded and piled--and a lady. The lady was asleep while sitting on the floor, her upper body propped against a pile of futons. The volume of her snoring was so slight that Keyron recognized her to be pretty even more. Now he was assured that it was not a dream that the lady who had watched his comedies took care of him and served him tablets. Ignorant of her motivation, why she gave him exceptional deals, he could not help but look for a way to return her dedication.

“What could I do for her?” Keyron was puzzled.

Leaving the lady inside, as he got out of the tent, the weather was fine: The clear blue sky prevailed, dwarfing spotty clouds. Amid tall trees and their leaves, birds were chirping cheerfully. Keyron inhaled the air deeply, and exhaled it. He felt fine. He no longer felt those ailments after the long, deep sleep. He convinced himself that he could perform comedies today and give the lady some of the earnings.

“I should clean myself before practicing,” Keyron said to himself and again entered the tent to take towels, a soap, a tub, a stool, a shampoo bottle and underwear. The lady was still sleeping. Over a short upward slope, which encircled the park that included the tent, a spigot and a shed of toilets built side by side. Before taking off his clothes, he turned on the spigot to check the temperature of its water with his fingers. It was suitably cold as the day was rather hot.

“Aha!” exclaimed Keyron.

The lady reminded Keyron of his mother as after his childhood the lady was the only woman who tended him in the event of a disease.

About four years ago, his mother was still working part-time at a local grocery shop selling packed meals. His mother was rich in human skills combined with her particular solacing smile, and these features were accepted well by shoppers during the work. For example, when she had a short conversation with a shopper, her tender facial expression often generously allowed him or her to introduce a kind of personal trouble. In response, she encouraged the shopper, saying something like, “It’s just temporary havoc! I bet that everything will become easier for you soon!” Keyron recalled such his mother.

At the same time, Keyron engaged in comedy and didn’t have a romance. But this situation didn’t mean that he didn’t like any woman. In fact, he had been keen on various types of women found in manga or cartoons in his younger days. These female characters were idealized eliminating adverse details in both looks and character, while exaggerating feminine features to have extremely large sparkling eyes or a high-pitch girlish voice. While delicate Keyron was afraid to be psychologically harmed by a real woman who can criticize him, ogling at each of those manga or cartoon characters was just a convenient escape for him. For instance, he was once into “Cutie Punny,” a cartoon series. Each time, his heart missed a beat for a scene in which Punny, a beautiful female main character in some regular clothes, jumped, became naked while rolling ahead in the air and transforming the clothes into a bathing-suit-like costume a moment before she landed on the ground.

But Keyron had grown up with his mentality. Some cynicism about women might have been a factor that changed him, but having overcome previous anxiety he was confident that his heart won’t be damaged through contact with a woman. Indeed, Keyron was not fearful during each time with the lady. Or rather, he could afford to squarely introspect his true feelings: He was taking to her.

Now, completely in the buff, Keyron on the stool was washing his body using the toiletries and the tap water.

“Hun, hun, hun…”, Keyron was humming in a good mood.

Yet as he rinsed soap suds from his body with water pouring out of the tub and turned his head, the lady came into sight, witnessing the process.

“Good morning Keyron.” The lady wore a smile. She knew his name.

“Oh, it’s humiliating,” Keyron blushed and turned his back to the lady.

“(It’s a shame),” Libro blushed as well.

Keyron confirmed that the name of the lady was Jade, to coincidentally be the same as that of the cat which was missing at the moment. He was wondering where his cat was, but believed that she would come back soon.

“So Jade, you can decide whether to sit by me during my performance. In any case, I’ll defray what you’ve done for me,” having had breakfast and finished some routine preparations as a vocal practice and a rehearsal, promised Keyron.

“Thank you for such a kindhearted remark, Keyron. But please don’t mention any reward. You owe me nothing,” Jade politely waved aside his willingness. And with no concerns about negotiations, both of them headed for the station.

Successfully or not, Keyron completed the first round of his performance at the regular place. Just a few times Jade was asked by the audience whether she would perform this time, but she tactfully put on ignorance. As Keyron peered into the derby to check how much it had received, they were just coins that amounted to about ￥900.

“Ha-ha-ha, I hope I’ll earn more next time,” Keyron was feeling that he lost his face.

“Don’t take that bad, Keyron. You did a great job and I like your comedies,” Jade made Keyron even more embarrassed as his age was considerably older than hers.

“So Jade, let’s go to the convenience store. We can get discounted food,” Keyron tried to change the topic.

“Okay,” the agreement was made in principle as she was suspecting that those leftovers were causal to his sickness.

If I was allowed a human life for longer days, I would have helped him a lot, wished Jade.

After buying discounted products like pastries and rice balls, the couple was outside the convenience store, a short distance from the eastern part of the rotary. There was something which moved off the north exit of the station and into the sight of Jade.

“(Juno!?),” Libro surprised Jade a little.

“What?”

“(Can you see that girl walking there? Jade, It’s a bit of asking, but could you help me see the girl in my usual state?)”

It’s not his usual state nor mine, Jade recalled the truth. And she opened her mouth a second later.

“Why not, Libro? This human state is depending on your ability. There is no way I’ll refuse your request.”

Jade was actually worried, though.

“What are you doing? You are just standing,” said Keyron.