“&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;nowadays?”
“A long time ago it was just stuff like monks, ma.s.seurs, and biwa or shamisen players. Aah, lately people have been playing the guitar though, right?”
“Biwa&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;just how long ago are you talking about!?”
Tatsumi impulsively interjected as he laughed. Even though he was young, the way he would say things like nowadays was a little funny, but Tatsumi would try to conceal his laughter. He heard a lot of his coworkers in their early thirties in his office say things like back in my day, but Kusamakura must have been around his age. Being a ma.s.seur firmly permeated the career choices for the visually impaired even now. Even among Tatsumi’s cla.s.smates, at least half of them chose that occupation.
—A biwa? Like a minstral?
Speaking of the old days, Tatsumi had never heard a shamisen or biwa, which took major skills to play, in person before. It was strange to think visually impaired people just did ma.s.sage or played the biwa in this day and age.
He was a little off, but talking to Kusamakura was fun. He hadn’t had much fun ever since he was hired. His life was merely spent working to make a living. Once he met Kusamakura, and was able to talk to him during his lunch breaks, every day became fun for him. Surprisingly, meeting Kusamakura made him realize just how much he wanted to have someone to talk to. Becoming aware of how lonely he was frightened him a little, and was difficult for him.