Chapter 7: Ken Midori
I remember when writing was a place where my real voice was heard.
Yeah, that seemed a little too dramatic on paper. Obviously, I talked. I talked at home and I talked to my puppets. I also talk to my Beyblade, Kerbeus, when things are rough. It seems that a lot of people still think I am a shy person. That was until Valt and his friends helped me warm up.
But even then, it doesn’t change what others saw in me.
It wasn’t that I had no talents. I do ventriloquism just fine. But I think people are cruel.
People dislike others for no reason. They dislike others for the simplest things. You don’t even have to do anything to them — they already dislike you for something that doesn’t hurt them.
My case? Being shy. It happened over and over again, every time I moved to a new place. I guess those types of people are everywhere.
As a ventriloquist, I try to add personality into whatever I am playing as. It doesn’t have to be my personality, even though I am technically the one talking. That’s what ventriloquism is — making it seem like an object has life in it.
My puppets, for example. I like to pretend that they are very social and funny. They are like my friends to stick up for me. Although I don’t show it through my talent, I had also imagined Kerbeus as my bold side. I imagine Kerbeus to be a righteous spirit who would stand up against anyone.
That’s Beyblade, right? Where Bladers can show their fierce and bold selves, and try their best against their opponent.
Okay, hold up — I nearly trailed off what I was going to say.
As I was saying: I try to add personality into things. And thus, I try my best to see things through others’ lenses. Because people aren’t 2D drawings on paper — they’re just as abstract as I imagine my puppets and Beyblade as.
So what’s going on? Before I ever met Valt and co., why would people dislike me for being quiet? It happened from school to school. It’s universal.
There’s this unspoken rule where being quiet and reserved is “weird.” Some people seem to think something is wrong with quiet folks. Some think that shy people cannot stand up for themselves or something is wrong with their heads.
I wonder what people actually think aside from that. I sometimes look at a person and wonder why they think the way they do about me. Something that isn’t just the generic “shy is weird.”
Maybe they were upset that I didn’t answer their question? Or maybe they took offense at my lack of eye contact? Maybe they didn’t understand that I was too shy to have a Beybattle with them? Or my puppets unsettled them?
I know that outgoing kids are not used to handling more-quiet folks.
Worst-case scenario would be the idea that they hate me for no real reason. It happens. Some people are just like that.
Years now, I still wonder why people treated me this way. People treated me like I was a goner: Someone who couldn’t be in a group project, a Beyblade team, etc. because I rarely spoke for myself. I was always the one picked last and not a reliable choice for anything.
Even now, I still wonder if I truly matter. The obvious answer is “yes,” but I think so many people would live on knowing I was their unresponsive classmate.
But Daigo said it doesn’t matter. He felt sorry for me back when I mentioned all of this. Nevertheless, he said that Valt and the rest matter the most.
I am not as shy as I was back then, but I really did wish that I could have spoken a little more. I’m not saying being disliked is my fault — being shy is not anyone’s fault at all. But I wish I could have made life a little better for myself if I spoke up.
In the end, that was years ago.
Whereas I would’ve been picked last for anything, I would be the one of the first people our Blader, Valt, would think of.
Call me either Sands/Suns! That one female Beyblade fan
Pfp: Cedric from Arcaea by Nataslyn on Discord
[Status: Lurking]
