The Life Of Normal-Taro

"We will get out of this place!" After the bond-forming moment, Gibli shouted.

"Yea." The others shouted alongside—again, other than one person.

"Heh, it's not easy as you make it sound. Did you think you could waltz into the MIB base for one of your spaceships and they'll just give it to you? Hell no. That's not the way to go, if you ask me." The plankton spoke nonchalantly.

"Look who's interested in this conversation." Taro chuckled. "Well, how do you think we should go about on this?" He asked.

"First of all, I'm merely giving out a constructive criticism for your non-existent plans. Secondly, if you ask me, I believe we should sneak our way in." Kunjan replied.

"I get that. But where do you think the spaceships would be?" M'Baku jumped in between them and asked.

"I guess it'd be in a rather secluded location, right?" Gibli took a guess of his own.

"That's what they want us to think. However, it might be right under everyone's noses." Kunjan replied.

"So, in and around here?" Gibli asked.

"Nah, when I said right under our noses, I meant the entire human civilization, not just us for. Now, if you are to consider the trend, it has to be in Manhattan or somewhere around there." He explained.

"How did you come up with that conclusion?" Gibli was interested in how he pinpointed the MIB's main base.

"Haven't you seen the movies? Danger always befall Manhattan. That means they have something to hide." Kunjan said, in a rather serious tone.

Gibli sighed. "Boy, and here I thought you were smart! It's a fictional Hollywood movie for crying out loud!" He struggled to stay calm after hearing such a bizarre explanation. He didn't wanted Taro to punch him again.

"I know that. But there's always an underlying fact beneath the fiction. Hell, there's even an MIB movie that people consider as fictional. Is it though?" Kunjan posed the question he deemed valid.

Gibli had no choice but to agree to that argument. "Very well. However, even if we are to consider his words as the truth, we need money to get there. A fairly decent amount of cash."

"Therefore, we gotta continue what we're doing right now and work." Kunjan replied.

"Hell yea!" Gibli screamed which immensely annoyed the plankton.

"Why are you so hyperactive, bruh? You were literally depressed a few minutes ago." He spoke.

"One can't possibly stay that way all the time, right?" Gibli smiled brightly under the night sky.

Upon hearing the ruckus, Thankappan forced himself into Gibli's room. "Hey, guys! What's are you talking about?" He asked.

"Well, we were talking about how earnestly we're gonna work from now on." Gibli replied, since he couldn't reveal their plan of sneaking into the MIB HQ someday.

"Good for you! By the way, Lonappan's wife made some food for us. So, come on out." Thankappan said.

"Wait, does she even know us though?" Kunjan asked. Since, Lonappan was barred from revealing their identities, Kunjan was curious as to how he made her wife do it.

"Who knows? He might've lied about it or something." Thankappan replied.

"I'm fine with it as long as I get something good to eat." Kunjan spoke with pride, since he's the cook in the Holy Land household.

"Ever the picky eater." Taro sighed.

"If you ask me, I just need plenty to fill my belly." Gibli answered, whilst rubbing his belly.

"And then there's the glutton." Taro sighed again.

Meanwhile, M'Baku headed towards the door. "Yea, you guys enjoy it. I'll be over at Shivani's house."

"Now the girl has a name?" Taro asked as M'Baku opened the door.

"She always did, dumbass! I just decided to call her by that name." He barked.

"Well, you could've just said that you're going to the next door or you're going to the neighbor's or something. Why so specific?" Taro asked, to which M'Baku sighed.

"Geez, I'm not gonna argue with you guys. I'm off." He quickly exited from the room.

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Dear Diary,

A few days ago, two more guys started living across the hall. It seems like there's four people currently living inside that small apartment. That's a lot! Mother didn't like how many people lived across the hall, since we're two women living in this place with four bachelors across the house. She wasn't insinuating that they're rapist or stuff—she was just concerned about what the society might think about such stuff. She did called Timothy-chettan on that.

Anyway, let me tell you about them. There's this lanky dude called Gibli. I heard he's a tribal person—thus, the unusual name. However, he's pretty chill. It's like he knows I'm introverted and intentionally avoids me. I like that about him. It's that or he never noticed me as I passed him. If that's the case, that should've been fine by me—however, for some reason I feel a bit bad about that. I feel like the worst thing that could happen to someone is to not get acknowledged. Yes, I'm an introvert wanting to get acknowledged by someone. That's pretty stupid. Anyhow, he's cool.

The next one would be Kunjan. Until now, I have no idea why people call him by that name. The dude seem pretty built and his height sure does exceed mine. Well, I can understand it if it's his legal name. Or else, it might be an inside joke that I'm not aware of. I'd like to know more about it, but I just can't get myself to talk with them. Well, mother did ban me from talking to them as well. She said there's a chance they might be drunk all the time and even smoke pot and that I have to be careful around people like them.

However, I feel like it's just a misconception. Kunjan is pretty chill too. He nods as he passes by me and I nod back. That's the only form of our communication. The strange thing about him is that I sense him smiling but I've never seen him do it. I'd like to see his smile someday. I hope I don't sound like a creep saying that.

Then there's Thankappan. He's fine, but I feel like he's a bit excessive. He tries to have a conversation with me every time we met. I know he meant it as a friendly neighbor sort of way, rather than a pedophilic one, but I just don't like people invading my personal boundary and stepping up to talk to me even if it might be normal. I just don't like speaking to people.

Finally, there's Sadanandan. He's mysterious, if you ask me. He never bats an eye towards me or give a nod. I might sound like I crave attention, but I can't handle it when people straight out treat me like I'm invisible. In fact, the most he did was slightly nodding as I passed him. However, I don't believe that was intentional. I don't believe he'll ever intentionally acknowledge my existence.

Fun fact—I heard a rumor that no one has ever heard him talk. At first, I was a bit skeptical about this and decided to tail him for a bit. That bit of a distance turned out to be an entire journey and I ended up getting scolded by my mother. Anyhow, it was as the rumors said—he never speak. However, he ain't dumb either. I heard Kunjan say to someone that Sadanandan's a bit shy, which would mean that he's an introvert like me! Which would in turn explain why he won't bat an eye towards anyone. He's just shy! I can't blame him for that. He's a comrade!

However, something strange happened today. Let's start with the morning. Sadanandandan was out doing some weird hand gestures. Well, it had to be some martial arts, which is fine—that's not the strange thing. Later in the evening, a fight broke out between him and Gibli for reasons unknown. However, the fight didn't last long. Like, Sadanandan instantly subdued Gibli and the fight was over. I didn't know such a thing is humanly possible. It didn't even last a second. Anyway, I am intrigued yet a bit wary of him. He seems like he holds a dark past or a grave secret or something.

Yes,my neighbors are a bit weird, but you wanna know who's not weird? Charlie! He's the most adorable doggo I've ever seen! I don't know what his real name is and because I'm a bit hesitant to ask my neighbors, I named him after our dead doggo. Even though my mom doesn't like the neighbors, she holds Charlie near and dear because he looks just like our doggo.

I know, right? They piqued your interest too, didn't they? Even though, they seem a bit weird, they feel like nice guys. Someday, I would like to hold a proper conversation with them. I'll tell you all about it then.

Yours truly,

Shivani.

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Shivani closed her diary with a satisfied expression. Just as she did it, she heard a faint knock from her door. It was so faint that it couldn't even be classified as a knock. Instead, it felt like someone gently scratching the door with its paw.

"He's here!" It didn't take her much time to recognize who it was on the other side. She got up and ran towards the door. She didn't blink an eye as she opened it and tightly hugged he person before him. "You're here, Charlie!" Yes, it was Charlie.

"Woof!" Charlie barked as he wagged his tail. Shivani got up and patted his head.

"Come on in, Charlie boy. I got your snacks." She invited the dog inside and closed the door behind him as he paced through the front door.

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