Crazy Friends

It was a fateful day at the supermarket when Asako reached for the liquid miso.

For some reason, she couldn't get a good grip on it, and her index fingernail bent painfully, leaving a white streak.

"…Damn it!"

It was a fateful day at the supermarket when Kazue dropped her canned coffee.

In that instant, her foot stomped down on the can.

"…Tch."

It was a fateful day at the supermarket when Kiyomi reached for the sale-priced somen noodles.
The moment she grabbed them, the noodles collapsed like an avalanche.

"…Whyyy!!"

Kiyomi screamed in a pained voice.

The other two turned around at the sound of her voice.

One was holding liquid miso in her hand, and the other was still stepping on a canned coffee.

The two of them marched straight toward Kiyomi.

Then, they gently placed their hands on her shoulders.

"…I get it!"

They were currently in the middle of a single growth process.

[Menopause]

Ten minutes later, the three of them sat down at a cafe next to the supermarket.

Asako: "Why do we get so irritated, I wonder!"

Kazue: "It's not just irritation, it's a volcanic eruption."

Kiyomi: "The emotional swings are just incredible, aren't they?"

At the supermarket, the three of them, all being pushed around by their hormones at the same time, were bewildered in the middle of their first-ever "menopause graduation training."

Asako: "The other day, I just said 'Damn it!' simply because it was still Tuesday."

Kazue: "Tuesday must have been surprised to be snapped at."

Kiyomi: "But since our hearts are aiming for the weekend, we can't forgive it, can we?"

The three began to confide their recent frustrations.

Kazue: "I scolded my Roomba when it bumped into my foot, yelling, 'Know your place!'"

Asako: "You sound like a feudal lord. Roombas are persistent, aren't they?"

Kiyomi: "It's just cleaning, but I find myself thinking, 'Why are you even there?'"

When it's someone else's story, it all seems so calm.

Kiyomi: "My refrigerator at home suggests menu items."

Kiyomi: "The other day, I screamed at that voice, 'You don't even know how I feel!' and started crying."

However, when it comes to themselves, the reasons become incoherent.

Kazue: "Exactly, I want it to suggest things that match how I'm feeling today."

Asako: "I think, 'Don't just look at what's inside the fridge, think about my feelings too.'"

They begin to argue that what a refrigerator really needs is AI.

Kazue: "Are you doing anything to cope?"

Asako: "Well, the first step is definitely 'Inochi no Haha - Menopause.' It's made things a little better."

Kiyomi: "I'm taking herbal medicine. I was prescribed it after I pushed over and broke my rice cooker for not listening to me. I feel like my destructive impulses have decreased."

Kazue: "I'm drinking soy milk with kinako to increase my estrogen. I don't know if there's any change."

Each of them is thinking of ways to cope and facing the situation.

But today, the three of them had a fateful encounter.

Kazue: "Why don't we meet up sometimes?"

Asako: "I'd love to! I want to talk about this week's frustrations and laugh them off!"

Kiyomi: "It's reassuring to have companions, isn't it?"

The "crazy me" when alone becomes "crazy us" when three gather.

I am saved from being confused by my own madness.

Today, the three of them were liberated from that loneliness.

Asako: "Thank goodness—I'm not the only one who's crazy!"

Kazue: "Really. I thought I was the only one raging every single day."

Kiyomi: "We're 'crazy companions,' aren't we?"

Asako and Kazue fall silent for a moment at Kiyomi's gentle smile and insane remark.

Asako: "...Yes. Crazy companions, indeed."

Kazue: "That sounds like we're invincible."

Menopause.

It's days spent lecturing the Roomba, arguing with the refrigerator, and snapping on Tuesdays.

Kazue: "If we're still crazy next week, let's meet up again."

Asako: "Of course!"

Kiyomi: "I'll make sure to remember my stories."

The strength to overcome it is to laugh it off with companions.

Today, the three of them learned that.