You know it's odd...for the life of me I can't remember, I've known my best friends for so many years now (probably ever since I was 12 or 13)
It just feels like they've always been a part of my family. I mean asking me to remember how I met them is like asking me what the first memory I have of my parents is - I DON'T KNOW! lol
There's this schoolmate I had back in my first year in college, she was pretty decent but I never had the chance to get to know her personally. I was sometimes hanging out with a girl who I didn't realize was close to her as well. Then on our second year we happened to be on the same major and we just realized we have things in common and started to really be friends. She's not very much into anime and Japanese stuff but I think we clicked because we almost have the same view in life. She moved away to another city but we are still in contact and still friends.
I can pretty much remember where I met most of my friends that I currently have. I get iffy about disclosing info about others so I'll refer to my friends by their intials.
Friend L: I met him during a summer school/camp type program in the summer between 7th and 8th grade. We met through talking about Nintendo games, specifically Pokemon and every day we would bring our Pokemon cards and games to play and trade with each other. We found out we were going to the same school and we just kept talking.
Friend E: I met him at our high school's anime club and we've been friends since.
Friend M: We met in middle school as well, I had a Pikachu backpack (which did not make me very popular) but he approached me and wanted to be friends since we both had other similar interests, like video games (Undertale, Corpse Party, IB to name a few), furry fandom, Steven Universe, and a general interest of art. We were also some of the few LGBT kids on our campus.
Friend K: Me and M were attending summer school in high school and M invited her to join our table. We've been friends ever since.
Friend D: Definitely the longest friend I've had, as we met in the second grade and have been together ever since.
I have other friends too of course, but this is just my main group of friends.
So, once upon a time, ages ago, at night, already pretty drunk, I went to the late-night kiosk for more booze. Not alone, of course - with my classmates, the ones I used to hang out with.
And there by the kiosk, some sketchy guys were hanging around, using the hood of their lowered car as a table for drinks. One of my classmates either bumped into someone or said something wrong - I don't even know.
Anyway, a fight broke out. And me, as always - courage and stupidity, plus a little bit of boxing - I jumped right in. Totally overestimated myself though - I was waaay too drunk. Long story short, my classmates scattered, and I ended up on the ground getting kicked, really hard and long tbh. I thought, well, that's it, the life of a great ranger is over.
And then suddenly this fat dude, like 150 kilos at least, just charges into the brawl like a bull. I didn't even see him - I was face down on the pavement - but you could tell by the effect. It was dramatic. Anyway, he smashed them all in a couple of minutes, they jumped into their car and sped off.
I asked him, "Why would you do that?"
And he goes, "I don't like bullies." Fucking batman, lol.
"Can you walk?"
"Yeah, kind of."
"Alright, I'm off. Want a cigarette?"
"Yeah, kind of."
And that was it. He left, and I had no clue who he was, where he came from - didn't see him again for a few years.
Then one day I came to the history faculty to sit in on a lecture, open to the public. I look up - and fuck me! - he's the one giving the lecture. That's how our friendship started.
After that, a lot happened - we partied, carried each other home drunk and barfing ("Ma'am, don't worry, he's just tired"), did some silly failed business together, went to each other's weddings, became godfathers to each other's kids and all that...
At some point he started sleeping with another man's wife (not mine), and our paths drifted apart. Not that I judged him, but it was uncomfortable to see them together. And later we ended up in different countries, and lost touch online - ours was a very physical friendship, chatting wasn't enough.
He's one of the few people in my life I really regret losing.
Do you remember how you've became friends with your closest friends? Any interesting stories?
I can still remember how we became friends, because we all were playing Pokemon Go at that time. Only one of them was my classmate, but he's also playing Pokemon Go. We met each other 8-9 years ago.