Miyu Aoyama pov :
I was really sleepy that night.
Tomorrow was the opening ceremony of my new middle school, and since I was joining a completely new school, I felt nervous… and a little excited too. I kept telling myself that this time—this time-I would start fresh. I would try to make the friends I couldn't make back in elementary school.
I didn't want my middle-school life to become a repeat of those lonely days.
Because I was so nervous, I went out alone to the playground to shake off the feeling. I played on the swings, the slides, the rollers, even the hippo slide everything. It was so fun. I could play as much as I wanted. My parents never scolded me for staying too long, so I just took my time and rode everything two or three times.
After that, I walked to the convenience store and bought a watermelon popsicle by myself. It's my absolute favorite. I ate it while watching the sun slowly sink below the horizon. The colors were so warm it felt peaceful.
By the time I got home, I had completely worn myself out. I took a bath and fell straight onto my bed, drifting into sleep almost instantly.
But then,
I heard a voice.
"Hey, Miyu… wake up. Wake up. It's your birthday."
I slowly opened my eyes, rubbing them with both hands.
And there they were my mom and dad, standing in front of me. My dad was holding a small cake with candles on it.
With bright, warm smiles, they said:
"Happy birthday, Miyu. May God bless you. Stay forever young, and keep smiling until the very end."
Once I fully snapped out of my sleepiness, I threw my arms around them and hugged them tightly.
"Thank you so much, Mama, Papa "
I kissed both of them on the forehead and told them, "Just wait a moment, okay? I'll wash my face first. Then we'll cut the cake and take a family picture."
After washing up, I came back and picked up the knife to cut the cake. They began singing a birthday song, filling the room with warmth.
I gave the first bite to my mom, because for some reason, my dad always refused the first bite and said, 'When Mom and Dad are together, always give your first bite to your mother.' So I gave the second bite to Dad.
Then they both took a huge piece of cake and fed it to me and the rest of it on their hands, they smeared all over my face.
We all burst into laughter.
I set up the tripod, placed the camera on it, and set the timer to 5 seconds.
Standing between them, with their arms wrapped tightly around me and their kisses on my cheeks, the camera made a little clack as it captured the moment.
Then Dad handed me my birthday gift. I was so excited that I thanked him and opened it right away.
It was a diary a diary with a cute kitty on it. When you touch the kitty's right cheek, she smiles. When you touch the left, she gets angry. And when you touch her nose, she blushes. It was so adorable and oddly comforting to play with.
"You said you wanted a diary, right?" Dad said. "So I got you the kitty version the one you liked."
I hugged him tightly.
"I love youuuuu so much! Thank you! I'll use it really well!"
Mom and Dad patted my head, smiling gently.
"Alright, go to sleep now. Tomorrow is your first day of middle school. Sleep well, okay?"
I nodded with a bright smile. I finally had a diary.
You might wonder why I was so excited about something as simple as a diary.
Well anyone would think that. But ever since elementary school, I never had someone to talk to. No one to eat with. No one to play with.
Except for one boy someone whose name I've forgotten now, or maybe I just can't remember anymore. He was in a different class, but he always played with me during breaks and after school.
But one day, I heard he transferred to Tokyo.
And after that we never met again.
And I returned to being alone. The same routine repeated no one to talk to, no one to eat with, no one to play with.
"At first, I thought it wouldn't bother me that he left.
But as the days passed, I started missing him so much.
He really smiled when he played with me…
He listened to me without ever questioning anything I said.
I… I really miss him."
I once read in a book that if you act friendly and join a group casually, they'll accept you. So one day, I saw some of my classmates playing together. I took a deep breath, walked toward them, raised my hand a little, and said with the best smile I could manage:
"Hey, guys what are you playing? If you don't mind can I join you?"
But their reactions were blank. Some ignored me completely.
I didn't know what to do, so I just stood there, still smiling.
Finally, one of them spoke:
"No, you can't. You're weird. You're always alone."
My heart hurt but I kept smiling anyway.
Then one girl stood up and said, "Come on, guys. Don't be harsh. She just wants to play."
I felt so relieved, someone stood up for me.
"But the moment they heard her words, everyone's expressions softened. 'If she's the one saying it, then it's fine,' they replied."
"And then she said, 'Hi, I'm Yui Nakahara. It's nice to meet you.'
I quickly bowed and introduced myself, thanking her for taking my side.
But she lightly flicked her finger on my forehead and said, 'Enough of that. Let's play.'
I smiled and replied, 'Let's go.'"
And despite how I look, I'm actually very athletic.
We were playing dodgeball, and I won. I dodged every ball and outplayed everyone. Nakahara-san cheered for me the entire time, and because of her voice, I gave it everything I had.
When everyone started cheering for me, I felt both happy and sad.
Happy because it was something I had wished for.
Sad because it took so long to happen.
After the game, I walked toward a tree to rest. Then suddenly, a boy approached me. He held out a bottle of juice.
"Hi. I'm Kazuya Kinoshita. Nice to meet you. You played really well."
His praise made me so happy that I took the bottle and thanked him. He talked about how our playstyles were similar. He was so kind it felt nice.
I was searching nakahara san then, She hugged me from behind and said, "You're a total pro! Even my boyfriend was impressed."
"Your… boyfriend?" I asked.
She pointed at him.
"Kazuya-kun is my boyfriend."
I panicked and apologized quickly.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't know. I'm Miyu Aoyama. Nice to meet you."
Nakahara-san smiled. "She's my new friend!"
That day ended beautifully. We said goodbye at the classroom. I was so happy that my hard work paid off, I made so many new friends on my very first day. Especially Nakahara-san.
I even sang a little while walking home.
But then I heard someone calling me from behind.
It was Kinoshita-san.
I turned around, surprised.
"N-Nakahara-san isn't here is something wrong?" I asked nervously.
Without warning, he grabbed my hand tightly.
"I love you," he said. "Be my girlfriend."
I pushed him away as fast as I could.
"H-How can you say that?! You have Nakahara-san! How can you touch another girl?!"
He said,
"I just thought you were cooler and more athletic. I want to know you more. It's love at first sight."
I shouted, "Stop! Think about Nakahara-san! How would she feel?!"
He shrugged.
"Don't worry about her. She'll cry for a few days and move on. You don't need to care about her when you have me."
My stomach twisted.
"Stop talking nonsense! She's my first friend I can't betray her. And we barely know each other!"
"It's love at first sight," he repeated, ignoring every word I said.
I bowed deeply.
"I'm really sorry. I'm happy you think of me like that but as Nakahara-san's friend, I can't do this. And I'm not ready to date anyone. Please understand. Excuse me."
I turned to leave,
But he grabbed my hand even tighter than before.
It hurt.
"It's hurting, please let go," I said again and again.
But he only repeated one thing:
"Be my girlfriend. Then I'll let go."
I pushed him hard. He fell to the ground.
I apologized and ran as fast as I could.
I had never felt this kind of fear before. I didn't know boys could be this scary.
All I could think of was how Nakahara-san would feel. I needed to tell her the truth.
That's what I kept thinking while going home.
When I reached home, I acted normal so my parents wouldn't worry. I told them everything that happened at school except the part about Kinoshita-san. If I told them that, they would panic.
That night, I tried to sleep early, but the scene kept replayingthe pain of his grip, the fear, his voice repeating, Be my girlfriend.
I couldn't stop crying. I held the pillow to my face so they wouldn't hear.
I connected my headphones to my music device and turned the volume up to drown out the thoughts. I hugged Mr. Teddy tightly because with him, I didn't feel alone.
Slowly… slowly… I fell asleep.
But from the next day onward…
the light that had finally reached my heart,
the light that healed my loneliness,
was drowned in complete darkness, deeper than ever before.
And just like that,
my entire elementary school life ended
before it could even begin.
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