Ah, Waseda Univesity...

Finally! After six years of burying myself in my studies, I'm finally here. Now, I'm closer to my goal. Maybe I'll be able to see you again here, Lina...

I felt someone smack me in the head.

"Quit dozing off, and let's go inside."

"At least let me enjoy the scenery for a bit."

"Do that later. We're going to be late!"

My two childhood friends also went to the same university. Although I think it was because they were worried that I'd be a loner or something. I can't believe they studied at their wit's end so they'd get accepted at the same university as me. To think they'd do something tedious for a simple reason, but at least I can tell they're really my friends.

You might wonder why did I go to this college? It all was back when I was in middle school.

We lived in a small town in the countryside, secluded from society. Technology there was lacking, only a few people had TVs, and no one even owned smartphones. Of course, not even tourists came to our remote place, until one day.

We didn't have the internet to satisfy our boredom. The only thing we could do is play. So, that's what we did every day from primary to middle school.

But one day, when we were about to venture out into the forest, we saw a group of people heading towards the village. They had yellow hair, a different skin tone, and wore weird outfits. It was an odd experience for us since we haven't seen anyone like them.

We got curious and approached them. As we got closer, we saw a girl who looked like she was the same age as us. She also had yellow hair. We tried talking to her.

"Hey, what's your name?"

"was?"

She spoke in a language we didn't understand, but suddenly a woman with black hair who was with them talked to us.

"Ah, her name is Lina. She can't understand Japanese."

"Ri--na...?"

It was an unfamiliar name.

Then the woman talked to the girl in a different language. We couldn't understand a word she just said. But then, the girl looked at us, "Lass uns spielen!" We still didn't understand a word she said, but it seems like she wanted to come along with us to play. The woman with the black hair nodded at us, permitting us to hang out with her.

We still went to the forest like we originally planned, but this time with a guest. Even though we couldn't understand each other, Rina's simple gestures were enough to let us know what she was thinking.

After messing around, it was getting dark, so we decided to head back home. Rina went back alone. Wait, if she knows where her house is, doesn't that mean she'd been here for a while?

The next day came, and we saw Rina again. We invited her to hang out again. For a week straight, we would call out her name, and she'd come along with us.

It was another day, we called Rina again, but this time she was hesitant, and she was with the black-haired woman, which I think is her mother. Her mother smiled at us then talked to Rina. After their talk, Rina went to us. We were wondering why she was hesitant a while ago, but we just brushed it off.

This time we went to the wisteria tree on the top of the mountain. When we arrived there, we just laid down and relaxed while we viewed our small town. While we were resting, someone's stomach suddenly growled. It was Daichi.

"Maybe I should go back and get some snacks."

"I'll go with you. There's something in mind that I wanted to eat," Chiaki responded.

The two left to get some snacks leaving Rina and me alone. I continued to lay back down, but then Rina uttered something.

"A-riga-tou..."

For the first time, she said something that I could understand. In my excitement, I grabbed her hands.

"You can speak now! Wait till those two hear about this. We could even teach to learn Japanese somehow."

She smiled back at me, but it wasn't the joyful kind of smile. Her eyes looked like they were going to tear up.

"Sa-yona-ra..."

"Goodbye? Why are you saying goodbye?"

Suddenly, she pulled me closer. Then I felt a warm sensation on my cheek. Eh, was that a kiss just now?! Then she handed a piece of paper.

"Su-ki." She uttered before she ran off.

At that moment, I couldn't process what happened. Out of the corner of my eye Chiaki and Daichi we're coming towards me.

"What happened? Why was Rina running? Don't tell me you did something to her while we were gone." Chiaki uttered.

"She's leaving town..."

"Leaving? Now? It's all too sudden."

Daichi tried to chase after her but to no avail. When Daichi arrived at Rina's place, it was already too late. All Daichi saw was a car driving further away from the town.

At that moment, I was holding the cheek Rina kissed while staring into the empty road. And from that moment on, I never forgot about her. I swear, I'll look for her and fulfill the promise on this note.

That's it for my backstory and how I ended up here in this college to look for a girl who I'm not sure still remembers me. I guess I'm not that different from my friends. Doing tedious work for dumb reasons.

As we're on our way to the school building, something caught my eye. From a distance, there was someone with blonde hair. Could it be? Maybe I was just delusional. I told the two, and they couldn't believe their eyes. It was her, the one I've been searching for, for six years. My first love, Rina...

[AT: Want to read the earlier chapter? Consider joining my discord https://discord.gg/FXqZFFUBx3]