Well, I am back to that day. It’s always sucks to remember bad things that happened in your life, but at that time when I was with Nanano it was one of the few times that I felt I could be myself around someone else.
Back in that secret room or hole in the wall or whatever it was I felt better. Up until now whenever I tried to do something similar I only got dehumanized by other people, I don’t think they saw me as human. I didn’t know what to do back then.
“I will use the name Ayame. It’s more fitting for you. You are pretty you know?”- I looked at her once more. I didn’t know how to thank her at that moment.
“Thanks. I don’t know how to thank you.”- I looked outside of the secret hole in the wall, it was the outside world, something that I feared dearly if I go out dressed like this. There I was only safe if I hid who I was from other people. The mere thought of going outside as I am dressed right now, it’s distressing.
“I know. You fear going outside and people seeing you. Your voice sounds like a midway male midway female, it wouldn’t be a problem. I will go with you, next class you are going to sit next to me, ok?”- Nanano grabbed my hand, and we went back into the school building, we went into the hallway, and people from my class were looking at me as if they didn’t recognize me.
We were in front of 2 other girls, Nanano nodded at them, and they smiled at me.
“She is Ayame, I think you already know her.”- She winked at them and then at me.
“You look good. Come and have a seat with us, the class will start in about 10 minutes, so we still have some time to discuss. Come on!”- I pulled one of the chairs and sat near the 3 of them.
“Look, I am sorry for what Horiki did. My little brother needs some discipline, I am ashamed he even is my brother. With behavior like that, he won’t make it far”- One of Nanano's friends bowed her head slightly.
At that moment I got a little angry, but it’s not her, it’s her brother that did that. Why did I first blame her as well when her brother did all of this to me?
“It’s ok. He is the one that needs to apologize, not you. But thanks you anyway”- The girl looked at me with a smile and held my hand for a bit.
“It’s too sad. Let’s talk about something else. Did you girls see what happened in the last episode of American Kitsune?”- The other girl in the group rummaged through her bag. She pulled out a volume of a manga, American Kitsune, the cover had a kitsune in a green crop top, she also wore short jeans and was holding a small boy with a white shirt and black pants in her hands. From what I can read the author goes by the name Brandon Varnell. Huh, I think I heard about this author and a few others. The girl then grabbed another manga, The Hunters by Menma Aishi, I could see the author more clearly, one thing I noticed about them is that they use a particular font for printing, which may indicate that they are dyslexic, I have a cousin who is dyslexic and uses a similar font.
“Yeah. The 3rd episode was good, it’s a shame the 2nd one was a filler”- Nanano talked with the other girl about the episode, I haven’t watched it yet. On TV it’s advertised that it’s an anime adapted from a foreign light novel. It’s a new thing for a Japanese studio to adapt a foreign work.
“I know that there is a Hunters anime but it isn’t that popular”- Horiki’s sister looked a little uneasy at the manga
“I've seen some episodes, it’s dark to the point that it may end up traumatizing you in real life, some people needed therapy after the first season. I read the whole first volume and it took a tool on my mind”- The girl who gave us the manga put it back in her backpack.
I didn’t know how to feel about this interaction with them, but for once, at that moment I felt like I fitted in somewhere, I felt like I had friends who cared about me.
The time passed so fast, that the teacher was already in the classroom. Nanano and I sat at the same desk. I usually sat alone in the middle of the class.
The teacher looked at me, it was like Ms. Hoshiwara didn’t recognize me. Nanano nodded at her and she began class.
She even called me Ayame. Is this a dream? No, it wasn’t a dream, I can still see Horiki and his goons looking at me in class, they look disgusted by how I looked. They looked at me like I was some sort of abomination.
It’s too good to be true. I was too good, but it was true. I did make friends that day, and I would like to think our friendship would last, unlike my life back then which ended only a few days later.
The next break was here sooner than I could realize.
The next break we just spent the whole break in the hidden room.
“One question Nanano. Why did everyone start treating me right after you started to hang out with me?”- I never understood why this happened so quickly, aside from Horiki and his goons no one had dared to say anything mean or mock me.
“It’s because of my influence. Everyone knows my parents hold prestigious positions, they respect that and they don’t want to get chewed out by their parents, if the daughter of a prestigious family with a good history and good academic success then the parents will believe that person, and that person is me. I don’t tolerate behavior like that from other people. At first, I thought you were a fanboy but after you ran out Horiki showed some pictures of you to the class. The teacher couldn’t control the whole class. I figured it out then. Even if it wasn’t true I would still have stepped up for you, it had gone too far. To be fair I had a hard time trying to talk with you, I wish I had done that sooner, I was too scared to approach you, I didn’t want you to think that I am some sort of fake friend and that I would bully you afterward or anything similar to that.”
“Still, better late than never”- I smiled at them.
That day, it seemed that I found good friends, but you know what they say, sometimes the time to say goodbye will come because good times never last.
