The girl in question had her long white hair tied up on a ponytail, her eyes were a light blue just like a morning during the winter. She was taller than the average girl, if anything she could stand shoulder to shoulder with the average teenage boy in height.
An adult voice pulled the two of them to reality.
“Alright then, one form for Track & Field and one for the Literature Club, this should be all. All activities start next week, I’ll inform the respective presidents about your arrival. With that you two can take your leave.” Their teacher said with a wave, the two bowed and left the teacher lounge.
“She’s… interesting, huh?” The boy said with a chuckle. Myu was taken aback, she just didn’t expect him to start a conversation. “Hm. Guess so.” (Myu)
The two walked away from the lounge with some distance inbetween, in the meantime, the boy continued the conversation. “So, you’ll be joining an athletic club, huh? Well, with your height it’s no wonder.” He chuckled.
“Hah?” (Myu)
“Well, most of the athletic clubs do have a lot of tall members, so I thought it was fitting. B-but I don’t mean it in a bad w-way, my bad if it seemed that way.” He wryly smiled.
“Don’t worry.” (Myu)
Myu knew exactly what he meant, and she wasn’t upset about it, whenever people mentioned her height, she felt proud of it. After all, her childhood friends never made fun of her for her height.
The boy extended his hand and introduced himself, what left his lips was a name that even though she wouldn’t have cared, she felt a sense of closeness to it. “Noah Mizuhara, nice to meet you.” (Noah)
Why was it? The name sounded similar to one she used to call out years ago, but the surname didn’t. And while the boy in front of her wasn’t the one that possessed said name, she remembered the kid that usually wore glasses and a disheveled hair, he wasn’t exactly confident to boot. It was the worst.
This sense of deja-vu was the worst.
“Is something wrong?” The boy, Noah, asked with a confused expression.
“Nothing. Name sounded familiar, that’s all.” Myu said while shaking her head. “So… your name?” Noah inquired once again.
Why do I have to deal with this? If anything, she wanted to go home already, her objective was already accomplished so there wasn’t anything keeping her inside school grounds.
“Myu. Myu Kanzaki.” As she introduced herself, Noah visibly frowned. He repeated under his breath both her name and surname repeatedly, he seemed lost… if anything, Myu was already feeling creeped out.
“I knew it…” (Noah)
“...?” (Myu)
“Is that you, Myu? It must be you!” With a hint of excitement, the boy slightly raised his voice. Myu was confused, but soon enough her puzzlement was cleared.
“Do I… know you?” (Myu)
No way…
“Ah… ahaha, sorry… It’s to be expected, my appearance has changed a little and my surname is different so it’s understandable you won’t recognize me.” (Noah)
No way… The boy placed his extended hand on his chest and re-introduced himself again. This time, he introduced his inner child.
“Noah Karuisawa, nice to see you again, Myu.”
No… way…
⨳ Yes way.
❆
Standing in front of her, the boy introduced himself as Noah Karuisawa. Now everything was clear, the reason why she felt something familiar with him and the reason why his name sounded so familiar.
Everything was because the one in front of her wasn’t a complete nobody to her, the person in front of her was her childhood friend who she hadn't seen for over five years, Noah Karuisawa… well, now Noah Mizuhara.
“...Noah?” Myu muttered again. Noah gently smiled and nodded, the two were in a spot where nobody could see them, so Myu took the opportunity to ensure that it wasn’t a dream.
“Woah?!” As Myu wrapped her arms around Noah, she said, “Nice to see you again, Noah.” (Myu)
❆
Sitting on a bench, the two of them had drinks in hand as they tried to catch up. “Did you move back?” Asked Noah.
“Unn. Well, for now it’s only me, my parents are still in another city working. They do plan to be re-transferred here but it’s not really easy for them to do so right away.” (Myu)
“Heh, I see. As for me, I’ve stayed here ever since.” (Noah)
“I see… Uhm..” Scratching her head, Myu found it difficult to voice out something she has been asking herself. Noah seemed to notice this too, as he slightly chuckled and put her mind into words.
“You want to ask about my surname?” To his words, Myu silently nodded. “Actually…” (Noah)
❆
“I see… He looked well last time I saw him, if only I could’ve expressed my thanks.” Myu’s stoic face was nowhere to be found and only a pained expression clouded her beautiful face.
“Please, don’t worry. I know he would’ve liked to see you guys too. Well, the only one that saw him before he passed was Yae, but a month later she moved away as her parents planned months before his passing.” (Noah)
“Have you been keeping in touch with her?” (Myu)
“Hm-mh,” He shook his head, “I didn’t h¿possess a phone until last year… Not to mention, my father had an outdated number and my mother’s phone lost all its data.” (Noah)
One of their childhood friends, who was the only one that remained before Noah’s father passed away, moved away a while later also due to her parent’s work. Since then, he has lost all contact with all five of them.
Until today when he met Myu again after a while.
“Do you think she’s in this school?” Myu asked.
“I don’t know. My class was given on a schedule I received some days before the entrance ceremony. The class board has been taken down, too.” (Noah)
“I see. I wasn’t exactly registering any name besides mine, it felt unnecessary so I refrained from doing so.” (Myu)
“That coldness of yours seems to be the same as always… Well, even if you were, my surname changed so I wouldn’t have blamed you.” (Noah)
Myu only closed her eyes and took out her tongue emotionlessly. “What about the others?” (Myu)
“No idea. I’ve been spaced out all day. It wasn’t until I went over to the teacher lounge to turn in my applications that I snapped back.” Shrugging his shoulders, Noah only said so. She remembered the words of their teacher Kaze, and then asked Noah.
“So… you’re still set on being a writer?” (Myu)
“Ah, yes… I’ve been cleaning and using my dad’s studio a year after his passing. Once everything calmed down I decided to look forward.” (Noah)
Noah’s father had a great talent in writing, his books have been considered best-selling a few times now and he had quite the reputation going for himself. With this, it also surprised Myu about how she hadn’t heard about anything due to how well-known Noah’s father was.
“I have to say… you’ve changed… Now you do look like a man.” (Myu)
“What’s that supposed to mean?!” (Noah)
“You used to look like a wimp back in elementary… well… you were a wimp.” (Myu)
“Harsh!” (Noah)
“No offense.” (Myu)
“You can’t go saying it later, you know?!” As the two joked in a familiar manner, a way that they used to be all those years ago, the two walked in the same direction towards their homes as they caught up with each other.
This scene was nostalgic, even though it wasn’t the complete headache it once was, it was still fun nonetheless. They talked about anything and nothing at the same time, they just wanted to make up for the time lost.
Arriving at the apartment complex where Myu lived temporarily, they gave each other some parting words as they promised to see each other again tomorrow.
“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, Myu. I know this is sudden, but you should grab lunch with me and my mother sometime, I bet she would love to see you again.” (Noah)
“Sounds good, I’d also like to talk with Ms. Noelle again after so long, she has been good to me when we were children so I want to see her again sometime.” (Myu)
“Alright, then see you.” Noah said as he waved while walking away. Myu saw him off and walked inside the building. She thought she would only submit her club form and head home.
But who would’ve thought she would come across her childhood friend so early? Life worked in unexpected ways.
❆
As Noah entered the kitchen of his home after returning from school, his mother was also there making preparations for dinner. Opening the fridge for a can of iced tea he had saved, his mother called out to him and asked him about his first day.
“The teacher was an interesting fellow. I turned in my club form and it seemed there was nothing more required.” (Noah)
“I see. I’m glad everything went well.” His mother Noelle said.
“Speaking of something going well… Mom.” He called out.
“Yes?” (Noelle)
“Seems like Myu didn’t forget.” With a smile on his face, he saw how his mother went from confused to understanding everything in the blink of an eye, her face brimming with joy as she understood that she might get to see a girl she once took care of again.
“Invite her sometime!” She happily said.
“Will do. She said she also wants to talk to you again. So I’ll talk to her about it, just let me know when it is more convenient for you.” (Noah)
“Will do. Send her a message and tell her I look forward to meeting her again. You did get her contact, right?” (Noelle)
“Ah…” Noah froze, as he realized that there was something he totally forgot about. “Don’t tell me—” (Noelle)
“I forgot about it! I forgot I also had a phone and in the midst of my excitement due to seeing a long-time friend after so long I totally forgot!” Noah repented.
His mother could only watch in amusement at her son’s silly mistake. Though this was another comedic routine for Noah, Noelle couldn’t help but smile at her son who seemed to return to his childhood.
(A/N)
Two down, more to go! I just want to tell you that chapters will usually be up first over on Luminary Novels (site on my bio btw), so if you want to read one chapter ahead, do bookmark that site and maybe even join the discord for updates a day before. (Chapter 3 is up over there).
Noah Mizuhara
Age: Sixteen
Affiliation: Literature Club
Birthday: September 13th
A Small Summary of Him: A calm and outstanding gentleman. After joining a club for the first time after entering high school, he tries to adapt to his new life after his mother's remarriage. Due to his late father's work, one of his aspirations is to become a writer as astounding as him, but due to personal reasons, he is starting to doubt this passion of his. Though he doesn't really care, he is popular with the ladies, especially appealing to the older ones due to his gentlemanly carisma.
