Chapter 2

I'm Finally Found

When Murakumo arrives home that afternoon, she closes the door behind her, greets her mother and runs up stairs to her room. As she closes the door behind her, the image of the beautiful blonde girl pops in her head. She really noticed me, she thinks to herself. But…why would she notice me? I…I don't know her. Whoever that girl was, Murakumo is glad that some one finally saw her. After setting her school bag down, she gets on her knees in front of a small table with a stack of paper, ink, pencils and erasers.

Since she was little, Murakumo always loved to draw. Whenever she had free time from studying, she would always sit at her desk, letting her imaginations run wild with a simple sketch of a pencil. Her parents were very proud of her hard work and even hung some on the refrigerator to keep track of how much she had improved over the years. Until now, she's a professional artist and she is now drawing doujinshi as her hobby. She picks up her spiral notebook, containing all the drawings she did in the past and does her magic with her pencil to sketch out the girl she saw earlier. Even though it was brief, she memorized her appearance very well. Blonde hair, red eyes and wearing the same uniform, she thinks to herself as she continues to sketch. No problem.

After about a half-hour, she finished her rough sketch of the blonde girl and holds it up to admire it. That's the one, she thinks. She's the girl. I…want to see her again. If she gets a chance, she is eager to introduce herself to this girl and maybe talk to her. And if it goes well, she might even have her first friend. She clutches the notebook to her chest as she blushes. I really…want to see this girl again.

The next day, Murakumo walks in the halls and looks around for the girl she longed to see. But she's nowhere to be found. Maybe she's not here in the mornings, she thinks to herself. She proceeds to go to her classroom. However, there are other girls who are sitting on the desks, talking amongst themselves. She sighs softly as she starts to approach them. I need to speak up this time, she thinks to herself. Speak up and maybe then I'll be noticed!

"E-excuse me!" she starts.

The bell rings for class to start. The girls rush towards their assigned seats as Murakumo just walks towards hers. At least, the bell saved her the trouble of repeating herself. Still, it would've been nice if she had been noticed by the other girls.

Class runs by quickly, for Murakumo that is. The bell rings for next period and as always, Murakumo is the last one out. Maybe I can finally meet the girl!i she thinks to herself. I did earlier, so maybe now's my chance! However, she notices that there isn't a crowd in sight, which means that the blonde didn't show up. She sighs sadly as she keeps on walking. I guess she's absent today or something, she thinks to herself. She's been so eager to meet the girl she wanted to talk to, yet she's nowhere to be found. Maybe tomorrow or after school, she'll have to look for the girl.

The day goes by slowly for Murakumo. All she's been thinking about is that girl she saw yesterday and how excited she was to talk to her and introduce herself. She's been out of focus for the whole day and barely got her notes down. And finally, the school day is over and Murakumo goes out to look for the girl. She searches in the halls as each of the girls leave to go home. But there is still no sign of her. Unfortunately, she has cleaning duty, so she'll look for her after. The teacher assigned 3 other girls as well to help out, so it should be fine…for now.

"Geez, why do I have to be the one doing cleaning duty?" one girl whines as she crosses her arms while sitting on the desk.

"I have to practice for my violin performance that's coming up in 2 weeks," another girl says.

"And I have to study for a test," the third girl says.

"Argh," the first girl groans. "Let's just get this over with and-Oh, my gosh! Misakawa-san!?" She almost bumped into the shy girl as she is about to jump out of the desk. "I didn't notice you were still there!"

"I-it's alright," Murakumo says. "And my name is Murakumo, by the way. I'm just glad to be cleaning like this with all of you."

The girls exchange looks as there is silence for a few minutes. Then, the three start giggling.

"You're so honest, you know that?" one girl says.

"It's no wonder you wanted to volunteer," the second one says.

Eh? Murakumo is speechless. Those girls…are actually talking to her? Could this be true?

"We'll get some more rags," the third girl says. "We'll be back in a bit okay?"

"S-sure…"

Murakumo's confused expression slowly turns into a bright smile. Oh, my goodness! They are actually…really nice to me! They were even talking to me when I spoke to them! I-is this a dream? Could I have finally done what I've wanted all along!? M-maybe after I clean, I can talk to them again and become good friends! My dream of making friends is beginning to come true!

SLAM! CLICK!

Murakumo jumps and gasps at the loud sound and clicking of the door. W-wait, what!? she thinks to herself.

"Why are you locking the door?" she hears one of the girls say from the other side.

"We're done, so we can go home now," the other replies.

"What about Misakawa-san?"

"Maybe she went home already."

"N-no!" Murakumo rushes in and bangs the door. "I'm still here! Really, I am!"

"Maybe Misakawa-san…wants to be alone."

This breaks the poor, shy girl's heart. She's been longing so hard for this moment to happen and yet…she got betrayed once again…just like old times.

"If we hang out with her, it might bother her."

Murakumo bangs on the door hard. "No! That's not true!"

"What a pity."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Murakumo cries as she bangs on the door one last time before sinking to her knees. "Why won't…you listen to me?"

She stands up and wobbles towards a wall with her back against it, slumps down and hugs her knees. Murakumo wasn't expecting this to happen, but it did. Just when she started to gain some courage, it backfired. It was the same thing all over again for her… to be sad and lonely all the time. She never wanted this…not ever in her life. Tears are already forming and falling freely from her eyes. She tries to wipe them, but they just keep on coming. The thought of being lonely is too painful for her.

"I-I want to make friends!" she sobs as she buries her head in her legs. "I want someone to find me! Someone to talk to! I…I…I DON'T WANT TO BE LONELY ANYMORE!" Her shoulders are shaking violently with each sob and sniffling. "S-someone….please, help me! Please!"

Though she's crying for help, she doubts that no one is able to hear her. The teachers are gone by now and since no one is there to save her, there's no way that she can get out of there. She may get out from the window, but she's on the second floor, which could be dangerous for her.

"HELP!" she sobs again.

Just then, she hears some footsteps come toward the door. It clicks and the door slides open. Murakumo's eyes widen at the person standing before her. The girl with the blonde hair is here. The same exact girl she saw this morning.

"Are you alright?" she asks as she comes to her aid. "I heard some crying and luckily there was one of the teachers that are just about to leave, so I asked her for the keys to this room." She holds out the keys as proof.

Murakumo is too speechless nor choked up to even talk. All she does is jump into the blonde's arms and sob her heart out. The blonde's eyes widen in shock for a bit, but immediately returns the hug, feeling sorry for the poor girl.

"Thank you!" Murakumo sobs. "I…I thought I was a goner and was going to stay in there all night and no one would come! But you…you came and found me! You're the only one who came!" She buries her head in the girl's chest.

"Shhh…it's alright," the blonde girl says as she gently strokes Murakumo's hair. "You're safe and sound now. So, you don't need to worry anymore."

Murakumo continues to cry in the blonde's chest. She wanted to let out all her pain and suffering right now since this girl came for her when no one else did. And best of all, it was the same girl she saw that noticed her. And she was happy. About 10 minutes later, the crying slowly ceases as Murakumo pulls away and gasps when she looks at the blonde in the eyes.

"I-I'm so sorry!" she says. "I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay," the blonde girl says with a smile. "I'm glad I came when I did. I had cleaning duty at my own classroom and it took a lot longer than I thought it would be." She takes both of Murakumo's hands in her own. "Say, I didn't properly introduce myself. My name is Shiki. What's yours?"

"M-my name is Murakumo," the shy girl replies.

"What a cute name for a cute girl like you~" Shiki says as she playfully pinches her cheek.

"H-hey!" Murakumo manages to pull away and rub her slightly pinched cheek, which makes the blonde giggle.

"Hmm…" she rubs her chin in thought. "A cute girl like you deserves a cute nickname."

"E-eh!?" the shy girl gasps. "Wh-what nickname are you going to give me?"

Shiki rubs her chin in thought. "Hmm…" Then, she snaps her fingers at the idea. "Aha! From now on, you'll be known as 'Muracchi'. Or 'Kumo-chan'? I can call you either way, because you're too cute~!"

The shy girl blushes at the two optional nicknames. Never in her life she had been called a unique nickname since being lonely all those years. She wanted to jump into her arms again, but instead says, "Th-thank you very much."

Shiki giggles again. "No problem." She holds out her hand. "Well then, shall we get going? I can take you to the station, if you want."

Murakumo blushes again as she nods. "S-sure." No one had even walked with her to and from school either. Taking the blonde's hand, the two head out to the train station. And the whole time they were walking, Murakumo is blushing, just from holding Shiki's hand. W-we're just walking together, she thinks to herself. It's not like we're a couple or anything.

Once the two get to the station, the train arrives just in time. They enter it and luckily, it's less crowded. They take a seat together and the train starts to move again as soon as other people get on board. Murakumo glances at Shiki, who is still holding her hand and is even placed on her lap. She can feel her gripping a bit tighter and looks up at the blonde. Shiki just winks at her, letting her know that she'll never let go. Murakumo blushes again from the wink. Wh-who is she? she thinks to herself. Why does it feel like she's…trying to flirt with me? She shakes off the question as she scoots a bit closer to the blonde and somehow falls asleep for the whole train ride.

Once it arrives at Murakumo's station, Murakumo thanks her and starts to get off when a hand gently grabs her wrist, causing her to turn back.

"Wh-what is it, Shiki-san?" she asks.

"We didn't even get a chance to say good-bye yet." The blonde says. She walks over and hugs her. "And besides, we just met, too."

Murakumo blushes yet again. "Y-yes." She could only return the hug for a bit before both of them pull away.

Shiki gives her a gentle smile again. "I'm glad we met, Kumo-chan." She raises her hand and softly caresses her cheek. "Because from the moment I met you, I had admired you. I've been…thinking about you the whole time since that day." She slowly moves her hand towards her shoulder as she takes a step closer. "And so…this is my way of saying good-bye…" She leans in and presses her lips against her forehead.

Murakumo's eyes widen in shock from the simple touch of Shiki's lips on her forehead. After she pulls away, she smiles again and waves.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Kumo-chan~" she says.

"O-okay," Murakumo says as she waves back. "Bye."

The train doors close and leaves shortly after. Murakumo slowly raises her hand to touch the place where Shiki had kissed and blushes. She had never been kissed by this girl before or any other girl in her life. And this is the first time she had been kissed.

"This girl," Murakumo says to herself. "She's…really interesting." She starts to walk when a paper falls out of her skirt pocket for some reason. "Eh? When did I have this?" She bends over to pick it up and unfolds it. There she reads:

"I had fun spending time with you, Kumo-chan. As a token of our friendship, I put my number down at the bottom.

—Shiki"

Murakumo blushes as she smiles. I've finally…made a friend.

A/N: What do you think Shiki should call Murakumo? I can't really choose, to be honest. Hehe~! So, votes are up, reviewers~! Muracchi or Kumo-chan? Feel free to give out any suggestions, questions or concerns and don't forget to review~!