Japan 2011
Novella
Everything was all gunked up and funked up and I don't have anymore words that go along with those descriptions, but that's how the school was. Onigawara needed an update; apparently it was much worse than he imagined. We'd dealt with a good number of curses by this point, but this seemed to be one of the harder ones to deal with.
Onigawara introduced the student as Aki. She was to break the curse. That seemed so brave of her to do so... I wondered what had happened to this girl - Misao? - to cause her to curse the school like this.
I never got a chance to ask. Onigawara sent me on my way again, and I obeyed without question, hurrying out and back to the safety of my library. I had begun debating whether or not to search for Onigawara's password again when the door opened and Aki stumbled in.
I rushed to her. "Aki! Are you alright? It must be scary out there." I peeked over her shoulder into the hallway before shutting the door. Too risky leaving the door open.
She shook her head. "I'm alright. President Onigawara said I should come to you if I need any help... Is your name Miss Library?"
I nodded. "Well... I don't really like that name. But if you become my friend, you can choose a new one!" I grasped her hands tightly, and her eyes widened. "Aki, will you be my friend, please? I've never had any friends before!"
She blushed. "Uh, alright... I guess I can be your friend. And you want a new name?" I nodded eagerly, twisting my hands together as I nervously hopped from one foot to the other in front of Aki. What was my new name going to be?
"What about Aya?" she suggested after a few moments of thinking. "It's short, simple, and you just seem like an Aya."
Aya.
The name resonated with me... it was somehow familiar? But I thought it was perfect. I smiled brightly, hugging AKi tightly. "Yes, yes! Aya is perfect! I'll take good care of it... I like it so much."
"I'm glad you like it," Aki smiled.