Michiko sighed and rested her head on her table, tired of doing the difficult math questions she hated.
"Wanna do it together?"
The brunette looked up and saw Yaku standing in front of her table, holding his book and pencil case.
"Sure."
The teacher was absent today and they were given questions to do to fill the class' time.
"I thought you'd be good at math." He honestly said.
Michiko pursed her lips in annoyance, "Not this chapter."
Yaku chuckled and they started doing the questions together.
The brown-haired boy's ears perked up at the comments of her fellow classmates.
"Amami's got a new guy? What a slut."
"Woah, she's annoying."
Yaku gritted his teeth and eyed the girls in annoyance, the girls continued to bad-mouth Michiko. He was about to tell them off when he saw Michiko's expression who was unfazed by the comments and was busy trying to solve the problem.
"Did you get this?" She asked.
Yaku was surprised at how the girl ignored the horrible comments. How could she not react? Why wasn't she mad, sad, or showed even a trace of emotion?
*Amami..* He clenched his fists.
When the bell rang, the students exited the class to go to the Science Laboratory.
"Amami, you okay?" Yaku stopped her.
Michiko turned, "Why?"
"They were- sorry, it's because I suddenly came to you." He rubbed his neck.
"I'm fine, I'm used to it. You didn't do anything wrong." Michiko stated before continuing her way to the lab.
At that moment, Yaku realised,
of course.
This wasn't the first time Michiko heard those terrible words thrown at her. Even before they became friends, there were rumours flying around about her, and none of them was good.
It has probably happened more than he can count. Probably, ever since she was little.
Yaku watched the figure of the brunette from behind,
the back of someone who had received so many cruel words for just existing.
It irritated him.
No one should get used to the feeling of hurt.
But the fact that he couldn't do anything about it, frustrated him more.
And as he racked his brain upside down to find words that could comfort her, he could see the how cold Michiko looked from a distance.
️️️️
Yaku sighed, *What can I do for her? What can I say to her?*
Though a week has passed, those thoughts still lingered in his mind, as if someone glued them to the inner core of his mind.
"Oi, you've been sighing more than a hundred now." He turned to the black haired male.
"My bad."
"What's up?"
He looked at Kuro for a moment, "Kuro, you're close with Amami, right?"
"Huh? I guess. I don't know if she'd say the same though, why?"
Yaku told him about his concern and it didn't take long for Kuro to provide him with an answer.
"Huh? What do you mean do nothing?"
"I was the same as you. I thought and thought and thought, but then I realised that I've forgotten something important. Take a guess what."
Taku thought for a while, "Sorry, I can't think of anything but you forgetting to brush your hair."
An irk mark popped out on Kuro's temple, "Not the time."
"My bad my bad." Yaku chuckled.
"What she really needs," Kuro told.
"What I can do for her doesn't mean anything if she doesn't need it."
Yaku's eyelids widened slightly, "I think treating her normally like friends instead of pitying her and trying to defend her, is something she needs more."
"I see."
"But you don't have to hold back if you wanna tell them off. I'm sure Amami would feel touched that you defended her anyway." Kuro shrugged.
"Yeah, thanks, Kuro."
️️️️
After much preparations, the day of the school festival finally arrived.
Michiko and Yaku's class made a haunted house. The brunette was dressed as a Japanese spirit and looked quite scary because of the makeup.
"You can make a kid cry." Kuro commented with a teasing grin."
"I can make you cry."
He laughed, "When does your shift end?"
"Three."
"I'm done at two-thirty, let's meet up then. I'll-"
"Kuro!"
The two turned at the blonde who came to them and pulled Kuro's arm, "We're opening, let's go!" She sent Michiko a small glare before facing the boy with a smile.
*She seems familiar.* Michiko thought.
"Oh, yeah. See you later." He grinned at Michiko before leaving with the blonde.
"Let me go already." He told her.
She giggled sheepishly, "Sorry."
*Ah- she's the one from the festival.*
For some reason, Michiko felt annoyed at the sight of another girl latching to Kuro's side.
Was it because she had been close to Kuro and thinks him as a close friend now?
Was she scared that he might stop being friends with her because of that girl?
Why was she so annoyed at the girl and at Kuro who did nothing wrong?
''Michiko-chan!" The girl turned at the call and saw a pink haired girl dressed as a maid.
"I'm on my break and I came to visit." Nekota said.
"Sorry, the haunted house is on a break."
"Ah I know, I came to see you!" She beamed and held out the bottle of juice she bought for her friend.
"Thanks." Michiko accepted it.
The two sat down in a secluded area of the school.
"You look a bit down, Michiko-chan. Is something wrong?" Nekota asked.
"I'm not." Michiko plucked the straw into the drink and sipped it.
Nekota blinked several times, "You can tell me if you want, maybe I can help!"
"It's fine."
"Oya, what are you two doing here?" They looked up and saw Bokuto with a box with him.
"Taking a break~" Nekota grinned and waved her juice box at the male.
"Oh! I wanna rest too." He sat down on the empty spot on the ground beside Michiko.
"You shouldn't slack off, Bokuto." Nekota said.
"I'm not! I'm resting!" He defended.
"What's that?" Michiko peered over to look inside the box.
"Speakers and stuff, they told me to put it back in the storage room."
"Oh look, Kuro's there." Nekota pointed at the tall figure who was on the other side across them.
"Kuro!" Bokuto shouted to greet him but the boy didn't seem to hear it.
Nekota took notice of the blonde who was walking beside him.
"I didn't know they were close." Nekota said.
"Me neither." Michiko looked away.
A lightbulb lit up in Nekota's brain and she giggled, "Michiko-chan, are you jealous?"
"Hey, she's gonna be mad if you say that." Bokuto warned.
The brunette's eyes widened and she turned to the otaku in surprise.
"Michiko-chan?" Nekota called out to her after a moment of silence.
"I see. This is jealousy." Michiko held her juice box tightly with a shade of pink dusting her cheeks.
The two were surprised at the girl's reaction.
*She's so honest!* They both turned pink, embarrassed.
They looked at each other and nodded, *We're on your side, Amami/Michiko-chan!*
"Let's look around the festival together later!" Bokuto told as they made their way back to their respective classes.
"See ya later!" Bokuto grinned before making his leave.
"Amami-san, your shift is over, leave the rest to me." Her fellow classmate told. Michiko nodded and went to change her clothes and take off the horrid makeup.
As she was erasing the colours off her face, she stared at her reflection. Her head was so full of thoughts, she wouldn't be surprised if it exploded right there and then. But because it was so full, it almost felt like it was empty.
-The previous hour-
The bijin was doing her job as the ghosts, scaring the customers that entered. She shocked a cute blonde who dropped to the floor, the two realised who the other was. The blonde stood up and faced Michiko with a firm expression.
"Amami, right? I'm Kushida."
"Yeah."
"Sakuragaoka's very own Yuki Onna, a real-life bijin that every guy likes."
Michiko pressed her lips into a thin line, "What is it?"
The girl looked at her coldly, "Kuro's nice, he'd befriend anyone who looks lonely. You might feel that he's treating you special, but he's not." Kushida told.
The brunette looked at her strangely, "I don't think that."
"Did you know Kuro's getting bad-mouthed because of you? Be it by girls, guys, though I'm sure he didn't tell anyone about it. The others too, Bokuto and the other two. You don't have to believe me if you don't want to, hear it for yourself."
Michiko clenched her fists and looked down, "How awful, Yuki Onna really does bring misfortune." Kushida looked down at the girl.
"I like Kuro, a lot, ever since middle school. And I don't want Kuro to suffer because of his kindness to you-" Kushida said truthfully, "of course I don't like you hanging around with him either. I don't care about the rest, but at least,"
"stop talking to Kuro." The blonde spoke in all seriousness.
"Hey." The brunette turned.
"I've been waiting, let's go." Kuro grinned.
She looked at the tall male for a moment, *I'm sorry.*
Michiko had come to a decision.
Life had been too kind to her lately, having people who accepted her and treated her kindly despite how she was. But deep down, she knew this would eventually come, the day that this dream would end.
*I'm such an idiot.*