Chapter 7

We're Here for You

After Nana finishes Rise's story, it had brought everyone to tears. No one had ever thought Rise had gone through so much pain and suffering after what the surgery had done to her. With her parents gone, Rise had lived a lonely life for quite a while until Nana found her. Ayano took it the hardest since she herself could barely understand Rise at all. In an instant, she comes over and wraps her arms around the quiet girl.

"I'm so sorry, president!" Ayano sobs. "I had no idea you had to suffer so much pain!"

Rise just gives a small smile as she just returns the hug to comfort the lavender haired girl. Ayano just keeps on crying as Chitose and Nina exchange looks and smile while wiping their tears.

"That was the best story I've ever heard," Nina says as she approaches her older twin. "Thanks so much for your time. I've learned so much that I have an idea for my next novel."

Nana smiles. "That's great to hear. I wish you good luck."

With that, they both give each other a hug and Nina leaves the room. But before Nina could even open the door, she feels a tug on her sleeve. Looking down, she sees Rise looking up at the novelist. The quiet girl whispers to her while waving.

"It was nice seeing you, too, Rise-san," Nina says. "I hope to see all of you once more."

Ayano, Chitose and Nana wave at the novelist and Nina takes her leave. Ayano wipes her tears as she turns to the quiet student council president.

"President," she says with confidence "Don't worry! We're all here for you! Your secret is also safe with us!"

Rise whispers in question.

"Of course," Nana replies. "We'll also makes sure those bullies don't bother you anymore."

The raven-haired girl nods. She is glad that everyone around her is starting to support her and it makes her feel really warm inside. After a short silence, Ayano and Chitose say their good-byes and leave the classroom. Silence fills the room again as Rise and Nana look at each other.

"Well, Matsumoto," she says while stretching her arms. "We finally told your story. And look, your student council members and my sister seemed to understand."

Rise whispers as a smile doesn't appear on her face.

"Oh, that's right," Nana says. "Those other girls."

Rise nods.

"Well, no need to worry," Nana says. "Everyone's got your back, including me. Those girls won't be bullying you as long as we're here with you."

The raven-haired girl smiles and wraps her arms around her teacher, in which Nana returns the hug. This only lasts for about a minute before pulling away. Rise whispers as she grabs her bag and heads for the door.

"Be careful, Matsumoto," Nana warns. "Those girls might be around somewhere, so watch yourself, okay?"

Rise nods and heads out of the room. Lucky for her the trio isn't around to make fun of her, so feeling safe and sound, Rise heads home.

The next morning, Rise enters the school by her locker to get her stuff. A lot has been on her mind since she had revealed her story to Ayano, Chitose and Nina. They probably told the story to the rest of the Student Council by now and maybe the Amusement Club. Still, it's hard to have some people not understand what she had been through since she had this condition and to keep her relationship with Nana a huge secret. Rise wonders if others will ever understand.

Suddenly, as soon as Rise closes her locker, Suki and her friends appear in front of her.

"Well, hello, Matsumoto," she says. "Nice morning, isn't it?"

Rise just stares at the blonde.

"No, don't worry," Suki says. "You don't need to say anything since you literally can't speak!"

Riri and Akira laugh. Rise rolls her eyes and starts to walk to her classroom when she feels a hand grab her shoulder and pin her against the locker, followed by a clanging sound.

"Oh, you're not going anywhere, Matsumoto," Suki says as she peers close to the quiet girl. "We still have time to spare . . . to make you suffer."

Rise whispers.

"I'm sorry, what's that?" Suki says as she puts her hand over her ear.

"Yes, you want to suffer?" Riri says, laughing.

Rise shakes her head and whispers again.

"Oh, I get it!" Akira says. "She wants to get hurt, right?"

The raven haired girl feels annoyed by their assumption game and just says nothing. Suki smiles evilly as she turns to her friends.

"Look at her," she says. "She's literally got nothing to say."

"She's just so . . . silent," Riri agrees.

"No one's gonna be friends with this witch,' Akira adds.

"That's where you're wrong!" a familiar voice says from behind the trio.

Suki and the girls turn to see Ayano, Chitose, Sakurako and Himawari standing before the trio with their hands on their hips.

"What the heck do you want?" Suki growls.

Ayano points her finger at the leader of the trio. "Rise and the rest of us have had enough of your foolishness. You three better stop this right now!"

"Or what?" Suki snaps as she steps closer to the purple haired girl. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Yeah!" Riri agrees. "Matsumoto is nothing more than a mute witch who has no friends. If she can't speak, she shouldn't be running as student council president. Someone else should!"

"I think it should be Suki," Akira suggests. "She would make a much better president than Matsumoto."

"You think so?" Suki blushes at the compliment and smiles.

"Yes!" Riri replies. "You would so be perfect! Everyone looks up to you and you're pretty popular with the school anyway. Much more popular than Matsumoto!"

Suki nods and turns to Rise. "Matsumoto should just quit being president. She's too quiet to even be elected in the first place."

"Now wait a minute!" Himawari says. "That's just cruel! Matsumoto-san is just fine as president! You can't do this to her!"

"Shut up and think about it for a minute!" Suki snaps again. "How long has it been since she was president? Do people even try to think about how Rise speaks during her campaign? Why is she even here? She shouldn't even be in this school if she can't speak."

Rise gasps as she realizes that Suki might be right for once.

"Hey!" Ayano shouts. "Why can't you accept Rise the way she is!?"

"We love Rise-chan as much as she loves us!" Chitose steps in.

"Well then . . . how often is she with you guys if she loves you that much?" Suki asks.

Everyone goes silent as they think of all the times Rise wasn't there with them, well most of the time anyway.

"What does it matter to you anyway!?" Sakurako shouts.

"Even if she isn't with us, we still consider her a friend!" Ayano says . "And it's all thanks to Nishigaki-sensei!"

"Nishigaki-sensei?" Suki repeats.

"Yes," Chitose replies. "When she first introduced Rise-chan to us, we told us a little about her, but we had no idea why she spoke this way. But when Nishigaki-sensei told us the story, we felt really bad for her and promised her that we'd always be with her from now on."

"And then Sugiura-senpai told us about it," Himawari says. "And we felt moved."

"It was so touching!" Sakurako says.

Himawari bonks her on the head. "Don't push it."

"Hmph!" Suki scoffs. "You guys are a bunch of fools. Matsumoto is not a friend. She's just a silent girl. No one wants to be around her. No one!"

"You guys should do the same," Riri demands.

"What!?" Everyone says in unison.

Rise couldn't take this anymore and grabs Suki by the arm and whispers loudly.

"Shut up!" the blonde shouts as she shoves the quiet girl off, making her tumble to the ground. "No wonder you haven't got any friends. You're just a silent freak."

Rise gasps again as the trio walks away. She couldn't believe that Suki would say such a thing, let alone being right about her lacking presence because of her whisper-like voice. Now, she feels that she doesn't belong in this world. Tears fall from her eyes as she looks down at the ground while Ayano kneels down and tries to comfort her.

"Don't listen to them, President," she says. "They're just a bunch of idiots that don't know what you're really capable of."

Rise shakes her head and whispers. After all those years of not speaking, she knows she couldn't live a life without a voice. And Suki was right about her quitting her duties as president since she can't speak.

"What are you talking about!?" Chitose cries. "What those girls said isn't totally true! We love you just the way you are! We don't care if you have this condition! Please, just-"

Rise gets up and runs off in tears. The raven-haired girl couldn't bare any of the words she heard Suki tell her friends. Even though they tried everything, Rise still couldn't be cured, nor make any more friends. She wishes she didn't have this condition in the first place. She wishes she had her parents back and live a good life again. She's completely alone for good.

Late afternoon, Nana walks in the halls when she hears some quiet sniffling and wonders where the sound is coming from. After walking around a corner, there is Rise, hugging her knees as tears continue to spill while crying her eyes out.

"Matsumoto," she says softly as she kneels down to her level. "What are you doing over here? Why are you crying?"

Rise sniffles as she looks up to see her teacher looking at her, full of worry. Choking a sob, she jumps into Nana's arms and cries her heart out, letting out everything she wanted to get out since this morning. She is glad that Nana showed up, no matter how late she is. She just wanted someone to be there to comfort her after being verbally abused by Suki and that's just what Nana did. Hugging her close, the young woman gently strokes her hair while trying to calm the poor girl. After about 20 minutes, while Rise is calming down bit by bit, Nana takes her over to the classroom and sit down on the desks. There, Rise explains everything that happened this morning, which made Nana angry.

"Those girls are nothing but jerks who can't seem to understand you," Nana growls. "In fact, nobody except the student council and the Amusement Club do! I just hate those girls so much!"

Rise whispers.

"What? What are you talking about?"

Looking down at the ground, she clenches the hem of her skirt as she whispers while tears fall from her face again.

"Matsumoto, don't say such things," Nana says. "We love having you around."

Rise shakes her head as she whispers.

"Forget what those stupid witches said! I'm telling you, you have a purpose for being here. Look, you're student council president here, everyone adores you and the rest of the student council has got your back." She pulls the quiet girl close to her. "Please, Matsumoto. Stay here with us. We can't have you leave us. What will we do without you?"

Tears are still falling as Rise whispers while sniffling.

"No, there's no way in oblivion that everyone thinks of you that way. Matsumoto, listen to me. No matter what, I will always be there for you. I don't want you to leave. Not ever. Because . . ." A tear falls off of Nana's cheek. "Because I love you, Matsumoto. I love you, so please don't leave me."

Rise sniffles as she hugs the young woman tightly while crying softly. She realizes that Nana is right and she should think about living her life to the fullest, despite being in this condition. As the two pull away, they blush as they stare lovingly at each other. Then, as if something has possessed them, both of them lean in and finally, touch lips. For some reason, Rise wanted more of it, so she wraps her arms around Nana's neck and kisses her some more. The young woman returns the kiss and soon, both of them get into it. For Rise, it feels so good to kiss her one true love and been wanting to do that for a long time. As for Nana, she wasn't really expecting her to do this, but still enjoyed it. After about a minute, the two pull away and Rise whispers.

"Yes, we sure did," Nana whispers as she caresses her cheek. "Shall we continue?"

Rise nods as she and Nana start to kiss again. The feeling is so good that she and Nana pay no attention to what's going on around them. It's like they are in their own little world. The raven-haired girl could never forget this moment . . . ever.

Late that night, Rise plops on her bed with one arm on her forehead, thinking about the kiss she and Nana shared earlier. She reaches a hand over to her lips and touches them, feeling that she could've wanted more of this wonderful moment. But she'll always have it tomorrow afternoon. Closing her eyes, a small smile creeps on her face as she whispers this one simple word.

"Nana . . ."