Hey everyone, here's chapter 8 of Just Be Friends! It's a rather long chapter so hopefully I don't bore anyone with it. I hope you like it!
Chapter 8: Eyes
"Your eyes" were all that Fuji was able to get out as he stared into the eyes of the small girl in front of him. That one small comment was enough for Yuu to realize that her right eye was exposed. What scared her the most was that Fuji just stood there, not saying a thing.
"I'm sorry" she said covering her right eye with her hand, looking away from Fuji
"Ah, no, I'm sorry. That was rude of me to stare" he said realizing that Yuu wasn't very comfortable about her eye. "It's heterochromia, right?"
"um…yeah…" she replied not knowing what to do about the current situation. She had lost so many friends before because of her eyes and she didn't want it to happen again. "I'm sorry if I scared you." She said wondering if Fuji would also leave her like all the others, however she was met with a small chuckle from Fuji
"Why are you sorry? You didn't scare me. In fact, I think heterochromia suits you. You're a very unique person, so having eyes like that just makes you even more unique " He said smiling. Yuu saw how sincere his words were and finally took her hand away from her right eye.
"Thank you Fuji-sempai" she said looking directly at him with her red and golden eyes. "You know Fuji-sempai, you're the second person that isn't scared of my eyes"
"Really? Who was the first?" he asked curiously
"Ryo-chan" she said remembering the first time she met Ryoma
It had been a week since the start of pre-school and Yuu was under a tree drawing in her sketchbook. Everyone was happily playing outside in their own groups while she just sat looking at her classmate's smiling faces.
"Hey let's ask Tsukiyomi if she wants to play with us" she heard a small blonde girl tell her group of friends that weren't too far off from where she was sitting. She recognized her as Lulu, the nicest girl in class.
"No way, she's weird. That's why her parents didn't want her and she's adopted." said one of the girls, Mimi, who was holding a pink ball
"Yeah, and have your seen her eyes? They're creepy!" exclaimed another girl, Maria, hugging a stuffed animal. Everyone knew her for the different stuffed animals she would bring every day.
"She's not normal. I heard if you hang out with her then you'll also end up with freaky eyes" added another girl, Sophie, who was known as the smartest girl in the class
"You can play with her if you want, but I'm not going near her" said the leader of the group of girls, Michelle. She was the richest girl in class as well as the most popular. Because of that, everyone did whatever she said.
"Um…I was only kidding!" said Lulu, laughing it off as if it was a joke. Yuu covered her right eye, knowing it was the reason why nobody talked to her
"Hey there!" came a cheerful voice from above Yuu. She looked up to see a smiling girl in front of her. She recognized the girl as Julie, a girl that was just as nice as Lulu
"Hi" was Yuu's almost inaudible response
"I just wanted to let you know that everyone in class is meeting up for a party at the playground today at 3pm. Will you come?" Julie asked kindly
"Sure" replied Yuu happily, smiling back at the girl, feeling like she was finally accepted
"Great! I can't wait to see you there!" said the girl as she ran off to happily tell the others. Unknown to Yuu, there was a small boy drinking Ponta on the opposite side of the tree who had heard everything.
It was already 6pm and Yuu sat on one of the seats of the swing set at the playground where everyone was supposed to meet up. She had been there since 3pm, the time that Julie had told her everyone would show up, but so far nobody had even come. The sun had already set and all the children along with their families had left, leaving her all alone in the park.
"They're probably all just caught up with something. They'll be here soon" Yuu thought to herself happily, still believing that the others would show up soon. However, another two hours passed and she was still sitting alone looking up at the full Moon above her. Even if it was late, she still stood in place, waiting for the moment that everyone would come
"Hey" came a voice next to her. She looked over to see a small dark-haired boy with golden eyes and a white cap holding two cans of Ponta. She recognized him as Ryoma, the boy all the girls had a crush on. He was also her neighbor, though they rarely ever talked.
"Um…hi" Yuu responded, shocked that he had shown up
"You're in my seat" said Ryoma frowning at the girl
"oh, sorry" said Yuu as she got off the swing and moved to the one next to it. Ryoma sat down on the swing looking up at the Moon above
"It's heterochromia, right?" asked Ryoma drinking some of his Ponta
"huh?"
"Your right eye is red and your left eye is gold. When your eyes are like that, it's called heterochromia. Lots of people have it, and it's usually seen in cats too." Explained Ryoma
"Yeah, not many people have it, so it's strange to see someone that does" she replied, happy to hear he wasn't scared of her eyes
"Here" he said after a long silence. Yuu looked over to Ryoma who had his arm stretched out offering her a Ponta
"Thank you" she said taking the can from him and opening it
"Don't think much of it. I put in quarters for one and the machine gave me two." He said explaining himself. Yuu only smiled back at him. "So why are you here?" he asked opening his can of Ponta and drinking from it. He already knew the answer since he heard the whole class was in on tricking Yuu into coming to the park.
"I'm waiting for my friend to get here. She said everyone would meet up here at 3." She replied smiling
"It's already 8. Why are you still waiting all alone?" he asked wondering why the girl hadn't left when she noticed nobody was coming
"I promised to be here and I always keep my promises. Besides, I'm not alone. The Moon is here with me." She replied smiling up at the Moon.
"Aren't you tired of waiting?" asked the small boy getting annoyed at how silly the girl was for waiting that long even though it was obvious nobody will show up
"I don't mind. I like looking up at the Moon, so it doesn't matter how late it is. Besides, if I hadn't waited this long, then I wouldn't have seen you here. Looking at the full Moon is nice, but it's more special when you see it with someone else while drinking Ponta" replied the small girl.
"Chibisuke! There you are!" yelled a boy running over to them. He had short black hair and looked around 10 years old.
"My name is Ryoma, so stop calling me that." Said an annoyed Ryoma, pouting at the older boy
"I can't believe you're still here. What's so important that you've been here since 3?" asked the older boy, taking off Ryoma's cap and messing with his hair. He looked over to Yuu and stopped his actions when he saw her eyes "Hey it's the neighbor girl. Is she the reason why you were asking all those questions about heterochromia?" he asked, getting back to his task of messing up Ryoma's hair
"Ryoga!" yelled an angry Ryoma
"So neighbor girl, have you and Chibisuke been talking this whole time?" asked Ryoga looking over to Yuu
"We have names you know" said Ryoma, displeased with the way Ryoga addresses him
"Yeah…but she has a long name…and it's hard to remember…though calling her 'neighbor girl' is also long…so I guess from now on you'll just have to be Tsuki-hime." Said Ryoga smiling at the girl
"Why can't you just call people by their names?" thought Ryoma, annoyed at his brother
"Anyway, we should probably get back home. Come on Tsuki-hime, let's race to see who gets there quicker." Said Ryoga quickly dragging the confused girl away from Ryoma
"Ryoga!" yelled Ryoma, running after the two.
"When we were little back in L.A., everyone was scared of my eyes so they wouldn't talk to me. Ryo-chan was different though. He never cared about my eyes, me being adopted, or anything else, and because of that, he became my first true friend. I want to be as good a friend as he was to me, so I always try to help him in any way I can. I want to make him as happy as he made me." Said Yuu looking up at the yellow Moon, noticing that it had finally come out.
"The yellow Moon finally came out. Looks like you really did find a good place to see it after all." Said Fuji looking around him "This is where you were drawing that day after I met you." He thought to himself as he looked up at the yellow Moon
"Hey Fuji-sempai, do you know why the Moon is yellow?" asked Yuu
"Sorry, can't say that I do." Replied Fuji
"The Moon is yellow because yellow is the color of friendship. It's the Moon's own way of saying that we'll be good friends for a long time" explained Yuu
"Really? How do you know that?" asked Fuji
"Because I'm the Moon Child" came the simple reply, and that's all it took for Fuji to be convinced that she was telling the truth
Sorry for the long boring chapter. I hope you liked it. Stay tuned for the next chapter, which should come up some time soon...hopefully.