Happy birthday to the cutest girl of all the cast: Yoshino!
Feel free to write a review, my friend, I would appreciate it.
March 20th
As she descended the stairs, she realized that only her footsteps echoed in the small house, this had become normal for many years, practically since her father left this world due to a cardiac arrest; they could not resuscitate him and his life ended in an instant, but those of his daughter and wife continued.
They went on for eight years with much effort, trying to forget the bad and staying only with the good, but in reality, it wasn't like that, it wasn't like that at all.
Losses are wounds that never heal and open up, over and over again, spilling less blood each time, until they are left with only a hole.
The young woman went all the way down the stairs and approached a small altar that was under the stairs, it had incense and a photograph of a man with short brown hair and blue eyes, almost the same color as hers, the man was smiling slightly and dressed in a dark shirt.
"G-Good morning, Dad. Don't worry, I'll have a good day at school today. Mom must already be working at the Tenguu Post warehouse, she sure is working hard as usual, please take care of Mom, Dad. I'm... um..." She blushed a little. "I'm very well thanks to Shidou-san, so, you can stop worrying so much. I'm sure you'd like him a lot..."
The girl ducked her head and let some air out of her mouth, then she bowed a little and went to the kitchen to prepare her breakfast, but when she went to the kitchen, on the dining table, she found a pink bento and a note on a little piece of paper.
"Mom..." she said somewhat guiltily and took the note which she ended up reading in her mint, it was adorned with a plain bunny.
Have a good day today, Yoshino.
I love you.
Nagisa.
"…" Yoshino folded the little note in half and left it on the table, to take the bento and hugged it against her chest.
Then she went to put it away in her backpack, to then cook herself her breakfast, which she ended up eating by herself. After that she continued to get ready to leave her home, which she left locked and then left.
Yoshino was a girl of somewhat short stature, below average, had blue hair somewhat long, but fluffy and somewhat wavy, her eyes were large and also blue, white skin and a fairly average figure.
Fortunately, the trend leaned more towards the second type, but that also created envy in the female students who felt that Yoshino's preferential treatment was not at all fair.
If there was one thing she excelled in, it was her lovely voice and being able to do ventriloquism, an art that consists of modifying her voice or imitating someone else's voice, a talent she was born with thanks to her father's inheritance, who also had that ability.
Unfortunately, it was of no use in academics and she reserved that art only for herself and her own creativity and imagination.
"I think I'm on time, I wonder if I'll get there before him... I hope so, I wouldn't want Shidou-san to be waiting for me." She quickened her pace towards the subway station, walked down the stairs with speed and then walked quickly down the hallway until she swiped the subway card to enter. "Good, now I just have to tell him that I'm already here."
As the girl was writing the message for Shidou, she was hugged from behind, which made her scream out of surprise.
"Kyaaaaaaaa!"
"Yoshino! Relax, it's just me... Shidou."
"Shi-Shidou-san!?" She blushed completely and was released from the embrace, she couldn't turn her head to look at him. "Th-That scared me... um... p-please let me know it's you... uh..."
"Ah, I'm so sorry!" He walked to stand in front of her. "I didn't think you'd be so scared, you're right, it was very clumsy of me..."
"I-It's not Shidou-san's stupidity's fault... I mean, um, S-Shidou-san isn't stupid..."
"I didn't say I was either... haha..."
"A-Ah, s-sorry, Shidou-san... Uuh..." She shook her head several times.
"Haha, it's okay, it's okay, Yoshino. It's just that I thought you'd be kind of used to it by now, we've been dating for almost a year now, right?"
"...! Y-Yes, but... for me, it's still as special as day one..." she said quietly, rather blushing.
"...!" Shidou's heart pounded. "So cute..."
"Huh?"
"My girlfriend is the cutest! I love you!"
"Ah-Ahh...! Shidou-san, stop!" she said completely red and even tried to cover his mouth, but he stopped her hands.
"Alright, alright." He let go of her hands and then took one of hers, Yoshino squeezed Shidou's hand. "The subway is coming, so, let's not waste any more time."
"Y-Yes... Shidou-san..."
"Yes?"
"I love you too" said with a smile.
And with that she made him blush, it was so simple, Yoshino achieved it effortlessly, with just a few words, while he resorted to sneak attack, because that was the easiest way.
Well, not really, Shidou Itsuka was a very good young man with words, he was kind and someone who did not allow girls to be taken advantage of in any way, he was like a gentleman, although in Yoshino's words, Shidou was her hero.
No, it was not out of vain illusion.
Once, a year ago, Yoshino was being stalked by a boy who kept insisting her to go out, she had already rejected him, but he kept insisting and that made her very nervous and also made her feel guilty, while the other one took advantage of that to make her doubt whether she would give him a chance, even if it was just out of pity.
When the situation escalated to the point where he was harassing her as she left school, Shidou stepped in and settled the matter himself, mostly by declaring that, if it continued, he would use force to get him away from her.
The blue-haired boy did not have a reputation for fighting, but he did possess strength and agility, after all, he belonged to the soccer club, plus he always delivered what he said, so the bully decided to give up and forget about Yoshino.
That day, Shidou became her hero and the love that already existed for him only increased.
Continuing with their daily life, they took the subway and sat together, that was a matter of luck, since normally one has to stand up because of how crowded the subway is. They chatted about what they had done yesterday and what they had found out about their topics of interest; trivia all around.
It was just what should happen, because for her boyfriend the most important thing was Yoshino's birthday, the date was approaching and he was preparing a good date, but he couldn't make up his mind.
"Maybe the plan to go to the amusement park is the best option, there's no way she won't have a good time there, but we could also go to a coffee shop, Yoshino loves desserts... besides, I know that no matter where I take her, she won't complain and that's fine, but... it's her birthday, she shouldn't take it so lightly."
Shidou-san, this is where we get off... She squeezed his hand.
Ah! Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts. Let's go, Yoshino.
Yes. She smiled and they got out of the subway together.
They walked the rest of the way and continued holding hands after entering Raizen High School, but from there, they separated to go to their friends.
Well, Yoshino had as a friend a girl with long green hair and eyes of the same color, thin and not very graceful in appearance, called Natsumi.
For his part, Shidou had as friends Hiroto Tonomachi, a boy taller than him, with raised black hair and gray eyes, cheerful and carefree personality, on the other hand, there was Satou Matsuo, a quiet and kind boy who was Natsumi's boyfriend, although that only thanks to Yoshino gave courage to her friend to declare her love, but that's another story.
Natsumi and Yoshino were talking, already inside the classroom.
"Yoshino, this... about your birthday, I guess Shidou already booked you for that day, right?"
"¡...! Ah, well... h-he didn't say anything to me about going out..."
"What? Is that so? Ah, but he's definitely going to, right? It's just that, well... I was thinking if I could celebrate at your place, this coming weekend, since your birthday is on Wednesday... too bad it falls on a weekday" said the green-haired girl, with regret, since she knew her best friend's family situation.
"N-Nothing can be done about that, but... hm, yes, it's okay, Shidou-san hasn't told me anything, so we could do it like this, just you and me, and my mom."
"Yes, of course, your mom too. Well, only if she wants to... I don't want to be a bother, deciding this when I'm nobody..."
"Natsumi-san, nothing you say is true, my mom likes you a lot, she says you can come over whenever you want, even stay over," she said with a warm smile, Natsumi just blushed.
"D-Did she really say that?"
"Yes." She nodded her head too.
Natsumi sketched a smile, she always thought she was a nuisance, but with Yoshino it didn't seem to be like that, same with Satou and Shidou, even with Tonomachi, who didn't seem to take anything so seriously, she was treated very well by him, even though he was a fool.
"So, I'll see you on Saturday, I'm going to bring my console for you to help me get the king's stone to have my Politoed, but the area where I can get it, according to a guidebook, is full of enemies... uh..."
"Oh, yes, of course I'll help you."
Yoshino also gave ideas of what they could do that day, although it seems that Natsumi wanted to play with her more than anything else.
The day continued and before going to lunch with Shidou, the blue-haired girl went to the bathroom, so she went to the nearest one and locked herself in one of them so she could pee.
After a few seconds, two girls came in to fix their hair and put on some makeup.
"Why do boys like short girls so much these days?"
"Hm? Why do you say that?" replied the other one while she was still doing her make-up.
"For example, look at Itsuka-kun, he's cool and nice, I don't know why he's with Yoshino-san, so simple and so girly."
"...!" Yoshino's blue eyes widened more and she ducked her head.
"It's true, I don't know what he's looking at her, maybe he likes little girls, hahaha!"
"Well, we used to be thought to like men, what with him not being separated from Tonomachi-kun. Maybe it's just out of pity that he's with her."
"Well, nobody's perfect~."
The two burst out laughing and walked out of there, while Yoshino opened the bathroom door and peeked out a little to see if no one was there.
"That's not true... I'm not..." She went to look in the mirror and her eyes were already watery. "It's not like that..."
Her eyes grew wetter until she let tears fall from her eyes and she covered them with her hands. Having self-confidence and strength had never been strong points for her, even with Shidou as a partner, it just complicated everything in a way, because she didn't feel worthy of being with someone like him.
Sure, Yoshino always worked hard and got along well with Shidou, but she couldn't help but feel like she was a burden sometimes.
Maybe it was true, maybe she was still a child.
But if it was the truth, why did it have to hurt?
Why did that bother her so much?
Why wasn't she like the others?
Didn't Shidou feel socially pressured by it?
Was she causing him trouble without realizing it?
Was he hiding it from her so as not to hurt her?
Was he thinking of leaving her when she least expected it?
"No, no, please don't... stop it, stop thinking... stop thinking..." Yoshino splashed water on her face to wipe away her tears.
Yoshino then remembered what to do when she was like this, so she locked herself in the bathroom again, opened her school jacket and reached inside to, from the inside pocket of the jacket, pull out a rabbit puppet and put it in her left hand.
"Don't worry, Yoshino, Yoshinon is here." A low and somewhat shrill voice was heard as Yoshino waved her hand for the puppet to speak, while she didn't even move her lips. "Shidou-kun really loves you, but maybe you should make a change, you'll even surprise him! Yoshino can also be mature and not depend on Shidou-kun, Shidou-kun must now depend on Yoshino."
"And how do I do that...? I don't know how to be mature, Yoshinon..." she said in a sad voice, looking at the puppet. "Maybe mom knows how..."
"That's a great idea, Yoshino, she's already a grown woman and she's very beautiful~."
"Yeah... I'm sure mom will know what to do." She let out a sigh and put the puppet away where it was. "I should talk it over with Natsumi-san, but... I don't want to worry her. I feel better when I talk it over with Yoshinon...".
This was all because of her father's inheritance, maybe it was a bad influence or maybe it was bad how she used her talent to protect herself, to be able to talk to 'someone' who wouldn't misjudge her and would have a more objective 'voice', different from herself.
Yukiharu Himekawa was an actor and had many minor roles, but he was a very good ventriloquist and his ability to modulate his voice was very much appreciated by the voice actress industry, so, that's where he established himself as a voice actor and did very well, he even went on TV interviews a couple of times and he really liked his puppet character, because he was funny and made jokes with it.
After he died, when Yoshino saw those videos and recordings of the program where he played the character, she realized that her father acted very differently and that the character could even say barbarities, although always with humor.
Of course, she knew that he did the voice of the character, but her father explained to her that it was not like that, that they were two different entities, in those years, obviously, she did not understand him, but as the years passed and she continued to turn to Yoshinon, who only started as her 'friend', she understood more and more that her father was right.
Yoshino and Yoshinon were not the same, Yoshinon gave quick solutions and said what she could not say.
The girl recovered and went to lunch with Shidou, who was worried because she did not return, but she took care to calm him down so that he would not suspect anything.
Sometime later, already at home, Yoshino went to take a bath and after that, she started to do her homework, to finally start researching on how to be more mature so that they stop looking at her as a child.
"Hmm... showing confidence and an attitude with more strength is essential for people around you to notice your presence... hm... wearing makeup and not being afraid to show more to the people around you is very important..." Yoshino was reading that information she got from the internet and the images made her blush a little. "Isn't that a miniskirt...? Uh, I don't think mom would like me wearing that... Or would she? And with showing... doesn't that show a lot?"
Yoshino kept looking at the pictures and kept blushing more, she didn't know if that was the right thing to do, but wearing makeup didn't look that bad, even though she didn't wear that at all.
"I-I have to try; I won't cause Shidou-san any more trouble!"
Yoshino went to her closet to open it wide, she took a plain blouse she had lying around and lifted it up enough to show her belly button, she tied a knot on the side to keep it that way with her belly exposed and looked for the shortest skirt she had, but she didn't have any.
"Nnh..." She got a little frustrated with that, but she made a fold to make it shorter and after that, she went to her mother's room to grab her makeup set. "N-Now this... nh..."
The girl had to put on a video on how to do her makeup properly, because she had no idea how much to use or how, so she put on the red lipstick first while looking at herself in the mirror, then she went about doing the rest according to the video she was watching of a girl who was a gyaru.
She was so focused on that, that Yoshino did not notice when the door of the house opened and closed softly, nor did she hear the tired footsteps of her mother, who was approaching her room.
"Today I'm really dead... I can't believe there were so many pieces of furniture to put together today, they're so heavy... Yoshino didn't come to greet me, is she changing or did she go out? I'll change first and then I'll see where she is..."
The woman came wearing a red polo shirt, with the Tenguu Post company logo on the left chest, black pants and without her tennis shoes on, she left them at the entrance.
But when she opened the door, she found a girl showing her navel, with her skirt at mid-thigh and when this girl looked at her scared, she could recognize her, despite the blush on her cheeks, eyeliner, shadows and painted lips.
"Yo... Yoshino!?" Nagisa took a step back.
"Ah...! A-Aah... no, no, no, no, mom, it's not what you think!"
"W-What are you doing dressing like that?! And since when do you wear makeup? You don't even need it, you're already pretty! No, wait, wait!" She came up to her and grabbed her shoulders and made a smile that hid murderous intentions, but it wasn't for her daughter. "Tell me, Yoshino..."
"Kyaaa! Y-Yes?"
"Don't tell me this... is Shidou-kun's idea, maybe?"
"...! H-How do you know this is because of Shidou-san...?"
"...!" Nagisa's mouth dropped open and beads of sweat formed on her large forehead. "Itsuka Shidou, how dare you do this to my little girl?"
"Mom, a-are you alright, are you upset?"
"Don't worry, Yoshino." She smiled and stroked her head gently. "I'm going to talk to Haruko-san about this, everything is going to be fine, this she has to know."
"Huh? B-But why are you going to talk to his mom?" Yoshino was more confused and worried, but Nagisa was already taking out her cell phone to talk to Shidou's mother. "Wait, mom, S-Shidou-san didn't do anything wrong."
"Ah, Yoshino, I know you love your boyfriend, but this is unacceptable, no one has to force you to look... um, l-like this."
"Uh... Ah, n-no, it's not like that, mom! Shidou-san didn't tell me, it's me!"
"...Huh?" She blinked a couple of times and cancelled the call to put the cell phone in her pocket. "What do you mean?"
"Ahh..."
Yoshino then told her mother what had happened, while she removed all the make-up from her face, finally arranging her clothes properly. They both sat on the bed.
"So that was it..." Nagisa let her hair down and looked at her daughter with an understanding smile. "I understand, Yoshino, sorry for misunderstanding... I was about to accuse Shidou-kun of something he didn't do, haha..."
"I-It's okay, I didn't explain myself well..." She ducked her head.
"You know? What you heard was cruel, but also wrong. True maturity has nothing to do with your height, nor how others perceive you. Everyone has their own opinion and their own image of an ideal woman."
"H-How can I be more mature, then?"
"Mnh... that's a difficult question..." She plopped down on the bed and with a hand signal indicated for Yoshino to go with her and Yoshino did so, Nagisa then hugged her daughter. "I think there are... various ways to do it, but they are not of your own free will. You can be more mature by being more aware of yourself and others, knowing what you can do now or in the future, but accepting what you can't do and leaving it at that, not blaming yourself, not feeling sorry."
The daughter listened to her mother, she did not think about anything, she did not whisper anything, she just listened with utmost attention, and the woman did not look at her daughter, she was stroking her hair while looking at the ceiling and continued talking.
"...Another way to be mature is... to know how to leave the past behind, as far behind as you can, but without forgetting, so that you can make better decisions in the future. It is good to try not to depend on anyone, but only if we are capable of doing so, which we are, but we don't realize it... we only realize our true will when a problem takes us to the limit of what we thought we could bear."
"…"
"It is not easy to grow up, especially when we do not learn from what happens to us. You can only mature if you keep on living and facing the problems that come up, like this one, Yoshino. Do you understand?"
"Yes... you explain very well, Mom. She smiled at last and hugged her tighter. So, is it okay if I'm the way I am...? I'm not a bother to Shidou-san?"
"It's only okay if you think it's okay, I will support you in how you decide to be, though accepting responsibility for what may happen because of it." She smiled. "And about Shidou-kun, if he considers you a nuisance for being how you are, then he shouldn't be your boyfriend in the first place."
"...! M-Mom!"
"And may he never call me mother-in-law."
"M-Mom!" She blushed all over, but she let out a giggle. "Uuh... I-I'm still not thinking about... t-that..."
"It was a joke, nothing more."
Yoshino sighed and Nagisa was left thinking for a few minutes about how her daughter had already reached that time of life where you feel more unsure of yourself than ever and where little pushes can either give you a lot of confidence or end in disaster.
"Mom, I forgot... Natsumi-san wants to come celebrate my birthday this weekend, can she come?"
"Of course! Is she staying over? Tell her it's no problem."
"Yes! I'll tell her to stay over."
"And that day... She looked at her daughter with a confident smile. I hope you like my present very much."
"...! Any gift from mom will always please me."
Yoshino was very calm after talking to her mother, although she did ask her to teach her how to put on makeup in a simple way, to which Nagisa readily agreed.
The days passed and the long-awaited Saturday arrived, both for Yoshino and Natsumi. Both mother and daughter prepared quite a lot of food and bought a cake which the three of them ate together, after that they watched a movie accompanied by the food they prepared beforehand.
Natsumi then went to play with Yoshino in her room, it was then that Nagisa went to her room, then to her closet, to take out a gift bag and called her daughter to leave her friend for a few moments.
"What's wrong, mom?"
"Birthday present!" She held out the bag to her and her daughter's eyes sparkled, she took it and opened it.
"...!" She pulled out a very pretty and elegant dress. "M-Mom, this dress is beautiful... R-Really is it for me?"
"Yes, it's yours, she replied softly. You are getting closer and closer to being a woman and I thought of something you could wear even to a party or a formal event."
"B-But this looks... very expensive..."
"Don't worry about it, Yoshino."
Yoshino hugged her mother with all her strength as tears slipped down her cheeks, Nagisa just smiled and hugged her back.