Chapter Text
Muu and Rei had started becoming friends.
The only problem was that the two girls seemed to have completely different definitions of the word "friendship."
Rei was aware of Muu's popularity, and also that the blonde’s group didn’t really like her.
Sometimes, the four girls would walk down the school hallway with Muu, who would simply glance at Rei and then continue laughing and chatting.
She wasn’t jealous or anything.
She wasn’t the type of girl who wanted to cling to her friends like gum all day.
But it would be nice if Muu at least stopped to say "Good morning!"
Well, at least they sat together for lunch during break.
On the rooftop.
Away from the other girls’ view.
Just the two of them.
Anyway, it didn’t matter.
It wasn’t like Rei spent all her time alone (small talk with girls from other classes counted, right?), but for her, it was better to stay away from her classmates to avoid more trouble in the future.
Yeah. That was best.
She was alone because that’s what she wanted.
Not because the other girls excluded her.
...
"Rei-chan, is something wrong?" Muu asked while taking her shoes out of her locker.
"No. It's nothing."
Rei pulled out her wet sneakers and the box cutter inside, causing the notes on top to fall to the floor.
She threw the box cutter and kicked it away before walking out of the school in her wet shoes.
Muu picked up one of the notes that had fallen from her friend’s locker and ran after her once she finished reading it.
"Rei-chan... are they still bothering you?"
"…"
She didn’t want to answer.
Even after getting a clean uniform, it seemed someone was still leaving notes in her backpack, her locker, and even under her desk.
All of them said “SLUT” in capital letters (it was cruel, but she had to admit her bully had nice handwriting).
There was no way to know who was behind it.
Her classmates had started treating her decently (ignoring fact that they were excluding her) and had forgotten the old uniform incident.
But one girl kept harassing her anonymously.
Rei sighed. "I’ve taken care of it.
You don’t need to worry, Kusunoki-san."
"No need to call me that, you know. You can call me 'Muu' like everyone else.
Besides... things didn’t go so well last time you said you'd 'take care' of the problem."
She had a point.
"You’re right, but honestly, I don’t care.
The girl who hates me so much is such a coward that she doesn’t dare insult me to my face."
"But..."
"Muu, I’m fine with it.
She’ll get tired of wasting ink and paper on me soon and leave me alone."
".... If you say so."
...
Rei kept receiving the same notes in her locker, but this time they said things like
“fucking whore”
“why don’t you just kill yourself?”
“you’re disgusting”
“you should be ashamed to even show up at school”
— and more things she’d rather not remember.
Muu was beside her when the papers fell.
Without Rei noticing, Muu took one and quietly slipped it into her bag.
...
"Hey, Rei-chan."
"Hmm?"
"We won’t be able to eat together today..."
Rei wasn’t upset.
It was fine. Her friend probably had other things (or people) more important than Rei.
"No problem. See you later, okay?"
"Of course!!"
...
After finishing her lunch, Rei walked around the hallway a bit to kill time.
Rei didn’t mind being alone—she was used to it.
But sometimes, she couldn’t help but wish she was chatting with the other girls and sharing food.
Once, Rei asked Muu if she could introduce her to her friend group to confirm her suspicions (since the incident, the girls had been avoiding Rei and acting like she didn’t exist), but Muu had immediately gone pale and refused.
They never brought it up again, but it was inevitable that Rei felt bad about it.
If her suspicions were correct, it meant Muu’s group didn’t want Rei around.
Or Muu was embarrassed to introduce Rei as her friend in front of them.
(Honestly, she didn’t know which option was worse.)
Still, that didn’t mean it was the end of the world. After all, there must be other people outside her class who liked her, right?
Maybe tomorrow she should try approaching girls from other classes and talking more.
...
"Girls, do you recognize this handwriting?"
Muu held up the piece of paper that read:
"You’re disgusting. A slut like you should transfer schools. LOL."
One of the girls set her food aside and examined the paper.
"Hmmm... wait."
"Do you know who wrote it?"
"It’s Mai-san’s handwriting!"
"HUH?!"
The other two girls turned and checked the note as well.
"Yep, definitely Mai’s."
"Mai, huh? That name sounds familiar..."
Then it clicked.
“Mai” and Muu had been friends last year, but split when Mai stole a pair of expensive earrings Muu’s parents had given her for her birthday.
Muu had let Mai watch her bag, and the girl had dared to betray her trust that day.
She simply distanced herself from Mai and warned a few classmates so something like that wouldn’t happen again.
After that... Mai started rumors about Muu, but stopped when Muu and her friends got involved.
Muu thought she had dropped out, because no one had mentioned her since, and she hadn’t seen her in the hallways or class either.
One of her friends tilted her head and looked suspiciously at Muu.
"Hey, where’d you get the note?"
"Uh..."
The girl didn’t want to answer.
She had tried to hide Rei from her friends to protect her.
They had already forgotten the uniform incident and even praised Muu for being so charitable toward the new girl.
Her friends might include Rei in their group activities if Muu asked.
But she didn’t want that.
Rei was very dear to Muu, and she had no intention of sharing her with her friends.
Besides, there was something inside her that desperately told her to keep them away from Rei.
"You remember the new girl, right? She asked me for help because she was being bullied..."
In the end, she gave in and told a little lie (but it was a good lie, right? It was to help Rei-chan!)
"Ohh, Rei?"
"The one from the motel?"
"T-The point is!— She needs help..."
"Aww... Muu-san, you’re too kind!"
Her friend patted her head while laughing. "If it’s true, let’s confront Mai."
The other two nodded.
"She’s always in the classroom, right? Let’s go ask her."
Ai sat at the table with some drinks. "Hey, what’re you guys talking about?"
"Mai might be bullying Rei-san..." Muu answered. "We were going to confront her and ask if she wrote this."
Ai read the note. "Huh... Definitely her handwriting."
"Right? We were going to the classroom to talk to her."
"Mai’s not there. I think I saw her go somewhere else after class."
"Eeeeeh? Then what should we do, Muu-san?"
"...
Let’s look for her tomorrow."
...
The next morning, Rei didn’t find notes in her locker, which made her feel relieved for a moment.
Instead, they had written on her desk—all the cruel things she had already read before, plus drawings related to suicide.
On top of it was a yellow box cutter with a note that said "Use it!!!"
Rei threw it to the floor and sat down anyway.
Her classmates started whispering, but Rei ignored them.
She could clean the desk later.
Class continued as if nothing had happened.
She kept her head down the whole time to avoid everyone’s stares.
She even made sure her notebook covered her desk enough to hide the writing underneath.
This is so embarrassing.
Rei could feel the girl beside her glancing at her for some reason, but she chose to focus on what the teacher was saying.
...
During history class, the girl behind her tapped her shoulder and handed her a small note.
"Psst, it’s for you."
"Th... thanks?"
She read the note suspiciously.
"Probably the same one who did this to my desk."
"Rei-chan!!! Are you okay? :,<
– Muu"
Rei looked at Muu, who gave her a small wave while jotting something in her notebook.
She looked worried.
"...
Give this to Kusunoki, please."
"Mhm."
Rei sent a reply, and Muu started writing again after reading it.
The girl passed the paper back, and Rei read it.
"I can clean my desk, don’t worry."
"You sure?? °^°
I promise to help if you need me!!"
Muu had beautiful handwriting. It definitely matched her appearance as a cute, rich girl.
"Let’s pay attention in class, ok? :)"
"Fine -_-"
":p"
Muu couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at her friend’s last message.
She tucked it into her bag and kept listening to the teacher.
...
During break, Muu stayed in the classroom to “finish an assignment.”
Once Mai left, she quickly went to her backpack and began searching it.
There was nothing interesting, so she looked through Mai’s desk and classroom locker.
Muu was trying to find any evidence that Mai was the one bullying Rei.
If she did, there’d be no need to confront her with her friends.
She could show the evidence to a teacher, and Mai might get detention—or even be expelled.
"I can’t find anything...."
Desperately, Muu dumped Mai’s backpack on the floor and rummaged through it.
She looked through everything until she found something remotely close to “proof” of the harassment.
Aha!
Muu found a half-used pack of multicolored sticky notes among Mai’s things.
"...So Mai used this to write the notes...."
*Tuck*
"?"
Muu quickly stuffed the sticky notes into her bag and peeked out the classroom door to see where the sound came from.
She spotted Mai and five other girls by the stairs.
They looked frightened and worried, whispering something Muu couldn’t hear.
She didn’t think—she rushed over out of curiosity.
She went pale and her heart stopped for a second when she saw Rei on the ground.
"REI!" she screamed, running to help.
Muu shoved one of the girls standing in front of Rei (not like she was doing anything useful anyway).
She dropped to her knees and shook Rei a couple of times.
She was alive and conscious—thankfully.
Rei slowly put her hands on the floor and tried to get up, nearly falling again.
Muu wrapped her arms around Rei’s waist to keep her steady and stop her from falling.
"Are you okay?" she asked, her face full of worry. Maybe she would’ve cried, but not in front of all these people.
"N-No, but thanks for helping..."
The other girls started murmuring.
"Rei-san, what happened to you?"
"I think someone pushed her...."
"Eh?! Did you see who?"
"No, sorry."
Among the growing crowd stood Mai.
"Mai-san, you did this, didn’t you?"
"!!"
Mai fled the scene the moment Muu laid eyes on her.
...
Muu accompanied Rei to the infirmary once she was strong enough to walk on her own.
The nurse told her it was no big deal—just a minor ankle sprain that could be treated with some ice, along with a small bump on her head.
She wouldn’t be able to study well if her head kept hurting, so the nurse suggested Rei stay until the end of the day.
Muu took Rei’s hand to try and comfort her.
"Are you feeling okay, Rei-chan?
Muu is really worried about you..."
Rei took the ice pack she was given and placed it on her ankle, feeling a bit of pain in the process.
"I’ll be fine. The nurse said it wasn’t a serious injury."
"But it’s going to leave a bruise, right?"
"Yeah, but bruises fade too."
"...."
Rei laughed. "Don’t worry, Muu-san. You should go to class."
"And leave Rei-chan alone here? No way!"
"Come on... I don’t want you to miss something important just to stay with me.
Besides, I might need some notes later."
"...Hmph..."
Muu wiped away her small tears with the sleeve of her sweater. "Alright."
She let go of Rei’s hand and left the infirmary—but not without saying goodbye first.
After watching Muu leave, Rei collapsed back onto the bed she was sitting.
Even though she had said she was okay, her head still hurt. It throbbed every time she closed her eyes, and that sensation was killing her.
Her ankle was just as bad—maybe even worse.
She had simply been walking without bothering anyone, and before she knew it, someone had hit the backs of her knees, making her fall painfully.
She tried to turn her head to see who had done it, but everything happened so fast...
There had been five girls behind her, but she couldn’t even remember their faces
Rei sighed.
"It’s probably that crazy girl with the notes..."
But it was (kind of) her fault.
She believed in that stupid idea of “if you ignore them, they’ll go away eventually,” and the bullying only kept getting worse.
It was too frustrating, and just thinking about it made the pain worse.
Rei tried to close her eyes and sleep a bit to calm down and push away any thoughts of violence or revenge.
...
"AH!-"
One of Muu’s friends shoved Mai into a corner, and the rest of the girls surrounded her in the bathroom.
"So it was you, huh?"
"N-No—
I-I don’t know what you’re talking about—"
Another girl lightly smacked Mai’s head, making her flinch.
"Speak up! And don’t play dumb."
"Wh-What do you want?!"
"Stop lying, Mai.
Wasn’t it enough to steal from Muu-san and talk trash about her?"
"No—
That’s not true..."
Mai’s trembling gaze met Muu’s, who was silently watching from the bathroom door.
At that moment, a few tears rolled down Mai’s cheeks, and she smiled nervously.
"Hey! We’re talking to you."
Mai chuckled.
"This has nothing to do with you—
Ah!" One of the girls grabbed Mai’s hair and yanked it hard.
"Stop lying, you bitch."
As she let go, another girl kicked Mai in the leg, making her collapse onto the cold floor.
Ai joined the “confrontation” by lightly kicking Mai when she fell.
Another girl crouched down and threw the papers that Muu had collected from Rei’s desk and locker.
"You did this, didn’t you?"
Mai’s eyes filled with terror when she saw the notes, confirming Muu’s suspicions.
Mai was the one bullying Rei.
Mai tried to lift her head, but one of the girls stepped on it before she could say anything.
Muu crossed her arms, still staring at Mai.
She sighed, feeling a little pity for the girl she once considered a “friend” (or something like that).
But... bullies deserve to suffer the consequences of their actions, right?
Mai reached out toward Muu, as if begging for forgiveness, pleading for her to help.
...
It was Mai’s fault.
If she wanted forgiveness so badly, why cause trouble?
Especially to Muu and the things that belonged to her.
Is fine. This was fine.
Mai-san brought it on herself.
While the girls kept trying to make Mai talk, Muu locked the bathroom door behind her and left.
"MUU!
I’M SORRY—"
Mai’s cries didn’t reach Muu’s ears.
...
After a long and boring day in the infirmary, Rei was finally free to leave.
She hadn’t really done much—just slept and maybe finished some homework from the day before.
She would have liked to listen to music or watch a show to kill time,
but the headache was still present and made it hard to focus.
Luckily, the pain had started to disappear (though the same couldn’t be said for her ankle).
Walking still hurt, but she could manage.
The only problem now was explaining what had happened to her mother.
She could mention the notes, but that would be too embarrassing.
She had kept quiet about it for too long, and her mother would probably lecture her for being "weak" and letting herself be bullied so easily.
Hah... what a tough decision.
"Rei-chan~"
"AH!- M-Muu..."
The blonde, who she hadn’t seen for half the day, appeared behind her.
"No way!! Did I scare you?"
"Not at all...."
Seeing Muu made her feel a little happy.
She really had worried, and it felt nice to know at least one person cared about her.
The two of them started walking toward the school exit.
For Rei, it was a bit hard, so Muu slowed her pace to stay by her side.
Her gaze, once so bright and cheerful, now seemed empty and a little strange to Rei.
She’d even say it was scary.
"Feeling better now?" Muu asked nervously.
Rei nodded slowly. "I think so—
It still hurts, but not as much as before..."
"Hmm~ I’m glad."
"Well, you don’t look very glad" Rei thought, noticing how Muu’s smile didn’t reach her eyes.
Rei looked down and noticed Muu was wearing sneakers now.
"Are they new?" Rei asked, trying to change the subject.
"Oh, these?" Muu nodded, looking a little more cheerful than before.
"I took Rei-chan’s advice! I bought them at the mall."
"I guess that explains why you look shorter than before."
"HAH?!"
Muu pouted while Rei laughed.
"Just kidding! Ha ha ha.
You know, they kind of look like mine."
"R-Really? I had no idea..."
Eventually, the two students arrived at the bus station and sat down together to wait.
Muu clung to Rei’s arm like last time.
It had become almost a routine for them, so Rei didn’t feel uncomfortable when her friend got too close or had too much physical contact.
You could even say it felt comforting in a way—for both of them.
"Hey, Muu."
"What is it?"
"Um, I think we should do something one day.
Like visit a park or eat ice cream together."
"Really?!
I’d love that!"
Rei’s suggestion seemed to cheer Muu up, whose face finally lit up with a happy smile and sparkling eyes.
Rei smiled back.
"If you want, we can go whenever you’re free—"
"Don’t worry about that, Rei-chan.
Muu’s free all week!"
"Really? Hehe, then let’s go to the park this weekend."
"Mhm! I like that idea..."