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As he walked home late one afternoon, Tsukasa's head was filled with worry.
Despite acting smug and airheaded most of the time, the arrogant high schooler wasn't immune to anxiety. Far from it, in fact. Nearly every day he was plagued with thoughts of failure. Of never achieving his goals.
Tsukasa glanced up at the sky. It was already beginning to go from blue to orange. Was it really that late...?
He looked around. Nobody else was nearby.
Suddenly, he heard a sound.
It was a muffled sob that sounded like it came from a girl. But not a girl Tsukasa recognized. Confused, he took a few steps in the direction of the voice.
"It sounds like it's around the corner..." The blonde haired boy muttered.
He peered around the side of a tall building, and sure enough, there was a girl in a school uniform standing there with tears running down her face. She was beautiful, Tsukasa had to admit. She had long, fluffy purple hair and eyes that somehow looked empty and filled with emotion at the same time.
Tsukasa shifted his foot slightly. The girl whipped around to face him. She looked startled, like she didn't know what to say. Her cheeks were red, hot, and stained with tears.
"Ah... sorry." Tsukasa didn't know what else to say, so he just stammered out an apology like an idiot. The girl stared at him for just a moment too long for comfort before directing her attention to the ground. When she lifted her head again, she wore a sweet smile.
"No... I'm sorry. It must have been surprising to hear someone crying like that... I didn't mean to cause any trouble."
Tsukasa blushed a bit. This girl was really pretty... she seemed completely perfect. But that couldn't be the case. Just a moment ago, she looked devastated. This must be an act.
"You don't have to pretend you're okay, you know." He said, regaining his composure. "You can't deceive Tsukasa Tenma, the star performer!" He did an absurd looking pose and grinned. The girl wasn't impressed.
"Um... I'm not lying." She said, still maintaining her smile. It faltered for a second though. Tsukasa just barely noticed.
"L-Listen. I don't know you at all, but... if anything is troubling you, you can tell me. Sometimes, letting out your feelings to a stranger can be really helpful!" That may have been a lie. Tsukasa wouldn't know; he had never tried it. He had no idea what he was saying, but something within him made him want to make this girl feel better.
The girl's hands clenched into fists. "I'm okay...!" She stubbornly insisted. "Stop pretending to be worried about me! Stop acting like you care! You know nothing about me, why should I open up to you? Just go away!!" Tsukasa gulped. This girl's facade had completely fallen apart.
"Well, why don't we get to know each other then? I'm Tsukasa. What's your name?" He reached out a hand, but the purple haired girl ignored it.
"...I'm Mafuyu." She finally said, her voice soft and low. "Mafuyu Asahina." After a moment she whispered, "I knew I shouldn't have let myself cry..."
"Mafuyu, huh? That's a lovely name! You may not realize it, but you're very lucky, Mafuyu! After all, not everyone gets the chance to meet a future world star-"
"You're like me, aren't you?" Mafuyu said in a deadpan voice.
"Huh?"
"You're acting like you're different, but I can tell by how you keep switching your personality. How about you tell me what's wrong instead?"
Mafuyu wasn't wrong, and that got on Tsukasa's nerves. "Don't change the subject!! You were crying, so tell me what's wrong!" He grabbed Mafuyu's shoulders and shook her. It took a moment before he realized that he might have gotten a bit too upset.
Mafuyu didn't seem to mind though. In fact, she seemed to reluctantly give in. "Fine. You'll just be bored, but... I'll tell you everything." Tsukasa could tell by her eyes that she was serious.
"My parents have always had... very high expectations of me." Mafuyu began. "They want me to be the best at everything I do. I have to be knowledgeable, great at sports, and excel at every class. I can't socialize with anyone. That's just a distraction in their eyes." She winced a bit. Talking about this was clearly painful for her.
"That's-" Tsukasa started, but Mafuyu wasn't done talking.
"It's not like I want to socialize anyways. My classmates say that they look up to me, but they only like me when I do favors for them. And my actual friends... they just try to get involved in personal matters that don't concern them. You're a lot like them, it seems." She glared at Tsukasa.
"That sounds really hard..." Tsukasa mumbled. He didn't know what else to say.
"It is." Mafuyu paused for a moment. "And... I don't hate my friends. I love them... I just want them to... I just... I just want them to leave me alone and let me die!"
Tsukasa's eyes widened in surprise. "H-Hey, wait a minute-"
Mafuyu tore away from his grip with alarming strength. "And now you're getting all worried. This is why you should just... mind your own business!" She nearly shouted.
Just as the purple haired girl turned to walk away, Tsukasa pulled her back and wrapped his arms around her. Mafuyu flinched.
"Get away from me...!" She hissed. Tsukasa ignored her, only squeezing her tighter.
"I'm not going to just ignore what you told me!" He shouted. "You matter more than you think! Who cares about your parents? They can get lost!!"
"I'm-" Now it was Mafuyu's turn to get interrupted.
"You should listen to your friends. They care about you, and all you're doing is ignoring them? If I had people to listen to my struggles, I would-"
Tsukasa stopped. He hadn't realized it, but he just started crying. He released Mafuyu and turned away.
"Sorry... I mean... that was just one of many wonderful performances from Tsukasa Tenma, the next musical icon!!" He blinked his tears away and turned back.
"If you ever need a wonderful person to speak to again... talk to your friends. They value you a lot more than you think." Tsukasa smiled. With that, he quickly walked off, leaving Mafuyu standing in shock.
"Maybe I'm... not alone in this pain." She finally whispered, wrapping her arms around herself like Tsukasa had.