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Hiiragi
That day at the candy store wasn’t much different than any other. This is a quiet neighborhood, so it’s lonely most days but that’s nice, too. It feels peaceful.
Then the door opened. And I met my destiny.
“Whoa! A candy store!”
Madam Yuri steps into the backroom. “Oh, are you boys having fun?”
“Yes!” I said, eager. I saw Tokusa and Katsura beaming as well.
“I’m so happy to hear that. Actually, can you let my granddaughter stay with you for a while?”
She stepped aside from the door and let a pretty girl come in. She was so pretty; I would say even prettier than me. Her hair was tied up in a long ponytail, it was so wavy and so pink. I felt myself blushing just from looking at her. But…
… she looked really shy. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she wouldn’t look us in the eye.
“This is my granddaughter,” Madam Yuri introduced her. “She and her mother just moved into my house. Unfortunately, there’s not much to do inside and her mother is at work today, so I thought I might let her hang out with you.”
I answered immediately. “Yes, of course! We’ll take good care of her!”
“Oh, Hiiragi. Enthusiastic as ever.”
Madam Yuri smiled at me before turning to her granddaughter. “Go ahead, dearest, introduce yourself.”
She looked hesitant. Still, she dropped her arms and bowed respectfully. “Hi, I’m Yurie… It’s super nice to meet you.”
Yurie.
Even her name is beautiful!
I waved carefreely. “There’s no need to be so formal. I’m Hiiragi, and these are my friends Tokusa and Katsura.”
“Hi!”
“Hey!”
“Come hang out with us. It’ll be fun!”
She blushed even stronger than I did before and looked at her grandmother for approval.
“It’s okay, dear, I’ll be right at the front of the store in case you need anything.”
Madam Yuri left and Miss Yurie stayed behind, although still glued to the doorframe.
“Come on,” I said. “If anything, we should be asking for permission to hang out with you. Your grandma owns this place, after all.”
“Ye… Yeah.”
She gave a tentative step forward and then came into the backrooms. We spent the rest of the afternoon talking. It was a great chance to get to know Tokusa and Katsura as well. Yurie was quiet for a long while, she seemed very reserved, but she was very polite and had such a musical voice:
“Oh! So, you guys are in the soccer club at your school?”
“Yeah.” Tokusa smiled proudly. “We are the top players.”
“What about you, Hiiragi?” she turned towards me. “Are you in any clubs?”
“I wish. I actually have a sick body; I can’t push myself too hard or be an athlete like Tokusa and Katsura.”
“Oh, I’m sorry!” she apologized.
“Hey, don’t say that, Hiiragi,” Katsura exclaimed. “It's true that you shouldn’t push yourself too hard, but seemingly small efforts make a difference too. Tokusa and I can teach you how to play if you want.”
“Nah, it’s probably for the best. If I became any more talented, it wouldn’t be fair for the others.”
“Uh-huh…”
Slowly, Yurie started opening up some more, and she had such a pretty smile and eyes! Honestly, I couldn’t understand how someone as perfect as her could be so shy. She was still very friendly, kind, and considerate. Her parents just got divorced so she and her mother moved into the neighborhood with her grandma. She was really sad to leave her former school and her friends behind, as well as her art and bakery classes, but we told her we could always hang out at the candy store together to cheer her up.
“By the way, Yurie, what school are you going to now?” Tokusa asked.
“Etora Middle School.”
The three of us boys almost choked on the Takoyaki.
“What?”
“Etora Middle School?”
“Yes. I’m starting after the break.”
“That’s where we go to school!” I exclaimed.
She was surprised. “No way!”
“Yeah, I’m in Class B. And these two are in Class D.”
“Oh, wow! I’d like to be in the same class as you guys.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Tokusa said. “We can always hang out between classes.”
“Still, I probably won’t know what to do with myself if I’m in a classroom full of people I don’t know.”
“Don’t worry about other people either,” I said. “If they can’t see your value, then that’s their problem. I mean, they’d have to be blind to not notice it at first glance.”
Tokusa and Katsura glared at me, but Yurie giggled and smiled.
“You’re so confident, Hiiragi. I’m so jealous.”
“Don’t be. You are perfect on your own, Yurie.”
“I think I’m more jealous of your classmates. You’re such a lively person, they must love to spend the day with you.”
“Um…” That’s not quite true. “Jealousy is an unworthy feeling that you shouldn’t bother with. And the people who don’t truly care about you aren’t worthy either, the ones who truly matter are the ones who return your kindness.”
“You are such a positive person.”
“Uh…” Both of us turned to see Tokusa’s and Katsura’s blank stares. “Should we leave you two alone for your date?”
Yurie nearly shrieked. “Wha—”
I, myself, was speechless. “D… Date?”
There was a knock on the door. Madam Yuri opened it carefully. “Sorry to bother you, kids, but the business is slow today so I’m thinking about closing early. That means it’s time to go home, Yurie.”
Yurie’s bright gaze fell. “Oh…”
“Madam Yuri,” I stepped up. “Would you mind if we stayed guarding the store while you’re gone?”
“Guarding it?”
“It’s not nighttime yet, so there’s a chance customers might come in before the sun comes down. They’ll be disappointed if they find the store closed, and you’ll miss those earnings. We can watch the store for you and be of service to the customers.”
I could feel my friends’ amazed stares at me. Madam Yuri hesitated.
“I don’t know… Assuming customers come in later today, do you kids even know how to use the register properly?”
“I do, actually. I’ve been coming to this store for many years and I’ve learned a lot from you.”
She still wasn’t fully convinced. “But, Yurie, I’ll be worried if you walk home by yourself.”
“I’ll walk her home,” I offered. My face heated a little, but I stood my ground. “We are neighbors now, and we’re going to attend the same school too, it’s only natural that we get used to spending time together.”
Yurie looked at me. “Hiiragi…”
“Well… I guess it’s fine,” Madam Yuri decided. “Yurie had also come visit me at the store before, so she knows how to use the register and where are the keys. It’s almost closing time so you should be fine by yourselves for an hour more.”
“Really?” Katsura beamed.
Tokusa’s eyes sparkled. “We’re gonna have the candy store all for ourselves?”
“If Yurie and Hiiragi are here, it should be fine.”
“Yay!”
Shortly after, Madam Yuri left and we stayed behind. No one came in after she left, but it was probably better that way, I could go on talking to my friends without interruptions.
“Hiiragi, so you speak French, too?” Yurie asked me.
“Un petit peu, Mademoiselle Yurie.”
“Whoa!” I could see that she was impressed, and I felt a little fluttering in my stomach.
Soon enough, it was nightfall, so we had to close the store and part ways. I think Yurie and I were too distracted for so much fun, we almost left the keys inside. Good thing Katsura and Tokusa were smarter than us.
“You two lovebirds need to pay more attention,” Tokusa scolded us while Katsura closed the door himself.
“We aren’t…”
“Done, the store is locked,” Katsura announced. “Here, Yurie. Take the keys to your grandmother.”
“Thank you so much, Katsura.”
I meant it when I said jealousy is an unworthy feeling, but when I saw Katsura giving Yurie the keys, and how their hands brushed, I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous.
“Well, we better head home, too,” Katsura said. He’s really nice and friendly, too, so jealousy or not, I can’t bring myself to hate him. “If you guys are free tomorrow, we can hang out as well.”
“Yeah, why don’t we go to the park nearby at midday?” Tokusa offered. “Katsura and I need to practice, you guys can watch and we can teach some soccer stuff too.”
Yurie smiled. “Oh, I’d love to!”
“Sounds fun. We’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“Bye!”
We parted ways after that, and Yurie and I started walking in the same direction. Walking home with a girl was a very new experience to me, but I tried to keep my usual cool.
“Thanks for letting me hang out with you, guys,” Yurie said. “I hope I wasn’t too bothersome.”
“Bothersome?” I was floored. “How can you say that about yourself!”
She was surprised by my reaction but I went on.
“A lady like you should never consider herself bothersome! I’ve met my share of bothersome people, all fakes and phonies, but you are genuine, Yurie. Never consider yourself anything less than that.”
She just stood there speechless. And then she dropped her head down, she started crying.
Oh, my God! What in the world did I do? I never considered myself dumb until now!
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” I started apologizing profusely. “I’m just so used to being forward; I didn’t mean for it to come out so harsh—”
“No, you’re good,” she said. She wiped her tears with her own hands. She was smiling. “I’ve had some pretty bad days lately. What you just said made me very happy.”
“Bad days?” How could someone so kind have anything bad happen to her?
“Yeah, my parents had been fighting a lot before their divorce. My father lost his job and our finances were tight. He started saying we were spending too much while my mom argued that we were only spending things necessary for me. My clothes, my books, my medicines. I felt I was the cause of all their problems; if I wasn’t there, they wouldn’t have gotten a divorce. I guess I’ve been closing myself off because of that. So, it makes me very happy that someone like you considers me worthy, Hiiragi! Thank you!”
“Yurie…” My hands twitched at my sides. “Please, do tell me if you hate this…”
I stepped forward and hugged her. She went very still before relaxing and returning my hug. Her hands and arms felt very delicate but held on to me so tightly.
“I’m so sorry. You should never consider yourself a bother. And what happened wasn’t your fault, everybody knows we can’t control those situations. I’m sure your father was just frustrated and didn’t mean it either. I’m telling you now, you are amazing. Never let anyone convince you otherwise.”
“Thanks, Hiiragi.”
I’m not sure how long we stayed like that, but by the time we separated, the sky was already full of stars.
“C’mon, we should get home before it gets any later.”
“Yeah!”
We kept on walking until we arrived at our houses, we truly lived next to each other now.
“Hey, look!” I pointed to one of the windows in my house. “The window of your living room sees into the window of my bedroom.”
“Oh, wow. I never noticed. This day is full of surprises!” Yurie seemed excited. “We could have midnight conversations like in the movies.”
“Sounds fun. Just knock on my window if you wanna talk.”
After that, I quickly became super close with Yurie, Tokusa, and Katsura. We would hang out together almost every day of the summer, and Yurie and I even kept talking after hours through the windows. I got sick some of those days too, so I couldn’t go outside, but my friends came to visit me and kept me company. Yurie would stay until very late, her house was just next door, so our moms didn’t think it was a big deal.
It’s already so disappointing when summer break ends, but this time, it was especially bitter. When I walked into the classroom, I immediately noticed my classmates hadn’t changed a bit throughout the long break.
“Ugh. He’s back again.”
“Honestly, he must have thick skin.”
I ignored them. I indeed have thick skin, but it was depressing to know I wouldn’t see my friends and Yurie as often.
Yurie…
“Hey!” a familiar voice pulled me back to the present. “Hey!”
Katsura and Tokusa were standing at the door. “Morning!”
The girls in my class started gushing and fangirling as soon as they saw the two of them, wondering who they were waving to. The two of them weren’t known to be particularly close to anyone in our class.
“Tokusa! Katsura!” Chuckling, I stood up and greeted them back. “Morning!”
As I walked over to talk to them, I could feel the shock and disbelief from my classmates, and heard more of their failed attempts at whispering:
“Wha… Hiiragi was close with Tokusa and Katsura?”
“Seriously?”
“You’re joking…”
Jerks.
But I guess everyone might think it’s weird for the bullied kid and the superstars of the school to hang out. Well, I’m super charming already, so I fit right in with them.
“Guys!” came another familiar, musical voice from the hallway. “Hey!”
Yurie was running towards us, dressed in our school uniform and with her hair waving loose and gracefully behind her back. She looked like a princess or a fairy, she was glowing.
“Yurie!” I entwined my hands with hers as soon as she was within reach. “You look beautiful as ever with that uniform!”
“Oh, Hiiragi, as charming and handsome as always. And guess what? I’m going to be in your classroom too!”
“Seriously? Don’t play with my heart.”
“Yes! I didn’t even have to ask my mom for it. The administration decided.”
“Cupid was on our side!”
“Yeah!”
Tokusa and Katsura gagged. “Ugh…”
“Lovebirds.”
Meanwhile, the classroom was filled with more rumors.
“What? So, he’s friends with the popular guys and has a girlfriend?”
“When and how did he become cool?”
“His girlfriend is so pretty too!”
Are these people physically incapable of lowering their voices?
“Hey, Hiiragi!” someone else spoke behind me. It was Akamatsu. He put an arm around my shoulders like it was nothing. “Who knew that you were so close with Tokusa and Katsura! And why didn’t you ever tell me that you had such a pretty girlfriend? That’s so secretive of you. We’ve been tight since elementary school, but you’re not going to tell me about this?”
Tokusa and Katsura looked like they wanted to punch him. Yurie remained calm and dignified as usual, but that was the first time I ever saw her frown.
“Huh,” I said to Akamatsu. “Weren’t you the one who told me not to talk to you?”
He stepped back at the coldness of my voice.
Once he did, I kept talking to my friends.
“Hey, you guys wanna play videogames at my house again?” Tokusa asked.
“Sounds good!” I replied.
“I’d love to!”
“Awesome! See ya later, lovebirds!”
“We’ll see you later!”
“Well, ladies first, Miss Yurie.” I stepped aside to let her come in. “My grades may suffer now, sharing a class with such beauty will be too distracting. Oh, well, it’ll be worth it.”
“Hiiragi, you always know how to make me blush.”
That moment felt like school life was barely getting started, and it only had good things in store for me.