Chapter Text
Hey Nana,
Do you remember the first time we met? It was 5 March. It was snowing outside – so heavily that the classrooms on the ground floor went dark from the snow completely engulfing the windows. The school entrance was blocked and at around noon, they announced over the PA system that we were going to be stuck in school until the snow stopped and was cleared.
I was a new transfer student who joined only in the second term. I painfully had to leave my boyfriend, and best friends behind. Lunch period was always so lonely – I talked to all my classmates but they said I talked too much, so I stopped trying. I bet you were never alone during lunch, right Nana? You’re so cool and beautiful – who wouldn’t want to sit with you?
That very day, I slipped out of the classroom and bought the last strawberry milk from the vending machine down the hall. I had just stabbed the straw through the tiny dot of silver foil when a voice stopped me. I’ll never forget your first words to me, Nana.
“Hey, I was going to buy that.”
I remember how I whirled around and my eyes landed on you. I instantly turned red when I saw your tall frame looming over me, and your ebony hair matching your dark, glittering eyes. Only when you smirked at me did I realise I had been staring for way too long. I staggered back, apologising profusely and offered you the packet of strawberry milk. I kept my head down and stared at your thick combat boots. I didn’t want anyone to dislike me, especially not someone like you, Nana.
Just then, someone called out “Nana” and I immediately whipped my head towards the sound and replied “Hai!”, only to hear your voice overlapping with mine.
That was how we found out we shared the same name, and you gave me my first nickname – Hachi, short for Hachiko, the famous dog. You laughed (It was the most enchanting laugh I’d ever heard – so deep and throaty, yet ringing clearly) and said I was so eager to please, like a puppy. Oh Nana, when you smiled, I swear the storm outside cleared.
Some people told me it’s insulting to be nicknamed after a dog, but I honestly couldn’t care less. I would be your dog if it meant I got to spend my whole life with you, Nana.
XOXO,
Hachi