1 My Dearest Childhood Friend I

My name is Suzuki Ren. As of now, I'm 16 years old and a high school student.

Though most people of my age will likely agree without hesitation that they hate school simply by existing, for me personally, I quite like it.

Why? There's nothing much to it.

I just...like to observe my childhood friend from my seat from time to time. If I say it's for my own amusement, I wouldn't disagree because I truly think it's interesting.

In the eyes of my classmates, perhaps the whole school might think of my childhood friend as creepy as a ghost because of her pale skin.

Though her skin seems pale ill that one would only see it on a sick person, she's just as healthy as any other student.

Though, it wasn't just her pale skin that caused others to think of her like that.

The other reason is most likely her smile.

If I take it from my classmate's words, they could feel their skin crawling whenever she smiles at them, and all kinds of imagination emerged within their mind.

One also saw a delusion of my childhood friend out for their blood, all kinds of funny jokes spoke from their mouth.

I couldn't help but laugh at their childishness.

I mean, she was so cute. She still is.

"Good morning!" One of the girls from our class greeted her with enthusiasm.

In response to that, my childhood friend turned around, and slowly, the edges of her lips rose as she smiles.

"Hiiii?!!" The girl immediately ran away the moment she saw the smile.

That smile, only unique to her, is making my heartbeat nonstop.

My classmates often say I have a screw loose in my head, or that I have a weird taste, but I simply think they exaggerated a lot than necessary.

But how unfortunate, my childhood friend often than not always remains stoic most of the time.

Perhaps it's because of the rumors about her circulating, she also tried to keep her distance from me.

"...Can you stop hanging around with me? Your presence annoyed me." So she says without looking at me in the eyes.

When we're the only people left in the classroom, she finally opened her mouth.

Though she seemed to be concentrating on the study book, I knew her mind is elsewhere.

I'm her childhood friend, someone who grew up together and knew her since we're just snotty brats.

I can proudly claim that I can read her like a book, that is one of my proudest achievements in my life.

"Why don't you look at me in the eyes and say it again," I answered despite knowing she wouldn't be able to do it.

Her body trembles for a moment, but she eventually turns her body around facing me.

Though her silky black hair appeared unkempt in certain places, I think it suits her.

That stoic face that remains pure away from makeup, I wish I could see her smile again.

With an expressionless look on my face, I gaze into her eyes.

She quickly looked away as if feeling guilty about what she was about to say.

"Come on. I'm waiting," I urged her.

With her eyes darting all over the place, she bits her lips before mumbling incomprehensible words like she was stuttering.

I knew it.

My childhood friend who never says any mean word in her life would never be able to say such a thing in front of my face.

With a warm smile on my face, I slowly stood up from my seat before walking toward her while the latter seems to be on the verge of tears, yet the phrase she wanted to say never went out of her mouth.

Before the tears could drip down her cheeks, I gently pat her in the head.

"I'm sorry. I was a bit mean, aren't I? Will you forgive me?" I wish I could hug her right now, but I must restrain myself.

I may be a bit sadist myself because I end up making her almost crying.

I knew my childhood friend is pure, yet I couldn't help myself.

"How about we drop by at a convenience store on our way home, and get you an ice cream? You like strawberry flavor ice cream, right?" I suggested knowing how much of an addict she is to ice cream, especially strawberry flavor.

She slowly nodded her head before stuffing her book back into her bag and stood up.

I'm quite proud to say that I'm a few centimeters taller than her.

Though it wasn't to the point that I could rest my head on hers, very unfortunate.

On our way home, there's only silence but it wasn't an awkward one.

Turning my head to my right, I can see my childhood friend on her cloud nines licking the strawberry flavor ice cream as if it was the most delicious snack in the world.

It was a cute and rare sight.

If anyone from our school were to see her right now, they wouldn't put the creepy girl they thought in their school, side by side with her current state which was too far away from their imagination.

Only I can see her current state, I'm truly fortunate.

I wish I could monopolize her my entire life, but I knew sooner or later, people will eventually realize she's just an awkward person.

In reality, she's pure and naive, scarily so.

If I wasn't around her, she might get trick by skeptical people on her way home.

Though she could tell whether someone has ill intent, that didn't necessarily mean she's completely safe from a scammer and the other suspicious individual.

Her strength, for example, she's far below average.

I had known her since childhood, she was born with a weak constitution.

No matter how much she ate, she also would never gain fat like average people.

It's truly an envious constitution to some, but in reality, sickness is sickness.

That was why I always accompanied her till she reached her house.

Of course, I also got my reasons, but I'm not completely a bastard. I do worried about her.

When she finally finished her ice cream, her mood also immediately went back to normal, meaning her expression returned to stoic.

Of course, it goes the same for her mind, she started to think back on the previous topic regarding distancing herself away from me.

But as I previously told her to look at me in the eyes if she wanted to say those words, so long as she couldn't maintain eye contact, the situation will remain the same.

That was why, before she could think of some other plan to break us apart, I'm going to strike while the chance is present.

"I like your smile," all of sudden, I speak to her while we were walking on the sidewalk completely oblivious to the few people passing by.

"Ha?" Of course, she became confused by my sudden words. She stopped on her track and turned around to face me with a questioning look on her face.

"Smile for me," I didn't answer her curiosity and instead told her to smile. She frowned for a moment, she must be wondering what I was trying to achieve by making her smile.

Nonetheless, she didn't see anything wrong with his request and smiling she did. An adult woman in a working suit passing by next to them accidentally sneak a peek and saw her smile, which caused her to pale and immediately look away as her walking pace speed up.

Of course, this didn't go unnoticed by my childhood friend. And before she could say anything, I leaned closer to her before saying, "I really do like your smile."

And to added the cherry on top of the cake, I followed up my words with a confession I have been restraining from the bottom of my heart.

"I love every single thing about you."

"Your smile, your addiction to ice cream, your awkwardness in regards to talking to other people, that naivety of yours, every one of them, I love it."

"I love you."

And as to be expected, her whole face went red. At that exact moment, my feeling for her also shoots through the roof.