2 My Dearest Childhood Friend II

My name is Yui.

I'm 16 years old student.

I hate crowded places and noisy people, why can't they just mind their own business?

Friends mean nothing as in the end, everyone will go to the afterlife on their own.

The Reaper might accompany the soul, but you can't exactly say it's your friend.

Is it even a real living entity?

It's a Death Reaper so certainly not a living person, but that's not the point she was trying to say.

What if it's holographic and comes to pick us up because we're just living in a simulation?

There's no solid proof that there is an afterlife beyond death after all.

Well, there won't be any of that unless someone came back to life, literally.

It's undoubtedly an interesting topic to dwell on, but at the moment, I had something else to think about.

The confession.

Suzuki Ren, my only childhood friend.

I don't even know why he keeps staying by my side when most of the people I knew since young had long discarded their friendship with me.

Whenever I was sad, he was there.

In happiness and day-to-day life, he was always there right next to me.

It would be a lie to say I don't have any feelings for him.

To me, he was simply out of reach.

He's nice and never stops socializing with others, unlike me, who'd preferred being alone.

I push people away from me the first sign they talked to me.

Also, I'm not as pretty as other girls.

My hair is over the place, and people often ran away the moment they saw my smile.

I knew rumors are going around about how scary my smile is, some even think that I'm actually an evil spirit, not a real living person.

There's nothing wrong with their words, I am indeed paler than normal.

I didn't bother keeping my hair straight, I'm content so long as my hair smells fine after a good wash.

I also don't wear makeup, it sounds pretty time-consuming to make oneself pretty every day after bathing.

Of course, there's such a thing known as light makeup, but isn't one natural face fine on its own?

Basically, I don't make myself pretty.

I'm just...plain.

So here's the million-dollar question.

How could my childhood friend even interested in me when I'm such a plain girl?

I have once asked him, what was his ideal girl, to which he immediately answered with a serious look on his face, "they must have big boobs. Big boobs filled man with hope, and I believe that saying to be the truth of the univers—"

At that time, I thought he was simply joking around because he was shy to tell me the truth.

I looked down at my bulging chest and pout.

What makes the boy so interested in this, which in my opinion was just nothing but useless fat.

My back would hurt from time to time carrying this heavy 'sack' around, I wish I had a flat chest like mom.

Though, she might get mad at me if I were to say that in front of her.

It looks easy to move around, and can even lay my front without hurting my chest if I stayed too long in that position.

Truthfully, I do sometimes noticed the gaze from others lingering on my chest, I thought they simply too shy to look at me in the eyes like me and just shrugged it off.

After all, the gazes eventually disappeared when Ren stepped in front of me.

When I heard his sudden confession, my mind went blank.

The expression on his face at the time was serious, he wasn't joking around.

But how do I respond to that? I have never been in any relationship, and neither did I receive any confession.

It's normal that the boys at my age would rather date the more pretty one in my class than someone plain like me.

My heart undoubtedly beat harder than anything I ever experience in my life.

It's no doubt I was happy to hear that, yet I'm also feeling complicated.

Is it alright for me to be with him? Maybe there's a better choice out there, someone who clearly isn't plain like me.

What if he gets bored of me one day?

I'm scared.

And so, I ran away.

The coward me who was afraid of the future couldn't gather the courage to answer him.

Amidst the running, I could feel the wind trying to soothe my troubled mind, yet I couldn't calm down at all.

Even now, though I'm resting my back on my bed, my mind still thinking about it.

I even remember every detail on his face, that determined gaze of his still makes my stomach feel funny every time he appeared inside my mind.

I wonder what he's thinking right now.

Is he heartbroken? Possibly, I ran away without answering his confession after all.

Oh no, what about tomorrow?

He definitely will be coming to my house to get me, just like any other day, we will then be walking toward the school side by side.

How can I act normally after hearing his confession?!

More importantly, how am I going to sleep with all these thoughts inside my head?

...

"Good morning, Auntie."

"Oh my, you're here already, yet she still preparing in her room. Good morning, and please take care of my daughter like always."

"Of course, leave it to me. Don't worry, I can wait until she comes down."

"My, you're simply too good for my daughter."

It was just as I expected, he knocked on the door and my mom who greeted him also brought him to the living room afterward.

At least, he doesn't sound heartbroken, otherwise, mom would have long noticed it.

But what do I do now? He's right there, and yet I'm too afraid to walk into the living room.

Looking at the clock hanging on the wall, time is just as cruel.

If I keep wasting time, I will be late for school.

As much as I hate school, I don't want my perfect attendance to be ruin.

I...I will just act normal like how I usually am, the me who never heard of confession, yes, that should work.

With a heavy sigh, I pick up the bag and walk out of my bedroom before heading downstairs, toward the living room where Ren is waiting for me.

When he saw me, he greeted me like usual before bidding farewell to my mom and we left the house just like that.

I was about to sigh in relief when Ren suddenly halt his step and called out my name before saying, "Yui, I really love you. Will you go out with me?"

'Yui, I really love you.'

Those words keep replaying inside my mind like a broken record.

My tummy feels funny once again.

I...don't really hate it, in fact, I wanted to relish it even more.

This happiness, it's addicting.

"...but I'm just a plain girl. Surely, there's someone out there that is a better choice than me."

I couldn't help but tremble when I noticed his hand reaching out to me.

With a reassuring smile on his face, he gently caresses my cheeks and says, "Yes, there are definitely girls out there that are much prettier than you. Celebrity for example. But did you know? My heart still chooses you over them."

"No matter what you say to discourage me, my heart would never waver. I love you, and only you."

"Even if you become sick and couldn't walk someday, I will still love you."

"I wanted to grow older with you by my side."

"I will say it once again, I love you."

"Yui, I truly wanted to spend the rest of my life with you."

If you say so much, how could I hold myself back?

Don't blame me for being greedy.

With tears streaming down my cheeks, I slowly nodded my head in acknowledgment.

From then onward, we truly become a couple. To my surprise, my classmates seem to be thinking, 'finally, they're an item now', clearly written on their faces when we both entered the class while holding hands.

Needless to say, my face went red, and I immediately run toward my seat before hiding my face within my arms resting on the table. Unlike me who was embarrassed, Ren instead went to his friend circle before admitting out loud that he was in a relationship with me.

How could he do that so boldly?

Isn't he embarrassed at all?

When I sneak a look in his direction, he noticed my little movement and smiles toward me, I quickly hide my rosy face again.

I...I think it will take me a while to get used to this degree feeling of happiness.