TRIGGER WARNING: Major character death, Suicide, Bullying, Death Threats
"This"
Shizuku buried her head in her knees. Why were the other kids so mean? So what if she didn't get the joke? Why did they immediately start making fun of her.
She sniffed and felt a shadow darken where she sat, "Go away... I don't want to play anymore..." She waved her hand and buried her face deeper in her knees.
"Are you sure?" Wait, this wasn't one of the kids that was being mean to her. Shizuku looked up to a blue haired girl who was extending a hand out to her. The girl wasn't smiling. In fact, she had a more reserved expression.
Shizuku rubbed her eyes with her hand, "Who are you?"
"Kiritani Haruka." The stoic girl answered, "Me and my friend Minori were going to play with a girl named Airi. Would you like to join?"
Shizuku stared at her for a moment, "Why me?"
"You seemed upset." Haruka answered, "Do you wanna join?"
Shizuku smiled and took the girl's hand. "I would, Haruka-chan."
The girl's expression didn't change at all, but a small glimmer of light appeared in her eyes. "Alright, I'll lead you to them."
They two girls, hand in hand, walked across the playground till they met up with a girl with brown hair and gray eyes, and a short girl with short pink hair and a bandaid on her nose.
"Haruka! You brought someone!" The pink haired girl cheered and looked at Shizuku. "I'm Momoi Airi," She gestured towards herself, and then at the brown haired girl, "this is Hanasato Minori."
"Nice to meet you!" Minori chirped and stuck out her hand before she tripped on the crack in the sidewalk and fell on her face.
Airi sighed and helped Minori up while Shizuku smiled, "Hinomori Shizuku." She said, "Haruka-chan found me at the playground."
Haruka nodded and looked at Airi, "What did you say we were playing again?"
Airi brightened, "Oh right! I'll explain the rules for you, Shizuku, but basically..."
Shizuku had never had more fun before while at the playground. It had been hard to make friends before, but now she had Minori, Airi, and Haruka.
Haruka was the one who started it all.
And the one who ended it.
-----------------
"is"
Time stops for no one, and before Haruka knew it, she was sitting around the table with Airi, Minori, and Shizuku. They were preparing to open their letters to see if all of them passed the test into Miyamasuzaka.
"The important thing is that even if we aren't accepted, we'll still be friends!" Airi broke the silence.
Minori gulped, "Yeah!" She took a deep breath, "Yeah, you're right, Airi-chan! Nothing could break our friendship!" Her gaze met with Haruka before she flushed Red and looked back at her envelope.
Haruka smiled at the girls' antics and looked at Shizuku, who was having a staring contest with her envelope.
"Shizuku?" She called at the light blue haired girl, and Shizuku snapped her head up at Haruka.
"Ah, Haruka-chan..." She smiled nervously before sighing, "I guess I'm just a little nervous..."
"I'm sure you got in Shizuku-chan!" Minori cheered. "But..." Her face fell, "With my bad luck, I doubt that I got in..."
Airi patted Minori on the shoulder, "I'm 100% sure that you got in too, Minori! You know what? Let's all open our letters at once. Haruka, you count us off."
Haruka nodded and picked up her envelope.
"One..." She started, everyone eyed each other.
"Two..." She moved her fingers to the closing.
"Three!"
Rip!
Minori shrieked and jumped to her feet, pulling up Haruka with her.
Haruka smiled and began to laugh, Airi pulled Shizuku to her feet, and the four girls began to jump up and down with glee.
They would all be going to Miyamasuzaka Girls' Academy together.
-----------------
"all"
In Haruka's first year of highschool, she realized something.
She fell in love with Shizuku.
However, Shizuku was always swarmed by other girls who wanted to be her friend. It was only a matter of time before a random girl asked her out, and Shizuku would say yes.
And the thought made Haruka's chest tighten painfully.
Was this normal? To fall in love with a childhood friend and wish you were their only friend.
No, it was wrong to think that Haruka told herself. However, she didn't exactly see a way out of her dilemma.
Sighing, Haruka rested her head on her desk before a girl with teal pigtails walked into the classroom. Assuming she just wanted to see Shizuku, Haruka didn't pay her any mind until the girl walked up to her desk.
"Kiritani-san?" The girl asked.
Haruka raised an eyebrow and sat up, "Who are you?"
"Hatsune Miku, I...noticed you were eyeing Shizuku and sighing so I..."
"Oh! Oh, um, no, it's not like that, Hatsune-san. I just, um..." Haruka was stuttering as much as a nervous Minori, not good.
The girl smiled in a strange way before handing Haruka a piece of paper, "It's alright to be jealous, Kiritani-san. Put this on her desk, but don't tell anyone you got it from me."
Haruka looked at the paper confused. She put it into her backpack, "Thank you, Hatsune-san."
"Don't mention it, Kiritani-san." She smiled in that strange way again. "Seriously, though. I won't talk about our meeting."
Haruka looked up from her bag, but Hatsune was gone. Shrugging, she opened the paper up and felt her heart drop.
"What kind of sick..." She put a hand to her mouth.
Was she supposed to tell Shizuku to kill herself?
-----------------
"your"
Haruka could vomit. She did it. She put the white flowers in a vase and then placed the vase on Shizuku's desk.
And so, she does vomit. When she has the chance to, she runs to the bathroom and vomits in the toilet.
Heaving, she sits against the stall door and washes her mouth out with her water bottle.
"Haruka?" A voice calls.
Crap.
"Airi?" Haruka croaks out. She tries to stabilize herself by tracing the curves in the floor, but it smells too strongly of vomit so she can hardly think.
