It was a Sunday afternoon. The sakura flowers were starting to bloom, and the once-cold breeze was replaced with a warmer temperature, making the use of thick jackets unnecessary. While listening to music, I thought to myself.
I… I don’t know anymore! The gap between me and Fuyuki is growing! All of my attempts at talking to her were futile ever since the day she accidentally gave me her drawing notebook! I can’t just let her shun herself completely from the world… I… I can’t bear to see her lifeless eyes! If I only have Kobayashi-san’s phone number… Maybe she knows a way to help Fuyuki...
With that, I removed the headphones off my head and ran towards the driver’s room. There was an old man resting in his pajamas. I rushed to his bed and shook him.
“Nakamura-san, we need to get to Fuyuki’s house as soon as possible!”
He groggily opened his eyes and said, “What’s the matter, Chizuru-sama?”
“It’s urgent!”
He smiled at me and said, “Very well then, just give me a few minutes to change.”
As soon as he finished changing, we went off to Fuyuki’s house. As soon as we were in front of her mansion, I got out of the car as soon as I could and rang the doorbell. There was a girl around our age with silver hair that’s wearing a maid uniform. Her sharp eyes gazed at me. I took a deep breath and spoke.
“I’m Chizuru Takahashi. May I talk to Kobayashi-san?”
The girl’s gaze never faltered. She muttered something that I didn’t quite catch before responding. “Grandma retired a year ago. If you’d like, I can give you her phone number.”
"That would be wonderful! May I know your name?"
“I’m Shizuka Satou. Fuyuki-sama’s new personal maid. Are you perhaps trying to help Fuyuki-sama?”
“Yeah, she’s been pretty distant recently.”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “Fuyuki-sama has said a lot of good things about you, but yes, she has been pretty lifeless.”
“I just don’t know what to do anymore. It''s impossible to talk to her, and it’s like she turned into a completely different person. I…”
“Just take a deep breath…”
I listened to Satou-san’s instructions.
“I know that Fuyuki-sama has been unapproachable recently, but please don’t give up on her. She may have been through a lot of things, but she still has a pure heart. I may not be in the position to tell this, but the reason why she might have been unapproachable recently is her trauma in manga creation. She had lost someone dear to her a long time ago. I’m not too sure about the specific details, but it seems that she had lost her due to an incident that happened, and if I’m not mistaken, it is related to manga. I apologize if I do not have much information, as Fuyuki-sama is the type of person to keep to herself.”
“I understand. Thanks for telling me.”
“It’s my pleasure to help. I would also like to see Fuyuki-sama back to her normal self. Oh, before I forget. Here’s grandmother’s phone number.”
“Thank you, Satou-san. I’ll get going now.”If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
With that, I left the Furukawa household. Once I got home, I dialed the number Satou-san gave me. After a few moments, an old lady responded.
“Hello?”
“Kobayashi-san, it’s me, Chi-chan!”
The old lady’s voice immediately lightened up as soon as I mentioned my name.
“Chi-chan! I haven’t seen you since you were a little girl. How have you been?”
“I’ve been doing pretty well. I returned to Tokyo about a couple of months ago.”
“That’s nice. How’s little Fuyuki?”
“She has been pretty distant and lifeless recently. I was wondering if you know something that could help Fuyuki.”
The old lady’s voice saddened. “Hmm, she’s always been the type to act like everything is okay, but you said that she’s been quite lifeless, right?”
“Yeah…”
“Even after 15 years of raising her, I’ve never seen her act like that. She would always smile and act like nothing’s wrong… but not even being able to smile… Chi-chan, please keep an eye on Fuyuki! I have a bad feeling about this… Don’t ever get tired of checking up on her, even if it feels like she’ll never open up. She needs all the support she can get.” Her voice was filled with distress.
“Very well, Kobayashi-san. I’ll make sure to keep an eye on her.”
“Please take care of little Fuyuki.”
“I will, Kobayashi-san, and thanks for the advice.”
“It was delightful to be able to talk to you again after all those years. Goodbye”
“Bye”
With that, I hung up.
My hunch was right. This situation is worse than I could possibly imagine. Even Kobayashi-san hasn’t seen her act that way… I shouldn’t say anything that could cause her even more distress. She must not know that I’m Chi-chan! With her current state, I don’t know what she’ll do if she finds out. Fuyuki…
???
ring ring
This marks the end of today’s class. I turned to my left and saw Fuyuki. She was completely expressionless. Her movements were also slow, almost as if she’s pushing herself to carry on.
"Uhh, Fuyuki, how was our last class?”
She didn’t even dare to face me. “It was fine.”
I finished packing up my things and said, “Let’s go?”
“Okay”
???
It was another repetitive day where nothing notable happened. Me and Chizuru-chan walked up to the gate without saying anything to each other.
I wonder how long she’s gonna continue being by my side… After all, reality is different from shojo manga, where most stories have a happy ending. Reality, on the other hand, won’t always be your desired ending… If only life were like a shojo manga, maybe Koto-chan would still be alive, maybe Chizuru-chan would genuinely want to stay by my side forever… Sigh, as if you can do anything about it…
After a couple of minutes, we arrive at the gate. As usual, it was filled with cars. I didn’t spot my car, so I decided to call my driver. As I took out my phone, a car pulled up right in front of me and Chizuru-chan. The car rolled down the window at the back, revealing a couple that’s fairly old. The couple smiled at us and said, “Chi-chan!”
Chizuru-chan’s voice lit up in excitement.
“Mom, dad, you’re here!” Chizuru-chan walked up closer to her car.
“We were able to get out of work early today, so we decided to come fetch you from school.”, the man said.
Chi-chan… that name sounds really familiar…
“And it looks like Fuyuki is here with you! I can still remember you two happily playing together when you were little children.”
“Hey mom!” Chizuru-chan raised her voice in panic.
Me and Chizuru-chan… have known each other since we were children??
All of my memories of the past flashed to me.
???
It was a hot day at the playground. I was sitting at the swing while Chi-chan pushed me. I laughed.
“Higher, Chi-chan, higher!”
I could hear her breathing heavily. “I can’t push you any higher than this.”
“Well, I guess there’s a limit on the strength of Chi-chan’s little arms.”
Her cheeks turned red. “Hey…”
I laughed again. “This time, you can have a go on the swing.”
I stood up and I pushed the swing but it didn’t take a while for Kobayashi-san to run as fast as she can towards us.
“Fuyuki, you shouldn’t push yourself! What if you get an asthma attack?”
Chi-chan watched us carefully as Kobayashi-san got mad at me.
“Okay, I won’t do that again…”
I looked at Chi-chan and said, “Kobayashi-san is no fun! But, I guess I have to listen…”
“We can play at the slide instead.”
I jumped in happiness. “I love playing at the slide!”
We went to the slide over and over again until it was time to go home.
???
“I’ll always be by your side”… Chi-chan…
My body was unable to move when I realized.