The First Step Is The Hardest

A sudden draft from a passing truck whipped Miyami's dark hair into the air, fluttering wildly before eventually settling back down over her shoulders. Her eyes cautiously opened from her squint, having been shielded from any dust that might have been kicked up from the city streets.

It was a rather bright Monday morning in Nagashiro today. The summer heat never quite got too intense this close to the mountains, but the warmth of the sun was still noticeable on her exposed shoulders, legs, and face. Miyami's pale skin slightly glistened with sweat, although that was likely more due to nervousness than the weather.

Her eyes laid upon the small shop across the street from her: an old electronics repair store—a plain and rather unimpressive building. A sign hung on the door that read, "Nozari Electronic Repairs." Despite its name though, it mostly sold new products from what her uncle had told her.

Her chest inflated with as deep as a breath as she could manage, then let it out in one go as several more cars passed by.

She could do this. The old Miyami Nozari was gone. This was a new job. A new life. The only thing left between her and that fresh start was a crosswalk and her crippling anxiety. How hard could that be?

Her legs refused to move though, so she clenched her fists and began hyping herself up.

"Come on, Miyami," she thought. "It's a simple walk. Just a few steps and you're there. Plus, it's your uncle we're talking about. He's not your father; he's a decent guy!"

"…"

The mental encouragement didn't help much though.

Even if she knew that this change was for the best, she was still extremely nervous. It had been years since she had last seen her uncle, after all, and the last time she did, she had looked VERY different. Despite how he already knew about her situation, it didn't make meeting him face-to-face in her new identity any easier.

At least he seemed welcoming and accepting of her over LINE. That had been a nice change of pace.

The sound of a light car honk brought her back to reality, and she nearly jumped from her skin. A box truck was waiting impatiently at the crosswalk, and the driver inside was looking right at her, waving his hand to move.

Her eyes flicked to the pedestrian signal and her stomach clenched. Ah! She was so stupid! It'd been green this entire time, and she didn't even notice!

Miyami began awkwardly shuffling across like a penguin after a quick nod in apology to the driver.

The first step was always the hardest, and Miyami was well aware of this—it always was. But every journey begins with that single first step, and hers was long overdue.

*shuffle-shuffle*

*shuffle*

*shuffle-shuffle*

A sigh of relief escaped her lips as her sneakers set foot on the sidewalk. Whew. That was one hurdle over. Several more to go, but it was progress at least.

The store was right in front of her now, and the glass doors reflected her appearance back at her slightly in the morning light. A pale-skinned girl stared back at her, her long black hair covering one of her eyes. Her clothing aside from her shorts was a little unisex, but she pulled it off well enough. A simple black tank top, a light blue hoodie, and a pair of grey shorts.

It wasn't exactly the height of fashion, but that didn't matter. After all the reflection staring back at her was undeniably feminine. All that hard work from the past three years was paying off.

She allowed herself a light smile. Hm, perhaps she was overthinking things. Perhaps it was all going to turn out okay—

"Hey, lady! The shop isn't open yet!" a sharp feminine voice exclaimed from behind her, interrupting her thoughts. "We don't open for another fifteen minutes, okay?!"

Miyami's heart started hammering like crazy in her chest as her head whipped around to see the source of the voice.

She instantly froze.

There stood a slightly shorter, young woman with a scowl on her face and a keychain in her hand, presumably to unlock the door. Her eyes were an amber brown, and her shoulder-length brown hair had streaks of red in it, pulled back into a high ponytail. She looked annoyed and VERY tired.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" the stranger barked, glaring up at her with her hands on her hips. "We're not open yet, so stop standing there and loitering like a creep! You're going to scare off customers."

Her head snapped from side to side as she looked for the "creep" that the stranger was yelling at—

…Oh.

Her cheeks and ears turned a bright red as she realized she'd been referring to her and quickly took a few steps back, shuffling towards the wall.

The stranger just raised her eyebrows at the silent reaction, watching her for a moment longer before turning around and heading towards the door, mumbling something about "weirdos" as she fumbled with the keys.

Miyami's stomach was doing flips as she watched the woman from a distance. Despite being absolutely terrified of her, the stranger's face was pretty cute, and she had a pretty nice body. Her pants hugged her curves well and her exposed light tan shoulders made her seem rather approachable, despite her harsh tone.

She almost reminded Miyami of one of her 5★'s she'd tried and failed to pull—er—wait. That wasn't important.

What WAS important though was that she needed to apologize. The stranger was probably one of the employees at the store, and that could only mean one thing.

She was her coworker.

The only problem? There was NO way she could possibly say anything. Not to someone as intimidating and blunt as that. If she said anything, she was sure her voice would slip up, and she was NOT going to risk that again.

A brief nightmare flashed before her eyes before she forcibly blinked it away.

No. This was fine—she would be fine. She'd just use her old reliable trick again.

Miyami's hands fiddled with her phone nervously, frantically attempting to type down a message for her coworker to see as her heart hammered in her chest.

────────⊳⋆⊲────────

> Ah...um...I'm really sorry!!! I promise that I didn't mean to be creepy or scare any customers!

> Actually, I'm supposed to be starting a job here today! My name is Miyami Nozari. (￣▽￣*)ゞ

────────⊳⋆⊲────────

She swallowed and shakily showed it to the pretty woman, who had just gotten the doors open and was on her way inside. She stopped in her tracks though and turned around, blinking as she read the message.

Perfect! She'd seen it. Maybe now she'd realize she wasn't a total creep and—

"Huh?"

"…"

HUH?! What did she mean by, "Huh"!?

The stranger squinted at the screen again, then back at Miyami. She did it several more times before her face hardened into a deep scowl.

"Seriously? Who types their apology on a screen? Just say that out loud and stop being weird," the woman barked in an annoyed tone, shaking her head. "Anyway, are you supposed to be the new hire?"

She clenched her teeth together, her eyes watering up from embarrassment as she tapped at the screen again.

────────⊳⋆⊲────────

> Yes. I am. I'm really sorry about thi—

────────⊳⋆⊲────────

"For crying out—Talk like a normal person!" she snapped, interrupting her. "Stop typing, I'm not deaf! If you've got something to say, say it out loud!"

Miyami's heart fell through the earth's crust. Her eyes darted away, and her hands started to fiddle with the hem of her hoodie as tears started to pool in the corners of her eyes.

The woman's face fell slightly at the sight, her mouth opening for a moment before closing again.

"Tsk. Whatever. Just follow me," she muttered, walking into the shop.

Miyami sniffled, clenching her fists and doing her absolute best to squash down her anxiety as she followed the woman into the darkness of the store.

No, she would NOT cry. Not now.

This was a new life, she was a different person now, and she wouldn't be weak anymore. She would make a good impression on this woman if it was the last thing she'd—!

*thunk*

Time seemed to stop as a sudden weightlessness took hold. Her university-educated brain spun its gears in a wild panic as she analyzed the situation at the speed of thought:

Conclusion?

"…"

She tripped.

"EEAAAGH!"

The sharp scream left Miyami's mouth while the floor quickly rose to meet her. She didn't even get a chance to soften the blow before getting acquainted with the linoleum, her phone slipping out of her grasp and skidding to the other side of the room from the impact.

Pain blossomed in her nose as her chin bounced off the ground, and she lay there, completely dazed from the shock. A light ringing noise filled her ears, and she could vaguely feel a throbbing sensation coming from her face and the taste of blood on her tongue.

"…shit! Weirdo lady, you okay…?"

Miyami could barely hear the voice over the ringing, but when she lifted her head, she saw a blurry figure crouched in front of her.

"Hey. HEY. Are you hurt?"

She groaned softly, blinking a few times and squinted at the clearly annoyed figure again.

"Y-yes?" she instinctually croaked, her throat sore from the yell and her voice cracking slightly. "O-oh. Ouch. I'm sorry...I-I didn't mean to—"

The woman's eyes widened as the words left her mouth, and Miyami quickly realized her horrible mistake.

Her voice.

She was speaking.

"Ah. Wait. Wait. I can explain! I—" she squeaked, the pitch rising uncontrollably. "Eep! W-Wait! Please don't look at me like that! No! P-Please…"

She started shaking uncontrollably, curling up into a ball and hiding her head under her hoodie in shame. It felt like she was back in middle school again. The name calling, the bullying. Her father's disappointment. The disgusted looks.

She couldn't bear to see that expression again, especially from this person.

Miyami knew what they were thinking, and she didn't need to hear it.

She didn't want to hear it—

"Hey…"

A warm hand touched her shoulder, heat radiating through the fabric. Despite the warmth, she flinched at the contact, her whole body tensing up in fear.

She braced herself for a punch, a kick, a cruel word. Something painful. Anything. But…

Instead, the touch remained gentle, almost like a silent reassurance that she was safe.

"Hey. Weirdo lady."

Miyami slowly opened her eyes and hesitantly peeked out from beneath her hoodie, her heart pounding in her throat.

The woman was crouched down beside her with an unreadable expression, but her eyes held a surprising softness in them now.

"Are you okay?"

Miyami's breath hitched, caught off guard by the concern in her voice. Her mouth opened to reply, but she couldn't find the words—instead, her gaze fell to the floor as tears blurred her vision once again.

She frantically nodded.

"Sorry. Didn't think that you were THAT clumsy," she muttered, her cheeks a bit red from embarrassment. "Erm, look. I'm not very good at this sort of thing, so please don't start bawling, okay?"

With that, she offered a hand to Miyami, who timidly took it after a few seconds. The stranger gently pulled her up and helped her back to her feet, steadying her when she stumbled a little.

Unsure hands dusted off her hoodie, and the woman let out a small sigh as she handed back her phone. "Alright, let's just forget all that ever happened and get to work, okay? Just follow me to the back. Carefully."

Miyami blinked at her in surprise, still trying to process everything.

This girl had heard her voice and wasn't saying anything about it? She was just acting as if nothing had even happened at all. As if her voice wasn't—

"Are you listening, or do I have to drag you?"

Miyami's shoulders tensed, and she vigorously shook her head.

"Good," the woman huffed. "Then hurry up and follow me already. We're wasting time, and we open in less than fifteen minutes."

They slowly maneuvered themselves through the store, and Miyami glanced curiously at the woman as she flipped on some of the lights.

"…By the way, I don't think I introduced myself properly."

She nudged some boxes on the floor to the side with her feet and looked back at her, giving an awkward, but genuine smile.

"The name's Hinoka Amahara. Nice to meet you, I guess."