Morning

I opened my eyes to the digital clock flashing 5:31 AM.
I stretched an arm, rubbed the crust from my eyes, and let out a tired breath.
A soft breeze slipped through the open window above my bed.

As I sit up and look through the window,

I can see people already going out, this early to go to a job or school at 7 am.

"What a drag" I tell myself, then I get out of bed

Wash my face
Prepare my uniform
Take a bath
Tend to my wounds
Brush my teeth
And no, I won't eat
Because there is nothing to eat.
My mother does not prepare breakfast for me,
Nor wake up for me
My father? works overtime at his job and goes home the same time I am at school

I gear up for school,

Pack my bag

Wear my shoes.

The sun rises, it signifies a new day
New beginning
New hope.
I get out of the house with a smile
"Maybe today will be different" I said to myself,
Maybe.

I walk alone on our street,
And as I approach the train station, a familiar face in front of the sunrise grows bigger as I come closer.
"Good morning, Souta!"  A girl shouted, with a big smile on her face while waving at me,
"Good morning Hina..." I replied with a low voice and a small wave.

"You are late! rush hour is upon us; we will have a hard time getting on the train"

"Huh?" I said as I look upon my watch.
"It's only 6 AM, you're just too early" 

Hina pinched my arm as she pulls me and said,

"I'll blame you if we can't get on the train on time" 

We brisk walked to the station, with me behind her, looking at her silhouette in front of the sunrise
"Ah if only mornings are always like this" I said to myself.

We arrive at the station, and we bought tickets, luckily, it's not yet that crowded.
And as we go on our respective coach, she waved at me once more before entering.

Hinata Asano
A childhood friend of mine that lives a couple of blocks away from me,
always cheerful, always the positive one, and she is really beautiful. 
Her round face partnered with a silky-smooth skin like a pearl along with her gracious chestnut hair, big round eyes, I just admire everything about her.
I like her, but I know I'm not worthy, she probably deserves someone else that will make her happy and content, I am nothing but, in the future, if I will be worthy of her, I will give it a shot.

Maybe in the future she will like me too if I am a better person.
Maybe she likes a physically stronger man?
Or maybe she likes an intelligent one?
Or one with skills or accolades or even feats?
Or she likes people that are popular and handsome?
Or maybe she likes the same kind of person she is?
To which everything is not me.

My mind wandered off and I saw her on the station frantically gesturing me to come to her, I stared at her for a few seconds just admiring her beauty and all.

*Beep Beep Beep!*

I only then realized that the door is closing, and I tried my best to get out of the train, 
And I got out the last second by leaping towards the door and I almost tripped.
She burst out laughing while pointing at me while I'm trying to catch my breath.

"STUPID!" she said happily while teasing me as she walks away looking at me while wiping the tears of joy on her eye.

And I followed her and left a small smile on my face while we walk towards the exit of the station.

Our school is just near the station, so as we get out of the station, a lot of our schoolmates are walking right by us, and this is the time that reality hits me in the head, 

Hina is popular in our school, well of course it is only natural for her, 

She is beautiful, smart, and really sociable. 
She is even the president of our class.

Despite being a 1st year in Junior High, she is a part of the student council although because of our current academic level, she is only there as a helper or assistant to any of the officers, kind of like a staff only.

But despite that, people already respect her and listen to her, so I guess it doesn't matter. 

"Why is he following her? what a creep"
"Isn't that the guy who was in a fight yesterday?"

yeah, I hope I fought with them, instead it was just a one-sided fight, is that even a fight?  
My classmates just make fun of me, or maybe they just hate me because of my connection to Hina? maybe I'll damage her reputation, so I'll just distance myself from her at school.

I pull up and walked slowly, slowly fading in the background and she walks towards the school being greeted by our classmates, while I get constantly glared at, and somebody even threw a paper at me, where did they even get that early this morning while walking to the school?

The smile on my face, gone, this is my reality, this is my life, though I enjoyed that few minutes of hope and happiness, I wish it was always like that, but I'm not that lucky. People like me exist for people like Hina to shine, there must be some people on the bottom so that other people may be higher than others, some people should be bad so that some people will be good, it's only natural that some will be above than others because we are not all born equal.

I brood on those thoughts, while Hina gets farther and farther away, 

Like the sun that goes upward as the day progresses,

Shining at more and more people as it approaches afternoon,
But some things that are shined upon in the morning, 

Are already in the shadow of the larger things in front of them.