Extra Chapter 1: Asahina Ako: To the One I Adore

I’ve always found it hard talking with my classmates and people in general. Every single time, they make it seem like it’s my fault for not being able to converse well.

Times were simpler when I was a kid though. I had friends and everything was normal. It was only after dad got transferred to Tokyo for his job that things started to go downhill for me.

Transferring to a new school while I’m in my 2nd year of middle school and also during the middle of the school year didn’t help with my predicament.

Seeing as everybody is already friends with each other, they didn’t find my arrival as necessary to their day to day lives.

I did try though—starting conversations with my classmates and even talking about their interests that I would sometimes overhear.

Still, no one really stuck with me long enough.

I guess I’m just glad that I didn’t get bullied during my time in middle school… because the bullying came in high school.

As I turned 15 years old, my body started to grow—in more ways than one.

My chest grew bigger and heavier, leaving me to grow out of my current clothes. I told my mom about it but we wouldn’t have money for it until two weeks later.

For the most part, I only really needed new underwear that’s a size higher than what I currently have. I thought I would be fine. I thought I could wait for that two weeks to come.

The next day at school, I started to feel everyone’s gazes at me. I’d always wanted their attention—to become friends with them, but, they ogled at me, at my body. Not like this!

I felt my heart sink as I realize that they’re looking specifically at my chest. At the start, it was non-contact but I would hear murmurs whenever I would go past some boys.

“Woah! Did you see that?!”

“What class is she in?”

“Do you think she’d let me touch ‘em?”

“Next time, I’ll “accidentally” bump into her and see if I can feel her up in the process.”

The words that these boys say under their bated breaths were disgusting. I hated boys like them, but, after a week of constant disgusting remarks, I started to feel disgust towards myself.

If I didn’t have this kind of body, then I wouldn’t have to experience something so horrible.

Even after me and my mom went to buy new underwear, the damage had already been done. If anything, it started to get a lot worse. I guess in that short amount of time, I ended up making a name for myself, and not in a good way.

Being the target of sexual harassment didn’t rally all the other girls behind me though. Some of them, who have boyfriends who’d harass me, would come after me instead with the reasoning that I ruined their relationship.

I hate these people. I hate school. I hate my body. I hate myself.

I couldn’t tell my parents. Mom and Dad overworked themselves for my sake; I couldn’t possibly give them this additional headache to resolve.

I think of other ways to make all these harassments and bullying stop and I thought of telling a teacher at school.

Mr. Ogata, our homeroom teacher, was very kind to all his students. Maybe he’ll help me.

I went to talk with him about the matter in the Faculty Room but as I told him the story, a chill run up my spine. I quickly noticed that his eyes wasn’t looking at mine.

I got up and left. He’s not going to help me.

Next on my list is the principal. He’s a man too though. I decided not to go meet with him; it’ll just be the same anyway.

Dark clouds are forming outside. I guess it’s going to rain heavily later. I better hurry home.

On my way home, I noticed a group of boys from my school, around 6 of them, waiting at a corner leading to the train station.

They’re not usually here at this time, mostly because these boys are infamous for always screwing around that they’re always told to stay back after class.

I’ll just walk faster and go past them. The last thing I want is for them to notice me.

The boys are talking and laughing loudly. I really wish for a patrolling police officer right now.

As I went past them, their talking and roughhousing stops abruptly. They noticed me! I have to walk faster.

But a boy put their hand on my shoulder while another grabs my wrist, completely restricting my movement.

“Hey, girl. Why don’t you have some fun with us?” A boy with bleached hair said.

“I’m just trying to go home!” I said while squirming around, trying to loosen their grip.

“What’s the hurry? C’mon! Have fun with us for a while.”

“Holy shit, that’s her!” Another boy yelled.

“Oh, you’re right. That’s Asahina Ako.” A boy with a familiar voice said.

I surveyed these boys’ faces more closely, only for my heart to sink in despair.

One of the boys is Sakura-kun, my classmate. He usually minds his own business, why is he hanging out with these guys?

“Oh, shit. You know her, Sakura?”

“Please, Sakura-kun. Help me!” I pleaded to him. Maybe he can save me.

“Uh, yeah I know her. She’s my classmate.”

“Damn, I’m kinda jealous.”

“You better be. Dude, her tits go up and down when she runs during PE. Ah, I should’ve taken a video.” Sakura-kun laughed crazily.

Ah… He’s no good too.

Are all boys like this? Will I end up becoming their plaything? I didn’t ask for any of this, so why do I have to suffer?

I felt cold water droplets on my face. Am I crying? Where are these droplets coming from?

I look directly up and notice that it’s raining. I think a storm is brewing.

“Hey, let’s go to a love hotel.”

“Dude, I don’t have money on me right now.”

“Cheapskate! It’s fine. I think someone else will pay for us.”

I feel a hand put some weight on my bag as one of the boys took it to themselves to take my wallet from me.

“There’s not much here.”

“Maybe we can put her to work, hahaha.”

“Dude! That’s a great idea. Let’s use her first though. Like test out the merchandise, if you know what I mean.”

They all start laughing in unison. My body started to get weak, dreading the horrors that they would do to me.

Suddenly, a roaring thunder reverberates the skies, leaving me and the boys holding me, flinching in surprise.

“Dude! That scared the shit out of me.”

“Hey, c’mon. Let’s hurry.”

Now that they’ve released their hold on me, I decided then and there to run as fast as I could.

I bolted away quickly, leaving the boys startled, and gaining me a bit of a head start.

I glance back and see all of them sprinting to get me. I have to run faster!

It started to rain hard very quickly. It’s the type that actually hurts when you get hit by it.

Not being a huge fan of running or any exercises for that matter, it only took me a couple of minutes to start to run out of breath. I need to get inside a building or something and hide there.

I make a turn and run towards the first building that I’ve seen. It has a huge lot and a couple of dumpsters at the front.

First thing I did is to try and open the door but it’s locked. I bang on it repeatedly but there’s no answer.

What do I do now? Maybe I can hide in the dumpster? That’s probably the only thing I can do right now.

I turn to jump inside the dumpster but I was already too late. They’ve caught up to me.

I back up as they take steps towards me; my back hitting the door—I have nowhere else to run to.

“You sure are a lot of trouble. We’ll be damned sure to teach you a lesson.” Sakura-kun laughed maniacally—the others followed along.

“N-no… please. Somebody, HELP!” I scream to nobody.

This is probably it. These monsters will violate and ruin me. I never asked for any of this! I just wanted to have friends and live a normal high school life.

Just then, the door behind me opened all the way, making me fall to my rear.

I look up and see the face of a man. He seems furious—not towards me but to everybody else. I almost didn’t notice the baseball bat he was holding in his hands.

“What’s the problem, boys? You like ganging up on a lone girl?” The man said with a sarcastic tone in his voice.

“H-huh? Who the hell are you?” Sakura-kun replied with uncertainty.

“Does it matter?”

“Just leave us alone, man. You don’t know us and we don’t really want to know you.”

“Well, if you really want to know then I guess I’ll tell you. I’m this girl’s hero!” The man screamed with such pride.

“Now, come at me! I’ll make sure you get acquainted with my bat here.” The man showcased his baseball bat—swinging it with such a strong force.

The six boys all take a step back. Even though they win the numbers game, it seems none of them wants to get hurt.

“Tsk! This is lame. Let’s go guys.” Sakura-kun and his friends leave pathetically while drenched in the rain.

They’re… gone… I’m safe? I touched my face and pinched it, believing that I was already dreaming. It only hurts though. The people on tv are such liars.

The man ducks to my level and comforts me the best he can.

“Are you alright, miss?” The man asked nicely.

I flinched backwards. He’s a man and he was suddenly so close. I couldn’t help but be surprised.

From the inside of the building, another man appears. This time an older man who’s probably in his 50s. He looks worried.

“Naoki? Who’s she? What happened here?” The older man questioned the other.

So his name is Naoki-san.

“Boss! Some guys were harassing this girl. I just gave them a little scare, don’t worry.”

“Are you alright, miss? Come on inside. Let’s get you dry.”

The old man went into another room, probably to get some towels and other stuff.

“Miss? Let’s get you inside, okay?” He reaches out his hand to me.

With everything happening so quickly, I couldn’t bring myself to respond to him. It seems my inaction has left him upset.

“Here. You can hold on to this instead.” He offers the baseball bat for me to hold onto.

I clutched it tightly with both hands and he carefully pulls me up to my feet. I went inside the building with him.

They gave me a lot of things: a towel to dry myself with, a warm drink, and warm words that made me cry my heart out. Though it may sound trivial, knowing that they’re actually taking the time to listen and look at me made me reveal everything to them.

The both of them were appalled with my story, more so Naoki-san. They didn’t say much after. They simply let me hang out at that room for the rest of the afternoon.

Apparently, this building that I’ve entered is a convenience store. The empty lot outside was a parking lot accessible through the backdoor.

The older man, Mr. Wakaba, who everyone referred to as Boss, owns the store while Naoki-san is an employee who has been working here for a while.

The boss is a very kind man. He reminds me a lot of my late grandfather. He gave me a lot of candy and ice cream to cheer me up.

He’s also just a good conversationalist. Boss always have an answer to everything I ask and he always has a smile on his face while doing so.

As for Naoki-san, He wasn’t just heroic when he saved me, he’s just really cool in general. Maybe it’s because he rescued me that I’m saying this; I don’t know.

Naoki-san is apparently in his last year of college. He said he didn’t really needed this job anymore but he had grown attached to the boss. I thanked him for making that decision because I wouldn’t be here if he had quit.

He cheered me up a lot when I told them my problem with men. He brought up how his girlfriend used to be the same as me but changed for the better after meeting nice men to talk with. Honestly, I think my forced smile was too noticeable at that time but nobody made any comments about it.

Since they’re still working, they would cycle with each other on who would watch over me. I’m really grateful. I think for the first time in a while, I’m genuinely happy.

Night time came and it’s time for Naoki-san to go home. Then and there, the boss and him decided that both of them will take me home. Sadly, the boss still have to watch over the store. It’s just me and Naoki-san—not that I’m complaining though.

“Take care of Ako-chan, Naoki. Be sure to call me if something happens.”

“Will do, boss!”

On the way to the train station, there are no signs of those boys from earlier. I still don’t know what I should do about all of that.

Naoki-san mentioned earlier about being an alumnus of my school. He had offered to help me talk with the teachers about my problem earlier but I never gave him a straight answer.

The way back was filled with idle chatter. I was enjoying this moment alone with him, and because of that, it came to an end quickly.

He offered to walk me all the way until I enter the train. I accepted his proposal, still wanting to eke out every second of being together with him.

Eventually, the train came and I step inside it. I waved at him goodbye but secretly, I was hoping that he’d walk me all the way home.

I guess he noticed my hidden feelings because he stepped inside the train unprompted. I was either being obvious about it or he can read minds.

“Naoki-san? Why’d you do that?!”

“Sorry, but the boss said to walk you all the way home so that’s what I’ll be doing.”

It was an obvious excuse but I find myself unable to refute it. The train departs from the station.

I gave a puzzled look but inside, I was jumping up and down with joy. What’s happening to me?! Do I… like him?

I mean, he is pretty cool and he seems dependable. But he’s a guy—just like the ones from earlier. They’re only after my body.

I… want to know what he thinks of me.

“Naoki-san?”

“Yeah.”

“What do you think about me?”

“Uhh…” He was speechless from my question. I guess it’s way too sudden and weird.

“Never mind. Sorry for the weird question…” I look down, dejected.

“Oh, no. It’s okay! I was just thinking of my answer.” His words helped lower my anxiety.

“Well… You’re a really sweet girl, Asahina-san. I was honestly shocked how not a single one of your classmate wanted to be friends with you. If I was your classmate, I’d definitely be your best friend.” He said in a way as if he’s cheering me up, like a parent trying to cheer up their own child.

“Why do you want to be my friend? Is it because of my chest?” I asked shamelessly. I guess I just truly wanted to hear what he thinks of me—whether it would be a good decision for me to fall in love with him.

“… I’ve never thought about that—not even once. You’re a very friendly and charming person, Asahina-san. Even though we’ve only known each other for a few hours, that much is obvious. I’m sure the boss thinks so too, so don’t sell yourself short! If no one at school wants to be friends with you, then me and the boss are here for you, ok?”

His honest response really hit me in the heart. I’ll put my trust in him—I’m certain he’ll never betray it. My eyes start to tear up; I don’t want to cry again.

He gently grabs the back of my head and pulls it close to his chest. It feels very warm like I’m about to melt at any moment. We stayed like that for a while until we reached my stop.

The way back home was a short one but it felt like an eternity during the moment.

We reached my apartment and he walked me all the way up to my apartment door. I think I’ve made up my mind now.

“Naoki-san?”

“Yes?”

“About what happened earlier with those boys, I want those types of things to stop happening. Will you help me?”

“Of course! I’ll make sure they stop harassing you. That’s a promise.”

“Thank you, Naoki-san. And also, you can call me Ako.”

“Then… Ako! You can just call me Naoki too.”

“What?! I can’t do that. It would be too disrespectful.”

“Haha, I guess you’re right.”

The both of us laughed. I guess Naoki-san has a silly side to him too.

“Good night, Naoki-san.”

“Good night, Ako.”

With that, the night ended. A horrible event turned into a fortuitous one. All these days that I’ve been dreading is finally coming to an end.

Naoki-san and even the boss will be helping me. They’re my friends after all.