Generic flashbacks

“I know flashbacks are generic. But I really wanted someone to know me… know me better, I mean. Or maybe I just want him to know me better… is it because he’s my only friend or because I’m in love with him? I don’t know the answer to these questions, but I hope I can find out before this ends. Find out what I want...”

“Nice to meet you! My name is Kazuhiko Hirata!” was what the little boy said to the girl.

“Huh?” A young Erity Yasutake turned to the little boy, they were in elementary school.

“I said nice to meet you! My name is Kazuhiko Hirata!”

“K-Kazuhiko H-Hirata...?” Erity murmured.

“Yes! That's my name! What is your name?!”

“M-My n-name…?”

“Yes! Your name!” Hirata smiled.

“...”

“...”

They stared at each other, the smiling boy and the withdrawn girl.

“...”

“...”

“Aaaaaaaaaah! M-Mom!!” Erity ran away.

“I ran, but he kept coming to greet me.”

“Nice to meet you! My name is Kazuhiko Hirata! We didn’t really talk yesterday!”

“...”

“So, can you tell me your name today?!"

"..."

"..."

“Aaaaaaah! F-Father!!” Erity ran away again.

“Over and over again.”

“Nice to meet you! My name is Kazuhiko Hirata! I already know your name from others! But I wanted us to meet properly!”

“Huh?” Erity looked at the boy, “He's here again…? Why?”

“If you are going to run anyway, why don’t you at least play with us?! We run a lot!”

“P-Play…?”

“Yes! You don’t need to talk if you don’t want.”

“Hmm.” the girl pondered for a moment. “N-Nice t-to m-meet y-you… I-I’m E-Erity Y-Yasutake”

“Yasutake-chan!” the boy grinned. “Please take care of me as I’ll do to you!” he bowed.

“It was the first time those words truly meant something.”

“H-Hirata-san.”

“What?”

“Y-You d-don’t laugh at my s-stutter…”

“Huh?" the boy tilted his head in confusion, "Why would I laugh?”

“I-I don’t know w-why either…”

“Besides, you are stuttering less now, right?”

“Maybe…” “But it’s only with you…”

“Our houses aren’t very far from each other, so it didn’t take long for us to start playing in the park. No... I was just following him around...”

“Aaaaah!” Erity screamed after a ball hit her head

“Are you alright Yasutake-chan?” Hirata came running to her.

“Aaanw, ouch.” she held her head.

“Why don’t you play with us?” Hirata asked while helping her get up, “It’s no fun just standing still on the outside.”

“B-But the o-other kids are mean…” Erity looked down. “I just w-wanted to p-play with y-you.” she murmured

“Huh?” Hirata turned around for a second and looked at the other kids, “Hmm… so why don’t you come to my house to play some games?”

“G-Games…?”

“Yes!” Hirata smiled, “My sister has tons of fun ones!”

“Hmm…” Erity pondered, “Will it b-be just the t-two of us?”

“Hmm…” Hirata looked up and held his chin, “Maybe my sister is at home now. But it should be fine!”

“Hmm…” the little Erity fiddled with her fingers, “Hmm… o-okay.”

“Nice!” he grabbed her hand, “Let’s go!” and then started to run. “Bye guys!” he waved at the other kids in the park.

“Huh??!” Erity was startled as she looked at his hands, “It’s so warm…”

The two kids ran at full speed until they arrived at a small house near the park. Hirata and Erity started to make their way to the second floor when a girl interrupted them:

“Kazuhiko. Who is this one behind you?” she was going down the stairs when she asked.

“Hmm…” Hirata looked at Erity, who was clinging to his back, and smiled: “She’s my friend, Sister! She's my friend!”

“F-Friend…?” Erity murmured to herself.

“It was the first time someone had called me a friend.”

“Friend?” Hirata’s sister looked at the hiding Erity once again, and murmured: “You only brought male friends until now, but I guess this would happen sometime…”

“Huh?” Erity glanced at the girl.

“Oh! You don’t have to be afraid!” the girl smiled. “Nice to meet you! I’m Sachio Hirata! Please take care of my little brother for me!”

“Okay, okay!” Hirata put himself in front of Erity, between her and Sachio Hirata, “She’s not good with introductions.”

“Hmm…” the girl tilted her head, “A cute little girl like her?” Sachio pondered for a second and then smiled: “I guess that happens! Anyway, you can use the video game if you want! It’s all yours.”

“Thanks, Sister!” Hirata started to run upward.

“Okay! Have fun!” the girl headed to the living room, but was stopped by Erity:

“T-Thanks.” she just murmured that and followed Hirata, not being able to see Sachio’s smile.

“And I started to admire him.”

“W-Wow Hirata! You a-are really g-good at this game!”

“Even when I probably shouldn’t…”

“SHIT!!” Hirata threw the controller on the ground, “SHIT! I’m not good enough!” he hit the bed beside him. “No… it’s their fault! Those shitty teammates! That’s why... that's why I can’t win!! Why do I always have crappy people playing with me??!”

“Even though I wasn’t the only one…”

“Hey, Hirata-kun! You are really good at soccer!” a random girl said here.

“Hirata, you are the man when it comes to basketball!” a boy spoke there.

“Hirata-san, you rock at sports!!” a bunch of others repeated.

“You are a good person, Hirata!” they repeated.

“You’re so popular, Hirata!” and repeated.

“And then I started to rely on him more than I should've.”

“Why won’t you go to school today, Erity-chan?” Erity’s mother asked.

“It’s because Kazuhiko i-isn’t going today!”

“Kazuhiko? Do you mean Hirata-kun?”

“Yes!” Erity nodded, “If he’s not going I-I’m not going!”

“Hmm… what about your singing class?”

“Hmm…” Erity pondered for a minute, “I’ll go just to that one!”

“But maybe It was all just classic childhood friend stuff.”

“Hey, Erity-chan!” Kazuhiko called her.

“W-What, Kazuhiko?” she replied.

"I want to ask you a question!"

"A q-question?" 

“Yes! Do you want to come to my house, and do lewd things?”

“D-Do lewd things...?”

“Yes!”

“...” Yasutake blinked to Kazuhiko.

“...” he blinked back and smiled.

“W-What is t-this?” she tilted her head with puzzlement.

“I don’t know either!” Hirata grinned, “But my sister said that doing it is very good!”

“Well… maybe not all the time…”

“Aaaah! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t know it meant that!” Kazuhiko was blushing.

“I-It’s fine!” Erity calmed him down, “Huh? Why do I not think it would be a bad idea…?”

“‘What is this sensation that’s making my chest ache?’ is what I thought, and it kept bothering me...”

“I’m going to get transferred.” was the first thing the boy said that day, no “good morning” no “hi”

“Huh?” Erity stared at the eyes of the crestfallen Kazuhiko, they were swollen from all the crying.

“I have to go to a cheaper school immediately, or else we won’t be able to pay all their medical expenses…” he didn’t even look at the girl that time, “I’m sorry…” he turned around.

“Wait!” Erity stopped Kazuhiko, “Wait...”

“Huh…?”

“I’m coming with y-you!”

“What…?”

“I-I mean that I’m also getting transferred!” she lied, “I-I was going to tell you today!”

“Huh? What about your singing classes?”

“I don’t do that anymore…” the girl looked down.

“Oh… it’s a shame…” Kazuhiko commented, and after a few seconds of hush, he asked: “Hmm… where... where are you going?”

“Huh? W-What?”

“To where you are getting transferred, I mean.”

“Oh!” Erity exclaimed, “Hmm… Subaseijou…?” it was a shot in the dark, but Kazuhiko’s face seemed to lighten up a little:

“Me too.”

“I implored to my parents, implored to be able to stay by Kazuhiko’s side…”

“It’s fine by me.” Erity’s father declared, “But since that school is not one of the best, your grades will have to be superb!”

“Thanks, father!!” she ran to hug the man.

“Well… your happiness is our happiness…” he murmured, his face reddening a bit.

“And together we went for a little longer… to a new junior high school… where he was, as always, quick to talk to people.”

“These are Furukawa-san…” Kazuhiko pointed at a boy with short spiky hair.

“Hello there, nice to meet you.”

“...Furukawa-chan…” he indicated a girl with a hair braided on the right side, “...she’s actually one year younger than us…”

“Nyoko-chan says hi! And she says nice to meet you!”

“...and this other one…” Kazuhiko looked at a boy with wenge hair, “...is Koike-san.”

“Hi.”

“Hmm…” Erity hid behind Kazuhiko.

“I’m sorry guys, but it’s like that sometimes.” the boy smiled.

“He managed to smile even when he wanted to cry, and even then, I was the one relying on him.”

“Kazuhiko! You’re n-not going to school tomorrow?” Erity was talking on the phone.

“No… her situation worsened so I'll go visit her tomorrow." he explained, “I’ll stay there the entire day."

"O-Oh... okay..." her voice showed clear disappointment

"Hmm... I guess... I guess that I can just go there after school..."

"Ah! You sure?!"

"Yes... yes, of course..." it was clear that he was forcing a smile behind the phone, "See you tomorrow, Erity-chan."

"S-See you!"

"I kept clinging onto him, not letting him escape..."

"My grades are really bad..." Kazuhiko scratched his head and smiled awkwardly, "So my only choice is Obaka..."

"Ah! I'm going to Obaka too!"

"Really??" his face showed a pleased startle, but the boy composed himself and asked: "But with your grades, couldn't you go to Akabo like Furukawa?"

"My grades are only good because of you..." "N-No..." Erity was fiddling with her fingers, "Obaka is closer to my house..."

"Hmm..." Kazuhiko hesitated, but then smiled: "Then I hope we can have a great high school together!"

"I was just being an egoist this entire time. Not letting him do what he wanted, following him everywhere, not letting him look at who he wanted."

"Stop staring at her like that!" Erity scowled at Kazuhiko, who was looking at the president of the student council of Obaka High, "I know that she's beautiful, but why don't you look at me..?" she looked down.

"What did you say, Erity-chan?"

"N-Nothing..."

"But then, someone relied on me."

"Please, just stay with me..." Shimizu whispered near Erity's ear.

"Huh?" 

“Ok then!” Kazuhiko headed to the back of the room.

Erity didn't understand what was going on. She considered that Etsuko Shimizu wanted to take Kazuhiko away from her, "But why would she call me too if it is like that? Does she pity me or something? It doesn't make sense! And besides..." while Kazuhiko drew a bunch of game-related requests from Shimuzu, she always stood right beside Erity, instead of with the boy.

"I considered it being just a whim... but the days passed, and she kept calling me instead of Takayama-san, her best friend, or even anyone else since she's so popular... on a completely different level than mine. But when it looked like she was needing the most..."

“Please…” Etsuko whispered in her ears, “Please help me today…”

“S-Shimizu-chan…?”

"...she turned to me again."

 “O-Okay.” Erity replied after seeing Shimizu's trembling hands.

"And I started to wonder about something..."

"Do you know her?" Shimizu-chan asked after Koike and the girl named Sawada ran away.

"K-Kind of..."

"Hmm..." Shimizu looked at her hand.

"I started to wonder if I could ask her..."

"S-Shimizu-c-chan..." Erity called the other girl.

"Huh?" Shimizu stopped spacing out, "What?"

"Hmm." Erity fiddled with her fingers, "D-Do y-you..." she hesitated.

"C'mon, you can tell, Yasutake-chan!"

"Hmm... d-do y-you w-want t-to b-be f-friends w-with m-me?" Erity said timidly.

"Huh?!" Shimizu looked puzzled.

"Yes... I knew this would happen..." "Huh?" Erity turned to see Shimizu staring at her, with wet eyes:

"Really? You want to be friends with me?!"

"A-Aah! D-Did I do something w-wrong??"

"No! Of course not!" she was weeping.

"But you're cry..." Erity started but was interrupted by Shimizu, who hugged her:

"Thanks!"

"Huh?" "A hug...? Was this always this good?" "Huh?" before she realized it, tears were forming in her eyes as well. "What...?"

"Thanks, Yasutake-chan!" Shimizu tightened her hug.

The two girls stayed like that until Shimizu composed herself and took a step back, smiling:

"No."

"Huh?" Erity tilted her head.

"No, I don't think we can be friends."

"B-But w-why??!" "Is it really because I"m so inferior...?"

"Please, don't look down on yourself ..."

"What?! She read my mind??"

"... it's not you, it's me..."

"Why are we breaking up!?"

"I really wanted to be friends with you, but I'm a liar."

"A l-liar?"

"Yes..." Shimizu looked at the ground, her eyes were barely visible, "... it's difficult for us to be friends if you don't know who I really am... and most people... hehe..." she gave a small laugh, "...most people don't like me."

"B-But I really w-wanted t-to b-be friends with y-you, S-Shimizu-chan! And besides... I'm not a very good person, so..."

"I assure you that I'm worst."

"N-No, I'm the worse!" Erity uttered.

"No! I'm the worse!!" Shimizu shouted.

"Shhhhhh! be quiet in the library." Tamaki shushed them.

"I'm sorry!" Shimizu apologized.

"I-I'm sorry, Tamaki-san!" Erity whispered.

"Okay then." Shimizu started, "I'll tell you why I'm the worse... and then you can simply save yourself and quit wanting to be my friend, okay?"

"N-No. But g-go on."

"Okay, here I go." the girl took a deep breath. "I..."

* * *

It was the end of the day at Obaka high, the president of their club, Hayami Takayama didn't come that they. The club atmosphere was still weird, although it was for another reason.

"Do you know what happened to them?" Kazuhiko asked Koike while looking at Erity and Etsuko talking with each other, "Are they closer, or it's just me?"

"I have no idea." Koike was lying a little bit.

"Hmm..." the boy observed the two girls again, "That's good." he smiled.

After a weird club meeting, the students started to left the school. Erity and Etsuko were going down the stairs together when:

“Isn’t that girl the one that bumped into us at the library?” Etsuko pointed at Sawada, who was talking to Suto-Sensei and Koshiro Koike in front of the student council door.

“I-I think so…” Erity replied.

“Hmm…” Etsuko observed them for a moment, but she wasn’t able to hear what they were talking about, “You said that you’ve seen her before, right?”

“Yes…”

“Hmm…” Etsuko held her chin, “Why don’t we talk about it when you come to my house this Saturday?” she turned to Erity.

“Hmm.. m-maybe it’s b-better if I t-text you about it… it may be something serious...”

“Oh! That’s right!” Etsuko rummaged through her pockets and picked her phone, “Here it is.” she showed Erity her number.

“Oh!” Erity was startled, she didn’t believe the other girl would do that there, “T-Thanks!” she added the number, “I-I’ll talk t-to you tonight!”

“Okay!” Etsuko gave her a thumbs-up, "But come to my house this Saturday anyway, okay?”

“O-Okay…”

“Nice!” Etsuko grabbed Erity’s hand and started to run down the stairs, “Now, let’s go home already!”

“Aaah!” Erity started to scream, but she was laughing a bit, “Is it like this when we have other friends…?”

The two girls made their way to the school’s front gate in a hurry, and there Etsuko let go of Erity.

“This is it!” she uttered, “I guess that we say bye for now.”

“I-I guess so…” Erity murmured, “B-Bye Shimi…” she stopped midway, not letting Etsuko hear.

“Huh?” the other girl tilted her head, “What?”

“I was going to say…” Erity hesitated, “Bye Etsuko-chan!” she shouted, and then looked to the girl in front of her, who was now on the verge of tears.

“Erity-chan.” Etsuko uttered her name with a trembling voice, “Thank you very, very much for today.” she then bowed for many seconds.

“Huh??!” Erity put her hands in front of her, “T-There’s no n-need for that!”

“Hehe. You look cute when you do that, Erity-chan.” Etsuko grinned, “Bye, bye!” and then bolted from there.

“Huh?” Erity put her hands on her cheeks, “I’m cute…?” she was blushing a bit, the girl had just realized that she liked being called “cute” “I wonder if someday Kazuhiko will tell this to me… in that way…"