Chapter 19

"Oh, another friend?" Izumi's mom greeted them at the door. "Come in, please."

"Hello, Mrs. Hashito." Shiori bowed. "I'm Moriko Shiori."

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Moriko. Would you like something to eat? Or how about some tea?"

"Just tea, thank you."

Izumi led her to the living room couch and glanced at her mom in the kitchen.

"If you don't want your mom to overhear, we can talk in your room," Shiori suggested.

Izumi tensed, her fists shaking. My room? But it's... well... it might be the quickest way to explain things. "Maybe after tea."

"So, what was with those girls?" Shiori whispered.

"I went to middle school with them." And elementary. "And they..." She swallowed hard.

"Bullied you?"

Izumi nodded.

"Why?"

"Because... I looked horrible." She touched her face. "They didn't like my hair, or that I was shy, and because I liked manga."

Shiori frowned. "Don't most kids these days like manga? Adults too, for that matter."

They do? "Well, I used to gush about shoujo manga all the time, so maybe they disliked that. I even tried to join a manga club, but it was full of boys, and they all looked down on it. They even destroyed one of my books. I tried to meet them partway with my... horror manga, but then they got creeped out. The girls found out about that, and... they just started calling me creepy or a freak every time I saw them."

"How lame."

Izumi tensed, gripping her hands in her lap. Does that mean...

"Not you." Shiori poked her cheek. "Them. I doubt they even cared about the manga; they're just a bunch of bullies looking for someone to pick on and put beneath them so they feel superior."

Izumi froze. It wasn't about the manga? They sure made it seem like it. Like all my hobbies were disgusting for some reason.

"I think you got unlucky running into those horrible people, but... Well, I wanted to say high school is different, but who knows about those girls that idolize Yanagi. They might be just as bad."

"High school is already better than middle school, even with the ankle injury, because I have you, Yanagi, and Kuruma."

"Sounds like those idiots might've isolated you, making you easier to pick on."

I probably didn't help myself.

"Tea's ready." Izumi's mom brought two cups of tea in with a couple of chocolate bear cookies. "I know you said you didn't want anything, but I baked these today."

"You always make such pretty food," Shiori said.

"You think so?" Her mom smiled, hands over her heart. "Thank you. I'll let you two chat, but let me know if you need anything else."

"Thanks, Mom."

"Of course, sweetie." She headed back into the kitchen to finish watching her show.

Izumi gulped down her tea and let out a long sigh as the warmth spread.

"You didn't have to rush it." Shiori sipped her tea.

"I was thirsty, and it helps calm me down." Which I'll need, so I can show you my room. I may think it's cool, but anyone else... She might change her mind about things.

"I guess if you're still running into them, you didn't move too far, did you?"

"No... Just enough to make it easy to go to this school. My dad works nearby, so we didn't want to go far, but we figured a different town would be enough... Apparently not."

"Ugh, I can't believe you've had to deal with them. So hard to hold back." Shiori cracked her knuckles. "I'm sorry you didn't have anyone to stand up for you before. They're just a bunch of cowards."

"Maybe I should show you my room before I lose my courage."

"Why? What's wrong with your room? Have they seen it?"

"No, I never had anyone over." Izumi took a deep breath and led Shiori upstairs. Please don't hate me. She opened the door to her bedroom and stepped aside for Shiori, her hands shaking.

Shiori's gaze swept across her room. "So, you're a full-blown otaku?"

Izumi nodded.

"And? What's wrong with that?"

Izumi's shoulders relaxed as the weight lifted from them, and she wiped away a tear.

"I mean, you probably collect more stuff than the average person, but it's not a big deal as long as you're not going into debt over it. Hey, is that the newest volume?" Shiori rushed up to one of her bookcases and pulled out a horror manga. "I've been meaning to get this from the library."

"You read manga? Horror manga?" Izumi's eyes sparkled.

"Not sure why that'd be surprising, since I'm into the occult."

"Oh, that's true. You can borrow it if you want. You can borrow any of them. Well, other than that one." She pointed at a volume of her favourite shoujo manga sitting on her nightstand. "But that's only because I haven't finished reading it yet."

"I see you're into games, too. So, you didn't just join for Kuruma?" Shiori pointed at a bookcase full of them.

"No..."

"Cool, even better. You know, I think the boys would both be fine with this." She spread her arms out. "I know you want to hide it..."

And I seem to be failing at that.

"But I'm not sure it's necessary. This isn't middle school, and quite frankly, you were screwed by running into those people. Bullies will find a reason to bully someone, no matter what you do."

"I'd still rather keep it a secret."

Shiori nodded. "Okay, but you're probably the best person to join the club, and he doesn't even know it. Hey, is that you?" She pointed at a photo of her in front of her middle school.

"Oh!" She rushed to block her view. "Yes, and I know I look like the thing crawling out of the TV in a horror movie..."

Shiori frowned, shaking her head. "No, you don't. You look like a shy girl hiding behind her bangs, who doesn't sleep enough. I can relate, you know? I've had people bully me before for being close to Yanagi."

"Y-you did?" I can't even imagine someone doing that to her.

"Yeah, and it strained our friendship back then. I learned to defend myself, though. You can't let people treat you like crap, or they'll keep doing it and escalate."

I get the feeling there might be a reason some of these people seem genuinely afraid of her. "I... I've tried to, but that only seems to make things worse. They made me feel like I shouldn't even exist..."

"After meeting your mom, I'm surprised she didn't go to your school and wring them out."

"She didn't know. Not at first, at least. And I stopped her from going to the school about it, but that's why we ended up moving. Guess I didn't go far enough if they're still finding me."

"But if you moved farther, you wouldn't have met Kuruma or Yanagi."

"Or you."

"Not saying you wouldn't have made friends, but I think each of us would've missed out. I'm glad you moved here." Shiori plopped down on Izumi's bunny beanbag chair and opened the manga. "Might not be bad to come over sometimes. It's quiet and there's a lot to do."

Izumi smiled and picked up her shoujo manga sitting on the nightstand. "That there is." She lay on her bed on her stomach to read.

"Hey," Shiori called out to her as she flipped pages. "I know you've been all dreamy eyes at Kuruma since you met him, but are you sure you're not interested in Yanagi? He seems to dote on you."

Izumi frowned as she thought. He's handsome, nice, and charming, and can fluster me, but... he's not Kuruma. "He's great, but I don't think we're in the cards. Why? Did he say something?"

"No, I was just curious. Poor Yanagi," she mumbled.

Weird...

They fell into a comfortable silence as they read until Shiori finished the volume. "Oops, meant to only read half. Oh well." She got up and stretched. "I should head home."

"Oh, okay. Hope you won't get into trouble for staying—"

Shiori held her hand up. "No, I won't; I just didn't expect to stay long. I'll see you on Monday."

Izumi moved to get up.

"I can show myself out; you keep reading."

"Shiori."

"Yeah?" She stopped at Izumi's door.

"Thanks for everything."

She gave Izumi a thumbs-up and continued on her way.

Izumi sighed, lying back on her bed. Wish I could be more like her.