Establishing A High School Life Goal

“Hello there... My name is Aika Hoshino. What is your name?” As soon as the opening ceremony ended, a stunning girl with long, black, silky hair walked over to Kyashii.

“H-Hi... I’m Kyashii Mikami. It’s nice to meet you, Hoshino-san.” Kyashii responded timidly.

“Nice to meet you too, Mikami-san. Seeing you all by yourself caught my attention. How can you be so pretty and yet alone?” Aika smiled kindly at Kyashii. 

“Ohh... T-Thank you for your kind words. I’m sure my shyness was to blame for that. I’m still trying to fit in. Ha-ha.” Kyashii managed a nervous smile.

Up until now, shyness has dominated Kyashii's school life. Although her small circle of middle school friends encourages her to be confident because she looks so cute, she remains nervous around people she barely knows.

It isn’t any different today either. She has been gazing downward throughout the opening ceremony. She’s overwhelmed by her new school’s unfamiliarity that she finds it difficult to take even a passing glance from other students.

If I keep going like this, my high school life will be over! Get it together, Kyashii. You were somewhat popular during middle school. Show yourself some confidence! Kyashii gave herself a shot in the arm.

But... I think that girl on the train is an exception, though. I wonder where she is right now. Her eyes darted aimlessly around her, hoping to catch a glimpse of that girl.

There’s no sign of her… Kyashii feels a little discouraged.

“Well, let’s not be shy. We should make as many friends as possible.” Aika grinned at Kyashii.

“Oh... Y-Yes. Hopefully, I’ll make some friends in my class.”

“Yeah. You should. After all, this school doesn’t change classes every year. Being stuck with the same faces for three years is boring, isn’t it?” Aika pouted.

And yet, it’s precisely that reason I chose this school. I don’t have to deal with new people every year.

“Y-Yeah. I guess so. Which class are you in, Hoshino-san?”

“I’m in 1-B. What about you?”

“Ohh! We’re in the same class!” With at least one familiar face in her section, Kyashii felt a sense of relief.

“Really? That’s great! Oh! Perhaps we can eat lunch together later. If we make more friends, we should invite them as well. What do you think, Mikami-san?” Aika smiled, thinking introducing Kyashii to more girls in their class would be great since she seemed pretty bashful. She’s confident Kyashii’s cuteness will entice other students to become their friends.

“S-Sure... I appreciate it, Hoshino-san. You’re really kind to me.”

“Have some confidence, Mikami-san. You’re going to be fine.”

Having finished lunch, Kyashii leans against a wall outside their classroom, listlessly watching Aika talking to another girl.

She seems to have made another friend. Hoshino-san is a friendly person, huh? I hope I can be like that one day. Haah... My shyness makes me completely useless. Even worse, I can’t even glance around during the class introduction. How can I interact with my classmates if I don’t look at them?

Sigh...

But I’ll try my hardest to make more friends in the class. I’ll do that tomorrow. Y-Yeah... I’m definitely going to start working on that t-tomorrow. For sure!

“. . . .”

Tomorrow, huh? Isn’t it silly of me to think I can do that? Kyashii sighed, realizing how hopeless she was at meeting new people and making new friends.

A moment later, she saw Aika walking toward her along with the girl she had been talking to earlier.

“Mikami-san, this is Fumiko Sakoto. We’re talking about how we need to become friends with students from other classes as well. So, do you want to come along with us?”

Kyashii smiled casually at Fumiko, who responded with an equally pleasant smile.

“Ahm... Hoshino-san, I think I’ll just stay here for the time being.” Kyashii hesitated. That was definitely out of the question for her right now.

“I’m sure it will be fun, Mikami-san. Making new friends seems to be a challenge for most freshmen at the moment. Let’s help some poor souls who are by themselves. Umm... Just like that girl over there near the class C door.” Fumiko brought her gaze to someone.

Eh? And what if they prefer to be alone, though? Are they really doing that? There’s no way I can handle that. Kyashii was still contemplating whether she could go around and make friends when Aika pulled her arm.

“Come on, Mikami-san~! You don’t want to miss this. We might even run into some hot guys. But first, let’s get started with the girls.” Aika grinned as she dragged Kyashii’s hand.

“Uhh....”

Well… I suppose this should be fine for a cha– Huh?!

Kyashii was stunned when she saw who was their first target in their friendship quest.

Uwaah! It’s the girl from this morning! Oh... So, we are in the same year after all. But it looks like we are in different classes… Ohh! But that’s fine... I finally get to see her again! Maybe now is my chance to win her over and become friends.

She couldn’t contain her excitement as they approached the girl whose eyes were fixed on nothingness, seemingly caught up in her own thoughts. 

“Hello there~.” Fumiko greeted the girl, who seemed surprised because she flinched for a split second.

What a strange girl. Does she really have no awareness of her surroundings? Kyashii wondered.

“Uhh... Hello?” The girl returned Fumiko’s greeting reluctantly.

“I’m Fumiko Sakoto. These girls are Hoshino-san and Mikami-san. We’re from class B. What’s your name?”

The girl blinked at Fumiko. “I’m Yuyo Shibasaki. It’s nice to meet you.” She then shifted her gaze to Aika and Kyashii.

It was Kyashii’s hope that the girl named Yuyo would recognize her the moment they finally locked eyes. Yet, to her dismay, Yuyo maintained her stoic expression even after meeting Kyashii’s gaze as if Kyashii didn’t look familiar to her.

Wait… Did she already forget about me?! There is an overwhelming look of disappointment in Kyashii’s eyes.

How easy could it be to forget my face?! Others say I have a cute visage that is almost impossible to overlook. Of course, I know those are just empty praises, but there must be at least some truth in them, right?

“Shibasaki-san, nice to meet you. Why are you by yourself?” Aika struck up a conversation with a cheerful tone.

“Ahh… I’m just taking a breather. It’s tough to hit it off with everyone on the first day of class.” Yuyo said in a solemn voice.

“Ohh… I get that, Shibasaki-san. It could be challenging if you don’t know anyone right away. I had hoped to attend the same school as my best friend, but she changed her mind at the last minute. Doesn’t that make you mad? There’s no way I’ll give her a pass for leaving me up in the air like that!” Fumiko casually shared her story.

“Yeah… It would have been better if my middle school friends were here with me too.” Aika nodded in agreement. “So how about you, Shibasaki-san? Why did you not attend the same school as your friends?”

Kyashii passively listens to the conversation, but she can’t get past the idea that Yuyo dared to forget her so quickly.

She even teased me... then she literally hugged me! And the number of times she has entered my thoughts before this moment is beyond calculation! How could she have forgotten about me so quickly? Urggh! How frustrating!

“Hmm... Are you talking about a best friend?” Yuyo followed up with Aika.

“Yeah…”

“I don’t have one.”

“Really?!” Fumiko and Aika both exclaimed.

Kyashii herself found Yuyo’s statement surprising. Why doesn’t she have a best friend? I’m a shy girl, yet throughout my middle and primary school, I have someone I call my best friend. Uhmm... But Shibasaki-san doesn’t look timid at all. That’s strange. 

“Yeah... I have a good friend in middle school. I wouldn’t call us best friends, though. I don’t see her anymore since she has enrolled in an all-girls school. As much as she wanted to attend the same school as me, her parents worry about her getting a boyfriend if she enrolls in a co-ed school since she’s pretty.” Yuyo told her story nonchalantly.

Tch! I’ll bet I’m prettier than her! Hmmph! I’ll make you remember me, sakura-scented girl on the train! Kyashii grows increasingly irritated as she listens to Yuyo’s account.

With no second thoughts, she walked up to Yuyo and acted out what had happened on the train this morning. With her left hand, she slammed the wall on which Yuyo was leaning.

“Say, Shibasaki-san… Who’s prettier? Me or your middle school friend?” Kyashii brazenly asked with an annoying smile. 

Yet Yuyo seemed unfazed by Kyashii’s actions. She furrowed her brows instead as she stared straight into her eyes. Almost anyone can tell that the look in Yuyo’s eyes is practically asking what in the universe is wrong with Kyashii.

Wha-! Does she now think I'm weird? Argh! This is so frustrating! What's worse, even if I acted out that scene again this morning, she still couldn't remember me?! Is she a total dunce? Does she have short-term memory or something? Kyashii is fuming.

While she's still making a great deal out of Yuyo's reaction, Kyashii fails to notice that Aika and Fumiko are the ones surprised by her behavior. They initially thought Kyashii was a shy girl, but asking that of someone they had just met is rather bold.

But Kyashii shows no signs of embarrassment, though. She hasn't calmed down one bit. Although she doesn't understand why she's so upset about Yuyo forgetting her, there's no doubt that she doesn't like the idea of it. She knows that Yuyo is under no obligation to remember her, it still annoys her nonetheless.

“Uhh... I should get back to my seat. Our lunch break is almost over.” Yuyo brushed off Kyashii’s question and walked straight into class 1-B room.

“Ohh! You’re in class B?! We thought we were trying to make friends with someone in class C. I’m glad we’re in the same class, Shibasaki-san~.” Aika followed after Yuyo.

Waa! What... We’re classmates?! Ohh! 

Within seconds, Kyashii’s irritation gave way to happiness when she realized she was in the same class as Yuyo.

“That’s rather gutsy, Mikami-san. Initially, I thought you were timid at first glance, but what happened back there?” Fumiko grinned at Kyashii.

“Ehh? Ahh… Aha-ha! That’s just me teasing Shibasaki-san. I have no idea what has gotten into me either. It’s just that I find Shibasaki-san’s way of speaking and carrying herself a little intriguing, I guess.”

Hmm? Wait...

It didn’t take long for Kyashii to realize something was strange.

Ah-re? This is odd. My actions don’t even make me feel embarrassed. It usually makes me wish I could be swallowed by the ground whenever I do something embarrassing on that level, but that’s not the case today. And I don’t feel sorry about it. It feels almost natural to react that way towards Shibasaki-san.

Why am I acting so weird right now?

“I see... I get what you’re saying. Shibasaki-san is really enticing to me. She’s nice.” Fumiko winked at Kyashii.

“R-Right…? It may just be me, but something about her makes you want to get noticed.”

“Yeah... She’s pretty cool too. I think we should be friends with her, yeah?” Fumiko gave her a thumbs-up as they entered their classroom.

Kyashii just smiled before going back to her seat.

What’s going on? Is this a mission to befriend Shibasaki-san? ...So, others want to be friends with her just as much as I do. She must be incredibly charismatic to catch people’s attention without standing out too much.

As she looked around the room for Yuyo, she found her sitting near the windows in the back, talking to some other girls.

Hmm... She’s already that popular, isn’t she? Since she was seated in the back of the class, it makes sense why I wasn’t aware of her. There was quite a distance between our seats as well.

As if Yuyo sensed someone watching her, she glanced in Kyashii’s way. And although Yuyo politely nodded toward her, she couldn’t help but respond with a scowl.

Hmph! She now seems to remember me as something else. But anyway, now that it turned out we’re classmates, things are going swimmingly. There’s no doubt my lucky charm is working.

Then I’ll see to it that this Shibasaki-san and I become friends! Since this school doesn’t change classes yearly, I have plenty of time to bother her.

Yeah... That’s it! I’ll get in her way!

It’s just the start of the school year, yet Kyashii had already established her high school life goal straight off the bat.

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, she’s set out to bother Yuyo Shibasaki.