"Seira Takanashi"

"Ehhhhh?!?!?"

The classroom echoed, as the faces of the students that filled it were completely shocked with what just occurred. As Seira asked her question, she sat down at her desk and smiled. 

"I'm okay Seira, thank you for asking."

I said with a slight smile on my face. This was the first time anyone had ever shown interest in me for any reason. It made me unbelievably happy... even if it was a simple question. My classmates began whispering amongst themselves after the brief interaction between Seira and me.

"How does she know that loser?
"Are they friends? If they are how and why?"
"Ugh! You can always count on Shiro to completely ruin the vibe..."

The whispers of my classmates still bothered me a lot, but I still felt at ease for some reason now that Seira was here. Hearing the whispers and the ugly comments, Seira suddenly stood up and faced the class.

"How could you expect me to be friends with people who can openly treat somebody so coldly, it's absolutely disgusting!"

Immediately, the class was completely quiet, so quiet that I could hear my heartbeat. Nobody expected Seira's sudden outburst, but since it was "THE" Seira Takanashi, people started apologizing and tried to play it off as a joke.

"Oh! Of course, we don't mean anything we say about Shiro! It's only a little rough housing... that's all"

One girl had said while having a look of discomfort on her face. Other students shared the same acting gig, pretending that their harsh treatment of me was simply a joke with no meaning whatsoever. As I listened to my classmates make their excuses and lies, it made me sick to my stomach. I absolutely hated this feeling. The feeling of being in a place that doesn't accept you. I didn't feel accepted at school nor at home and it made me despise myself. The more I heard their excuses, the more I hated myself. 

"Shut up... Shut up... Shut up... all of you!"

I thought to myself as I tried to tune out my classmates. Seira was able to see through the deceit of our classmates. As she got more annoyed with how hard everyone was trying to mask the fact that they bullied me, she found it harder and harder to stay silent. But instead of causing a scene, Seira scooted her desk closer to mine and whispered in my ear:

"Hey, I can't possibly imagine how hard this is for you. But just know that you have my support, and you can come to me if you ever need anything. Okay?"

She says as she smiled. Her smile was capable of lighting up the darkest of nights. She was truly a star in the night sky. As the commotion finally seemed to settle down, and everyone began to go back to their work. Although you could still hear the chatter of the students, it was much more tame now as everyone completed the assignments for the day. After class had ended and students began leaving the classroom, some students met me by the door and dragged me to the side.

"How do you of all people know Seira Takanashi?"

I said nothing to them as I really didn't care what they had to say, I just wanted them all to go away. Before they could say anything else, I walked off. Ignoring their comments and attempting to move on with my day. During lunch, as usual I found my seat towards the back by myself. Watching as many students crowded around Seira in worthless attempts to be her friend and get to know her. As I observed the endless mob of students, I noticed her face. The face of something I well acquainted with, loneliness. Wondering how could someone so well known, have an expression of so much loneliness?

Time seemed to go buy so slow as the day progressed, I was ready to go back home. My short burst of fame for having known Seira, quickly died down. Once again, I was invisible, with no one to notice or even look in my general direction. I continued to wonder why Seira was making the expression I saw earlier. But, ultimately decided to let it go and to go on with my day. Suddenly, I felt someone poking my shoulder. When I turned around, I was surprised to see Seira standing there.

"Hey... Shiro."

She spoken in a quiet tone, her facial expression was the look of someone who simply wanted to fit in. Although I didn't say it, I wondered to myself:

"How come she looks this way? I'm sure she could have any friends she wanted if she asked."

As I was lost in thought, she said to me:

"It's quite noisy around here, isn't it?"

I was quiet for a moment, not knowing what to respond with. Instead of replying with words, I decided to give a slight nod.

"Why do people treat you so harshly around here?"

Her question shocked me. At first, I wondered why she'd ask me that question. But one crossed my mind the most was the thought:

"Why are you pretending to care about my problems, don't make me believe that I can be happy."

Part of me wanted her to not care and to stop talking to me. But my heart desperately ached for someone to care for me, for someone tell me I'm worth it. I looked back up to her to answer her question. I spoke in an emotionless manner as I said:

"I don't know why people treat me the way they do. But, it's been happening for so long that I simply just don't care anymore. I simply... accept who I am and what people think of me."

My answer didn't seem to surprise her as she simply nodded and said:

"I understand how you feel.. but that look in your eyes, it concerns me greatly."
"You can't possibly know how I feel.."

I said this without thinking... "I'm so stupid" I thought to myself. Although I spurted out the first thought that came to my head, she didn't seem offended or annoyed. But rather, she looked... moved, as if she had never heard someone say this to her. As if she had never truly had a real conversation with another human being in a very long time. She looked around the classroom, observing the different students in the class talking and joking around, the teacher sitting in the front doing nothing and chuckled. Before looking back at me:

"You think that I couldn't understand how you feel due to my popularity right?"
"Yes"

As I said this, her smile grew larger before saying:

"Everyone has a past or certain things they want to change and things that they wish never happened. Everyone also has pain. But, I believe that fools try to mask their pain within their eyes... while the brilliant... the brilliant hide their pain with a smile."

As she said this, her smile radiated the room and caught me off guard. Looking more at her beautiful smile made me wonder how much pain could she possibly be hiding from the world. Before I could say another word, she said:

"I'll tell you about my past"