A few days passed, and it was Saturday at last. Mizuha sat down for breakfast with her mother, sipping coffee and eating toast. Her father was out on a business trip.
"How’s school been recently, my dear?"
Mizuha was excited. "It’s great, Mama! I’ve made some amazing friends. They are all the best!"
Her mother smiled, seeing her daughter so excited.
"That’s wonderful to hear. What have you been up to with your friends?"
Mizuha began telling her what had happened.
"Well, Shimizu and I saved Eri-chan from bullies."
"Bullies?"
Her mother's expression shifted, a flicker of something old crossing her face.
"You’re not being bullied, are you?"
"I’m fine, Mama—it’s not me, it’s my friend Eri."
Her mother felt relieved. "Oh, I see. Sorry, I must have shocked you. Please continue."
Mizuha, still a little unsettled by her mother's reaction, continued her story to move past it.
"Eri is a really sweet girl, and now she’s part of our group too. We even had a lunch break together on the rooftop. The weather was perfect, and we shared our food. It was such a fun time!"
Her mother listened attentively. "It sounds like you’ve had some memorable moments. I’m so happy for you, Mizuha."
Mizuha nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! And Takamiya-kun has been such a good friend. We walk to school together, and he always has my back. Shimizu’s always making us laugh, and Zul is so kind and supportive."
"That’s great to hear, dear. It’s important to have good friends who support you."
Her mother placed a gentle hand on Mizuha’s shoulder.
"Yes, I’m glad to have friends like them."
I’m glad this girl is doing fine lately, nothing to worry about, but I still need to monitor her, just in case something bad happens, her mother thought.
After breakfast, Mizuha went back to her room to finish her homework. She worked diligently until her assignments were done, then turned to her drawing.
All my homework is done. Now it's time to get back to my drawing, she thought.
She had been working on a drawing of that special lunch break with her friends from a few days ago. The image depicted them sitting in a circle on the rooftop, sharing food and laughing together.
Mizuha smiled as she added the final touches, showing how close they were that day.
Inside her room, many of her own drawings hung framed on the walls.
So, my drawing is finished. What should I do next? Mizuha thought, rolling around on her bed.
Suddenly, her smartphone beeped, showing an incoming chat from Shimizu:
Mizuha, prepare yourself. We are going to town today. Eri and I will come to get you at your house in 10 minutes.
"Eh, this is too sudden, Shimizu!"
She panicked because her friends were coming over so suddenly.
Oh no, this room is a bit of a mess. I can’t show it to Eri and Shimizu, she thought.
She quickly cleaned up her room and changed into more appropriate clothes.
Mizuha told her mother that Shimizu and Eri were going to visit soon, and her mother was glad to have them.
A few minutes later, as Shimizu and Eri arrived, Mizuha’s mother opened the door and greeted them.
"Oh, Mizuha’s friends, right? Umm, Shimizu-chan and Eri-chan, right? Please come inside. Mizuha is in her room."
"Mizuha, your friends are here," her mother called out.
Wait, they are already here? Mizuha thought.
Mizuha ran down the stairs from her room to greet Shimizu and Eri.
"Oh, Shimizu and Eri-chan, welcome," said Mizuha with a forced smile, trying to hide her slight irritation.
Oh no, she was angry, Shimizu and Eri both thought.
"Come on, you two, let’s go to my room."
Mizuha led both of them to her room and closed the door behind them.
"Geez, you two, why did you suddenly come here unannounced without telling me first?"
Shimizu tried to cover her mistake. "Eh, didn’t I tell you already?"
Eri just nodded in support of Shimizu.
"Eri-chan, you don’t need to agree with her. I knew she was the one who dragged you here."
Shimizu grinned.
"Oh, you got it right—just as expected of my friend, Mizuha. Haha."
"As I thought…"
"Then? How did you find your way here? I thought I hadn’t told you about my house yet."
"Well, I asked your beloved Takamiya earlier."
"Wait, you asked him?"
Mizuha's face turned red. "Also, what do you mean ‘beloved’?"
"Yeah, he told me about it, even though he hesitated at first. That stubborn guy!!!"
Mizuha sighed. "I see..."
I'm sure they had an argument before Takamiya-kun agreed to tell her, Mizuha thought.
"But 10 minutes beforehand is still too sudden! Give me some time to prepare, guys."
"It’s a surprise, right?"
Mizuha pouted. "Geez, Shimizu, you dunce!"
Eri suddenly let out a small giggle at the face Mizuha made.
"What's wrong, Eri-chan? Why are you laughing?"
"Oh, it’s nothing, but this is the first time I’ve seen you angry, Mizuha-chan. The face you made is funny."
Eri giggled, covering her mouth. "At school, you seem cool, friendly, and like a model student," Eri said. "But here, you seem different."
"Different how? I think I'm the same both at home and at school."
"Hmm, wait a minute… Something’s different about you today!"
"Really!? What is it!?"
"Ah, that’s it—you’re wearing glasses."
"You guys just noticed!?"
"Hey, it’s not that obvious!"
"But Mizuha-chan, do you have poor eyesight?"
"Yes, that’s right, but at school, I wear contact lenses."
Oh, this is interesting, Shimizu thought with a mischievous grin.
A sudden idea came to her.
"Wait, don’t move!"
"Click!" Before Mizuha could react, Shimizu took her picture with her smartphone.
"Done, Glasses Mizuha. I'll send this to Takamiya."
"Geez, Shimizu, can you stop?"
Mizuha's face was bright red as she immediately took off her glasses and put in her contact lenses.
Mizuha's mother heard them laughing from outside Mizuha's room and felt relieved.
Thank God she’s made friends, her mother thought, smiling.
"Back to the topic, where do we want to go after this? You said we were going to hang out in town, right?"
"Hehe, I’m glad you asked. First, just prepare yourself. We are going to many places today."
Shimizu stood up excitedly, clearly thrilled by her plan.
"Hey, Eri-chan, do you know where she’s going to take us today?" Mizuha whispered into Eri’s ear.
"No, she hasn’t told me anything about it yet."
Mizuha stood up. "Well, I guess we’ll find out! Alright, let me get ready and we can go."
After Mizuha gathered her things, the trio made their way downstairs.
As they were about to leave, she called out, "Okay, Mama, I’m leaving!"
Her mother replied, "Take care, dear. Don’t return too late, okay?"
The trio went to the bookstore first because Shimizu wanted to buy her manga.
"Alright, you guys, we’re going here first. I’m going to buy my favorite manga."
"Oh, what a coincidence! I also want to stop by to buy my drawing equipment."
"I think I’m going to buy my favorite novel too."
"Eh, Eri-chan, do you read novels!?"
"Yes, I do."
"I have a favorite novel that I just started reading. This novel already has its first volume out. Today I’m going to buy the second volume. I’ll show you guys once we’re inside."
After that, the trio entered the bookstore, and Eri showed them her favorite book, ‘Something in the Rain’ by Mizuno Sensei.
"I really like this novel. The story means a lot to me."
Mizuha noticed Shimizu’s face turning bright red upon hearing Eri’s praise.
Hmm, why is she blushing? Wait, is that novel hers? Mizuha wondered.
Mizuha whispered, "Hey, Shimizu, is that novel yours?"
"Yes, that’s the published novel I told you about that day. I never thought that Eri would be a fan of my novel too."
"Good for you, Shimizu. You’ve got a fan, especially from a close friend."
"I guess I’ll buy it too—both the first and second volumes."
Mizuha, not you too!!! Shimizu thought.
After that, the three of them separated to their respective sections to buy the items they wanted. Eri continued searching for her favorite novel, Shimizu went to the manga section, and Mizuha went to the stationery section to buy her drawing equipment.
Mizuha pulled out her phone to check her shopping list as she browsed the art supplies.
Brush done, watercolor done, drawing block done, pencils done — that left only the blank notebook, she thought, checking off each item on her phone.
After a few minutes of browsing, she made her way to the notebook section.
Notebook, notebook... Ah, found it, she thought, spotting the perfect one on a higher shelf.
Just as she reached for her notebook, her hand bumped into someone else reaching for the same notebook.
"Ah, sorry."
"Me too, then go ahead."
"Huh!? Takamiya-kun?" It turned out the person was Hikaru, reaching for the same notebook.
"Yuki-san!? That’s a coincidence. I didn't expect to see you today. What are you doing here? I heard Shimizu and Eri were going to visit your house."
"Yeah, it's like that, but Shimizu dragged me out to town, so I'm hanging out with them right now, and we stopped here first."
"Oh, that's the same with me. Actually, I'm hanging out with Zul today, and he wanted to stop here first."
"So that lousy girl dragged you out, huh? That must be rough," Hikaru said.
Mizuha sighed. "Yeah, as you can see."
"Since we’re all here, why not hang out together too?" Hikaru said.
"Oh, that's a good idea, my boyfriend," Shimizu said, appearing between them.
"Wargh, Shimizu, you!" Hikaru was surprised by Shimizu's sudden appearance between them.
Mizuha's face turned red. "Wait, Shimizu, stop that! Geez, why did you have to do that?"
"Haha, sorry, sorry, by the way, Takamiya, who's the one you called a lousy girl earlier, huh?" Shimizu said before staring at Hikaru.
"Oh, you heard that, huh? You lousy girl. You suddenly stormed into Yuki-san's house and dragged her out like this. You even dragged Eri into your scheme. Don't you have any shame?"
"What did you say!?" Shimizu said. Both of them glared at each other.
"Okay, enough, you two. Time's up. Stop your drama here," Mizuha said. "Geez, you two really are like kids, huh…"
"By the way, Shimizu, are you done with your manga? Where's Eri-chan?"
"Yes, I'm done," Shimizu said. "About Eri, I haven't seen her yet — she must be with Zul."
"How about you guys? Are you done with your items?" Hikaru said.
"I'm done, just need to pay for it," Mizuha said. "How about you, Takamiya-kun?"
"I think I'm also done," Hikaru said. "Let's go to the counter to pay."
The three of them made their way to the counter and saw Eri and Zul, who had already finished paying for their items and were standing together, waiting for them.
After that, the five of them left the bookstore and discussed where to go next.
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To be continued… Part 2
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