As Michi marched through the halls, she wondered what it was that made her move. "I don't even care about her," she thought. "Why am I even the one out here? Shouldn't it be that stupid Endo-san? They're supposed to be friends right?" However, despite her complaining, Michi's feet still carried her forward. She went through one hallway, then another, even checking bathrooms along the way, but Chiyo was nowhere to be found.
"Agh, what the hell! Where is she?!" Michi yelled inside. Her frustration continued to build. Part of it was certainly being caused by not being able to find Chiyo, but most of her anger was aimed at herself and failing to understand why she was the one looking.
What had driven her? What had made her think "She's not okay?" Why was it that out of everyone at that table, Michi was the one that got up? She hated Chiyo. She couldn't stand her. The gal's method of wearing her uniform was disgraceful to the entire school, if not the entire city of Iwanai. Her way of speaking was obnoxious, she clung to others without asking and was by far one of the weirdest people Michi had ever met.
Chiyo lived up to her reputation as a gyaru. She slept around, the students knew about it and she even joked about it. If someone was curious and asked her about it, she'd start telling stories about her sex life. Outside of school, her clothes were even looser than her uniform and Michi was sure that Chiyo hit on multiple guys a day.
Overall the idea of gyaru-ism (or whatever you'd call it) made Michi sick. To her, it was like girls giving out their bodies like free candy. Their coating was sickly sweet, but have too much of it and you were sure to lose your appetite. They flaunted their assets, held no regard to their surroundings or other people nearby and completely did whatever they felt like. The fact that anyone could think acting in such a way was acceptable at all was one Michi didn't understand.
Before Chiyo had appeared in Iwanai, Michi couldn't really recall any other girls like her. There was Jasmine, but her beauty was so high that it just seemed natural she'd look the way she did. That wasn't to say Chiyo didn't have looks either, but it sometimes felt like she had to try harder. And, perhaps, that was what Michi hated most of all. Maybe it wasn't always the case. Maybe some of those girls were just like that, but to Michi, the whole "fashionable, flashy, trendy girl with make-up and dyed hair" just felt fake.
Talking to Chiyo had only further proven her point. In the conversations she had had with the gal, Michi was sure she'd probably never gotten any sort of genuine response or real answer to a question. Dancing around with words, Chiyo had seemingly master the art of saying what she wanted to without anyone else understanding. That was something that really irritated Michi. She was straight-forward and told it like she saw it. If someone asked her a question, she answered. If someone wanted her opinion, she gave it. Was it always what people wanted? Absolutely not, but at least Michi could take solace in knowing she had spoken her mind.
With her own personality so drastically different from someone like Chiyo, Michi found it easy to dislike her kind. And yet... she strode on. Stomping step by stomping step, Michi meticulously checked every room she came across, every tucked-away corner and every place in between in search of the gal. She didn't get it. She couldn't get it. What was it that made Michi want to find her? She didn't know. In order to find an answer, she'd have to dig. Far, far into the depths of her heart would she have to go to able to truly understand why she was doing what she was doing. But currently, for the Michi that existed now, going that deep was impossible. So all she could do was march through her school.
When she reached the third floor, Michi got the feeling that she had walked into a ghost town. Most of the classrooms were for third-years, but the years themselves weren't exclusively divided up by floor. A couple of the rooms had been mark for first-years in the current school year. There had been complaints initially, but considering third-years don't have to show up every day anyways, it quickly became a moot point. Aside from the classrooms, there wasn't much else. A small room for making copies was down the hall and next to it was a small computer lab. Nothing else was really worth mentioning.
The ghost town feeling Michi had gotten hadn't been because the floor felt scary. Really, it had more to do with the mood. The entire floor held a somber tone, and as Michi walked through it, she couldn't shake the thought that it wasn't only because of an absence of people. And then, finally, as Michi turned the final corner available to her, she stopped.
The area she found herself in was simple. White tile floor, fading beige walls and two big glass windows on two of the three walls made up the scenery. The light was fading, adding to the melancholy, but what added even more was the singular individual sitting up against the wall facing the window across from it.
Her breathing seemed like it had once been ragged, but for the time being it had slowed. Her skin look pale, even in the lower lighting. With her uniform already messy, it was hard to say if it had gotten worse, but Michi thought it had. Her hair looked disheveled and as she sat with her knees pulled up to her bulging chest, the girl's face displayed a look of misery.
Taking a couple steps forward, the taps of her feet on the tile made the girl look up. "I thought you said you were going to the bathroom," Michi said flatly. "...I did..." the girl muttered in response, then lifted the top part of her shirt. "Can't you tell?" There were stains on it, as the girl pointed out with a weak smile that she hadn't been able to keep down her feelings or her lunch.
"I'm fine Mi-chan," the girl said. "You don't have to worry. Just give me a couple of minutes and I'll-"
"God, would you drop that plastic smile already? It's disgusting," Michi said sharply. The girl froze. "W-What are you talking about?" she said, still trying to smile. "I told you I'm fine, didn't I?" "Cut the crap Chiyo," Michi said harshly. Chiyo's smile faltered. "W-Why are you mad Mi-chan? I'm smiling, see? That means I'm okay-"
"Liar."
One word. One word was all it took to freeze Chiyo completely. Her upturned cheeks dropped. Her eyes faded. And then, slowly, Chiyo turned her head, resting her chin back on her knees where it had been. She couldn't take it. Michi was glaring at her, but what Chiyo was sure Michi didn't realize was how pained that expression looked. "...Sorry," Chiyo said softly. She didn't want to say anything else, and for a moment, Michi stood still. Deciding she was done waiting, she then walked over to Chiyo and sat down next to her with a huff.
It was quiet. Being on the third floor, the two girls were far enough away from the clubs downstairs that they couldn't be heard, and the position they were at stopped any noise from the sports clubs from coming through. The only things that made a sound were the faint humming of the electronics down the hall, and even those just barely registered. Not speaking a word, Michi and Chiyo sat still, both staring at the window in front of them.
"Did you know I was from Tokyo?" Chiyo suddenly asked, nearly in a whisper. "...Yeah," Michi said, remembering back to when Chiyo had mentioned it. "It's pretty big y'know. Lots of tall buildings. This place would probably fit in a tiny corner of a city like that," Chiyo said. There was no joke behind those words. No playful wink. Just a random thing being said. In turn, Michi waited in silence. She didn't know what she was waiting for, but something told her she should. So she did.
"...I was a pretty normal kid," Chiyo said, continuing. "Most people here might think it'd be hard to grow up normal in a place like Tokyo, but I did." Chiyo paused for a moment, then went on. "My elementary school was pretty nice too. Almost as big as this high school. And the people there were kind. The teachers really wanted to help you out, y'know? I really liked them, but it makes me sad that I can't really remember any of them anymore."
"Back then, everything was... nice. I had a lot of friends. We all played together and laughed together. We'd have sleepovers and all of us girls would talk about what sort of guy we'd want to marry. Pretty funny from a bunch of kids, right?" Michi only nodded, signaling Chiyo to continue. "Would you believe it if I said I didn't really have a type in mind?" Michi didn't respond. She found it hard to believe considering Chiyo's history, but she kept her comments to herself.
"When we got older, a couple of my friends moved away. Natural stuff to happen, but it was still sad. A few of us cried when the moving trucks drove away. But, with who was still around, we stuck together. All through elementary school we did as much as we could to make as many memories as possible... Those days are so precious to me now."
"When middle school came around, we thought we were big shots," Chiyo said with a little laugh. "We'd strut around and act like we were the best. It was all in good fun. It wasn't like we were actually being mean to anyone. We just liked to think of ourselves as cool kids."
"But, as time went on, we started to drift apart. By that point, most of the people I had been friends with had left. They either moved or transferred away. With only a couple of us, I thought we'd just get closer, but it was the opposite. And then, soon enough, by the halfway point of middle school, I was alone."
"That was... hard. I never knew how much I had treasured my friends until they were all gone. It kinda felt like... I had been left behind. Like, everyone else grew up and I was the only one stuck in elementary school, wishing for those days again. I tried reaching out to the people I had called my friends, but they never seemed to want to be around me anymore. I couldn't figure out what it was, and honestly, I don't think I ever did."
The words continued to pour out of Chiyo. "When I was alone, I felt so sad. I hated it so much and I so badly wanted someone to come and save me from that loneliness. I'd just spend hours in my room at home doing nothing. I had no one to call, no one to play with, nothing. It felt like the universe was shunning me or something. It was like it was saying 'You aren't allowed to have friends anymore,' and that... hurt."
"I know everyone knows this but, my body isn't exactly... normal for a high school girl. My boobs are bigger than average and I look more curvy than I probably should be for my age. It was like that back then too. Looking back now, I'm pretty sure that was what drew them to me at first."
"Near the end of middle school, I was approached by the three most popular girls in school. The first was Akira. Her hair was wavy, kinda like Jas-chin's, but it was longer and bleached blonde. Then there was Yume. Her hair was black, but it only came down to her ears. And then there was Mai. She had suuuper short hair, and it was spikey and dark red. They all pretty much had the same body type as me, but their uniforms looked tighter on them than it did on me."
"When they saw how alone I was, they approached me and told me that a girl like me with a killer bod like that shouldn't be sitting in a corner. Akira reached out her hand and offered it to me. And me, being so wanting for friends, took it without a second thought."
"Right away, they asked for my name, and I told them. 'Chiyo-chan!' They had said it so happily, like it was everyday routine for them." Michi stared at Chiyo. "Are these girls the reason... why she doesn't like it when people call her anything other than Chiyo?" Michi was tempted to ask, but she stopped herself, allowing Chiyo to go on uninterrupted.
"At first, it was a lot of fun. I was already kinda dressing like how I do now, but I was only beginning in make-up. Those three took me out shopping and showed me all kinds of things. Better outfits, easier ways to do make-up and all sorts of fun things like that. Akira was the most fashionable, so she taught me all about clothes. Yume really like make-up, so she always gave me tips on which ones I should buy. Mai was... y'know, I don't really remember what she was into."
"As we got to know each other, I learned a bunch about them. Like, Mai knew how to play guitar, so she taught me. Akira was hoping to become a student council president someday, so she always led us around, and Mai was a fan of boxing, but she said she didn't want to actually get in the ring because it'd ruin her good looks."
"We had a lot of fun together, but as I got to know them and they got to know me, I started to notice something. Like how a lot of what I liked, they called it weird. Shirts I picked out would get taken out of my hands and put back on the rack, then replaced by something else. I'd give a suggestion for what we could do while we hung out, and they'd say 'Why would we do that?' Even my choice in drinks was treated weirdly, with them always saying 'Chiyo-chan, you're just sooo off.'"
Michi's eyes went wide. Chiyo's words had brought her back to the time they had sat in a park one night and talked. Chiyo had offered Michi a drink, and when Michi had tried it, she had thoroughly criticized it. When she had, Chiyo had looked hurt, which had made Michi briefly wondered why. "I reminded her of these girls..." she concluded, now feeling a little more regretful for her actions than she had.
Michi was sure Chiyo had noticed her reaction, but the gal went on anyways. "Once we had gotten closer, I remember getting a text from Akira one time. It had said to meet them in a part of Tokyo I wasn't very familiar with. I was a little worried about going somewhere I didn't know, but I trusted Akira, so I went anyways. I got on the one of the train lines and rode it all the way, and when I got off, I followed Akira's instructions to the place she told me to go."
"When I got there, I found Akira, Mai and Yume all waiting for me. 'Bout time you got here,' I remember Mai telling me. I didn't really get why she was so impatient. But then Yume had said 'Let's hurry up before all of the hot guys are gone.' When she said that, I didn't know what she meant. Then I looked at the sign. I had ended up at a club."
"A club?" Michi repeated, breaking her long-held silence. "Yeah," Chiyo said. "As it turned out, Akira, Yume and Mai went to them regularly. It definitely wasn't a place for middle schoolers to be, but because of our bodies and how sleazy some of the clubs were, they let us in with a little bribery." "How old were you then?" Michi asked. "Mmm... Well, we were getting near the end of middle school, so I was... 12, I think?" "12?!" Michi shrieked. "Like I said, the clubs were reeeaaallly sleazy," Chiyo said.
"Anyways, when we got inside, it was so loud I couldn't hear a thing. Akira tried to tell me something, but all I could do was shake my head. So, she texted me, then pointed. 'Go talk up that group of guys over there' her message said. When I looked, there was a group of four guys, all at least 20 years old, sitting around a table. I asked Akira why, and I remember her scowling at me. 'Flirt with them for us. You're the hottest one here. Convince them to spend time with us.' I still didn't know why, but I did as I was told. I think, back then, I would've done anything I was told to do if it was Akira, Mai or Yume. That's how much I wanted friends."
"When I went over to the table, I remember getting a lot of funny looks, but I did my best to ignore them. I did what I could to cozy up to those guys, and after a few drinks, they didn't seem to mind my being around at all anymore. It was quickly after that that my friends came over and joined us. 'Hey, you boys wanna spice this night up a bit?' I wasn't really sure what Akira had meant by that, but it didn't take me long to find out."
"The next thing I knew, the four pairs of us had ended up in one of the love hotel areas of Tokyo. It was all happening so fast that I didn't really have time to think. The guy I was with had managed to breeze by the woman working the desk and skirt any questions about my age, and then we went to one of the rooms available... I don't even remember what it looked like, other than it being dark. Shortly after we got in there, the guy started to strip down. He looked at me funny, and said 'Huh? Why're you just standing there? Let's get naked and get it on.' And then, I think because it was Akira who had gotten me into that situation, I just accepted it and did as I was told."
"When we got on the bed, I just laid there. My body was shaking and my mind was panicking, but I couldn't move. The guy asked me if I was okay, and I told him I was. And then he told me he'd be gentle. And then..."
Chiyo stopped. Her body was shaking like she had said it was during that time. Michi stared at her and Chiyo looked back. "...I'll... spare you the rest of that night," she said with a strained expression. Michi wanted to say something, but she had no idea what. It was clearly a painful memory, but something told her that she should just let Chiyo keep talking. It felt like if Michi stopped Chiyo now, she'd never hear more about the gal like this ever again.
"After that, nights like that became a regular thing. We'd go to different clubs every time, making sure we didn't get caught being so underage. Then Akira would send me in first to 'warm up the boys' as she put it, and then once they'd had a few drinks, Mai, Yume and her would come over and join in... I know you probably guessed this, but nearly every single one of those nights ended with sex."
"We kept doing that routine, but no one ever found out. Our school life was just like always, but I did notice the three girls I was hanging out with kept asking me to do more and more for them. They'd ask me to get something from the convenience store on the corner near the school, or they'd want me to do their homework. Most people would've said no, but I didn't. I wanted them to like me. I didn't want to lose them like I had lost my other friends. So I did what they wanted me to do."
"Back then, I never noticed their requests getting worse. It began to feel so normal that I just went with the flow. 'Hey Chiyo-chan, do my essay for me.' 'Hey Chiyo-chan, you should buy me a drink.' 'Chiyo-chan, shouldn't you be getting our food a little faster?' It was stuff like that, every day."
"One day, when I went to get something for them, I actually did do it pretty quick. I was proud of myself and wanted to hurry and give it to them and have them praise me. But, as I was going to where I'd meet them, I overheard their voices in the bathroom as I went by."
"God, Chiyo-chan is seriously pathetic," Akira said in an annoyed manner. "Tell me about it. But it's also hilarious. Like, we can do whatever we want to her and she'll just take it lol. She's like a little puppy," Mai said with a laugh. ���It actually kinda gives me the creeps though," Yume said. "She's so desperate for friends that she's willing to sell out her body. That's just gross."
"...I heard it all," Chiyo said after recounting the conversation. The words those girls had spoken had been seared into Chiyo's mind, making it easy for her to recite it all. "Every word they spoke, I made sure not to miss any of it. I'm not really sure why. Maybe I wanted to hear it, or maybe I just couldn't believe it. But I stood there anyways, listening to the whole thing. When they switched topics, I left... and waited at the spot I was supposed to until they came back."
"I heard them say all those nasty things, and I just stood there, bag in hand, like a fool. When they showed up, they acted like nothing had happened, but they did seem a little colder. I didn't care though. I thought 'They're my friends. They're just joking. They didn't mean any of that.' I convinced myself that that had to be the truth, and so I kept going along with them."
"Little did I know that it was all about to fall apart."
"What do you mean?" Michi asked. Chiyo was silent, which gave Michi the impression that her story somehow got worse. After a moment or two, Chiyo continued. "...One night, at one of the clubs, we were with some way older guys. Usually we stuck to guys we thought were in their 20s, but these ones were probably at least 30s, if not older. Like usual, I went in first, and the night went as planned. We went to a love hotel like always, and after doing it so many times, I was pretty used to the routine."
"Just like all the other times, we got to the room and sex was quickly to follow. However... just as I had gotten my shirt off, the guy I was with abruptly sobered up. 'Chiyo...Wakabayashi, right?' He said my name. My full name, like he was supposed to know it. When I looked at him closer, I realized who he was. Somehow, I had managed to pick up a teacher from my very own middle school."
"We both stood in stunned silence. I started freaking out inside, but on the outside I just kept smiling. 'No, you've got it wrong. I'm... Akira!' I had said the first name that popped into my head, but he wasn't buying it. 'You're definitely Chiyo Wakabayashi,' he said. 'Do your parents know that you're out here doing this? Although, even if they did, that wouldn't make it okay.' I remember he sat down and quietly thought for a second before muttering, 'What am I going to do?' I knew what he meant. He was a teacher. He couldn't just tell the school and my parents that he had found me at a Tokyo club and then brought me to a love hotel. What would they think of him? What about his career? But, just as I thought that, he shrugged and sighed. 'Oh well,' I remember him saying, giving me a gentle smile. 'I was thinking about quitting teaching anyways.'"
"As it turned out, he was willing to destroy his career for the sake of one student. That night, he drove me home and told me what he was going to do. I begged him not to, but he said that I'd thank him someday. The next day, I got called into the principal's office. The principal, school administrator and several teachers were present. One of them was the one I had been with. And then, standing before them all, were Akira, Yume and Mai."
"I vividly remember them glaring at me as hard as they could. When the meeting started, I found out that the teacher I had been with was friends with the other guys my friends had left with. However, they had all actually had sex. That though, led to me finding out something else."
Chiyo bit her lip, seemingly not wanting to say what she had been told. "...Akira, Mai and Yume were having sex with the guys we picked up, just like me. But, they apparently were also blackmailing them afterwards." "Blackmail?" Michi repeated, shocked. "Yeah. They'd take pictures and get their contact info while they were doing it and then once they finished, either that night or the day after, the girls I called my friends would send them the pictures they took. The deal that they'd always make was for the guys to either give them cash upfront or buy them nice things in exchange for keeping the pictures private."
"You didn't...?" Michi began to ask. Chiyo shook her head. "No, I had no idea. I thought we were all just having fun. It had been scary at first, but I had gotten used to all the things we were doing, and I'd be lying if I said I hadn't enjoyed the sex. But those three... took it so much further than I ever realized."
"After that, the school called all of our parents. The teacher that caught us was fired and it didn't take long for the whole thing to become a scandal. Ours names were never mentioned, but if you search 'Tokyo Middle School Sex Scandal,' you'll find all the articles about it."
"My family life up to that point had been pretty normal. My dad worked a lot, but my mom stayed at home, so it kinda balanced out. They both loved me and my big sis Chitose a lot, and for the most part, we were a pretty close family. But when my dad got that call, everything changed. I remember him rushing home in an uproar, screaming his head off at me. My mom had no idea what to do other than shake her head in disapproval. Chitose was already here in Hokkaido, so she missed all the yelling."
"As expected, I got expelled. I tried to convince the principal that I wasn't a part of the blackmailing, but they wouldn't believe me. It turned out that Akira, Mai and Yume had all sworn I was. They had used me. Completely and utterly used me, and then, they threw me under the bus... It didn't do a lot to help their cases though, because they got expelled too." "That's terrible..." Michi muttered. "I'm sorry to say the story isn't over yet," Chiyo said somberly. "After all of that, a few days passed when I got a knock on my door."
"When I opened it, I saw Akira, Mai and Yume standing in front of me, furious. 'How dare you!' Akira had shouted, immediately pushing me. I had been caught so off-guard that I easily fell over, leaving the three of them to tower over me. 'I can't believe you ratted us out!' Yume yelled. 'We had a good thing going and you ruined it!' Mai tacked on. I tried to defend myself. I promised I didn't say anything, that it was an accident, but they wouldn't listen. 'An accident?! Are you for real?! God, you really are the worst! Who'd ever believe a garbage excuse like that? Well, then again, I guess it makes sense when it comes from garbage. We should've just left you in your corner to rot.' Akira said all of that to me, but I felt like I couldn't deny it. Not because I thought it was true, but because I still saw her as my friend. I thought, 'She's my friend. She wouldn't actually try to hurt me.'"
'I can't stand the sight of you. You're seriously such a pathetic lowlife. I hope you get some sort of disease.' Akira kept piling it on, but I just took it. That, however, apparently just made her angrier. 'Say something you bitch! Are you just going to sit there after ruining our great plan?! Huh?! Answer me!'"
"Her fist flew up into the air, and I braced to get hit. But it never came. By some crazy miracle or twist of fate, Chitose had happened to come home from Hokkaido. I remember seeing her standing there holding Akira's wrist. 'What the hell do you think you're doing?' she had asked in the strongest tone possible. Akira and the others looked intimidated by her, but then they tried to fight back... It... didn't end well. My big sis knocked them all down easily. After that, she called the police."
"It turned into an entire thing, but I eventually found out that after being taken away by the police, Akira, Yume and Mai had been sent to a juvenile detention center or something." "You didn't?" Michi asked. "Well, when it came to the sex, I was just viewed as a minor, so nothing really happen. Those three mostly got sent away because of their attempted assault on me. I was the victim..." Chiyo said that last part, allowing it to hang in the air. Based on her expression, Michi felt like Chiyo didn't like being considered a victim.
"It wasn't long after that that my dad figured out what to do with me. He wanted me as far away from Tokyo as he could get me, so he sent me all the way up here, to Iwanai, Hokkaido. He hoped that being in such a faraway place that was much smaller than Tokyo would help me to recover or something. But... by that point, it was too late. Having my friends stripped away from me again, I fell into the only warmth I could find, which was under bedsheets. I didn't learn my lesson at all, and I just kept doing what I was doing in Tokyo, except here instead."
Chiyo stopped. She looked away, then spoke once more. "I was used by Akira and the others, but because I was so desperate for friends, I went along with them. The way they behaved, the things they did, it reminds me of..." She was about to say "it reminds me of what Akio-kun is doing with Haru-chi and Kana-chan," but she didn't finish the sentence. Instead, she let it remain as it was before speaking once more. "I got a second chance... and I didn't do anything about it. I just kept doing the same thing. I still smile the same. I still act the same. Nothing's different."
Finally, Chiyo turned to look at Michi again. With tears streaming down her face, Chiyo smiled. "I'm... pretty pathetic, aren't I?"
The sight of Chiyo Wakabayashi crying sent shockwaves through Michi.
Her eyes bulged. Her head spun. "This isn't right," she thought. "This isn't the Chiyo I know. The one I know is loud, ridiculous and annoying. She's kind, gentle and caring. She's flashy, nosy and shameless. She's soft, big-hearted and... lonely." That last word struck Michi, as recently, she had felt much the same. As she stared at the crying girl in front of her, Michi was incapable of processing it. "Why?" she thought. "Why does she look like that? How can she cry and smile at the same time?" Michi kept searching for answers, but much like before, she found none. What Chiyo did to her, she didn't understand. But, what she did know was that she couldn't stand the sight of what was in front of her.
Before she even knew what she was doing, Michi pulled Chiyo into her arms.
Chiyo's crying stopped for a moment. "Mi...chan?" she said quietly, her head pressed against Michi's chest. "Don't say anything," she said just as quietly as the girl she was holding. "I just... I can't stand seeing you look like that. So, for right now... you can cry. You can let it all out on me, and I won't say a word either. And then, tomorrow... you better be the Chiyo I know again."
Chiyo's eyes were wide as she listened to Michi speak. Then, without Michi being able to see her, Chiyo closed her eyes and smiled, truly smiled, for the first time in a while. "Thank you... Michi." "Idiot... I never said you could use my first name..."
In a dead-end hallway on the third floor of Iwanai Municipal High School, Michi held Chiyo close to her heart as the gal let out muffled cries.
End of Chapter Eleven.