"—You are to leave this place and make money by yourself, got that?"
Apparently, I wasn't the only one who got that treatment from my father. I was the third daughter of his, and the last child. All of my siblings had left me to do some business our father told them to do.
"You will go there by yourself, you're more better than everyone else"
Those remarks stayed with me for a long time. I couldn't just put it out of my mind.
My siblings have cried in front of me, asking everyone else in the home to persuade our father not to force her to go and start a new life at such a young age. We were the only children in our family.
And I was the final person to receive such treatment.
I, on the other hand, did not cry.
I battled with the anguish and isolation.
I traveled a long way from home to the Kanagawa prefecture, where I would be doing photoshoots for a major clothing company.
When I arrived alone, I saw that the apartment I was staying in was rather small.
Father left me rules and money for the future. He said that I must follow them or if I am spotted not following the rules, there will be consequences.
I remembered all of my siblings shook in fear when they heard about it. The rules itself were hideous. It was simply life without access to any fun stuff.
—I wonder, where are they now?
Could I meet them at some point in the future? The rules didn't say anything about meeting up with each other… So it must be alright to meet them, right?
My guesses weren't correct.
When I tried contacting them through the telephone booth in front of the apartment, the call was instantly declined from the other side.
I went back inside my new apartment and cried miserably on the soft matted ground.
Though I said I did deal with the pain and loneliness, it wasn't up until that time yet. Before I met Shouta, I was basically a lost child wandering the big city fujisawa.
I didn't want to be alone. I didn't want to be alone. I didn't want to be alone.
I didn't want to be alone. I didn't want to be alone. I didn't want to be alone.
There were other painful emotions that I felt. But I could faintly remember them.
The work that I had to do wasn't fun at all. They had me do all kinds of dirty things childrens shouldn't do.
Right now, I'm wondering, were those photos used for a normal magazine, or some dirty content a ten year old shouldn't know about.
፠
There, I sat alone on a swing in a park somewhere in the city. And all I did was cry out my tears and say to myself: "It's not fun at all".
Then suddenly, your voice ringed in my ears.
"—Hey! Why are you crying?!"
"H-huh?"
"Come on! Don't cry, don't cry"
"——hic, … haah…"
You suddenly wiped my tears with your shirt. I could remember the smell of your shirt, it was disgusting.
"There, all better now, right?"
Seeing your smile made me want to smile.
Though it was night, I felt like the sun was shining on you like a spotlight that was fated for you.
It was after a month I arrived there.
"Y-yeah… I am all better now"
"Hehe, nice job!"
We were cursed by the awkward silence but your face didn't show a hint of embarrassment or any other negative feelings. It was like I was seeing the sun lighting up my world on that dark night. Metaphorically and literally.
"My name is Kazehaya Shouta, nice to meet you"
After confidently introducing yourself, you offered me a hand shake.
"Nice to meet you too, I'm Fujiwara Sara"
Instead of doing the hand shake, I bowed down and introduced myself as I did.
I saw your face was confused at the sight of me bowing down to you.
You must have thought: "Does this girl think I'm a king?". I bet you did because just by a glance, I saw you were some kid that loves to watch cartoons.
Before I knew it, my feelings were all messed up.
Should I cry? Should I laugh? Should I smile? Should I frown? Should I avoid you?
Those were the questions I repeated in my mind. But there was one question that I wanted to cherish.
"Why are you kind to me?"
Aside from lady Hanagaki, you were the other one who was kind to me.
—And after that, all I want is to forget about everything I've been through.
Your family made my life even better than before. Your little sister was there and she was cute too. I knew that you were the type of older brother that loves his little sister more than anyone else.
I decided to ignore all of my fathers rules, and spent the money he left me on stuff that I actually enjoyed doing.
But, my face was unchanging until that time.
.
.
You were able to change my world yet again, with just a simple but strong four words.
I ——————