" Welcome students! I hope all of us can find joy in this school year and new wonderful friends in this class. Please be kind with each other more let's make it our goal to not make anyone sad." the woman stays before the six years old class and after she takes a seat at her desk, smiling jovialy, she claps her hands and continues
" Now let's introduce each other and begin the journey of friendship. I begin first. My name is Ichika-sensei, my favorite food is salmon and I live with my husband and our amazing cat." Still smiling she points towards the boy I first round and exciter he begin introducing himself.
The school were Danuja was admitted, well, were her parents placed her before they left wasn't looking prestigious enough to say it was full of rich kids. But truthfully speaking looking at their shoes from overseas firms, Danuja couldn't help but feel self conscious of her simple black shoes.
She made sure to not seat in the front row so without complication she found a place at the window, behind the tallest boy in the class and hopped for the best. The months where she stayed alone, just with 'Dad' as company and the consequences of going outside and be subjugated at those nasty things people around neighborhood said made her more aware of her situation. Not a lot. But enough to knows
she shouldn't draw attention to herself.
When the boy in front of her - Akizawa Haruto, likes dogs, lives with his grandmother- presented himself, it was her turn and like all students before her, curious eyes pinned her down.
But Danuja learned to live with an unruly dog for three months without supervision or any help for that matter. So the little girl took a deep breath and said
" I'm Sora Danuja and I like dumplings. I live with my Dad. " she tried to seat down bit a squeaky voice stopped her. A girl looking at her with big curious brown eyes and appearing just plainly confused.
" You are lying. My mom said that your parents left you and you live alone now."
That prompted the other kids to whisper or laugh towards her and tge teacher to take action .
" Students! Students. Let's continue , there are others that wait their turn." she get up from her seat and begin to walk around the classroom making sure the other children were behaving themselves.
The introduction continued, the same with the curious looks.
When the break begin, Danuja feared the worst.
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She shouldn't have.
" That's so cool! I wanna live alone too!" The brown eyes girl from before said excited " That means I can eat and sleep and don't do homework and play with the cats and eat whatever I want. So many things to do!!"
Around Danuja bench there was a group of girls and boys chattering without care about their dreams of living alone and without their nagging parents.
All day Danuja smiled, golden eyes glittering, at their story's and jokes and fantasies. And when the school day was over she found Dad, laying on the ground with his back at the front gate.
An excited bark, a wagging tail and little licks on her hand and face.
Once they arrived home Dad runned straight for the couch, while Danuja walked to the kitchen and after a short search she found some food and put it in the microwave. She took it out and seat on the small place Dad left for her. The TV was black, she didn't even try to open it. She didn't know how to pay this bill and she wouldn't ask her neighbors for help.
So stubbornly she waited for the postman to help her again.
" I think o need to walk you or something... " she said surpling her noodles. Dad glanced at her and sneezed. She hummed to herself so the silence won't eat her away. At last she has some sort of friend now.
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She was 9 years old when it happened. Dad was still walking her to and from school. She still throws in her bento box cutes of fruits or rarely an onigiri. She still lived alone and there still wasn't wasn't single sign from get parents.
At the very last she knows how to pay the bills now and the silence wasn't so bad.
She had friends at school too, most of them from her first year of Elementary.
That day wasn't anything special or at last she didn't feel it special but Danuja will remember clearly the moment when her world turned upside down.
For the second time at that.
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" Ne, Sora- chan? You always said that your dad takes you from school. " Sasaki, the same brown eyed girl that pointed at her two years ago, said
They were in lunch break, each of them eating their own food, talking about usual things.
" Mh. " Ami said " She is right, I never saw him either. "
" What you talking about? He is always there. " Danuja said confused. The girls still looked confused so Danuja explained. " He outside. " se points at the window munching her fruits
Sasaki and Ami hurried excited to the window, curious beyond belief. The only thing at the gate was a big, shaggy dog, sleeping at a shade.
" The dog?" Ami asked. In response Danuja just nodded
The two girls looked surprised what one another.
" That's so cool, Sora-chan!" They laughed and continued to eat happily
" Doesn't it look cool, Sora?"
The same girls that she spend two years laughing, eating together and playing asked Danuja pointing at her own desk. Words like 'Doggy girl' , ' stupid ' and ' homeless' were craved on her desk, the other students laughing at her or just staring boredly.
" You are a liar Sora. You live in a cartoon box with a dog and you lied." Sasaki said pointing pointing the words on her desk " Liars should be punished. "
" We will buy some soap though , living with a nasty dog like that wouldn't do you any good." Ami said making the other students laugh or gag in mock disgust
Now, Danuja wants to say that her aim isn't good, like at all. So she couldn't exactly throw her bag or an object at them.
She wouldn't scream or cry either, because she has her pride.
But she lived with a dog three times her size for almost 3 years now, she played with him however she could. By play fighting.
So Danuja took a deep breath listened to the laughter and words around her and without hesitation throw herself at the two girls, wrestling them on the ground.