"Makoto! Wake up! Open your eyes, please!"
My eyelids slowly began to rise. A blurry image of a girl with black hair formed. She appeared to be shouting something but I could not perceive it. I stood up and observed my surroundings, trying to understand what was going on. As my vision became clearer and clearer, I started to recognise where I was.
"I'm in the tunnel?"
The familiar floating shapes flew past us as though they were escaping from something. The smooth liquid surface was rippling gently. But most terrifying of all, the great glowing tree had been split in half. Shivers ran down my spine from seeing such terrifying scenery. Something was definitely not right here.
Suddenly, the ground began to crack wide open. I tried to jump to safety but I slipped inside the cleft. The last thing I could hear was Mitsuha sobbing as she screamed my name.
Beep. Beep. Beep. I sprang up immediately from my bed, wondering how I was still alive. "Just a dream," I consoled myself. I looked at my alarm clock - 6:30 am. Perfect timing. I freshened up and headed to the dining room. On the table was a sandwich with a mysterious note beside it. I looked around the house for Mom but she was nowhere to be found. Curious about its contents, I decided to read the letter.
"Good morning Mako. Went to work early for restocking. Hope you have a great day at school today with your 'girlfriend'."
At the bottom of the letter was a smiley face.
A huge smile erupted on my face before blushing at the last words of the letter. It was nice to see Mom going back to the way she was before. Whenever she or Dad had to leave, they used to leave notes like this to ensure that I did not panic. I folded the paper and safely kept it in my breast pocket. After eating my breakfast, I exited my house.
"G'morning Mako-mako! How is ya doing?" Ren greeted me in the most extravagant way possible.
"That's a new nickname. When did you come up with that?"
"Literally less than a nanosecond ago."
"Not bad."
As usual, we walked towards school while chatting about trivial things. That was until he brought out the elephant room.
''Damn man! I never knew you were such a ladies' man! Getting committed with the new girl in less than a day is insane, even for your standards!"
I physically choked on my saliva from his words. How did he come to that conclusion? I had to immediately clear this misunderstanding up before it could spread.
"We are not dating. I just showed her around town because she's new. That's all."
"Hmm…" Ren observed me as though he was a detective and I was a suspect in a criminal case. Drops of sweat began to drop from my forehead, enough to fill a river. His amber-coloured eyes became sharp enough to pierce me. After the staring contest, which nearly lasted an eternity, Ren finally looked away and sighed then showed off the smile of a clown.
"Don't worry, I believe you," Ren broke the silence as he slapped me on the back," I knew that there was no way you could've gone into a relationship. You're not that type of guy after all."
"Thanks for understanding."
I then asked Ren where he had heard this rumour from. He said that someone saw Mitsuha and me walking around town together and immediately assumed that we started dating. That person most likely spread it to their friends and the chain continued, the information becoming more and more abstract. I physically cringed in shame and wanted to hide in a ditch. For sure the rumour must have spread to everyone in the school. I had no idea what I was going to do about the issue.
Once Ren and I entered the school gates, I could feel the eyes of all the students on me. They began whispering among themselves, "Hey, that's the guy who is dating the new chick right?"
"Whoa! Dating the transfer student immediately after she joined? What a creep…"
"Can't believe someone would stoop so low for lust."
My body felt like collapsing after listening to their outlandish comments. Were they really thinking of me that way? Was I really such a bad person to help her? I covered my face in shame, knowing that this stigma would probably never leave me. At that moment, I felt Ren grip my shoulder. He was emanating an aura of pure rage, sending shivers down my spine. He turned around to face the students who badmouthed me.
"Hey! Is it wrong for a guy to help a girl out on her first day?! No, right?! Well, that's why my best friend here did! And now you're calling him a creep for doing a good deed?! How could all of you be so heartless! If any of you insult my buddy one more time, I'll make sure that you regret it!" Ren's voice boomed around the school premises like a loudspeaker. The murmurings among the students immediately stopped and they made their way towards their classrooms.
I turned towards Ren and gave him the most grateful smile I could ever produce. "Thank you so much, Ren. I don't know what I would do without you." He replied with a thumbs up complimented with a cheeky smile before dashing towards his classroom. I then decided to enter my classroom as well, ready for anything that could come at me.
As I slid open the door, I tried to hide my fear in front of my classmates as I paced towards my seat. I could hear the soft whispers of the students who I was 99% sure were talking about me. I checked Mitsuha's seat but it was empty. Seeing my worried expression, Yuki rose from her desk and walked towards me. "Just ignore them. All they know is to gossip behind other people's backs. I know who you are and it's obvious to me that you are not that type of person. So relax, okay?" she advised while giving me a warm smile. All I could do was reciprocate the expression and be grateful that I had such great friends.
The door slid open once again and, at that moment, Mitsuha entered the classroom. The murmurings in the classroom became louder and more audible as she walked towards her seat. "Good morning, Makoto," she greeted me politely. Do you not realise everyone is talking about us? I desperately wanted to tell her that but her innocent smile stopped me in my tracks. The best thing to do now was to act normal.
"Good morning," I replied.
After that awkward situation, the day continued as usual, only with the addition of annoying whispering sometimes interrupting my concentration. Once the final bell rang, Mitsuha immediately turned towards me and patted my shoulder. "Ready for day two of the Yakushima tour?" she asked with glowing enthusiasm.
At first, I was planning to cancel our plans to let the rumours die down but the kind words of Ren and Yuki struck my mind once again. They were right, I should just ignore what these strangers are saying and do whatever I want. That was when I had a Eureka moment.
"I'm more than ready. But may I ask you for a small favour?"
"Of course. I owe you for even agreeing to help me in the first place."
"Do you mind if I bring my friends along with us this time? They know more about this next place than me."
I did not know whether it was my imagination or not but I noticed that the smile on her face faded slightly when I asked her that question. The primary reason I decided to bring Yuki and Ren for today's tour was to reduce the magnitude of the rumours. I had no idea whether this plan was going to work out but it was worth giving a shot.
Mitsuha's prolonged silence made my heart pulse so fast that I thought I might end up with a heart attack. She kept her hand on her chin, her usual thinking position, and closed her eyes shut. After about a minute, she finally replied, "I don't mind. It may be more fun with more people around." I internally sighed with relief at her answer and called both Ren and Yuki to join us. Sensing my slight desperation, both of them accepted the invitation with open arms.
"Nice of you to invite us on your private tour, Mako-mako," Ren said once he arrived at the school gates.
"I never expected that you of all people would call others for an outing. Usually, it's Ren that does that sort of thing, " Yuki added.
"True. But I need your help to show off this next place. It's not exactly my expertise after all," I requested.
"Oh, so you want to bring her there, huh?" Ren asked with a devil-like green.
"This is going to be fun," Yuki said as she started rubbing her hands together.
"Umm, where are you taking me, Makoto?" Mitsuha questioned, wondering what happened to the two guests.
"One of the most famous tourist destinations in Yakushimma: The Yakushima Flood Plain."