"Life isn't fair."

I've heard that before. Maybe from the news or some philosophy book, but those words always felt distant, like a truth that applied to others. It makes you wonder why God chose to dictate lives this way from the beginning. Why hand some a golden spoon while others choke on the dust of their misfortune? Others… others like me, are born into a debt so suffocating that every breath feels like you're drowning. And for what? Why did God have to dictate someone's life from the beginning, dividing the world into the haves and the have-nots? I used to think there was some grand purpose for all this suffering. But now, I know better. There is no fairness in this world. There's only survival.

My family didn't survive.

I was only nine when they… when they took their own lives. The debt collectors had come again, demanding more than we could ever repay. My parents were desperate. We lived in fear, clinging to the hope that somehow, we could escape. But there's no escaping the yakuza. In the end, they chose the only escape they saw: death. I remember coming home from school and finding their bodies, lifeless, their faces pale. The smell of blood and despair filled the air. They left me behind—alone, and broken. But the debt didn't die with them. The yakuza doesn't forgive, and they don't forget. They claimed me, their property, forcing me into a life of servitude. I became a tool for their every whim, a pawn in their dirty game, all while I was barely old enough to attend middle school.

I wasn't meant for school, though. I was meant to work, to obey, to repay the debt my family left behind. Every day, I woke up with the weight of it pressing down on me, a constant reminder that my life wasn't my own.

Until today.

"You're still a kid, Yuki," Yanagi-san had said, placing the train ticket in my hand. His voice was rough, worn down by years of giving orders and watching men die. But there was a softness in his tone that was rare, almost fatherly. "You should live your youth while you can. Go to school."

"School?" I had asked, not sure if I heard him right. Of all things, why send me to school now? The yakuza didn't care when I missed elementary and middle school. I barely even knew how to read and write anymore. What was the point?

Yanagi-san's eyes narrowed slightly as he took a drag of his cigarette, exhaling a cloud of smoke. "You're still a kid," he repeated, his voice firmer. "There's more to life than this. You've got years ahead of you, so don't waste them all in this world. Some of our men are already stationed there. They'll watch over you."

I glanced at the train ticket in my hand, the bold letters reading *Tokyo*. "Taka will be there too," Yanagi-san added, his tone lightening. "You remember him, right?"

Taka. I hadn't thought about him in years. He was my childhood friend before everything fell apart. Back then, we were inseparable, but life had taken us down very different paths. I hadn't seen him since before my family's suicide. Was he still the same kid I used to know?

Yanagi-san flicked his cigarette to the ground and crushed it under his heel. "Go," he said, his voice dismissive now. "You're still young. Don't waste it."

I didn't argue. You don't argue with Yanagi-san. So I took the train ticket and boarded the first train to Tokyo, not knowing what waited for me there.

***

The ride to Tokyo was… uncomfortable. I wasn't used to the crowds, the noise, the normalcy. People my age sat with their friends, chatting about school, games, movies, things I had no connection to. The world had kept moving while I was stuck in the yakuza's grip. I watched them through the window's reflection, trying to remember what it felt like to be carefree, to have a life that wasn't weighed down by debt and violence. But that world felt distant, like a story from another life.

The train screeched to a halt at Tokyo Station, and I was thrust into a sea of people. Tokyo was massive, much bigger than I expected. The station alone felt like a maze, people rushing in every direction, their faces blurred into a mass of movement. I stood still for a moment, overwhelmed by the sheer scale of it all. I had never been in a place like this before.

Eventually, I found my way out of the station and onto the streets, clutching the slip of paper with the school's address written on it. By the time I reached the school gates, I was already late. The tall buildings and neatly kept grounds didn't seem like a place for someone like me. It felt wrong, like I was an outsider looking in. But I had no choice.

Inside the classroom, all eyes were on me as the teacher introduced me to the students. "This is Yuki Hazakura, your new transfer student," the teacher said, looking at me like he wasn't sure where I belonged either. "Take the seat in the back."

I dragged myself to the empty seat in the corner, feeling the weight of their stares. The silence in the room was suffocating. No one said anything, but I could hear their whispers, feel their curiosity. I hadn't been in a classroom in years, and now that I was here, I had no idea what to do. So I did what felt natural: I closed my eyes and tried to block it all out.

I didn't care about school. I didn't care about fitting in. None of this mattered to me.

The school bell rings and students were all gathering up with their friends. That's when Taka kicked my chair.

"Hey, Yuki. Long time no see." His voice was the same as I remembered—sharp, mocking, with a hint of amusement at my expense.

I turned to face him. Taka hadn't changed much. His hair was a little longer, his face a little sharper, but he still had that same smug grin I remembered from our childhood. But he wasn't the Taka I remembered. The kind-hearted, friendly kid from middle school was gone. In his place was someone who looked like he was trying too hard to be tough—sagging his uniform jacket, his hair spiked up, with a smug grin plastered across his face. He was surrounded by others who seemed just as out of place, like they were playing some kind of bad-boy act. The whispers in the classroom grew louder as he stared me down.

"Go buy me some bread from the student store," he said casually, like it was the most natural request in the world.

I sighed and stood up. I wasn't here to pick a fight. I knew better than to beat up Taka, especially not in front of a room full of students.

I walked out of the classroom but the problem was… I had no idea where the student store was.

I wandered through the halls, trying to make sense of the signs and directions, but none of it made sense to me. I'd always been bad with directions. Back in the yakuza, I once got lost for hours on a simple collection, circling the same neighborhood until Yanagi-san had to send someone to fetch me. This was no different. The more I tried to find the store, the more lost I became.

Before I knew it, I had somehow ended up outside, even though I was sure the student store was inside. The late morning sun bathed the courtyard in a warm glow, and students milled about, chatting and laughing. I sighed, realizing I was hopelessly lost again.

That's when I saw it—a group of girls gathered around another student, their voices sharp and cruel, standing out against the otherwise peaceful atmosphere. They were surrounding a girl who was hunched over, reaching for something on the ground. 

"Watch where you're going next time, freak!" one of the girls snapped.

The girl on the ground muttered something I couldn't hear, but the ringleader's face twisted in anger. "Oh, are you going to pretend like it was an accident? What, you think you could just use your pity card and we'll let it slide?"

The kneeling girl fumbled, looking like she was struggling to find something she'd dropped. She must have knocked something over, maybe bumped into the other girl by mistake. But these girls? They were treating it like a personal insult.

"Don't use that cane as an excuse!" one of the bullies sneered. "We all saw you do it on purpose!"

The girl didn't respond. She just kept feeling around the ground, panic starting to show in her movements.

The ringleader, clearly fed up, raised her hand to strike. My body moved on instinct, stepping in before she could hit her. I grabbed her wrist firmly.

I didn't even think. My body moved on its own, stepping in between them and grabbing the girl's wrist before she could strike.

"What the hell—" she started, but stopped when she saw me. "Who are you?"

"Just leave her alone," I said, my voice calm but firm. "She's not worth your time."

The girl tried to pull away, but my hold was firm. Her friends backed off, and after a few seconds, she gave up, glaring at me with pure hatred. "You'll regret this," she spat before turning and storming off, her group following behind her.

Once they were gone, I turned my attention back to the girl on the ground. She had stopped moving, just sitting there with her head down, her hands frantically sweeping the ground as if she was searching for something. Her breathing was shaky, her fingers brushing the dirt in a desperate attempt to find whatever she had dropped.

Her long, brunette hair cascaded over her shoulders, framing her delicate face. She had soft, porcelain skin, unblemished and pale, contrasting with the soft shadows that fell around her in the afternoon light. Her expression was calm, though I could see a hint of worry behind her clear, doe-like eyes. She was beautiful in a way that almost didn't seem real—like she had stepped out of an anime, quiet and graceful, completely unfazed by the ugliness that had just surrounded her.

But now, her brow furrowed slightly as her fingers brushed the ground, searching for something she couldn't seem to find. She bit her lip, her frustration showing just a little.

"Hey… you alright?" I asked, my tone softening a little.

She nodded but didn't look up. Her attention was still focused on the ground, her fingers trembling slightly. That's when I noticed it—a small metal rod lying just a little out of reach, hidden beneath the fallen leaves.

"Did you drop something?" I asked, crouching down.

She nodded slightly but still didn't look up. "I can't find it," she muttered, her voice barely above a whisper.

It seemed odd that she couldn't find something right in front of her. It took me a second to realize what it was. 

The realization hit me—she was blind. That's why she had been fumbling around on the ground earlier. I hadn't noticed at first.

I picked it up and handed it to her. "Here," I said, holding the cane out toward her.

Her hands hesitated before she took it from me. She fumbled with it for a second, her fingers trembling slightly as she pressed a button on the cane, extending it back to its full length.

She didn't look up, her voice barely a whisper. "Thank you."

I stayed quiet for a moment, trying to process the situation. The scene felt strange—like it didn't belong to the chaos I was used to. She was so calm, even though she had just been bullied.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, I muttered, "No problem."

She finally stood up, brushing the dirt off her skirt. Despite her composed appearance, I could tell she was still rattled. "I… I don't usually cause trouble," she said quietly, clearly embarrassed. "I just accidentally bumped into her, and she got mad."

I shrugged. "People get mad for stupid reasons all the time."

She smiled faintly, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Then she extended her hand toward me, offering a polite greeting. "I'm Haruna. Haruna Miyazono."

I glanced at her hand but didn't shake it. I wasn't sure why—it just felt awkward, like I didn't know what to do. Instead, I brushed it off. "You okay?" I asked, trying to steer the conversation away from the formality.

Haruna nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine now. Thanks for stepping in."

We stood there in silence for a moment, both unsure of what to say next. The quiet between us started to grow heavy, and I realized something—I still didn't know where the student store was.

"Uh… do you know where the student store is?" I asked, forgetting for a moment that she was blind.

I immediately regretted it. My hand flew to my forehead as I realized my mistake, thinking, Did I seriously just ask a blind girl for directions? I groaned inwardly at my own stupidity.

But Haruna's expression didn't falter. Instead, her face lit up with a surprising amount of enthusiasm. "SURE!" she said, her voice bright and confident. "I'll guide you!"

She took a confident step forward, using her cane to navigate, moving like she had walked these halls a hundred times before. It threw me off how well she knew the way, despite being blind. I followed her in stunned silence, feeling like I was in some strange dream.

After a few turns, she stopped and pointed ahead with her cane. "If you go straight down this path, you should see the student store."

I blinked, still trying to wrap my head around how she managed to lead me there without missing a beat. "Uh… thanks," I said, still a bit fazed by the whole situation.

Haruna gave me a warm smile. "No problem!" Her smile lingered as she stood there for a moment, like she was waiting for something.

I shifted awkwardly. "Is there… something else?"

Haruna tilted her head slightly, then her expression brightened. "I never got your name."

I paused, caught off guard by the question. "It's Yuki," I finally said.

"Yuki," she repeated, her voice soft and almost enthusiastic, as if she were making a mental note to remember it forever. With one final smile, she turned and walked away, her cane tapping lightly as she moved.

I stood there, watching her go, still processing the strange encounter. There was something about her… something fascinating. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

I shook my head, trying to get my thoughts together. I still had to buy the bread for Taka. But as I walked toward the student store, I realized something.

I had no idea how to get back to class.