Amikura Mako's Monologue

Soritado Elementary School was already past dismissal time.

Inside the classroom of Class 4-F, a slightly chubby little girl was cleaning up all by herself.

"Hey! Where's the person on duty with you?"

A child with silver-white short hair stood at the doorway, calling out to the girl inside.

"Huh? Ah! He, he said I'm too ugly and didn't want to be around me, so he left first.

But it's fine! I can do it alone!"

Startled by the sudden voice, the little girl stammered out the situation after realizing it was another classmate.

But Gojo Satoru didn't like what he heard.

"What the hell?! Who uses an excuse like that to ditch?!"

With that, he walked up to the little girl, pushed aside the bangs that had been covering her eyes, and said simply, "Doesn't look that bad to me? Just a bit chubby, that's all."

"R-really?! You really think I look good, classmate?"

The praised little girl asked excitedly.

Faced with her eager tone, Gojo Satoru didn't hesitate and gave his verdict again:

"Of course! Aside from being a little chubby, your features are still pretty delicate—definitely not ugly like they said!"

Hearing his firm answer, the little girl relaxed and smiled as she thanked him, adding a self-introduction:

"Thank you! You're the first person besides my family to say I look good!

My name is Amikura Mako. Nice to meet you!"

"Yeah, yeah, got it. My name's Gojo Satoru. Nice to meet you.

I'll help you clean up."

Gojo Satoru said as he picked up the broom the other duty student had abandoned and started sweeping on his own.

"Huh?! Is that really okay? It's not even your turn for duty today, Gojo-kun, and you're going to trouble yourself cleaning!"

Amikura Mako, who had just calmed down, got worked up again.

"It's no big deal. We've exchanged names, so we're friends now, right?

Isn't it normal for friends to help each other out?"

He replied flatly.

"Friends?"

Amikura Mako repeated the word over and over in her mind.

Two months later, On a grassy field, Gojo Satoru was lounging leisurely, while Amikura Mako sat beside him.

"Gojo-kun..."

"Just call me Satoru. As long as I don't hate the person, I don't mind if they use my first name."

Cutting off Amikura Mako, Gojo Satoru thought for a moment and added, "Besides, you're my friend."

Hearing that, Amikura Mako shed some of her formality and smiled as she spoke, "Okay! Satoru-kun!

But why did Satoru-kun decide to be friends with me?

I'm so chubby, while you're so good-looking, top of the class, and the teachers say you've won a bunch of awards."

"Because I'm an angel investor!"

Gojo Satoru sat up straight from his lying position and grinned in reply.

But Amikura Mako looked confused.

"Angel investor? What's that?"

"It means I keep encouraging potential stocks like you. Once you slim down and look good, you'll definitely fall head over heels for me!"

The bizarre explanation made Amikura Mako burst out laughing.

"Ha ha ha~"

Wiping away the tears from laughing, Amikura Mako asked cheerfully again, "What a weird way to do things! There are already plenty of girls who like you, Satoru-kun, so why bother with all this?"

But Gojo Satoru answered seriously, "What do little brats nowadays know about liking someone? They're just after my looks!"

'No! They do understand!'

It was near the end of the term, and school was already over.

The classroom was once again left with just me and Satoru-kun, but his expression seemed a bit serious, and a sense of unease rose in my heart!

"I'm going abroad! I probably won't be coming to school anymore starting tomorrow."

The sudden farewell was hard for me to believe. Unable to accept it, my tone grew agitated.

"Huh?! Why?! Aren't we only about to start fifth grade? Why the rush? Is it your family's arrangement?"

But Satoru-kun's face had already lost its usual smile, and he explained calmly.

"No, it's because some of my works got nominated. I need to go abroad to accept the award. I'm not sure when I'll be back exactly—I might stay overseas for a while."

Even though this was such a happy thing, I couldn't bring myself to say congratulations. Instead, I asked again.

"But didn't Satoru-kun say he wanted to see me lose weight and fall for him? If you leave now, will we ever get to meet again?!"

As if afraid my voice wouldn't reach him, I shouted loudly.

"And! And I already like Satoru-kun now! I've liked you from the very start!"

Hearing this, he finally cracked a small smile and made me a promise with a laugh.

"We will. We'll have a chance to meet again. Next time we do, I'll accept your feelings!"

He agreed! But still, no joy rose in my heart.

"At least, at least leave me a way to contact you? What if we really never run into each other again!?"

The moment I said that, the smile on his face vanished. It wasn't even coldness—it was anger!

As if I'd touched on some painful memory buried deep inside him, he snapped at me for the first time, shouting loudly.

"That kind of thing! That kind of thing is truly meaningless!"

After saying that, he turned and left, not giving me a chance to stop him.

"If, if it's for two people who truly like each other, separation is fatal.

Phone calls and letters are worthless.

If you can't hold each other, there's no point!"

Satoru-kun said those words as he paused at the door, then walked away without looking back.

Back then, I couldn't understand the meaning of those words at all. I only knew I didn't want to be apart from him.

But now, I understand them deeply.

During middle school, I went to his old residence once, using the address his elementary school teacher had given me. That was when I found out he was a child from an orphanage.

Looking at a wardrobe stuffed full of medals and trophies, I finally realized how hard he had worked. Unable to rely on anyone, he could only keep proving himself through the awards he won.

Proving that even without depending on others, he was no worse than anyone else. And I, his friend, knew nothing about it.

Why did he have to put on that adult facade even at such a young age? Never asking for help from anyone, doing everything himself.

Maybe that chance to go abroad was really important to him. That's why he couldn't spare the time for a proper goodbye.

Standing at the entrance of Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, I kept daydreaming.

If I earned the privilege of guaranteed employment and further education, maybe I could choose a really good job. Then I could go abroad and find him.

One day at school, It was already Friday after school. A tall student with silver-white hair and an eyepatch walked quickly past me.

He seemed really angry, his face twisted with fury as his pace kept quickening.

Even though I hadn't seen him in a long time, my instincts kept telling me.

That was Satoru-kun!

"Satoru-kun?!"

I rushed over excitedly, trying to grab his arm, but somehow an invisible force bounced my hand away. He didn't seem to hear my call either.

He just kept walking away quickly without looking back.

Later, I wandered through every first-year classroom with my friends, but I didn't see that figure anywhere.

Maybe I just missed him so much that I started hallucinating—after all, I couldn't touch him, and he couldn't hear my voice.

Another two weeks passed. It was nearing the start of school in May.

"Mako! Chihiro!

Look at this! The latest 'First-Year Handsome Ranking' just dropped, and some guy from Class D is absolutely crushing it!

A Class A student posted it yesterday, and he's already number one! He's completely dominating the rankings, even beating out the upperclassmen girls, and he's seriously handsome!"

My friend Kobashi Yume came running over excitedly, shoving her phone in front of us.

On the screen was a photo of a handsome silver-haired boy.

Beneath the silver hair were bright blue eyes like a starry sky, framed by long, fluttering lashes, with a gentle smile on his face.

Below it were his class and name.

"Class D, first year—Gojo Satoru!"

I shouted in shock.

No mistake! That's Satoru-kun! Those eyes—I'd never get them wrong!

The students in the class seemed startled by my outburst and all turned to look.

But I didn't care. My whole body was already flooded with joy.

Satoru-kun didn't lie to me! We really did meet again!