SuNNY-ShO-ShUN 黒潮

~Wrecked~

ONEGAI PLAY THE SONG

The dream was so absolute. Sunny almost felt the water; her mother and father held her hands as the waves hit her feet. The little girl giggled. Baby Sunny was happy there with the people who cherished her.

Sunny opened her eyes, her face was wet, not with sweat, but from the tears she shed while she slept. This time the tears flowed for her parents and not her ex-boyfriend. The dream seemed more like a hidden memory that had floated to the surface. Sunny got out of bed to slide into her slippers; mornings sucked with their stupid bright sun. Sunny put school life in the it-suck basket too, all this because of a boy.

With Saitama, it was different though he, too, had humiliated her. Sunny's feelings for him were not the same. Her first relationship resembled a game; Sunny discovered what a relationship was. First kisses and first dates, everything was new, but she lived them like an out-of-body experience. But with Shota, the passive mode switched to active. Sunny was invested, driven by her feelings, convinced by the strength of this love.

How dumb could one get?

This hurt her because she liked Shota so much, and those feelings remained though time drifted. Sunny's reflection in the bathroom mirror wasn't getting better, puffed-up eyes and tired skin. Every day the glass reminded her that the prettiest girl around was Asano Sumire, who had never glowed as she did now.

The thought of having to spend the whole day watching Shota woo the mannequin doll gave Sunny a bellyache. Despite that, she got ready to face another day.

"Obaasan."

"Yes, Sunny."

"Did I ever swim? I mean, has water always scared me?"

Satsuki's facial features tensed as she returned a question.

"Why the sudden interest?"

"I've been thinking about my phobia. I find it strange. A normal human being can't fear water for no reason. I know I've always been like this, but it's not normal, and neither mom and dad tried to figure out why."

"There's nothing wrong with you, Sunny. Maybe one day you'll go for a swim," Satsuki said, trying to convince herself more than the pondering teen. The older woman saw her granddaughter was not as usual.

She smiled a lot less and walked around with her headphones listening to music night and day. In the last two weeks, Sunny bought home two test results under her marks average. Since it was the first time, Satsuki was not too worried, but she could not help wondering if it had something to do with the Matsumoto boy. Satsuki kept quiet and watched Sunny nibble her breakfast here and there before leaving.

"Itterasshai," Satsuki said as she stood in the doorway, her heartbeat irregularly forcing the old woman to sit down where she stood. "What if she remembers?" Satsuki muttered.

°°°°

Her friends waited for a Sunny at the bus stop. The girl didn't change the habit of being last to arrive.

Thank goodness I have them, Sunny thought when she saw Madoka's bright smile and Yuta's I-hate-morning face. Sunny didn't know how she would cope with everything if her loyal friends were not there.

"Ohayou!"

Now there were two banished names from the trio of friends vocabulary: Matsumoto Shota and Saitama Junpei.

Yuta hoped Sunny would refrain from adding a third name other than his own to the boyfriend list. The otaku boy loved her, and he knew this was the break he needed. Maybe it was his last chance. But when seeing how broken she was because of all these idiots, Yuta could not take a step to seduce her. What Sunny needed was a friend, and that's what the boy would be as long as she needed.

"What's this?" Sunny asked as Yuta handed her a small box.

"You're not very genki these days, so I bought you my new chou creams."

"Yuta, you made them?" Sunny asked, her eyes twinkling in front of the opened box.

"Yeah, my parents are crazy bakers. I guess some of it rubbed off on me," Yuta said, smiling.

"How about me?" Madoka asked.

"You've got enough sugar and strength in your body to bat a baseball ball into orbit."

Madoka's eyes became slit's, "I'll be batting you into orbit, Yuta, at the speed of sound."

"There's plenty Madoka we can share," Sunny said, smiling.

The bus arrived, and the girls ate to school squealingおいしい [Oishi=yummy, good tasting] and うまいです [umai desu=It's delicious] making Yuta blush at the compliments.

°°°°

Nothing changed in school; Sunny had never been popular. Only girls sneered, giggled, and laughed when they saw her.

Some enjoyed seeing her in this predicament as if to say ざまを見ろ [zama who miro=serves you right].

As it was now a habit, Shota was stationed around Asano San's desk. The Miko, too, changed, wearing her hair in a high ponytail. Asano smiled and drank every one of Shota's words.

For the moment, they were not an official couple, but the fan clubs were already active. One found the: AsaMoto, ShoMiré, and ShoSu. Students waited for them to officialize like for a Jdrama final. Sunny didn't have the choice but to watch a TV show where zapping was prohibited.

She hated herself even more for thinking of Shota and hoping he'd come back after the humiliation. Torn between the rash resent and pending forgiveness, Sunny felt weak, too weak. No one would believe she saved Yuta from bullies the year before if they saw how she wallowed over her love story.

Like always in the first and second period, she hid behind her books. Sunny experienced difficulties following lessons as if she had lost her facility of understanding. Though she knew she was losing herself, she didn't see how to make a comeback.