SuNNY-ShO-ShUN 黒潮

~Ran~

*Ran=Water lily

The water lily is a beautiful flower; everyone acknowledges and observes its beauty from afar. Nevertheless, none would dare pick it, for if God created beauty, it was for all to contemplate, but not to claim.

No one ever ponders on whether the water lily is happy to sit alone.

"Perfect."

It was the only word Asano could utter as she gazed at her reflection in the school toilets mirror. For the first time in her life, Asano hated the term, which described every inch of her being.

People told her to strive for perfection, and that's what she did all her life, but no one told her the prize for achievement was loneliness. There was no one else on the pedestal where she stood. An armada of fake friends who gossiped behind her back was all she possessed.

What ticked the girl off? Who was the one who had it all—a daydreaming girl without any aspirations.

Watanabé Sunny was an annoyance from day one, everything which emanated from her was natural, and it was natural for people to like her. Sunny was the girl people appreciated without knowing why they loved her so much.

Even Asano San had a hard time resisting the bright girl.

How could someone gain so much attention without making any effort?

It was blasphemy, thought Asano. It wasn't fair.

She worked hard daily to please, but at the end of the day, it was Sunny who always shone.

The secret to Sunny's success was not unknown to Asano; it was just she refuted it.

The girl could not accept that people loved Sunny because she was authentic. Although Asano despised Sunny for this, how could she manage to be genuine in a society where everyone wore a veil on their emotions?

Sunny's personality swam against the currents, and people adored her for it. However, the situation made Asano wonder about her own identity.

What kind of girl was she?

Was she kind, or was she a pest?

The problem here was not that Asano San didn't know what type of person she was. Instead, the dilemma consisted of accepting and assuming her real personality.

How would people react?

The thought alone was hard to bear for the girl who walked out of the toilets.

As she passed, many stared at her with admiration; Asano liked this. None would imagine the great curry smelling dump she flushed down the drain a few minutes ago, and which had the new occupant of the tiny vestibule holding their breath while peeing was hers.

This was the magic of being perfect; nobody dared to associate any degusting or evil deed to you.

Asano noticed this from kindergarten; even when she farted, someone less beautiful or less intelligent found themselves incriminated in her place.

That's when she realized the power she had; now, this served her. No one doubted her words, even when she accused Sunny of bullying her. People choose her side though Sunny's halo glowing face was alluring.

Sunny was always one step ahead. The fact that Sunny dated the most sought out boys drove Asano up the wall.

What did they see in her?

When Asano thought about the night she spent with Shota, she felt ashamed. She gave herself away to a boy who only had eyes for Sunny, thinking she could hold him that way. Telling Sunny about her night with Shota was supposed to be a victory, but no, as usual, Sunny showed concern.

°°°

Now they crossed paths in the corridor. The girl still glowed with her natural kindness.

"Ano, Asano San."

Sunny's attitude was unthought; was the girl provoking her?

"What do you want?"

"Asano san, I won't ask you why you did such a thing, but I just want you to know there's nothing between Matsumoto San and me. You see, we've known each other for years-."

"What on earth are you talking about? You are not even supposed to speak to me. How can you casually hold me up in the corridor like this?"

"Asano San, I honestly thought you were a friend, sugou ureshi desu [I was delighted] when you spoke to me in class. I wish we could go back to that time. I've never had many friends; I appreciated the time we spent together. I don't want Matsumoto San to wedge on that friendship."

" むかつく." [you are so annoying]

Asano San turned away with these words and carried on walking to turn on her left only to face another obstacle.

"Kamisama, what I've I done to you?" Asano San muttered.

"I don't know, you tell me," answered Junpei.

"Why are you always there? Are you following me, or is it her you are stalking?"

"Let's say I'm doing both," the boy replied with a smirk as broad as the ice king would throw.

"What do you want, Senpai?"

Junpei smirked, "are you going to tell everyone Sunny just attacked you; it won't work twice. I saw everything."

"Why are you trying to be a knight in shining armor? You know she doesn't care about you anymore."

Junpei scratched the back of his head, "I know, but I owe it to her. I did something awful to her last year."

"Oh, poor you, you feel guilty about having humiliated your ex, and you think protecting her now will erase tour faults; well think again."

Junpei chuckled, "yep, and if I'm here now, it's to do just that."

"What do you want?"

"I want to talk to the board so that Sunny can go on the field trip."

Asano crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, "you are crazy; why should I do that?"

"Because Asano Sumire is smart and kind, you'll have the whole school's devotion if you did something like that."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I know what drives you, Asano, and also, I don't think you are the mean girl you are trying to be."

"You don't know anything about me."

"Oh, yes, I do. I know how it feels to be the prototype of perfection. It's tiring trying to live up to everyone's expectations and constantly being analyzed by everybody, but this doesn't give us the right to act or become jerks. Trust me on this; I learned the hard way."

If there's something Asano San never wondered about, it was whether other people were living the same experience.

Not once did Asano ponder how it felt to be Matsumoto Shota, prince of a vast conglomerate, or how the Senpai who stood in front of her assumed his life. Instead, she stared at her belly button as though it was the center of the earth, not carrying about others like a water lily alone in the middle of a pond.