Ao Haru Ride

Chapter 4 - Reset

Ring~

It’s been three years since then. I,Yoshioka Futaba…have managed to make it safely…

“Mum!! I’m late!!!”

...to the third term of my first year of high school.

---
Pant.. pant...

I breathed heavily as I hastily ran down the street towards my school, clinging tightly onto my school bag that was slung on my right shoulder. Cold wind blasted my face as I continued to race. My heart pounding hard against my chest, my hair flapping violently in the wind. I turned around a corner and tried to speed up when the wind caught my loose scarf and lifted it off my shoulders, flinging it onto the ground.

Cursing silently, I picked it up and wrapped it around my neck firmly this time, looking to my right to see that same place again.

That same place Tanaka-kun and I met each other during that rainy day.

***
“Futaba, good morning!” A cheerful voice sounded from behind me. I turned to see my good friend, Chie-chan, smiling at me with a pink notebook in her hand.

“Yeah! Good morning Chie-chan!” I replied brightly, smiling back. Sunlight streamed through the open windows of the classroom, illuminating the room with a bright shade of orange-white. Class has yet to start and everyone chatted animatedly with each other.  

“You can have this back. Thanks,” She said as she passed me the notebook with the title ‘Science’.

“Sure!” I took the notebook from her hand and nonchalantly stuffed it into my messy bag, totally disregarding the disastrous state of its interior.

“Seriously? Girls need to be more careful with their things, you know. You’re totally lacking in feminine appeal.” Chie-chan folded her arms.

Don’t call me stupid, though. I do this on purpose. I rolled the scarf loosely and punched it into my bag, smiling to make it seem enjoyable.

“Really, Futaba..” Chie-chan sighed.

“But that’s what makes Futaba so fun!” A laugh came from behind me as a girl with brown shoulder-length hair approached me and rested her hands on my shoulders in a playful way.  

I giggled and turned my head towards her, recognizing the voice. “Hey! Morning, Asumi!”

Asumi grinned as if something or someone caught her attention at the same time and she turned her head towards the classroom’s back door. Her eyes narrowed.  

“Unlike the likes of that.” Her voice tinged with disgust, Asumi jabbed a thumb at a petite girl who had just entered the classroom. The girl had short, peach hair and an evenly cut fringe, and her head was bent slightly low in a shy manner.

Two boys standing near the doorway spotted her and smiled. “Makita, good morning!” One of them said cheerfully.

That girl, who was wearing a pink sweater with a gradient, glanced at them in surprise. ” Good morning…” She smiled shyly, burying her face into her scarf as she walked towards her table.

Asumi placed one hand on her hip, annoyance written all over her face. “What do boys see in that sort of girl?” She said scornfully. “She’s not even that pretty, if you look at her face.”

“It’s all about the aura she projects.” Chie-chan stuck her tongue out and raised her arms up, mimicking a ghost. I raised an eyebrow at her.

Turning around, I watched her from afar as the girl pulled her chair out and sat down, adjusting her scarf silently. Makita Yuuri...is she really okay with this? I thought worriedly. All the girls in the class hate her. She’s completely isolated.

….
Thinking about what happened a few years ago, I was in the same situation as her…

“Futaba pisses me off”

I couldn’t stand it anymore after my second and third year of middle school.

“She just plays innocent in front of guys”

“She’s so stuck up”

“Just because she thinks she’s cute”

“She’s awful.”

I didn’t want to be alone.

So, I made a decision! For my high school debut, I’d press the reset button, and create a brand new Futaba! So the other girls wouldn’t hate me, I brought my feminine appeal down… down… down!

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