littlebirdy

In "Amari Izumi," a story of resilience and determination unfolds as nine-year-old Amari is thrust into the harsh reality of mortality. Raised in the streets, she faces an early encounter with death, catalyzing a solemn vow to carve her own path despite society's misunderstandings. After losing her closest companion, she pledges to stand independently.

As fate presents an ephemeral opportunity for action, Izumi grapples with societal expectations. Before conforming, she encounters love, navigates the search for her lost friend amid the masses, and battles to survive in a challenging environment.

Amidst these trials, the central question looms: Can Izumi uphold her promise, find her place in society, locate her friend, and ultimately endure against all odds?

In The Shadows of Loss

Shockingly cold, was my first thought. Horribly wet, was my second. Then, I hear mocking laughter. The horrifying sound stabbed my heart and burned them painfully. A bunch of assholes had poured ice freezing water over me, while I was sitting down by the field overlooking the P.E practice that our joint class was having.

Anger rose inside me, flooding my senses till I could hear nothing but the will to destroy, yet I got up calmly despite the initial urge to fight these assholes. I decided that I wanted to be mature, and so I looked them in the eye as they crowded with laughter at me. Not wanting to get a cold, I took off the wet clothes; the gym jacket and the long-sleeved shirt I had on but leaving the extra t-shirt on, to slam them onto the ground before I stared back at them unflinchingly.

"Very funny, isn't it?" I asked, my voice hardening with seriousness and anger. "Bullying a girl who didn't do anything to you. I bet you're going to tell your future children that you're a bunch of pathetic bullies when you were teenagers."

The laughter died down immediately. They grew scared when they realized that I wasn't affected by their bullying. They turned pale when they saw me fine and dandy, staring at them with a thousand-watt glare that could make a grown man shake and breakdown into hysterical sobs.

"Hey hey, we're not the ones you should be targeting your anger at -"

I took a step forward, my right hand curling into a tight fist as the urge to sock him in the nose was slowly increasing. He faltered and so did the rest, as they were unaccustomed to seeing someone calm, collected, and little angry. They were used to seeing horrible crying messes, and pathetic fools.

"Then, who should I be messing with?" I demanded.

They turned hesitant and exchanged glances; not wanting to be the one to say it.

"Oi! What's going on there?!" the P.E. teacher came running towards us, demanding for us to break apart. When he saw me drenched, he quickly sent me back to the gym to have a change of dry clothes and a hot shower.

Muttering under my breath, I headed back to the gym to hit the shower and I was surprised to find that they do have hot showers. Stripping off everything, I rinsed my whole body and wiped the water away to pull on my uniform. The sodding mess was left in the basket because I couldn't be bothered bringing wet clothes back home and I didn't have a plastic bag on me to keep them.

As I was making my way towards a vending machine to get myself a hot drink, I got a surprising call from Setagawa-san. I think the school had called him regarding the ice water incident.

"Are you okay, Izumi-chan?" he asked immediately.

"Why have you not been telling me that the students are bullying you in school?" he asked.

I paused. "I didn't want to make you worried," I said.

A sigh. "I'll come down to your school and talk with the teachers, and the parents of those students who have been bullying you," he said almost angrily.

"But Setagawa-san, you don't have to -"

"It's my duty as a guardian," he interrupted. "And I can't allow this to continue."

"It's alright, Izumi-chan," he assured. "This will be over soon."

Hanging up with a sigh, I pocketed my phone and bought a hot drink. Heading to an empty corner outside, I began sipping it leisurely while admiring the blooming trees ahead of me. It has finally come to this. Well, at least the bullying will be over and I won't have to resort to dirty tactics any longer. If there's a continuation of the bullying, I would've done something worse and I might've regretted it.

Chapter 25