Pain,Pain,Go Away

001

Chapter 1: A First Goodbye

Kiriko and I became penpals when I was 12 years old, in the fall.

A mere six months from graduation, I had to leave the elementary school I'd been attending because of my father's job.

That change of schools turned out to be the opportunity that made Kiriko and I get together.

My last day of school was at the end of October. I would be leaving town that same night.

It should have been an important day. But I had only two friends that I could really call friends, and one of them was too sick to attend, while the other was out on a family vacation.

So I was left to spend the day alone.

At the send-off party four days earlier, I'd gotten a bouquet of withering flowers with messages that all read the same way. And every time a classmate saw me, they gave me a look as if to say "Huh? You're still here?"

The classroom became an unbearable place to stay. I knew that I already didn't belong here.

Not a soul lamented that I was changing schools. That fact was a lonely one, but it also encouraged me.

I wouldn't be losing anything from this. In fact, it would provide me with new experiences and people to meet.

I'll fare better at my next school, I thought. If I turn out to change schools again, at least two or three people should be torn up about

it next time.

My last class came to an end. After putting my papers away in my desk, feeling like a boy left behind in a lonely classroom on Valentine's Day, I went pointlessly rummaging through my backpack. I wasn't mature enough to not get my hopes up that someone had left me some kind parting remarks.

Just as I was giving up on having any fond memories of this final day, I noticed there was someone standing in front of me.

She wore a blue pleated skirt and had skinny legs. I looked up, trying to conceal my nervousness.

It wasn't Sachi Aoyama, who'd secretly had my fancy since third grade. It wasn't Saya Mochizuki, who tilted her head and smiled at me whenever we met in the library.

Looking altogether too serious, it was Kiriko Hizumi, asking "Do you want to go home together?"

Kiriko was a memorable girl, with hair cut to the exact length to hang above her eyebrows.

She was shy, only ever talking in a whispery voice, wearing an awkward smile she looked ashamed to be having. Her grades were average, too, so she really didn't catch anyone's eye.

It was a total mystery why she, who had almost never held a conversation worth calling a conversation with me, came to talk to me today. I was secretly disappointed that it hadn't been Sachi Aoyama or Saya Mochizuki.

But I had no reason to refuse her, either. "Sure, I guess," I told her, and she smiled. "Thanks," she replied, head still lowered.

Kiriko didn't say a word the entire trip home. She walked at my side looking incredibly nervous, and occasionally shot glances at me as if she had something to say.

I didn't know what we could possibly talk about, either. What's someone who'll be out of here tomorrow supposed to say to someone who's hardly even an acquaintance? Not to mention, I'd never walked home together with a girl my age before.

With much bashfulness between the both of us, we arrived at my house still having not said a single thing to each other.

"Well, bye."