The Stars That Guide Us ~ A Jotakak x OC fanfiction

♥ Chapter 2 ♥

"Nori, what's wrong? Why are you sitting out here on your own?" I asked as I walked towards my best friend that was hunched over on the porch to his house. The small red-haired boy looked up at me. His purple eyes were red raw, and his cheeks were stained with tears. "Nori?" I sat down beside him on the porch and brought my knees up to my chest.

   "No one understands me, Hiroko. I try to make friends, but all the other kids say that they don't want to play with me because I'm weird." The young boy sobbed.

   I scooted closer to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "I understand you, Nori. You're my best friend and always will be," I reassured him.

   Nori sniffled as he tried to stop crying. "N-no you don't. You're not like me at all." He dug his head into his arms, his sobs getting louder again.

   "What do you mean I'm not like you?" I asked. "We have grown up together, we're both the same age, except you're only a few months older than me," I added.

   The red-haired boy lifted his head up from his arms and looked at me. "But you can't see my green friend..." He dully pointed out.

   "Oh, him? Well, I guess I could say the same about my pretend friend. You can't see her, but only I can," I said with a soft smile.

   "You have one too?" Nori's expression brightened at the mention of my pretend friend.

   "Yup!" I nodded and added, "Her name's Scarlet Phantom, but I call her Scarlet, or Scar for short."

   Scarlet Phantom had been my pretend friend for a little while now. At first, I thought she was real because she just shown up one day out of the blue. When Nori and I played together, Scarlet Phantom was always there, but Nori never pointed her out or said anything to her, and that's when I knew I was the only one that could see her.

   "Why's she called Scarlet Phantom?" Nori asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.

   "Because she wears a dark red, hooded cloak, so she looks like she's a phantom. She doesn't wear it all the time though. She's also very pretty! Her hair is bright red and so are her eyes," I described.

   Nori burst out laughing and said between laughs, "You're so funny, Hiroko. I'm so glad we're friends."

   "We're not friends, Nori," I paused for a brief moment, causing the redhead to frown slightly before adding, "We're best friends!" I giggled as I pulled him into a hug. Nori laughed and returned the hug. "Hey, Nori?"

   "Yeah?"

   "When we grow up, let's get married," I suggested as I let go of the redhead.

   "W-What?!" He stammered nervously as he jumped to his feet, his cheeks bright red. "What makes you say that?"

   "Because I want to be with you forever, silly." I giggled softly. Nori relaxed slightly and started laughing.

   "Noriaki! Hiroko! Dinner's ready!" Nori's Mom called from the house.

   Nori and I looked at each other with a smile. The redhead held his hand out to me and said, "C'mon, let's go." I smiled and took his hand as he pulled me to my feet before we both ran inside.