the girl in the corner.

episode 31: my story.

one day, i ran into momoko at a grocery store.

i tried my best to ignore her and act like we're total strangers—we are, and we're supposed to be—but i'd  failed at that when she approached me first with an expression of surprised recognition on her face.

"suzuki?" she'd said. "you're suzuki miyamoto, right? do you remember me? i'm momoko hatanaka."

i sucked on my lower lip and nodded, showing her a polite smile. "momo— um, hatanaka, it's been so long...?"

although i've gotten over my social anxiety and became more social, after all these years, i'm still intimidated around momoko. i can't forget what she's done to me and the effect it had on my mental health.

"yeah, it's been a while," she agreed with a chuckle. "how have you been in tokyo? when did you come back here?"

i smiled and put a pack of noodles into my grocery basket. "it's.. cool in tokyo," i answered her, trying my best to act natural. "i came back to study university here. i've been here for almost two years, i think."

momoko nodded thoughtfully at my words.

"how about you?" i returned the question, turning to face her. "how have you been?"

she smiled. "i've been well, thank you," she replied. "i.. graduated.. got into university.."

she paused and pursed her lips. "same as you, i guess."

we stood in a silence for some time.

"um, by the way," she hesitated. i hummed to let her know i was listening. "you remember how i... used to bully you in high school?"

i paused and nodded, glancing away from momoko's eyes for a second. "i do. but don't worry, i— i already feel like it never happened," i quickly added with a nervous chuckle. "i forgot about it a long while ago."

momoko fiddled with her fingers and stared down at them to avoid my eyes. "yeah, that's cool," she chuckled. "i.. now that i finally met you after all these years, i.. i wanted to apologize to you for that. i'm still guilty about it because.. you've done nothing wrong, really, and i was just.. too immature and—"

a chuckle from me interrupted momoko mid speech. she looked up at me from her fingers in confusion, and at that i patted her shoulder a couple times.

"hey, i already forgive you," i told her. "it's no use dwelling over the past, you know? it keeps you from living. and as i wrote to you in my letter, you gave my life a flavor. thanks to you, i got to overcome my social anxiety back in tokyo, so you don't have to worry about anything. i forgive you."

she released a sigh of relief and smiled. "thank goodness, that's a relief," she breathed. "well, now that everything's fixed, do you think we can be friends? i always thought of getting closer to you after you left."

i smiled and nodded. "sure, why not?"

"yeah, here's my number."

i handed her my phone so she could add her number into my contacts, and she did the same. then she asked for my social medias and i gave her them, and she gave hers too. we continued shopping for groceries and necessities together while talking about how we've been these past five or six years, and at checkout, after i almost bid her farewell and told her to stay in contact, she stopped me right outside the glass doors of the store and told me she had something to say before i went back home.

"suzuki, i have to ask you something," she said. "please answer me honestly, and if you don't want to, that's okay. i'm just curious, do you perhaps.. like riki? or did you, in the past?"