Connected by the Stage | One-Shot Collection |

You Are Loved (Koharu-centric)

Synopsis: She was always treated as the outcast... as someone who's way of living was inherently wrong. She was used to it, wasn't she? She didn't need it to change. She didn't care what people thought of her...

That was all a lie, wasn't it?

Rating: G

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She was always the outcast. The crazy one. The one who didn't fit in. The one who didn't belong where she was. And she just accepted that. It was just another thing she had to deal with. Nothing she could do about it. Nothing she wanted to do about it.

From a young age, Koharu had always known she was different. Had it instilled in her from a young age that how she was living was wrong. That she had done something bad to deserve it. That this was a punishment.

She had unlearned that way of thinking about herself a while ago, but it still stung when she thought about it. Her family didn't understand. No one did. She was messed up. She was wrong. She didn't belong in this society unless she changed.

What was so wrong about her? She was deaf. Had lost her hearing when she about four. And somehow it was all her fault. According to her family, that was. Koharu knew it wasn't her fault. Knew she wasn't to blame for what happened. She knew something was wrong with her body. They were the ones who didn't listen until it was too late.

She had been basically disowned by this point. They let her still live with them, but often acted as if she didn't exist. The only one who still cared was Sakura, but even then she was scared to interact with Koharu when their parents were watching. Koharu didn't blame her or fault her for that at all. She'd be reprimanded to high hell for treating her like a normal person.

Either way, she now had to live like this. Not that she cared. She was content. She had lived her life this way for so long that it no longer fazed her. It did hurt a bit though... how everyone would abandon her the moment they found out. Even if she spoke to them, could hold a conversation, it didn't matter. The moment they found out, they were gone.

She had long since accepted the life of the outcast. She didn't need friends. She was fine being all alone. She was used to it. It didn't hurt anymore...

Koharu took a deep breath. Another lie. Even if she tried to tell herself that, it would never be true. Watching everyone else enjoy each other's company stung. No one even looked in her direction anymore.

Except... today. There was a girl who kept staring at her throughout their classes. Koharu didn't know who she was. Didn't care to know at first but now she was curious. The way this girl was looking at her was different. She wasn't glaring at her like everyone else did. She seemed curious.

Koharu learned about her at lunch. She had chosen an isolated spot to sit at as she always did. A few minute in, the girl came over. Koharu looked up at her.

"Can I sit with you?" She asked.

Koharu nodded. She wanted to know more about this girl. Hopefully this wouldn't end in disaster...

Koharu was pretty confident in her lipreading abilities. Since she had always been forced to communicate verbally, she had learned how to do it well. And since she had already started talking before she lost her hearing, her voice wasn't as... bad? That was how her parents put it, but she despised that word for it.

"My name is ----. What's yours?"

Here goes... the not fun part. Names. That was one of the hardest things for her to lipread. She didn't know why, but it was. Surely she could piece it together, couldn't she? At the same time, most of her lipreading was just guess work. She was constantly having to fill in the gaps and hope she understood them properly.