𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭 || 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐱 𝐅𝐞𝐦!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

Chapter One

────── 〔✿〕──────

Chapter One - "I had almost erased all of my past, but then I met you."

     It's been one year and four months since then.

     A girl bitterly leaned on a huge door, chewing on her thumbnail to stare at the ceiling blankly. She doesn't know what exactly happened, but any time she tries to remember, her brain aches and begs, it pleads with a high-pitched scream for her to stop.

It wasn't another peaceful day, just another one of those where her mother was called into the principal's office. Not for troublesome behavior or a fight, but rather because of a suspiciously rapid and drastic decline in grades.

"Ma'am, your child is a very outstanding student, we know. But as of the recent..." A voice echoed from the doors outside, very clear to the girl eavesdropping outside. 

"Her academic performance has been deteriorating at an alarming rate. While we appreciate her popularity among her peers and her respectful demeanor towards her teachers, we're concerned about this sudden change." The voice let out a disappointed sigh, accompanied by the sound of papers being crumpled in frustration. Even from a distance, the girl could physically see the strained smile attempting to mask the underlying frustration.

"I apologize for the inconvenience, ma'am! I swear, my daughter has been such a good child lately. I wonder where I went wrong." The feminine voice quivered with the strain of suppressed emotion, succumbing to sobs that punctuated the tense air.

'Crocodiles, they sure do love to cry...' The girl who eavesdropped thought to herself as she could already see the sermon coming from afar. Well, unless the crocodile decides that it's too busy to leave the waters to bite her leg.

With a disdainful scoff, she abruptly left the corridors. "I wonder what the dinner will be, another set of cut-up fruits, or perhaps plain air-fried chicken?" she murmured to herself as she chewed through her nails. 

As she wandered through the bustling corridors of the school, warm greetings echoed around her. Faces familiar and unfamiliar alike brightened at her presence, from peers in her own grade to those in higher ones. This wasn't an uncommon occurrence; [Name] had effortlessly earned the reputation as the school's "muse."

Yet, inwardly, she cringed at the title. 

It felt like she had just landed in Japan yesterday, a complete newbie trying to find her way in a whole new world. Yet, in less than a year, she not only picked up the language but also melted into their culture like it was second nature. She radiated a welcoming vibe, always easy to approach and talk to, with manners that just screamed friendliness and kindness. 

She just naturally embodied the qualities you'd hope for in a friend or someone you could confide in, making her a favorite among her peers.

Though, compared to middle school, she wasn't a "prodigy" anymore. This was both due to her deteriorating grades, and her older age.

Needless to say, she was way past her prime.

She accepted that fact, perhaps a little too fast. She didn't grieve for this, she couldn't. She couldn't feel the fact of the matter crawling through her nightmares. There was no room for mourning in her world; the acknowledgment of her diminished state was a bitter pill she swallowed without hesitation.

None of it could she consider things that would affect her, subjectively speaking.

Objectively speaking, she could see herself failing even more. That was something that she knew already. It's not that she didn't have the ability to do so, but she knew she wouldn't care enough to.