°˖✧Gaijin✧˖°

°˖✧this body means nothing to me✧˖°

Ari has been told on numerous occasions that she's lucky to have gone through puberty early. And, in a way, she agrees. She doesn't have to deal with acne when everyone else is because she already went through that in elementary school, she has a full grasp on what to expect when her period comes, and she's probably never going to have a big growth spurt ever again.

But she can't say that it was exactly peaches and cream, either. She was often ridiculed for her acne while everyone else was clean-faced, didn't know what the hell was happening when she had her first period because her mom didn't think she would have it that early, and was subject to bullying by jealous girls when she got into high school due to her physique. And don't even get her started on the boys that liked to touch without her permission, or the grown men that would catcall her.

The catcalling has ceased since her move to Japan, thankfully. The boys her age also don't try to touch her without permission, but that doesn't stop them from staring. There's not much she can do about that, though, which is pretty unfortunate. She's caught a couple of yucky adult men doing the same thing, too, which makes her skin crawl. But... for the most part, things have improved. The girls don't even call her a slut for her breast size anymore!

So yeah, it's a win for her, even if that sounds incredibly sad. But she does feel bad for the people that are clearly unhappy with how their bodies are changing, because she once felt that way - like a baby deer trying to walk for the first time. Some people have it worse than others, too. Kijibayashi had a pretty gnarly zit on his forehead the other day, for example.

Shigeo seems to be doing alright for the most part, too! But she doesn't think he would tell her a whole lot about the many things that boys experience... she finds herself growing hot in the face just thinking about it. She can't think of him like that... it's just wrong. So she shoves it in the back of her mind.

"Ari, I was wondering... you were telling me about the crabeater seal the other day. Do they really eat crabs?" Shigeo asks her as they walk to school with one another.

Her eyes sparkle at the question. She immediately begins to ramble. "They don't eat crabs, but they eat krill! Did you know their teeth are specially designed to eat them? They kinda look like..." She tries to trace the shape in midair.

He nods with a small smile, so she's inclined to continue. "And did you know that they are faster on land than in the ocean? Their bounces are over 10 miles per hour!"

"Are you wanting to be a researcher or something?" Dimple asks. "You sure do know a lot about 'em."

"It's just one of her special interests," Megumi answers for her.

"Must be hard having so much crap in her brain."

"It's not crap, mister!" Ari protests, pointing right at him. He only snorts at that.

"Nerd."

"I'm gonna body slam you."

"She will," Shigeo says. "I've seen her do it."

She snickers, though that smile of hers falters a little bit when they walk past several of their fellow students, but the majority of the boys look almost... dejected.

"What are those guys' problems?" Dimple asks with a furrow in his brow.

"Who knows. We pass by them just about every school day and they've never looked like that, even on Mondays," Megumi points out. Ari and Shigeo exchange a bit of a look, then. With how things went last time with everyone falling in love suddenly, there might be some sort of paranormal situation afoot... again.

Lo and behold, they step foot into school and find even more boys, and even a couple of girls, looking as if they're going to burst into tears at any minute. "Yeesh, it's really bad, whatever it is," she whispers to Shigeo as she switches from her outdoor shoes to her indoor ones.