otp

her silent voice ; kimshi (pt. 1)

; koe no katachi au

the homeroom teacher walked into class, followed by a girl, probably a new student. the children hurried back into their seats.

"class, we have a new student joining us," the homeroom teacher, mr hasekawa, said, "introduce yourself."

the class stared at the girl, observing her features. she had dark brown hair which was tied up into a ponytail. her dark eyes sat behind a pair of purple-rimmed glasses. she was wearing a grey shirt with the school's tag pinned on, a pair of pants and a pair of sneakers.

whispers began to fill the classroom. why wasn't she speaking? didn't she hear what the teacher just said?

"oh, my bad," mr hasekawa said, pushing his glasses back.

he tapped the girl's shoulder and nodded his head, as though to tell her to go on and say something.

she took her backpack off her shoulders and retrieved a notebook entitled "for communication purposes".

the class sat upright and looked at her notebook as she flipped open to the first page.

on the page, there sat string of neatly written words.

my name is kimberly. it's a pleasure to meet you.

soft mumurs went around the classroom. why was she using a notebook to introduce herself instead of saying it out loud? was she shy?

she turned a page.

the mumuring stopped.

from now on, please use this notebook when talking to me. i hope we can all be friends.

wouldn't she just talk?

she turned a page.

the whispers were passed around the students again. two omnious words were inked onto the page that was currently being held up.

i'm deaf.

word count ; 271
date published ; 220617