Dark Places | S. Tendou

REMEMBER ME ON THAT DAY

"Ugh, where is it?" Maeko's head was buried inside of her bookbag, rummaging around for her math textbook. Of course she forgot it.

It was her first day of school at Shiratorizawa Academy so, naturally, her nerves were sitting at an all time high. Maeko was below-average at functioning in society like a regular human being. Just as she was finally getting used to her middle school, the time had come to transfer to a new high school with new people in it. She spent so much time mentally preparing to be in an unfamiliar environment that she forgot to double-check that she had all her things. Considering this was one of the hardest schools in the prefecture to get accepted into, she didn't expect her math teacher to be forgiving of an avoidable mistake on the first day.

"Looking for this?"

Maeko hit her head on her locker door as she pulled it out, surprised by the sudden, unexpected voice beside her.

It was none other than Ayume, her one and only friend, smiling as she waved the math textbook back in forth in the air.

Ayume narrowed her eyes in concern, pushing the textbook into Maeko's hands. "Be careful."

"Thanks." Maeko mumbled. "But what about you? Aren't you going to need a textbook too?"

"Don't worry about me." Ayume dismissed Maeko's concern with a sharp wave of her hand, eyes tracking the movement of a tall, black-haired boy making his way down the hallway. He had a math textbook tucked against his side.

Maeko inwardly shuddered. "You're seriously not going to—"

Ayume winked before briskly turning to follow the boy to class, waving goodbye to Maeko from over her shoulder. "Don't forget you promised to watch me practice after school today! I'll see you at the gym at four o'clock!"

Maeko groaned. She forgot all about it, but Ayume wasn't going to let her off the hook. If she didn't come willingly, then Ayume would track her down to the ends of the earth and drag her to practice by a handful of her hair. It would be immaculately more embarrassing, so she resolved to dedicate some of today's lunch break to building up the strength to attend.

Maeko and Ayume were total opposites: Maeko was a quiet, reserved bookworm who preferred to stay under the radar, while Ayume was popular, athletic, and extremely bold. Ayume was captain of her middle school volleyball team and starting as one of the only regular first years for Shiratorizawa.

They miraculously bonded in elementary school and, ever since then, Ayume had taken Maeko under her wing and all but walked her through the fiery fires of school.

Change always made Maeko feel incredibly anxious but, of course, Ayume knew that. It was no coincidence that she'd shown up in the nick of the time with the exact textbook Maeko needed. Ayume was going to have eyes on Maeko all day, making sure her first day was as easy and free of stress as possible. She'd distract Maeko from the fact that she was in a new school with hundreds of unfamiliar faces with bolder-than-usual behaviour.

Exhibit A was in the process of happening as, at the end of the hall, Ayume tossed her red hair over her shoulder and batted her pretty light brown eyes, all to flirtatiously secure the math textbook that the poor boy from earlier was holding in his arms for dear life. It'd probably cost him detention for coming to class unprepared but, no matter how much he resisted, Ayume would get her way in the end. She always had a way of doing that. Sometimes, Maeko envied it.

---

Lo and behold, Maeko knew she shouldn't have doubted Ayume for even a second. She innocently flipped through the pages of her borrowed math textbook while, at the front of the class, the black-haired boy stiffly bowed in apology as the teacher harshly scolded him.