Yuzuki's Character Story

Chapter 1

It happened when I started elementary school.
I used to come home crying every day.
I was extremely shy, and my classmates saw
that weakness and took to bullying me.
I'd try to wipe the tears away and put on a
brave face, but Mom always knew.
She'd ask if something happened, and I would just nod.
She never said anything else; she'd just sit there and quietly stroke my hair.
I remember moonlight pouring in through a window.
I used to lie in her bed while she sang me a lullaby.
I don't remember the words exactly, but it went something like this:
"Though the moon stands alone in the night sky,
its gentle light shows the way for everyone else."
Part of my name means "moon"—
Mom apparently named me after the lullaby.
She wanted me to be the kind of person who helped others.
Even if no one sought me out specifically. Even if I didn't fit in.
The moment she told me this, I swore to become the moon.

Chapter 2

I was shy as ever when I started middle school.
Everyone else could just strike up conversations with perfect strangers,
and they all had tons of new friends within the first week.
I couldn't begin to fathom how their brains worked.
But I was used to being alone.
Around that time, I saw a boy in glasses
being bullied in a secluded staircase.
The bullying was typical—even cliche.
Like something you'd see in a bad movie.
The timid boy was surrounded by a group of larger classmates.
They were pushing him around. Demanding his money.
It was painful to watch.
The boy in glasses eventually pulled out a
thousand-yen note from his wallet.
But the moment he did, a bucket of water came
crashing over the bullies' heads.
They were soaked from head to foot.
"We'll get you for this!" they shouted as they ran away.
It was me, of course. I'm the one who threw the water.
And then I watched as they scurried up
the stairs and escaped to the floor above.

Chapter 3

After I helped the boy in glasses escape his tormentors,
I was reminded of Mom's lullaby.
Maybe I really could help others.
After that, I made a point of stopping bullying whenever I saw it.
Like that day in science class...
When the classroom skeleton with limbs attached
to string suddenly started dancing.
Or the day on the landing...
Where a wave of ping pong balls came clattering down the stairs.
Each time, the bullies ran away howling with their tails between their legs.
I loved seeing that; it was such a hilarious
contrast to their usual invincible air.
But the last time I stood there laughing as the
bullies scattered, I heard a voice behind me:
"Was that you?"
It was the boy in glasses. Though I'd helped him from the shadows
again and again, that was the first time he'd spoken to me.
Unsure what to say in response, I could only bring myself to nod.

Chapter 4

That day, the hum of cicadas provided a comforting
background noise as the sun set over the school.
I stood waiting at the gates.
The boy with glasses had asked me to walk home with him.
When was the last time I left school with someone else?
Brilliant orange light reflected off the windows of
skyscrapers as we made our way home.
We walked in perfect silence.
Honestly, I had no idea what to say.
But though I felt somewhat lost, I also felt a strange sense of comfort.
We passed through the busy part of town and came to an empty street.
When we did, the boy with glasses finally spoke:
"Please don't bother me anymore.
Things are easier when I'm being bullied.
I don't want to be a loner like you."
We parted ways after that, and I took my usual route home.
The moon shone lonely against the pitch-black curtain of night.
Can I ever be like the moon, Mom?
I stared at the sky the entire way home.
The sharp edges of the beautiful moon blurring beneath my tears.

Back