I was happily playing with my toys in my playroom when Kobayashi-san said something to me with a smile on her face.
“Why don’t we eat outside in a restaurant? I mean, you’re always cooped up here playing with your toys?”
I was super happy. I’ve always wondered what the place outside the house is like.
“Really? Thanks, Kobayashi-san!” I hugged her as tight as I could.
She patted my head.
After I finished changing, we went outside. It was amazing. There were big buildings and people walking everywhere. I was so excited to get out of the car.
“Kobayashi-san, are we there yet?”
She looked at me and smiled. “No, dear.”
I waited for like forever. “Are we there yet?”
“Not yet, dear.”
I waited for like 100000 hours now. I was starting to get annoyed. “Are we there yet?”
She laughed. “Oh dear, it’s only been 5 minutes.”
“What!” I was so annoyed.
“Patience is a virtue, little one.”
I pouted. “Okay…”
After a billion hours, we finally got there. It was pretty small, but I don’t mind. Me, Kobayashi-san, and the old man controlling the car sat on an empty wooden table. On the other table, there was also a girl who’s as small as me happily eating with her parents. I felt sad because I’ve never seen my parents before.
“Kobayashi-san, why are Mom and Dad always out?”
She looked at the ground before facing me. “Your father is a very busy man, and your mother… well, let’s just say that she’s not in this world anymore.”
“Oh…”
No mom…
I continued watching the happy family eat together.
I wish I had a family like hers…
•••
“Fuyuki, can we go to the jungle gym?”
I was scared. It looks scary, and it’s so high.
“B-But i-it’s so high!”
Chi-chan had a small smile and held her hand out. “I won’t let anything happen to you. Just try it, it's fun!”
I took her hand and said, “O-Okay…”
We climbed up to the massive jungle gym. It was so scary.
“Chi-chan, w-what if we fall?”
She smiled again, for the second time. Chi-chan always looks like a robot, but she’s nice.
“We won’t fall.”
“I-I’ll trust you…”
It was so hard to get up. It was like climbing Mount Fuji. After a trillion years, Chi-chan got to the top, but only her. I’m still stuck.
“Chi-chan! This is so hard! How are you already on the top?” I whined.
She held out her right hand, while her other hand was holding onto the jungle gym. “I’ll help you.”
With her help, I’m now at the top of the jungle gym. It was super scary. I hugged Chi-chan so tight.
“C-Chi-chan! I’m so scared!”
This was the third time she smiled. “I told you that you won’t fall when you’re with me.”
I peeked and saw the entire playground. It was so cool. “Wow, this is so cool… I can see the whole playground…”
I saw Chi-chan do the biggest smile she’s ever done. “Now do you trust me?”
I laughed. “Why would I not trust you, Chi-chan?”
The jungle gym was now my favorite spot. Everything will be fine, as long as I’m with Chi-chan. She will never leave me.
•••
Several weeks later
I happily woke up and ran to Kobayashi-san’s room. I shook her as hard as I could.
“Kobayashi-san, wake up! It’s time to go to the playground!”
I shook her even more. She opened her eyes and looked at me. “Ever since you met little Chi-chan, you’ve always been a little bundle of joy.”
“She’s the best!”
Kobayashi-san patted my head. “Let’s get ourselves changed first.”
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After we finished changing, we went to the playground. I happily walked to the playground, but I didn’t see Chi-chan.
But Chi-chan is always here... Does Chi-chan hate me now?
I was sad. I walked up to Kobayashi-san and asked. “Does Chi-chan hate me now?”
She smiled at me. “How could anyone hate you? You’re such a sweet bundle of happiness.”
“B-but she’s not here…”
“Well, maybe she’s just sick? I’m sure she doesn’t hate you.”
“Okay…”
I climbed up to the jungle gym and watched everyone play.
Chi-chan… I hope Chi-chan doesn’t hate me…
•••
1 week later
As usual, we went to the playground. I tried looking for Chi-chan, but she’s not there. I walked to Kobayashi-san.
“Kobayashi-san, does Chi-chan hate me so much that she doesn’t want to see me ever again?”
She looked at the ground before talking. “As I said, she would never hate you. She probably has a good reason as to why she left.”
I started crying. Kobayashi-san hugged me and said, “I’m here, little one.”
I cried harder and hugged Kobayashi-san even more. “K- snort Kobayashi-san.”
I went to the same playground every single day, but I never saw Chi-chan ever again.
•••
It was my first day of elementary school. I was excited to meet new friends. I went inside my very big classroom. 3 girls walked up to me, and the one with brown hair said, “Wanna be friends with us?”
I was so happy. They were my first-ever friends, aside from Chi-chan. “I wanna be friends with you!”
The girl with brown hair said, “I’m Kaede Tsumo! The one with blue hair is Akane-chan, and the one with red hair is Haruka-chan!”
“I’m Fuyuki Furukawa!”
Tsumo-san said, “Can I call you Fuyuki-chan?”
“Sure, can I call you Kaede-chan?”
“We’re all friends now! Oh, and we’ll be having a tea party at my house. Wanna come, Fuyuki-chan?”
“I’ll ask Kobayashi-san if she’ll let me.”
“Okay!”
After classes
Classes were finally done. Me, Kaede-chan, Akane-chan, and Haruka-chan walked to the gate. I saw Kobayashi-san, and we all walked towards her. “Kobayashi-san, can I go to the tea party?”
She smiled at me. “Sure, little one!”
We all said, “Yay” at the same time.
Kobayashi-san asked, “And where would the tea party be held?”
“At Kaede-chan’s house!”
Kaede-chan walked to the woman. “Sasaki-san, my friend Fuyuki Furukawa will join our tea party too.”
The woman looked scary, but her eyes got big for a couple of seconds. “F-Furukawa? Very well then, Kaede-sama.”
The woman spoke to Kobayashi-san. “You must be Furukawa-sama’s personal attendant.”
Kobayashi-san smiled. “I am.”
The scary woman wrote something on the paper and gave it to Kobayashi-san. “You may pick her up at this location.”
Kobayashi-san smiled again. “Very well.”
We all walked to Kaede-chan’s car. I said goodbye to Kobayashi-san before I walked inside. We all talked until we were at Kaede-chan’s house. It was a tiny bit smaller than my house but still very big. We went to her big room. It had lots of dolls. We sat at the table with a teapot. The other girls brought out their dolls.
“Well then, the tea party has officially started!”
“Oh, I didn’t bring mine…”
Kaede-chan said, “It’s okay. Well, this is Keiko-chan. This one is the limited edition with brown hair.”
Haruka-chan said, “This is Kaya-chan, and she likes playing the electric guitar!”
Akane-chan said, “W-Well, this is Emi-chan. I added a blue bow because I-I thought it looked cute…”
“It looks super cute, Akane-chan!”
“T-Thanks Fuyuki-chan…”
Kaede-chan asked me, “What’s your doll like, Fuyuki-chan?”
“I also have Keiko-chan, but mine has yellow hair. I also tied her hair to make it look cute!”
“We’re matching!” Kaede-chan said.
We then had a fun tea party. It was my first time, but I had so much fun! Kaede-chan and the others are nice too.
•••
5 years later
It was our lunch break. Me and the girls sat down next to each other. The pastel pink bow tied behind Akane-chan’s hair caught my eye.
“Akane-chan, your bow looks so cute!”
“Yeah, Akane-chan! It really suits you!” The others exclaimed.
“Th-Thanks… Your pink ribbons are cute too!” Her cheeks were a bit red.
I smiled. “Thanks, Akane-chan!”
“Hey, are you two matching without telling us?” Kaede-chan pouted.
“Is it really that surprising if they do match?” Haruka said.
“I mean it won’t, but I wanna join too, you know?” Kaede-chan whined.
“Oh, so you’re excluding me now, huh, Kaede?” Haruka smirked.
“You’re included too, dummy!”
“It was just a coincidence. Me and Akane-chan didn’t match on purpose. Besides, why would we exclude you?”
Kaede-chan continued pouting. “Fine, but if you dare exclude me and Haruka again, we’ll also match.”
Akane-chan and I laughed. “Alright.”
Haruka smirked. “Seriously though, you’re way too dramatic, Kaede.”
Kaede-chan pouted again. “No, I’m not.”
They continue bickering while Akane-chan and I laughed.
“I guess Kaede-chan and Haruka-chan can’t last without bickering. Anyways, where did you get that cute bow, Akane-chan? It’s so cute!”
She avoided my gaze. “Oh, I got it from iD*SMiLE…”
“We should go there sometime!” I said enthusiastically.
“Yeah…”
“Why not next Saturday? ”
“Sure!”
“Wait, let me ask the others. Uhh, Kaede-chan, Haruka-chan, we were thinking of going to iD*SMiLE this coming Saturday. Wanna join us?”
Haruka-chan said, “Eh, I’ll pass. Just by the name itself, you can tell it’s filled with cute things.”
Kaede-chan said, “I have a spa appointment, so I can’t really come.”
“Oh, okay…”
“I guess it’s only the two of us, Akane-chan!”
“Yeah…” She seemed pretty neutral with the others not joining.
“It’s always like this when we invite them to go shopping!” I pouted.
“It’s okay, Fuyuki-chan. Not everyone’s into lolita fashion…” She played with her hair.
We continued eating out lunches.
•••
I was currently outside Akane-chan’s house. I rang the intercom, to which Akane-chan’s attendant responded. “Hello?”
“It’s me, Fuyuki.”
Her voice became more enthusiastic. “Ah, Fuyuki-sama. Akane-sama’s almost done preparing.”
It didn’t take too long for Akane-chan to come out. She was wearing a pastel blue casual lolita dress with a matching pastel blue bow tied at the back.
“Love your outfit, girl!”
“Thanks, I love yours too, especially the matching pastel pink ribbon with your dress.”
I chuckled. “Let’s go?”
We went inside my car. We continued chatting until we arrived at iD*SMiLE. I was amazed with the amount of cute dresses and accessories.
“Woah, this place is amazing, Akane-chan!”
She let out a chuckle. “I’m glad you liked it, Fuyuki-chan.”
“Of course I will! This is like heaven in store form!” I squealed in excitement.
I took Akane-chan’s hand and we browsed through a lot of cute outfits, but there was one outfit that caught me and Akane-chan’s eye: a matching pastel pink and a pastel blue sweet lolita-styled dress.
“We should totally try this!” I excitedly exclaimed.
“It’s so cute, and we can match together, Fuyuki-chan!”
“Let’s go try it on!”
We both changed into the outfits, with Akane-chan wearing the blue one, while I wore the pink one.
“We definitely need to buy this!” I said.
“It’s so cute~”
“We should take a picture of this, Akane-chan!”
“Yeah!”
We proceeded to take a picture of our matching outfits with a cute pose.
“Perfect! I’ll send it to you on LINE.”
“Okay!”
We both went to the checkout counter and paid for everything we bought.
“I had so much fun, Akane-chan!”
She had a shy smile. “I had fun too, Fuyuki-chan.”
I deeply sighed. “If only Haruka-chan and Kaede-chan were here with us…”
“Yeah…”
“It’s always like this when we invite them to go shopping with us!”
Akane-chan held my hand and gave it a squeeze. “As I said, lolita fashion is just not for everyone, Fuyuki-chan. It’s just not their thing. We all have our different preferences.”
I pouted. “I understand…”
“I know what will cheer you up! Fuyuki-chan, let’s go to your favorite cafe.”
My eyes lit up. “Sure!”
We then went on with our day and had some frappuccinos at my favorite cafe and took another picture. I then dropped Akane-chan off at her house.
•••
Akane rang the intercom of her home. It didn’t take a while for someone to open the door for her. She was greeted by her mother, who is a fashion designer.
“Akane, you came just in time. Your sister and I went on a shopping spree today! I can’t wait to show you how gorgeous it looks. O-Oh, it seems like you also went out shopping at that uhhh, store. I recommend you going to more chic stores, but, well, if THAT’S what you want, well, I can’t really do anything to stop you, am I right?”
Akane let out a sigh. “Yes, mother…”
The mother smiled. “Come, look at how gorgeous your older sister!”
Akane gave her a pained smile. “Yes, mother…”