Few days passed since then, and finally Saturday arrived. Mizuha had breakfast with her mother, enjoying the scent of freshly brewed coffee and toast in the kitchen. Her father was away on a business trip.

Her mother, suddenly, asked, "How's school been recently, my dear?"

Mizuha's eyes lit up with excitement. "It's great, Mom! I've made some amazing friends. They are all the best!"

Her mother smiled, seeing the joy in her daughter's eyes. "That's wonderful to hear. What have you been up to with your friends?"

Mizuha eagerly began to recount her experiences. "Well, Shimizu and I saved Elly-chan from bullies."

"Bullies?" Her mother turned pale, recalling a past trauma. "You're not being bullied, are you?"

"I'm fine, Mom - it's not me, it's my friend Elly," Mizuha quickly reassured her. Her mother felt relieved. "Oh, I see. Sorry, I shocked you. Please continue," she said.

Mizuha, a little shocked by her mother's reaction, continued her story to distract her. "Elly is a really sweet girl, and now she's part of our group too. We even had a lunch break together on the rooftop. The weather was perfect, and we shared our food. It was such a fun time!"

Her mother listened attentively, her eyes twinkling with pride. "It sounds like you've had some memorable moments. I'm so happy for you, Mizuha."

Mizuha nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! And Hikaru has been such a good friend. We walk to school together, and she always has my back. Zul and Hikaru are great too. Shimizu's always making us laugh, and Zul is so kind and supportive."

"That's great to hear, dear. It's important to have good friends who support you," her mother said, placing a gentle hand on Mizuha's.

Mizuha finished breakfast and took her plate to the sink to wash it. Her mother felt relieved knowing her daughter was doing well at school.

"I'm glad this girl is doing fine recently, nothing to worry about, but I need to monitor her a little, worried something bad might happen," said her mother.

After breakfast, Mizuha went back to her room to finish her homework. She worked diligently, completing her assignments, and then turned her attention to her drawing.

"All my homework is done, and now it's time to continue my drawing."

She had been working on a drawing of that special lunch break moment with her friends a few days ago. The image depicted them sitting in a circle on the rooftop, sharing food and laughter. Mizuha smiled as she added the final touches, capturing the warmth and camaraderie of that day perfectly.

In her room, some of her drawings were framed and hung on the wall. On the rack were trophies she had won from competitions last year.

"My drawing is finished, so what should I do next?" said Mizuha while rolling on her bed, thinking of what to do next.

Suddenly, her smartphone rang, showing an incoming chat from Shimizu. "Mizuha, prepare yourself. We are going out to town today. Elly and I will come to get you at your house in 10 minutes."

"Eh, this is too sudden, Shimizu!" said Mizuha, a bit panicked that her close friends were suddenly coming to her house. "Oh no, this room is a bit of a mess; I can't show this to Elly and Shimizu," said Mizuha. She quickly cleaned up her room and changed her clothes from a string crop top and mini shorts to something more appropriate.

Suddenly, she heard the doorbell ring from outside. "Mizuha, we're here!" called Shimizu and Elly. Mizuha's mom opened the door and greeted them. "Oh, Mizuha's friends, right? Umm, Shimizu-chan and Elly-chan, right? Please come in, Mizuha is in her room."

"Mizuha, your friends are here," her mom called out. Mizuha ran down from her room to greet Shimizu and Elly. "Oh, Shimizu and Elly-chan, welcome," said Mizuha with a forced smile, trying to cover her slight irritation. "Oh no, she's a bit angry," thought both Shimizu and Elly.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Come on, you two, let's go to my room," said Mizuha.

Mizuha led both of them to her room and closed the door behind them.

"Geez, you two, why did you suddenly come here unannounced without telling me first?" said Mizuha, a bit angry.

"Eh, didn't I tell you already?" said Shimizu, trying to cover her mistake. Elly just nodded her head to support Shimizu.

"Yeah, but it was a very late announcement, just 10 minutes beforehand. Give me some time to prepare, guys," said Mizuha.

"It's a surprise, right?" said Shimizu while laughing at Mizuha. "Geez, Shimizu, you dunce!" said Mizuha with a pout.

Elly suddenly started laughing at Mizuha after she made that face. "What's wrong, Elly? Why are you laughing suddenly?" asked Mizuha, confused.

"Oh, it's nothing, but this is the first time I've seen you angry, Mizuha. That face you made is funny. At school, you seem cool, friendly, and like a model student. But here, you seem different," said Elly, wiping a tear from laughing earlier.

"Hmm, something's off about you today!" said Shimizu, glaring at Mizuha.

"Really!? What is it!?" said Elly.

"Ah, that's it, the glasses, she's wearing glasses," said Shimizu.

"You guys just noticed!?" Mizuha exclaimed, shocked.

"Mizuha-chan, do you have bad eyesight?" asked Elly.

"Yes, that's right, but at school, I wear contact lenses," replied Mizuha.

"Click!!" They heard the sound of a camera shutter. Shimizu had taken Mizuha's picture with her smartphone camera.

"Done, Glasses Mizuha. I'll send this to Hikaru," teased Shimizu.

"Geez, Shimizu, can you stop?" said Mizuha, her face bright red as she immediately took off her glasses and switched to her contact lenses.

At the same time, Mizuha's mother heard them laughing together from outside her room and felt relieved. "Thank God, she made friends," her mother said, smiling.

"Back to the topic, where do we want to go after this? You said we were going to hang out in town, right?" said Mizuha.

"Hehe, I'm glad you asked. First, just prepare yourself. We are going to many places today," said Shimizu excitedly with her plan.

"Hey, Elly-chan, do you know where she's going to take us today?" Mizuha whispered in Elly's ear.

"No, she hasn't told me anything about it yet," replied Elly with a chuckled.

The trio made their way to town. As Mizuha was about to leave, she called out, "Mom, I'm leaving!"

Her mother replied, "Take care, dear. Don't return too late, okay?"

At first, the trio went to the bookstore because Shimizu wanted to stop there to buy her manga.

"Alright, you guys, we're going here first. I'm going to buy my favorite manga," said Shimizu.

"Oh, what a coincidence! I also want to stop there to buy my drawing equipment," said Mizuha.

"I think I'm going to buy my favorite novel too," said Elly.

"Eh, Elly-chan, do you read novels!?" replied Mizuha.

"Yes, it's my favorite novel. I just started reading it. This novel just published its first volume. Today I'm going to buy the second volume. I'll show you guys that novel after we enter the bookshop," said Elly.

After that, the trio entered the bookshop, and Elly led them to the novel section, showcasing her favorite book. The novel was titled Something in the Rain by T.S. Sensei.

"I really like this novel. Its story really touches my heart," Elly said.

Mizuha noticed Shimizu's face turning bright red upon hearing Elly's praise. Hmm, why is your face blushing? Wait, is that novel yours? Mizuha wondered.

"Hey, Shimizu, is that novel yours?" Mizuha whispered to Shimizu.

"Yes, that's the published novel I told you about that day," Shimizu replied.

"I never thought that Elly would be a fan of my novel too,"

"Good for you, Shimizu. You've got a fan, especially from a close friend," Mizuha said with a smile.

"I guess I'll buy it too—both the first and second volumes. I'll give it a try, okay?" Mizuha said, smiling at Shimizu.

"Mizuha, not you too!!!" Shimizu thought to herself.

After that, the three of them separated to their respective sections to buy the items they wanted. Elly continued searching for her favorite novel, Shimizu went to the manga section, and Mizuha went to the stationery section to buy her drawing equipment.

"Brush done, watercolor done, drawing block done, a few pencils done, that leaves only the blank notebook," Mizuha said, checking her list on her phone. "Notebook, notebook… Ah, found it," she added. As she was about to take the notebook, her hand suddenly touched another man's hand who was also reaching for the same book.

"Ah, sorry," said Mizuha. "Me too, go ahead and take it first," said the man. "Huh!? Hikaru?" Mizuha exclaimed. It turned out the man was Hikaru, who was attempting to take the same book as Mizuha.

"Mizuha!? What are you doing here? I didn't expect to see you today," said Hikaru. "I'm hanging out with Elly-chan and Shimizu today, so we stopped here first," Mizuha replied.

"That's a coincidence. I'm hanging out with Zul today, and he wanted to stop here first," said Hikaru. "Oh, I see. This is a nice coincidence, right?" Mizuha said with a small smile.

"Well, since we're all here, why not hang out together too?" Hikaru suggested. "Oh, that's a good idea, my boyfriend. Why didn't I think of that?" teased Shimizu, suddenly interrupting their conversation.

"Wagh, Shimizu, you!!" Hikaru said, shocked by her presence. "Oh, Shimizu, welcome back! Done with your manga? Where's Elly-chan?" asked Mizuha.

"Yes, I'm done. I haven't seen her yet; she must be with Zul right now," Shimizu guessed. "How about you guys? Are you done with your items?" Shimizu asked.

"I'm done, just need to pay for it. How about you, Hikaru?" Mizuha said. "I think I'm also done. Let's go to the counter to pay," replied Hikaru.

The three of them made their way to the counter and saw Elly and Zul already finished paying for their items and standing together, waiting for them. After that, the five of them left the bookstore and discussed where to go next.