• Nearly seven in the morning and the sweet little girl was still sleeping so peacefully in her own bed, even with the beaming light rays produced from the sun so carefully shining over her small frame. Gently rolling over to the side she pulled her sheets a little more over her, covering her face even more; however the thin layer which was her sheet it wasn’t nearly enough to shield her closed eyes from the light that was the sun. “Hmmm…” was all that could be heard coming from the rather petite girl as she slowly removed the sheets from her person, revealing her pink and white stripped pajamas. The rays from the sun shinned even brighter than before now as the faded looking light shone upon her once more. Rubbing her eyes gently in an effort to wake herself up she soon found herself sitting on the bed upright, her feet dangling over the side of the bed just inches above the ground. “Is it morning already?” Kazumi questioned herself with a small yawn, her hand lifting to cover her own mouth before looking over at her clock to see that it was just a little past seven. Her family’s shop would open up soon and she needed to get things ready.

    Gently rolling herself out of bed she went over to her dresser, picking out her clothes for the school day, which was usually the same everyday anyway. What had come out of her dresser was her school uniform, which she was probably the only one to wear anyway. Kazumi’s school uniform consisted of a tan long sleeve button up shirt with white cuffs that have a pink stripe going around it, a white sailor style collar which also had a single pink stripe on it, white socks that came up to about her shins, and brown penny loafers. A standard type of uniform at all of her other schools, and although they didn’t have a specific uniform, Kazumi just felt comfortable wearing hers. The idea of going to school and not wearing it made her slightly uneasy, and she had learned at an early age to do the things that made her feel less nervous.

    Placing the clothes on the bed she smile before walking over to her dresser once more and pulling out a towel before making her way over to the bathroom and shutting the door, in case her sister came back in from wherever she had wandered off to do. The cool water felt refreshing against her smooth skin, and thirty minutes and some freshening up later she found herself exiting the bathroom with the towel wrapped around her torso. Once she was near her clothing again, she let the towel fall gently to the ground with a soft thud before pulling on her undergarments and getting her clothes on for school. “There, all done.” she murmured to herself with a smile before picking up her school bag and rushing out of the door, making her way out of the dormitory and towards her home, which was only a twenty minute commute anyway.

    Arriving at her home at around twenty minutes to eight she gave a smile, waving to her parents who had been standing outside waiting for her. They enveloped her with hugs and kisses before having a small conversation with her about how her school days were going. She informed them of the two people who were picking on her, but they told her not to worry about it; that it takes time to make friends and soon she would be surrounded with kind and warm people. After that the three of them began moving around, preparing the shop to be opened. Now since Kazumi had school in the mornings, she wasn’t allowed to bake, but instead worked the register and other jobs that wouldn’t require her to sweat or get dirty. Several hours later it was time for her to make her way out of the shop. “Okaasan! Otousan! Mata atode aimashou desu!” she shouted back to them in her soft voice before walking out of the bakery and making her way to school. The one thing she never stopped doing since they left Japan was speaking in her native tongue. It was her way of holding onto her heritage, something which she felt as though was sacred. When Kazumi arrived at the trail that would take her to school she stopped.

    Standing nervously at the base of the long and mundane trail that would eventually lead Kazumi to the front steps of her school with her eyes closed caused her to sigh in a temporary state of panic. She was nervous, that was for certain. For you see she had just transferred into the same school as her sister, and although she was really excited about the idea of being so close to her darling older sister, there was also a side of her that was just extremely nervous about being in this new setting. Although she had only been there for one week, there were already people who just found it necessary to pick on her and make her stay in this wonderful school something of a pain. Kazumi couldn’t make up her mind as to what she wanted to do, and so she did the only thing should could think of to do. Gripping the school bag which was gently pressing against the front of her legs a little more tensely she opened her mouth to speak; the words leaving her lips sounding gentle and frail as she softly shouted something to herself, though when it came out it sounded more as if she was just talking to herself. “Anpan!”

    After saying that word to herself she began talking to herself in an almost whisper like voice, having a miniature debate with herself at the base of the steep trial, Sakura blossom petals falling down around her and drifting off with the gentle breeze, creating an almost too peaceful scenario for the all too innocent Kazumi. “What should I do now? What If I don’t like this place? What if I can’t make friends? What if-” Kazumi paused, inhaling deeply before her lips parted once more, from them coming another sweetly woven question; “What if people don’t like me?” she asked herself before taking a brief pause and then continuing on to answer her own question. “I really love this place, and I know I shouldn’t speak things like these into existence, but I can’t help but worry about them. Everyone wants someone. I want someone too.” There was silence. Kazumi took another pause which lasted all but a split second, just long enough for her to take a quick breath which was barely even noticeable. “These things won’t possibly stay the same forever. I have to believe that I will make friends. Nee-chan told me to try my hardest, that I will make friends easily; but what if I don’t. When that happens, will I still be able to like this place?” she mumbled aloud as her head slowly lifted to face the school which was sitting on a rather large patch of land at the top of this long, mundane path.

    Mata atode aimashou: See you later!
    Okaasan: Mother
    Otousan: Father
    Anpan: Bean paste bun.
    Nee-chan: Sister