A Wish is Enough

The girl blankly stared at the riverbank as a fish plopped out of the water to soon fall back. The jumping fish really amused the girl, she felt like it represented herself. A little fish jumping out from it’s home them coming back because it is forced to. That useless struggle to get out, but to be forced back in. She just wanted to isolate herself from the others, but life had no choice but to drag her back to them. The riverbank was the only place that soothed her feelings, nobody liked getting near the fish-smelling area… or her.

“I wonder how long I felt like this?” The girl asked herself out loud as she laid down on the grass. At the same time she wanted to isolate herself from others, she felt like she needed somebody there. Someone who would always be there for her. This wish was something she had since she was small. The wish that she always held onto. Soon, droplets softly bounced on the water's surface. The grey clouds covered the dark sky. The droplets began to come in faster by the minute. She wasn’t sure anymore if those fast-falling droplets where coming from the sky or her eyes.

“Are you okay?” A bright umbrella soared over her. She looked up at a similar smile that always brightened up her cloudy sky. It was him.

Seiko never really knew why she felt like this. Though, she knew why she wanted to isolate herself. It was due to abnormal, supernatural-like power she had that made her different from others. She was considered something miraculous, but a monster at the same time. Everytime she would get near someone, she would get nervous and excited, causing inanimate objects to levitate from the ground; like if they were defying gravity itself. Everyone feared getting close to her except her parents themselves, especially her mother.

It was another day at school, people always had to give way for her to walk in. It was dangerous to get near her, or more objects would levitate. As people stepped aside and glanced at her with sympathy. Some of them murmured to each other with disrespectful comments that she didn’t even bother to listen. They were all the same anyways. ‘I hope she moves schools’, ‘I don’t want to end up flying myself’, ‘she looks lonely’, ‘why do we have to do this?’ As much as she felt bad for them because they had to deal with her, she felt bad for herself.

She went into the school building and went over to her locker which was located at the end of the hall, isolated from the others. The locker they gave her wasn't even that new, it seemed dirty here and there, but Seiko had no choice but to use it. The students nearby glanced over at her, hoping she wouldn't stand up and start walking. They would always rush when she was doing things in her locker. That fact annoyed her, so she always waited for everyone to be done first by pretending to still be doing stuff on her locker. Once everyone left, she would get her belongings and go to her first class. 

She entered her classroom quite late, she was the last one to arrive. Her desk was in the corner in the room, separated from the other desks. Everyone had partners to sit along with, but she sat alone. Nobody wanted to sit with someone like her, and it was a rule to not sit next to her anyways.

“Everyone! Get into your seats!” The female teacher ordered as she entered the room. The yapping students sat quietly next to their friends. As soon as they sat down, she continued with her morning announcement. “Well, today we have a new transferring student.” She said proudly “Everyone welcome him in.”

A light-brown haired student walked in the classroom. He had kind, light hazel eyes. He was quite the tall student. His looks attracted the attention of the female students. Seiko could hear them gossiping between the girls already. ‘They think all about looks, these girls...’ Seiko thought to herself.

“Hello there, I am Toriko. Nice to meet you all!” He said cheerfully, he didn’t seem nervous at all, for being a transfer student; Seiko envied him. Some silent “kya!”s could be heard here and there across the room.

“Well, Toriko, could you please sit wherever you want.” She said, “Oh, and please do not sit on the back. There is a reason she sits alone.”

“Hm?” Toriko tilted his head with a puzzled expression. He looked at the teacher with disturbed eyes. Seiko looked at the window with pained eyes. ‘Not again’ she thought, ‘He will think I am a monster, please, not another one.’

“It’s nothing personal, please don’t mind it. We will tell you about it later.” She smiled nervously. “Okay, sit down.”

“You said I could sit wherever I want to so…” He walked to the back of the classroom, looking down at Seiko. “Do you mind if I sit here?” He smiled, pointing down at the vacant seat. The classroom gasped at his action as they tried to warn him.

“No, dude, get away from there!”

“No, Toriko-san, get away from her! Sit here instead!”

More warnings and shouts could be heard. He ignored all the yapping and sat down, not letting Seiko even reply to his request. As soon as he made contact with the chair, the desks sprang up from the floor. Books and pencils floated around. Everyone looked shocked as they tried to catch their desks and bags and put them back to their original spot. Girls shrieked as boys yelled. Everyone was panicking, except for him.

‘Why, why isn’t he scared? Doesn’t he think I am a monster?’ Seiko looked confused at Toriko 'Go away already, please...'

He looked over at her and smiled instead. She was surprised at his smile, nobody has given her a true smile except her caring mother and father. He patted her head, soon to question her.

“Is this because you are afraid to get near others?” She looked at him. Some tears collected on her eyes as she slowly began to nod. Why was he so calm, why wasn’t he running away in fear? Every single person she met, they all ran away. Every single one of her friends abandoned her in Elementary School. Her relatives don’t like visiting the house because of her. Nobody wanted to be near her… so then… why? She didn’t even know why she was crying, she didn't know why things would fly when she got near someone. 

He patted her head again. “It’s okay now, it’s all okay~” He continued, as if he was comforting a baby. His voice was so soothing, it made her feel so calm. It felt warm, it was a nice, warm feeling; she didn’t feel it in such a long time. Surprisingly, all the flying objects returned to their original position, everyone confused at the current situation.

“Nothing, is floating?” The teacher looked around to check if it was true. Everyone looked over at the sobbing Seiko and the smiling Toriko.

“You see, it that was easy, you cowards.” He said while smiling, everyone seemed a bit insulted by his saying, but it was true. He got out a handkerchief for Seiko to clean herself with. She took it and began to wipe the tears away from her face. Still shocked at the scene, the teacher began her class. The rest of the class consisted of silence and some few people raising their hands for questions. Many of them would glance over to her, but Seiko could understand why. The class soon ended, everyone left except the two.

“Jeez, where people always this mean to you?” He chuckled. She looked at him and nodded her head as she began to silently speak.

“You can’t blame them, I am something terrifying.” She said with a slightly sad tone.

“I find you cute though. You are like a misunderstood dog.”

She blushed, though, being compared to a dog wasn’t much of a compliment. This guy really didn’t know his way to compliment people, did he?

“You know, it is not nice to call people dogs.” She said, teasing him and giving him a small smile. He smiled and laughed nervously.

“Oh, really? At my place, dogs are the best thing ever!” He scratched his head nervously. Seiko could realize he probably came from a family outside the city. “Hey, what are your next classes?”

“Math, English and History… But I don’t insist you spend a lot of time with me, it will hurt your reputation-” Seiko was interrupted.

“We have the same classes! Hey, let’s go to the next one!” He grabbed her hand and pulled her up, ignoring all what she just said. She yelped in surprise at the action as she let him pull her towards the door. They went out the hallway, sprinting to the next class. People were shocked to see the girl with another person, but Seiko didn’t have time to pay attention to the others. She wanted to pay attention to him. This dog-like cute dork who was pulling her to her next class; she had never seen anyone so… excited. She had a feeling this was just the beginning to something new.