" You're really not gonna tell me? " He asked. " I guess today is dead end. " He said scratching his head. I'll just try again tomorrow. He thought. Then they go outside and Nahoya checks his bike. " Man, I'm almost outta gas. We'll have to walk to a gas station " He said.

" Okay. " She nodded. They were walking for a bit, it was quiet and sun was setting. " It's a nickname they used to bully me in elementary school " Tsumugi said. Nahoya didn't respond. " I think it was third grade... " She sighed.

•••

Tsumugi walked onto the playground outside of school. She had a sand bucket filled with her toys. Some barbies and Kens, and a couple of dinosaurs. She sits down on the grass and poured them out. Then she starts making sand dunes with the bucket when a boy and a girl come over.

The boy was tall and was smiling a lot. The girl was tall too, but not as tall as the boy.
" Hey, can I play with you? " The girl asked.
" Um... Okay " Tsumugi said. She hadn't had any friends since she was shy and was the youngest in her family. " So what's your name? " The tall girl ask.

" I'm Higuchi Tsumugi " Tsumugi said. " Nice to meet you. I'm Oki Yuzuriha, just call me Yuzu. And this is Hanma Shuji " She said pointing to the boy. He was silent that whole time. " What do you wanna play? " Tsumugi asked. " Um... Let's play whatever you wanna play " Yuzuriha shrugged.

" Okay.. Well I usually play Jurassic park. " She said. " How do you play that? " She asked. " Well the barbies and kens will be in a city, but then the dinosaurs come in and they'll attack. So they have to all run away " She explained. " That sounds nice but... " Yuzuriha said.

" Hm? " Tsumugi asked. " I think it would be more fun if I was the dinosaur! " She cheered. Then she picked up a dinosaur toy and started chasing Tsumugi around. They were screaming and laughing while Hanma was just watching and laughing at them.
" You freakin morons. " He sighed.

•••

Yuzuriha walked into class and rushed over to Tsumugi's seat. " Hey hey!! " She cheered. " Hey " Tsumugi said. She was practicing on her handwriting, writing down her name.
" Hmm... Pon-Gee... Pongee? " Yuzuriha. " It says Tsumugi. But the Kanji is the same so it's easy to mix up " Tsumugi explained.

" Pongee! That sounds like something you'd name a dog " Hanma said excitedly. Yuzuriha tried to hold back a laugh. " A little dog! " She said. " I'm not a dog... " Tsumugi said shyly. " Are you sure? I mean, you've got those long pigtails. You kinda look like a Cocker Spaniel " Yuzuriha said.

" Little Pongee, as small as she can be~ " Yuzuha sang. " Her long pig tails hang... " Hanma said. " And make her look like... A little doggy " They finished the song.

•••

" After that, they would sing that song to me everyday and stopped when I cut my hair. To be honest, it's kinda catchy if you look past the bullying part. But still, that name always makes me feel sad, because I thought they were really gonna my friends. Pretty stupid Huh? Well, that's the story of Little Pongee " Tsumugi laughed softly.

" Who needs them though? " Nahoya asked.
" Hm? " She asked. " They're not good at being friends, I can tell just by looking at them. So who needs em? You've got me and Angry. And your sister and your other friends too " He said. " You.. and Angry? " Tsumugi asked.

" Yep. We'll be your new friends " He said, with an even wider grin than usual. Tsumugi smiled back. " Then, thank you for being my friend " She said.

•••

Tsumugi waved at Nahoya before closing her front door. " Well, you were out late " Momoe said. " I'll kill him! " Tomoe shouted running down stairs with a bat. " He's already gone " Inari said. " Damn it! " Tomoe said dropping the bat.

" Why don't you ever invite your boyfriend inside? " Moriko asked. " He's not my boyfriend we're just friends " Tsumugi rolled her eyes. When did they become 'friends'? Inari thought. " Friend... Boyfriend... Same thing " Momoe shrugged.

" No it's not " Tsumugi rolled her eyes. " Well why won't you invite your friend over? " Moriko asked. " Because this family is weird. Inari will be giving percentages for random things, Momoe will be gorging herself on food and touching his hair, you'll be showing him embarrassing picture of me, and Dad will try to kill him. " She sighed.

" What so you're saying that you're ashamed of us? " Momoe scoffed. " Very ashamed of you. " Tsumugi sighed going upstairs. " Hey where are you going? " Tomoe asked. " To cut my hair! " She called back.

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Also Pongee is pronounced with a soft G, like the G in Ginger but they pronounced it incorrectly as kids and just still use it with a hard G like Goku because it sounds more like a dog name.

𝕋𝕚𝕞𝕚𝕕 | 𝐓𝐎𝐊𝐘𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒 (𝔎𝔞𝔴𝔞𝔱𝔞 𝔑𝔞𝔥𝔬𝔶𝔞)Where stories live. Discover now