The ImagiNation, Project Sekai || HOPE FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE

CHAPTER 10 - I Wish I Was Like the Cool Kids

There seemed to be signs everywhere I looked, I was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed. I was surrounded by a bunch of random strangers everywhere. It was interesting... but I didn't feel like I was in any danger. I was starting to like these new experiences! The other place we used to live at was already old and messed up, but now we live in a nice two story house. Why was I always upset? My life was amazing!! I had a boost of confidence right then, I felt like I could do anything. I proceeded to aimlessly wander through the city, at one point I found myself in an alleyway with graffiti and posters on the walls. Graffiti is illegal, yeah. But it's interesting to see all of the things people leave. I walked into an interesting café, there were a few teenagers singing together in there.

"クライアント！ここで待ってて。" A girl with very long wavy hair that seemed to have stars in it rushed over to me. She was one of the teenagers who were singing. She wore a jacket with shorts, which was kind of funny to me. "おい！アンです、何が欲しいですか？" She greeted happily.

I stared blankly and blinked twice before informing her that I didn't speak Japanese. "I don't know Japanese... I'm not from here."

The girl's eyes lit up, she looked interested. I was starting to notice these Japanese people thought being American was cool. "Wow! That's so cool, maybe you could tell me about where you're from?" She turned to the direction her friends were, and called out to them. "アキト！トーヤ！こはね！この女の子はアメリカから来ました！なんとすごいことなのでしょうか？"

That's when I snapped, the two guys she was with were the cool ones from school! No way I was about to talk to them and make a fool of myself. For whatever reason, I felt like I needed their approval. She was also friends with this really cute blonde girl in a nice outfit. She had such kind brown eyes.

The ginger boy left me in awe as I saw him walk towards me. The closer he got, the more nervous I became. "Hello..." He was struggling to speak English and he had a silly little accent. "My-- いいえ... I am Akito Shinonome." He kept staring at me, making faces like he was thinking really hard.

I mustered up all of the confidence I had inside. "Hii! I'm Setsuko... it's very nice to meet you, Akito."

The boy with different colored hair smiled tenderly at me. "I'm Toya, it's nice to meet you, Setsuko." He said politely.

The shy blonde girl with the cute outfit blushed and looked down. "My name is Kohane... hi." She whispered. I could already tell I'd like her.

"And I'm An! We don't usually get new customers my age so there's lots I'd like to ask and talk to you about! But what would you like?" She smiled at me confidently and friendly.

"Ahh, I don't have any money on me. I'm fine anyways, I just wandered in here while I was exploring." I chuckled to myself. "I heard you guys singing... it sounded really good, could you maybe do it again for me?" I timidly requested of them.

"Sure, why not?! さあ、みんな！" An said as her and her friends walked back over to the little area where they performed.

When they started, I could feel the music vibrating inside of me. This is why I loved loud music and live performances. They all sang so well, I could probably learn a thing or two from them. Akito and Toya seemed to be getting cooler by the minute. I would try to silently sing along with them, but I was doing a horrible job because I didn't know Japanese.

When An heard me she stopped and pulled me next to her, she told me to sing along with the few parts that were in English. At first it felt a little bit awkward, but I ended up having a lot of fun!

"YEAH!!!" I cheered out of pure excitement. For once I felt like I was cool.

When we finished it looked like there was a fire of passion in An's eyes. "You sing great, Setsuko!" She gave me a pat on the back.