A Playground somewhere in Japan, 2004

"Yabaaaii"

An eight-year-old girl screams for her life when she stepped on the four-wheeled platform they call a Skateboard.

She knows how clumsy and unmindful she is, but she still rides on it just because everyone in the playground is trying it, and she is being bullied because she is the only one who is not doing it.

And as she predicted even before stepping on that board….

BLAAG .... BLAAG ...BLAAG

SHE INJURED HERSELF BIG TIME!

"Itai, itai, itai," (saying as ouch in Japanese)

She does not know where to hold first as her whole body is in pain.

She knew it was a bad idea, but because of the peer pressure and just to fit in.

She found herself on the ground in pain and being laughed at by everyone even more.

She feels embarrassment all over her body.

Eyes on her.

Kids laughed around her calling her names and pointing out how weak she was.

Like it is something to be ashamed of.

Like it is something that discredits her as a human.

A feeling of hatred, toward the kids around her and herself.

A feeling of sadness for not reach the status quo this world requires from her.

A feeling of pain externally and internally.

She does not know which hurts more, the physical pain, the mental pain, OR her heart.

She cries loudly not knowing what to do.

But before she burst out into madness.

A ray of light beams from the circle of mean kids.

“Daijoubu?”

She hears a warm concerned tone.

She looks up, and there she sees a kid smiling at her reaching for her hand.

It was too bright for her liking.

The kids stopped teasing and they all run away from her when they witnessed the companion of the sweet-toned girl.

The other one is riding her skateboard swiftly holding her Nintendo DS.

She pays a deathly glare to everyone who seemed to be bullying the girl who fell from the Skateboard.

The girl who injured herself looks up.

The one who seemed older of the two pulled her from the ground.

While the girl on the Skateboard looks at the injured girl with a lot of judgment but gave a hint that she is relieved that the injured girl can stand.

“unn, Arigatou,”

The injured girl bowed respectfully.

Like she owns her very life to the two kids standing in front of her.

The one who reached and helped her smiled sweetly.

“Glad you are okay, but you are bleeding,” The girl who helped her pointed out.

Her knees are bruised.

“We should bring her to a clinic or the hospital she looks like she fragged,”

The girl on her DS states trying to not pay attention to the injured girl. She even gestured to cut her neck.

A gesture that someone would be killed.

“Fragged?”

The injured girl asked in ignorance.

The older girl chuckles.

“Die, that is what she wanted to say, she loves gaming so you’ll hear her say a lot of those,”

The older girl says shyly.

She seemed to be a typical shy kid but somehow, she helped the girl who is being bullied.

Suddenly, they felt the awkwardness between the three of them.

They look at each other for a couple of seconds.

Before the injured girl and the older of the two rescuers laugh.

The one on the Skateboard looks at the injured girl and there is a hint of a smile on her face.

“Arigatou,”

The injured girl says once again.

They started walking.

Their hands are still tangled while they are walking away from the playground.

The younger one is tailing them still on her skateboard while all her attention is on her Nintendo DS.

__

Present Time

Minatozaki Sana

“What have you done!?”

A scream from the dressing room of a bridal shop can be heard throughout the stores.

People start to look in their direction.

“Excuse me, ma’am, I don’t understand, I gave you the dress from the closet, it has not touched anything and it was placed safely here, It should be spotless,”

The attendant with a name tag Sana reason out against the guilty customer.

Minatozaki Sana is an attendant in this bridal shop for over one year since she moved to South Korea.

“Are you saying that I am the one who spilled coffee on my wedding dress?”

Sana looks at the customer and the cup behind her.

“I am not the one who is drinking coffee here, am I?”

She says pointing out the coffee cup laying on the floor.

“What!? You think I put that cup there, it was there already, it was your fault you did not clean the dressing room before I come in,”

The customer’s eyes are everywhere obviously.

She is lying that she knows nothing about the coffee cup.

“We can pull out the footage from our CCTV camera that you were holding that coffee cup when you arrive in our store, so that stain, is not the store’s doing, or my doing, it only points outs to yourself, ma’am”

Sana says respectfully.

“Really? Do you even know who I am? I can have this whole place shut down, and block you everywhere to work, you are just an attendant, and don’t you believe that customers are always right, so when I said you were the one who did it, YOU ARE THE ONE WHO DID IT!”

Sana clenches her jaw.

This imbecilic , idiot, GENZ influencers, think they can do everything or anything they want to service people.

“What seems to be the problem here ma’am.”

Before Sana could stand up for herself.

Her manager butts in.

“She spilled coffee on my wedding dress, and she is saying I am the one who did it, I will tell my followers how disrespectful the attendants in this shop are, and also tell my Dad to have this place closed in minutes,”

She says crossing her arms on her chest.

The manager knows exactly what happened but rather than standing up for Sana.

“Oh, we are so sorry about the inconvenience, why don’t we have it cleaned and make sure it will be spotless,”

Sana looks at her manager.

“Manager – she,”

Sana is going to defend herself.

The young brat smirked.

“Good. This shop is not too bad after all, I will recommend this to all my friends, and followers, but that may be impossible if she still works here, why don’t you fire her too, and I will have my bridesmaids dress all maids here,”

She said with an evil look.

The manager acts grateful to the girl.

She looks at Sana and shows her hand.

Sana looks at the two in disbelief.

And she sighs madly, removes her name tag, and walks away.

Yes… She got fired.

And the most unacceptable thing is that it was by a bully.

Sana thought she knew how to stand up against them but.

“What happened to the world?”

Asks Sana walking with her head down.

She is walking home for some reason she feels relieved to not be working there anymore.

Don’t get her wrong.

She is still having a bad day.

How can she pay her bills if she does not have a job at the moment?

“Screw life,”

She shakes her head in annoyance.

Momo and Mina (M&M)

“You know there are people you could hire for this, right?”

Momo sarcastically comments to Mina.

She is helping Mina to move her stuff into her newly purchased apartment.

“I know, and they are doing the moving for my large furniture and appliances, and these are my most precious belongings and I need to make sure it is handled with utmost care,”

Mina says carefully placing some boxes on the trolly