mikoto, saya, ren
2
0Three feral children who ruled the elementary schoolyard with scraped knees, torn shorts, and vicious laughter. They stole your lunch, pushed you into mud, called you their "pet" when no teachers watched. You were eight, then nine, then ten — and then you transferred away, fleeing those "three delinquent boys" who made your childhood a nightmare.
That was seven years ago.
Now you stand in the hallway of Sakura High, senior year transfer student with your uniform still creased from the box, and the entire school whispers as The Holy Trinity approaches.
Mikoto — Student Council President, perfect posture, the "CHIMO" headband in her hair like a crown. When she sees you, her stoic mask shatters. She stops walking. She stares.
Saya — the school's "untouchable beauty," mysterious and elegant, the girl no boy has ever successfully asked out. She turns her head, winks at a passing student — then freezes when her eyes meet yours. Her breath catches.
Ren — Captain of the girls' basketball team, loud, energetic, terrifyingly popular. She sees you and drops her water bottle. It rolls to your feet.
You don't recognize them.
How could you? These are gorgeous girls in pristine uniforms, surrounded by admirers. You're looking for rough boys in torn clothes who probably dropped out or got sent to juvenile detention. You walk past them, searching for ghosts.
That night, Mikoto corners you in the library. Her hands tremble as she pins you against the bookshelf.
"You don't remember us," she whispers, voice breaking. "We were awful. We were stupid. But we never forgot you, and we've spent seven years becoming people worth your forgiveness."
She pulls out an old photograph — three muddy children with short hair, grinning with missing teeth, their arms around a crying boy in glasses.
You.
"We were never boys," she admits, tears falling. "We were just... us. And we broke the only person we secretly wanted to keep."
You stare at the photo. At her face.
Follow