Fun Meeting Tag Along

[🇯🇵 Hakachi Kemiko 🇯🇵]

Dinner was yummy. I ate everything. Plate so shiny I see my face in the sauce.

Jisoo eats slow. Like, super slow. Like, if we were in a race, she'd be a sleepy turtle. But that's okay. I wait. Good girls wait patiently. (That's what Okan says.)

And then! And then! We go to the monorail station.

Jisoo comes with me. Moon Ji Soo!

She was gonna skip the fun meeting.

Jisoo said, "I don't like events...parties..." And I said, "That's okay! I like you!" Then, she didn't say anything. But her cheeks puffed a little and looked at me, like I'm a silly thing. (Maybe I am... 😸)

And now... Jisoo is here. Sitting next to me. On the train.

This is nice. This is good. This is... right?

Big girls go to events. And Jisoo is a big girl. And I wanna be a big girl too.

So this is good. Right?

Right.

*blink* *blink*

• • • Right?

...~•~...

[🇰🇵 Moon Ji Soo 🇰🇷]

This isn't me—At all.

I know myself. I have always known myself.

I don't go to events. I don't waste energy on things I don't care about. I don't go out of my way.

And yet... I'm here. Sitting on this monorail.

With her.

This sunshine gremlin I met yesterday.

Why?

I could be in my room. Under my blanket. With my plushies. Safe. In my world. Where people are far away, and I am me.

And yet—I'm here.

She's swinging her legs like a happy little kid, humming a tune she probably made up on the spot. She grins up at me, eyes bright, like I'm the best thing ever for sitting next to her.

(Why does that feel... nice? • • • Stop it, Soo-ya! You're being weird! >~<)

I watch her. Not just her smile, but the space behind it.

Something's there—Something's off.

I don't like people. I don't care about people cause their not important to me.

But...

Kemiko... why does she bothers me?

Because I know myself. But I'm questioning it after I met her...

I hate how unsettling this feels. I don't remember signing up for this matter. And yet, I'm still here.

...~•~...

The doors to the big girls' hall open, and—whoa.

It's huge. Like, really, really big.

There are so many lights! Not the boring ones, but warm, glowy ones. The walls have these big banners with fancy letters that say WELCOME, FIRST-YEARS! in different languages. Someone even put up balloons! (Pink, blue, yellow—like a candy store exploded. I love it. 😻)

People are everywhere.

Some students are already here, sitting at tables or standing in small groups. Some look super excited, chatting and laughing. Others look nervous, like they got dropped into a jungle and don't know if they'll survive.

And in the middle of it all—there they are.

🎓 The student council members.🎓

They wear deep green blazers and special council pins, looking all cool and important. (Honestly... They are.) Some are checking lists, some are talking to new students, and some are just standing there, looking like they already run the whole school. (Which is kinda true.)

They're from the Students Affair Department.

One of them has that vibe... You know, the one that says I'm in charge, and I know it. She's smiling, but not in a warm way. More like a professional smile. The kind grown-ups use when they say, "Tell me if you need anything," but don't actually want you to need anything.

Then there's another student council Onee-san. She has short hair and a clipboard, and wow, she looks stressed. She keeps checking her watch like the world might end if this event doesn't start exactly on time.

Other council members are walking around, greeting people, making sure everything is perfect. They look so grown-up. Like they have everything figured out. (I bet they don't, though. Big people pretend a lot.)

...~•~...

There are some young teachers here too. Not the scary ones with forever frowns, but ones that still kinda look like students.

One of them, the one with a pencil as a hair stick, is leaning against the snack table, already munching cookies. (I like her. 🍪)

Another, a woman with a bright scarf, is talking to a group of students, nodding to their answers. She (She seems bright and sweet.)

And then—there are the other first-years. The ones like me.

Some look excited, bouncing on their heels. Some already found friends, giggling together like they've known each other forever. (Lucky.)

Others are quieter, sticking to the edges, watching like they're not so sure what's going on.

...~•~...

Jisoo is still beside me, standing still. I tug on her sleeve. "Isn't it exciting?"

She blinks, then nods slowly. ". . ." — "It's getting loud."

I laugh. "Yeah! But fun loud."

She doesn't answer, just watches everything carefully, like she's looking for something.

I look around too.

There's so much happening.

So many people. So many faces.

And somewhere in all this—something waiting to happen.

I just don't know what yet.

...~•~...

Ooooh. That girl again.

The Red Lady.🌷

I saw her yesterday.

When we first got here, at the front gate. She had, like... a whole army. Not an army with swords and shields (which would've been so cool), but a bunch of serious-looking men standing around her while her parents talked to the school people. (They're so many, my fingers can't count.✌🏻)

Guards, maybe?

They were big... Some are scary-looking, like the kind of guys in movies who don't smile unless someone tells a joke about taxes. The other some are scary-looking, but like Kyonii-chan. Scary, cold, but... warm. It makes me wonder... Could they be her brothers? (But that's... Alot.)

She stood there, all proper and elegant, like a princess who already knew the whole kingdom was hers.

And then—again!

I saw her at lunch today, too.

The Salt Tragedy.

(A cursed, mysterious event. Too dangerous to speak of. But I will anyway.)

The red lady—because I don't know her name yet—was sitting at a table when another girl asked her to pass the salt. And she did pass it, but she picked it up first.

And that was apparently a crime.

The brown haired girl—That I later found out to be Italian 🇮🇹—freaked out. Like, actual horror. She gasped. She looked betrayed. She started talking really fast, hands flying everywhere.

Red Lady just sat there, holding the salt, staring at her like, What.

They started arguing about it—well, the Italian girl argued, and the Red Lady just looked deeply... unamused.

I had no idea what was happening. But I did know it was loud... And a kinda hilarious.

Now, here she is again.

She's standing near a table, looking over the room like she's already figured out everyone's secrets. Her outfit is perfect. Not a single wrinkle. Her deep red hair is braided neatly, and her blue eyes? Sharp. Like she sees everything.

I don't know her. But I do know she's the Red Lady with an Army.

I wonder if the other girl will be here too. The Italian one.

That would be fun. (*ehem* more like... recipe for chaos🤌🏻)

...~•~...

Someone hands me a paper. Ooooh! A game! It has a list of things on it, like "Find someone who speaks more than three languages" and "Find someone who has a pet that is not a cat or a dog."

I turn to Jisoo.

She is staring at the paper like it personally insulted her.

Her face says, Absolutely not.

I giggle. "It's okay! We do this together!"

I take her hand and squeeze it.

We got this.

She side-eyes me.

Not the bombastic side eye... But the did you just took my hand!? Who are you touching me?!

Then—slowly—she sighs and tags along.

Victory! 🐱

...~•~...

I grab Jisoo's arm and march forward like a fearless adventurer. Mission: Fill Out This Paper.

The room is already full of students wandering around, asking each other questions. Some are laughing. Some are confused. Some are way too competitive. (There's a girl waving her paper around yelling, “WHO HERE HAS FIVE SIBLINGS?!” like her life depends on it.)

Jisoo, on the other hand, looks like she's reconsidering all her life choices.

I nudge her. "C'mon, let's do the easy ones first!"

I scan the list. 'Find someone who only speaks two languages'.

Ah, people here speak multiple languages. Lots of languages...

But me... I only speak two. Kemiko only speak Japanese and a little English. 😿

(Hey, Miko! Stop be so sad... You're new and you're learning. You must not be the only one, right?)

I looked at Jisoo on my side, "Jisoo-ya?"

She blinks. "...yeah?"

"How many languages do you speak?"

She fiddles with her sleeve. "Two." — "Not much."

I beam. “Yay! Sign here!”

!? *blinks more* (She's not judging me for only speaking two languages? 🐇)

"See? That wasn't so bad!" — "Let's fill our papers together, Jisoo!"

I know Jisoo don't really like it here... But I see the tiniest twitch at the corner of her mouth.

A secret almost-smile. (Hah. Got her. 😸)

...~•~...

Across the room, "the Red Lady with an Army" moves quietly through the crowd.

She doesn't rush like the others. She observes... The room. Watching the way students interact. Seeing who's confident, who's shy, who's pretending.

She catches a small moment—just a glimpse—of a little gremlin with bouncy silky high ponytails, dragging around a girl that seems to not really wanna be there.

The sunny gremlin (Kemiko ⛅) is glowing with excitement, bouncing around like a happy child on a playground. While the other girl (Jisoo 🍓) looks like she's being dragged into something she never signed up for. But—she isn't resisting.

🌷What an interesting dynamic happening here.

The Red Lady keeps moving, but her mind lingers on the sunny girl.

There's something about her.

Not in the way she acts, but the feeling she gives off.

A part of the Red Lady—the part she doesn't acknowledge much, the one that holds her warmth—feels a tug. Like an old 'mother instinct' waking up.

...~•~...

The room is getting louder. More students are trickling in, filling the space with chatter and laughter. The student council members are still busy organizing things, and I'm still zooming around with my icebreaker paper, dragging Jisoo along for the ride.

And then—The doors open again.

Another new student steps in.

A girl... With a walking stick.

And white hair.

And—wait. Wait, wait, wait. 👀

🌟✨💜 PURPLE EYES!? 💜✨🌟

I blink.

I blink again.

I RUB MY EYES.

And it's is till there—White hair. Purple eyes. Pretty walking stick.

That's real.

That's a real person. Not an angel. Not a fairy. Not a magical princess from a storybook.