In the kindergarten, a little girl sits in a corner and quietly watches the others play games together.

I had the opportunity to play with them, but I was a bit withdrawn by nature and wasn't very good at getting along with other people, and because of that, I suffered a lot here.

The teacher also talked to me about wishing I could play with other people more - but every time I tried to get close to them, I felt overwhelmed and didn't know what to do.

They say it's good to play with other people, but if it makes it uncomfortable, it's better to stay away from them.

Mom said I'd be out of here forever in a few days, and then from April, I'd be going to a place called Elementary School. What does it look like there? Will I still not be able to play with the other people I meet?

Hotaru sighed.

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After leaving the kindergarten, Hotaru was held by her mother and walked on the road.

Hotaru knew that her family was different from everyone else's—she hadn't seen her father in a long time. According to my mother, my father went out to make money, so the two of them could use it even when my mother wasn't working.

Walking to the front of the building where she lives, Hotaru suddenly notices a moving vehicle parked in front of the building.

"Ahh "Looks like Mr. Furuta's room that we moved next door is occupied?"

……

Coming to the floor through the elevator, Hotaru's mother pulled Hotaru down the stairs, and soon arrived at the door, while Hotaru's mother and Hotaru looked at the door next door next door to their house because they were moving.

The door number next to the door reads "Okazaki"

Just as Hotaru is about to open the door and go home under the guidance of her mother, a little girl appears on the edge of the door marked "Okazaki".

It was a girl with a pink ponytail and looked about the same size as Hotaru.

"Hello!" Before Hotaru could react, the girl on the other side said hello first. "My name is Yuma Okazaki, and it's a pleasure to meet you!"

"......" Hotaru opened her mouth, but said nothing.

"Don't you say hello?" Hotaru's mother crouched down and touched Hotaru's head. "Tell us about yourself."

"......" Hotaru looked at her mother's face, hesitating, but turned her head to find that Yuma Okazaki had already walked in front of her. "!!"

"What's your name?" Yuma Okazaki's innocent smile and enthusiastic voice, Hotaru suddenly felt a strange sense of intimacy.

"Hotaru...... My name is Hotaru......," Hotaru said softly.

"Nice to meet you!" The next moment, Yuzhen actually took a step forward and hugged Hotaru.

“！！！” Hotaru was stunned for a moment, then reacted. "It's ...... I'm glad to meet you too......"

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One day in April, it was the beginning of elementary school, but it wasn't a good day for Hotaru.

"......" Mizuko Hotaru was about to take out the pencil from the stationery box, but found that there was actually a fluffy spider lying inside. Yes!!! ”

Hotaru fell out of her seat in fright, screaming as she fled to the side, only to be stopped by Yuma, who was sitting next to her.

"What's wrong?" Yujin looked at Hotaru with concern. "Is something wrong?"

"Spider!" Hotaru's eyes were already a little red, and she buried her head in Yuzhen's arms, which was slightly higher, and said in a trembling voice. "There are spiders!"

"Spiders?" Yuma hugged Hotaru and looked at Hotaru's stationery box. "Wait a minute......"

Yuma let go of Hotaru, then walked over to the stationery box and picked up the spider inside - it wasn't a real spider, but a rubber spider that had been toying. "It's a toy, you've been deceived!"

At that moment, an untimely laugh came - not far away, two boys were laughing.

"You're such a coward hahahahaha!"

"Go home and find your mother, clams!"

An incredible expression appeared on Yuzhen's face, which immediately turned into anger.

"Is this ......" Yuma asked menacingly, taking a few steps forward. Do you do it? ”

"yes, it's just the two of us for that coward—" One of the boys said before suddenly realizing that Yuma had suddenly rushed in front of them, and then he was hit hard in the abdomen. "Ahh

"Don't ......" Yuma immediately turned his attack on another boy after punching the boy to the ground with two or three punches. Forgive!!! ”

Hotaru looked at Yuma stupidly as he hit the backs of the two boys.

Good...... So handsome...... Although Yuzhen is a girl, the figure at this time is still a little chic in the eyes of the fluorescent.

For some reason, Hotaru's heartstrings suddenly trembled.

By the time Hotaru came to her senses, the two boys had been driven to a corner of the classroom, looking at each other in horror as they exchanged words.

The correct way to put it is that they are not looking at this side, but at Yuzhen here.

The reason why Hotaru came back to her senses was also very simple - because Yuma had already hugged her.

"Don't cry." Yuma gently patted Hotaru's back and coaxed her. "It's safe, if they still have the guts to bully you, just tell me, and I promise to beat them all over the ground to find teeth!"

In that moment, Hotaru realizes that she may have met the most important friend of her life.

the One, irreplaceable.

In Yuzhen's company, Hotaru had a very peaceful time for a while, but ......

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Without warning, the Grim Reaper descended with his scythe.

Hotaru was silent, looking at the black-and-white photograph in front of her—it was a picture of her mother.

Her mother died in a car accident and was left with no body, and this is the only photo she can use to mourn her mother.

Just then, there was a knock on his door.

“？” Hotaru opened the door and saw a young man standing in front of him.

"First meeting," the young man said to him, smiling. "I have been entrusted by your mother to take care of you until you are able to live on your own."

Hotaru doesn't know why this young man is in front of her, but he has broken into her life at an incredible speed until she graduated from elementary school.

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In the first year of junior high school, Hotaru's life got worse.

In addition to the departure of the young man who had taken his place in her home life, there was another reason.

Because although Yuzhen still went to the same junior high school as her, he was not in the same class, and Yuzhen also came into contact with more friends, in addition, Yuzhen also joined the basketball club, which is a club that is difficult for Hotaru, who is relatively weak. Yuzhen has made more new friends on these two lines.

Time is like a cake, and one more person will make the person who is already seated take one less.

Although this may not have been Yuzhen's intention, Hotaru has been abandoned - she has lost the meticulous care of Yuzhen, the only friend, and has lost her last chance to connect with the school network.