On A Jog
Miyuki smiled, a little forlornly. “Of course, my hair doesn’t get weird glances anymore. After all, everyone has crazy hair in 0048.” She laughed at that, but it still nagged at the back of her mind - why had she been bullied about it on Akibastar, of all places? Everyone loved 0048 here, but nonetheless, that didn’t stop the girls at school poking fun at her.
How she wished her hair could actually be coloured.
Miyuki shrugged, and giggled. “Perhaps it is…” She touched her hair, which she had tried her best to model after Jurina’s regardless of the strange colour. “Or maybe it just doesn’t want me to change.”
She sighed and looked across at Seika. “It gets a little…Depressing from here, by normal standards anyway. Do you still want to know?”
Seika laughed along with her. After all, Orine’s almost round hair and Sasshi-senpai’s supposed whipped hair were a bit hard to miss! The mood became a bit sombre again, but she nodded anyway. She wasn’t good at sad stuff, or being serious, but she meant what she said and stuck to her word.
“Sure. After all, we’re friends. It means we share stuff. The good, the bad. By listening… I hope I can help you a bit, and share some of your pain and know you better!”
Miyuki nodded and smiled. She hadn’t really opened up to any of her friends like this before, except towards Chieri and Acchan right in the beginning…Other than that, she had tried to keep her past relatively quiet. It wasn’t that she didn’t want people to know about it - she didn’t want people feeling sorry for her.
Everything happened for a reason, after all.
“When I was 10 years old, a rogue DES troop attacked Akibastar at one of the 0048 concerts,” Miyuki murmured. “It wasn’t an official order to attack, I don’t think - they just wanted to cause havoc. Either way, there were a lot of casualties.” She paused. “I believe in my heart that when DES attack, they truly aren’t trying to kill anyone. Especially not the civilians. But that’s the organised troops. This one…Was just bloodthirsty. They didn’t care who they shot; civilian or idol. My father died in that, before things were finally brought under control.” She shrugged, still staring up at the sky. “But that’s the same as what happened to Sonata and Kanata - they also lost a father to DES. The difference was…” She laughed bitterly. “Mine wasn’t even trying to fight back. He took a stray bullet that was meant for me. A long, fulfilled life. Extinguished in a single moment by an object the size of your thumb.”
“My mother was also struck down during the chaos. She didn’t die, but suffered severe injuries and has been in a coma in the hospital ever since. She’s only woken up once. Other than that, for the past eight years, I’ve been living alone.” She smiled forlornly. “Which is why the bullying might have taken a stronger toll on me than normal. After all, other victims always have their parents to run back to, right? I had noone.” She rolled over and looked at Seika. “Boring and depressing, but that was my life up until now.”
