Flora Memoria ( Nyoko's Point of View Part 1 )
I sang along softly to the song on my radio in my bedroom as I brushed my hair into a high ponytail. Today felt the same as usual, mundane.
I was sure it made me happy.
Nothing was different, I still had friends, amazing grades, I had a loving mother, an annoying older brother, and an attractive boyfriend.
The life my parents always wanted me to have.
I always made sure to look the best I could for any given situation, no matter how small. I was my family's simple and perfect daughter, Nyoko Ikari.
That's all.
I carefully attached my butterfly-shaped hairpiece to the top of my ponytail and double-checked my makeup in the mirror to make sure it was in tip-top shape.
"Alright, time to wait for Hiro." I hummed happily as I stood up from my stool and gathered my things. I grabbed my purse and a decently large bag of snacks.
Can't go anywhere without food, the others could want some too after all.
I turned off the radio, still singing softly under my breath as I exited my room and made my way to the living room to wait for Hiro to text me when he was outside.
"You're going out again?" My dad asked, staring me down and holding a cup of coffee in his hand.
I gulped softly, I guess I forgot he wasn't working today. "Yeah, my friends wanna hang out."
"Is it the same failures, or have you finally made new friends?" His words were cold and sharp.
I grew used to him speaking badly of them, even though I wanted so desperately to be the perfect daughter to him.
To have him look at me the way he looks at my brother.
I can't imagine my life without my friends. The joy they gave me always feels unreal. To smile, to laugh, to live unapologetically without worry. With them I never felt like I had to be perfect.
I never had to fake my emotions like I do with my parents to make them happy.
"Yes..." I said softly. I always wanted to stand up for them, but with him, there was no point. He'd just scream at me or worse.
Speaking back was against house rules.
"Which one is it?" He snapped in annoyance, I gulped softly and clenched my fists. I answered wrong.
"Same friends." I said softly.
He rolled his eyes and grunted in disappointment. I wanted to cry, I always felt so small with him around.
If only I was more like Keiko. I want to be more positive, more confident in myself no matter who I spoke to.
Why can't I be like her?
His venomous tone never failed to shake me. "Once you get into University you better make new friends. I'm tired of having a daughter that's friends with a bunch of useless idiots."
"Yes father," I said meekly in hopes to get him to stop.
There's nothing I could do to make him think of them in a good way. They aren't what he wants me to have in my life. He either doesn't like their attitude, their looks, their goals.
There will always be something wrong to him.
I felt a weight get lifted off my shoulders when my phone began to buzz. I took it out of my pocket quickly to see if it was what I hoped for.
Hiro finally texted me that he was outside.
I spun quickly on my heels, speed walking to the front door.
"Have fun and be safe dear!" My mom called as she exited the kitchen to see me off.
"Thank you, mom, see you later," I grinned.
"See you later, tell your friends I said hi ok? And let Yuki know she can come over for dinner if she'd like," My mom said watching me with soft eyes as I put on my short brown boots.
Unlike my dad, my mom loved my friends, though she had an obvious favorite.
Yuki always made her laugh when we were kids because of her stupid antics and the faces she makes.
"Will do," I called out as I rushed out the door. I quickly walked to the front gate of my home to see Hiro standing beside them.
"Hey!" I said happily, immediately hugging him.
"Hey," Hiro laughed, hugging me back gently.
When we broke our hug he glanced at my outfit and smiled. "You look amazing,"
"Thank you!" I smiled happily, we both began to walk before I remembered I forgot something.
"I forgot to text Den!" I nearly screamed, Hiro looked back at me confused. He watched as I whipped out my phone and quickly texted Den.
"What happened?" He asked.
"I forgot to ask her if she ate this morning, she hasn't been eating much again lately so I want to be her reminder to eat. Even if it's just a snack." I explained, feeling bad that I was about 30 minutes late from her usual scheduled food reminders.
He frowned softly at my words. "She has?" He sounded upset with himself for not noticing.
Den struggled severely with eating every few months throughout high school, and it got worse when she started dating her now-current ex-boyfriend. We all grew to immensely hate him since he encouraged her to eat less.
We all worked hard together to get her to eat decent-sized meals and to make sure it was three a day.
If the others noticed they would feel heartbroken, so I decided to try and help her myself this time.
"Please don't tell her," I begged.
"She feels bad having you all worry about her so it was supposed to be between us until she eats more," I explained.
Hiro sighed and nodded his head in understanding.
"Alright, I won't say anything."
"Thank you!" I felt relieved at his words and quickly hugged his arm.
Hiro smiled softly at me, a soft blush on his cheeks.
"Let's keep going," He said and we continued to walk.
I held his hand happily as we walked down a few streets. There wasn't much to talk about between us, we had different interests besides magic and that was a private topic.
I glanced around at all the houses and occasional shops in an attempt to find something to talk about. I was so occupied looking at the buildings I didn't realize my actual surroundings and failed to notice someone riding down the sidewalk fast on their bike.
"Watch out!" The man yelled, and very quickly it all went black.
Hiro quickly pulled me into his arms, my face buried in his chest as the biker rode past us.
"You alright?" He asked worriedly, letting go of me.
"Yeah, thank you," I said softly, feeling a bit embarrassed he had to pull me in like that so I wouldn't get run over.
"You gotta watch your surroundings more, or did you want me to hold you?" He teased.
I rolled my eyes at his comment. "Oh definitely," I joked.
After a few more streets we finally arrived at Isao's house. We both approached the door and he knocked loudly on it.
The door opened quickly to reveal Keiko.
I felt my entire being light up at the sight of her smiling at us, I let go of Hiro's hand and hugged her happily.
"Hey Kei!" I said happily.
She laughed happily and hugged me back tightly.
"Hey, you guys have a nice walk?" She asked, her smile going from ear to ear.
"Hey Keiko, and yeah we did. It's really nice out," Hiro said, carefully sneaking into the house without bumping us to say hi to Isao.
"Hey, guys!" Isao called out, coming to the hallway in front of the door quickly. Isao and Hiro exchanged a quick hug.
"You smell really good Kei, is that new perfume?" I asked, still holding onto her.
"New shampoo actually, it's gardenia scented. We can go shopping to buy you the same one if you want," She said happily.
"Yes please!" I said excitedly, the both of us finally letting go of the hug when I noticed Isao was waiting for his.
I hugged him quickly before the four of us entered his living room. We waited patiently for Isao to gather his tarot cards from the kitchen table and set up a small area in the living room for all of us.
I looked at my phone when it finally buzzed.
It was a text from Den. "Yeah, I ate. Also, sorry I'm running late my parents got into another fight. I'm on my way now so don't start the readings without me!"
"Understand?" She texted.
"Alright! We won't don't worry, Hiro and I just got here anyways and Keiko is here too." I replied to her.
"Who was it?" Isao asked curiously.
"It was Den, she's on her way here," I explained.
"Ok sweet! Seina texted me that she's waiting for Yuki and Natsumi should be here soon, so everyone's on their way." Keiko said excitedly, holding up her phone slightly.
"Y'all wanna watch a show while we wait then?" Isao suggested, reaching for the TV remote.
"Oh my god yes! Last Love just got a new episode last night, can we watch that?" Keiko said happily grabbing onto Isao's arm. It looked firm enough to almost hurt him.
She wouldn't hurt him intentionally though, she just had difficulty controlling her strength when she got excited.
Isao and Hiro exchanged defeated looks and Isao began to put on the show.
"Sure," He said reluctantly. He wasn't a fan of dramas, and neither were Hiro and Yuki, but they put up with it for us.
I smiled softly as I looked at the excited almost childlike grin on Keiko's face as the episode started.
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