A person with a middle school uniform opens the doors to the rooftop before being met with a familiar face.
“Rui. I never even made a promise that I would come here every day.” They said with a moody face, glaring at the purple-haired guy.
In response, he simply chuckled. “Come now, Mizuki. Bullies called you names today?” He opened his arms, and Mizuki approached him before getting engulfed in his warmth.
“Yeah… They called me a weirdo.” They mumbled as Rui softly caressed their hair.
“Rest for now. I’ll be here for you,” Rui spoke quietly, letting the both of them sit down near the roof railing to be in a more comfortable position.
Mizuki rested their head on his shoulder, their eyelids growing heavy. “I’m tired, Rui.”
A small sigh followed after that. “I know. Go and rest now.” Rui rubbed their hand, tracing small circles on it.
“Thank you. Rui.”
Mizuki stared up at the ceiling hopelessly, clutching their chest tightly. They were alone in their bedroom, lying on their bed as if they were thinking deeply about something.
‘They won’t accept me. I know it.’ Tears pricked at the back of their eyes, and their throat swelled up, unable to speak. How could they possibly accept a transgender person like them? Hideous, pathetic, and a weirdo for liking feminine stuff when they’re identified as a boy at birth.
Though they’re mostly pessimistic about the situation, they still wish they’d be accepted by their friends.
‘I’m tired. Where are you, Rui?’
..
‘Maybe I’ll go to school today.’
A purple-headed man opened the doors to the rooftop. It was Rui, a high school friend of Mizuki since they were both in high school. Rui saw a familiar person. “Oh, Mizuki? Decided to attend school Today?” He chuckled but heard sobbing noises instead. He quickly dropped the facade and slowly approached Mizuki, sitting with them. “Hey, hey… What’s wrong?” He pulled Mizuki closer to him, rubbing their hand to comfort them.
“Why do I always get bullied for being transgender..?” They softly cried, tears streaming down their faces. The sight of seeing his friend like this made his heart ache.
“Well, not everybody gets bullied for being who they are, right?” He looks down at the sobbing person beside him, mumbling sweet nothings into their ear. “B-but..” They hiccuped, but he softly shushed them, smiling. “Rest. I know you’re tired, Mizuki.” He spoke in a soft voice.
Their eyelids feel heavy as their world slowly fades to black while Rui watches them fall asleep. Mizuki slowly loses consciousness before they fall into slumber, exhaustion engulfing them slowly.
…
‘Mizuki, please open up to your friends.’
…
‘I don’t want you to suffer because of this.’
…
‘It’s hard, Rui.’
…
‘They’ll never accept me.’
…
‘I’m just the weirdo that transformed genders or whatever.’
…
‘Mizuki..’
…
“And… got it.” A group of girls laugh behind a slightly opened door, taking a picture of Rui and Mizuki on the rooftop. “What a weirdo.” One of them said, looking at the two from afar.
“WeirdoxWeirdo. Like- So disgusting.” The other bully beside her laughed, watching her post the picture and attach the recording to the school’s gossip page.
XXXXXX XXXXX XXXXX
‘OMW look at the genius and the weirdo LOL’
XXXXXX attached a photo
‘he’s transgender as well…. ew..’
a/n: (he is used for Mizuki to torment them because they were a boy assigned at birth.)
“Time to wait for the clout to come in!” The group giggled before their deafening laughter faded away in the distance as they began to walk away from the rooftop.
NIGHTCORD – RUI PM
‘@amia ‘today at 2:34 a.m.
‘@amia ‘today at 2:34 a.m.
‘@amia ‘today at 2:35 a.m.
‘@amia ‘today at 2:35 a.m.
‘@amia ‘today at 2:35 a.m.
‘@amia ‘today at 2:35 a.m.
‘@amia ‘today at 2:36 a.m.
‘what?? I’m busy editing’ Today at 2:40 a.m.
‘Did you see the school’s gossip account?’ Today at 2:41 a.m.
‘no?? Half of the stuff there are fake ways (anyways).’ Today at 2:50 a.m.
‘go check it out rn(right now)’ today at 2:52 am
‘wtv(whatever) OK’ Today at 2:53 a.m
..
‘RUI.’ today at 3:03 a.m.
‘Mizu…’ Today at 3:03 a.m.
‘DID YOU TELL ANYBODY??’ Today at 3:03 a.m.
‘I didn’t; I was shocked as well. Today at 3:04 a.m.
‘Did you slip up??’ Today at 3:04 a.m.
‘I DIDN’T Today at 3:05 a.m.
‘OH GOD, I SCARED NOW’ Today at 3:05 a.m.
‘WHAT IF AN DOESN’T LIKE ME OR WHAT IF AKITO MAKES FUN OF ME’ Today at 3:07 a.m.
‘mizuki calm down omg(oh my god)’ today at 3:07 a.m.
‘HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN’ Today at 3:07 a.m.
I’m sure they’ll think it’s fake, or maybe they’ll accept you Today at 3:10 a.m.
‘.’ Today at 3:11 a.m.
‘You are not helping’ Today at 3:12 a.m.
I’m sorry, but I can’t think of anything. Today at 3:15 a.m.
Seen at 3:16 a.m.
“…Oh god.” Mizuki takes off their headphones and leaves their computer for a bit, pacing around the room nervously with the post the bully uploaded earlier. Did Rui snitch on them? Did he tell anyone? Did Mizuki accidentally reveal their secret?
All the worst ideas and scenarios zoomed through their mind anxiously, trembling nervously. Their hands were shaking; they felt lightheaded and were on the verge of breakdown.
Suddenly, a notification sound played on their phone, grabbing Mizuki’s attention immediately. They took their phone with trembling hands, looking at the notification.
NIGHTCORD now
ruuii today at 3:32 a.m.
@mizu, are you still there??
“..?” Tears were dripping down their faces, some even getting on their phone screen. Upon tapping on the notification, they were directed to the Nightcord app. Back to Rui’s private messages. Back to their conversation that caused Mizuki to have a panic attack.
‘@mizu, are you still there??’ Today at 3:32 a.m.
‘Yeah, sorry, I zoned out Today at 3:34 a.m.
‘You probably had another panic attack.’ Today at 3:35 a.m.
‘I’m sorry if the news was sudden.’ Today at 3:35 a.m.
‘No, it’s fine, LOL’ Today at 3:37 a.m.
‘You’re a bad liar, Mizu’ Today at 3:38 a.m.
‘Want to call?’ Today at 3:39 a.m.
Seen at 3:39 a.m.
“..Seriously? At this hour?” They mumble, having a moody expression plastered on their face. But something in Mizuki urges them to call Rui.
‘OK, OK. Today at 3:41 a.m.
*RING RING*
With a hesitant feeling, they slowly tap on the accept button as the call is picked up.
“Aah- Mizuki! Are you OK?” His voice was heard from the other line, glitching a bit due to Rui’s lousy signal.
“Yeah… I’m OK.” They sigh shakily, getting up and sitting on their bed while pulling the blanket over their body.
“Listen, I want to apolo-“
“You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s my fault.” Mizuki cuts them off, smiling even though he didn’t see their smile. It was a forced one, though.
“Mizuki… Please. It’s not your fault. You didn’t reveal anything, so someone probably saw us on the rooftop.” He mumbled, trying to figure out who took that horrid picture of the both of them on the rooftop.
“..I don’t know.” They mutter silently, getting off the bed as they shut off their computer, the wide screen slowly fading to black.
“Are you tired, Mizu?” He asked the drained person. “I’ll hang up and let you sleep if you are.” He chuckled, Mizuki flashing a grin on their face as they stared at the call duration.
“Yeah, I should go to sleep, even if I’m not tired.” They giggled, hopping on their bed with their phone in hand, hugging it tightly as if they were hugging a real person. “I don’t want my skin to get ruined.” A small sigh followed after their sentence, but Mizuki knew what was on his mind.
“I’ll take care of myself, Rui, I promise.”
“Good. Goodnight, Mizuki.” He said as the call ended with a repeatedly beeping noise.
Their exhaustion slowly engulfed them, their world fading to black in seconds.
‘God, I was that tired, huh..’
The following day, the post went viral, of course. Despite the bullies’ hurtful posts, they got the opposite of what they wanted.
Most of the students began defending Mizuki, telling the bullies it’s OK to be transgender, making Mizuki overcome their fear and eventually stand up for themselves.
Two friends of Mizuki’s, Akito and An, scolded Mizuki for not telling them earlier.
Even if Mizuki expected the worst, sometimes the unexpected happens instead of what’s expected.
You can’t predict anything in life. If you knew everything, that wouldn’t make you human.
Don’t assume things that easily.
About the author
Anjela is a grade 6 student who has been writing stories since she was 4. She attended the BUBOTS Creative Writing class.
She likes to write, voice act, do acting, sing, dance, and play chess! She wishes to have a cat but can’t because of her fur allergy.
She wants to be a writer or a lawyer when she grows up. (or at least be successful..) She knows how to speak Spanish, English, Filipino, and Simple Japanese (but for some reason, she can’t understand any Japanese alphabet.)
She wastes all her money on unnecessary things and eats foods that give her skin allergies.