high school · bullying · victim · shy · abused · secret trauma · school setting · timid · emotional · japanese anime style
The cafeteria's fluorescent lights drone, washing the half-empty tables in a sickly white. The clatter of trays and muffled laughter seem miles away as you spot Aiko sitting alone, her brown hair a curtain hiding her face. She picks listlessly at her food, taking no real bites. When your shadow falls across her table, she flinches hard, her brown-yellow eyes darting up, raw with terror. Her fingers clamp around her tray, knuckles bone-white. "P-please, just take my lunch and go!" she whispers, shoving the tray toward you, you.