Somewhere in Japan.
Stood an apartment building, the simple and ordinary type. That's where Shiina Mahiru lived alone in loneliness. Without parental accompaniment.
She was a child unwanted by anyone. Both her mother and father, neither wanted her. So, why did they bring her into this world?
Tears pooled in the corners of Mahiru's eyes. She no longer knew how many times she had cried. She hugged her knees tightly, murmuring a name on her lips.
"Ryunosuke-kun... where are you?"
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
Time turned back to before Ryunosuke lost his memory.
That day the rain fell very heavily. Mahiru sat alone on a park bench, letting her body get soaking wet from the rain.
Ah... rain.
Mahiru gave no reaction, letting the rainwater soak her body. She sat on the wet bench with empty eyes.
Her father and mother had fought again. Her mother brought her to meet her father who had remarried. But after the absurd commotion, the two of them were finally thrown out of the house.
And her mother vented her anger on Mahiru. Saying she was an illegitimate child, and blaming her for why she couldn't hold her husband's heart.
Mahiru had become numb; she didn't want to speak anymore. Her mother abandoned her, only giving her 60,000 yen monthly allowance, throwing that money at her face, then leaving and never returning.
But 60,000 yen was absolutely not enough to cover her living expenses, because just for apartment rent alone already spent more than 50,000 yen. To cover living and school costs, Mahiru tried looking for part-time work. But because of her young age, no one dared accept her. Even if some dared, they were nightlife entertainment places like bars, and she was too afraid to go there.
So time passed with great difficulty. With the remaining 10,000 yen she saved so carefully, that money finally ran out too. When the time to pay school fees arrived, she had no more money. She had contacted her mother to borrow money, but the other party immediately hung up on her.
The school, on humanitarian grounds, gave her a living subsidy of 118,000 yen per month. However, in return, she had to achieve first place to bring honor to the school's name. Mahiru didn't disappoint the school; she successfully achieved first place, and her school fees were completely waived. Combined with that monthly subsidy, her life began to improve, at least no longer lacking everything.
But recently, her mother came looking for her again. Seeing Mahiru could live well, whatever made her angry, she seized all of Mahiru's savings and slandered her as a dirty woman. Because her mother didn't believe Mahiru could earn that much money, she accused her daughter of selling her body.
Just like that, without letting her explain, her mother kicked Mahiru out of that apartment. Even though the apartment was rented with Mahiru's own money...
While pulling a suitcase, Mahiru sat on a park bench, letting herself get soaking wet from the rain. She had no destination left, and didn't know what to do. She very much wanted to die...
At that moment, "Eh? Let me look, oh, found it!"
A young man who was rummaging through trash appeared before Mahiru. His body was dirty; it seemed he was collecting used cans to sell. He took a used cardboard box and used it to shelter Mahiru who was soaking wet so she wouldn't be rained on anymore.
That was Mahiru's first meeting with that person. Until now, her memory was still very fresh.
Mahiru looked at that dirty young man with empty eyes, not understanding what he was doing. Was doing this useful? She was already soaking wet; why do such a foolish thing?
Mahiru bit her lip; the reprimanding words she wanted to say stuck in her throat. She hugged her own shoulders tightly and began sobbing.
Seeing this situation, the young man panicked and didn't know what to do. Initially he wanted to take off his shirt to shelter the girl, but seeing his dirty clothes, he stopped his movement.
The young man scratched his head, suddenly thinking of something. He entered the bushes, rummaged for quite a while, then brought two large leaves big enough to cover a human body. He placed them on top of Mahiru's head, and stood there like a fool to shelter her from the rain.
Since childhood, Mahiru had never felt love. But today, from this dirty young man, she felt something she most hoped for and longed for. She didn't care about the young man's dirty body; she immediately hugged him tightly. As if finding a harbor for her soul, she cried silently in that young man's embrace.
The young man felt the girl's shoulders trembling from crying. He unconsciously hugged the girl, gently patting her back to comfort her.
Mahiru smiled.
(This foolish man, he himself is already skinny from hunger, but still worries about me.)
"Fool!"
Mahiru brought the young man home to her house. After her mother ransacked her room, her mother just left without leaving anything. Even the subsidy money she had painstakingly collected was also taken away. This time, she truly fell into poverty.
As if able to guess what Mahiru was thinking, the young man immediately spoke up. "I'll collect bottles to look for money, so you don't need to worry about my living expenses; I'll find my own way."
Mahiru flicked the young man's forehead. "Fool! Onee-san will find a way to support you later; from now on don't pick up bottles anymore, understand?"
"Oh~" The young man just responded briefly, his eyes glancing here and there, clearly not listening.
Mahiru could only slowly correct this child's way of thinking, then asked his name. "What's your name?"
The young man showed his row of white teeth. "My name is Monkey D. Luffy, the man who will become Pirate King."
Shiina Mahiru: "😐"
"Can you not make fun of me? You think I've never watched One Piece?"
Finally the young man told the truth. "My name is Akasaka Ryunosuke."
That was Mahiru's first meeting with that person, as well as the most beautiful memory for her.
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