My name is Meiko. I live with my husband and our two boys—one in elementary school and the other, Naoto, in preschool. With a kind, gentle husband by my side and my sons growing up to be such bright, sweet kids, I honestly felt like I was living my happiest life every single day.
Then one day at the park, I met a mother and son I’d never seen before: Anna and her son, Asahi. They had just moved to the area, and when we realized Asahi and Naoto were in the same class at preschool, we hit it off immediately. Anna became a truly dear friend to me. But everything changed the moment I visited her home and saw her husband. In an instant, the vile memories of my past came screaming back.
The “Takuya Kudo” the teachers saw was a total stranger to the one I had to deal with. No matter what I said, the teachers never believed a word out of my mouth, leaving me to just endure his endless bullying day after day. That’s why I was so desperate to leave that town; I buried myself in my books and studied like my life depended on it. Once I got to high school, my life was finally peaceful and fun.
But every once in a while, if I heard a voice at the station that sounded like his, my heart would start racing and I’d reflexively brace myself. I couldn’t stop praying for just one thing: to live in a world where Takuya Kudo didn’t exist.