I’m Meiko, part of a happy family of four with my husband and our two sons—one in elementary school and Naoto, who’s in preschool. My husband is kind and supportive, and watching my boys grow up bright and gentle makes me feel like I’m living my best life. But I carry a dark past. Throughout middle school, a classmate named Takuya Kudo bullied me relentlessly, mocking and belittling me every single day. I wanted to escape that world more than anything, so I chose a high school far away and eventually went to college in Tokyo just to erase Takuya Kudo from my existence. I thought I had succeeded until I met Anna and her son. We hit it off immediately, but then came the soul-crushing discovery: Anna is Takuya Kudo’s wife. That realization shattered my peace. All I wanted was to never see them again, and I finally found the courage to tell Anna exactly that.
The sudden news of their move honestly caught me off guard. But… I can’t deny the overwhelming sense of relief I felt, knowing I’ll never have to cross paths with Takuya Kudo again. Seeing Naoto so sad about losing his friend makes me feel incredibly guilty and small as a parent. Bullying leaves scars that go bone-deep. There is no statute of limitations on a broken heart, and I believe those who cause that pain have to live with the weight of it. At the very least, Takuya chose to walk away from my life on his own. I suppose that’s a sign that he’s grown up, even if just a little. As a mother, I’ll do everything in my power to make sure our children never have to go through what I did.