love

childhood best friend! moeko, who originally was only hanging out with you because you were her new next-door neighbor and because her parents said it would do her some good to spend time with other girls for a change instead of solely interacting with guys. while she was pouting and stamping her feet, she still had the manners to be friendly with you and go along with it to get her family off her back. it was awkward at first, as she wasn’t knowledgeable on how to interact with girls and was much more comfortable being with guys, but you were so friendly and sweet that she soon found herself genuinely enjoying being in your company. 

childhood best friend! moeko, who somehow always got you in a spot of trouble while growing up together. from mud on your shoes tracked into the house because you were learning how to play soccer in the nearby field after it finished raining, to scraped knees after you fell off her bicycle when she was trying to transport both of you even though it was clearly designed for only one person, you were always getting scolded with her next to you. they thought you would be a good influence on her, but instead, her spunky and tomboyish ways were rubbing off on you.

childhood best friend! moeko, who thinks that you would get fed up with her ways eventually, due to how much trouble she gets you in. you’re a good kid, a pleasure to teach in class, well-mannered around your elders, and timid around new people, and she couldn’t help but feel like she wasn’t a good friend to you and has considered distancing herself from you because she hates the thought of “corrupting” you. 

childhood best friend! moeko, who you refuse to part with just because she thinks she’s a bad friend. you think she’s amazing and one of the best people over, brave and spunky, without a care in the world about what others think of her. you don’t know it yet, but she’s more insecure than you’ll ever know, and your words, as well as the fact that you refuse to leave her side, mean the world to her. she never thought she could get this attached to another girl, but now that she has you in her life, she can’t imagine what it would be like without you.

childhood best friend! moeko, who claims she only sees you as a little sister and has formed a protective bond with you, and that was as far as it went. none of her friends believe her and know that it’s something more, but since she hasn’t realized it yet, they were willing to give her more time before they eventually need to tell her themselves. it’s always been clear that, even though she mainly hangs around guys (with you as the exception), she’s never been interested in them the same way she displayed interest in women, often taking a liking to them in the same way a boy would rather than a girl trying to make friends.

childhood best friend! moeko, who fiercely keeps all the boys away from you. she’s been protecting you from them since the start, but once the two of you started attending akedemi, it became even worse. they see how adorable and innocent you are, making them immediately start fawning over you with a single look, but she isn’t having any of it! the second she sees a boy approaching you with romantic interest in mind, she’ll pull you away, trying her best to act subtle when it was so obvious what her intentions were. 

childhood best friend! moeko, who finally started understanding her feelings once the two of you were enrolled in akedemi, finding herself jealous of all the newfound attention you were receiving and missing the days when it was just the two of you. seeing you come out of your chrysalis and transforming into a beautiful social butterfly had her feeling a little spiteful now that you were getting close to people other than her. she couldn’t even explain how she felt when you turned down eating lunch with her because you already arranged to do so with someone else.

childhood best friend! moeko, who still couldn’t be bitter about it even if she wanted to. she knows you would never hurt her feelings intentionally, not when you possessed such a delicate soul which was only trying to please everyone you came in contact with. being able to interact with others freely without fearing about judgment was freeing to you, an experience you’ve never had before. you were always anxious about socializing, always worrying about every little detail of your words and actions, and highly insecure about the way others perceive you. previously, you would put these feelings into poetry and allow moeko to read it, and only moeko, but now, anyone who asked was allowed to read your words and praise you for it. 

childhood best friend! moeko, who takes to her hobby of setting little fires to calm down her nerves. she promised you she would stop after accidentally burning her fingers a couple of times and setting that old building at your previous middle school ablaze, but she couldn’t help it. the warmth of the flames helped fill the void in their heart that you left behind, although nothing was enough to fully patch up her soul.

childhood best friend! moeko, who took you out to a local bakery to spend some time together after weeks of not doing so properly, but was annoyed to hear you talking so much about your new friends as well as how surprised you were about gaining popularity among the students. none of those other people could possibly be better and more understanding to you, right? she’s been with you since the very beginning, how could any of them possibly compare to her?

childhood best friend! moeko, who slammed her fists down on the table and confessed her feelings to you with a shout, making everyone in the establishment turn their head and nearly knocking your desserts off the table. she could feel her face burning in embarrassment, probably almost as red as her hair and the fires she cultivates, but she didn’t care. you needed to know how she really felt about you before her head blew off in frustration, even if it meant possibly getting rejected.

childhood best friend! moeko, whose confession you accept bashfully. of course, you knew early on that you’ve harbored a crush on her, but you were never really sure if she would ever feel the same way when your role as her “little sister” was solidified in the eyes of everyone who knew both of you as a pair. hearing her confession made you explode with happiness, covering your face with your hands in shock as you admitted you’ve always felt the same way. childhood best friend! moeko, who spends the day of her confession as your first date, allowing you to take turns spoon-feeding each other various desserts, taking a long walk afterward in the park to watch the sunset, and discussing various details about your feelings toward each other from the moment you realized it was blooming to what it meant for the future.