A Silent Voice: My First Kiss Was with Nishimiya Shouko

In the living room of the Nishimiya household, Yaeko Nishimiya sat on the tatami, cradling little Yuzuru Nishimiya in her arms while watching a comedy show on TV.

Across from her, Shizuka Miyamura playfully made faces to tease Yuzuru. Yuzuru, nestled comfortably in Yaeko's arms, had wide, sparkling eyes and laughed heartily, showing off his two tiny, adorable teeth.

"Beep… Beep… Beep!" Just as Shizuka was about to make faces to tease Yuzuru, her phone suddenly rang in her pocket. Both Yaeko and Shizuka's attention shifted from the TV to the phone.

Shizuka pulled out her phone and frowned when she saw the caller ID: "Teacher Yoshinaga." Yaeko caught a glimpse of it from the corner of her eye as well.

Shizuka stood up, gave Yaeko a reassuring smile, and walked out of the living room down the wooden corridor. She answered the call, putting the phone to her ear.

"Is this Akira's parent?" Teacher Yoshinaga's voice came through the phone.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Yoshinaga," Shizuka greeted politely, then asked, concerned, "Has my Akira gotten into trouble?"

Teacher Yoshinaga's voice was hurried: "Good afternoon. Please come to Futaba Kindergarten. The situation is that Shouko was bullied by two kids, and Akira beat them up."

"What!? Is he hurt?" Shizuka's voice was filled with worry.

Hearing her concern, Yoshinaga quickly reassured her, "Don't worry, Akira is not injured."

"Forget about that kid," Shizuka said, focusing on Shouko's safety. "I just want to know if Shouko is alright." But when she heard Akira was fine, she secretly let out a sigh of relief.

There was a brief pause on the other end. Teacher Yoshinaga clarified, "Please come to the kindergarten anyway. Shouko only suffered superficial injuries."

"Alright, I'm already at her house. I'll go with her now," Shizuka said firmly and hung up.

Back in the living room, Shizuka was about to explain the situation to Yaeko, but Yaeko interrupted.

"Let's go, Shizuka." Holding Yuzuru close, Yaeko stood up and smiled gently at Shizuka, who was still standing dazed by the door.

"You were so loud, I could hear everything in the living room," Yaeko teased with a chuckle.

"Let's go!" Shizuka quickly came back to herself, turned, and headed to the corridor. Suddenly, she stopped, turned back to Yaeko, and said, "Wait here for a moment. I'll drive over. Come out when I honk."

She then put on her shoes, opened the door, and stepped outside.

Meanwhile, at the kindergarten infirmary, Teacher Yoshinaga exhaled deeply and entered the room.

Principal Takakura noticed and asked, "Have all the parents been notified?"

"Yes, they should be arriving shortly," Yoshinaga replied. Then, noticing two children quietly sobbing behind the principal, she asked worriedly, "How are those two?"

Takakura nodded calmly, "Just apply a hot compress with an egg, and they'll be fine."

Yoshinaga walked over to the bed where Shouko lay. Her hands and legs were wrapped in square medical gauze. Feeling a pang of sadness but also confusion, she turned to Teacher Ueo, who sat beside the bed.

"Wouldn't the glass cause abrasions?" Yoshinaga asked.

"Yes," Ueo replied, holding a small bottle of iodine solution. "But children move around a lot. I was worried about infection, so I wrapped the wounds with glass shards. Unfortunately, I couldn't do the same for the left side of her cheek."

Yoshinaga gently stroked Akira's head and said softly, "Don't worry, Shouko is fine."

Akira nodded silently, wondering how to explain everything to his mother and Aunt Yaeko later.

Shouko's eyes were red and watery. She hiccupped softly and looked at Akira, who was staring down and not speaking. Thinking he was worried about her, she spoke in a shaky voice, trying to comfort him, "Don't worry about me."

Akira smiled back at her, but his gaze drifted to the scraped left side of Shouko's face, filled with regret for being too gentle earlier.

About ten minutes later, Shizuka Miyamura and Yaeko Nishimiya arrived at the infirmary, guided by the security guard.

Shizuka entered first, greeted Principal Takakura, and went straight to Shouko's bedside.

Seeing the medical gauze and the wound on Shouko's face, along with her red eyes, Shizuka tenderly stroked Shouko's head. "Shouko, does it hurt? Auntie will take you to the hospital if you want." She reached down to pick her up.

Teacher Yoshinaga quickly interrupted, "Don't worry, Shouko's parents. It's just a superficial wound. We've already treated it. If you're worried, we can go together later."

Shouko hiccupped between words, "Aunt Miyamura, I'm fine. It doesn't hurt as much as before. It's just that Akira and I lost our lunch." After speaking, she lay back, feeling a bit lost, thinking Akira might be disappointed because of her.

Hearing both Yoshinaga and Shouko, Shizuka breathed a sigh of relief, but seeing Shouko worried about their lost bentos made her even more upset for no reason.

Suddenly recalling that Teacher Yoshinaga had called her Akira's parent, Shizuka turned to Akira with fierce eyes and asked, "Did you kill him?"

"Ah?" Akira was stunned by his mother's words.

At that moment, Yaeko Nishimiya stepped forward, holding Yuzuru. Her eyes showed concern, but after hearing Yoshinaga's explanation, she relaxed a little. Turning to Akira, she asked worriedly, "Akira, are you hurt?"

Akira quickly shook his head.

Yaeko handed Yuzuru to Shizuka, crouched to check Akira, then stood and greeted Ms. Yoshinaga and Ms. Ueo.

Yoshinaga explained the midday incident to Yaeko and Shizuka, then took the phone from Principal Takakura to play the surveillance video for them.

Watching Akira fiercely confront the two bullies and seeing Shouko being kicked away, Yaeko's heart ached. Shizuka was especially angry, but since they were just children, she could only grit her teeth and stand silently by the bed.

After seeing the video, Akira scowled at himself, thinking he had been too gentle — and that the two bullies were still able to stand.