A Silent Voice: My First Kiss Was with Nishimiya Shouko

Ms. Ueo gently patted Shouko's back and let her go, motioning for the next child in line to come forward one by one.

"Come on, Akira," she said, opening her arms as she welcomed him with a warm smile.

"I don't need a hug…" Akira said shyly, glancing away. He'd never hugged anyone other than Shouko or his mother.

"You little rascal, still acting all shy." Ms. Ueo chuckled as she pulled Akira into a light embrace, then let go.

"Alright, kids," she said, "the kindergarten has a rule—we can't accept gifts from parents or students casually. But the teachers really appreciate your kindness."

In the end, Ms. Ueo only accepted the gift from Akira and asked the rest of the children to take their presents back, kindly refusing even their insistence that it be an exception this time.

After failing to convince her, the kids returned to their seats, packed up their gifts, and promised to visit Ms. Ueo again later. Then, they went downstairs to find their parents.

Akira stepped into the hallway to wait for Shouko, who came out holding the little white rabbit doll she had tried to give earlier, now tucked sadly back into her bag. She then took out another gift—one she had prepared for Akira—slipped on her schoolbag, said goodbye to Ms. Ueo, and walked outside.

"What's this?" Akira asked as he looked at the red amulet in Shouko's hand. In the center, sewn in thick yellow thread, was his full name: Miyamura Akira.

Shouko, a little embarrassed, explained, "I asked my mom to take me to the shrine to pray… but the stitching was done by my grandma."

"I love it, thank you so much!" Akira said quickly as he took the amulet. He had no idea that Aunt Nishimiya had gone to such trouble to take Shouko to the shrine for his sake.

Seeing her expectant eyes, Akira felt even guiltier. He hadn't prepared anything in return. All he could do was raise his left hand and gently pat Shouko on the head.

As he did, her eyes began to glisten, just a bit.

Akira could instantly tell Shouko's expression had shifted to disappointment, and he panicked, opening his mouth to explain. Maybe he could rush home and grab something small to give her… He genuinely didn't know exchanging gifts was expected during graduation. And more importantly, Shouko had never told him.

"Akira, how about… this instead?" Shouko suddenly interrupted.

"If you promise me one thing, I won't be sad anymore!" Her expression immediately lit up, as though the disappointment from before had never existed.

"Alright!" Akira nodded without hesitation.

Her face bloomed with joy. Akira couldn't help but feel like he'd just walked into some kind of trap. Still… with how adorable she looked, there was no way it could be a bad thing—he was definitely overthinking.

Shouko stammered, "Then… I want you to stay with me forever. Is that okay?"

Her cheeks flushed as she looked down.

"Silly girl," Akira smiled, "Even if you didn't say that, I was planning to stay with you."

He raised both hands and gently cupped her blushing cheeks.

"Then let's pinky promise!" Shouko beamed as she lifted her pinky.

"Alright."

"We promise… and never break it for a hundred years!" they said in unison, locking pinkies and gazing into each other's eyes.

"I knew the two kids upstairs were taking way too long. They're definitely up to something. Lucky I recorded it," came the teasing voice of Shizuka Miyamura from the end of the hallway.

Shouko's face turned crimson. She looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear. Akira wasn't any better—she recorded it?!

"Now it's getting interesting," added Daiki Miyamura behind her.

"Alright, alright, stop teasing them," Nishimiya Yaeko said with a soft laugh. Her tone, however, made it clear she wasn't serious about stopping them.

"Let's go, Shouko," Akira said as he took Shouko's hand. Her head hung so low it almost touched her chest. The two of them walked down the stairs with forced composure, followed silently by the three mischievous adults.

After returning home, Nishimiya Yaeko and Daiki Miyamura headed off to work, while Shizuka Miyamura stayed behind to prepare lunch. That left Akira and Shouko bored, sitting together in the living room, leaning on each other and watching TV.

"Let's take a graduation photo this afternoon," Shizuka said, stepping into the room.

"Huh? Why?" Akira asked, eyes still glued to the screen.

"To commemorate your graduation, of course. I contacted a studio yesterday and invited them to come take pictures at our house."

She walked to the coffee table, picked up an orange, and began peeling it.

"Well… I guess that makes sense." Akira shrugged. "What studio?"

"Barracuda Photo Studio," she replied. "A girl named Yume Oyama will be coming with her equipment."

"That name sounds familiar…"

"You know her?" Shizuka asked curiously.

Akira thought hard for a moment, then shook his head. "Doesn't ring a bell."

"She's Aunt Nohara's sister! Remember when we were at the park with Shin-chan? We met her then!" Shouko chimed in after swallowing a bite of orange.

Akira felt a little awkward admitting it, but he wasn't great at remembering people's names—especially Japanese ones. Still, once reminded, it came back to him.

"What a coincidence," Shizuka said, mildly surprised.

Akira wanted to retort that Japan wasn't that big, but before he could, she clapped her hands and said, "Alright, time to eat. Yaeko and the others will be home this afternoon." She glanced at the clock in the living room. Hachiko was still at the Nishimiya house and had plenty of food there, so no need to call him back.

After lunch, Akira and Shouko went up to the second floor to take a nap. Around 2 p.m., Daiki Miyamura drove home with Nishimiya Yaeko.

"Time to wake up, Akira," Shizuka said gently, nudging the two sleeping kids.

Akira woke quickly as usual—but Shouko was still holding tightly onto his arm. Shizuka, seeing he was awake, let him handle waking her up.

"Shouko, wake up," Akira said, pinching her nose gently.

"Mmm… Akira, I'm gonna suffocate," she mumbled, smacking his hand away and turning her back to him in mock annoyance.

When she didn't hear him respond, she peeked over her shoulder—and saw him grinning at her. She gave his arm a playful smack, then rolled out of bed, put on her slippers, and scampered downstairs.

"Shouko, slow down! Don't trip!" Akira called out as he quickly pulled on his shoes and followed her.

Knock knock knock!

"Hello? Is Mrs. Miyamura home?" came a familiar voice from outside the door.

Akira paused—he recognized it. Yume Oyama.

"No way… Akira, you're Mrs. Miyamura's son?" Yume's eyes widened as the door opened to reveal a familiar face.

They had met not long ago, when she was photographing Shin-chan and the others in the park. She had been especially impressed by Shouko and Akira.

"Ah, Sister Yume. Please come in," Akira said politely, taking out a pair of disposable slippers from the shoe cabinet and placing them on the floor for her.

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POWER STONE ULTRA!!!??

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