A Silent Voice: My First Kiss Was with Nishimiya Shouko

Summer vacation was almost over, and Yaeko Nishimiya was taking a rare day off. That morning, she visited the Miyamura household early to discuss elementary school options with Shizuka Miyamura. Meanwhile, Akira and Shouko went to the park to play with Shin-chan and the others, Hachiko stayed at the Nishimiya residence with Yuzuru, and Daiki Miyamura was at work.

"Shizuka, which elementary school are you planning to send Akira to?" Yaeko Nishimiya sat at the coffee table, gazing into her teacup.

"I'm thinking of picking a nearby school. I'll walk the route with him a few times to get him used to it, and then let him go by himself," Shizuka replied lazily, lying on the table and turning her head toward Yaeko.

"And you? You're probably enrolling Shouko at the special education school, right?"

"......…"

Noticing Yaeko hesitate, Shizuka immediately sat up, her earlier laziness vanishing.

"Wait—you're not thinking of enrolling Shouko in a mainstream school, are you?!"

"I…"

Before Yaeko could explain, Shizuka interrupted again, visibly concerned. "Think this through. There's a high chance Shouko will be ostracized by other kids in a regular school!"

"Please, let me finish." Yaeko gently patted Shizuka's arm to calm her.

Shizuka nodded, motioning for her to go on.

"Didn't Shouko learn to speak more clearly thanks to Akira's help? I want her to attend the same school as him." Yaeko paused, unable to say the second half of her sentence—I want Akira to look after her in elementary school too...

"But she still wears a hearing aid. Even now, kids like that get excluded. You know how judgmental Japanese society can be—kids get bullied just for being chubby or different. It's not fair to her."

Yaeko lowered her head, deep in thought. Shizuka didn't press her and instead peeled an orange in silence.

After Shizuka had eaten several segments, Yaeko finally made up her mind.

"Want the rest?" Shizuka handed her the half-eaten orange.

"Let's have Shouko attend the same school as Akira. Eventually, she'll have to face the real world. I'd rather she learns to handle people's stares now, while she still has Akira by her side."

"Alright... I'll make sure Akira takes care of her." Shizuka respected her friend's decision. If she said any more, it would be overstepping. Besides, tuition at the school for the deaf was significantly higher than public schools, and lately, Shizuka had been feeling stretched thin at work.

Relieved that there were no further objections, Yaeko asked curiously, "So which school are you choosing?"

"Suimon Elementary School. It's close by, and Daiki has some connections there. They can even be in the same class and sit together."

With that settled, the two moms went out shopping.

"A-Akira... are you sure this is okay?" Shouko looked around nervously.

"It's fine, Shouko. We're not doing anything wrong," Akira reassured her, though she still seemed uneasy. He gently took her hand in his.

They were standing in the middle of Youjia Bookstore. Surrounded by adults, the two clearly stood out. The staff kept glancing at them, no doubt worried that the kids would mess up the books.

"What are you looking for?" Shouko asked after five or six minutes. Even though Akira was with her, the constant staring made her uncomfortable. One of the staff had even started shadowing them discreetly.

The bookstore wasn't large, and after circling it twice, Akira still couldn't find what he was looking for.

"Excuse me, miss. Do you have the light novel Your Lie in April?" Akira finally approached the clerk tailing them.

The woman paused to think, then shook her head. "I've never heard of that one…"

"What about Anohana?"

Another shake of the head.

"I Want to Eat Your Pancreas?"

The clerk chuckled at the strange title. "Little guy, are you joking? That sounds more like a horror story than a novel."

Akira continued to list light novels that had been famous in his previous life before 2020, but the clerk had never heard of any of them.

Hand in hand, the two left the bookstore. Shouko noticed Akira had been quiet ever since and tried to cheer him up.

"Don't be sad, Akira. We can try another bookstore."

"I'm not sad," Akira said with a small smile. "Let's check the others."

They ended up visiting four or five more bookstores, but none of them had even heard of the titles he mentioned. Instead of disappointment, Akira felt something else—excitement.

Back home, Shouko lay down on the tatami in the living room, exhausted. Akira felt a little guilty for dragging her all over town.

"Where did you two go? Shouko's sweating." Shizuka handed her a tissue and turned on the air conditioner.

"Akira took me to a bunch of bookstores today. It was fun," Shouko said quickly, sensing that Shizuka might scold him.

"Don't always cover for him," Shizuka teased, gently tapping Shouko's forehead.

"Ow…" Shouko rubbed her forehead, a little embarrassed.

"Were you looking for a book?" Shizuka noticed that Akira hadn't brought anything back.

"Mom, have you ever heard of a light novel called I Want to Eat Your Pancreas?" Akira asked while fanning Shouko with a small handheld fan.

Shizuka stared at him. "Light novel? Eat your pancreas? Are you serious? Sounds like a horror novel."

Akira proceeded to list all the light novels he remembered from before, but Shizuka shook her head after each one. None of them existed in this world.

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POWER STONE!!!

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