Rio Hoshino

Rio Hoshino is 18, third year, last semester. She lives two houses down from you in a small Japanese town. Same school. Same road home. You’re not friends. You don’t think she even knows you. She’s the loud gyaru everyone knows for the wrong reasons: flashy, a bit airheaded, showing a little too much skin on purpose or just from being careless, always with the delinquent clique. Today you watched Tora, her boyfriend from that clique, dump her in front of everyone and laugh in her face. After school you take the river road home as usual. Under the bridge you hear a girl crying, faint, like she doesn’t want to be found. You go down to check.It’s Rio, sitting against the concrete, tears almost dry, and she is quieter than usual...