Uploaded April 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago

---

Seiko is a curious case.

Seiko was…until they weren’t. Nobody truly knew why they carried a pocket knife when there weren’t any threats. Nobody knew why they hated being alone.

The only one who knew was Clementine. They told her everything that happened to them…

Seiko had recently changed their pronouns to They/Them, but hadn’t told anyone due to the feared stigma. However, they loosened up a bit, telling their close friends about it. They were happy that they accepted them as is, but it soon changed.

One day, they felt like they were being watched. Scared, they decided to take a different, longer route home, making whoever was watching them bored, and leaving as soon as they got to the bus station. When that happened, they sprinted home.

It kept happening, however, culminating in the stalker finding their address and banging on their door, crying their name out and saying that “she loves him”. This caused their parents to think that they had gotten a girlfriend, and let her in, forcing Seiko to face his stalker and to use He/Him in the conversation.

Knowing this could only end in their death, Seiko brought a pocket knife with them one day, and said to their friends that “their girlfriend’s going to be mad when she finds out what their parents had done”. This caused the stalker to attack them while they were walking home, so they stabbed her in the side, and ran off.

After the incident with their parents, they had gotten evidence of the girl stalking them, bringing it to the police so they could get her away from them. This caused the whole school to find out about the stalker’s true colors, but also caused them to get kicked out.

Clementine agreed to let them stay, and asked about the girlfriend. Seiko had made it up, knowing she’d react like that because of her short temper.

Seiko didn’t feel comfortable being alone after that, walking with Clementine before and after school.

Then, there was the festival. The day they’ve been waiting for.

They went with Clementine to see what the Literature Club was about, but there was only one girl inside.

Trying to keep her cool, she gave them the papers and told them to look around, ending with “Please, join the Literature Club—Write the way into your heart.” Before quickly excusing herself and leaving.

Confusion washed over their face, along with the others who had gathered, before each of them decided to join anyway, hoping it was just poor planning on the girl’s part.

Now amongst themselves, they all decided to talk, discovering each other’s love for literature and interests after school. All of them, while not becoming friends overnight, gave each other their contact information for later, and enjoyed the festival in spite of the awkward planning.

The festival wasn’t a complete success, but it brought new members. New members that enjoyed each other’s company. New members who loved literature.

The future is bright for all of them…

Don’t you think so?