We Are A Family

Rays of morning sunlight pinpricked through the red curtain. At the same time, an aria akin to that of a German opera resounded throughout Tsujihara J. Freda's room. Truly, these combinations were an unmistakable sign that Tsujihara J. Freda had school to attend to on that day.

The girl wouldn't set up her alarm the night before if it wouldn't be for that. Or when she had plans for the weekend.

"..." Her right hand reached for her smartphone, and she swiped the screen upward with her thumb. Ah, another mundane weekday awaited her. She let out a soft sigh when a recollection of tasks and assignments flitted into her mind. A bother, indeed.

Without wasting another second, she got up from her bed and pushed her window open. She squinted, turning her head left and right to catch any glimpse of people walking on the street.

"...There's no one nearby. I suppose I woke up quite early."

But that was the result she wanted. By waking up earlier than most people in her neighborhood, she could take her time to prepare. Aside from her daily routine, she also had to prepare her mental state.

Why did she have to do that? Doing so put an unnecessary burden on her shoulders.

Though this statement was only from an outsider's perspective. To her—and only her—she needed to put up a facade of a personality. An entirely different persona of some sort compared to her true self that would appear whenever she was behind the public's eyes.

Yes, she had a persona—a mask that she would wear in front of those judging eyes. To achieve her goal, she had to do this much, and so far, it had proved to benefit her in more ways than one.

The girl let out another sigh when she walked out of her bathroom after taking a quick shower. As if on cue, images of her schoolmates popped into her mind. She had difficulty in discarding them, which miffed her. Great, what a great start to another mundane day.

"Freda, here's your lunchbox."

"Ah, thanks. I'll be going now."

Freda thanked her mother for the breakfast and walked out of the house through the front door. The air behind the middle school girl dimly swayed like a mirage. She cracked her neck and straightened her posture. Her right hand pulled a few strands of her hair obstructing her vision to the side.

She breathed a long sigh, and as if she had flicked a switch, a broad smile replaced her previous somber expression. It took little to no time for the high achiever to put on her other persona.

"Good morning, Ms. Tsujihara. You look elegant in your school uniform today."

"Good morning to you too," Freda replied to her classmate who walked up to her.

If one of her classmates was nearby, then more would follow suit as Freda made her way to the school. Thinking back on their fake compliments stirred her emotions. But she quietly pushed her sentiment to the back of her mind.

There was no need for her to get worked up on this common day-to-day occurrence. For her to appear m.a.t.u.r.e to others, she had to suppress her feelings and ponder about the correct course of action she should take. If they asked a question, she would simply choose the best option that would benefit her in the long run.

Simple. No need to overreact. The girl admired by most wallowed in her pride, and so her smile reached her cheeks naturally.

"Your smile brightens my day, Ms. Tsujihara," said another female classmate who stumbled into her on the way to school.

Now, she had two people walking alongside her.

"Thank you for the compliment," said Freda as various options immediately flitted into her mind. "...You look good today too. Are you using a new perfume?"

"Ah! You noticed, Ms. Tsujihara!"

Her classmate squealed out of joy. Truly, she didn't think Freda would notice such a trivial detail, but nonetheless, she would be lying if she said that the surprise wasn't pleasant in the least.

"Hm? You're wearing a different hairpin?" Freda turned to point out the accessory her other classmate wore at that time. "It's quite conspicuous."

"Hehe. Today, I decided to take the initiative to get a certain someone's attention."

A certain someone? Freda recalled how that classmate of hers had been avoiding a guy sitting to her right. It was an inconspicuous detail to those who focused in class, but Freda had quite a talent in multitasking. She could divide her attention whenever she wanted to.

"Is it Shirou?" Freda muttered after looking through a mental list of her classmates. "Or is it someone else?"

"Ah!" The girl who was on the other side of the conversation started to blush. Her cheeks turned pink when Freda uttered the name of her crush.

"I'm sure he'll look at you," Freda followed up her question with a statement. With this, she should be able to assuage the emotions welling up inside this lovestruck classmate of hers.

The said girl responded with a confident nod. If Freda said so, then there was nothing she should worry. Her doubts disappeared, quickly replaced with a maiden's callow hope.

Freda changed the conversation's topic without missing a beat. First, she brought up the food she ate for breakfast, and naturally, her two fellow classmates shared theirs as well. Shifting others' attention towards a different matter of interest was a tendency she picked up. It stuck onto her like glue. Of course, it benefited her a lot when she was involved in a conversation.

If she felt the conversation's topic unpleasant or replete with derision, she would change it. Forcing the conversation to her own preferences had quite a few merits in and of itself. Sure, the other end of the conversation might think of her as entitled to some extent, but she had her moral values to uphold.

Her dignified status in front of everyone at school helped to change the would-be bad narrative resulted from her actions to a relatively preferable one. She was admired by her schoolmates and praised by her teachers. As a teenager, she took much pride in being able to stand at the top of the social hierarchy.