When Juri-san and I had been growing up we really were very close. We've known each other for so long; most don't realize how long it's really been. Years. Since the both of us were very young. At the age of five or six is when we'd met. It's been that long. I can't say I really remember our first meeting. While there are so many things I remember that I'd rather not, there are those that escape my memory.
But I do remember that one time. A smile forms on my lips as I think about it. It's not the earliest memory I have of her and I, but it's something I often think about.
I remember at the time I'd been horrified. We were about seven years old and Juri-san and I had discovered the wonderful world of chewing gum! Our parents had kept us away from it, and her and I always talked about what it would be like to try some. If they'd let us have the gum in the first place, it probably wouldn't have happened. One day when she came over we went to my moms room. Juri-san's mother was downstairs speaking with mine, it was the perfect opportunity.
We raced to moms room and to her vanity table. I'd been in there earlier and had spotted the gum on it. I'd told myself I'd get my hands on that gum if it killed me! It seems so silly now, but then it was a big deal to me. We tore that silver wrapper off the gum and popped that bendable pink stick into our mouths. At first we exclaimed our enjoyment. So this was what they'd been keeping from us! But as we chewed our jaws began to hurt and the flavor disappeared. It was like chewing on plastic. Juri-san and I got tired of it, the adults secret pleasure wasn't that great.
I led her into my moms bathroom. It was small with blue walls and a forest green tiles on the floor. Near the toilet was a white trash can with the design of bees buzzing over a sun flower. I told Juri-chan, as she was to me at the time, to spit hers out first.
'No, you go first Shiori-chan,' Juri-san had said, 'If you get caught you'll be in more trouble than me.'
I knew she was right, but I also knew that if Juri-chan got caught she might not be able to come over and play anymore. I again told her to go first. She'd shaken her head and I pouted. It was our desire to do as the other said that got us into trouble.
We both leaned over at the same time. I being the shorter one (and more impulsive) was leaning rather lowly into the trash can. As I spit mine out I felt something hit the back of my head. Something warm and gooey. Juri-chan gasped.
I pulled myself up straight and my hands had searched through my long locks. Back then, my hair had been longer than Juri-chan's. Mine had reached my waist and hers was barely past shoulder length. As I had combed my hand through my hair, I didn't realize what I was doing. Spreading the gum Juri-chan had accidentally spit into my hair through out.
I had started to cry when I saw the tangled mess my hair was in. All my efforts to remove it had been for naught. Juri-chan had been so upset. She apologized countless times to me and when I cried even harder she told me that she'd take the blame for it. That it had been her idea to take the gum all along.
I protested, even through my tears. To me, in that time, Juri-chan was my most valued posession. If Juri-chan confessed a lie, she would be stolen away. Locked away from me.
In the end the two of us went down to our moms. I was still crying and Juri-chan was close to it. But she didn't. Even when she was so little she had been the stronger one. Upstairs we had agreed that I would be the one to say what happened, but as soon as our mothers got a good look at my hair Juri-chan jumped in. My whimpering was so bad I couldn't speak. With bleary vision I saw her face, so beautiful and serious as she told them how she had made me take the gum. How when I insisted on spitting it out so as not to make them angry she had tried to beat me to it so she wouldn't get in trouble.
My tears dried up and I stared at her with my jaw hung open in shock. This hadn't been part of the plan! Juri-chan had taken all the blame for me! Our mothers had been furious and theyhad given her such a tongue lashing! She still didn't reveal the truth, and I, as much as I wanted to, didn't say a word either. As sad as I was, and though the guilt almost swallowed me whole, I couldn't speak.
They, Juri-chan and her mother that is, left minutes later. Juri-chan dragged out by her arm, I ran after her, wanting to thank her and scream at her at the same time for being an idiot. She smiled at me, and mouthed something. I was young and couldn't read lips. I think she said, 'Don't worry about me' or something like that. I don't remember so well.
The next day I went to school. My hair was ten inches shorter than usual. I hated it. It was shorter than I have it now, maybe by an inch or so. I like the look now, but my face is more oval and slender. At the time it was as round as a basketball. Baby fat. I thought I looked like a boy and the kids at school teased me about it. I wanted my long hair back.
In the playground a group of kids ridiculed me, telling me how ugly I was with the haircut. Kids can be so cruel. Needless to say I began to cry. I have always been a little emotional. I had been sitting huddled in a corner of the basketball court when I heard Juri-chan's voice.
'Leave her alone!'
I removed my face from my hands to see Juri-chan pushing her way through the kids. Dressed in the same blue pleated skirt as I, and that white sailor type shirt. Her lush hair which had always been shorter than mine seemed Rapunzel length by comparison. Deep down inside, a part that the seven year old me took no notice of... was sparked. That was when the first seed was planted.
She looked so radiant, standing in front of me like some angel of light. Her face full of disapproval for the kids. A look that threatened any who'd dare to say anything unflattering towards me. I had tears running down my cheeks, puffy eyes, a terrible haircut and I looked like a boy.
Everyone quieted and they apologized just as she had told them to do. Juri-chan had lifted me to my feet and had taken a tissue from her pocket. Then she began to gently wipe at my cheeks. Even then she showed me kindness I didn't deserve. That young Juri was still a better person than I. I sniffled as she spoke in her voice that sounded so much more grown up than mine. My voice had always been a tad high pitched. Sometimes at home I would mimic Juri-chan's voice and hope that soon it'd sound like hers. But it never did.
'Shiori-chan, don't listen to them. They're just mad because you're so much prettier... so they say things like that so they can feel better about themselves.'
Juri-chan had also been highly intelligent. How did she come up with those sorts of things at age seven? It was something that really should've been said to me. Not then, but perhaps a few years later when we got to Junior High level. And advice that she should've heeded when she thought of the terrible things I've said to her. But what she said was a lie. She felt so sorry for me. But I believed it. I did look horrible with that haircut, but those words, lies or not made me feel so much better. The entire lunch hour Juri-chan tried her hardest to make me laugh. Acting as she never had: goofy. She'd always been mature for her age, but she chose to act like a class clown for my benefit. I was laughing in no time. As it turned out, the kids hadn't meant the apologies. They would make fun of me when Juri-chan wasn't next to me, but wouldn't come near me when she was.
She had a lot of power and respect back then too, just as she does now. It wasn't something I thought of back then when we were so young. It was an innocent age. The two of us were best friends and were closer than sisters. We only cared about playing together, and I was happy to spend any time with her.
As the two of us grew older and entered Junior High School at Ohtori, we still were that. We still were the best of friends. My hair had long since grown out but I kept it just above shoulder length. Juri-san said it suited me. Juri's hair had really gotten long then and I saw how the boys looked at her and how the girls admired her.
While Juri-san worked at being a better friend, I started noticing too many things that weren't to my liking. I strove to best her at anything she was good at. I wanted, at least, to be on equal terms with her. But I never succeeded, Juri-san always applauded my efforts and reassured me that she'd just gotten lucky.
I didn't believe her. Unconciously, it was then that I began to lose myself. When that secret part of me became determined to be more loved and respected than she. When I grew tired of being referred to as 'Juri-san's friend' and went on a mission to prove that I stood alone and above Juri-san. Neither Juri-san nor I noticed the change in me. Or at least I didn't. Not at first. Juri-san... Well, she always was entirely too trusting.