Flawed, Spring

Abruptly, out of nowhere, Bluebell Academy’s Class 6-C received a new student during the middle of the semester. 

The class crowded around the seated boy, some genuinely curious about his unusual circumstances while others were drawn in by the novelty present in their mundane classroom.

“Hey, Hoshikawa right? What made you move here?” The girl leaned forward on his desk, cheeks flushed in excitement.

“Oh, my parents went somewhere far away, so I’m staying at my grandparent’s right now!” The boy, Hoshikawa Xin, replied cheerfully with a smile on his face.

“Far away? Like to another country?”

“Mhm, something like that!”

“Wow! Is your family rich? Why didn’t you go with them?”

“What kind of question is that?” Xin laughs. “And I can’t~ At least, not yet. Maybe when I’m older I can! So for now, I’m sadly stuck with you all!” 

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?!” Someone shouted in mock anger, and everyone laughed in response. 

The majority of class 6-C was excited to get to know this new classmate of theirs. After all, he was a breath of fresh air after seeing the same, old familiar faces over and over again. He was friendly, rich(?), and funny— a great potential friend!

However, things didn’t go the way they expected. 

“Hey Hoshikawa, let’s go to the cafeteria!”

“Oh, I’m good~ My grandma packed me lunch, so I’ll just eat in the classroom!” 

“Hey, let’s play soccer during free time!” 

“Sorry, I have to catch up on the material I missed. You should probably do the same- ow!!”

“Hey Hoshikawa, what club do you plan on joining?”

“Hm, none? I don’t want to leave my grandparents alone at home for too long!”

Hoshikawa Xin was indeed friendly and fun to talk with, but that… was it. He turned down any offers to hang out after school and usually kept to himself if no one approached him first. 

Despite his seemingly playful attitude, he stayed completely focused during class time and even spent some of his break time reviewing the materials he didn’t understand. 

His classmates weren’t sure how to get closer to him when they could feel the barrier he put up between them. Several weeks passed while they tried their best, but eventually, the novelty of a transferee wore off, and they left him to his own devices for the most part. They were still on friendly terms in the classroom, but they no longer invited him to hang out after school. 

Hoshikawa Xin didn’t mind it at all. Not in the moody way of “I’m better off alone,” but more that he felt the time he spent with them in the classroom was enough for him. It was a perfect balance when considering the time he spent on his studies as well as the time he spent helping out his grandparents. 

He was content living like this. 

His family, however, was not.

“Xin dear, you know it’s okay to go play with your friends, right?” Concern was written all over his grandmother’s face when she told him that. 

“Yeah kiddo, you don’t hafta help us all the time! We can take care of things ourselves!” His grandpa grumbled as he pulled out yet another weed. 

The three of them were tending his grandmother’s garden after school one day when they suddenly brought up the topic. Xin blinked and then beamed at them.

“I know, but it’s more fun to spend time with grandma and grandpa! Especially when grandpa encounters a bug~!” 

“Hey! That was only because it came out of nowhere okay?! And didn’t I tell you to erase that from your memories?! Come back, Xin!” 

Laughter and angry shouts filled the air as the elder chased the child around the garden until they were both huffing from running too much. It wasn’t until later into the night that his grandparents realized he had dodged the issue once again. 

It was easy for Xin to throw off his kind but gullible grandparents, but his elder sister was a different matter. Fortunately, she was far too busy to have a proper conversation with him, so he was able to get away with it for a while. 

‘But all good things come to an end,’ he thinks to himself when his sister calls out to him in a serious tone. 

“Xin, sit down.” His sister motioned to the seat across from her with a stern expression on her face. 

“...Okay,” He trudges over and plops down with a blank face.

“Our grandparents are worried about you, Xin. So am I.”

Xin blinks in response, pondering over his next words. He cocked his head and raised a brow. “What’s there to be worried about? I’m doing fine… Great, actually– didn’t you hear about my test results?” He had scored in the top five for his class.

The stern expression on his sister’s face melted away and was replaced with a gentle and proud smile. “I did hear about that. Congratulations, by the way, it was a really impressive achievement. I’m sure our parents would be proud of you too.”

Hearing that, Xin felt a lump forming at the back of his throat. He cleared his throat to get rid of it. “Thanks. I guess we’re done here then?” He tries (uselessly) to leave but was stopped by his sister.

“No, sit back down.” She glares at him before resuming. “Our parents would be proud of you, but they would also be proud of you even if you didn’t accomplish that. They would be content as long as you were happy.”

Xin blinked. Then curled the ends of his mouth upwards. “But I am happy?” What’s there not to be happy about? He had a loving family, good grades, and got along well with his classmates. What more could he ask for (that he could actually obtain?) 

His sister just stares at him in silence. He stares back with a smile. 

He was fine. Really. So what if he wasn’t as mischievous as before when they were still ali- No. Stop. Anyways, isn’t it better like this? With his frail grandparents and workaholic sister, isn’t it better that he didn’t act up? Isn’t it better that he’s working hard for their futures? Why are they getting on his case like this? Why are they being so unreasonable? Why are they being so anno- Stop. 

Why do they keep wanting him to return to the old, flawed him when the new one is obviously better? 

(If they were still here, his parents would have preferred this version anyway. 

Why couldn’t he have shown them this side of him from the beginning?

 Before it was too late?)

 

Hearing a sob brought him back to reality. He hurriedly looks up and sees his sister’s frame trembling as she hides her face in her palms. 

“...Jie, don’t cry.” That’s cheating, wasn’t it?

“...I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, but I just can’t stop. Seeing you like this– it just makes me so sad.” Her breath hitches as she whispers her confession against her palms. 

“You’re just so, so different now… what you accomplished is indeed amazing… but… it scares me that you grew up practically overnight… Which is ironic given how much I used to lecture you about being a brat,” she lets out a weak chuckle as she wipes her tears away. She takes a deep breath before continuing with bright eyes. 

“I just want you to enjoy yourself, Xin. I’m grateful to see you working so hard for our family, but you’re still a kid. You’re only twelve years old. You don’t have to throw yourself into your studies like this.” The corners of her lips curled upwards as her eyes glazed over a bit, as if recalling a fond memory. 

“Just, you know, follow your heart, like you have always done.” 

“...!” 

That saying… 

---

“Xin! This better be the last time I get a call from your school about the trouble you caused! Dear, say something too!!”

“Xin…” 

“But dad, all I did was follow my heart (xin 心)! I was just trying to respect the name you gave me, was that so wrong?” Xin looked at his father with big, pleading eyes. It was something that his father had always encouraged him to do, so it should be fine to use it in this kind of situation, right? 

“Hmm… is that so? …It’s all good then!” His father laughs boisterously as he gives Xin a high-five. Xin grins back.

“??? Dad, you are so hopeless….” 

---

“...It’s unfair of you to bring that up right now…” He could feel his lips tremble as he ducked his head down.

“Now you know how frustrating it is to have that phrase said to you, don’t you?” Her words still came out a little weak, but that didn’t stop her from reaching across the table to ruffle his hair. She didn't question why he was trembling. 

“Yeah… it really is annoying.” He laughs weakly as he wipes his face with his sleeves. 

She laughs in response.