— starting from this point on, i'll be writing in 2nd POV !

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"EUGH."

Your hair sways with each depressing step, your eyes cast down at your sad shadow. A frown rests on your lips as a certain bowl-cut-haired boy occupies your mind. You bring your hands up to your face, groaning in frustration.

Maybe if you had introduced yourself, you might have gotten along and made a new friend at last...

But that thought is now nothing but a dream, as you let a perfectly good opportunity slip right through your fingers.

You're hopeless. It has already been a month and you still haven't made one friend (aside from Chizuru, but she's part of the staff so she does not count).

But what's even more embarrassing is when you think back about how you boasted to everyone in town that you would be popular once you've arrived in the city.

...

Well you did, just for another reason anyway.

Heaving out a sigh, you drop your arms and slump your back. You never thought you would go home in such low spirits today, especially since you got to skip class and even saved some cute little birds.

You also thought of stopping by the convenience store but that idea immediately went down the drain when you remembered that you had already spent the last bit of your money on your "lunch".

"Excuse me, young lady!"

You came to a halt. You hoped whoever they were referring to was anyone but you.

But alas, you were the only other person in the street.

When you looked up, a woman in a business attire stood in front of you. Everything about her seemed normal, nothing alarming... aside from the smiling mask she wore.

You put your guard up as soon as you saw the mask, taking a small step back as you thought of a plan to evade the stranger.

"Ah!" You snapped your fingers, feigning realization, "I wasn't paying attention and accidentally took the wrong route!" you let out a sigh as you shrugged. "Oh well, I'll just walk back..." with that, you turned your heel and immediately took a run for it.

"Wait!" You heard the woman yell out to you. You heard footsteps behind you, though they sounded far away. But a moment later, she picked up the speed and you heard her heels tap louder against the pavement.

You took that as the cue to sprint, your heart raced as you heard the woman run after you. You picked up your pace even more, but when you heard her steps fade, you eventually slowed down to a stop to look back at the woman.

She wasn't far from where you were, but not that close either. She was leaning on her knees for support as she spoke in between pants, "Y-you... run pretty fast... kids these days... are so activehngh..." she took a moment to catch her breath before standing upright and turning to you.

She clapped her hands together and bowed her head, "So sorry for scaring you, dear! But I just noticed how troubled you seemed when I came across you. You weren't laughing nor smiling and you seemed very down..."

Now that you have a better look at her, this woman seemed pretty weak. You could probably take her on if things go south (violence should always be a last resort, after all). With that thought, you stuck around a bit longer to hear what she has to say.

"I just want to help you with your... friendship problem."

Your eyes widened in surprise, How did she— 

"Ah yes, making friends can be a bit of a hassle. Especially when you don't share interests with others and seem unapproachable..."

I- what? I don't look unapproachable—

"...But that is why I want to help you! I'd like to introduce you to our leader, Dimple-sama is sure to help you solve your problems!"

A leader? Now that was alarming. Now that you think about it, it's likely this woman is part of a cult. Right, that must be it. People wouldn't wear an off-putting mask just for a trend, that would be silly.

You turn to her with a questioning look, "Are you part of an organization, miss?"

The woman nods. "A new religious order that has just been brought into existence last month— ah, why don't I take you to our gathering? I'll tell you more on the way." She says, slightly tilting her head.

Hmm... Maybe these people and their leader can offer some advice. But would you really risk following a stranger to a possibly dangerous place just for some advice on how to make friends? You know you can take her on in a one-on-one, but a group? You know that this might lead to your doom... are you really that desperate?

...

Apparently, you are.

You walked alongside the woman, soon setting foot in a building as she chatted about this... gathering. "Our leader— Dimple-sama has this mysterious ability to make anyone laugh in an instant!" 

You hum in slight amazement, Dimple-sama must be pretty funny.

"What is this group called again?" You ask the woman as you both enter an elevator. She pushes a button and turns to you, "(LOL) is its name, the trendiest gathering in the century! All thanks to Dimple-sama, our lives have become much easier to live in happiness."

The elevator dings as the doors automatically slide open, revealing a wide area full of people in identical masks to the woman.

W-Woah, this is a bigger group than I thought.

Feeling uncomfortable, you took a step back and turned around to talk to the woman that brought you here, but before you could utter a word, people crowded around you.

"There's a lot of new faces today! Hurry, Dimple-sama is almost here!" The cult's members pushed you onto the front and up the stage. With a last shove, you were placed into the spotlight alongside the other newcomers.

You shielded your eyes from the blinding lights, needing a moment to adjust. Once you have, you lowered your arm and looked at the crowd in front of you, getting nervous as you felt eyes on you from the crowd and from beside you.

When you glanced over to your left, you are met with a familiar face looking back at you.

Mezato Ichi looked back with slight shock. She is an enthusiastic member of your school's news club and your seatmate in class. You have exchanged a few words before, but you have never really interacted with her that much. Nevertheless, you were glad to see a familiar face.

You looked over to see the other 'newcomers', seeing a middle-aged man at the middle and at the other end was...

"Eh? "

Lo and behold, at the other end was none other than the boy who you had encountered earlier.

You immediately look down, sweating as you feel your cheeks get warm when you realize you met his eyes.

Out of all people, why did he have to be here too?

On the other hand, Shigeo recognized you, his lips parted in surprise. What a coincidence, he thought.

"He's here! It's Dimple-sama!"

A tall masked man walked onto the stage, his mask black and red, unlike the other members. To make him stand out more, he also wore a sash with red outlines and a yellow diamond pattern.

He made some kind of sign with his hands that the members imitated.

You looked at the cult members, puzzled.
Why is everyone doing finger guns?

Dimple's eyes glint through the mask as he starts, "Everyone... are you smiling?"

Everyone besides you and the newcomers laughs as he sways side to side. "Is everyone warmed up now? Then, shall we remove these masks?" Dimple and the members simultaneously remove their masks, revealing their happy faces and golden smiles (literally).

Dimple started to clap with glee as he and the members laughed, all the while your face showed confusion, horror, and disappointment. It seems that the feeling is mutual among the newcomers.

"What a creepy group." The middle-aged man comments. And frankly, you couldn't agree more.

The laughter died down as soon as Dimple commanded. He gestures to you and the others, "Today, four smilemates will be joining us. Give them an applause!"

The people clapped as you became flustered, unintentionally muttering a swear under your breath, "the fuck?"

Mezato turns to Dimple, "Hey, don't you just—"

Dimple cuts her off, "You must open your heart before you can receive happiness. However, you four have a lock on your heart." You didn't pay much attention to what he said after that, he just rambled on about how you guys weren't happy since you were not laughing or smiling.

Amid his little speech, you heard what sounded to be locks of metal unlocking from above. The ceiling opens and reveals a pretty weird yet impressive setup, almost everything in the scene had a smiley face.

You watched two fake birds come out from a tree, making you remember an earlier event. This led to you thinking back on what you should have done earlier, again filled with a sense of regret.

If you spoke to that boy, would he be willing to be your friend?

You did not get to answer your question as a mask was suddenly placed on your head.

"All we want for you is to smile..." Dimple states. He speaks with Mezato afterward, but you could not hear their words as you zone out.

Perhaps you were thinking too deeply into it? Maybe you're just overreacting? But what if he doesn't like you? Why are you so obsessed in being friends with this boy anyway?

Maybe... because you wanted to take initiative after all this time? You always hoped and waited for someone to approach you, but you have never even once even tried to talk to your peers.

There was always this little voice at the back of your head, whispering that they wouldn't like someone as uninteresting as you. Pulling you down and planting doubts in your mind, and somehow, it always won.

It felt like you were making excuses.

...you don't want that to continue. How would you know that they don't like you if you haven't even spoken to them? How would you know if you haven't even tried once? A month had already gone by with no one to talk to, you want that to change.

I'm sick of being a coward.

I don't want to be alone.

With that, something stirred within you... it was as if someone was pushing you, urging you to do what you wanted to do all this time. Screw taking advice from these people, you want to be that boy's friend? Heck, you'll march right up and talk to him!

And whether he likes it or not, I'm gonna be his friend! The ends of your lips curve upwards as you clenched your fist in newfound determination.

...

"Um, excuse me..." you heard the boy speak, snapping you out of your thoughts. "The main topic is smile and happiness, and doesn't have anything to do with being popular, right? Can I leave now?"

You could not help but blank out for a moment as you processed his words, the situation coming back to you. You raised your hand, "Me too, I only came for advice but it looks like I went to the wrong people. No offense, but you guys are weird."

You couldn't see Dimple's face, but you were pretty sure that pissed him off.

...maybe you shouldn't have opened your mouth.