The train passed on the other side, vibrating like an alarm. Across the platform, a crowd of students. None looked like me. Sparkling teenage eyes. Never a dull moment. Even the pigment looked deliberate, like makeup, not an error.
Mine was opposite. Pigment, dark spots etched into my skin, one for each person I prayed would forget me. Marks I couldn't scrub away, no matter how hard I tried. Every bond erased without goodbye. By the next morning, the world had changed, as if the earth had shattered, warning me not to take another step. But my naive part had already carried my legs forward.
I rubbed my wrist, adjusting the strap, pretending to be someone I wasn't. Maybe I'd learned that long ago to survive by blending in, a kid who only ever picked what was normal, average enough to hide in. My first real decision was to live in Japan. A beautiful country for tourists, but to reside, to belong, was something else entirely. I came with expectations, hoping to be a perfect fit.
Even skipped breakfast this morning. The stirring in my stomach wasn't pain. Nerves. At the train station, I stood between tracks, unsure if I was meant for this next stage of existence. The platform trembled again, and this time my train passed. But when I stepped forward to line up. My shadow followed. Not to mock. But to applaud.