Dear Me in 8th Grade

Good evening😊
This is Yoru Miyu.

It was another hot day today.
The high school baseball prefectural tournament is progressing steadily, and the representative schools will be decided soon.
I guess the passionate summer at Koshien is about to begin.

Today, I'm bringing you a slightly different kind of Yoru Miyu⭐

Well then, I'm going to have a little drink❗️

Today, while I drink, I'm going to write a letter to my 8th-grade self.

To Miyu in 8th grade

It's summer vacation, isn't it?
You must be exhausted from club activities every day by now.
But the 3rd-year students will be retiring soon, so just hang in there a little longer.
Once the seniors are gone, it'll get more fun.
But you also need to do your studies, or you'll have too much homework and won't finish it lol

You're not fitting in with your class, are you?
I, the adult version of you, have written this article.
Everything written here is about you.

In the end, it seems you won't fit in with your class during your second year.
But it will get fun when you become a 3rd-year student, so I think you should open your heart to everyone a little bit.

Miyu, I'm actually having a really great time right now.
My real life is actually quite tough, though.
If someone else looked at it, they might think my life is in hard mode and really painful.
But at my core, I'm optimistic, and I have this feeling of another self looking down at Miyu from above, so I live as if it's someone else's life.

But this medium called Note, which I started lightly to take a break, is surprisingly fun.
I've made a lot of friends here.
I'm still shy, just like I was in 8th grade.
Even so, there are many people who accept me as I am.
It's a happy thing, isn't it?

You know, the other day, a close friend of mine named Mizutama-chan wrote an article for me. Take a look.

This article is all about me.
She's praising me so much.
Miyu, can you believe it?
You might be an outcast in your class, but here, you're so accepted!
Isn't that amazing? It's surprising, right?

Oh, I'm so happy and embarrassed at the same time.
I've never received such a passionate love letter in my life.
I'm sorry, Miyu.
When you grow up, you'll have boyfriends, get married, and have kids, but you'll never have received a love letter like this.

Oh, and you know what?
The comment section of Mizutama-chan's article is full of nice things, so I'm happy and embarrassed.
Really, it makes me blush.
If it were you in 8th grade, if a few people were whispering, you'd think they were bad-mouthing you, right? But it's different.
They're even talking about things like soulmates. Isn't that amazing?

It's happiness, isn't it?
I'm connected to people whose faces I don't even know, and our feelings are connected too.
There are many other people here who care about me and like me!
So, you can be confident too.

I'll tell you a little bit about what happens next.

When you're in your 3rd year, the person you like will start dating a friend.
But you'll find someone you like even more.
I think if you push for it, it'll work out.

You won't even be able to take the entrance exam for the high school you wanted to go to.
But you'll make a best friend at the high school you do end up attending, and it'll be more comfortable there than middle school.

From 18 through your 20s, life is kind of hard to live and you'll keep hitting snags.
But there are fun times, too.
You'll get married, too. You might want to think about that if you're going to think about anything (lol).

When you're past 30, you'll think you want to disappear from this world for a bit.
But I'm glad I stayed alive.
I don't think like that anymore now.
I'm sorry. It's okay now.

Right now, as I said before, reality is on hard mode.
But I've found something I want to do.
I'm thinking I want to live my life over again.
I want to live more like myself.

Honestly, the path ahead for you, Miyu, isn't all fun.
You'll cry a lot.
There will be times when your heart aches.
But I'm glad I didn't die back then and kept living.
The music you loved listening to, the books you read, the TV shows and movies you watched.
All the various things you've experienced—the fun times, the painful times, and the things you can't really tell people—they will all, every single one of them, be useful.

This is getting long.
Maybe it's because I'm drinking.
But it can't be helped, right?
Both of your parents drank, after all.
So, you end up drinking when you grow up too, lol.

I think I'll wrap this up now.
For now, do your best cheering at the middle school athletic tournament.
Study hard and get along with your friends.
When you become an adult, you'll change your persona and things will get fun.

See you later.

From adult Miyu