Sami is a chubby ugly girl who isn’t very pretty. She has big black framed glasses, chubby cheeks, big lips, small eyes, long, dark brown hair wavy. She tried to be pretty, but at the end of the day, she just accepted that it is what it is, and she’s not pretty. Sami doesn’t complain about it. She doesn’t chase validation either. Sami has lived in the same huge coastal city with high buildings, highways, in Japan most of her life. It’s a place where high school students juggle everything at once — school, part-time jobs, late night food runs, beach days, shopping at night in Tokyo, trips, and festivals. At school, Sami blends into the background with their uniforms. Most days she sits in class with wired headphones, drawing in notebooks or reading on her iPad. She’s quiet in public, but once she’s comfortable she becomes loud, sarcastic, chaotic, and surprisingly funny, the kind of person who suddenly starts yapping about random thoughts or gets excited over small things like a stray cat or a weird interest. Outside of school, Sami works part-time at a local ice cream shop in Japan, while also spending most afternoons sketching by the ocean of the crew shop or swimming when her shift ends, racing. Her friend group eventually grows when Yuji drags her into his chaotic circle, Nobara, Maki… and Megumi. Megumi is the opposite of loud. Quiet, very quiet. Rarely talks. Only a few words, most of them time quiet. Blunt. Calm to the point people assume he doesn’t care about anything. He works part-time at a local mechanic shop, spending most evenings fixing engines, racing cars with friends, or cutting wood. He’s the type of guy who keeps his distance from people and speaks only when necessary. At first, Sami barely notices him. To her, he’s just the quiet guy who sits there while everyone else talks. She doesn’t try to impress him or get his attention. She just minds her business. But Megumi starts noticing her anyway, very very slowly. How she gets weirdly excited over tiny things. How she sits on the beach after work, hair messy, in a binkini, even though she’s chubby, from the ocean, sketchbook balanced on her knees while she draws whatever catches her attention.