THE WORLD BEYOND

THE BOY WITH A DREAM

Meet Sabura Akito, a smart and curious boy who loves to learn. He was born on January 29, 2006. Sabura wants to make friends and be happy, but it's not always easy for him. Let's follow his journey and see what happens.

At 7 years old, Sabura began grade school, impressing his teachers with his intelligence and potential for a successful future

In school, Sabura learned about different countries and the world. He was amazed because he had never known about all the exciting places outside his own country before

After knocking off from school, while walking to his home, Sabura thought, "Traveling all over the world, walking through forests, seeing the big, beautiful ocean, climbing the tallest mountains, and witnessing the big, beautiful view - wow, that would be fun!"

Sabura arrived home and began eating dinner. While eating dinner, he asked, "Mom, Dad, in all your years, how much of the world have you seen?" His mom replied, "Actually, it's not that much. The last time I and your father went outside the country was years ago. Now we're both busy with work, so we don't have time to travel."

Then Sabura said, "When I grow up, I'll go outside our country and see how beautiful the world really is." Then his father said, "Sabura, with your grades, I don't doubt you. Me and your mother, we believe in you."

Then Sabura finished eating and went to sleep.

It was morning, and Sabura went to school. He wrote some texts, and yet again, Sabura's performance was outstanding, as usual. But little did the teachers know that Sabura was the most hated person in class; his friends bullied him, stole his lunch money, and sometimes spilled food on his face.

They did all this because they hated him. Sabura's intelligence and the way teachers liked him made the other students angry. But Sabura wasn't mad at them; he still wanted to make a friend.

So he approached a girl named Kunizawa and asked, "Kunizawa, could you be my friend?"

_Slap_

She replied, "How dare you even think we could be friends? You're just an arrogant little boy who thinks he's the center of attention. Just because you're smart and just because the teachers love you, I'll never-ever be friends with you. Now take your pathetic face out of my sight."

_Sabura cries_

He replied, "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry. It's not my fault; I didn't want this. _tears coming out rapidly_ I just wanted to make a friend. Is that hard to ask? I just wanted to be happy in school. I just wanted someone to care about me. I just wanted to have a good life. Is that hard to ask for? But instead, people bully me, say a lot of bad words about me, they even won't talk to me. It shouldn't be me. It shouldn't be. I just want to have a friend."

Kunizawa replied, "Are you done crying? I said get your pathetic face out of my sight and never talk to me."

Then Sabura went and sat at his desk alone but cheered himself up, remained positive, as always, and reminded himself and said to himself, "The world is a book, and those who don't travel read only one page."

Sabura then went home, faking his smile to his parents, as always.

A few weeks later, Sabura was continuously being bullied, and he just tolerated it.

Then a person transferred to Sabura's school. Everyone went to greet him, and then he saw how Sabura was lonely, so he went to him and said, "Hi, my name is Sato. What's your name?"

Sabura replied with shock, "Oh, me! Please don't associate with me; I don't want you to end up like me."

Sato replied, "Why would you say that?"

Sabura replied, "I don't have any reason; it's just... complicated."

Then Sabura went outside, and the bullies followed him. Sato thought something was going on, so he followed Sabura. As he was going, he saw the bullies beating Sabura... He shouted, "Stop!!" He rushed to him, "Sabura!, Sabura!!, are you okay?"

Sabura then said, "I'm fine; my head is paining a little."

Then Sato said to the bullies, "Why would you do that to him? He didn't do anything wrong to you."

The bully said, "This piece of s**t thinks he's smarter than everyone, making all the teachers like him, so we were just teaching him a lesson."

Sato, with anger, said, "Go, leave us alone."

Then the bullies went, and Sabura said, "Why did you save me? I'm just a complete stranger to you."

Then Sato replied, "Yeah, you might be right about us being strangers... but we can always be friends!"

Sabura replied, "You saw what they did to me; they might do the same to you if you became my friend."

Sato replied, "I don't care; between all of them, I choose you. I will always choose you. So, Sabura... do you want to be my friend?"

Then Sabura, in tears, says, "I suffered a lot!! I always wanted a friend; I tell my parents everything is alright, but deep down, I was crying. I told my mom to stop bathing me because I didn't want her to see the pain the bullies inflicted on me. I wanted to have friends; that's the only thing I wanted in school, but no one wanted to. I wanted a friend, Sato! I did; I really did, Sato."

Then Sato said, "I'm here; I'll be your first friend, and I will never betray you. So, Sabura... be my friend!!"

Sabura replied with a smile on his face, "Yes, and thank you for being my friend, thank you for caring for me, thank you."

Sato replied, "I will always be your friend, Sabura. Now let's go to class."

_Sato's Story_

Sato was born on August 12, 2007, in a small town. He grew up with loving parents and an older sister. His family valued kindness and helping others. When Sato was 8, his family moved to the city. He struggled to make friends because he was shy. One day, he saw a classmate being bullied. Sato remembered his parents' words: "Help those in need." He stood up for the classmate, and they became best friends. This experience taught Sato the importance of kindness, courage, and loyalty. He promised himself to always help those who needed it.

Sato saw Sabura being bullied and remembered his past experience. He knew how it felt to be alone and scared. Sato decided to help Sabura, just like someone had helped him.

They both went to class, talking to each other with big smiles on their faces, and for the first time in a long time, Sabura had a genuine smile.

Sato and Sabura ate lunch together, played together, and studied together.

Then Sabura says, "Hey, Sato?!"

Sato replied, "Yes."

Sabura says, "Have you ever thought about the world outside our country?"

Sato replied, "Actually, no! I've never thought about it."

Sabura says, "Traveling all over the world, walking through forests, seeing the big, beautiful ocean, climbing the tallest mountains, and witnessing the big, beautiful view... I want to see it; I want to see it all."

Sato replied, "I'm sure you'll see it, after all, you're the genius that surprises even the adults. The path you're walking in will lead you to the most beautiful future, Sabura."

Few years later, Sabura and Sato graduate from middle school, and now it's time for them to choose high school, and the future looks bright for them. but Sato moved away and had to choose an highschool from another town

As Sabura and Sato parted ways, Sabura couldn't shake off the feeling that his life was about to change in ways he never imagined. Little did he know, their friendship was only the beginning of an adventure that would take him to the farthest corners of the world.