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𝔇𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 ||
#FF741D ||| 𝔗𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 ||
#DFD989▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Asuka had just finished yelling at the one who'd started all this mess when, all of a sudden, for reasons she couldn't possibly fathom, everything suddenly spiraled downward into complete chaos. First, the girl herself started talking big about how she didn't have any right to be angry... Didn't have any right? She was family, that was as good a right as any. And as for her sister, Fumika was probably too stupid to realize what being angry even meant, so as her sister, it obviously fell to Asuka to be angry for her. Honestly, she was just about ready to take the smug girl up on her challenge just to wipe the smirk off her face, when something even more confusing happened.
The boy from outside the gates showed up, and apparently, Harukaze hadn't avoided him by accident. The two seemed to know each other, but what all they were yelling about, she hadn't the slightest idea. What, was he her jilted ex-boyfriend or something? She'd been in a few situations like that herself, but she'd always managed to find some way to settle things peacefully, if not happily. This, though... They were yelling at each other and crying, and any sensible person would have known not to get involved.
So of
course her idiot sister jumped right into the middle of it. Asuka mentally facepalmed. Why didn't she understand that this wasn't any of her business? She clearly didn't know anything more about this than Asuka herself did, so really, all they could do was stay back and not escalate this any further. She was just about to intervene and try to pull Fumika out before she made things even worse, but then, she realized something.
She called him "Jett." No surname. No honorific. Just Jett. So now she's being rude on top of being oblivious? There's no way that they're friends... But then why is she so invested? Is it just because Harukaze's in trouble, or...?She glanced around her, and noticed students poking their heads out of windows, or rushing out of the dorms to see what was happening. Geez, didn't Harukaze have any shame? She was being so loud that half the campus must have been thinking there was a fistfight going on or something... One of the new arrivals approached Asuka first, and she had to suppress a groan.
To her credit, she really did try not to be too standoffish.
"Motome Asuka," She replied brusquely.
"And your guess is as good as mine." She shook her head, shrugging with disdain. Like hell she was going to get involved in a public lover's spat. Sure, she felt bad for Harukaze... After all, that Jett guy seemed kind of clingy. But at the same time, Harukaze herself wasn't exactly helping her case by berating him the moment he approached them. Regardless, she'd brought this on herself, and there was nothing Asuka could do to make this easier on her, so perhaps she'd just help her make a quick getaway afterward to save face and try to console her once she knew the full story... Just so long as her idiot sister didn't do anything else stupid, then-
"BOTH OF YOU, JUST... SHUT UP!"...No way. There was absolutely no way. There was no way her perennially oblivious, practically mute sister just shouted that. In all the years Asuka had lived with her, she'd seen many things... but never before had she seen Fumika angry.
...So then why was she screaming at the top of her lungs, exactly? And what was she talking about? Asuka's head was still spinning from the sheer surprise of realizing that Fumika was actually capable of articulating more than a single sentence at once, but her shock had only just begun. Because one of the things that she heard her sister say was...
Because I'm stupid.
There was just no way. She must have misheard, must have been dreaming, must have... Must have what? How? Why? When? Fumika had always, for as long as she'd remembered, barely even noticed other people. On the rare occasion that she was actually home, she'd hardly even looked at her own sister or parents, let alone spoken to anyone. That was why her mom and dad had sent Asuka to check up on her in the first place - to make sure she hadn't gotten into any fights with anyone, that she was actually participating in classes. It was obvious that she thought she was better than anyone else, that she couldn't have cared less what anyone else thought. She never even tried to understand them. So why... Why was she saying things like that with tears in her eyes?
At that moment, a boy came jogging up wearing some kind of mask, which he hastily pulled off and rather awkwardly tried to insert himself into the conversation. But as he did so, Asuka couldn't help but pick up on his reason for doing so.
"I just...thought I heard Motome-chan shout."He knows who she is. Not just that, he's close enough to be worried and come running at the drop of a hat. And what's this -chan all about?! Why's he so chummy with my sister? How's that even possible?! And more importantly..."Oh my god," Asuka murmured aloud, blinking furiously as if trying to awaken from a bizarre dream.
"My sister is friends with a guy. My sister is friends with a really cute guy... There must be some kind of mistake. How did this happen?" She pointed to the new arrival, her head darting back and forth between him and Fumika.
"Kasuke-san, you go to school here, right? How did this happen?!"▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
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𝔇𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 ||
#F50A83 ||| 𝔗𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 ||
#0A8BF5 ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
They'd finally stopped yelling at each other. Haruka wasn't crying anymore, and Jett didn't seem angry at her anymore. But the way they both looked at one another... it wasn't right. This wasn't how friends were supposed to act. That meant that something was still wrong.
The curtains fluttered in the spring wind.She hadn't solved things at all. She hadn't been able to help...! But what more could she do? How could she make things better?
The dull white light shone down upon dull white walls, filling the room with blinding radiance.She'd been so happy to see Haruka, but now that Haruka was here, she was only sad. What could she do?
Something was beeping methodically. A single tone, then a pause, then another tone a moment later, like an electronic drum keeping time to an unheard song.She'd tried hugging her, but even that didn't help. Haruka didn't even seem to want to be close to her. She didn't want to be close to anyone. What, then, could she do?
She couldn't forget it even if she wanted to. The sounds were ringing in her ears, the images had already burned themselves into her mind, inscribing themselves forever upon her consciousness. And there, right in front of her, was the thing she dreaded most to see...In the first place, she didn't understand it. She couldn't understand it, because it didn't make sense and even if it did she was too stupid to work it all out! This feeling, this overwhelming pounding in her head and burning in her chest, as if her heart would stop at any moment... What was it?
Why couldn't she even fix this?!She felt just like she had back then.
A pale, emaciated, dark-haired figure lay on the utterly white bed in front of her. Even if those golden eyes opened, like the doctors said they would, she knew that everything would still be wrong and there was nothing she could do about it and it just made her want to throw up and-"...Motome-chan!"Huh? That voice is...The image was gone, replaced by a figure standing in front of her. He was trying to smile with his lips, but his forehead was still pursed in a frown as he scratched his cheek uneasily.
Yoshida...! She wanted to rush over to him, to ask him for his help. He was smart and kind. He would know what to do. Maybe, he could fix things...! Yet, suddenly, her legs wouldn't move.
"Everything, uh, alright?"No. Nothing's alright. Haruka is hurting, and Jett is sad, and my heart feels heavy and I don't know why. She wanted to say that, but the moment she opened her mouth to speak, the words seemed to flee, bottling themselves back up inside her throat as if to suffocate her.
"I mean, I don't wanna interrupt anythin', I just...thought I heard Motome-chan shout."You did. I didn't know what else I could do. I thought I could help, but it didn't work and now I don't know how I can help. She wanted to answer him, but even though she could find the words, it was hard just to move air up and down her windpipe.
She couldn't move an inch, couldn't so much as whisper. Because no matter how much she wanted to, the moment she saw Yoshida's face looking at her like that, she remembered...
He wants to me leave him alone... doesn't he?For a moment, she'd been incredibly happy, but that feeling faded, while the weight in her heart only grew. The fact that he'd worried about her, that he'd come to her rescue, made her feel incredibly warm, and her heart had almost skipped a beat. And yet... she knew that if she acted upon that feeling, if she tried to take that warmth for herself no matter what... He'd only hate her, just like Asuka did. She didn't want that. It was precisely because he was so important that she didn't want that. So, even though she wanted nothing more than to speak, she shut herself up, and once more did something she detested.
"I'm fine," Motome Fumika lied.
"My friends were just arguing, and I didn't know what to do, so I got angry. That's all."He wouldn't hate her for this. Even if it wasn't what she had just discovered she "wanted," at least he wouldn't hate her for this. Besides, there were more important things to worry about than herself. She needed to help Haruka and Jett. Because friends were supposed to help each other. Heroes were supposed to stop people from hurting. As their friend and as a hero, then, it was her duty. There had to be something she could do for them. She just had to stop being stupid and think of it. So, bowing sheepishly to Yoshida, she quickly disengaged from the conversation, and rushed over to Haruka's side.
And, like always... A computer worked best when it was addressing one problem at a time.
So, Fumika said nothing that she wanted to say, and kept working on the problem at hand, like a good computer should.
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𝔇𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 ||
#C9C916 ||| 𝔗𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 ||
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Haruka watched in a daze. Her arms and legs were still shaking, even though she'd managed to stop the tears. She could hear the pounding drum of her own heartbeat ringing in her ears, beating ever slower and slower until her breathing had finally returned to normal. As the haze of terror turned to outrage turned finally despair reached its end and faded from before her eyes, she took a deep breath, and the meaning of her own words washed over her like a tidal wave.
This wasn't how she'd wanted it to be. Even if everyone else passed her by, or rejected her or looked down on her or even pitied her...
All she had wanted was for Jett to still look at her the way he had back then. She had just wanted him to admire her, to respect her, to treat her like she was important. She hadn't meant to lie to him, or to ignore him. It was just... This was the only way she could think of! Why couldn't he understand that? Of course she'd wanted to see him again. That had never changed. But... The moment he saw her, she knew this would happen. She knew he'd be angry, and then he'd think she didn't trust him. But that wasn't it at all. Couldn't he see? She'd just wanted... She'd just wanted him to be proud of her. It was precisely because he was so precious that she couldn't afford to let him know.
But it was too late to say any of that. After all, she'd already ruined everything, hadn't she? Not just Jett... Even Fumika had been angry at her. That was a punishment that had been coming for a long time, though, and one she well deserved. If there was anyone who should have hated her, then it was-
But she'd just been so angry! She'd been so upset that he wouldn't listen, so upset that now even he was looking down at her with those smug eyes. And the worst part of all was that she deserved it. She deserved to be coddled, to be pitied, to be set aside as weak, to be left in the dust, because in the end, all she was-
But what was even the point of trying to hold out any longer? It was all already over. She'd been found out, and now, she might as well just quit. She'd been an idiot to try to protest. In the first place, he'd already seen her, so why hadn't she just conceded immediately? Why had her stupid pride compelled her to say all those idiotic things? She wouldn't have been surprised if Jett probably hated her now. She deserved that, too.
Taking a deep breath, she spoke as evenly and as calmly as she could, but after her outburst, even she couldn't think of her own words as anything but empty. The sound of her own voice made her want to strangle herself just so it'd stop ringing in her ears.
Above all else, she was tired.
"...Jett. I'm sorry. As I said, I was wrong not to tell you. I'll explain everything later, just..." She motioned slightly to the growing crowd all around them.
"Not here. Until then, I'll just... stop. I'm sorry."Harukaze Haruka was so very, very tired.
As Fumika approached, reaching out wordlessly to take her hand and motioning towards the dorms, she didn't even have the heart to resist. She'd just get in, make sure Fumi was settled in... And then she'd just go. She'd seen more than enough for one day.
"Asuka. We're going. Come on," Fumika said quietly, her tone uncharacteristically grave. Her argumentative sister didn't even see fit to disagree, but rather simply nodded, bowed to a twintailed girl standing next to her, and then silently followed them away from the gathering crowd...
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