"Tomori?"
Being blatantly avoided by Sakiko was a heavy blow to Tomori. She had already blamed herself for Sakiko leaving the band, and now this reaction only confirmed her worst fears.
"Tears?!" Anon gasped when she saw Tomori suddenly burst into tears. She frantically searched her pockets and had just pulled out a handkerchief when she realized—someone else had moved even faster.
Kyo stepped in front of Tomori.
At 155 cm, Tomori was slightly shorter than Kyo by about three or four centimeters. Standing this close, Kyo naturally looked down at her, blocking her line of sight to where Sakiko had been just moments ago.
Tomori's vision, already blurred by tears, made it hard to see anything clearly. Then, suddenly, a silhouette appeared before her—just a hazy outline shifting and swaying through the watery veil of her tears.
Did Sakiko come back?
Tomori stared blankly at the mirage in front of her, desperately hoping that maybe, just maybe, Sakiko hadn't actually abandoned her. That she had turned around and come back.
But deep down, another voice kept reminding her—Sakiko left. She didn't look back.
The figure in front of her moved, stepping closer. A hand lifted gently, four fingers resting lightly against Tomori's cheek.
The touch was cool against her heated skin. The suddenness of it made Tomori flinch, her body instinctively curling in on itself. But then… something about the sensation felt familiar, smoothing over her initial shock.
The fingers stayed in place, steady and unmoving, while a thumb carefully brushed against the corner of her eye.
Tomori shut her eyes instinctively.
Her eyelids pressed against the soft touch, forcing the trapped tears to spill out, dampening the person's hand.
Whoever it was didn't seem to mind at all. Their thumb continued its gentle work, wiping away her tears with slow, careful strokes. The light graze against her long eyelashes made her want to blink, but she resisted, letting the soothing motion repeat—once, twice, three times.
With each pass, her emotions gradually settled.
Only when their fingers had grown too damp to wipe away the remaining tears did the touch finally withdraw.
Tomori opened her eyes.
Her vision was still slightly misty, but she could finally see the person in front of her.
From her perspective, the lingering tears in her eyes seemed to cradle the image of the girl standing before her—like she had suddenly appeared, emerging from the glistening droplets themselves.
"Kyo…?"
"I knew it. You didn't even see me, did you?" Kyo replied with a gentle smile, throwing in a lighthearted joke to ease the mood. "Your mind works like a single-thread CPU, Tomori—"
Before she could finish, Kyo suddenly felt her hand being grabbed, pulled downward with unexpected weight—like someone was trying to ground themselves, to confirm that she was real.
"Kyo… You won't disappear like a bubble, will you…?"
A bubble, huh? That does sound kind of pretty.
Kyo almost said it out loud—but something told her that if she did, Tomori would cling to her on the spot and refuse to let go.
Instead, she simply lifted their joined hands, showing Tomori the way their fingers were clasped together.
"Aren't you holding onto me right now?"
The physical touch, the tangible warmth of Kyo's hand in hers, broke through the dark, spiraling thoughts in Tomori's mind. Slowly, her breathing steadied, the tightness in her chest easing bit by bit.
Seeing that Tomori had calmed down, Kyo turned to Anon, who was standing there with an expression that practically screamed What about me?
"Anon, Tomori might still need your handkerchief. Using my hand to wipe tears wasn't exactly the cleanest method."
"Oh—right! Here!" Anon, startled by the sudden acknowledgment, quickly held out her handkerchief.
She had been so caught up in the moment that she almost forgot—Wait, I have a role in this too!
Tomori, following Kyo's words, finally turned her gaze toward Anon.
Tomori's single-threaded way of thinking often made her forget to finish one task before moving on to the next.
Right now, she was still gripping Kyo's hand tightly with both of her own, leaving her no way to take the handkerchief from Anon. Yet, both she and Kyo were looking at Anon—waiting for her to do something.
Wait… do they expect me to wipe Tomori's tears too, like Kyo just did?
But we only just met! Isn't this way too soon for something so intimate? It's only the first day!
Then again, the atmosphere right now made it seem like she had no choice.
Anon had already noticed back in class that Tomori was a bit dazed and prone to getting lost in her own world. But… does Kyo really not realize how weirdly intimate this whole situation looks? People passing by were sneaking glances at them!
With a shaky hand, Anon carefully used her handkerchief to wipe away the last traces of Tomori's tears.
Tomori finally seemed to snap out of it, her face turning slightly red as she lowered her head and mumbled, "Thank you, Anon."
"Alright, let's go. We still have the assembly in the auditorium." Kyo started walking again but soon realized—Tomori was still holding onto her hand with both of hers.
"Tomori, you can't even walk properly like this."
Tomori hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly let go… but only with one hand. The other remained stubbornly latched onto Kyo's.
She's really clingy, huh.
Kyo figured it was probably because Tomori had just been completely ignored by Sakiko—her sense of attachment was heightened as a result.
Their dynamic seems really close…
Anon, who now felt like a total outsider, stood there in a daze. Back in class, Tomori had barely interacted with anyone. And now? She was openly holding onto Kyo's hand like this.
But Kyo wasn't reacting at all—her expression remained calm and unreadable, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
Wait… is this one-sided?!
And earlier, Tomori had suddenly gotten upset because of that refined, elegant girl—Sakiko.
Am I witnessing some kind of complicated love triangle?
"Anon."
Kyo's voice suddenly pulled her out of her increasingly dramatic train of thought.
"Hold this for me." Kyo handed her thermos to Tomori before turning back to Anon and—unexpectedly—offering her other hand.
"Let's go, Anon."
It wasn't good to ignore someone in a group setting—being left out like that could be uncomfortable. That was why Kyo had called on Anon earlier, asking her to use the handkerchief to wipe Tomori's tears.
—Though, a small part of her reasoning was to stop herself from getting too absorbed in comforting Tomori.
Now that Tomori was holding on so tightly, it was only fair to extend the same gesture to Anon.
"I-I'm fine, really…" Anon tried to refuse.
But at that moment, Tomori turned back to look at her, her eyes filled with hopeful sincerity, like a small animal.
"Anon-chan… is our friend too."
Ugh—!
And just like that, the three of them—hand in hand—became a very noticeable sight as they made their way down the hallway.
I mean, sure, I like standing out, but this kind of attention… feels a little different!
Anon was starting to wonder if her first day back was spiraling way more than she'd anticipated…
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T/N: bonus chaps tomorrow
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