"Hey hey, Kayo-chin, look at this! It's a cat! It sort of looks like Rin, nya!"
Rin-chan and I were at a park near the school. After a long days work of dance practice for our next Live, we decided to go to the park to calm down. This is the place where we normally come after our dance practice if both of us aren't busy. It's normally just the both of us that are here, but sometimes Maki-chan or Nozomi-chan would tag along.
Rin-chan was sitting down next a tree, with a ginger cat beside her. I was sitting on a bench that was just a few feet away from her.
"A cat! It's so cute!" I say as I go walk over to her from the bench I was sitting at.
"Nya, nya!". Rin-chan pats the cat as it walks around her, and between us. It drops down and lies on the floor, curling up into a circle. It was purring.
"Did the cat go to sleep, nya?"
"Mhm. I think it did."
"Aaaa… choo!" Rin sneezes, causing the cat to wake up out of shock. Rin-chan raises her hands as if she was trying to apologise to the cat, but before she can finish, the cat had ran away.
"Ah, Rin-chan, you're allergic to cats.." I mutter, but in a voice that would be loud enough for people near me to hear.
"Mmhm… But cats are really cute" she sniffles as she gets a tissue out of the skirt pocket of her school uniform and wipes her nose. With her other hand she rubs her eyes. Even though weren't near the cat for very long, it seems as if her allergies had started to act up. Her eyes look irritated and she has a bit of a runny nose.
I feel sorry for her, being allergic to something that she really likes. That would make anybody feel upset. I really don't like seeing Rin-chan feel upset, because that makes me feel upset as well.
"Let's go." I say, standing up and brushing down my skirt and fixing my hair. It seems that a few twigs and leaves had fallen onto me while I was sitting down underneath the tree.
Rin-chan, still rubbing her eyes, stands up after I do and begins to walk to the left- the way to the exit to the park. I follow her, and not a word is said between us for a while, until I break the silence.
"Hey, Rin-chan? Is it okay if I stop at the supermarket on the way home? I need to get something. I'll be quick, I promise." I mention as we take a left turn out of the park, heading to an area with more people than there ever have been in that park.
"Sure, that's okay. Why does Kayo-chin need to go to the supermarket, nya?" Rin asks me. "Can't I go with you?"
"Oh! Well…" I start off, stopping in my path. Rin-chan keeps walking to a certain point before actually noticing that I had stopped.
"…Kayo-chin?" Rin-chan says as she stops and turns her body to my direction, to look at me.
"I need to go to the supermarket by myself. I hope you can understand." I smile, beginning to walk again.
"Kayo-chin, there's the supermarket! You said you needed to go there, right? I'll wait out here." Rin-chan mentions as she points to a store that was next to us, the supermarket.
"Oh! Thank you for telling me. I'll be off now-" I giggle as I walk into the store, a nice breeze of air covers my body.
I walk back out into the heat, letting out a sigh. That surely took longer than I wanted it to, but at least I had got what I wanted to get. In one hand, there was a plastic bag filled with food supplies such as rice, more rice, and some curry. In the other hand-
"What are you hiding behind your back?" A familiar voice mentions as I stand in front of the orange-haired girl.
"Well… uh..." I manage to say as my face turned slightly pink. "Well…"
"What isss it?" she says as she tries to move behind me so that she can look at my back. I move to the side, so thankfully she can't.
I'm too nervous! I shouldn't be, but I am! Rin-chan steps away from me and lets out a slight smile, before fixing strands of her hair to make it more neat.
"Well, if Kayo-chin doesn't want to tell me what it is, then I will respect that. I'm sorry that I-"
Before she can finish, I quickly put down the plastic bag beside me and hold out what was previously behind my back. A flower bouquet, ranging from shades of yellow to orange.
"Eh?" Rin-chan mumbles as she stares at the flowers- her face reddening and her eyes beginning to sparkle.
"I thought you were upset about the cat earlier so… I bought you some flowers. It might not be the best gift to make up for it… but I hope it helps… I bought these ones because I thought of you when I saw them…"
"For me…?" she says as she takes the flowers out of my hands and holds them herself. Now that they were out of my hands, I pick the plastic bag up with my hand, looking at the ground, trying to hide my face which was becoming brighter.
"Kayo-chin, you didn't have to… They are really pretty, but I wasn't that upset…"
"But you looked upset! That you scared the cat away and that you can't be near something that you like… I want to see Rin-chan be happy! Because seeing Rin-chan happy makes me feel happy as well."
As I say this, Rin-chan's eyes begin to tear up, and the shape of her mouth turns into a smile.
"Thank you, Kayo-chin..!" she says as she holds the flowers close to her and brings them up under her face. "Since Kayo-chin says so, I'll try not to be-"
"Aaa… T-That's not what I meant! You can be sad because it's healthy to experience a range of emotions… But I want Rin-chan to feel happy whenever it's possible."
Then, after an exchange of smiles, they walked home, hand in hand.