Comfort Her

Pairing: Reo x Eris

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Disclaimer: I do not own Sono Hanabira/A Kiss for the Petals or any of it's characters

One afternoon, Eris Shitogi sits alone on a bench near the busy streets of Tokyo. You would think that she's eagerly waiting for her girlfriend, Shizuku Kirishima, but this time, it's different. Shizuku had to go away wit her family somewhere and Eris kind of realized it too late. She was planning to have a romantic date with her lover, but it all backfired. Now she's sitting there, trying to think of something to do since she's out here.

When nothing comes in her mind, Eris lets out a sigh. "I guess I'll take a walk to warm up my mind a bit.," she says to herself as she stands up, brushes herself off and begins strolling.

So far, nothing catches her interest as she passes by every store and restaurant since she's not very hungry at the moment. She continues walking and walking until she stops.

"Mou~ I'm so darn bored!" she shouts to no one. "It's no fun without Shizuku around! There's got to be something I can do!"

It's not very rare for Eris to be alone like this. Last time she was alone, she had to wait for hours for her beloved to be done with her calligraphy work while sitting outside at a restaurant for their lovely date. Now, it's different.

Just when Eris is about to give up, she suddenly hears faint sniffling noises. Something like that makes her very curious. So, she starts to follow where the crying might be coming from. The noises soon become louder as soon as she steps foot into a little empty park. She looks around for a bit to see who it is until she notices a small figure curled up into a ball under a big tree. She now knows where the crying came from, but there's something familiar about this figure . . .

"I guess I'm not the only one who's lonely," Eris says to herself for she knows that small figure is Reo Kawamura under that tree.

She honestly wanted to comfort her and ask her what's wrong, but seeing how Reo is curled up lifts Eris's spirits up and makes her want to tease and have fun with her. So, she quietly approaches Reo from behind and whispers in her ear, "Guess who?"

This startles the younger blonde out of her ears and practically jumps away in surprise. "AAAHHHHH! E-Eris!?"

Eris only chuckles. "Nice seeing you, too, Reo-chan!" She emphasizes the "chan" with a wink.

"What are you doing here? I was just having some peace and quiet until you showed up!" Reo yells. "And since when do you have permission to call me by 'chan'?"

"You're just too adorable," Eris replies. "I thought I might call you 'Reo-chan' for one day. After all, we are friends."

Reo crosses her arms and looks away. "How can I be friends with a big breasted, carefree girl like you? All you ever do is annoy me."

Eris frowns. "Hey, now. That's harsh."

"Too bad. It's true, you know? Now, leave me alone so I can have my peace."

"I don't think so." Eris suddenly grabs Reo by the arm, pulls her in and hugs her tightly.

"H-hey, what are you doing?"

"Why, I'm hugging you, Reo. I just felt like doing this, too, since you're soft and cuddly to actually carry in my arms."

"N-now, hold on!" Reo stutters as she tries to break free.

After a few minutes of cuddling with Reo, Eris finally lets go, making the younger blonde pant in exhaustion. And now the two of them are sitting on the grass in silence, for at least 30 seconds anyway.

So, Eris," Reo says. "Now that we're both here, what is it that you want?"

"Oh, I was actually looking for something to do," Eris explains. "You see, Shizuku had to leave with her family so I'm left here, doing nothing until I found you."

"Is that so?"

Eris nods. "Mm-hmm! So, I've decided to take you for a lovely walk with me."

Reo suddenly stands up. "N-no! That's okay! I'm fine being here."

The older blonde frowns as she stands up as well and puts her hand on her hip. "Now, if you do that, someone may come and find you and maybe take you away. And Mai-san might be totally shocked if she finds out that you're missing."

Reo hesitates for a bit. Eris is right after all, but after hearing Mai's name, it made her feel down again. Eris looks puzzled by that expression.

"Reo-chan?"

"A-alright," the younger blonde mutters. ""I'll go with you. But you better not do some embarrassing stuff, got it?"

Eris brightens and quickly takes Reo's hand. "Excellent! Off we go!"

Reo blushes a little as she looks away. "Y-you don't have to hold my hand, though . . ."

"Don't worry!" Eris says, cheerfully. "It's just so tha you won't run out on me!"

"I won't run out either! Quit treating me like a little kid!"

"Oh, but your my little kid now. Hehe!"

"Shut up!"

So far, the walk is fine, but Reo keeps on feeling uneasy about Eris holding her hand. She knows that someone might get the wrong idea at any moment.

"E-Eris," Reo says as she stops. "Can you let go now?"

"Why, Reo-chan? You need something?"

"Well . . ." She glances at an ice cream truck passing by.

"Oh, you want ice cream?"

Reo nods.

"Alright. What kind do you want?" Eris asks as she takes out her wallet.

"Um . . . chocolate," Reo replies.

"Okay. Then, I'll have rum raison. Come along, Reo-chan."

Reo reluctantly follows Eris to the ice cream truck. After buying to two ice cream cones, the two blonde haired girls sit on a nearby bench, enjoying their treat. Eris glances at Reo to notice a speck of ice cream on her cheek.

"Reo- chan," she says. "You got something on your cute little cheek." She grabs a napkin from her lap. "Here, let me get that for you."

Reo quickly pulls away. "N-no! I can get it myself!"

"Hehe! Don't be silly!" Eris gently wipes the speck off until it's gone. "There, all done."

Reo rubs her cheek and turns away. "T-thanks."

"No problem!" Eris says with a smile.

After a few minutes, both of them finish their ice cream and are now just relaxing on the bench. Eris suddenly remembers Reo's sad expression from earlier. What was it that made her so sad anyway?

"Are we done?" Reo says. "Cause I want to go home right now."

"Not yet." There is some seriousness in Eris's voice, which Reo did not expect. "First, I want you to tell me why you were crying back there."

"What?"

"I'm asking why you were so sad earlier. I just saw you crying in the park, like something must have happened."

Reo gets angry. "W-why should I tell you!? It's none of your business!"

"Well I think it should be my business! Because you're my friend and I care about you! Friends are supposed to care for each other."

"B-but . . ." Reo didn't know what to say.

Eris quickly grabs her by the shoulders. "Please, Reo! I want to help you! So if you can just . . ." She stops immediately as soon as she sees Reo's eyes fill with tears. "Reo?"

The young blonde doesn't answer as tears fall from her cheeks.

"It's about Mai-san, isn't it?"

Reo nods as she sniffles.

"What happened? Is she alright?" ERis asks, her eyes filled with worry.

"N-no, Mai's . . . in the hospital. I asked her to buy me some candy, so she went to the store to buy some when she . . . got involved in a car accident."

Eris gasps as she cups one hand in her mouth. "Oh, my goodness! Is she going to be okay?"

More tears flow from Reo's eyes. "I-I don't know. There's a slight chance that Mai is going to die. The doctors wouldn't let me see her, so I ran from the hospital to the empty park that you found me in."

"Reo . . ."

"And now -sniff- I'm all alone!" Reo breaks into sobs and plunges into Eris's chest. "I'm so lonely without her! I don't want her to die! And it's all my fault!"

Eris immediately wraps her arms around her friend and gently strokes her hair. "You're never alone, Reo," she whispers. "I'm here for you."

"B-but . . ." Reo looks up at the older blonde.

"Shhh, it's okay. Just let it out, Reo-chan. Let it all out."

And that's just what Reo did. Clinging onto Eris's shirt, Reo cries and calls out Mai's name over and over.

After about a good 15 minutes, Reo is starting to calm down as she pulls away from Eris.

"Feeling better?" Eris asks.

"A little," Reo replies. "I'm still worried about Mai, though."

"How serious was the accident?"

"IT was serious and Mai seemed to be injured on serval parts of her body," Reo explains. "Plus, she lost some amounts of blood."

"Oh, dear . . ."

Reo looks down at the ground. "I'm scared, Eris. I'm really, really scared."

"Reo, don't think like that," Eris says, having a seriousness in her voice again.

The young blonde looks up at the older. "What?"

"You have to be strong for Mai-san. It's all in your heart and it's connected with Mai-san's. So, your love for her will always keep her alive if you keep believing in her."

"Really?"

"Absolutely. I know she's going to be okay and I'm sure you will feel the same way," Eris says, smiling at her.

Reo slowly nods. She now realizes that she doesn't have to worry about a thing as long as she keeps thinking that her lover will be okay. In an instant, she wraps her arms around Eris while slightly looking away.

"Reo-cham?"

"T-thank you . . . for being there for me when I needed it," Reo mutters.

Eris smiles as she strokes her hair. "And thank you for keeping me company when I needed it, too."

"D-don't think you're gonna get this all the time. Th-this is a one time opportunity, got it?"

"Don't worry. I'll have plenty more opportunities like this."

"Shut up."

Eris giggles as she keeps stroking her hair. All of a sudden, an elderly couple is walking by and happens to notice the two hugging each other.

"Well, isn't that adorable?" the elderly woman says.

Reo jumps away in surprise, releasing her grip from Eris. "H-huh!?"

"Are you two sisters?" the elderly woman asks.

"N-no!" Reo cries, frantically waving her arms around. "We are not even related to each other!"

Eris just puts an arm around Reo. "Aww, these two think we're sisters."

"Eris!"

The older blonde just giggles and turns to the elderly couple. "I'm sorry, but my friend is right. We're not sisters, but just close friends."

"No wonder," the elderly man says. "You two look a lot alike for some reason."

"Yes," the elderly woman agrees. "They kind of do, don't they?"

"Well, we're not sisters," Reo says, with a huff. "That's all."

Eris stands up as she takes Reo's hand. "It's nice taking to you, but I'm going to take my friend home now."

"Really?" Reo says.

Eris turns to the young blonde and winks.

"Oh, alright," the elderly woman says. "See you."

Eris waves as the elderly couple leave. By then, the two blondes start walking to Reo's apartment.

After about 10 minutes later, Eris is now at the front door at Reo's room with Reo unlocking the door and walking in. But she stops for a bit and slightly turns her head.

"Eris," she says, quietly. "Th-thanks again for your time. I had fun."

"I had fun, too," Eris replies.

"Can we do this again sometime?"

"Absolutely."

Reo looks back at the older blonde and finally smiles. Eris smiles back and waves. With that, Reo closes the door.

Outside of the apartment, Eris starts walking out of the building , but then stops and looks up at it. As a gentle breeze blows, she smiles as she puts a fist on her chest at the thought of Reo.

We may not be sisters on the outside, she thinks to herself. But I think we really are . . . in our hearts.

A/N: This is my first Reo x Eris fanfic. It took a lot to write this, so I hope you like it. To be honest, I'm really fond of these two, since I heard that they are in a sister-like relationship. Anyway, feel free to give out any suggestions, questions or concerns and don't forget to review. :)