warning for death of a parent and grieving
1.
Days and days of practice.
Raw, worn out fingers.
Longer hours, some spent practicing routines.
Eri stretches her own cheeks.
To most people, these would be the obvious signs that something was wrong, that she was in pain and needed help.
Karan Eri did none of these things.
Karan Eri continued life as normal.
Her Mother would have wanted that, for certain. So she tried. She smiled the same as ever, practiced punches that shook the air. But she still went to school and did her career. The first week of high school had to be her new beginning, or so it was told.
And then, unwittingly, Eri's normal bookshop visits became abnormal and it was all because Ai got a little too close and smelled her perfume. Really, it was.
Haru, by nature, was a person who fretted over everyone and everything, including himself. So it was surely normal to think worrying thoughts every time he passed by Eri at her textbooks in their secret base. Gatchmon, being Gatchmon, would simply ask her, or tell her, or something. But Haru just wasn't that kind of protagonist and his own self-awareness was for once actually helping him not go over there and potentially ruin everything. Still.
"Dokamon could help," he mused to himself. Well, maybe. Dokamon, with his infectious love and earnest concern, would cut through the normal Eri that was sweltering under the heat of being present amidst mourning. But the Appmon were not around right now, having been persuaded to let their Buddies study for their exams. Which he really should be doing. But his eyes kept wandering to the ponytail that shifted every time Eri bobbed her head to the song she listened to. Despite no longer being an idol, she held music so gently close to her chest it was at odds with her presented self. In the way despite all the natural movement that came to her, Eri's eyes remained the same.
His musings, and concern, were abruptly caught off when Ai came over and leaned on Eri without a second thought, chin resting on her hair. Eri's startled squawk jolted everyone, even Astra, from their work and even got a startled laugh out of him, especially at the confused sputtering Eri was now spewing from seemingly nowhere.
Haru couldn't help his smile. He had an idea!
A/N: I've been stuck on this pairing for ages friends. Let's see what I can do with it.
Challenges: digiotpweek, mega prompts word prompt 69, appmon minific masterclass drabblechap 1