Friends Forever
Pairing: Kaori x Amane
Genre: Romance & Hurt/Comfort
Disclaimer: I do not own Hanahira or any of its characters.
Author's Note: Hey, everyone. This is my first Hanahira fanfic. Even though I haven't played the game nor can understand what the heck is going on, I decided to give it a try anyway. It took a lot of looking up of their personalities and stuff, so I hope this turns out well. Please, enjoy the story! ;)
"Come on, Amane!" Kaori shouts as she hurriedly puts on her school uniform. "We're gonna be so late if you don't hurry up!"
"Give me a second!" the blue haired girl says as she ties her hair into a small pony-tail. "I don't want to mess up my hair style, you know?"
"Who cares!? We're late as it is!" Kaori says. "Since you decided to sleep in 10 minutes late, I had to bust my butt to get ready and wake you up!"
"But I was so ready to get to the next level!" Amane whines.
Kaori sighs heavily. "You played that Street Fighter game last night, didn't you?"
Amane nods while frowning. "I was about to defeat Ryuu when you just unplugged the TV cable."
"Well, it was getting very late and I had no choice," Kaori says, turning away. "A-anyway, we'd better get going. Or we'll be super late."
As Kaori is about to leave, Amane immediately hugs her friend from behind.
"WAIT FOR ME, KAORI-CHAAAANNN!" she squeals.
"AHHH!" the brown haired girl screams with her face going red. "What the blazes, Amane!?"
"I just want to cling onto you all the way to school!" Amane begs. "Pleeeaase!?"
Kaori sighs for the second time. "Oh, fine. Go ahead."
"Yay!"
For the rest of the walk, Kaori had to give Amane a piggy back ride half-way to the school since Amane was getting tired of hanging onto her friend. Fortunately for Kaori and Amane, they arrive to class with 1 minute to spare. As the bell rings, Kaori and Amane take their seats and get out their homework. But to Kaori's surprise, she couldn't find her homework in her bag. She rummages through everything, but finds nothing of yesterday's homework. She glances at Amane who is happily kicking her feet while humming. She glances at her friend and waves. Kaori shakes her head in annoyance and continues to check her bag, but still finds nothing. Oh, no! she thinks to herself. Don't tell me I left my homework at home! I must have been in a hurry so much that I completely forgot to take it! She turns to Amane.
"Um . . . Amane?" Kaori says, glancing at the door to see if the teacher is coming and turns back. "Do you have . . . your homework? It seems that I forgot mine."
"Hm?" The blue haired girl turns and smiles. "Oh, that." She digs into her bag and finds nothing, but Pokemon cards and drawings. "Oh . . . I don't have it either."
"What!?" Kaori gasps.
"Ahahaha!" Amane laughs nervously. "It seems that we both forgot it. I recall that we left them on your desk when we were trying to hurry."
"Then, why didn't you go get them when you had the chance!?"
"Well . . . I wanted to be with you, Kaori-chan. Clinging onto you was the best part when walking to school."
Kaori blushes as she turns away to hide it. "G-geez, get a grip. Don't you ever watch what you say?"
Amane just giggles. "Kaori-chan is so adorable I just can't stand it."
Kaori sighs for the third time. "What will I do with you?"
During lunch, Kaori is down in the dumps. After their failure of turning in their homework, both Kaori and Amane both received detention and had to redo the homework and make sure to turn it in tomorrow, with points taken down for turning it late. Kaori glares at her friend, feeling that it was her fault for sleeping in and making them late.
"My, what's wrong, Kaori?" Makoto asks, while opening up her lunch box.
"Yeah, you don't look so good," Koharu says, having a worried look in her eyes.
"Amane and I got detention," Kaori groans as she picks at her food.
"What happened?" Makoto asks.
"Well, first off, Amane wanted to sleep over and decided to not do her homework and just play video games all afternoon," Kaori explains. "All I did was try to concentrate on my homework and when I finally finished, Amane insisted on me joining her, but it was getting so late that she'll be too tired to go to school tomorrow, so I immediately disconnected the TV cable. Well, it turns out that Amane had played until 11:30 last night and didn't get much sleep. So, she decided to sleep in 10 minutes late, so I had to force her up and hurry to get ready. But when we got to the classroom, I checked my bag to see if I had my homework and sure enough, I didn't have it. I checked with Amane and she didn't have hers either. It turned out that she had forgot to remind me about the homework on the table after I've been telling her over and over to get to bed. And now the teacher gave us detention for not turning in the homework and expects us to turn it in by tomorrow, or it's a 0 for us."
"That's terrible," Makoto says.
"I'm sure Amane-chan didn't mean it," Koharu adds, drinking her water.
Kaori frowns at Amane. "Well, I never forgot my homework and got detention until today."
"Please forgive Amane-chan for what she did," Koharu says. "It's only one detention, right?"
"Detention still sucks!" Kaori shouts. "I didn't want to get detention in the first place!"
"Aw, don't worry, Kaori-chan!" Amane says, wrapping her arms around her friend. "At least we got detention together."
"A-Amane?" Kaori says, blushing.
"You won't be alone as long as I'm with you," Amane says. "Won't you stay with me, Kaori-chan?"
"I-it doesn't matter," the brown haired girl says, turning away to hide her blush. "Besides, it's your fault for making me late in the first place."
"Oh, please forgive me," Amane begs. "I didn't mean for us to forget our homework and-"
Kaori turns to the blue haired girl angrily. "There's nothing to forgive you about! Because of you, we got detention for forgetting out homework and barely making it to class! And you didn't even do your homework, which made it ten times worse!"
Amane's expression changes into a frightened look. "K-Kaori-chan . . . I'm sorry . . ."
"Sorry doesn't cut it!" Kaori says, turning away. "I never got detention, ever! But . . . now I got it because of you! You know, you're always a lazy brat, Amane! When will you ever learn to do things on your own instead of lazing around?"
Makoto gasps. "Kaori . . ."
"Are you sure you should be saying that?" Koharu says, worriedly.
"What? She's been like this for a long time," Kaori says. "And also, she's been getting poor grades all the time, so I had to bust my butt to help her study, which is a huge waste of my energy. On top of that, she always clings onto me at any given moment."
"That's because I love you, Kaori-chan," Amane says as she starts to hug her friend. "Don't you love me?"
"Love you?" Kaori's anger level rises up again and without thinking, she shoves Amane down on the floor, causing Makoto and Koharu to gasp. "How could I love a lazy friend like you? You play too much video games, you're too lazy and probably don't even take care of yourself! No one loves a lazy brat like you!"
This brings Amane to tears. "I'm . . . I'm sorry, Kaori-chan. I-I didn't mean to be a burden to you."
"Yeah, whatever! I don't want to work with someone who's always lazy."
Amane gasps and glares. "Well then, if that's how it's gonna be, fine." She stands up and cries out, "YOU'RE NOT MY FRIEND ANYMORE, KAORI-CHAN!"
Kaori gasps this time as she hears those horrific words. Without another word, Amane runs off, taking her lunch with her.
"A-Amane . . ." Kaori says softly while trying to reach out for her poor friend, but Amane is gone from sight. The brown haired girl slowly lowers her arm as she hangs her head down in shame.
"That was really harsh, Kaori," Makoto says, crossing her arms.
"I can't believe you hurt Amane like that," Koharu adds, close to tears as well.
"I know," Kaori says, clenching her fists. "I was just mad that I got detention and forgot my homework that I couldn't control my anger." Now, Kaori is regretting for what she did to her poor friend. She didn't mean to blurt out terrible things to her.
"You know, Amane may be a video game addict, plus a failure at cooking and studying, but she still cares about you," Makoto says. "And you know that, too, right?"
Kaori can't help but agree. "Yes. She is a bit caring."
"Remember when she volunteered to take care of you when you were having a fever?" Makoto reminds her.
"Yes. I remember that." Kaori says, looking up at the ceiling. It's true. Amane had a feeling that Kaori wasn't looking so good, so she checked her temperature and it proved that she had a cold. So, Amane decided to stay and take care of her until she got better.
"And remember when you didn't have an umbrella and it was pouring rain outside?" Makoto continues. "Fortunately, Amane shared hers with you and both of you walked home together under one umbrella." She walks up to Kaori and puts her hand on her shoulder. "So, she's not as lazy as you think she is. You're just forgetting that part of her since you're so used to her usual personality."
Kaori doesn't say anything as she keeps her eyes on the floor. Makoto does make a really good point. Amane is her childhood friend after all and they've been together all the time. So, of course Kaori knows that side of her, only she's so used to Amane's cheerful, lazy personality. She recalls her shoving Amane down in her head, but shakes off the thought.
"So . . . what are you gonna do?" Makoto asks with a serious expression on her face.
"I . . . I don't know yet," Kaori says, looking at her friend with a sad look. "Amane is not gonna talk to me again, so it's impossible to ask for forgiveness."
The purple haired girl crosses her arms. "Well, you better do something, or else things could get ugly."
"Huh?" Kaori did not understand what her friend was trying to say.
"Look, you two are childhood friends, right?" Makoto says. "And friends sometimes make up with each other. Find some way to apologize to Amane, okay? Neither Koharu nor I like it when you two fight."
Kaori nods. "Alright. I'll try my best." But deep down, she wasn't really sure if she's up for it. For all she knows, Amane might not talk to her at all, which can be a big problem if she can't find a way to apologize to her.
For the rest of the day, Amane was ignoring Kaori. Even when Kaori tried to bring up a conversation, Amane doesn't say anything to her. Kaori is feeling that it's getting even more and more impossible to ask for forgiveness. And when the school day ends, Kaori and Amane are on their way to the detention room. Amane walks ahead of Kaori about 4 feet away from her to keep her distance. Kaori is surprised to see that from Amane, but decides to go with it for now. She figures to try to talk things over with Amane after detention.
When they arrive at detention, Amane immediately walks to the front, not even making eye contact with Kaori. The brown haired girl proceeds to sit in the back, diagonally from her, just to be on the safe side. Taking out the empty sheet that she was supposed to turn in, she begins to work on it, on a pretty quick pace since she knew most of it by heart. Looking up at Amane, she could see that she's struggling with the problems that she doesn't get, even the simple ones that she should be answering. But she still wouldn't look at Kaori and just keeps on struggling with the homework. Kaori knew to keep quiet in the detention room, so helping her in there won't do any good. However, as the brown haired girl kept on working, onto the last few problems, she can't help but steal glances at her poor friend. Amane is still stumped on the problems and didn't even write one thing down on her paper. So, she decides to give up and shove the paper inside her bag and just sits there with her arms crossed.
Kaori is starting to feel really bad for her childhood friend. All she wanted was to help her out so she can get it done in time, but because of her stupid actions toward Amane, she might not be able to anymore. So, she continues to do her work until she completes it and puts it in a safe place inside her bag so that she won't forget it tomorrow. With that, she just sits there, watching Amane from far away with a sad look in her eyes. Regret fills within her body as the thought of Kaori shoving Amane appears in her head again.
What's wrong with me? Kaori thinks. Amane didn't deserve to be treated this way. She's my best friend and to be honest . . . I like her constant hugging. I like her cheerfulness and making everyone smile around her. I like each and every one of her traits. But it's more than like. More than . . . like. Kaori blushes as she stares at her friend. Yes . . . it's true. Amane's more than just a friend. Because . . . I love her.
Kaori had been in love with Amane since before they became high schoolers. But once she realized those feelings, she never had the chance to tell her since she's not so honest with her feelings anyway. She always wondered if she will ever tell Amane her feelings. But now Kaori has other matters to deal with, like making up with her childhood friend.
When the after school bell rings, Amane immediately gets up from her chair and walks past Kaori without looking at her. Kaori quickly gets up from her desk and runs after Amane. They chase each other down the halls until they get to the exit and slow down once they get to the streets. Amane still doesn't look at Kaori as she begins walking down the path, without having the slightest idea of where she's going. Mostly because . . . Kaori is on her mind. She herself is regretting about what she had just said to her friend earlier. Although she was hurt from what Kaori had said to her, Amane had realized that Kaori made a very good point. She has been lazy for far to long and she needs to change somehow. However, Amane needs to let Kaori know that it's who she is and she can't help herself. It's the Amane she is and that's probably the Amane she will be for the rest of her life.
Both of them continue to walk in a distance when they come to a cross walk. Amane turns back and notices Kaori following her and frowns.
"A-Amane?" Kaori is surprised that her friend would finally look at her after trying so hard to ignore her.
"Go away!" Amane demands. "I don't want to talk to you."
"But I do," Kaori pleads. "I wanted to talk to you for so long, but you keep on avoiding me."
"And I shall keep on avoiding you," Amane presses. "Since you're not my friend anymore and you do not like lazy people."
"Listen, I did not mean that kind of stuff, okay? I was just angry that I forgot my homework and got a detention for it. I had no idea that it would hurt you this badly."
"Well, it did! So, thanks a lot, Kaori-chan!" She turns back to the road. "Now just leave me alone!"
"Wait, Amane!" Kaori begs as she takes a few steps closer to her friend.
"Stay away!" Amane shouts as she starts running without even looking where she's going. "You don't like me anymore, so I'm not gonna-"
BEEEEP! BEEEEP! BEEEEEEEEEEP!
"AMANE, LOOK OUT!"
"AAHHHHHHH!" The blue haired girl lets out a loud scream as she is about to be hit by a big car coming her way.
However, as quick as a flash, Kaori jumps in and pushes Amane out to safety. Amane lands face down on the road as she hears the truck screech to a halt about a few inches from her feet. She realizes that she's unharmed from this unexpected moment, but where's Kaori?
"Kaori-chan?" she calls as she sits up and crawls around to find her friend. "Kaori-chan?"
She comes around to find her friend lying on the road, not moving. Amane crawls over to her and tries to shake her awake.
"Kaori-chan? Kaori-chan, wake up."
No answer.
"Kaori-chan?"
Still no answer. That's when Amane knew that something's definitely wrong.
"KAORI-CHAAAAAAAAAN!"
At the hospital, Amane is pacing back and forth in a panic while Makoto and Koharu stare at her in worry. Once she had called the ambulance, Amane contacted Makoto and Koharu the news and told them to come to the hospital immediately. It was about an hour since Kaori was taken there and Amane continues to worry and panic over this. Why, Kaori-chan? Amane thinks to herself while still pacing back and forth. Why in the world would you do this? Makoto and Koharu continue to stare at their friend in worry until Makoto speaks up.
"Um, Amane," she starts. "I'm sure Kaori will be just fine. She'll make it."
"How do you know?" Koharu asks, turning to the purple haired girl.
"Because I know that Kaori is a strong person," Makoto says, having a serious look in her eyes. "She can make it through some accident. She's going to be okay."
"I hope so," Koharu says.
"Can you guys be quiet for just a second!?" Amane shouts. "The doctor may be here any minute!"
"It's been an hour," Makoto points out.
"I don't care!" Amane says. "I just want Kaori-chan to be alive! I want Kaori-chan to live! I just . . ." Her eyes well up in tears. "I just want her to be by my side forever." The blue haired girl couldn't hold it in anymore and starts crying.
Makoto stands up and hugs her friend while stroking her hair in comfort. "And she will. You just have to believe it from your heart."
"My heart?" Amane repeats.
"Yes. After all, you love her, don't you?"
The blue haired girl gasps. "H-how did you know?"
Makoto softly giggles. "Well, I can tell from the way you and Kaori interact. You always find the opportunity to hug her and tell her how much you love her. I had watched you two for a long time. That's how I know."
"Oh . . ." Amane had no idea that Makoto knew about their relationship.
"So . . . has Kaori told you how she felt?" Makoto asks.
"Now that you mentioned it, she never did," Amane replies sadly. "I don't even know if she loves me back."
"Well, isn't that up to her?" Makoto says. "You two are childhood friends, so there must be love somewhere in your relationship."
Amane nods in understanding. "You're right. Thanks, Makoto-chan! I think I'm starting to feel a little better."
Makoto smiles. "That's good."
Just then, the door opens and the doctor comes out with clipboard in hand. He looks like in his 40's with white hair and glasses on. He turns to Amane.
"You're Miss Amane Yuuki, right?" he asks.
"Yes. How's Kaori-chan?" The blue haired girl says.
"Well, Miss Hanemura has received some injuries, mostly from the right leg and left arm and chest," the doctor says. "It's a miracle that she's alive. If it weren't for her, you would've been in her place."
Amane gasps and brightens at the good news.
"Also," the doctor continues. "I have to inform you this: the driver who had hit her has apologized earlier. Miss Hanemura forgave this person and he had left a few minutes ago. She should be released in a couple of days."
"Can I see her?" Amane asks.
"Certainly," the doctor says with a smile. "Miss Hanemura should be up by now, so follow me."
Amane waves to her friends as Makoto gives her a thumbs up for good luck. She then follows the doctor in the long hallway until they reach their destination. Amane carefully opens the door and notices Kaori sleeping peacefully on the hospital bed.
"I shall leave you two in private," the doctor says as he leaves the room and closes the door.
Amane slowly walks over to Kaori's bedside and sits down on a chair. She looks at Kaori's peaceful face as tears start welling up from her eyes.
"Kaori-chan," she chokes a sob. "I'm so sorry. Please forgive me." A tear drops on Kaori's face, which makes her flinch a little.
The brown haired girl slowly opens her eyes and looks over to her side. Her eyes clear up from her the blurry vision and notices her childhood friend sitting by her bedside with no one else around.
"A-Amane?" Kaori whispers.
"Hey," the blue haired girl whispers back. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm doing better," Kaori replies as she sits up. "Where's Makoto and Koharu?"
"They're in the waiting room. I decided to visit you by myself."
Kaori blushes and turns away. "Th-thanks."
Silence fills the room for about 30 seconds. Kaori looks down at the sheets while glancing at Amane. She's still not sure if she should ask her for forgiveness. However, Amane beats her to it.
"So . . ." the blue haired girl says. "I'm glad that you're okay. And they told me that you're gonna be coming home in a couple days."
"I see . . ." Kaori says softly.
"Do you want anything? You need a glass of water?" Amane starts to stand up when she hears Kaori speak.
"Why . . .?" Kaori whispers with her head hung so low that her bangs covers her facial expression.
"Huh?" Amane says, raising an eyebrow.
"Why didn't you look both ways? I mean, you knew that the crosswalk didn't change and yet you just ran off like that."
"I'm sorry, Kaori-chan. I really am."
Just then, Kaori grabs onto Amane's shirt while letting out a few sniffles. "Do you have any idea . . . how scared I was?"
"Kaori-chan . . ."
The brown haired girl finally lets out her sobs and buries her head in Amane's chest. "I was afraid you would get hit and die from that car! I didn't want you to get hurt, not like this! Especially since earlier when I told you all those stupid stuff!" She lets out a few more sniffles. "I-I was selfish, thinking of only myself and not your feelings. I forgot that you had another side of you and that's your caring side. I was so used to your usual personality that I just didn't think you had another part of your personality." She clutches Amane's shirt as she starts sobbing again. "Please forgive me, Amane! Ngh . . . please . . . WAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Amane smiles as she gently strokes Kaori's hair. "I forgive you, Kaori-chan," she says calmly. "And I'm sorry for getting us both in trouble."
Kaori looks up at her friend while tears still fall freely from her eyes. Amane wipes one of them with her finger.
"From now on, I'll try to keep up with my studies and take care of myself," Amane promises. "This I swear."
Kaori just nods while sniffling.
"And . . ." Amane takes Kaori's chin and leans closer to her. "I also want you to know this." She plants her lips against Kaori's for a bit before pulling back.
Kaori gasps at what just happened. "A-Amane?"
"Yes. I love you, Kaori-chan," Amane says, smiling. "And when I said it, I really meant it. Ever since we've been together when we were kids, I had feelings for you right away. You were so adorable, even as a little girl. And that's why I wanted to hug you at any given moment because I love you."
Kaori blushes at this. "A-Amane . . . I . . ." She was really surprised at her friend's confession that she's left speechless.
"Now then," Amane says, taking her friend's hand. "Do you love me?"
This makes Kaori blush harder and turn away to hide it. "Um . . ."
"Come on," Amane teases. "It's just a simple question, so it requires a simple answer."
"Don't you think I know that!?" Kaori says, while still blushing. "I . . . I love you, too."
"I can't hear you~!"
Kaori groans for a bit as she keeps on avoiding contact with Amane for a second. Then, turning to her with a face as red as a tomato, Kaori blurts out, "I love you, Amane! I love you, too!"
The blue haired girl giggles. "There we go." She takes both of Kaori's hands and smiles. "Will you promise me to stay friends forever?"
Kaori smiles back. "Absolutely. Friends forever."
With that, the two lean in and lock lips together, not wanting to let go of each other. This is something to remember for a long time.
A/N: Whew! That took a lot to write this one shot! Well, what do you guys think? Like I said earlier, I tried my best to match the character's personalities from Hanahira and it's sad that it's not translated. They look so adorable in the artwork, almost looking like they are in kindergarden. That was my impression until I had found out that they are just high schoolers all along! Haha! What a big mistake on my part! XD The artwork makes the impression that they look like they are in kindergarden or something because of their adorable looks and stuff!
Also, I ship Kaori x Amane because they are the main pairing in Hanahira, plus they are childhood friends. So, that's why I like this pairing because their interactions and personalities amuse me.
Oh, by the way, Hanahira is kind of similar to Lucky Star, only the tsundere is the main protagonist. And speaking of Lucky Star, I was inspired by one of the Lucky Star stories "Tears of Christmas" so that's why I wrote this one shot.
So . . . feel free to give out any suggestions, questions or concerns and don't forget to review! ;) Also, feel free to provide any suggestions on some more Kaori x Amane stories I could write.