You take your eyes off your book for a moment.
You're finding it hard to concentrate with the lively atmosphere around you. You are almost certain that libraries are meant to have quiet environments for people like to you read and study, not a playground for people too immature to sit still for five minutes. Sighing, you shift your gaze to the two girls – around your age, probably – sitting across from you.
A ginger and a brunette, staring at the screen of a phone. You can tell by the smiles on their faces that it's no doubt something amusing, though you don't feel at all inclined to want to find out. The ginger lets out a laugh and you can't help but furrow your brows: surely a loud noise like that would attract the attention of a librarian. But as you strain your neck to look for one, you recoil back into your original position in shock and surprise with a red face.
You aren't exactly sure whether it's even legal to do indecent activities in the library, much less in an easily accessible area. You find yourself unable to focus on your book, shifting uncomfortably and occasionally glancing at the couple making out by the bookshelf on the other side of the room. You watch with wide eyes as one of the two girls – the purple-haired one – slip a hand up the other's – a blonde – shirt. Quickly turning away, you stare at the cover of your book, wishing the red away from your face.
"You okay there?" You jump in surprise, looking up. The ginger sitting opposite you stares at you, concerned. "Your face is all red!"
"That's none of your business," you grumble, narrowing your eyes. The brunette beside the short-haired ginger sends you an apologetic look, before muttering to her friend, "R-Rin-chan, don't…"
"It's fine," you say out of politeness, though it's really not. It's downright rude, and you're glad that at least the brunette can understand that much.
"But Kayochin!"
"Oh, no, I need to go," you say, dramatically looking at your watch. The brunette seems to pick up on your sarcastic tone, but Rin – that's her name, right? – falls easily for your lame act, "Right!" She nods enthusiastically, "See you around!"
Rin waves as you exit the library.
You hope, inside, that you won't see her again.
You see her again.
Rin's with her brunette friend – Kayo? – like last time, though now she's with another obnoxiously loud ginger with a side ponytail and a short black-haired girl with her hair in twintails, like a little kid.
You swiftly dive behind a bookshelf, hoping to cover yourself in the likely chances of Rin spotting you. You make your way to the furthest table from them which, unfortunately, makes you exposed again. And of course, annoying ginger number one spots you.
"OH!" Rin's voice fills the library and you almost flinch in response. You silently hope she gets banned from this place. You hurry to the table as Kayo hushes her friend, taking the chance to take a seat. The ginger doesn't relent, though, "It's Redhead! Kayochin, it's redhead!"
"Can you not," you murmur as you stare at your notebook filled with notes. Ignore them, Maki. Just ignore them.
Surprisingly enough, the library is quiet again, just as it's meant to be; you can finally begin working on your assignment. The moment your pen touches your notebook, though, a loud scream pierces the silence and you nearly jump out of your seat. "What the heck," you grunt, glaring at the source of the noise. You aren't at all shocked to see that it had come from the table with Rin and Kayo. Bunch of idiots, you think. But as you look over again, you see two faces that you deem familiar.
A bit too familiar, actually…
Blonde hair and purple hair…
Oh no.
You feel the heat crawling up your neck as you avert your gaze, not noticing that the seat next to yours is now taken. "Fucking idiots, they all are," the girl beside you mutters, and you're taken aback by her language for someone as young as her.
It's the one with the black hair in twintails. "Um," you manage.
"Rin is a fucking idiot," she continues, ignoring you. You can't help but agree.
She starts muttering incoherent curses that are no doubt hurtful, and it's getting harder and harder to concentrate on your work. "Can you please–"
The girl stands up before you can finish your sentence, not even sparing a glance at you but throwing her hands up in the air dramatically. "Oh my god! Does the world hate me?"
You nod at her back.
"I'm going crazy."
Umi stares at you in disbelief. "As far as I know, you are the least likely person to go insane."
You grunt. "Not anymore."
Your best friend doesn't press, though the look of concern and confusion is evident. She's never had a good poker face. You don't wait for her to tell you to start; you rant about the past week and how absolutely annoying the group of people who were there daily are. Umi doesn't remark, remaining silent. She's like a wall, you've realised a long time ago. She stands strong for you to lean on when you're having trouble, whether big or small. You appreciate it.
You eagerly accept when Umi offers to go to the library with you, though you're not quite sure how it would help. Maybe she wanted to see how annoying Rin, Kayo and their friends could be.
"I'm concerned," Umi speaks up as you scan the library. It's empty today. "I do not see anyone here."
"No, but…!" How could it be that they weren't here today? Now that you thought about it, Wednesdays – today – was the only day you didn't come to the library, but was the only day Umi has nothing on. Could it be that Rin and friends didn't come on Wednesdays as well? "God…"
"Well, I don't mind staying a bit longer," Umi says, though she isn't looking at you. You follow her gaze, eyes landing on a librarian across the room. She's arranging the books on the shelf, and for a moment you wonder if all librarians are this OCD. Umi doesn't take her eyes off the girl, who has ash-gray coloured hair in a strange hairstyle. "Oi, Umi. Don't tell me…"
"I…" your friend whispers, and you strain your ears to hear her. "I don't mind coming here every day."
You're done with your assignments for the term, so why are you back at the library?
Right, Umi, you remind yourself. Though she has her notes and textbooks with her, your dark-haired friend spends more time shifting her gaze around, no doubt looking for the same ash-haired librarian she had seen the last time.
Not to forget Rin and friends, who were, obviously, as annoying as ever. The laughs emitted from their table brings you an uncomfortable feeling, and you begin to wonder if it's because it's merely annoying or because there's no one for you to laugh with. You brush the thought off when you hear Umi's breath hitch.
She's staring at the table of idiots. Funny, you think, because the entire time you'd been trying to make her look there, and it's only now that she does. Your bring your line of sight there, too, and notice that instead of the usual six occupants, there are seven. You don't have to squint to recognise her.
"Oh my god, Umi," you mumble, but you know she can't hear you, "you're too gay for your own good."
"Okay, we're going to talk to them." You snap Umi out of her trance by grabbing her wrist, pulling her up before dragging her over to the table.
You hear Rin say, "Oh, it's redhead and friend!"
You ignore the rest of the members; you walk straight up to the librarian with Umi in tow, whose gaze is averted.
"She," you jab a finger to Umi, who still hasn't made an attempt to make eye contact with the ash-haired librarian, "has a huge gay crush on you."
Umi hasn't talked to you since.
You feel slightly bad that you don't really care, but you're about a hundred percent sure that she's going out with Kotori – the librarian – now. You've been introduced to the bunch of idiots:
Nozomi, the purple-haired one. She's extremely spiritual, and likes tarot card readings.
Eli, the blonde, Nozomi's girlfriend. She's supposedly the most levelheaded, but becomes a heap of gayness when with Nozomi.
Rin, the annoying ginger. She meows, and likes ramen.
Hanayo, the brunette. She's obsessed with rice and her name is not Kayo.
Honoka, the other annoying ginger. She likes bread, and food in general.
Kotori, the librarian. She behaves like a princess, but she's pretty kind.
Nico, the kid. You find out shortly that she's actually two years older than you, but you still refuse to believe it. She acts like a ten-year-old.
You wonder if you should return to the library. You have no reason to be there, really, but somehow you feel obligated to. You convince yourself that it's just that you haven't seen Umi in two weeks, that you're just doing your job as a concerned friend.
"Oh, hi, roll." Nico's the only one here today.
"Roll?" You narrow your eyes at the nickname.
"Your name is Maki, right? So you're a roll."
"Oh my god." You consider giving her a nickname as well, but Nico's name means smile. No way in hell. "Please don't."
"Whatevs."
"So, uh…" You eye the empty seats beside her. "Why are you here alone?"
"Waiting for you," comes her instant reply. You found out from Nozomi that Nico tends to spout random bullshit when she isn't thinking, and you assume this was what she meant. You're not exactly sure why you feel your heart race. "Just kidding. I'm here to wait for Kotori. She's bringing me to an idol shop with Hanayo once she's done with work."
"Oh." Hesitantly, you take a seat beside her. "You…like idols?"
"Yeah." Nico's gaze was fixated on her phone. "Me and Hanayo are idol fans."
You frown, "Then why is Kotori taking you?"
Nico shrugs, "Hanayo doesn't feel safe going anywhere with me alone."
You resist the urge to snicker. "Can't blame her," you mutter, hoping she can't hear you. If she had, she certainly made no acknowledgment of it.
You stare at the table, Nico still tapping away at her phone. She glances up at the clock before groaning. "God, it's already four! Kotori's shift ends at three-thirty, where the fuck is she."
The older girl stands up, mumbling something about looking for the gray-haired librarian. She's gone before you know it, and you're alone by yourself again.
You don't know why, but there's an empty feeling in you. You've always been alone; why do you feel like this now? Like you're lacking company?
"Bye, roll!" You turn your head to see Nico walking out of the library, Kotori behind her. You smile slightly despite the nickname. Maybe they're not idiots, after all. Maybe, just maybe, you could make this work.
Maybe, they could be your friends.
You wave back.