AN: Hey friends! A new story that was originally intended to be a one shot, but grew so lengthy that it was a better choice to split it up into a few chapters. AU where Nozomi, Eli and Nico were friends during their childhood.
Special thanks to tumblr users nyamazing-cathlete for the story title and to pasdechat for contributing head canons and chapter titles to the story ;). Enjoy friends!
"Nozomi! It's morning dear, time to get up!"
Nozomi's eyes twitch and a frown forms on her face as her mother's voice calls to her from the kitchen. She opens her eyes rather slowly and sits up, rubbing the sleep away and taking in the appearance of her room. Unpacked boxes are stacked on the floor along the walls and her frown deepens once she remembers that they had moved into their new apartment the day before.
The small child throws the blanket of her futon off of her and stands up, walking towards the exit and trying to remember exactly where the bathroom is. A quick glance down the hallway reminds her that this time it's at the very end and she quietly walks towards the bathroom to begin her morning routine. It's one of the few things that stays the same despite the amount of times her family moved.
With her teeth brushed, face washed and hair tied into two small braids, Nozomi makes her way back to the room she slept in. She quickly slips into the outfit she had picked out the night before and neatly folds up her futon, making sure that it would be easy to set up again later that night. After that she walks towards the kitchen, where her mother hurriedly washes the dishes that she used to make a quick breakfast and lunch for Nozomi.
"Good morning!" She greets with a smile.
"Good morning Mom." Nozomi says with a tiny smile, happy to see that her mother was still home.
Her mother tries to make it a habit to be home before Nozomi's first day at a new school. Nozomi appreciates it, even if it means her mother has to stay later at the studio.
"Are you ready for your first day of school?" She asks with a smile, placing a plate down in front of Nozomi. The small girl shrugs, saying a quick prayer out loud before grabbing her chopsticks and digging in to her breakfast.
"I guess." She mumbles before munching on some rice.
"You're going to do alright Nozomi. You always do."
Nozomi's appetite is suddenly gone and she slowly places her chopsticks down, looking at her barely touched food with a frown. Putting on a fake smile and pretending that school was okay to her parents wasn't something Nozomi wanted to be good at.
"Are you and Dad going to be home late tonight?" She asks quietly, changing the topic. Her mother expression softens as she gazes at her daughter.
"I'm sorry Nozomi, you know how it gets. Dad will be filming the morning and evening news for the time being and the studio wants me to be the on scene reporter as well as the weather woman for the evening news while Furutani-san is on maternity leave. But the moment we get home we'll all have a meal together, okay?"
Nozomi nods her head, knowing already by the tone of her mother's voice that dinner with her parents that night was an empty promise. They'd both be too tired and order some sort of take out and sit in front of their television and discuss how the day at the studio for the both of them went while she silently listened to their discussions. Her mother and father both work at the same television studio downtown. Her father was a camera man while her mother was a television host and reporter. The two of them preferred to work on the scene and travel rather than stick in the studio and usually leapt at any and all offers to film and work outside of Tokyo. This was the main reason her parents moved from place.
Nozomi didn't really mind some of the places she went to. Because of their travels, she had seen many things girls her age had only dreamt about. Her parents had filmed many popular documentaries focusing on things like well known landmarks throughout the world, animal habitats, international news, practically any and all out of country filming was something her parents enjoyed doing the most. Nozomi didn't have any direct family she could stay with in Japan, so she often accompanied her parents on their work trips and attended quite a number of schools. Her quiet nature and the looming thoughts of not staying in one place for too long kept her from getting closer to other kids her age and so she spent most of her time reading and self teaching herself the native languages of countries they stayed in.
Not long after finishing the dishes, her mother takes off the apron she wore and hangs it on a hook. Nozomi watches as her mother steps out of the kitchen and down the hallway, probably towards the room her and her father shared. The violet haired girl took this opportunity to take her almost full plate over to the garbage, scraping the barely touched food into the trash and throwing her plate into the sink.
"Alright Nozomi, I'm sorry I can't stay any longer but I need to head out if I want to get to work in time." Nozomi's mom calls out as she heads down the hallway to the door, slipping on her work heels and putting on her jacket. "It's getting chilly out, so make sure you put on your sweater, okay? Oh! And don't forget we hid the spare key for you under the potted plant outside! Your lunch is on the counter and have a good day at your new school! Love you!"
Nozomi watches from the kitchen doorway as her mother quickly glances at her watch before making her hasty exit, leaving Nozomi alone in the uncomfortable apartment.
"Have a good day Mom..." Nozomi says quietly to herself, frowning as she heads to back to her room to grab her schoolbag and a sweatshirt from her unpacked box of clothes.
She quickly finds her favourite sweatshirt -a very plain pastel purple coloured sweater with oversized sleeves- and slips the article of clothing on with ease. She then moves over to the side and picks up her red schoolbag, walking slowly back to the kitchen to collect the lunch her mother had made for her. She sighs to herself before making her way to the front door and stepping carefully into her own shoes. After making sure they were on properly, she slips her school bag onto her shoulders and glances back into the empty apartment, muttering only loud enough for her to hear.
"I'm leaving."
The small girl closed the door behind her, making sure that it was locked before gripping onto her bag straps and quietly making her way down the stairs and to the main road.
The way to school isn't too hard. Her father drove past it towards where their new apartment was the day before so that Nozomi had an idea of where she would have to go the following day. All she has to do is walk down the long street and make a left at the second road she came to. After that it's only a five minute walk until she makes it to the crosswalk that was only minutes away from her new school. It was simple enough for her to remember.
The walk is over before Nozomi realizes it and she now stood just in front of the school gates, looking in to the yard of the large building. She silently wonders how much time she would have to get used to this particular school before her parents announced they would be moving again. Not wanting to linger on those thoughts, the small girl makes her way towards the school and to the faculty office, where they help figure out what class she would be transferring into and where to go.
She meets her new teacher very quickly -an elegant dark skinned woman with a smile that could warm even the coldest of hearts- and soon the two of them were on their way to the homeroom class. She politely asks Nozomi to wait outside before she introduces her to the class and Nozomi nods her head in understanding. The school bell goes off and her teacher steps inside, greeting the class and asking them to quiet down. Nozomi waits patiently as the teacher talks about a couple of things before saying the words that would be her cue to enter.
"We have a new student joining us today class!" Nozomi took in a small breath, calming the bit of anxiety she always felt before stepping in front of the class.
"Please come in, Tojo-san!"
Nozomi slowly opens the door and ignores the stares from her new peers as she walks towards the podium. The teacher asks her to write her name on the board and introduce herself and Nozomi does as she's told, quickly writing her name on the chalk board carefully and turning to the boys and girls her age.
"My name is Tojo Nozomi." She says with no emotion. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you." She bows to end the introduction, as she always did and the teacher speaks again to the students.
"Lets do our best to make Tojo-san feel welcome in our class, alright?"
Several different students reply while others stay quiet. Nozomi ignores the few kids who continue to stare and patiently waits for the teacher to direct her to a seat.
"Let's see... the only available spot seems to be just behind Yazawa-san near the window. Would you mind that, Tojo-san?"
"Not at all Sensei." Nozomi replies, looking over to where said seat was.
Just in front of it sits a petite black haired girl with two low twin tails who pays little to no attention to the situation going on as she scribbles on a piece of paper in front of her. Next to the empty seat is a girl with blonde hair tied into a ponytail on top of her head with the brightest blue eyes Nozomi has ever seen. She glances away the moment Nozomi makes eye contact with her and Nozomi says nothing as she moves away from the podium and towards the empty seat.
She hangs her backpack on the back of her chair, pulls out her notebooks and takes her seat. The teacher smiles once Nozomi has sat down and begins calling out the names for attendance. Nozomi takes this time to fall back to her own thoughts and take in the classroom set up.
This one had a sunny theme to it. Bright orange and yellow decorations littered the bulletin boards at the side and back of the class and even alongside the sides of the chalkboard. Underneath a smaller sun was a square labeled cleaning duty, a few chalk eraser marks splayed on the board and new names written inside of it. Aside from the sun decorations, everything else seemed to be set up much like every other school Nozomi had attended before hand. There were some posters taped to the windows she sat near as well as window stickers that added for more decorations to brighten up the already lively room.
"Ayase-san?" The teacher calls out, bringing Nozomi out of her observations and back to the present.
"Yes?" Nozomi is startled to hear the blonde beside her answer the teacher and turns her way, taking a better look at the girl who sits next to her.
"Would you mind sharing your textbook for math with Tojo-san for today?" She smiles towards the two of them and Eli doesn't hesitate to respond.
"Of course not Sensei." She stands up a bit, grabbing the ends of her desk and awkwardly moving it closer to Nozomi's.
The blonde -Ayase-san, if Nozomi heard right- says nothing as she take her seat again and slips her textbook between the both of them. Nozomi mumbles a small thank you and soon the teacher begins their lesson, which seems to focus on multiplying numbers past twelve. Nozomi's grateful most math curriculums she had between each school she attended were in tune with each other and it relieves her to know that she wouldn't need to catch up on any other math units.
The time to work on the math problems starts and immediately the girl in front of the two of them turns around, looking directly to the blonde.
"Hey Eli, can you explain the multiplication thing for me again? I don't think I did it right." The black haired girl's bright red eyes avoid Nozomi as she looks directly to the other girl, who sighs and holds her hand out for the other girls notebook.
"Nico, you always ask me when you could just ask Sensei." She grumbles before looking over the piece of paper that had been handed to her. "Well, you definitely got it wrong. Did you add the zero when you went to multiply the ones?"
She hands the paper back to the black haired girl who frowns, unable to understand how she got the problem wrong.
"We're supposed to add a zero?! Since when?!" The black haired girl groans as she faces them, grabbing Elis eraser and getting rid of her wrong answer.
"Since always." The blonde, Eli, answers. "You honestly don't think eighteen groups of twelve equal ninety six did you?"
"No!" Nico says rather loudly. "That's why I asked you to check!"
Nozomi stays quiet as she works in her own notebook, answering the math problems with ease. She lets the conversation between the two girls next to her become background noise as she scribbles down the problems and their answers, always double checking problems that seem more difficult to make sure she has the right number at the end. She becomes oblivious to the black haired girl watching her until the sound of her whistling distracts her from her work.
"You're doing those pretty fast!" She comments, not looking at Nozomi's work but at her instead. "Are you good at multiplication?"
"Erm," Nozomi awkwardly looks down, a bit embarrassed by the other girls observation. "I guess. When you understand what to do it's really easy to do all the problems."
"Right?" Nozomi looks over to the blonde, surprised at how she jumps into the conversation so easily. "Nico just forgets steps often."
"I don't! I just take time getting used to them!" Nico defends, huffing a bit and bringing her attention back to Nozomi. "Anyway, I'm Nico. She's Eli. Sorry you had to join our school in the middle of the term."
The comment catches Nozomi by surprise. She begins wondering just how many more surprises this school would give her. Very little classmates at her past schools tried to socialize with her because of how quiet she was, and the ones who did were always the kind of student who was 'friends with everyone.' It wasn't the type of friendship Nozomi sought, especially since friends like that never tried to say in contact unless they truly liked you (which never seemed to be the case for her). As a result she usually pushed those kids away, keeping to herself so that she wouldn't be hurt by false friends. Now suddenly this girl she knew nothing of was apologizing for something she had no control over, yet it seems like she understood the kind of thing Nozomi was going through.
"Nico, you're freaking her out enough." Eli suddenly comments, and Nozomi realizes quickly that she had been spacing out.
"O-Oh! N-no, that's not it at all!" Nozomi says quickly, her hands lifting and her face tinting a light shade of pink. "It was a really... unique greeting." she picks her words carefully and puts her pencil down on the desk.
"I-I'm Nozomi." Is all Nozomi says to them. She silently wonders if she should have included more in her personal introduction to them.
The two of them flash grins to Nozomi before turning back to their own work. Nico chooses to work facing them, asking Eli for occasional peer help on the problems to she if she got it right. Nozomi hesitantly picks her pencil back up and goes back to her own work, trying not to think too much about how interesting her desk neighbours were.
At lunch time, a couple of girls approach Nozomi and ask if she wants to eat lunch with them. She hesitates before shaking her head and apologizing, saying she'd rather eat by herself for the day. She thanks the girls anyway and watch as they walk away, shrugging to themselves and going about their own usual lunch plans. She sighs quietly, mentally scolding herself for pushing away yet another group of probably very kind people.
Wanting to forget about her socially awkward moment, Nozomi pulls out her lunch along with the current book she was reading. Thanks to her loss of appetite at breakfast, she was practically starving and thanked every god above that lunch had finally arrived. She opens her bento box up, staring at the carefully placed dishes inside of it. Her mother had gotten creative with all of her favourites.
After math class ended Eli had moved her desk back to the position it had been, separating their desks once again. Nozomi notices that Nico went from her seat to her neighbours, turning the chair in front of Eli around so the two of them could talk with each other while they ate their own lunches. As she looks out to the room, she notices various different groups of kids all eating together, paying no mind to anything else but their own groups and their own conversations. This wasn't the first time things like that happened when the violet haired girl switched schools, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.
As she idly eats her lunch, Nozomi can feel the gazes of Nico and Eli on her. She ignores how she can see the two of them leaning closer and whispering in her peripheral vision, probably something about the way she eats or how quiet she is. She steels herself up, ignoring them more as she takes a final bite of her food. Half of her lunch goes uneaten, but Nozomi can't bring herself to finish it.
This was the worst part about transferring schools. Getting used to the new classes and work wasn't too hard, but the curious or harsh gazes of her peers were too unnerving. She knew she was being talked about. She knew that if she looked up, other kids would pretend to mind their own business. It was the same at every school and this one was no different from the others. She stayed quiet to avoid being talked about more. She kept to herself so students would stop looking her way. Nozomi would rather blend into the background and go unnoticed than be stared at and talked about. Even if it wasn't negative things. Even if they were just curious stares. All of it could get overwhelming when you were forced to change schools.
Continuing to ignore the stares, Nozomi closes her bento box and slides it to the top corner, pulling her book closer and opening it up to where she had it bookmarked. She sighs quietly to herself again as she begins to read, growing lost in the fictional world her book takes her to. She can feel the stares of her neighbours slowly pull away and she resists the urge to sigh in relief now that she could finally fully immerse herself into her novel.
Unbeknownst to her, the black haired girl leans just a bit closer to her blonde haired friend, whispering to her again for the second time that lunch period.
"See, even reading. No smile." She whispers.
"She's probably sad she had to leave her other friends." The blonde whispers back. "No kid would just smile when they're nervous on their first day at a new school. I didn't."
"Yeah but you're weird." Nico retorts. Eli reaches her hand out and flicks Nico's forehead, causing the black haired to recoil and rub the now sore spot
"It was a joke!" She practically shouts, frowning deeply at the blonde.
"It was rude." Eli replies, closing her empty bento box. "Anyway, why do you want to see her smile so bad right now?"
"I dunno." Nico plays with her chopsticks a bit, giving it some thought. "She just sorta reminds me of you when you transferred."
Eli spares another glance towards her neighbour, watching her turn the page of her book and continue to read. Her face was straight, expressionless, but her eyes were like an open window. It was just like Eli had been when she transferred to this elementary school last year. She felt the pain Nozomi must have been going through, and it was one of the few things that was starting to draw the blonde to her.
"I see your point." she says quietly. "Okay Nico. I'm with you."
Nico smirks triumphantly and crosses her arms.
"Perfect. Operation befriend the new girl is a go!"
The end of the day finally came and Nozomi closes her novel up. The class was given free time for the last fifteen minutes of the day and she chose to spend it reading her book. The time went by quick and before she knew it the bell had rung and the class was quick to evacuate the room. By the time she had finished the chapter, the only ones left were the teacher and the student on cleaning duty. She marks the page she leaves off on with her bookmark and carefully slips in into her backpack before making her way out of the class and to the front of the school.
She slowly makes her way towards the school gates and continues to walk down the road, looking at the ground rather than the path in front of her. She becomes lost in her own little world of thinking, deciding to finish her lunch when she got home and start on the bit of homework that was assigned to the class. If she finished that fast enough, maybe she'd read ahead or take a walk around the area. It was a lot livelier than other spots she lived in before, not to mention the spiritual energy she got just from her walks alone were enough to help her feel content. Her parents wouldn't mind, they wouldn't be home until late anyway so it wasn't like she would get in trouble for going for a walk by herself.
She looks up just a bit too late and accidentally bumps into a person who had stopped in front of her. The both of them shout in alarm, doing their best to stand on both their feet and not topple over.
"I-I'm so sorry!" Nozomi shouts apologetically. "I wasn't looking where I was going, I didn't mean to bump into you!"
"It's oka- oh! Tojo-san!" Nozomi blinks in slight surprise and is met by the bright blue eyes of her blonde haired classmate.
"U-uhm.. Ayase-san?" Nozomi asks hesitantly, relief washing over her when the blonde smiles, signalling she got the name right.
"You're out later than the other kids." Eli comments rather bluntly. Nozomi blushes embarrassed and nods.
"Are you heading home now?" The blonde asks with a curious smile. Nozomi nods again at her.
"Well, since we're both heading this way why don't we walk home together?"
Nozomi inhales sharply and isn't exactly sure how to respond. Would Eli want to walk the whole way with her? What if Eli's house was out of the way of her place and Eli ends up feeling obligated to walk Nozomi the whole way home? They were only classmates and Nozomi didn't want to awkwardly sit next to someone who regretted walking out of the way to her house. She opens her mouth to respond before a shout from behind her distracts both her and Eli.
"YOU ACTUALLY STAYED!"
There's a small laugh from Eli as Nico runs towards them, her breathing heavy and loud as she stops in front of them. Nozomi looks at her with slight concern before she stands straight, holding up a printout that had been given out as their homework.
"And you managed to get the printout before I started walking away." Eli replies with a cheeky grin. "Good timing too, I just asked Tojo-san if she wanted to walk home with us."
Suddenly feeling like she might be interrupting the time between the two of them, she opens her mouth to decline Eli's original offer before Nico cuts her off again.
"Sweet! What way do you live Tojo-san?" Nico asks, turning her full attention onto the gaping green eyed girl.
"U-uhm-" Shes a bit hesitant to answer, but at the gazes of bright red and blue eyes she finds herself telling the two of them the address of her building.
"That sounds familiar. Isn't that on your street Eli?" Nico asks. Eli ponders it and nods.
"Yeah! Is it the grey building that only has four floors?"
"I-It is." Nozomi isn't sure if she's impressed or scared at the accurate guess Eli made.
"That isn't too far from my place." She smiles a bit wider and glances at Nico. "Nico lives one road over from our street. So we can all walk together!"
Nozomi wants to turn them down. To push them away. Her mind is telling her that if she doesn't do just that, they might get attached. She might get attached. She opens her mouth yet again to try to say no to the invitation, but she soon realizes that even if she did say no, the two of them would be walking the same way. She'd have to feel their judging gazes on her for the majority of her walk home. She does nothing but look down, unsure of what to say now that the three of them were a walking home group.
"Well, let's not wait here any longer. If I make it home in time I get to feed my baby sister!" Nico grins a bit as she takes a couple steps forward. Eli follows, walking alongside her. Nozomi stares between the two before following only a couple steps behind them, keeping her hands gripped on the straps of her bag.
"It's remarkable how excited you still are about her even though she's four months old now." Eli says, looking towards Nico. "It's cute."
"Of course it's cute!" Nico replies proudly. "I'm the cutest nine year old there is!"
"Yeah yeah. Of course you are." Eli waves her hand and laughs. "Hey Tojo-san, do you have any siblings?"
Nozomi watches Eli and Nico glance at her and she shakes her head. Eli smiles a bit.
"So you're an only child then?"
Nozomi nods.
"Ahh, I can remember when I was an only child." Nico turns her attention back in front of her and lifts her arms in the air, stretching as she walks. "It was fun, but I'm getting used to the sibling life. It isn't so bad. It's not lonely at least!"
Nozomi winces slightly from the comment. It goes unnoticed by the two in front of her and she turns her attention back to the ground.
The walk with them is chatty. Nico is quite the talkative girl, talking about anything and everything that came to mind. Eli puts her two cents in whenever she wants and sometimes she moves onto a new topic between the two of them. Nozomi pays little attention to the conversations unless they ask for her opinions. She answers them with a nod or a shake of her head, grateful that most of them were easy yes or no questions. She silently hopes the walk home would be over soon.
"I'm telling you Eli, a bunny is by far the superior pet! They're tiny, you keep them in cute little pens where they can hop around safely, they love eating veggies and they're quiet! There is no better pet than a bunny!" Nico's voice is suddenly a bit louder and Nozomi finds herself paying more attention to the two of them.
"Not true!" Eli counters quickly. "Have you ever seen a kitten yawn? It's by far the cutest thing in the world. Cats don't need to be in pens and they're great bed buddies!"
The two glare at each other before their heads turn directly to Nozomi. Nozomi stops walking from the intense gazes and shrinks in on herself a bit, wondering what would happen next.
"Tojo-san, what do you think?!" Nico asks immediately. Nozomi blinks confused before tilting her head to the side.
"A-about... Bunnies and cats?" She says with confusion.
"Which would be a better pet." Eli says, clearing up all the mystery. "Nico says bunnies are better. I say cats are better. Between the two of them, what would you say?"
Nozomi stares between the two girls who wait patiently for her answer. She gives it a bit of thought before shrugging.
"I've never had either as a pet, but I imagine a cat might be easier to take care of than a bunny."
"See?! Cats are better." Eli says with a smirk. Nico frowns.
"That isn't what Tojo-san said! She said cats are easier to take care of! That doesn't mean they're better!"
Blue and red eyes are on Nozomi again and she puts a bit more thought into it, weighing the pros and cons of each animal.
"I... guess if it's only between those two, the cat might be better."
Eli's proud smirk is on her face again and Nico pouts.
"Agree to disagree then!" She says with a small shrug. "Bunnies will forever be better to me."
"That's fine." Eli says, her smirk becoming a grin. "One day I'll get a cat and you'll come over all the time because you'll love how perfect she is."
"If you say so." Nico replies. "Hey Tojo-san, if you could have any kind of pet, what would you have?"
Both Eli and Nico focus on Nozomi again, slowing themselves down so that they're walking on either side of her. Nozomi's expression remains the same as she glances to either side of her, looking at the two girls briefly before speaking.
"I don't really know." She confesses. "I've never been allowed to have a pet, but I remember wanting a dog for a little while because one of my neighbours had one."
"Oooh!" Nico and Eli echo. Nico grins a bit and takes a couple steps ahead, turning around and walking backwards so she faces them.
"My grandparents have a dog! She's a really old pug and really silly. They have really cute curled up tails too!"
Nico goes on to talk about the dog while Nozomi lets her thoughts drift again. The two girls talk so casually with her and include her in all their conversations the whole walk home so far. They were so nice and unlike other kids Nozomi had known, she couldn't help but be intrigued by them. Were they genuinely seeking for her friendship? Or did they just want to know more about the new girl? What was it that drew them to her? These questions swam through Nozomi's mind as Nico and Eli stop.
"Okay! This is where we part. See you guys tomorrow!" Nico waves to them before turning around and walking across the street. Eli waves back and Nozomi holds her hand up, shyly doing the same.
"See you tomorrow Nico!" Eli calls out before turning to Nozomi. "Guess we should head home now too."
Nozomi nods at Eli and the two walk side by side quietly down the sidewalk. Nozomi isn't sure if they should be talking throughout their journey, but it isn't like the silence between them is awkward. It's nice, and rather calming. Nozomi doesn't feel as nervous as she had when the walk began, and she wonders if part of the reason for that was because of all the conversations they included her in.
They soon reach her apartment and Nozomi turns to Eli.
"T-this is my stop." She says awkwardly, pointing to the building.
"Alright." Eli replies, giving her a kind smile. "Which apartment is yours?"
"...306." Nozomi answers cautiously.
"306... okay! Got it!" Eli flashes her another smile before lifting her hand. "Thanks for walking with us Tojo-san. See you tomorrow!"
Nozomi watches as Eli turns away and begins to walk again. She finds herself watching the blonde curiously for only a moment longer before heading towards the building. She climbs up the stairs and walks down the hallway to where the potted plant is outside her apartment. She lifts it carefully, grabbing the hidden key and unlocks the door with a small click.
"I'm home." Nozomi calls out to the empty apartment, her voice echoing off of the bare walls.
No reply came, just like she expects. She takes her shoes off, placing them nicely to the side and slipping on a pair of slippers by the door. But her thoughts don't linger on the empty house and the tasks she decided to do, but rather the two girls who joined her on the walk home. Nozomi couldn't take her mind off the two of them as she grabs the kettle to make herself a cup of tea. She wonders if tomorrow would be the same, what other things Eli and Nico might talk about. She wonders about their personalities, what they like, what they dislike. She finds herself wanting to know much more about them. Maybe tomorrow she'll try to be apart of the conversations more.
With that thought in mind, Nozomi decides to pull out her left overs and finish them before getting to work on the printout.
The first week passes by quicker than Nozomi thought it would. Every day after school, Eli and Nico wait outside for her and together the three of them walked home. They still weren't on a first name basis, but Nozomi was starting to enjoy the walks home with them and even work periods, because Nico would often turn around to her to ask for help on a problem rather than go out of her way to bug Eli. The violet haired girl didn't mind answering the questions, and Nico always thanked her with a bright smile. It always left a warm fuzzy feeling in the pit of Nozomi's stomach.
Since it was the end of the week, Nico and Eli were discussing what they wanted to do together over the weekend.
"I can do anything before four on Saturday," Eli says. "After that I need to go home for dinner and then head to dance practice. Then I'm free all Sunday!"
"I thought you only had dance on Monday's and Thursday's." Nico quirks an eyebrow at Eli and Eli smiles.
"My instructor is holding an extra dance practice for all of us in the competition on Saturday nights." The blue eyed girl explains. "I want to win it, so I'm going to the studio early and leaving a bit later."
"Well, good luck with that then." Nico comments, turning to Nozomi. "What about you Tojo-san? Are you free this weekend?"
Nozomi thinks for a moment and shrugs.
"My Mom and Dad work Saturday morning and then come home and we'll probably finish unpacking the rest of the stuff. I don't think it will take two days so I guess that leaves me with nothing on Sunday."
"Cool! You're free, Eli's free, I probably don't have anything, let's hang out!" Nico suggests. "We can hang out at my place or go to the park!"
"Sounds fun, I'm in!" Eli says, grinning. "What about you Tojo-san?"
"U-uhm-" She blanks, unsure of what to say.
Nozomi's internally panicking at the invitation. She just told them she wasn't doing anything, it's pretty much impossible to decline it now. Not that she'd want to, but she's never gone to a friends house to hang out before. She would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous.
"I-I'll ask my parents tonight." Nozomi eventually says, clinging to her backpack straps tighter.
The two girls smile widely at her and Nozomi could feel an unfamiliar feeling swirling in her chest. She felt nervous, but there was a hint of excitement that was slowly building up. What would they do together? What interests did they have? Would they just sit and watch movies? Would they play board games? Would they go to the park with a baseball bat and some gloves and take turns playing a weird three person game of baseball? There were so many possibilities Nozomi's head was spinning and she lost track of the conversation between the other two.
"Oh oh! I just remembered! Okay guys, guys. Pay attention. You gotta see this!" Nico stops the two of them and stands in front of them with a bright grin. "Papa helped me figure out a perfect idol catchphrase! He said it's guaranteed to make someone smile!"
Eli and Nozomi share a quick look and Eli quirks her eyebrow with a small smile.
"Oh yeah? Let's see it then."
Nico's hands shoot up, her middle and ring fingers closing in while the rest of them stayed upright. They sit on either side of her face and move with her as she begins to chant.
"Nico Nico Nii~ A Nico Nico smile straight to your heart! Yazawa Nico- Nico gave you a smile~!"
Nico ends her chant with a hand heart and look towards both Nozomi and Eli with an expectant gaze. The blonde and violet haired girls are silent as they stare towards their peer, taking in exactly everything they had just seen. Nico's lower eye twitches and she stands straight, clearing her throat and speaking again.
"I-It's still a work in progress. "
"I-I see." Eli comments. She tries to think of an appropriate answer for exactly what she thought of Nico's 'charming' idol intro but before she can even pull the words together, the shaking of the person next to her distracts her from her thoughts.
"Pff.." Nozomi lifts her hands to cover her mouth, trying harder than ever to contain her laughter.
"T-Tojo-san?" Eli looks at her worriedly. "A-are... are you okay?"
"Y-y-yeah!" She squeaks, shaking a bit more. "T-that... that was..." She turns her head away, shaking more and the sound of a small giggle finally emerge from her lips.
Nico and Eli face each other with wide eyes, unsure if they heard the tiny noise right or not. It was so faint and quiet and yet so sudden, they really weren't positive if it was part of their imagination or not. When they face Nozomi again her shakes subside for only a moment as she seems to have complete control of herself. She lowers her hands from her mouth and looks back to the two girls, face composed and back to the neutral expression she normally wore.
But all it took was one glance at Nico to break her mask and the two friends jump when Nozomi suddenly bursts out into a loud fit of laughter, unable to contain her giggles.
"W-WHAT WAS THAT?! YOU LOOKED SO SILLY!" She shouts in her happy laughter, holding her stomach and bending over as her laughter continues.
It quickly hits her that there's a chance Nico might have been offended by her sudden laughter and she looks up in horror, covering her mouth and staring wide eyed at the raven haired girl.
"I-I'm sorry!" She whispers. "I-I wasn't making fun of you or any-" She quickly stops her explanation and looks in confusion at both Nico and Eli, who are wide eyed and staring at her in awe.
"Oh my gosh it WORKED!" Nico shouts, grinning uncontrollably and throwing her fist in the air successfully. "It made someone smile! It made Tojo-san smile!"
"W-what..!?" Nozomi stares even more confused between the two of them while Eli continues to smile, grabbing her hands and lowering them from her mouth.
"Tojo-san, we were starting to think that you didn't really like walking home with us or anything. I'm glad we were wrong."
"H-huh?!" Nozomi's lost as Eli lets go of her hands, grinning sheepishly at her.
"We've been trying to help you get used to the school and be a good friend to you all week. We were starting to think you didn't like us or were bothered by us."
Nico continued to chant in the background as it dawns on Nozomi how they were feeling. She immediately shakes her head, staring at Eli with wide turquoise eyes.
"N-No! T-that's not it at all! I really like walking with you two! You're both really sweet and nice, I've never met anyone that makes me as curious as you two do." She says quickly, blushing in embarrassment.
"Ehh, really?!" Nico cuts in, stopping her chants and looking directly at Nozomi. "With how quiet you were when we tried to talk to you, we just thought you didn't really wanna be our friend."
The words cause Nozomi to freeze and she stares at the two of them in bewilderment.
"F-Friend?" She asks, unsure if she heard right. "You guys want to be my friend?"
"Of course!" Eli says with a laugh. "We know how scary it can be to be the new kid and what it's like to enter new places by yourself. But we thought you were really nice and decided we wanted to be your friend. We know we're kinda weird and don't always get along, but we thought maybe you'd wanna be our friend too."
Nozomi doesn't know what to say as tears slowly start pouring from her eyes and Eli and Nico are looking worriedly at her again.
"Eli! You made her cry!" Nico hisses and Eli quickly begins freaking out, going into her pocket and grabbing her handkerchief.
"D-Don't cry Tojo-san! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you cry, please stop crying!" She fumbles with the piece of cloth and presses it hastily to Nozomi's face.
"Ah!" Nozomi winces when Eli's hand pushes too hard and lifts her hands. Eli shouts, apologizing again for being clumsy and pulling her hand away while Nozomi holds the handkerchief there.
"I-It's okay! It's okay!" Nozomi assures, registering the wetness of her tears on the fabric and laughing a bit. "I-it just caught me off guard is all."
Nico and Eli don't say anything as Nozomi wipes her eyes and sniffles.
"I-It's just-" She hesitates a bit, smiling slightly as she looks at the two of them. "I've never had friends before."
The blonde and raven haired girls stay quiet as Nozomi sniffles again and looks down as she clutches Eli's handkerchief. It's the first time she's ever said that aloud and actually hearing the words come out of her mouth brought a whole other feeling to her. She wasn't quite sure if it was sadness or relief, but it must have been a weird combination between the two. She closes her eyes as she remembers past times where moments she could have had friends flashed by. So many times she may have been able to be on first name basis' or even visited each others houses were gone because she kept to herself and didn't want to feel the pain of having to leave her new friends behind.
"Well you do now!" Nico declares, causing Nozomi's eyes to shoot open in alarm.
Nozomi looks up, her eyes wide and looking back at the other two girls, who wear bigger smiles as they look at her. Nozomi's speechless as the two of them hold their hands out for her. "That is, if you want us to be." Eli adds to Nico's declaration.
Nozomi stares at the two outstretched hands, unsure of how to react.
'What if we have to leave them?' A voice inside her head asks.
It's true. The possibility of having to leave Nico and Eli one day was very high. But these girls were different. These girls might be the type to try and stay in touch with her. To continue being her friend. They have such an interesting dynamic, one is loud and proud, the other is cool and collected. They're so different and yet they are the best of friends, and they want to bring her into their own little world. A world Nozomi had yet to explore.
'Maybe it will be worth it.' Nozomi replies to the voice, smiling as she comes to her decision.
With a bit of hesitance, Nozomi pockets Eli's handkerchief and reaches her own hands out, slowly placing them in the palms of Nico and Eli. She's not even surprised at the differences between the both of their hands. Nico's are tiny, yet softer than Nozomi expects. The ruby eyed girl's fingers tightly wrap themselves around Nozomi's hand, giving it a firm squeeze. It's much different than Eli's, who has a slightly bigger hand than her own. Her fingers gently hold onto Nozomi's and the warmth from Eli quickly spreads through Nozomi's own hand.
The violet haired girl smiles a bit shyly and the trio can't stop their grins and small giggles as they begin the walk home again, their fingers interlocking as they walk down the sidewalk in the direction of their homes. It's the first big step into something new for Nozomi, and she happily welcomes the exciting nervous bubble she feels at idea of sharing the news with her parents later that night.
She smiles more to herself as she imagines the happy smiles they'll have when she announces she made her very first friends today.