Books had long been a staple of Hanamaru's life. Ever since she was a child, she loved to read. They took her to faraway places, stimulating her imagination and leaving her less lonely. Others would say that books weren't an appropriate substitute for friends, but she didn't agree. She'd never have many friends - in fact, as a first year in high school, Ruby was her only one - but there would always be books. They'd never leave her. At least, that's what she had always believed.
She still went to the library. The effort it took was great, maybe more than it was worth, but still she went. The path she had to take was confusing at first, but several weeks into the school year, she was now able to reach it on her own. There was that scent of knowledge that lingered in the air, and it would lead her towards the correct destination.
Hanamaru pushed open the door and went inside, listening intently for the sound of others. However, like usual, the library was empty. Sighing quietly, she went towards the nearest aisle, her hand connecting with the wood paneling of the shelves. It drew a slight smile to her lips. She went down the aisle and ran her fingers across the various spines, enjoying the feeling of the books beneath her fingertips. At random, she pulled one off of the shelf and stroked the cover with her palm. Then she opened it up and gently touched the pages.
Ruby had once said she didn't like how old paper felt against her skin, but Hanamaru loved it. It could've been on a stone and it'd make no difference. She just loved reading so much...
Her smile turned into a frown, looking down at the dark pages of the book she held. Tears sprung to her eyes unabated, and she allowed herself to drop down to the floor, defeated. The book fell from her hands, and she quickly started rummaging for it, to make sure none of the pages had creased. She quickly pulled herself away though, lest the tears falling from her eyes stained it and make it worse.
She didn't want to cry, especially in school. She'd been doing so well at keeping up a relatively happy expression, and now it was falling to pieces right at her feet. All she wanted was to be able to soak in the fantasy those books gave her. It was what had always made her happy. She had never doubted for a second that books would stop being there for her.
They had abandoned her though, leaving her to fend for herself. It had only begun that summer, and still she hadn't been able to get used to it. She couldn't: it was too painful. When it had happened, she had put on a brave face for her parents and for Ruby, saying that it wouldn't change anything. Life would keep going on like it always had. She'd been lying to herself as much as she was lying to them.
Her crying had disoriented her, and she made no attempt to try and find the book again. Instead, she pounded her fist against the carpet, allowing herself to sob bitterly. No one would be around to see it anyway, so she could finally let loose with her misery. She hated this so much. She hated the complete abandonment she felt, and she missed reading more than anything. She hated being blind.
"Zuramaru?" Hanamaru's breath caught in her throat: someone was there after all! Turning towards the sound, she furiously started to wipe at her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater, instinctively backing away from whoever was standing there.
"Wh-Who's there?" Her voice came out as a pitiful, emotionally-choked squeak. The school year was new, and she hadn't really interacted with anyone, so she had no idea who it was. They sounded young, so it probably wasn't a teacher, and it definitely wasn't Ruby.
"Who am I?" She could detect a hint of hurt in the voice, but before she could think too much on it, it changed into a deeper tone of bravado. "Why, I am the great demon, Yohane!" The unknown girl - this 'Yohane' - laughed and stepped over Hanamaru. Suddenly, she could sense something being held in front of her face. "I have retrieved your tome, young one."
"Th... Thank you." Who was this weird girl anyway, and why was she being so... well, weird? Honestly, she didn't want to take the book back. What she wanted to do was toss it across the room and yell at this girl for intruding upon her private moment. She couldn't do it, though. The girl hadn't done anything wrong, and throwing the book wouldn't help either. So, with a downcast expression, she took it back.
Standing up, she started trying to search for the missing spot in the shelf where the book originally went. She didn't want to put it back in the wrong place, but she was no longer sure where she'd started. All her moving around ended up doing was knock her cane to the ground. It was the cane that helped get her around and make sure she didn't bump into everything.
She was starting to cry again. Now she just wanted to get out of there before the strange girl started telling everyone in the school about what a crybaby she was. Shoving the book haphazardly into the shelf, she fell onto her knees and felt around until her fingers touched the cane, which she grabbed and quickly stood back up.
"Are you... crying?" The girl seemed taken aback, as if she was unsure of how to proceed. She couldn't deal with this, though. What she needed was somewhere to cry in peace.
"I-I have to go, zura." She shoved her cane out in front of her and started walking away from the other girl as quickly as she could. They shouted after her, but she ignored them and kept going until her cane hit something. A quick feel with her hand revealed that it was the door, and she pushed it open and headed back out into the school.
Her cane tapped against the wall until she was able to recognize where she was. It helped that the school had added braille lettering onto the classroom signs to help her get around. She ran a hand over the first sign she came across, allowing herself to fully acclimate to where she'd wandered off to.
After that, she made her way to the bathroom, where she hid herself in a stall and cried for half an hour.
Yoshiko was still standing in the library, staring at the door that Hanamaru had run out of. She was so confused: why had Hanamaru run out like that? Also, why was she crying? So many questions, and no answers.
She was sort of hurt that Hanamaru hadn't remembered her, though. Maybe it wasn't that odd, though. After all, they'd only known each other in kindergarten, and barely at that. It had been years since then. Still, it hurt a bit more than she cared to admit.
While it seemed that Hanamaru had wanted space, at the same time Yoshiko wanted to try and talk to her again. She was the only person that Yoshiko knew at the school, plus that cane aesthetic was pretty cool. That was the type of style that was appreciated in her army of little demons.
It was decided, then. She would try to talk to Hanamaru again and induct her into the little demon army. First, though... Glancing around to make sure no one else was around, Yoshiko stole away towards the end of the aisle, rapidly flitting through book after book. Finally she found the one she was looking for, which she proceeded to hide under her shirt and ran without checking the book out.
No one ever had to know that she read cheesy romance novels.
It was nice of the school to try and accommodate her after what happened. They sent out for braille textbooks so that she could follow along with the lessons, and the teachers would go out of their way to make sure she was keeping up. She even had her assignments come from the books, which her teachers would go over with her. She hated it.
She appreciated everything they did for her, but she hated being different. Even if she couldn't see them, she could feel everyone's eyes on her because of her disability. She was the one who got special treatment because she was different, and it ate away at her. Why did this have to happen to her?
Reading in braille just wasn't the same. It was like learning a completely new language, one that could only be read. She couldn't share it with anyone else, and she certainly couldn't speak it. Even worse, there weren't any books available that were in braille and just for casual reading. At least, there weren't any where she lived. It was torture being cut off from her imagination.
After school, she and Ruby began to walk to the bus stop. It was nice of Ruby to try and distract her from her thoughts with conversation, and she would reciprocate as best she could. In her mind though, it was just a raging tornado of things she missed. If only she could see the sunlight that was bathing her skin in warmth. So many things she had taken for granted...
The bus ride was more quiet, leaving Hanamaru to dwell more on her thoughts. It made the ride seem to take forever, though sometimes she could feel tenseness rising up within Ruby. When Ruby would squeeze her hand, it was done harder than normal. She wasn't sure why, though.
It didn't stop when they exited the bus either. She figured that she might as well ask what was up while they walked home. "Is something wrong, Ruby-chan?"
"I just... think someone is following us."
"Who would be following us?"
"I don't know, but I just... can sense... someone looking at us!" Hanamaru stopped and turned around, only catching herself after she'd already done it. What was the point? She'd never know if someone was following them or not. Sighing internally, she waited for a signal from Ruby, which came in the form of them continuing to walk on. "I guess it's nothing..."
They made it to her door, at which point Ruby bid her farewell and headed back towards her own house. It was sweet of Ruby to take her home, even if it was somewhat out of the way, and it was nice to have a friend that cared. She still felt like a burden, though. Ruby had better things to do than always walking her home because she might accidentally get run over by a car or fall into someone's flower garden.
She went inside and trudged to her room, closing the door and sliding down to the floor dejectedly. In a huff, she threw her cane across the room, hiding her face in her hands. She didn't know if she could do this anymore. It felt so hopeless. Things weren't the same anymore, and they never would go back to the way they were. It was soul-crushing, and her faith was being further shaken every day. Pressing her face into her hands, she resumed her muffled sobbing.
A sudden knocking on her door quieted her quickly. Swallowing her sadness, Hanamaru tried to steady her voice as she called out: "Mom? Dad?" There was no answer though. Slightly unnerved, she tried again: "M-Mom? Dad?" Still nothing.
Slowly she stood up and grabbed the doorknob, wondering if opening the door was the best course of action. Maybe she should attack whoever was there, just in case. If only she hadn't thrown her cane: she wouldn't be able to find it in time now.
She took a deep breath, then flung the door open and launched herself at whoever was standing outside of the door, causing them both to scream as she slammed into them and sent them both to the ground. "Owww..." She moaned in pain, rubbing her head.
"Why did you attack me?!" The decidedly feminine voice shouted, but it quickly dropped to a familiar, deeper tone. "The great Yohane will not tolerate such insubordination! ... Where did my pentagram go?"
"Y-Yohane?" Hanamaru rolled off of her, surprise evident on her face. "What are you doing here? How did you get in here?"
"I broke in."
"You what?!" She gawked at Yohane, wondering how in the world this girl had broken in. Another good question was why. What was the point of all this?
"I locked the door when I came in. No worries... Ah, here it is." Hanamaru honestly had no clue about what to do. Should she tell the girl to leave? It was kind of nice to have someone come over, though... but she did break into the house. While she was still thinking on it, Yohane was already brushing past her to enter her room.
"H-Hey, wait!" She reached out to try and stop Yohane, accidentally brushing her hand against the top of the strange girl's head. The feeling was odd, though. She swore that she'd felt some kind of bun on the top of her head. Reaching out again, she began to pat down Yohane's head until she found it again.
"Wh-What are you doing?" Yohane coughed, backing away. "Touching a demon's hair is an unforgivable crime, you know! So is living in a shrine, but-"
"Y-Yoshiko-chan?" She couldn't believe it, but it had to be true. No one else would have that signature bun on their head. It was such a unique way of styling one's hair that even after all these years, she wouldn't forget it.
They'd known each other in kindergarten. It wasn't like they'd interacted a lot, but they were in the same class. Even then, Yoshiko had that same hairstyle. Apparently some things hadn't changed. "No way... It's really you, isn't it, Yoshiko-chan?"
"E-Eh?!" Yoshiko sounded like she was caught off guard. "Don't call me that! I'm Yohane! Yohane!" Now that she didn't remember. She seemed really insistent on it, though.
"O-Okay, Yosh- I mean, Yohane." She stepped closer, reaching out for Yoshiko. "I-I just can't believe it. I haven't seen you since kindergarten! You're going to Uranohoshi too now, zura?"
"Even a powerful demon like myself has time to dabble in the mortal realm of education." Why was she talking like that?
"Oh, are you into roleplay now?"
"The only role I play is in the eventual downfall of mankind!"
"Ooh, how edgy, zura." Hanamaru walked into her room, hearing Yoshiko's feet moving back on the wooden floor. Once again, she didn't know what to do. The only recent experience she had entertaining a guest was with Ruby, and she didn't know if Yoshiko even cared about idols. What were they supposed to talk about? "So, how's... school?"
"It's... acceptable," came the non-committal reply. She could hear the slight creak of her bed as Yoshiko sat down on it. Hanamaru walked tentatively towards the bed, unsure of whether to sit down next to her or not. In all likelihood, she would be looking around the room in boredom. She tried to keep it as clean as she could, but lately it no longer seemed worth the effort. Only for Ruby's sake would she bother to.
"You have a lot of books, Zuramaru." Hanamaru cringed at the off-hand comment. She still had a massive volume of books lined up on several shelves, though they no longer were of any use to her. They still meant so much to her, though: she couldn't bear to part with them. Now they just were a bad reminder of everything she'd lost.
"Yeah..." The last thing she wanted to do was start crying again, so she closed her mouth and just stood there awkwardly. As the silence grew, it became harder to maintain her impassive demeanor, and it wasn't long before she had to leave the room. "E-Excuse me," she mumbled, heading for the door and out of the room.
She hid herself in the kitchen, sliding down to the floor and hugging her knees to her chest. Why was it so hard to keep herself together now? She was being a terrible host, abandoning Yoshiko like that. Gods, why was this happening? Tears sprung once again to her eyes, falling onto her skin.
"'I never knew love until she showed me the way.' Wow, this is cheesier than I expected." Hanamaru jerked her head up, wiping at her tears. "I'm gonna check again for The Omen."
"W-Wait! Yoshiko- I-I mean, Yohane." She gulped, realizing how futile it was to try and hide yet another emotional breakdown from Yoshiko. "Wh-What are you doing?"
"I'm reading to you, duh." The sound of footsteps reached her ears, growing louder until she felt Yoshiko's arm brush against hers, and then they were sitting side by side. "I think I grabbed the wrong book though." She was flipping through the pages. "For a book called The Devil's Kiss, I was expecting something more... devilish."
"Wh-Why?"
"Well, obviously a book with such a title needs to live up to-"
"N-No, I mean... Why are you reading to me, zura?" Surely Yoshiko had better things to do. She was surprised that Yoshiko hadn't already left, honestly. They had known each other over a decade ago: they owed each other nothing. What was all this for, then?
"Oh, well! As my little demon, it is my duty to make sure you do not cry. So! I am going to read to you from now on. Now, make sure to listen. I'm going to have to fix this book a little... Hey, you're still crying..."
Hanamaru quickly wiped at her eyes again with her sleeve, unable to keep a sudden smile from appearing. As weird as Yoshiko's reasoning was, it was... surprisingly nice. She hadn't wanted others to read to her before, still stubborn and upset about no longer being able to do it herself. Certainly she should've still felt that way, but there was something about the awkward way Yoshiko put herself into the role of de facto audio book that made Hanamaru happy.
"It's... not bad, zura. That's really... sweet of you, Yohane."
"Of course! Never say the great Yohane does nothing for her little demons." With that, she began to read again. Hanamaru didn't interrupt her anymore, content to rest her head on Yoshiko's shoulder and just listen. There was something very soothing about the deepness of her voice. It wasn't so bad to have Yoshiko read to her, she guessed.
Eventually Hanamaru had fallen asleep. Yoshiko wanted to look super cool and carry her to bed, but her arms gave out when she tried to lift Hanamaru. Physical exertion was for lower-level demons anyway. So instead she gently woke Hanamaru up and guided her back to her room, where Yoshiko helped her into bed and read off a couple more passages from that falsely-titled book until she was asleep again.
After that, Yoshiko took her leave, heading home with a strangely-warm feeling. She had felt pangs of guilt about things she had said once she realized what was going on, but she hoped that being Hanamaru's personal reader would make up for it, if only a little bit. It was obvious that her former classmate was really into books, and she could only imagine how tough it was now without the ability to utilize them.
Clutching her pentagram tightly to her chest, she was secretly happy that Hanamaru had remembered her.
Over the next few weeks, Hanamaru began to feel a lot better. Yoshiko would come over often just to read to her, though they would sometimes talk about other things as well. She was also glad that Yoshiko eventually became friends with Ruby - at first, according to Ruby, Yoshiko was 'scary'. After admitting her recent unhappiness to both of her friends, they would come over together and read random books off of her shelves aloud. Though sometimes Ruby would have to tell Yoshiko that 'Gatsby didn't come back from the dead for revenge!', she thought it was funny. This was definitely worth being a little demon.
One evening, it was just her and Yoshiko. She was laying her head on Yoshiko's shoulder, listening happily to a reading of the Wikipedia article for some Japanese metal group. Eventually they lapsed into silence, though since she was half-asleep, Hanamaru wasn't sure if the reading had actually stopped or if this was just a dream.
The lips that pressed against her forehead weren't a dream though. Once she realized what was going on, a slight blush grew on her cheeks. It was only a kiss on the forehead, but still, it was a kiss. "Y-Yoshiko-chan? What are you doing?"
"It's Yohane!" She protested, though Hanamaru could hear the break in her tone that showed the difference between Yoshiko and Yohane. "And I was... I... slipped. Yes, I slipped, and my lips accidentally fell upon your forehead. Haha, so crazy, right?" Hanamaru giggled quietly, hearing the lack of confidence in Yoshiko's voice. She shifted her head and leaned forward, pushing her lips up against Yoshiko's cheek. "Now what are you doing, Zuramaru?"
"I'm looking for your lips, zura." There was silence for a moment as she felt Yoshiko tense up next to her. It only took a moment more for her to relax though, and then she shifted her head slightly until their lips met. Yoshiko's lips were rather warm, and Hanamaru eagerly pressed deeper into the kiss, lifting her hands up until they could successfully rest on Yoshiko's cheeks.
When they pulled away, Hanamaru's cheeks were flushed, but she was smiling widely. She ran a finger gently along Yoshiko's lips, satisfied when she determined that her friend was smiling too. "You have a pretty smile, Yohane."
"Your flattery pleases the great Yohane." She could hear a light lilt in Yoshiko's voice, though, signalling genuine enjoyment. "I've... I've enjoyed being your eyes over the last few weeks." There was a hint of Yoshiko being unsure in her voice, but also a more overriding tone of truth. It was like the words were tough to say, but she held conviction to say them. She didn't know if she could be any happier in that moment, being allowed further into Yoshiko's life.
"Now though, you must... kiss me again." Hanamaru smiled brightly, moving back up to meet with Yoshiko's lips. She was only too happy to oblige.