Author's Note: Konnichiwa~ Rakurai desu~

I seemed to be writing with vigour these days.

Again, if there are any grammatical errors, I'm truly sorry. English is not my native language so there's nothing I can do about them. However, if there are any errors, feel free to tell them to me.

This one is set in modern times so not that much research is done.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own anything other than the storyline.

Please enjoy!

The least they had expected was to be struck by an awkward tension after what just happened. However, the both of them were wrong. Nozomi thought she would act casual. Eli also thought that she would act casual. Yet the both of them found it hard to even communicate during dinner. Now and then, Eli would offer Nozomi the finest piece of beef she grilled, but when Nozomi accepted the piece of beef, they would both stuttered awkward "Thank you" and "You're welcome". Then, the awkward silence was back on.

Nozomi found herself preoccupied with what happened in the kitchen moments ago. She didn't know it would affect her this much. It took over her mind, making her unable to think of anything else other than how Eli's warmth was spreading all over her body. The way Eli held her, it was so tender, like she was cherishing something very dear to her. Despite that, Nozomi didn't want to assume anything unthinkable. She didn't want to get her hopes up. It'd be pointless if she did. To Nozomi, to be able to be friends with Eli was more than enough for her.

"…I'm sorry if it bothered you, Nozomi." Eli suddenly spoke up, breaking the seemingly never-ending tension. Truth be told, Nozomi was grateful she broke it, though she's also freaking out by trying to grasp this conversation's direction. If it's anything, Nozomi felt like Eli hugged her for responsibility instead. Did Eli felt uncomfortable by it?

"N-No, I'm fine. I should be thanking you instead." Was she stuttering just now? Nozomi didn't even recognise the shaky voice she just projected.

"You don't have to thank me. I'm just doing what I can to help you." Eli said, sighing.

Nozomi's head hung low. She heard Eli's sigh just now. Maybe Eli was getting fed up with her already. Maybe this is where she'll tell Nozomi to stop being a bother.

"This isn't working." Eli said.

There it is... Nozomi's face started to distort in pain. She closed her eyes shut, willing herself to stay away from the scenario that was being played in her head–where Eli stopped being nice to her.

"Nozomi." Eli called.

No response came from Nozomi as she tried to collect herself.

"Nozomi, did you think that I did it because I have to?" Eli asked, but also speaking out loud Nozomi's doubts for her.

Nozomi finally lifted her head, staring at her with wide eyes. She couldn't believe what she just hear. It seemed unlikely that Eli's able to read her mind, but then what did she hear just now? Eli was smiling softly at her, a defeated look that said 'what am I going to do with this girl' was evident on her face.

"Haa..." Eli sighed again as she stood up, walking over to Nozomi on the opposite side of the table. She stood in front of her, the soft smile still glued to her face. Then, Eli held her arms up towards Nozomi.

Absolutely clueless as to what her intention was, Nozomi glanced up at Eli with a bewildered expression. Unsurprisingly, Eli noticed this.

"If you think I hugged you out of responsibility for causing you a panic attack in the first place then how about I prove it to you that it's not like that?" Eli smiled, almost like grinning.

"Eh?" Nozomi was bemused.

"Do you want to hug me, Nozomi?" Eli suggested. Yet, it sounded as if that question was Eli's more-than-happy approval for Nozomi to hug her.

Bewildered as she was, Nozomi reluctantly brought her arms up and slowly encircled Eli's waist. As she did so, Nozomi observed Eli's reaction carefully, but Eli surprised her even more when she gave the 'go ahead' nod. Their position was odd, with Nozomi sitting and Eli standing, but that didn't bother them one bit. Eli pulled Nozomi's head close to her chest, then her hands worked their way to stroking Nozomi's hair again. Nozomi closed her eyes, revelling in Eli's soothing warmth.

"Honestly… what am I going to do with you?" Eli said, patting her head.

"…I'm sorry." Nozomi apologised in a quiet voice.

"You should be, Nozomi." Eli reproved. "Because you're still feeling insecure even after all the times I've told you not to."

Even though Eli was scolding her, Nozomi felt strangely warm inside as she listened to the rhythmic beating of Eli's heart. Her words were words of encouragement to Nozomi's frail heart. At that, Nozomi tightened her hold around Eli's waist, feeling like crying for real after so long.

To let it all out, to escape from the dreadful reality that everyone called 'life', what a wonderful thing that would be. Nonetheless, Nozomi held herself back. If she think rationally about it, then crying now won't save her later. Particularly when she has to face her family again.

Nozomi let go of Eli, the smile from before came back to her. Eli was distinctly surprised to see her so composed when she was so shaken a moment ago.

"You're not hugging me anymore?" Eli asked. Nozomi chuckled at her words, it sounded as if she's disappointed that Nozomi let go. Well, Eli did tell her to hug her as many times as she wanted after all. As tempted as it sounded, Nozomi wouldn't want to push it too far.

"No, this is more than enough to prove to me. Thank you, Elichi." Nozomi smiled warmly.

Although she was hesitant, Eli decided to let it slide. Seeing her smile again was more than reassuring for Eli.

As they became preoccupied with their conversation, their dinner seemingly forgotten.

"See you tomorrow." Eli said as she saw Nozomi off at the station's staircase.

"Un, I'll see you tomorrow, Elichi." Nozomi said her goodbyes, then she disappeared along the lines of people entering the station. Leaving Eli behind by herself.

Pulling her coat closer to her chest, Eli turned around and headed home. The night was still young, yet the feeling of loneliness that she hasn't felt in so long started to creep into small corners of her heart. She never noticed it before, not after Nozomi has gone home; how lonely she feels right now.

The feeling of loneliness was profusely multiplied when the cold seeped into her bones by the minutes. It is mid December, after all. She fought back the cold by pulling her coat together tighter, though it seemed like she couldn't pull it any tighter than it already was. Eli was put into a pensive mood due to the feeling inside that was taking over her, until someone bumped into her shoulder.

Eli was a bit startled when it happened. As she looked at said person, she was surprised to find it was Kotori. It seemed she was deep in thoughts also, because she lifted her head and the focused light in her amber eyes were back again. Everything about her hasn't changed. Her cute ashen hair, her soft, gracious gaze, her appearance.

"Eli-chan…?" Kotori was just as surprised as she was to find her here.

"Kotori…" Breathed Eli. "…nice to see you again."

They stared at each other for quite a long time, until Kotori decided to avert her eyes. Looking like she's really distressed about something. Though, Eli could already guessed what it was.

"Um…" Kotori began, drawing Eli's attention. "If you don't mind… my house is near here."

"Oh," Eli said, "it's fine."

"Then, follow me, Eli-chan." Kotori said, walking ahead of her. As Eli followed behind, she wondered why Kotori would suddenly asked her to come visit.

"Pardon my intrusion." Eli said as she closed the door for Kotori.

"Come in, Eli-chan." Kotori said, walking inside after she took her shoes off.

When she saw Kotori's place, the realisation quickly dawned on her. From the moment she saw Kotori's apartment from afar, she knew Kotori moved out instead of living with her mother. Why? Eli has absolutely no idea. However, that didn't mean Kotori doesn't love her mother. The ashen haired girl cared for her mother more than anything. She's a gentle girl, there's no way she'd do something unthinkable as fighting with her mother.

As said from before, Eli could guessed what the reason was, and it was none other than Umi.

"Would you like some tea?" Kotori asked, already standing behind the counter.

"Tea would be fine." Eli replied, glancing around her apartment. It wasn't big, but enough for just one person to live. Compared to Eli's apartment, hers was a whole lot smaller. There's only one table and two chairs close to the counter. An adjacent bedroom with one wardrobe in it, though even said room was small. Other than that, there isn't much stuff in here, even the furnitures are kept simple. How unlike Kotori to be simple with decorating where she lives.

"Here you go." Kotori set down two cups of tea on the table, then she sat down first, while Eli was exploring around.

"Thanks." Eli said as she sat down, picking up her own cup.

They sipped their tea in silence. No one started the conversation first. It was always like this when Eli sat with Kotori, total silence. Sometimes, it would be the comfortable kind of serenity. While other times, it would be awkward silence. Kotori has always been a quiet, gentle girl. She talks when she thinks it's appropriate to talk. Though, Eli mainly thinks it has something to do with her not having any particular topic in mind to talk about.

"I haven't seen you in a while, Eli-chan. I hope you're well?" Kotori spoke up, breaking the tension.

"Yes, I'm doing well. Thanks for asking, Kotori." Eli sipped her tea. "I take it you're also well?"

"…I'm fantastic." Kotori smiled half-heartedly. Eli's brows knitted at the sight of that smile. Even she could tell that smile wasn't going to fool anyone.

"Did Nico tell you about our meeting?" Eli asked, trying to put it as simply as possible, or rather, not to poke into the ants' nest. She couldn't guessed what would happen if she mentioned a certain blue-haired girl's name. Kotori was also unpredictable due to how passive she was. Eli wouldn't want to make matters worse after what she heard from Nico.

"What meeting, Eli-chan?" Kotori asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Oh, it's just me meeting up with Nico and all. You know, it's been a year since I last saw you guys." Eli deflected.

"Oh… I see." Kotori glanced away.

Eli was starting to become more unnerving. Why isn't this girl telling her she's about to get marry yet? She couldn't just straight out talk to Kotori about it either. What's stopping her?

"Have you seen Nico lately?" Eli needed to know if Kotori had heard anything from Nico, because she has to know if Kotori already knew about her knowing the wedding news.

"Not really… I'm… too busy with family matters to meet her." Kotori replied hesitantly.

Turned out, she didn't know, or maybe it could be her evading the topic. Either way, Eli was working furiously for a way to ask her without hurting her. Yet when it comes to Umi and Kotori, things would definitely become hard to handle.

"Eli-chan, I did hear about you meeting someone lately." Kotori railed the conversation her way before she could ask about the wedding. What did she mean by 'hear'? Didn't she just say that she hasn't seen Nico?

"Oh, you did?" Eli sounded surprised. "Who told you about it?"

"Nico-chan told me through the phone." Kotori responded.

Through the phone… so she knew about what Eli has been doing lately, yet she didn't know about Eli knowing her upcoming wedding? That seemed highly suspicious now, isn't it?

"Kotori." Eli started. "It's best not to hide things from friends."

As Eli said that, she stared at Kotori with dead seriousness in her eyes. She had known her long enough to know no matter how soft she went on her, Kotori wouldn't open up. Therefore, the only way to make her spit is by doing it the harsh way.

Kotori, on the other hand, looked perceptibly baffled at what Eli just said and how she's staring at her right now. Then, her face warped into a pained expression that Eli could never thought she'd be able to make. Her face turned pale, like she was chased by a killer, from there soon followed the painful scowl on her face and her head hung low. She wasn't able to face Eli anymore. She knows Kotori couldn't; especially after what she just said, but pretending that she didn't see how Kotori was avoiding her, talking to her and walking home like nothing was happening is not Eli.

"…I'm sorry," Kotori said, her head still stayed where it was, "it'd completely slipped my mind. I'll go get you the invitation, just give me a minute, okay?"

As Kotori stood, she hid her current expression under her bangs, making it hard for Eli to read her at all. For Eli's part, her eyes went wide when she saw that unreadable look on Kotori's features. Why? Because it strangely resembled the similar, almost the same expression, that the purple-haired girl always carries around. Sometimes, Eli would caught Nozomi wearing such expressions on her kind features and it would always make her trying to think of something to cheer her up.

"Nozomi…" Eli whispered, eyes still wide.

"Did you say something, Eli-chan?" Kotori came back with the invitation letter in her hand, just in time to fuzzily hear Eli mumbling to herself.

"Ah," Eli snapped out of her trance, "it's nothing."

"Well," Kotori looked dubious as she slowly hand the invitation over to Eli, "here you go."

"…" Eli stared at the letter in her hand, then back at her. "Kotori, for the last time, are you sure this is how you wanted to act around us forever?"

"Eli-chan, just take it." Kotori insisted to dodge the question, the painful scowl from before threatened to come back.

"No, Kotori," Eli refused, "I will not be accepting it, at least not until you come out and face me."

"—!" Kotori lightly gasped at her words. The letter in her hand shrunk back to her side, then she looked thoughtful for awhile. As she contemplated the idea, she stole glimpses at Eli's face now and then. But it was no use, no matter how much she waited for the chance to flee from this dreaded conversation, Eli's features wouldn't budge from its sternness.

"…alright, I'll yield." Kotori backed down, admitting defeat with her eyes closed and head hung low.

"Good, then let's hear what you have to say." Eli finally smiled.

Author's Note: What did you think of 'A Remedy Behind A Lethal Dose'?

If you find this story to your liking then by all means tell me all about it. Comments and reviews about the story is most welcomed. Thank you!

Until next time, Rakurai deshita~!