YAY~! I FINALLY POSTED! By the way since I'm in another hurry I'll make this quite brief because it's 4:30 am and I'll warn you now: MY SCHOOL STARTS TOMORROW SO EXPECT LATER UPDATES AND A HIATUS HERE AND THERE! (But until the point in the story where I had my sights set on putting it on hiatus, I will continue writing as much as I can so rest easy)
OKAY! FINALLY THE OFFICIAL FIRST CHAPTER IS OUT AND COMPLETE! I hope you enjoy this one! And I hope the wait wasn't too long!
I'll make this quick now and answer to your reviews.
Btw, I feel like there's lots of OOCness in this chapter so if ever there is any, I'M VERY VERY SORRY!
OKay let's reply~:
kawaiichoconeko: HELLO AGAIN~ And lol wait that review made me lol XD Thank you for your kind words! And of course for leaving your usual review~ Can't wait to see more of your ABC's!
CrissNyan: Thanks~! Love you too 3
Title Unwanted: Thank you for the review and I appreciate it very much when you point out those things you liked! LOL RIO XDD And I'm 15 bro. If you're too young to die what am I lol XD I hope you like this update!
Quilla The Silent: Oh! Hope you're doing well there! And it's fine~ I understand! Glad you loved the chapter anyway!
animeandmangafangirl: Glad you liked those parts and I appreciate you for pointing them out in the first place TTwTT And yes she did get scared by that but I'm sure she used 'anymore' in the sentence that justifies that~ ^w^
mspotatoes: XDD Happy to hear you enjoyed that part! (BECAUSE I DID TOO LOL)
KyoRina97: It's fine~ And I'm happy you enjoyed it! Hope you like this one!
OKay let's get some shuteye folks~
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING YOU TWATS
Chapter 19: What You Are to Me (Part 1.5: The Best)
The evening crickets filled the quiet, empty campus of the Kimii High School Building A – the same building where an old, wooden clubroom was as lively as ever even with the late hour at the end of a weekday. Though the stars were twinkling up above the roofs of the town and the academy was nearly as empty as an abandoned church, all seven students inside this aged room were up and about with their plans for their biggest project as a group yet. It wasn't as if they weren't permitted to stay late – now that the festival was coming up, there were clubs that were in need of overtime stays at the school to get some jobs done; all they had to do was notify their guardians and have a teacher get permission for them and take charge (the very last one was not followed and they only forced their chemistry teacher to do it).
Combat Club's usually disorganized clubroom was, for once, quite arranged accordingly – the traditional Japanese table had returned to its original station in the middle of the room underneath a round lamp bright enough to not leave any dark corner near any of the four walls surrounding them. Surrounding this table were all seven former-assassins settled down at whatever position they found comfortable – although one of which, had her form towering above everyone else' for she had been the only one standing up and acting as spokesperson (again; but they just let her have it since their real supposed spokesperson was too lazy to).
Rio had a hand to her hip as she cleared her throat – blue eyes fixed onto the braided girl whom sat alone on the one side of the table directly in front of her "Okay, you got better in a nick of time and I do believe we are more than ready."
Yuzuki joined in from her same side of the table where her spiky-haired classmate sat himself next to her – her elbow putting itself on top of the wood before she let her chin rest on her palm; pinkish eyes were bright with enthusiasm like they always were whenever she was in a good mood "But we have a day left for some polishing. If there's anything amiss – which I doubt," she had a smug look on her face when she cocked her head to the side and emphasized these three words proudly "We can fix it by that time. Because firstly…"
To none of her expectations for this meeting, all six pairs of eyes had landed to where the shortest member of the group was with seriousness not feigning in their expressions. Clearly taken aback by these intimidating looks by the audible gulp she made, Manami felt her mind rapidly being filled with panicked thoughts that piled up one after the other which surprisingly didn't give her a headache. She had started to suspect that maybe she hadn't gotten better over the week and was about to get another scolding; that or it would be another throw of comments to her performance lately even though she was sure she was no longer feeling so nervous. With these in mind, she could feel her entire body become agitated for not one of them had spoken for the past few seconds they were just staring at her – though it had only been about three, it felt like several for she hadn't even realized she had lowered her head.
Wait…'firstly'?
POP!
The abrupt, ear splitting sound had instinctively had her raise her head in a sharp movement – the moment she did, her glasses reflected upon the streams of colors and other colorful papers that danced across the air against the light of the lamp. Before she could even notice how Sugino had risen from his seat with a confetti popper, all six of them exclaimed in chorus.
"Happy Birthday!"
As applause broke through the room, purple eyes could only remain wide due to their owner's utterly stunned reaction to all of this. All her mouth could mutter out was a soft "H…huh?"
'T-Today is…?' With the steady turn of her head that hardly made it look like she moved an inch, her still dumbstruck orbs traveled to the calendar right behind their door reading November 7th.
"We knew you'd focus on practice so much that you'd forget it was today." Rio was the first one to speak after applause had calmed down as she grinned down at the celebrant's dumbfounded form cheerfully "So we decided to put something together for all of your hard work, and of course, because it's your special day!" she sat back down along with Sugino to be in level with everyone else in the table.
Even with all the smiling faces directed at her, Manami's initial expression to all of this had not since wavered – too overwhelmed by a series of emotions that had prevented her from being able to say or do anything in response. Noticing this reaction, those at the table smiled for they had expected it from her; they were quite aware that if they were to slam it in her face all so suddenly she'd need a lot of time to come to her senses. Karma, a little amused at this, set both of his elbows on the table to rest his chin on his palms to watch how things would unfold with a sincere smile from his spot diagonally next to her on the side of the table he shared with Sugino.
What most at the table did not really expect was…
Drip
Once that stream of water had left one of her glossy eyes, the shaking in her shoulders was not hard to miss as she let her head face her shaky hands atop of her school uniform's skirt. She left them with the view of her dark bangs hiding half of her face with only the glint of her glasses visible behind her hair. And for moments, she only wept silently – refusing to make a sound as her shoulders nearly came up by her ears.
'It's just what friends do.'
'What part of those faces looks disappointed? Don't think they'd given up on you.'
'You will pull it off.'
'I'm sure you'll leave a big mark on everyone's hearts…and that includes us.'
'We'll be here to pick you up.'
Even after weeks of hard training and working themselves to the bone to the point they'd had to collapse altogether at one point, they had taken enough of their time to prepare a day for her – to even stay late at night just to celebrate this day she had carelessly overlooked with her. And as her tears only piled up and drenched parts of her skirt, the surprise she had struck them with was short-lived for in no time at all they were smiling at her again.
"C'mon, don't cry~" Rio attempted to comfort her with a playful yet supportive tone as she mimicked Yuzuki's posture with the resting of her cheek upon her fist. By this, they were all fully aware of the fact that she was never used to having people so much as arrange something for her or maybe even do anything like this for her. Because she was so unaccustomed to these kinds of things, it was never normal for her to celebrate her birthday this way.
Finally making a move to use her sleeves to try to dry her face (and failed) – though she still didn't raise her head, a brittle voice came from her struggle to keep from sobbing too much as she now let both of her hands keep her tears from staining the floor too much "S-Sorry…it's just that…even though everybody was so busy…and there were more important things to do…even when I've failed so many times…you all took the time to prepare this for me…" between her sobs, she was able to make this out as clearly as she could for the rest in the room whom exchanged another batch of knowing smiles at each other – of course she'd think this way.
"Mana—"
"Who…" Just before Yuzuki could try speaking to her, Manami slowly lifted her head up and presented them with a tearful face accompanied with a beam that was downright nothing short of sincere joy "Who wouldn't be…overwhelmed by happiness?"
Somehow having the sobs calm down a little after that, the raven-haired girl proceeded to clean her wet face with the back of her hands – and at the same time, her group of friends all shared the same feeling of satisfaction as they softened their expressions at that; they expected something more on the lines of 'You shouldn't have' the whatnot. They were glad she didn't and answered them differently – Yuzuki would've slapped her had it come to that.
After another exchange of looks, Rio chimed in again "It doesn't just end there, you know."
"H-hm?" she opened one shiny eye for the rubber was being rubbed when the statement came to her ears.
"Why, what are we going to do with all these gifts if we ended it there?" the golden-haired girl spread her arms a tad as if she were presenting something with a keen grin.
"Th-There are gifts too?!" the exclamation wasn't so loud – but it had every ounce of concern and disbelief to it.
"Of course!" Rio reacted to this in quite the exaggerated manner; like it was the most obvious thing in the world as she reached for something in her pocket "What's a birthday without gifts? And besides…" bring her hand out of her blazer's pocket, Manami was able to see a small plastic containment and only watch as her friend's eyes gave out a tender emotion that went with her caring smile while she set her gift down in front of her.
"Ri-Rio-chan…this is…" by the widening of her eyes again, the stray tears that were left on the sides had trickled down her cheeks. It was a bracelet with a spearmint color that reminded her of that dress she really liked, and the same dress this blond friend of hers had come to grow fond of as well – but the real message that she was able to see with this present was how the girl had thought of giving such a feminine accessory to her knowing she had a great lack of such; it was as if she was telling her: 'Go become a fine woman.'.
"You deserve more than this, you know." Yuzuki had broken her away from her engrossed state before she could end up getting too caught up in the moment by setting down her own gift in front of her – just next to the space where Rio put hers.
"Yuzuki-chan…" she muttered out while she turned her gaze to her affectionate pink eyes. Once more, Manami was struck with another pang of emotions – more so when she took into account that it was a shounen manga.
"It's the one I told you about before in the lab, remember? I'm giving it to you so you could somehow find enjoyment in it." Her voice was friendly and warm – and utterly genuine, at that.
She knew far too well how much she cherished her collections; and from the looks of it, it was a mere hand-me-down that was likely to have come from her stash. "Th-That's—But to give something you hold so dear away—"
"It's all yours." Yuzuki raised her eyebrow and leaned forward on the table with her arms crossed atop it "I said it, right? You deserve more than this."
Just as Manami was about to feel more warmth spread across her chest and prod more tears out from her friend's kind and gentle tone, Sugino seized his chance to set another book on the table "Yep. You've done a really good job this year, Okuda."
It wasn't at all what she had predicted to come from him – or anyone else in the room, really. Right in front of her already blessed enough eyes was a book not about science, but of something she remembered getting interested in recently; art. Although she wasn't good at it at all, she had once voiced out her sudden interest to it after he and Yuzuki had put up their Korosensei poster out their door. Flabbergasted as to what enthused him to get her this, she turned her focus on the boy's ever-lively face.
"I saw it when you were batting. Before, you wouldn't have been able to hit any of those pitches – but then your injury from back at spring gave you a powerful arm strength and endurance suddenly." He gave her a wink and a thumbs-up with a supportive voice.
"If you were able to overcome that kind of pain and turn it into your new strength, I think that'd suit you just fine."
Manami couldn't even begin to describe how overjoyed she felt with the depth in the gift he gave her. Out of everyone in the group, she had to admit that she was probably the least closest to him. And for the spiky-haired boy to put this much thought into her gift, and at the same time give her an opportunity to teach herself something, she wasn't able to stop the feeling that she could do nothing to compensate for this act – for anything she could have done at the time would be considered ungrateful in her eyes; she barely knew him and yet he was able to come up with this much for her.
She wasn't even able to get a chance to respond to this for to her right where the two snipers were, Rinka's rare, kind voice had reached her ears. "This is the least we can do for everything you've accomplished this year."
In both of their behalf, Chiba lay a courage-gathering Omamori (good luck charm) in front of her that they had most likely had gone through the trouble of getting for her by searching through many stores – Manami knew full well that there weren't a lot of stores nearby that sold these kinds of merchandise. And with another moment of staring at the couple with a quivering mouth and drops of water threatening to come out again, she understood their message for the sincere smiles on their faces had their feelings written all over it. No words were exchanged, but both snipers didn't need to tell her that they were still thankful for the contribution she had put into their little feud back before the summer break ended; and with the gift they had given her in this beautiful evening, it was as if they were telling her to continue being courageous – to reach out and make a difference and at last…
Leave an impact – like they had both told her on the days she was alone with each.
One by one, she let her misty eyes travel from each of the gifts on the table – all of which had different meaning and had been poured with the genuine care her friends had for her. With an overflowing gush of gratitude that would have crushed a dam, she faced her dear friends again; this time a smile amidst her wet face that shined against the bright light of the clubroom.
"Manami." Karma had at last let his voice join into the merry gathering. His silence had been quite the oddity to the other club members, resultantly all eyes were on him now for they had expected him to have at least spoken a few times during all of this.
A moment later, a plain, white box of a rather significant size had taken up most of the space on Manami's left side of the table after it had been set there gently. She blinked once before moving her head respectfully to meet her gaze with none other than the one who had called her by name – and the one she still considers she owed the most. Her eyes widened one more time at this; not just because of the extra-large gift that must've been a great effort, or the more emotions that added up to her chest to the point that it throbbed from happiness, but the smile he gave her then was far from how he usually did so with most; and it wasn't the first time she'd seen it, but it was one of those rare occasions when it did.
Taking his silence and the nod of his head as a gesture for her to open the box, she reached for it gently – like a priceless treasure that could break just by touching it. With steady hands, she lifted the lid up with care and immediately her expression lit up as the color of a gentle gold reflected on her glasses.
Another smile – even wider this time – graced her features; although now, she couldn't have controlled it; for what she found inside that box was the one thing she liked that she had never told anyone but him.
Within the white, light box, lay an adorable plush toy of Nagoya's famous Shachihoko.
"K…Karma-kun…you…" she carefully lifted the stuffed toy from the box and had a look of its adorableness; it was just about the size of her lap where she put it. It was all over her face and how she said this what she was thinking about. Though overwhelmed by all of these great things happening to her within short time intervals, she had also formed a sense of remorse in the pit of her stomach. Where else could he have gotten this? This must've been rare to look for in Tokyo so he must have gone to some extents to buy get it for her – and even after all this time, he had remembered something so small about her. Saying Okuda Manami was touched would be the biggest understatement of the century that night; she couldn't even begin to express how she felt at the time through words nor actions.
"Don't think you're undeserving. You've done everything you can this year to get this far, right? Everyone in here knows how much you worked hard." Karma was leaned back on his arms lazily as he took delight in watching her gratified expression – this was, albeit only a little, evident on his face with the way his eyes and smile gave out a warmth that had remained as he spoke; and at the same time, he thought back on the earlier days he spent with her since his high school life started. And after comparing how she was back then, and the current her now – he wasn't able to stop feeling a little proud of her and partly himself for this result as his expression softened.
"So…" as if this were rehearsed, the instant he fixed his lax position by sitting up properly, all had their eyes on her again; though this time, the smiles they kept on when they gave her gifts had not left since then as they spoke in chorus-
"Congratulations."
Another silence came just so she could relish in this moment and let more of her emotions speak through streams of water that traveled down nearly endlessly after that. Despite the likely swelling in her crying face at the moment, she was still able to display them with a tender, loving face that brimmed with nothing but bliss. She lowered her head to the number of gifts out in front of her – eyes not feigning to give out every ounce of gratitude she felt at the time. Eyes falling onto the precious tiger-carp on her lap, her never-wavering smile only stretched wider while she let her cheek rest on the soft, plush material. A gentle but expressive laughter came from her as she hugged the toy closer to her; seeing this brought the rest of them delight – especially to the one that gave it to her – that was clear in their affectionate smiles.
"For someone like me…to be given such happiness…" Manami started; her voice soft and filled with earnestness "I can't imagine how terrible I would become if I let you all treat me this way too much…"
"You better not be saying things like 'someone like me'. I'll pull your braids off."
The familiar yet unexpected voice had led to everyone's attention being transferred to the door where it came from. And it was just as each of them thought – there by the door stood the school nurse and the birthday celebrant's guardian with a large box in hand. Although all in the room were caught by surprise, none were able to match how shocked the braided girl was just by seeing her there.
"I-Inari-nee…why are you…" Manami was very much aware that by this time of night she was supposed to be attending to another one of her jobs – and to see her there would only mean…
Rio smirked when she took notice of her friend's reaction to the new arrival "Why wouldn't she be here? She's the one that prepared this for you in the first place." She winked at her slyly and presented her with a toothy grin.
"Yep. If Inari-sensei hadn't told us your birthday was today then I'm sure none of us would've known." Yuzuki followed this with an appreciative expression as she nodded.
And for the umpteenth time that night, lavender eyes grew wide from another act of generousness just for her – well, she saw it was generousness, while the rest saw it entirely differently.
"Yep, that's right. And because I planned this out for you, I'm also in charge of feeding everyone in here." She somehow deadpanned at that – most especially when she recalled how it had ended up that way with the rock paper scissors game she had with another redhead in the room; but all in all, she didn't mind.
As her caretaker stepped inside the room, Manami studied the box she brought with her; inscribed upon it was a logo from some bakery she had familiarized herself with for she would pass by it from time to time if she were to visit the woman at work. It wasn't just any bakery however, it was the one she had set her sights on for some time now; but because it was quite the pricey diner, she had not even set foot inside of it.
Inari let the box take up the entire center portion of the table and looked down at the child she raised with a soft expression not one of the other members had ever seen from the school nurse from the time they'd known her – even Karma had to blink to check if he wasn't just seeing things. After about two seconds of gazing at the girl, Inari smiled and lifted the lid open "Happy birthday."
Once again, a glimmer came to the bespectacled girl's orbs – one that had seemed to circle around just by how wondered she was by what was inside. "Ka…Karumeyaki?" – it was none other than her favorite food. Only, it wasn't just any other Karumeyaki that was usually found during a summer festival – it was an entire cake big enough for everyone in the room to consume; and that wasn't even the most part for this cake had its own kinks to it as well that could only be sold in that pricey fine dining place. And though she had always wanted to try it, Manami wasn't able to stop the sudden pang of guilt she felt as she stared back up at her
"Wh-Why would you buy something so expensive?"
"Because I had money." Inari put bluntly.
"Th-That's not what I meant!" the small-structured girl leaned forward a bit to address her deep concern. "Yo-You're always hard at work! And to spend this much for me even when there are othe—"
"Don't say that." Rinka quickly cut her off with that order before she could continue with her nonsensical guilt talk again; which of course surprised the shorter girl due to its abruptness as she shifted her attention back to them. The moment she did, she was greeted with serious expressions that wouldn't let pass such words to come out of her.
"E-Everyone…"
A snicker came from the one who towered above all of them before she put a hand to her waist and stared down at the girl "Manami, don't you know?" Inari extended a hand quite exaggeratingly to point at her with a commanding tone "To everyone in this room, your happiness is theirs today. You carry a big responsibility right now and that's to just enjoy this night. You're a part of something wonderful, you know that? So seize your happiness tonight; not just for your sake but for everyone else'."
After having another round of looking at each one of their beaming faces, Manami wiped her face completely and replied to this with a livelier tone and a beam of her own "O-Okay!"
Not too long after that satisfying ender, Rio smirked again and started with a playful taunt "Man, you never tell us what you want so it's been hard to choose a gift for you, you know that? It was reeeaally such a drag trying to think of it." She teased with a mock expression of exhaustion just to agitate the girl – which happened either way.
"S-S-Sorry!" she yelped with obvious shame from how her shoulders jerked up at each stutter. A second later, her blond friend had given her a forehead flicking that caused her to flinch backwards in a cute manner "You know, it won't hurt to be selfish from time to time." She had to raise herself from her seat a little just to reach for her forehead
"What are you filling her head up with now, Nakamura?" Karma remarked wryly with a smug look on his face at his carefree position leaned back on his arms again – clearly all to tease her for that kind of lecture.
"You be quiet." Rio averted her gaze from him with an irked pout and the cross of her arms – so even after he'd been quiet for the most time he still didn't take a day off from his mischief-making or simple teasing.
Meanwhile, Manami had her head around what she had just told her. "B-But…"
"C'mon, c'mon." a hand had been waved for her to dismiss the thought before another grin came to the cheeky blond's face as she sat back down "Just say 'thank you' and that'll be enough." She cocked her head to the side with another wink.
She had a point – not once had she even said thank you yet due to how overwhelmed she was; she had her mind all over how much they had done for her and couldn't even bring herself to express any of her feelings due to just how blessed she felt. And now that her mind's been cleared up along with her face, and that she had come up with a resolve to get these feelings of hers through to them – with a warmhearted smile and the nod of her head at the blond girl's words, the braided girl gently set her Shachihoko on top of the table and stood from her seat much to most of their surprise. Although this was a rather unexpected move, Karma on the other hand, had been hit with a strange sense of déjà vu at this as he blinked few times.
'You can have Manaka.'
A proud smirk gracing his face, he let his arms stretch to the back of his head and leaned back at the wall right behind him as he awaited the show he knew was about to come with the relaxed shut of his eyes. He could surely tell from everyone else' faces that this was probably only the second time she'd done this kind of bold move in front of them – the kind where she would gather up all of her emotions and express them in such ways that had always amazed the redhead. He'd had his fair share of this kind of thing with her; the late night telephone calls, the ways she would just gaze at him with a resolution in her eyes if she were determined to get something through to someone – all of that she had only been able to do in front of him by far. And now that he saw coming the kind of spell she was about to cast upon the rest of them, one could only be so amused by the quizzical expressions given by everyone but the two red-haired figures of the room whom only anticipated what was to come.
And as if his sadistic side saw this as something to take pleasure from too, he had almost caught himself thinking 'Let's see how you guys like it.' Just from how entertaining it was to look at their cluelessness having been there before.
As if it were rehearsed, Inari switched places with the small girl so that now the latter was standing by the door towering over their seated positions. Manami had her hands entangled behind her back as she locked gazes with each and every one of theirs with a bright smile and determined yet caring eyes. And to only add up to the rest of the club's bewilderment, her braids fell from her shoulder blades to the sides of her head due to the formal bow of her upper body; back straight and sure of itself as an even more surprising event came next.
"Thank you all very much. I could never be any more thankful to have spent this day with you all; you, the people who I hold dear to me, celebrating the day I was born. Likewise, I am overjoyed to have seen this day pass with each hour containing at least one of you in it." Her voice was solid and as formal as the bow she had just given them – this was the first time the other five had perceived such a sight from her; it was written all over their astonished faces. For one thing, she really sucked at speaking publicly or even with choosing the right words to say in a regular conversation. But now, right in front of them was something that had come from all of her struggles – not just from her intense practices for the cultural festival, but from everything else she had gone through; this was just the proof that she had become much stronger since then.
She hadn't raised herself from her bowed position even when drops of water had flowed down once again and fell to the wooden ground that had become misty to her eyes even with the support of her spectacles. And the formalities had been ceased when she started to speak in a brittle voice amidst all the weeping again "Th-This is by far…the happiest I'd ever been. I-I'll be sure to treasure this day forever and ever…" by this time, if she had raised her head, she would've seen how everyone just stared up at her with enthralled faces and how Yuzuki had already joined in with the tear fest.
"I'm really…really…so happy I can't even let words describe it…" she lifted her head up and finally revealed to them a blissful beam and shiny eyes underneath misty glasses "I guess only my tears can." The beam had turned into one of sheepishness as she shrugged her shoulders. Slowly opening her eyes, she takes the time to move her gaze at each and every one of them starting from Sugino whom had his usual smiling face on, only now it seemed to be that he was looking at her with proud eyes before she turned to Rio who smiled up at her – simply stricken by her words just like Yuzuki was whose tears brimmed at the sides of her eyes. The stoic snipers had dropped their adult-like appearances and expressed how touched they were by the simple smiles on their faces that had meaningfulness into them. Then her eyes laid on Karma who only gazed back at her with a smile that didn't fall short on expressing that he was purely happy for her and was pleased with how this had played out – she was sure that if it were in a normal case, he would've remained indifferent like always; but the devilish boy whom was usually aloof to all else had given her such a look that made her feel a little proud of herself for once; he was the one she wanted to show her improvement to the most, after all. And then there was her beloved mother-like figure that only presented her with a smug expression with crossed arms – as if to tell her 'See? You can do it. It was that easy'; after all the years of life she had known, it was always this woman that believed in what she could do.
I'm glad…it reached you…
Manami took a deep breath and relieved her face of any tears with the sleeve of her blazer. With another second to think, and with the added beauty of the starlit sky just outside the window, she started again "If I could make a wish today then…" She took her hand and rested it on her chest in a yearning fashion as she closed her eyes; relishing in this thought and displaying her innocent desire for this wish "I want things to be this way all the time. It's an impossible dream, but if I can hope for anything…it would be to be this happy with all of you as much as we can. And maybe one day…the rest of Class E can share this same feeling I have…"
And with that, Yuzuki's tears released themselves from their hold at the sides of her eyes like an explosion – there was her friend again going at it again with her talent for making a slice-of-life manga scene; an otaku could only be so touched. That, and of course there were the word she had said in itself – and compared to the Okuda Manami of just months ago, this one had to be the best one yet. And yes, she can still improve.
Along with the helmet-headed brunette, Rinka found herself also tearing up at just how heartwarming those set of words were – to her slight embarrassment, the shabby haired boy next to her had taken her emotional state into account and laughed at her.
"What are you looking at?" she tried to sound sour, but it ended up becoming a tad bit brittle when it came out – only causing Chiba to find more amusement as he answered "Nothing. I just thought you looked cute." It was put bluntly, and with a smile on his face too in the shameless manner he just said that.
Being the tsundere girl she is, Rinka turned away the moment she felt her cheeks heat up – unaware that he already saw it. "I-If you want me to pull something for you on your day too then you could just ask; you don't need to flatter me." This attempted to come out with a dull tone, but it appears as though her embarrassment had taken quite the effect on her voice by making her stutter and rise in pitch from time to time.
With Chiba being very used to this, all he could do after that was chuckle again "Sure, sure."
Unlike the other three, Rio and Sugino had only exchanged a nod for they had thought of the same thing – and that was the fact that this girl who was always so unsure of herself and lost, was at last beginning to bloom successfully; she had grown up a lot since then – and it appears as though these two shared the same views on her.
All the while, Karma and Inari were only able to share the same feelings of pride unknowingly. They had seen how she had grown from scratch, especially the latter. And with the results she had just shown today, with the words she was able to put together and reach to them; not to mention she did not fail in giving them another show of her capabilities as a person – the teenage boy was just reminded again of why he had succumbed to his present feelings.
'What do you know…in the end you still put us before you…' he thought to himself with a genuine smile (he had been doing that a lot around her lately) as he just admired what stood before her – chuckling to himself just by how much enjoyment he got from all that.
"And then…" her voice had started again and abrupt the small reactions; though no one minded. In fact, she was given the enthusiastic attention of her so-called 'audience'. Manami had her hands behind her back again as she was about to conclude this unintentional birthday speech "Lastly, I want everyone to know how amazing each one of you is. So…" raising a gentle fist to the air, she grinned one more time – this time out of steadfastness as she exclaimed
"Let's do our best in the Cultural Festival!"
And it was at that moment, everyone had been washed over with another flurry of emotions that couldn't even be described by any word out of the dictionary (all countries applied).
But once it had come to pass, the hype she had in her words had been passed on to the rest of them. She was successful in touching their hearts this night – so successful that everyone had somehow the same thoughts: That this was by far the best of Okuda Manami.
"And it's the same for us, okay?" Yuzuki was the first to assure her after she had somewhat recovered from her sobbing state with an aggressive nod of her head.
Rio nodded to this as well "We want everyone to know about just how amazing our clubmate is by seeing her take the stage and win her audience over like she did tonight."
"So, to repeat what you said…" Sugino followed through and exchanged a nod with the rest of the members inside this small yet merry room. And as if it were an unspoken agreement, all the teenagers got up to their feet and joined together to share one big high five underneath the light of the bright lamp as they all spoke in a chorus again.
"Let's do our best in the Cultural Festival!"
And the blissful night went on.
After a few more happy events, and the consumption of Karumeyaki cake, Inari had apparently brought with her an old Polaroid Camera and had them gather together for a commemoration photo. Once they were through with that, the whole group had found themselves beguiled by the photo for a few minutes – an old Polaroid camera it may be, but quality did not disappoint when it came to its instant printing technology.
"Oh! I think I just got a great idea!" Rio took the photo from Chiba's hands, but was careful not to damage it in any sort of way as she brought it towards their club's small refrigerator. She didn't even need to finish what she was about to do for them to get where she was going with this.
Thankfully, there were already some random magnets on the fridge that they decided to just put out of whim on regular, uneventful days. With that, their memory of today had been perfectly placed on the refrigerator as the club's first official memento. The photo had on it the smiling faces that could be used to describe what they felt after the events of today. With the birthday celebrant sitting in the middle of it behind the table of gifts and a Shachihoko in her hand, the two friends that were first to infiltrate her house sitting at each of her sides with relaxed poses of their own with the other female sniper knelt next to her on the left with her boyfriend-but-not standing next to her whereas on the right side of the girl who had just turned sixteen were the two other athletic boys in the clubroom standing in whatever position they felt like doing.
For another time that night, a moment of happiness was shared between a group of former assassins that never would've thought they'd go back to living this kind of mundane lifestyle and yet still find themselves having a great time. This night may have played out like any other birthday celebration night someone else in the world may be having right now; but to these students – who have already seen things beyond their wildest imaginations – had found contentment with what they had by the end of the day. And a particular red-haired teen that had once thought there was nothing left for him at all had begun to reconsider things in a whole different way – and more so was he leaning onto this new consideration when the object that started it all spoke up from behind all of them.
"Today I had so much fun…" and the shachihoko in her hand was pulled closer to her as she savored this moment to her heart's content. Yet again, for who knows how many times that same day, she had been showered with their smiling faces.
Really, the best…I could ever even dream of having…
…
This happiness was abrupt by the impish voice of her one and only guardian leaning on the wall with her arms crossed.
"Hah? Who said you're the only one having fun today?"
"Hm?"
Inari smirked mischievously – all ill intent was present in her tone as she said "Everyone, now that it's Manami's birthday, why don't we commemorate a few of her past birthdays?"
Not a lot of them got it at first, but when the haunted expression on the braided girl's face had been evident enough to have an anxious aura come from her, things were clear as day (in the night) "W-w-w-w-wait! I-I-I-Inari-nee! They don't need to—"
"I'll have you know, that on her 6th birthday, she went to a mailman and asked him if Galileo Galilei sent her back a letter after she wrote him one about her feelings towards the laws of microscopy." She told them this as casually as she could; with a smile of mock innocence, even.
"AH!" Manami had to drop anything and everything in her hand after her upper body jolted backwards and her body went cold. Did she have to say that one in front of all of them?
It didn't really help how the three other girls present in the room had simultaneously turned their attention to her and narrowed their eyes at her with some emotion she didn't understand – either it was suspicion or probably pity.
"Heh? You really did?" Yuzuki questioned rhetorically – somehow she looked creeped out and at the same time disappointed in her.
"What kind of childhood did you live?" now Rio's was obviously out of pity and disapproval – as the one that considered womanhood to matter in every female out there, she also had thoughts on how a girl should have lived her early childhood days. And not even Rinka helped with making Manami feel less mortified for all she said was-
"I feel kind of sad." With a blank expression, but with squinted eyes that expressed how unfortunate she saw this as (but deep down, she had been aroused by the mention of such humiliating secrets and fought that blush hard).
And the eyes of the bespectacled girl could only grow wider from the suddenness of the conversation turn. Even when they knew that this woman was just out to embarrass her, they didn't even do anything to stop it (so much for 'what friends are for'); that, and she had never been looked at that way in her entire life so this only made her even more confused "E-EH?! W-Wai—"
"Next, her 7th birthday came, and she came running to me with a dead frog in her hands." Inari seemed merciless tonight for she appeared to have lots more in store; the innocent smile from earlier had shifted completely into one of sadism "She said she accidentally dissected it while she tried to save it from choking and nearly cried her eyes out just by telling me to bring it back to life."
Compared to earlier, this woman's hype to embarrassing her co-resident was at a much higher level; the gap was so large that Chiba was beginning to think she really came her just for the sole purpose of bringing her supposed 'child' to an abyss of degradation.
In memory of that said frog, instead of Manami screaming from shame like she did earlier, she even tried to argue back "D-Don't call Goiter-chan an 'it'!" – as if she respected its passing and actually did cherish the reptile so everyone had to acknowledge it by name. Concerned with how she viewed this, Karma couldn't help but butt in to point out a fact with the furrow of his eyebrows and a slight sweatdrop that came with a sarcastic smile "You were the one that murdered it." 'And who names a choking frog after a throat disease?' – Yep, there were still many instances where this person would reach a certain oddness that was beyond his own.
"Hah, you should've been there when I tried to convince her it was dead and beyond saving. She didn't even know that taking out its esophagus would kill it at the time." This came out nonchalantly from the school nurse – but the crooked smile that graced her face after that statement had brought a rather not so pleasant memory (a disgusting one, at that).
"Things just got gruesome…" Sugino couldn't help but comment with a wary smile as his mind had brought about the image of a little girl taking the esophagus of a helpless, choking reptile like it was no trouble – and that it was the most normal thing in the world. The disturbance he felt from such a thought had become evident judging by the grim shadow that loomed over his eyes along with some blue lines travelling down them.
"Okuda-san, I didn't know you were morbid as a child…" Chiba himself had to sweatdrop at this – and looking at the red-haired fellow who was suddenly with a pleased smirk and had his arms crossed when he hears this only had another drop of sweat go down "don't you think you look a little too proud?"
And finally, the moment Inari had been dying to laugh about with others since the day it happened to her had found its opportunity. With a bright glimmer in her eye that hinted mischief, she raised her finger "And then, we have Manami's most embarrassing secret yet!"
Suddenly the whole room's attention directed itself to the woman that stood before all those seated around the table. And with that last statement coming from the thirty year old's mouth, Manami's frightful expression only darkened even more when she realized what it was she was pertaining to before she cried out with a desperate tone that would've had everyone's attention back had they not all (even Sugino and Yuzuki) been so intrigued by hearing the words 'most embarrassing'. "STOP!" Her hands went to the sides of her head in utter horror of what was to come. She should've known none of them would do anything to stop this – they were all assassins that lusted for blood last year, so of course a sadistic side was there.
"On her 9th birthday—"
"INARI-NEE!" out of impulse and a rush of adrenaline, the agitated, bespectacled chemist sprung to her feet and attempted to charge at her caretaker so as to cover her mouth before anything came out – only to completely fail at doing so when the tall woman stepped to the side and had her fall onto the sorry floor as Inari continued with a face similar to that of a wedding reception host when they share an embarrassing fact about the couple (only it was a single teenager this time)
"Manami declared her first love!" the maroon-crowned nurse raised her eyebrows cunningly as her narrow eyes gave out a malicious glint.
"HOH?!" Yuzuki and Rio both exclaimed as they too got up from their seats with an almost identical reaction with both fists curled as their eyes gleamed bright with curiosity and cheeks flushing a tad.
"AAAAHHH!" the poor girl on the floor could only scream and cover her face instinctively – very much opposed to how the other females in the room reacted for they had suddenly been turned on (whereas Hayami Rinka stopped making an effort to hide whatever arousal she had – much to Chiba's disturbance)
Sugino then notices how his delinquent friend sitting next to him had also become very intrigued by this by the way he leaned in closer on the table and put his cheek to his palm. From the earlier other secrets disclosed, all he did was sit back and hum with amusement and even a nod of his head that lived up to his sadistic nature; but now he practically had his gaze fixed on the older woman with a kind of anticipation he couldn't quite comprehend.
"What's up with you?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing."
"I-I-INARI-NEE!" Manami sprung to her feet again with a face redder than the hair of any of the red-haired ones inside the room as she took another attempt at stopping the woman from killing her with sheer embarrassment by trying to cover her mouth – which was dodged yet again and had the purple-eyed girl fall forward and roll for a bit before landing on the next corner of the room.
After she had gotten rid of the hindrance to her secret-disclosing (which was the owner of the secrets herself), the cheeky woman continued with an enthusiastic grin "To this!" what she held out in her hand was an outdated chemistry textbook that must've been rejected even by the secondhand shops due to its obvious age and how battered up it looked.
All of a sudden everyone was turned off and the hyped atmosphere was replaced with a dull and lifeless aura that had only become more thick with the disappointed frowns on everyone's faces. It was like some HP bar that rose at a high level had depleted into sad, sorry, negative digits where they were.
Rio was the first to shoot Manami with narrowed eyes that were nothing short of absolute distaste as she pointed to the old college textbook (Antiquarian edition) "What is that?"
"N-NOTHING!" she squeaked out from behind her hands as she had practically pushed herself to the corner in a desperate attempt to get away from that place.
All the while, Inari had to stop herself from bursting into a large fit of laughter as she discussed this final secret which was evident from how her shoulders shook and how her lips quivered from holding it in too much "You should have seen her; She was spouting stuff out like," with a clear of her throat, she mimicked the braided girl almost as perfectly as Korosensei's head is round "'You know, Antiquarian-san, you've been by my side the longest time. I only have one wish today, and it's that I'd want to become your wife one day if you'd let me' was what she said!" not being able to hold it in anymore, she slapped her knee and nearly hacked on her own laughter.
"STOP!" It was as if her eyeballs had just become mere scribbles on the white spaces of her eyes all because of the mere look back at that horrifying memory. That being said, nothing else filled her distorted mind aside from dizziness that suddenly formed from the rush of blood to her face.
Most tried their best to suppress the strong urge to just laugh really really loud and just point at her after hearing such – but such guffaws weren't held on to for too long because eventually most around the table released it and released it without mercy; it was hard to tell if they were even breathing anymore after they had started to point at her jeeringly.
With tears at the sides of her agitated eyes and slapping both hands to her red face, Manami had only further drowned into mortification to the point she felt like her soul was about to leave her for all eternity. If she could die any time, now would be the perfect time.
This had lasted for quite the long time – Sugino wasn't even making an effort at keeping himself subdued and just laughed to his heart's content along with (to most of their surprise) Chiba. Meanwhile, the girls were having an extra powerful laugh fest for Rio was on the brink of crying her eyes out and next to her, Yuzuki slammed her fist to the table several times and looked to be having difficulty in breathing already. Rinka, even with her furious blush, needed to use both of her hands and a bit of force to hold in what would become an embarrassing laughter as she too had begun to form tears by the sides of her eyes just by trying to stop it.
Inari wiped a tear from her eye after she had somehow recovered – voice still a little brittle from laughing too hard "Now then, where'd that book go—heh?"
Right on the side of the table where the only one who didn't mock her was, the old Antiquarian edition chemistry book had been drenched in juice and a lot of other sauces and that used to be the mess on the table as it lay there wide open and paper first to the furniture. Lifting her stare a tad, she was not the least bit surprised to see the innocent smiling face of the devilish red-haired boy with his hand on top of it. Suddenly aware that the attention of the room had focused on him, he pretended to be surprised but kept that obviously sarcastic grin on.
"Oh? Sorry~!" for a moment there, he actually looked surprised at his own action – but of course the rest knew better. "But it was really hard to tell. I mean, it looked so outdated I'd mistaken it for a substitute rug." It was all over his wicked grin just how not sorry he was – he just eliminated what he considered a threat and looked really proud of it.
"You did that on purpose didn't you?" Everyone's thoughts were put into words right then by the school nurse' blunt remark; their laughs had died out and were just replaced with expressions that said 'really?' and raised eyebrows.
"Oh well, now that it's trashed, guess we won't be needing it anymore." Karma picked the threat up by his thumb and forefinger like it was something that he was too disgusted to touch – or care about (which was undeniable) as he stood up from his lazed position and began to saunter away somewhere.
"Eh—"
"Now then, where'd I put those matches?" he put a hand on top of his eyes as if in search for something with an enthusiastic beam on his face.
Hearing that, Inari's fun ended "O-Oi! I could care less about what happens to that book but no flames in the school!" it was easy to tell that she was more worried about getting fired rather than the safety of her students when it came to this hazardous subject. It appears she was also very disturbed by the idea of her getting married to a chemistry book at the time – so disturbed that it took a lot of courage just for her to bring it there and embarrass her for fun's sake.
And the night went on with the two of them arguing for the umpteenth time and everyone just getting back to their own business like the usual.
Even if everything went downhill and Manami nearly died out of humiliation, she still considers them the best.
The evening befell upon them quietly, yet serenely. What was once a merry clubroom had now been enveloped in a tranquil quietude between two teenagers who had remained though the rest of them had gone their separate ways and were probably getting ready for bed this time around.
Due to the occurrence that the school nurse and the birthday celebrant's guardian claimed to have had something to take care of, a small girl with the love for science had been obliged to wait until she was finished albeit it being quite the late hour to even have anything left to do in the empty school grounds. Eventually, the redhead who was closest to her had volunteered to stay with her until the woman came back from whatever it is she said it was. Though late in the evening it may be, neither had minded each other's company nor the fact that they were staying at a school (no less), for it was also refreshing to have a respite after such happy (and not so happy for some) events.
For minutes now, the two engaged in their regular conversations – as usual, finding enjoyment in the presence of the other for they were accustomed to being alone together most of the time. The only things in the room present with them were the messes of food and other utensils on the table accompanied by the gifts the celebrant had received that day. Heck, the room was a clutter of materials in itself from the after-party state it was in; but if anyone cared to clean it, they would've done it by now.
"Earlier…you were kind of quiet." Manami addressed this observation with a slight bit of curiosity in her eyes – Shachihoko still rested in her lamp and in the comfort of her caring arms throughout the time since the conversation started; like she treated it much too precious to let go of so irresponsibly so it had to be with her at all times.
"Quiet?" Karma cocked his head to the side at the inquiry – as always, his position was as carefree as ever with the common way he would let his arms support his weight from the back of his form while he conversed with her.
The braided girl nodded her head in reply; and it didn't take too long for him to respond back to this with a teasing smirk "Well, you don't want me causing too much trouble whenever everyone is gathered, right? So I became a good boy today just for you. Now, is that so bad?" this came out like a joke as he raised his eyebrows at her playfully; but all in all it was the real reason he hadn't exactly done much mischief-making for the past few hours.
After blinking a few times in mild surprise, the girl only stifled a short giggle at this before she held the toy in her hand tighter; leaning onto the soft material with her cheek – which added to Karma's score list – as she had a soft expression while saying her next words "Karma-kun is…kind."
It came out of nowhere, but he didn't react much to it – although he did feel something go slightly off with his mood after she said that. A moment later, his smile faded as he let his mercury eyes shift to the side for a bit at the thought 'That's not true…' – he referred to the initial motives he had when he first decided to help this girl out; the selfish whims that had gotten him to reach out to her – all of that were still yet to diminish from his mind.
"This is…" when she started again with the same soft yet affectionate voice, he turned his view back to her only to find her still resting upon the gift he got her that night "…The happiest I've been in a very long time…" behind her spectacles, a pair of purple eyes that glinted with emotion was present. However, Karma did not fail to notice how not all of those emotions were of the positive type – especially when he found her gazing at the empty Karumeyaki box with an emotion he had a hunch he knew.
" 'Happiest', huh? If that's so, then what's up with that guilty look in your eye?" he mused with a smile and let his arms stretch to the back of his head as he let his stare transfer to the ceiling where the bright lamp was still on and let the room brim with light. Manami's half-lidded eyes only went down lower with the fade of her smile – as usual, he could read her easily.
"…I've been found out, huh…"
"I told you before, it's not hard to tell." He chuckled after the subtle tease and found some ease with the sheepish giggle she gave him in response – that would mean she was willing to tell him about it. Raising her head from the plush toy, she started another topic; this time her smile held a sense of regret just like her downcast eyes "I can't help but feel…upset for Inari-nee."
So she was still on about this – figures, she was the type of person that overthought about other people; more than anything, she was the type of person that had a great sense of reciprocity and always saw herself as someone that shouldn't really be paid mind to. It took a short moment for him to gather some words to counsel her with knowing all of that; once he had settled with something, his eyes did not leave the light of the room as he spoke with a casual tone "Everyone told you, right? Today was reserved for you so you could just rest easy and be glad about it. For everyone's sake." He made it a point to add that last sentence with a knowing smile – repeating the words of the one she fret about at the moment would probably do her some good.
Manami nodded – but her countenance had not changed one bit "I know…and I can't be anymore grateful for that but…"
'Back when we were rivals…' lips stretching into a frown at the memory, with the additional resurfacing of the day she had gone to Hashimoto with the old man that called her Hanako and her caretaker telling her not to open the mysterious case, she blinked slowly to try to ease her uncertainties before turning her head to the side to face him "I've told you before how I didn't know a lot about my parents, right?"
And here they were again with that talk on the past Karma couldn't quite get his finger around. Somehow discussing this very mysterious part of her had honestly gotten his mood a little put off; it always reminded him how he knew next to nothing about her – but he let his silence to this make it a sign for her to continue and ensure her that he's listening.
"The truth is…there are more things I don't know about Inari-nee." Her regretful look had gradually shifted into a troubled one as she finished up the sentence.
Noticing how she was suddenly bothered, he let his head face her and set his arms back to his sides – suddenly intrigued "What do you mean?"
She closed her eyes and shook her head – her braids ruffling from the movement as she moved her eyes downcast "I know next to nothing about Inari-nee." She paused just to blink slowly with some distraught as she looked back at some parts in her life "What happened before she ended up taking care of me…what she was to my parents…Because of that, I can't help but feel like she's always been hiding something from me – something really important…and connected to why she's living this way now."
With his mind lingering upon those words in some way to get his head around it, he found an oddity in her sentence " 'This way'?"
"Mhm." Manami nodded again and lifted her head ever so slightly – but her eyes kept themselves distant in her explanation "Inari-nee lives on small jobs and lots of part-times even with her medical background. All of them are almost completely unrelated, but she's able to do them all without fail." A saddened smile graced her features as her shoulders slightly rose "I'm sure with a person that talented…she must've had a better life than the one she's living right now…" a finger started to play with the eyeball of her stuffed toy unknowingly. All the while, Karma was trying to put two and two together; trying to grasp things well and somehow understand this until he had been cut by her voice again.
"I don't know what happened, but I know deep down that it's connected to me somehow." His eyes didn't fail to perceive how the firm hold she had around her soft plushie went around it tightly – her eyebrows scrunched together mildly as if in deep search for an answer inside her own mind "I…want to know for some reason. I really want to know…then maybe I can support her in any way I can when I do."
Keeping silent and seeing this somewhat desperate state of hers regarding this topic, he could only feel as though something quite complicated happened and failed to find the right thing to say to her at the moment – naturally, the urge to know about it himself had risen; what exactly had gone on in this girl's life before all of this? And then he recalled…
'If I were to tell you…It wouldn't make a difference.'
Even with all the hints given to him by the glimpse he had of that case, the weird girl they met in Hashimoto, and all the other things he had witnessed that had come to a relation to this mystery of hers – not even with the smarts he had that towered head over heels above everyone could he even begin to guess the events of that time of her life nor make mere assumptions. Because of this, he had not said anything in reply – there was nothing he could do to console her with this anyway.
Manami then notices the awkward atmosphere she had just created once again from the same subject – her personal life from before. She wanted to mentally give herself a forehead flicking for doing it again and in front of the same person too. So to amend her mistake, she stuttered out and decided to change the conversation flow.
"L-Let's not talk about me for a while; I've been getting spoiled too much today. A-anyway, let's talk about you." Then a smile came to her face again – lavender eyes came back with their bright and innocent glow as she beamed up at the tall boy with eagerness.
"Even though it's your birthday?" Karma let his head tilt itself to the side and eye her curiously.
"It's alright. I'm curious about something anyway." She assured him – her regular tone of voice had also returned when the subject came to him now.
Sparing a few seconds to wonder about what it is that would've brought curiosity to her, he eventually showed her another smile to hear her out "Ask away~"
"How do you celebrate your birthday?" her eyes blinked up at him with innocent interest – he figured she would ask something like this and didn't need to think much about his answer for such a topic wasn't that big a deal to him.
"Mine? Well, people send me gifts and everything but I usually just stay at home." He relaxed himself again in his seat by leaning onto one arm for support this time as he answered this like it was nothing to him.
On the other hand, Manami had become puzzled to his response – stay at home? Considering he had a fair amount of friends anyway, she had expected him to at least have some sort of celebration though it may be small. "Eh? Why?"
"My birthday falls on Christmas, so of course everyone else would be celebrating that day with their families." He took his free hand to scratch the back of his head blithely before as he continued "I don't mind it though, saves me the trouble of having to prepare a bunch of things."
In a quizzical tone, she proceeded to address her questions to him with quite the confusion in her eyes "Then, what about your parents? Don't they come visit for Christmas? It's your birthday too so they should be celebrating with you, right?"
"I told you before, didn't I? My parents always travel around the world – they'd send me some games or a postcard of where they are on earth with 'wish you were here' or 'happy birthday' attached to it." All of this was stated in such a way that gave out he didn't really care – and that he didn't actually take a liking to this topic due to the deadpanned expression he had as he discussed this "Other than that, that's how I spend my day in a nutshell. Maybe I'd treat myself to some hot chocolate or any of the convenient Christmas bargains but that's that."
"You…" Although he was very indifferent to this, his conversation partner was another story. By the time he turned to her with question, he noticed how her fingers were gently curled around the stuffed animal – her eyes downcast and shoulders tensed up as she had a clear evidence of distraught judging by her expression as her voice shook a little in her next words.
"Do you…hate your family?"
He blinked a few times at this. She must've gotten that idea by the way he talked about them and from how he discussed a day he'd rather not pay so much mind on. Noticing how this had caught the girl in another negative state because she was most likely thinking about him, he sighed and rubbed the back of his head "Well, I can't exactly hate people who are never here. But for that same reason, neither can I actually bring myself to 'love' them." She wasn't sure if he was aware of it, but the look in his eyes just now as he said that last sentence had gotten her attention.
The emotion held in those glintless eyes was not something she could put her finger on so easily – but there was some kind of…brooding(?) to them that she couldn't quite pinpoint the reason to. But all she knew then was that seeing that come from him, she had come to a few understandings of his life now. And the questions she had asked herself numerous times before had been answered just by that simple observation.
So that's why he's always been so distant…he's been left alone. He didn't have much to count on but himself for the most part of his life…That's why he's able to focus on becoming great and doing the things he wants…that's why he sees the world that way…
He wasn't left with a lot of things to care about.
With her thoughts finally being cleared up on this, Manami gazed at him with resolve and a genuine care – and though he was not looking back at this when she did, he had eventually turned his head to meet her eyes when he sensed them on him.
"Karma-kun…" her voice was low, but it was firm with the same amount of resolve she had in her shiny purple orbs hidden beneath her clean spectacles – and because of this occurrence, he had found himself unable to tear away and listen to what it was in her mind this time.
I want to be inside your heart.
With a warm smile and the tender furrow of her brows, she tilted her head slightly – but kept her gaze locked with his.
"Let's celebrate your birthday together."
If you have nothing much to care about…I'll care about you in hopes you'll do the same.
For another instance in the time they'd known each other, moments of silence had passed as both were only able to stare back at each other; they're own thoughts overwhelming them though such was not visible from their faces. Like always, Karma saw the loving look in her eyes that held the sincere yearning to be with him on that day. And because of this, his thoughts had gone around one fact – and it was that this girl, the one who had given him a reason to look forward to the future, was someone he didn't deserve one bit. His selfish and disrespectful personality that threw most people off, his tendency to disobey and get into heaps of trouble, and his bad habit of doing things his own way without much regard for others – she accepted it all and even cared for it. And for a person who cried her eyes out by the simple act of being greeted on the day she was born by people she loved to want to spend his own birthday with him – who saw things with aloofness, easily picked out what wasn't worth it, and someone that easily succumbed to some of his selfish whims to the point he nearly tainted her just the other day – all he could think of at the moment was-
'I don't deserve you…' his nonchalant stare to her had just showed signs of that by the lowering of his eyelids – but of course she wasn't able to read that thought. But when such a conclusion came to mind, he was reminded of the resolve he had made thanks to the help of a senior and an old friend.
'What do you consider precious?'
'What is it that keeps you going?'
Finally displaying a smile, he didn't let his eyes tear away from the answer that was right in front of him.
It's right here, and that's enough for me right now. So I'll just be happy about it.
"Sure." He at last gave his answer with a tender smile and an expression in his eyes he didn't give to anyone – recently, such a look had only been given to her. And with this response, her face lit up – absolutely overjoyed; in fact, much too overjoyed than he had expected for it was as if the gleam in her eyes had just quivered like she was near tears.
Badump
With that familiar sensation that boomed in her heart just now, Manami had suddenly become confused about this all over again. But once such a state had become clear on her face, Karma was just in time to turn his head to the door with another casual smile as he reverted back to his usual self "Now, seems the old hag's taking too long – I'll go check if she's on her way." With that being said, he proceeded to lift himself from his relaxed seat and headed to the door with his hands to his pockets.
"A-Ah, sure…" she managed to answer even with her heart still pounding against her chest for reasons that were still vague to her.
Thanks to the door already being open, Karma didn't need to do anything just to step out of the room – but the moment he did, a figure that leaned against the wall to his left had caught his eye.
It was none other than the so-called 'hag' he had just pertained to; but even with that comical remark, he had to take into account how this woman was not in the mood for any games by how her arms were crossed over her chest and a grim expression that told him she was there for quite some time now – listening to their conversation. And he had a gut feeling he knew exactly when she had arrived and refused to enter because of the conversation topic.
Not taking too long, he put on another smile as he faced the girl left in the room again "Manami, are you okay with being alone for a while?"
"Eh? Well, sure but…where are you going?"
"Just gonna check something out. I'll be back soon." He assured her with the same grin plastered on his face – successful at having her fail to notice it was all an act as he slid the door shut gently.
In the silence of the practically empty room, the bespectacled introvert was left to mutter out her thoughts.
"…I wonder what happened…"
The only resonations that could be made out at the time were the chirps of the late night crickets and the subtle hoots of the owls that rested upon the branches of the darkly-shaded trees of fall – for only a suspenseful silence ensued between two red-haired figures that stood still inside a school corridor that nearly took on the same dark as the night sky had it not been for the light that came from the small opened windows of the room the boy had just left.
For a while, nothing of note had occurred – neither even took the effort to face each other for Karma had not let his back leave the woman's sight. A single hand had been given the warmth of his pocket while the other lay lax on his side; albeit the casual posture he always had, the thoughts that flowed through his usually reserved mind did not come as leniently.
"You know well about what she talked about, correct?" he was nonchalant when saying this, but in every way serious for his mind had been set on finally getting some answers from her – after all, this had been going on for quite some time now.
Inari heaved a sigh, but was careful not to make too sudden of a movement on the door to alarm the girl left inside the room. "So it's come to this, huh…"
Taking a step to the side, his mercury orbs took in how the nurse subtly stared into the window that gave out a bright light quite evasively – just to have a glimpse of what the one inside was doing with a heavy emotion present on her gaze; one of which he couldn't quite comprehend.
"She's starting to notice…" she quietly lifted herself off of the door without fail; arms still crossed over her stomach when she eyed him sharply as if with a serious command that should not be disobeyed– which in some way slightly startled the teenager, and only more so when she said-
"I want you to help make sure she doesn't."
It didn't take too long before he got what she meant; once he did, he stepped forward again to directly face the much taller one "Then—"
"I'll tell you what happened. And when I do, you'll have to help me do whatever it takes to keep it from getting out."
Wahahaha I hope I did well...I hope 8"3
I'll be sure to try my best and update the soonest I can since now that school's started. And JUST as we got to one of my favorite arcs.
Though that being said, I'd VERY much appreciate it if you were to leave a review! I need to keep myself motivated and keep myself shipping after all! And I'd like to finish this story to the point where I got it figured out until we get to the next part of it which will be where I put hiatus on (Don't fret! I'll update as soon as I can! I JUST HOPE I STILL SHIP IT AS HARD)
OKAY! So, your thoughts? Yeah just leave it in a review for love, support and my moral needs for motivation!
Sorry I can't say much again this time but NEXT CHAPTER WE HAVE MANAMI'S MYSTERIOUS PAST SO YAY~ (Which the beginning part I've already written ;D so I'll have that up pretty soon I guess)
Again, thank you for reading and WARN ME FOR OOCNESS BECAUSE I SWEAR I THINK THIS CHAPTER IS FULL OF IT X""D
Love,
~TheFlowerWeSawThatDay