Gessen Academy, Minori's room, two weeks after Yumi and Murakumo's graduation

Yozakura has become the leader of the Gessen elite squad, with Minori as her only teammate for now.

Yozakura, as the new leader, is in charge of the selection of the future elite students.

"Boring…" Minori says, laying down on her bed and pouting.

The past week, Minori barely saw her friend, who's become very busy because of all the duties her new status involve.

Not only that, but in those recent days, the strange geological anomalies surged. Not only in terms of frequency, but also of intensity.

Consequently, many shops and places closed their doors to the public, including some of Minori's favorite places, like the amusement park.

So, Minori has nothing to do and nobody to have fun with.

The little shinobi is tired of this.

"Enough! Yozakura will play with me today!" Minori yells while raising her arms and getting off of bed.

Five minutes later

Minori is walking in the direction of the Ninja Room of Gessen.

Her steps sound decisive and powerful. Even Minori's face looks unusually serious yet as childish as usual.

She's now in front of the Ninja Room's door.

"Yozakura!" Minori yells while brutally opening the door. So brutally it almost falls apart.

Behind the door…

Nobody.

"Eh?" Minori reacts, confused.

However, The little shinobi doesn't calm down at all.

"Um! Fine! I'll wait…" Minori stars, but stops when she notices something on the kotatsu where Yozakura usually works on.

Unfinished works.

Minori knows many things about Yozakura, like the fact she NEVER stops her paperwork. Even when going to the restroom, she never leaves a work half-completed.

Minori's concerns rise when she gets close to the pile of documents which are a mess, as if Yozakura left in an emergency.

"Yozakura…" Minori mutters in a worried voice.

Five minutes later

Minori is looking for Yozakura. She checked the toilet, but she wasn't there.

So, shei decided to check her new leader's room.

"Yoza…" She starts, about to knock the door but she freezes because of a noise coming from the room.

Even if it's barely audible, Minori can clearly hear it and even recognizes it.

It's a noise she hates, maybe the one that she hates the most.

Sobbing.

"..."

Minori slowly opens the door, without saying a single word.

And she was right.

Yozakura is on her bed in a fetal position, shaking.

Minori can't see her face, but she can perfectly hear that her friend is crying.

She doesn't know if Yozakura hasn't noticed her yet or if she just doesn't care. But the short-haired girl doesn't even react to Minori's entrance. So, Minori decides to get close to her.

After a few steps, she's now only an arms' length away from Yozakura, who is still not paying attention to Minori.

"Yozakura?" Minori asks in a concerned voice.

Yozakura stops shaking and sobbing when she hears Minori's call. Then, she rises her head to face her.

Tears are running down her cheek and her eyes are shot with blood. All of that makes Minori even more worried.

"W-What's wrong? Can I h-help you?" Minori asks.

Yozakura doesn't give any answer, her only reaction is to look down.

She's hesitating and looking for words. But she's also struggling not to burst into tears again.

Then, Yozakura leaves her position and stands up.

"I…" Yozakura starts, but stops immediately to clean the tears on her face.

"Did you hear about that… That earthquake, two days ago?" Yozakura asks in a sorrowful voice.

Minori is confused, obviously not aware of that.

"No…" She answers.

"It… 17 people died because of it…" Yozakura begins to explain, but fails and starts to sob again.

Minori is confused, but what Yozakura just told her is enough to make her sad.

"It's horrible…" She says in a sad voice.

However, Yozakura still has something to add.

"T-Two of the victims were m-my siblings…" Yozakura adds, closing her eyes, and turns her back on Minori after saying it. Leaving her in shock.

Minori is now horrified by that. Even though she's never met her siblings, she knows how much they mean to her friend.

She can't even say anything else in return, not even a simple "I'm sorry for your loss".

Not only that, but seeing Yozakura crying actually makes her sobbing too. And the idea that she was angry at them only a few minutes ago makes her feel guilty.

But she doesn't allow that.

"I can't, I have to be strong! For her…" Minori thinks while cleaning her face with her sleeve.

Then, Minori takes a step in the direction of Yozakura…

Then another…

And another…

And once she's able to embrace Yozakura with her arms, she takes her in them.

"I'm sorry, Yozakura…" Minori says in a comforting tone of voice.

The sudden hug calmed Yozakura a little.

But after mere seconds, the blue-haired girl finally snaps and bursts into tears.

"I-I PROMISED!" Yozakura shouts, her sudden scream scared her friend a little.

But Minori held onto her friend, who quickly calms down.

"I promised I'll be there to protect them! That one day, we will be reunited! But I wasn't there for them, and now they're… They're…" Yozakura says, unable to finish.

The new Gessen leader falls on the ground, bringing her friend down with her since she didn't stop hugging her.

"It's alright Yozakura, it's alright…" Minori tells to a broken Yozakura.

"You're not the one to blame. If you wanna blame someone, blame Shin." Minori says.

Yozakura calms down a little when she hears that name.

"After all, it's the one responsible for all those weird events recently, isn't it? So, it's the one who…" Minori starts, but she was about to say something inappropriate so, she stopped.

Yozakura stops crying, but still looks down. Minori can feel how despaired she is.

However, Minori still has something to say.

"Yozakura, I promise I will protect your siblings with you!" Minori shouts with determination.

Yozakura is awestruck, and finally rises and turns to look at Minori.

"We're a family, aren't we? So, that means your siblings are mine too! Together, we can do something to beat Shin! And when we win, everyone will be happy again!" Minori declares.

Both Yozakura and Minori fall quiet for several seconds, but then…

"Minori…" Yozakura says, closing her eyes and looking down again.

"Y-Yes?" Minori asks, fearing a bad reaction.

But Yozakura then rises her head and opens her eyes again. And this time, she's smiling.

"Thank you…" She says.

Minori is happy to see her friend smiling, even if she's still sorrowful.

"You're welcome!" Minori shouts.

Yozakura stands up, but before she could say anything…

"You should take a rest! I'll take care of your work!" Minori proudly yells.

'Thank you very much, but it's fine, I can…" Yozakura starts moving, but she's stopped by Minori.

"No, no, no! You deserve a good nap! Also…" Minori stops, and looks down in turn.

"Y-You know, I think I maybe have to… You know, grow up a little. It's just us two now and, I think I must be responsible, I guess…" Minori admits, her voice sounds ashamed.

Yozakura is surprised, but pleasantly so.

"Okay then, but can I at least show you how to work properly?" Yozakura asks in a pleading voice.

"How rude! I can work properly too! But I'm not against a demonstration…" Minori admits, ashamed.

Yozakura then gives a quick hug to her little friend.

"I'm so lucky to have you, Minori…" Yozakura says.

"Eheh! Thank you…" Minori says in return.

Special thanks to NeoDingleBat for his proofreading