The next morning, Himawari excitedly opens her front door, ready to head to school.
"So!" Sakurako says as the door opens. Sakurako had been standing right behind it and now starts tapping her foot impatiently. "Are you going to help me today, or are you going to shirk your duties again?"
Himawari seriously considers closing the door and giving up on school for the day, but with the leftovers of the tart clutched in the crook of her arm, the pluots curled and shaped to look like red roses blooming through the meringue, she decides that Sakurako won't win the day.
I'm going to share these with my classmates... I WON'T let her ruin this for me...
Himawari scoffs and walks out the door, closing it behind her and sidestepping Sakurako as she starts walking towards school, leaving the baffled Sakurako behind for a few wonderful moments until the telltale angry little stomps herald Sakurako's pursuit.
"Sorry, did you have breasts in your ears? Does your hearing have a hard time waking up?" Sakurako snaps at Himawari as she runs up alongside her, glaring up at her intensely.
"What's with you, Sakurako? Just one day and you're already being so...insufferable about it." Himawari speeds her pace up a bit before remembering the futility of trying to outrun Sakurako.
"INS...insufferable?!" Sakurako walks in silence for a few seconds before yelling at Himawari. "Breast monster! TITTY DEMON! You're the insufferable one!" Sakurako glowers, but Himawari sighs and walks on. Sakurako growls, continuing. "See!? First you get all mad at me for something you never told me about, just because...bec..." Sakurako stops walking for a few seconds, and Himawari slows her pace, tempted to look behind her.
No, Himawari clenches her jaw and grabs her bagstrap tighter. I'm not going to start feeling sorry for her, not again. Not after everything... Sakurako takes a few quick steps to catch up and the two continue on the path, side-by-side, Himawari still not looking at her. Sakurako then continues in a choked voice.
"...mean Himawari. You got mad at me for needing you," she nearly whispers the last two words, and Himawari feels a shocking chill go down her arms as something hard and spiked moves in her heart. Himawari turns towards Sakurako, her face softening for a moment before coming face to face with Sakurako's usual, smug grin. "I guess that's fine," Sakurako continues, narrowing her eyes. "You can just make it up to me by helping me tonight!" She continues walking on, humming to herself. Himawari stops walking and stands motionless. She whispers something that Sakurako can't quite make out and Sakurako stops, turning around.
"Eh? Wake up already, Himawari. You can't start drifting back to sleep now, we're not even halfway th-"
"NO!" Himawari shouts at Sakurako, who flinches and steps back.
"Wh-?"
"I said, NO. Do your own homework. I'm done helping you."
"I...I can't...you, you know I can't, so ju-" Sakurako stammers, leaning forwards, her arms low and outstretched, her body stopping short of taking a step closer.
"You can't? You seriously can't? All this time, and you still...can't?" Himawari glares at Sakurako, a cold, charged fury sparking through her veins.
"...you're..." Sakurako looks down, her hands drawing back and clenching into little fists at her sides. "You're the only one good at teaching me, so ple-"
"I'm good at teaching you?" Himawari lets out a single laugh. "No, I'm not. If I was good at teaching you, you wouldn't need my help all the time, right? If I was so good at teaching, you'd be able to do it yourself at least a little bit, right?" Himawari takes a slow, deliberate step towards Sakurako, who looks up for a second, a streak of panic across her face, before squeezing her eyes shut and looking back down at her feet. Himawari sneers. "Maybe, Sakurako, you're just bad at learning. I mean, obviously, that's kind of what being dumb entails. But if you're bad at learning, why..." Himawari's voice fades for a moment as that hard, spiky thing moves in her heart again, a painful tension building in her chest. "Why would I waste my time trying to teach someone like you? So no. I'm done...with you."
Sakurako stares straight at Himawari then, her mouth wide. For a few seconds, Sakurako holds her hands up, grasping at some invisible thing in front of her chest. Then, her arms drop to her sides, limp.
Sakurako cries.
Himawari watches her for a split-second before checking the street beside the sidewalk. Nothing from the left, nothing from the right, left still clear. Ok to cross. She crosses the street and continues on towards school, a faint sniffling somewhere behind her. She moves the container with the leftover tart to her other hand, letting her shoulder-strap keep her bag up, and wipes the corners of her eyes with trembling fingers.
After far too long in silence, Sakurako's stomping footsteps sound out from her side of the street as she charges towards school.
Himawari doesn't look over, and the little stomps fade into the distance.