It's Not My Fault We're Together!

Chapter 6: It's Something More (So I Guess It Hurts)

"Uh... Hina?"

Hina blinked, realizing she had spaced out in the middle of the hallway. "Oh... Sorry, A-chan. I was just... thinking about something. What were you saying?"

Furrowing her brow in concern, Akane began to ask what was wrong but stopped short, thinking better of it. Instead, she said, "I wanted to see where you thought we should eat. I was thinking we should go to the cafeteria, but I was checking to make sure that was okay with you..."

Considering the suggestion, Hina offered a bright smile said, "Yeah, that sounds good. Let's go!"

Offering a small smile in return, Akane soon fell into pensive silence as she watched Hina lead them to the cafeteria. Something seemed off today with her friend but she wasn't sure what.

"Hey, Hina..." She began.

Pausing, the pink-haired girl turned to her friend with her smile still in place. "Yeah?"

Fidgeting in place for a moment, Akane took a deep breath before asking, "Is something wrong?"

Slowing to a halt, Hina's face shifted to one of confusion and she said, "Huh?

"Well," Akane began uncertainly, "It's probably nothing, but you've been... distracted today, I guess. You keep on losing focus with this really sad look on your face, and then you start glancing around like you're looking for someone. What's wrong?"

After a long moment of silence, Hina's smile returned. However, this smile was smaller and sadder. "Yeah," she said, "You're right. Something did happen."

"What?"

...

"...So I've been avoiding her since this morning." Hina concluded.

Akane nodded, considering the retelling of the morning's events her friend had given her. "Yeah," she eventually said, "I can see how someone could get mad. But..." the blonde trailed off, unsure of how to proceed.

"But?" Hina answered, unwilling to let her friend fully abandon her statement.

With a sigh, Akane continued, "...but I don't see how you got mad. I mean... you hang out with Kuroki, of all people! I don't get why this would mess with you so much."

Blinking in surprise, Hina considered this. Akane was right, of course; Hina knew that things like this wouldn't normally get to her, but when it came from Yuri...

...she wasn't sure why, but it made her feel a bit sick.

"Yeah, you're right." Hina said. "It shouldn't get to me, and it wouldn't get to me, but..." With a shrug, she finished, "It gets to me when Yuri does it."

Cocking her eyebrow in response, Akane asked, "Why is that?"

Hina thought about the past several days and about the time she had spent with Yuri. Maybe it was because the girl was honestly a good-albeit strange-person. Maybe it was because of her straightforward, even blunt, way of speaking. Maybe it was because of the fun they had when they engaged in their petty little diatribes over Tomoko. Or maybe it was because every once in a while, Yuri would let her guard down for just a moment, and in that moment... In that moment, she was kind, and insecure, and sentimental, and...

Hina began to blush.

...and cute.

Finally, she answered, "I'm not really sure. It's just different when she does it."

Akane shrugged, deciding this was the best answer she was going to get.

...

Yuri glanced up as the final bell rang for the day, putting away her things and walking over to Mako's desk before asking, "Are you ready to go?"

Glancing up from her own packing, Yuri answered with a nod. "The library, right?"

"Yep." Yuri said, beginning to steal small glances around the room. She knew that Hina had already left the class, but some part of her didn't want to acknowledge it. She hadn't been able to find a good opportunity to apologize to the girl throughout the day and, unless she happened across Hina in the library, Yuri doubted she would have a clear-cut chance to do so before the weekend came. That thought formed a black, sinking pit in her stomach.

...

"It seems the time to go meet Kuroki-san has come... are you ready to go, Yuri?" Mako said with a smile.

Yuri started, having been looking around the library to see if Hina was there. Even though she determined almost immediately the pink haired girl was nowhere to be found, she couldn't stop herself from incessantly rechecking.

Frowning, Mako said, "That's not healthy, you know."

Cocking in eyebrow in confusion, Yuri uttered, "Huh?"

"It's good to see you care about someone," Mako began, "especially since you always try to stay distant from others. It's nice to see that someone can break through that cold filter you've built, and as long as she can do that, she has a chance to make you happy. However..." Mako sighed before continuing, "while I understand your concern, and I will always appreciate it when you care about someone, it's still true that, if you think only about them, you'll forget yourself. I don't want you to do that, Yuri, because it's unhealthy to forget about yourself. I want you to care for Hina, and me, and Kuroki-san... but I don't want that to cost you yourself." Mako smiled, concluding, "Because you're really important, Yuri, even when you don't notice. You're important to me and you're important to Hina. So if you focus on yourself, and care for yourself, then I'm sure everything will work out okay with Hina. Okay?"

Yuri was surprised at Mako's words, pausing to consider them and their implications. She was right, Yuri DID care about Hina, but... she was still her own person, and she had to care for herself. She had to keep focus on herself, and talk to Hina when she could; until then, worrying about it was useless.

Nodding, Yuri replied, "You're right, Mako... let's go meet Kuroki."

...

"Ah! Tamura-san and Mako-san!"

Yuri and Mako turned to see Hina waving at them as she, Akane, and Asuka approached them. For a moment, Yuri considered springing her apology on Hina, but quickly banished the idea; right now, they were here for Tomoko.

"You guys weren't in the study room." Hina continued. "Where'd you go?"

Yuri remained silent, uncertain of how to respond to Hina. Luckily, Mako noticed Yuri's hesitation and said, "We studied in the library today." Yuri breathed a sigh of relief; she would have to thank Mako later.

"We can see the entrance from here, so if we wait, Kuro will come." Hina said. "Maybe I should text her just in case."

As the girl produced her phone, however, Asuka cut in, saying, "Already done."

For a moment Hina seemed disgruntled. However, instead of retaliating she calmly said, "Ah... I see." Then, perking up for a moment, she said, "A-chan can text Yoshida-san."

This time, however, Mako interrupted her, saying, "Ah, I did that, so don't worry about it."

Yuri raised an eyebrow at this, turning to the gentle girl as she asked, "Didn't you tell me not to contact them, Mako?"

Smiling, Mako replied, "Ah, yeah. But today's the last day, so..."

This time, both Yuri and Hina rested their irritated gazes on Mako before glancing away. It was difficult, after all, to hold a grudge against the girl. Before they could say anything further, they heard the school doors swing open.

Turning, they found Tomoko and Yoshida approaching them. Their release was met with a cheer.

***Chapter 6: Good End***

A/N: Oorah! A new chapter of WataMote's out! Frankly, I'm glad it came sooner rather than later; could you imagine if I wrote this chapter and then they released another one that soundly declared everything in this non-canon? I guess I'm lucky that they haven't released anything majorly relevant to this story since I began it in such a way I have to fix anything, but now I'm concerned. What would I do if the next chapter of WataMote didn't come out before the next chapter of this, and then THAT made everything in this *laughably* wrong? I shudder to think! Anyway, thank you everyone for checking out my fic-I'll see you next chapter!