After some time, I was able to calm down; I was finally able to stop crying altogether, and it wasn't as difficult to breathe. Brushing the last of the tears away from my cheeks, I attempted to stand. My legs were shaky, and it wasn't hard to understand why; I was physically and emotionally exhausted from my episode, and nothing sounded better at the moment than going home and crawling into bed.
Seeing my difficulty at staying in an upright position, Nagihiko stood as well, keeping his hand on my back. "I'm alright," I assured him, though it didn't sound convincing in the slightest.
"I'm walking you home," he stated boldly, and I stopped thinking for a fraction of a second—Nagihiko was not usually the type to assert himself, and it caught me off-guard.
As soon as I got over the initial shock, my immediate instinct was to protest. "You don't need to walk me home," I tried to make my voice as firm as his, but the weariness was too evident in the way I talked. If anything, that only made him more determined, which made me more annoyed. I didn't like depending on other people to begin with.
Nagihiko looked down at me—he was the tallest of the Guardians, and I didn't like standing next to him, as it only made me feel even shorter. "Rima, I'm walking you home. You're exhausted—don't say you aren't, because I can tell when you lie—" I had opened my mouth to deny my tired state just as he'd said this, so I shut it again in frustration. "If you pass out or something in the middle of the street, I'm not taking responsibility if you get hit by a car. So deal with it."
Any affection or gratitude that I had acquired for Nagihiko in the time that he'd comforted me vanished at that moment. Now I remembered why we argued so much in the first place: the little—sadly much taller than I—idiot just loved to get on my nerves.
I glared, and he stared back at me evenly. He wasn't going to break, I could tell. But I wasn't going to give in, either. I continued to glare angrily at him, and he met my gaze with his own, not wavering in the slightest. At that moment, it occurred to me that if anyone had ever wondered who would win a staring contest between Fujisaki Nagihiko and Mashiro Rima, they now had their answer: no one. This was a stalemate.
Resisting the urge to yell at him to "blink already, damn you," I continued to glare while asking, "Do I have any say in this at all?"
To my dismay, the question didn't break his concentration at all. So he continued to stare back at me while giving a short, simple reply. "None."
The staring match continued, and the longer he held out, the more annoyed I became. Thirty more seconds passed, then a minute. Then two. Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore, and I gave up. We both blinked at the same time. "Stalemate," I muttered, and he laughed.
Nagihiko still insisted on walking me home, despite my annoyed—and rather loud—protests. "Relax, Rima. It's not going to kill you." He had it the wrong way—he would be lucky to get me home before I killed him. I was determined to hold my ground, so even when he started to leave the bathroom, I stayed stubbornly rooted to the spot at which I was standing.
He walked back to me and looked at me for a second or two, then smirked. "Am I going to have to carry you?" He sounded like he meant it, and that was not something I wanted to risk. I had the ominous feeling that if he picked me up, he wouldn't put me down until he got to my house—no matter how much screaming and flailing ensued.
"No!" I yelped, and started walking. Sadly, my legs were still a bit wobbly, and I lost my balance, pitching forward. I didn't fall far before Nagihiko's arm wrapped securely around my waist. Before I had time to think that I would have rather hit the floor, he had righted my position and let go of me. I wondered if he just didn't want to make me uncomfortable—it was strange that I did feel uncomfortable, especially because he'd been hugging me not fifteen minutes ago.
I muttered a quick "thank you," and he looked just a little worried.
"Maybe I should carry you anyway," he suggested, and the concerned frown turned into a devious grin. I glared at him and headed toward the bathroom's exit, doing the best I could to keep my balance. I halted so suddenly that Nagihiko, who was following behind, nearly collided with me.
"What is it?" he asked, and I could tell that he was just the slightest bit irritated. If anyone had the right to be irritated, it was me.
"How do we avoid being seen walking out of the girls' bathroom?" I asked in a tone that stated that he was missing the obvious. "Won't that be a little odd, especially because you're a guy? Although I'm sure most of the students can't tell the difference anyway," I added innocently.
"Very funny, Einstein." Nagihiko, sadly, didn't seem too annoyed by my remark. I wasn't sure how his comments managed to irk me so much, but mine hardly left a scratch on his much-too-large ego. I also wasn't sure why his voice held the same "you're missing the most obvious thing in the world" tone that I'd been using earlier. "Have you forgotten that everyone's already gone home?" He glanced at his wrist, and I suddenly wondered when Nagihiko had started wearing a watch. "Actually, it's pretty late."
I hadn't realized how much time had elapsed since I'd taken refuge in the bathroom, and I was suddenly alarmed. What if one of my parents had come to pick me up, and then I hadn't shown? What if they were searching for me? I frantically took my cell phone out of my pocket—if this was the case, I would've received a text message or something. However, there were no signs that my parents had tried to contact me at all.
"Come on, let's get you home," Nagihiko said, and I nodded, following him out of the restroom. The halls were deserted, as he had said—even the teachers had gone home. Our footsteps echoed through the empty school, and I began to worry that we may be locked in, since no one was there.
However, when we reached the exit, the door was unlocked and I breathed a sigh of relief—at least I wouldn't have to spend the night at the school. Outside, the sun was already starting to set, causing the trees to cast long shadows on the sidewalks. It was very quiet.
Thankfully, I didn't live too far from the school, and I'd walked the distance before. Setting off in the direction of my house, I shot a sideways glance at Nagihiko, who was walking silently beside me, his hands stuffed in his pockets. "You really don't have to walk me home," I insisted, giving one last, futile attempt at making him change his mind.
"I suppose I don't," he said, and I suddenly felt a little bit of hope that he might leave me alone and let me go by myself. It was short-lived, as he continued, "But I'm going to anyway." I was too annoyed to decide if he really meant well by taking me home, or if he just wanted to get on my nerves.
We walked in silence for several minutes; the only sounds were our light footsteps against the sidewalk and the occasional call of a bird. I was just getting used to the lack of dialogue when Nagihiko spoke up. "Rima-chan, if you don't mind, I'd like to talk to you..."
Despite the fact that I was extremely late getting home and needed to do so as soon as possible, I stopped walking. He did so as well and looked down at me. "Well, we're pretty close to my house, and you won't get find out very much in the time it takes to get there," I said. "And we can't just stand here and talk—I have to get home." I found the contradiction between my words and actions funny.
Nagihiko nodded, and his expression turned thoughtful for a moment. He said nothing else as he started to walk again, so I followed him. After a moment or two of familiar silence, he said, "We can talk tonight."
Resisting the urge to stop walking again, I looked up at him. His expression remained blank as he stared ahead, and I tilted my head in confusion. "What do you mean?" I still wasn't used to the fact that my voice sounded too loud compared to the quiet of the evening.
He didn't say anything, and I shrugged. Looking away from him, I realized that we'd finally reached our destination. I stopped, and Nagihiko looked back at me questioningly. "This is it," I said, indicating the house behind me, and he smiled. Although I hadn't wanted him to walk me home from the beginning, I found that I was somewhat glad that he'd ended up doing it, even if it was against my will.
Nagihiko smiled at me, and then ruffled my hair, causing me to glare up at him. "Don't do that..." I muttered, and he laughed. One of these days, I was going to smack him.
"Rima-chan," he said, and I looked up at him through my blonde bangs, which he'd succeeded in messing up. "Remember what I said. Everything's going to be alright." He appeared to be trying to reassure me, so I nodded.
"Thanks," I murmured. "For listening to me... And for walking me home." As much as I hated to admit it, I knew that if Nagihiko hadn't shown up, I'd probably still be sobbing like a frightened child in the girls' bathroom at the school. And even though we weren't the best of friends, I still felt immensely grateful.
He smiled and nodded, and I turned and walked quickly up the walkway to my front door. Maybe, I thought, just maybe, Nagihiko wasn't such a bad guy after all. Just as I lifted my hand to turn the doorknob, I heard my name from behind me. Turning around, I saw that Nagihiko was still standing where I'd left him.
"Hey, Rima-chan?" he called, and I tilted my head in acknowledgement, wondering what it was that he wanted to say. He grinned and started to walk away, but not before he called, "You blinked first!"