Classes were back in session. Life resumed with singing and dancing, and endless nights of practice. As far as Nayuki could see, everything was back to normal. Even as the star team had wished their former leader luck in college, Hoshitani was still grinning from ear to ear. It was as if whatever happened during the play was only a dream. Nayuki thought he had imagined it, until he spotted the ribbon on Hoshitani's desk.
And then the small smiles as he typed on his phone. The way he spaced out during classes. The way he hummed during lunch. Before long, the ribbon was back around his wrist. Not long after that, he started making excuses to go out at night, his phone clutched in his hand, already buzzing.
Nayuki wanted to ask his teammates if they noticed it, too. Tsukigami had made a passing comment about the ribbon during practice; no one else seemed to care. They probably assumed Hoshitani wore it for luck. It was his first starring role, after all.
Nayuki wished he would stop noticing. He wanted to ignore the light of Hoshitani's phone in the middle of the night. He wanted to erase Hoshitani's laughter as he excused himself from practice. Nayuki wanted to scream every time he left to make a secret call.
Why won't you be honest, Hoshitani? Don't spare my feelings! Please, just tell me.
But he couldn't confront Hoshitani. Nayuki had his chance; he was rejected. So he could only smile for his friend, shake his head as if it didn't matter, and swallow his emotions.
They were friends. That was all they would be. That had to be enough.