A/N: I'm thinking of adding slice of life elements to this. What are your thoughts about that? It's been a little while since I updated and I lost some touch with the story, but I'm slowly getting back into it.

Also, thank you to both okitaco and akuma-chan25300 for your reviews.

I'm very glad you like Nobara, okitaco. I spent a lot of time thinking about her traits as a character and how it came to be because her history heavily contributes to how she lives her life now. Thank you again, I'm very flattered! I'm also honored to have your review, akuma-chan. I'm doing my best to keep everything smooth and consistent.

This is a Nobara centric chapter where I introduce another OC of mine. Ajihara Elementary is also a real school within the Tennouji ward of Osaka.

-imari

ブライアーローズ

l

Briar Rose

Soichiro thought his angry little customer returned to the front of the counter just to glower up at him.

That was until she opened her mouth.

"Creep."

Soichiro groaned to himself.

He thought her enraged responses were very cute. Now he was just worried the girl was going to file a complaint to the pharmacy, and that would be an embarrassment he would have to handle amongst his colleagues. In fact, he could already hear a handful of them snickering behind the shelves of medication.

Troubled, the girl marched her way back towards the exit, but not before tripping over her own feet. Quietly, but still close enough to be audible, Soichiro picked up a short, but frantic 'ah' before her fragile looking body hit the ground. Everyone nearby froze and had their attention on the girl faceplanted in the middle of the hospital lobby.

Soichiro wasted no time.

He motioned one of his colleagues to ring up the sweet looking old lady at the front of the counter.

Abandoning his position, he rushed over to assist the school girl lying stiffly on the floor. Soichiro knelt beside her fallen form. He placed a hand on her thin shoulder and shook her. Rousing her, she managed to push herself off the floor.

Then she turned her face towards him.

"Pfftー"

Soichiro couldn't help it.

The fall was no laughing manner, but the speedy transition from pure humiliation to sheer rage after noticing him by her side could've set records. It was an amusing sight to behold.

Soichiro offered a hand to help her up. She blinked down at it before scowling up at him. "Thanks, but no thanks."

She was clearly angry at him.

"I'm sorry for being rude,"

Her brooding caused him to add. "Again."

Frowning, she propped herself up and managed to stand on her own. The medicine she stuffed into her bag was poking out. Her mother's identification sticker was exposed and slightly crumpled.

Otonashi, was it?

"I know your son." She spoke to him and brushed off the dust adhering to the front of her skirt. "We're classmates this year."

It was a wonderful feeling to meet a classmate of his son, but the bitterness behind her words had him laughing awkwardly in response. Without passing another glance at him, she nodded her head at him and was on her way again.

"And I don't like him very much."

Her last remark was subtle and spoken under her breath; like a slight breeze blowing past his ear. Soichiro thrust his hands into the pockets of his lab coat and watched her off. There was at least one person who didn't like his only son, and it turned out to be such a cute girl.

"Why is that? I wonder." He mumbled to himself with an incredulous smile spreading across his lips. Soichiro returned to the back room of the pharmacy. Upon his re-entry, he was approached by two of his co-workers.

"We saw you laughing at her, Shiraishi." One of them slapped his back in mock praise. "You're quite the professional."

"What a rookie, huh?" The other ruffled his hair affectionately. "I knew the department would receive a poor rep because of you someday."

Despite being their senior, Soichiro was often treated like the inexperienced one.

"You brats are a pain."

Whilst laughing, he swatted his friends' hands away.

...

Otonashi violently slammed her foot back on the brakes of her bicycle after pedaling up a steep incline.

"I don't like people who stare." She huffed and looked up at the stretch of blue sky ahead of her.

Her exhaustion made it harder for her not to think about the events at the hospital. Otonashi closed her eyes and remembered how upset the pharmacist made her feel. The thought prompted her to grind her back molars together.

How fed up she was with the course of today's events.

As Otonashi laid face first on the dirty linoleum, she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Someone knelt down beside her. Their gentle hand rested on her shoulder and shook her lightly. Out of embarrassment, she brushed it off and helped herself up. She sat up onto her legs and faced them.

The man had failed to suppres his laughter and she felt her aching face burn hotter. He offered his hand, but she shot another glare his way.

Her eyes widened in recognition and the breath hitched in her throat.

Shiraishi was beside her.

The light shining through the hospital windows illuminated the man's short, brown hair. It shone in a familiar shade of silver.

No, it wasn't Shiraishi.

Her gauking expression softened upon her realization. Those eyes weren't the same. Perhaps in shape, but the man's eyes were a deep coffee, nothing like Shiraishi's gray ones. This man had sharper features compared to Shiraishi's round face.

The surname on his nametag further proved the relationship between Shiraishi and the pharmacist.

The screech of rubber against asphalt created a noise that attracted attention to her yet again. There were just as many eyes trained on her compared to when she miserably face planted in the middle of the hospital lobby.

She was just too tired to care this time.

Hanging her head over the handlebars of the red bike, Otonashi closed her eyes.

A droplet of sweat dripped down from behind her right ear. In the end, she would have to take another shower. She felt her uniform sticking to the sweat on her body. It was good the term was over; laundry day wasn't until the following week.

"Otonashi?" A voice she faintly recognized called her name. "It's Otonashi, isn't it?"

Lifting her head, she noticed a lanky figure standing at the corner of the street waving a hand in her direction. In her other hand, she held a plastic bag filled to the brim with groceries. Wheeling the bike closer, Otonashi was able to identify them. Her golden tresses were tied up in a side pony that swept across her right shoulder. Those naturally pouting lips and indecipherable dark eyes were one of a kind to Otonashi.

Standing in a gray sleeveless shirt and a pair of faded denim shorts was Takahara Reiko, a former classmate from Otonashi's primary school. Takahara advanced towards her with a pearly white smile. "It's been awhile!"

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you since our graduation from Ajihara, Takahara-san." Otonashi attempted some small talk; a skill she had yet to master.

Takahara lowered her head and chuckled with a wry smile on her face. Her laughter seemed a little tense. Before Otonashi could put a finger on it, she was upbeat again.

The wind blew Takahara's side swept fringe upwards and exposed her forehead to the sudden blast of air. A set of golden eyes settled above her right eyebrow. There was a bandage sticking to her forehead, but it didn't draw Otonashi's attentionー not much compared to the giant, purple welt forming just below the hairline of her bangs.

The wind ceased, but her bangs continued to suspend itself over her forehead and Otonashi's eyes were still glued to the dark bruise that was clearly exposed to her.

"Oh." She finally noticed the lingering stare. Frantically, she smoothened the stray bangs down with the palm of her hand and kept it there to hold it in place. "In case you're wondering, I'm all right."

In the silence that followed afterward, the apology left Otonashi's lips.

"I'm sorry, staring was rude of me."

Takahara's wry smile returned and her brown eyebrows scrunched together quizzically. "You're a polite girl aren't you, Otonashi?" Whilst mumbling, she gazed dejectedly towards the ground. "Perhaps I should've gotten to know you better back thenー"

Otonashi didn't know what to make of that comment, and the smaller girl wasn't about to ask about what she meant by that.

With another sheepish smile, Takahara digressed.

"I know we used to walk home in the same direction. Do you want to go back together?"

Otonashi nodded her head and continued to roll the bike on her right side while listening to Takahara rant on her left. One of her heated stories included several dramatic hand motions and intense expressions.

"You know how there was a special interschool tennis match in Ajihara before we graduated? The match against one of the schools in our area? Well, I went to watch it and I'm there sitting in the stands, right? During one of the doubles matches, one of the rival players smashed the tennis ball into the crowd. The crowd is 'oo-ing' and 'ah-ing'! And you know who it hitsー"

She balls one of her hands up into a fist and smacks it into the other palm of her hand.

"Me. Me of all people! I was fuming! I should've smashed it back into that stupid, speed monkey's face!"

Otonashi's imagery wasn't known to be the greatest, but she pictured several hyperactive monkeys on a tennis court waving their rackets around recklessly. It brought out a small smile at first, but in the end it left her chuckling.

Seeming pleased, Takahara beamed down at her.

Her ranting was deliberate, and Otonashi knew the talkative girl beside her had been trying to get her to laugh.

"It was getting late when I ran into you. You were just going home from school?" She studied her school uniform curiously. Otonashi nodded her head once more. The only lies she could get away with were the ones she made by shaking her head. "You're in a club, huh? Maybe sports? There's no other reason why you'd be out for so long."

"No sports. Just library committee." Otonashi answered plainly.

Library committee was an after school activity every Saturday, and today was Wednesday, but she didn't have to know that.

"Besides, I have the endurance of a ninety year old woman."

That was the truth, but Takahara was humored by Otonashi's non chalant way of saying she had zero fitness ability.

A barrage of questions continued on, as well as Takahara's fits of laughter between Otonashi's answers. The laughter settled down as she asked more about school, but the mirth was still there.

"When is summer break?"

"It just started today, actually."

"What school?'

"Shitenhouji."

Takahara clapped her hands together delightedly. She stared down at me again excitedly from head to toe. "That's Shitenhouji's summer uniform? It's very cute!"

The summer uniform had a long striped design running through the dress from top to bottom. Otonashi admitted the design was peculiar, but she wasn't about to complain.

Before going their respective ways, they exchanged phone numbers at a quiet crossroad. Takahara's parting gift of the evening was a bar of dark chocolate from the grocery mart and a grin, which Otonashi accepted eagerly as a sweet tooth.

"I'll be attending Shitenhouji this coming term too." Takahara's eyes were sparkling excitedly again. "I hope we'll be able to hang out more when it starts."

This was a 'let's be friends' proposition.

Otonashi was hesitant to entertain the thought of befriending one of my elementary school's well-known students. Where there was a crowd there was Takahara; a place where the quieter girl often didn't belong.

Will Takahara continue to be surrounded by people no matter where she carried herself?

As always, it could only be known when the time comes.

Otonashi's mouth opened without a second thought, but her next words rang true. She returned Takahara's hopeful expression with an unabashed grin and agreed.

"Yes, we should."

...

I arrived at the apartment nearly at sundown. Mother already went to work and of course upon entering, I found Shion watching the television in the dark. I moved to the other side of the room and switched on the light. My little brother crinckled his nose and looked away from me in disgust.

"You stink, No-chan."

"Huh?"

I looked down at myself and instantly agreed. One whiff was enough to make me feel light headed.

"A-Anyway, didn't mom tell you not to watch TV in the dark? You'll go blind."

After berating him and giving him a light thunk on the head, I took the second shower of the day. Soon after, I sauntered back into my room and flopped onto my bed carelessly.

Hours had already passed when I heard the door creak open. Alarmed, I sat up from my bed and scanned the darkness of my room. Just barely I noticed Shion's figure standing in the doorway rubbing his half-lidded eyes with a small hand still wrapped around the doorknob.

Sighing, I motioned him forward.

That toothy, yet weary smile of his grew as he approached the side of my bed. It was another sleepless night for us both. This whole day I haven't been able to rest without being interrupted.

Shion crawled onto the beside me and wiped his eyes with the back of his tiny hands. I shifted closer to him and rubbed his head gently.

I couldn't forget the genuine excitement laced in those words.

"Now No-chan smells good." I felt Shion cuddle closer to me. "Like cherry blossom cake."

Cake?

I heard his stomach rumble and sighed even more.

"I'll make you a big breakfast tomorrow, you silly boy."

His hands were curled up against his chest as it rose and fell softly with every breath. I slid my body back down beside his sleeping form. Shutting my eyes, I knew that finally I could sleep just as peacefully and wake up to a new day.

The summer was spent on steaming trays of takoyaki and lazy outings in Doutonbori with Shion and my mother; even crazy shopping sprees with Takahara. Those days spent with friends and family were truly the best times, and before I knew it, the warm season that always brought us together passed.

The second term of my first year at Shitenhouji came to take its place. Six weeks were up, and I returned to my seat at the back of class 1-4.

Little did I know that it was only a matter of time before my inner peace would be shatteredー

Leaving me vulnerable to the last person I'd expect.