Chapter 4

Returning the Gift

That morning, Chinatsu is digging into her school bag for her notebooks for today's lesson when the bag tips over the edge and falls, making everything fall out of the bag and make everyone gasp from the sudden noise.

"Oh, no!" Chinatsu panics as she frantically starts to pick up her materials.

"I'll help!" Akari steps in and assists her friend to pick up the notebooks and give it to the pinkette.

"Thanks!" Chinatsu says as she takes the notebooks and puts them in her bag. She goes over to pick up the last item when she stops. The last item is the hair accessory with a sunflower on it that Rise gave her a week ago. Chinatsu immediately thinks back when her hair pins popped out from her hair and was probably lost now. But Rise stepped in and gave her a thin band with a sunflower on it to fix the problem. After the flashback ends, she smiles as she gazes at the hair accessory. That's right, she thinks to herself. I kept this in case I lose my pins again. I should return it to Matsumoto-san soon. After getting everything organized, she's just in time to begin the lesson as soon as the bell rings.

**Later at Lunch**

"Chinatsu-chan?" Akari says after taking a sip of her juice. "What's that hair accessory you're holding? Is that new?"

The pink haired girl shakes her head. "No. Matsumoto-san gave it to me when I lost my hair pins a week ago. I should give it back to her after lunch."

"Or maybe you should keep it!" Sakurako blurts out. "Who knows? Maybe that hair accessory can come in handy one day~!"

"That might be a good idea," Chinatsu says. "But…it's Matsumoto-san's. She probably gave it to me to let me borrow it and I never thought to give it back to her."

"That is true," Himawari says as she eats her rice.

Akari gives her pink haired friend a pat on the shoulder. "I'm glad that you're returning it to her. She must have been really worried about it."

Chinatsu nods. "Mm-hmm. Okay, girls. I'll be right back while I go look for Matsumoto-san."

"Okay, see you later," Akari says.

"If you don't find her, can I have the accessory?" Sakurako asks.

A fist hits her head hard, causing the blonde to moan in pain.

"Not gonna happen," Himawari says.

Chinatsu heads out into the hallway and looks around for Rise. However, most of the classes are still in session, plus some of the classrooms are empty. She looks upstairs, downstairs, even on the roof of the school until she finally gives up and sadly heads back to her friends, just about 15 minutes before lunch is over. Akari and the others could tell that it was a failure and tried to cheer her up.

**After school**

With a sad sigh, Chinatsu packs up her school bag to get ready to go home. Akari comes over and gives her friend a pat on the back.

"Don't worry, Chinatsu-chan," the red-head tries to assure her. "I'm sure that you'll return the hair accessory tomorrow."

"No," Chintasu says firmly. "I want to return it today. Matsumoto-san really wants it back by now and I'm not leaving until I do."

Akari gapes at her friend's determination, but smiles soon after. "Alright! Go for it, Chinatsu-chan~!"

Chinatsu nods with an "Un~!" and heads off towards the hallway to begin her search once more. Almost every girl is leaving, so it should be pretty easy to look for the raven haired girl. However, there is no sign of Rise anywhere again, which makes her very worried. She knows that if she fails to find her again, she'll have to search for her tomorrow. Chinatsu didn't want to search for Rise all over again tomorrow since she is desperate to return the item that belonged to her. She continues to search high and low in the entire campus until she slumps down on the stairs she is just walking on.

"What am I thinking?" she says to herself as she holds up the accessory. "I'm all hyped up about giving this to Matsumoto-san, yet I failed twice. I'm such an idiot." She hugs her knees and looks ahead at the hallway, which is now empty. She could've gladly run over to her Yui-sempai for comfort, but would forget about the item she has to return soon after.

Just then, she hears some footsteps coming toward her. Chintasu looks up and her eyes widen at the one person standing before her: Rise Matsumoto. She jumps to her feet and runs toward her.

"Matsumoto-san!" the pinkette says. "Thank goodness you came!"

Rise whispers her explanation.

"Huh? You mean you know I was looking for you?" Chintasu asks, wondering in her head why she could understand the quiet girl just now.

Rise nods as she whispers.

"Akari found you and told you everything?" Chinatsu asks.

The raven-haired girl nods again.

"Well, to cut to the chase, here," The pink haired girl gently hands the hair accessory to Rise. "It's for you. I know it belongs to you, but I kept this for about a week and forgot about it until now. So, that's why I was looking for you."

Rise gently takes the item, gazes at it a bit and looks up at the pink haired girl, smiling. She shakes her head, gently takes her hand and places the hair accessory on her palm as she whispers.

"You're giving it to me? Why? I thought it belonged to you," Chinatsu tries to reason.

Rise shakes her head again and whispers.

"You were given this by someone else? And that's why you gave this to me?" The pink haired girl inquires.

The raven-haired girl nods. Chinatsu smiles at her.

"Well, thank you, Matsumoto-san," she says. "I'll be sure to take good care of it."

Rise nods as Chinatsu turns to leave. As the pink haired girl walks farther and farther away, the raven-haired girl forms a fist and puts it on her chest with a smile. She is glad to see Chinatsu again and talk to her. It warms her heart that another girl is willing to talk with her without ignoring her. With that in mind, she walks in the opposite direction.

Next Pairing: Rise x Himawari