HUGS

Honoka confused, so she didn't know exactly what to say to Misumi Nagisa. The student was sure that the relationship was going in the right direction, but suddenly Misumi seemed to get further away from her. She even told Honoka that it was no longer necessary for her to keep lending her movies. Honoka admitted that it hurt a little. The more she remembered, the less she understood what had happened. Misumi Nagisa changed after she helped her carry the documents to the Student Council Room.

Honoka introduced her classmate to her friend Shougo and after that Misumi said goodbye, but Honoka still didn't understand what had happened in that moment that changed everything. The linchpin there seemed to be his friend Fujimura Shougo... What if Nagisa didn't like Shougo? Did the presence of her childhood friend upset her? It was all she could think of.

Honoka didn't want Nagisa to get a bad impression of her childhood friend. The girl decided to give Nagisa time to calm down from whatever had been bothering her, but after a week, they barely said good morning to each other.

It's the same as always, Honoka thought with a sour face as she watched Misumi Nagisa eat lunch with her friends from the lacrosse team on the bench in one of the courtyards. She was on the roof watching everything from above. Honoka took a deep breath. Even if Misumi wanted to put her distance once more, she at least wanted to make sure that Shougo wasn't on her classmate's bad side.

Honoka would definitely talk to her, clear up any misunderstandings, and then she could go back to moving on her own as usual.

For her part, Nagisa wasn't having a good time because of the interrogation she was being subjected to. Shiho and Rina were curious as to why Nagisa no longer hung out with Yukishiro Honoka. Until a few days ago they looked so comfortable together!

"You know you can trust us," Rina insisted.

"That's right, that's right, that's right!" Shiho confirmed. "If she did something bad to you or..."

"Wait... What?" Nagisa quickly shook her head. "No, Yukishiro-san didn't do anything bad to me," and hearing to herself made her feel guilty for walking away from Yukishiro without any explanation. She bit her lip. "It's just that we don't have anything in common," was all Nagisa could say without sounding silly.

"You're right," Rina said with a smile. "Yukishiro-san is smart, responsible, polite, and very, very beautiful. She's like a princess!"

"And you, my dear Nagisa..." Shiho's smile widened.

"I got it! Enough!" Nagisa grumbled. Of course, Yukishiro Honoka was the perfect girl, only a perfect girl could have such a perfect boy by her side. Nagisa knew herself; she lacked all those good points.

What took Nagisa by surprise was meeting Yukishiro on the train after school. Neither had been aware of the other's presence until they bumped shoulder to shoulder because of the full car. The two girls turned to apologize and recognizing each other, both looked away.

"I'm sorry, Yukishiro-san."

"Me too." Honoka took a deep breath and decided to take the opportunity. "Misumi-san, can I ask you something?"

"Huh? Ah...Yeah, go ahead."

"Did I do something wrong? If I did and because of that you decided to distance yourself from me, I'll understand," Honoka said. Perhaps the problem was herself and not her childhood friend.

Nagisa again felt a stab of guilt. "No," she mumbled.

"You left the day I introduced you to my friend Shougo", Honoka risked. "If he has done something that you don't like... I can only tell you that he's my childhood friend. He's my older brother and I can assure you that he is a good boy."

Nagisa immediately felt like the stupidest girl on the planet. I can't believe it! He's just her childhood friend! Nagisa yelled to herself. I'm an idiot! Nagisa took her classmate by the shoulders and shook her head. "No, he didn't do anything wrong, neither did you. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding". And Nagisa was more surprised to see Honoka's face; she looked sad all of a sudden.

"You must have your reasons for taking your distance, I just wanted to make sure I didn't do something inappropriate," Honoka said as she looked at the ground. She couldn't keep her head up anymore.

Nagisa panicked. She didn't want everything to end like this! The only thing she could do was hug Honoka tightly. "Sorry... Can we still hang out?"

Honoka was first shocked and then turned red all the way to her ears. Her first impulse was to hug her classmate as well. She smiled. "Yes we can".

"Thank you."