Chapter Text
“I...I'll go take a bath first..”
It had barely been a day since Yukina found Ran on the rooftop. Seeing her in such a monotone mood made her a little upset, sadly nodding at the girl in question as she excused herself to the bathroom. Of course, it was only natural to be alert and aware around her since she didn't want Ran to try and do something so reckless again. Especially after waking up from her nightmare and holding her close.
Sigh.
It felt quite surreal, being embraced, or rather embracing her rival in the middle of the night, and….actually liking it. There aren't many things in her everyday life that excite her at all, if any, other than music. And cats. Mitake Ran was no cat, and of course she wasn't some analyzed lyrics as well, if anything, she was very hard to read.
The pity fights, their collab lives, those memories couldn't stop themselves from popping up in Yukina’s brain. They’d butt heads almost always, though she realized they haven't as much lately. Which was a good thing, however, now that she thought this through, It might be that Ran was just tired of it. She sighed to herself, looking down at her own two feet somberly. If only she had asked her underclassmen about the change in attitude earlier, none of this would've happened. No, Yukina shouldn't think that at all, there's no way to change back what has already happened. Ran is safe now; that's all that matters.
That also meant she couldn't take the horrific scene of seeing the girl stand over the rails so eagerly, so..sadly off her head. Though if she didn't witness that, who knew if she could ever get a chance to talk to her again. The only thing she could do was thank the heavens for her going to the roof on time to save her.
The distant sound of the shower running entered her ears, smiling a little to herself. A part of her was scared Ran might do something horrible and out of her imagination in there when she wasn't with her, though she was quick to shake her premonitions off, deciding to trust her as much as she wanted to. Nevertheless, having the other over really felt weird, the pit of her stomach rumbling slightly. Her lips quickly turned into a frown, only now realizing how messy her room was.
“Maybe I should try tidying up…” She shrugged.
Yukina wasn't fond of cleaning her room, or moving in general. Though, the other was here and she needs to be a senpai her rival can look up to, even though she knew too damn well that Ran was a lot tidier than her than she'd like to admit. Plus, Yukina didn't want to sit there doing nothing while horrifying images kept interrupting her. It would be a nice change of pace for once to take her mind off of things.
She didn't know where to start; the empty candy wrappers scattered across her desk and floor, the clothes from a few days laying here and there, the endless pile of papers were all in sight. A sigh escaped her lips once more, already feeling tired even though she hasn't started yet. How do people do this, moreover enjoy it?
The wrappers were a little distracting to her so she took them, one by one, disposing of them in the garbage can just near her desk. Her eyes then moved to the composition and lyrics sheets, gathering them in one place and throwing out what she didn't need, keeping the important ones inside her drawers and the incomplete ones on top of her desk.
Lastly, she started picking up her clothes that were literally everywhere. This was the most annoying chore of them all, having taken one piece of clothing and sloppily folding it and keeping it aside.
She realized one of her clothes made a crunching sound when she folded it, quite perplexed about what may be the problem. It was the clothes she wore yesterday.
Eventually, she put her hand in one of the pockets, and took out folded pieces of paper with the word “goodbye” in front of it. That instantly brought Yukina's mood down, slumping down onto the bed with a sad huff. With the letters in hand, she observed it intently, still keeping it closed. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to read this or not given the circumstances. However, after giving it a good thought, she decided to read it while the other wasn't around. Of course, that made her heart feel heavy, since she's already seen the other breakdown in front of her.
Ah, her handwriting is so neat and pretty.
But, that wasn't the focus here. She slowly scanned her eyes through the papers, her grip on them getting tighter the more she read. Every single word made her heart clench in pain; while the details weren't really written in here, it was clear she was suffering a huge amount of pain. Yukina bit her lips, now regretting her decisions. But it was meant to be read in the first place, was it not? She shouldn't feel sorry for her actions.
“I can't bel-” amidst her thoughts, Yukina froze in place, her eyes widening at the last sentence in the paper.
“Lastly, Minato san. I'm sorry for everything up til now. Thank you, for teaching me a lot of things. I've always loved you.
Goodbye.”
Yukina was speechless, never in her life has she thought of Ran being….well, like this. She gripped on it tight, tears threatening to fall down. She has always thought the other had some sort of dislike towards her, so now that she found out it was the opposite, she can rest assured. This wasn't her ideal way of finding out, of course.
“Mitake san…”
she mumbles, her eyes not darting away from the words at all.
“Yes?”
Yukina flinched, perking up to the source of the sound, immediately folding the paper in her hand once she did so, Ran peeking out the bathroom door. She hasn't felt the other's presence at all, so it took her by surprise.
“Minato san? Is everything okay?”
The lavender haired girl kept the paper tightly in her hand, looking to the side with a small smile.
“Yes, everything's fine.” Her tone of voice was lower than usual but she wanted to let her rival know that there was nothing to worry about.
Ran kept a towel on top of her wet hair, drying it slowly as she looked towards Yukina. Something felt suspicious about her upperclassmen, observing her from head to toe. She wasn't the type to look into people’s business, but this time it felt like it was the right thing to do.
She froze; her eyes growing wider once she pinpointed the notes she wrote in the other's hands. A gasp escaped her lips, swiftly taking them from her hands without warning, much to Yukina’s surprise. This was when Minato Yukina realized that maybe reading it was a mistake after all. Having noticing the redness in the other’s cheeks and how possessive she was being over it made her feel a bit bad. Something about it was adorable though.
“D-d-d-did you read it!?” Ran let out, her heart beating a thousand times per second, glaring into Yukina’s eyes. Her rival was a little baffled by the looks of it, and it was then that she decided to keep it a secret.
“No, I haven't yet. I was just cleaning around and found it in my pocket.” At least she wasn't fully lying to her, that would've been very hard to cover up. When she looked at Ran taking a couple steps back while clutching onto it for dear life, a sad smile appeared on her face. Yes, it was nice to see different sides of the other, but she shouldn't have snooped and read it without her consent.
“Why? Is there a reason you don't want me to?” She kept an amiable voice, making sure to have eye contact with the other as she did so. It didn't seem like Ran was calming down any minute soon.
“N-no.. not really!” Ran shook her head multiple times, swiftly moving the papers being her back as she looked away from Yukina’s gaze. Being nosy wasn't really her cup of tea, so Yukina decided to leave her be, especially since she seemed to be bothered by it.
“Alright then.” Standing up, the lavender haired girl pat some dust off her clothes with a short stretch. “I'll take a bath now in that case.” She shot Ran a small smile before going into her bathroom and shutting the door behind her.
This was going to be a long day or maybe long weeks for Ran to heal, and Yukina will do whatever it takes to make sure she's healthy again. For now, it was better to keep Ran away from her house as much as possible; to prevent her from suffering alone and to be beside her at all times.
“Wait for me, Mitake san. I promise I'll make you better.”