Chapter Text
Emu felt restless on her seat, a half of her brain focused on the lesson going on but the other half glued to the clock. With each tick and each tock, the needles twitched closer to the end of school, meaning only one thing… Shows, of course! She had practice with Tsukasa-kun and the others, and their newest show idea made her feel extremely giddy, it was very wonderhoi in fact! Just thinking about it, she had to stifle the joyful giggle that escaped her. The teacher droned on and on until—
The fateful bell rings!
“Aaaaaaalright! See you all tomorrow~!”
With speed that could only rival light, Emu put her stuff back in her bag, waved very rapidly at her classmates and especially Honami, and started running out into the hallway before anyone else could even take a step out. She was only on the first floor, so she could run fast and far and get there so quickly~! She truly couldn’t help the grin drawing itself in her traits then. As soon as she got out of the flight of stairs onto the ground floor, a voice called out to her from the courtyard.
“… Ootori-san?”
Emu looked up to see her upperclassman, Mafuyu Asahina, who seemed to have been midturn as she heard Emu’s quick steps from behind her.
“AH—A-A-Asahina-senpai! Good day today at school, right~? Hehe…”
Emu felt bad about that sudden yelp she let escape, but being one on one with Mafuyu still made her a bit nervous… Mafuyu replied to Emu’s courteous words with a smile and a bit of laughter, but it didn’t feel quite right. Emu had witnessed it before, and she couldn’t exactly pinpoint what was wrong but… She could tell! Mafuyu’s smile wasn’t a smile!
“Haha, good day to you as well, Ootori-san. But I should remind you that as glad as you should be to leave, running in the hallways in a no-no. It could be dangerous if you fell after all.”
Mafuyu’s head tilted forward slightly to send Emu her warning, intending to seem caring about it… but Emu’s mind somehow ran wild in other places. Danger?! From where?! Aaah, she shouldn’t be thinking about that.
“Right! That would be bad, haha! Well then, I have to—”
“… You were smiling that whole time too, weren’t you? Lucky you.”
Mafuyu’s words were quiet, lower in pitch, as if she’d spoken to no one but herself. But Emu heard her clearly, and whatever nervousness she felt until then dissipated in a flash. Was Mafuyu… envious of Emu’s smile? That didn’t make quite any sense either, but maybe it tied in to Emu finding Mafuyu’s smiles not-smile-like…? Mmmh, she could feel the gears turning in her head in confusion.
“W-Well… I was smiling because I was happy! I’m going to see my friends now, so it made me suuuuper happy, my chest felt filled and warm!”
Mafuyu’s eyes closed ever so slightly, looking straight into Emu who felt like she’d been shot on the spot.
“T-That’s why I was smiling but… it doesn’t happen all the time, you know? I used to smile all the time though.”
Maybe it was uncalled for to recall those moments, but Emu felt like perhaps this could reach Mafuyu, help her smile properly…?!
“Because I have people who are precious, I thought smiling would mean they wouldn’t have to be worried, I could… I could hide all the bad feelings I had, and everything would be OK. But I was told that it was alright if I didn’t smile when I’m sad. I can cry if I’m unhappy… Hehe, it seems so obvious and silly when said like that but it really meant a lot to me then.”
Emu held her arm as she recalled what happened with her brothers and her castmates. She cried so much in front of them, didn’t she? But it was thanks to all that she could truly smile from the bottom of her heart now. Having them really helped her… and now she’d like to do the same to Mafuyu!
“That’s why, Asahina-senpai… Um, I may be assuming a bit here but… If you don’t want to smile, you don’t have to? It’s OK if you’re not up to it, and people around you will accept you and your feelings as they are! I-I know I will, because I really want to make Senpai smile too…”
A-Ah, what was that at the end? Emu felt so incredibly embarrassed just laying bare her feelings. Her hands naturally glided up to her own warm cheeks, very likely to be flush. But as she glanced down in fear of Mafuyu’s reaction, she suddenly felt a rush of cold across her hands and cheeks. In quiet steps, Mafuyu had closed the distance between the two of them and put her own hands over Emu’s, gently cupping both of her cheeks. Without a word, aside from a gasp escaping Emu, Mafuyu lifted Emu’s head up so they could face each other again, eye to eye. Emu blinked in silence as the two were close enough to feel each other’s breaths.
“… You’d accept me?”
Again, Mafuyu spoke in this low, unknown tone Emu hadn’t heard before. She could do nothing but watch as Mafuyu’s smile dropped all too quickly, her eyebrows flattened and her eyes, most shocking of all, seemed to simply… stop to reflect anything beside Emu’s own reflection. The upperclassman that Emu saw, that everyone thought of, she was nowhere to be seen anymore.
“You’re right that I don’t want to smile. But you want to make me.”
Just like Kanade and the others.
“Still, being like this, being empty… You’re saying it’s fine.”
Emu couldn’t nod or shake her head, although the hold Mafuyu had on her was gentle, Emu still didn’t dare move an inch. Instead, she just returned Mafuyu’s gaze and offered one of her own smiles. In a way, in spite of what could be described as a “scary” face, Emu felt somehow relieved.
“Well, I’m just saying it’s fine for Senpai to be her own self!”
While she was the furthest thing from a smile, Emu felt like she got closer to seeing the real Mafuyu.
“…”
The upperclassman said nothing in return. In fact, she offered another smile –a unique kind of smile that Emu had no words to describe—and let go of Emu’s face, putting a more natural distance between the two as chatter started to come from the building.
“You’re very amusing, Ootori-san. You’re welcome to try making me smile.”
Mafuyu waved a single time before turning away and leaving alongside the crowd of people making their way out of school and back home. But Emu was frozen in her spot for a while longer than she’d have expected, the coldness that resided on her cheeks leaving once again as her blush came back harder than before. Were those words of praise? Was Mafuyu toying with her? Emu had no way to tell but… S-She’d try her hardest! Until she could hear a heartfelt wonderhoi from her Senpai…!