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As a member of Kamikou’s esteemed disciplinary committee, An has a strict set of rules to follow on a day-to-day basis.
One: show up to school earlier than everyone else. On the days where she’s assigned to monitor the gates, she’s expected to be there well before classes start in order to look over the majority of the student body. It’s been close, but she always makes it in time.
Two: keep up a good example. Like clockwork, she smooths out her button-up shirt with all of the buttons buttoned, takes her earrings out, straightens her tie, and stands perfectly still. Akito might make fun of her for it, but all she needs is one swing of her clipboard to shut him up.
Three: don’t condone bad behaviour. This is the simplest of them all, and the most reasonable to enforce. If An sees someone breaking the rules, stop them. That’s the fundamental core of the disciplinary committee, and one she holds true to its value.
The problem is that she isn’t just a member of the disciplinary committee- she’s also a certain Azusawa Kohane’s girlfriend. And as the girlfriend of a certain Azusawa Kohane, An breaks every single one of those rules.
But if you think hard about it, can you say An is in the wrong? (You can’t.) There’s only one Kohane in the world, who happens to also be the cutest girl to ever exist, so it’s obvious that An will do everything in her power to treat her right. If that means walking her to school an hour after her own classes have started and wearing the earrings she bought for their one month anniversary, then so be it.
If she rounds the corner and finds Kohane with her bat and a couple of guys on the ground, saying something about “leaving the poor cat alone, and get out of my sight before I shave your head with my craft scissors”, all she has to do is make sure Kohane is alright and continue on with her day.
Kohane notices her before she can announce her presence. Her expression immediately brightens, and she waves with her whole arm, letting her sticker-covered bat touch the ground. “An-chan!” she calls out, smiling wide.
There’s a bit of dirt on her face and a few scratches on her hands, but thankfully nothing serious. An will still treat her- that’s what the new box full of medical supplies in the cafe back room is for. “Kohane, you okay?” she asks to be sure, walking towards her.
Kohane nods and pats her skirt down. “Was just a small argument,” she explains, and while An isn’t sure if three people knocked out on the ground is indicative of a small argument, she knows that Kohane doesn’t get into fights without a reason.
That’s why she’s confident in taking her hand and leading her out of the alley. “Let’s get you patched up anyways!” She intertwines their fingers in a lock. “While we’re there, let me make you a drink.”
“Ah-” At the curb of the sidewalk, Kohane trips and stumbles against her own steps. An pulls her closer and moves to wrap her arm around her waist instead. “Are you sure, An-chan? I know your first class starts soon…”
“Don’t worry about it,” An says. “I’m sure I can get the notes later.”
She omits the ‘from Touya’ that finishes the sentence, primarily because she knows that Kohane and Touya know each other, but also she wants to truly, properly introduce Kohane to her friends, the way you do when you’re about to ask the potential in-laws for marriage approval. Instead of marriage approval, it’s more along the lines of ‘hey, meet my girlfriend, I swear she isn’t as scary as the rumours say she is’, but the idea is the same.
She’s drawn out of her thoughts by the feeling of Kohane leaning her head against her shoulder. “If you say so,” she mumbles. There’s a pretty blush settling across her cheeks in a way that's so distracting it makes An forget all about the bat under her arm.
And yeah, Kohane does have a bat with suspicious marks on it. She gets into fights (and always wins), she can use some pretty colourful language when she needs to, and she has a killer glare that makes even An shiver.
But she’s also the Kohane who cuddles up to An when she’s sleepy and leans towards romantic songs to sing when they’re at karaoke. She’s the same Kohane whose face flushes hot red when An kisses her, and she’s the same Kohane who likes to take pictures of An for hours on end.
She’s Kohane, who An likes so much she could die. Rather than loving her in spite of her baseball bat and bandages, she loves her because of them; because they’re just another part of who Azusawa Kohane is.
Of course, she still likes to think of herself as a model student at school. She follows all of the rules to a tee- it’s just that when it comes to Kohane, she doesn’t mind bending them a little.
The thought has been lurking at the back of her mind for a while, but it’s only here that she considers it seriously.
Here happens to be Kohane’s bedroom, which has pink walls and pink curtains and a soft blanket with pink polkadots. An is glad that she’s allowed up here- at first, Kohane’s parents were skeptical of An and how she met Kohane, but after a few visits they were on good terms (meaning her and Kohane’s dad agreed to take Kohane fishing one day). Her parents are aware of her delinquent status, and are surprisingly neutral about it: the general consensus is that as long as Kohane doesn’t get seriously hurt, she can do as she likes.
It means that they can be curled up on Kohane’s bed as they are now, with An leaning against the wall and Kohane sitting between her legs, back close to her front. The blanket is thrown across them unceremoniously, more for extra comfort than for warmth. Kohane is studying her class notes and An is studying Kohane’s messy pigtails.
They’ve been doing nothing but lazing around for a while now- until An gets a cellphone notification, and that’s where her thought starts. It’s a message from Akito, asking if she wants to get breakfast with him and Touya.
It isn’t really asking. The message itself reads something along the lines of “New promotion, one per person, come or die”, to which she responds with a courteous “Shut up .” But then Kohane snuggles into her arms, and An thinks of something either very smart or very stupid (there’s only one way to find out).
“Hey,” she says, resting her chin on top of Kohane’s head. From this angle, she can see her biology notes, so she closes her eyes and keeps talking. “Are you busy tomorrow?”
Tomorrow is a Sunday. Otherwise known as Pancake Day or Eat All of Akito’s Pancakes in Front of Him Day, depending on who you ask. Kohane hums and reaches over to pat An’s cheek. “I think I’ll be free. Is there something you want to do?”
“Kinda.” Idly, she plays with Kohane’s bangs. “How would you feel about meeting my friends?”
Kohane flips a page. An opens her eyes and finds that it’s still the same mind-numbingly boring biology. “I don’t mind, but…” she trails off.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” An quickly says. She hugs Kohane and pulls the blanket up. “We’re going out for breakfast tomorrow, so I thought I’d ask.”
“That’s… I do want to,” Kohane mumbles. She folds her legs close to herself and puts her books down. “But are you sure? I know that I’m not very- I’m not a good person to be around.”
“Hey,” and then An lifts her head off of Kohane’s and turns towards her instead, urging for her to catch her eyes. Nervously, Kohane does. “You’re the best as you are now. I’m proud to be yours no matter what, you know?”
Kohane blushes and presses her lips together. “An-chan,” she sniffles.
“Besides, you’re way cooler than any of my friends.” An scrunches her nose. “They’re all losers. Actually, you should know one of them. Touya?”
Kohane blinks. “Aoyagi-kun?”
“Tall, afraid of heights,” An makes a circular shape with her hands, “has a haircut like this.”
“Needs help carrying groceries?”
“I, uh, don’t know about that one,” An answers. “But probably. He’s going to be there! And the other guy’s his boyfriend. That’s it, though.”
She gives Kohane some time to think about it. Kohane puffs her cheeks up and fidgets with her fingers and An promptly reminds herself repeatedly of how lucky she is Kohane exists in her life. Eventually, Kohane looks at An and nods. “I’ll go,” she says. “I want to meet your friends properly.”
“Awesome!” An says. She kisses Kohane on the cheek first, and then the other cheek, and then her lips. “Want me to pick you up?”
Shaking her head, Kohane makes a flat buzz in her throat. “It’s okay,” she replies. “I’ll go there after I clean my uniform.”
“They’ll be super happy to see you,” An confirms. The ‘I’ll make sure they are’ goes unsaid. She pinches Kohane’s cheek and Kohane leans into her touch.
So it’s a double date! Except it’s not, because Akito and Touya don’t know about it and she won’t tell them until tomorrow, but it’ll be fine. Nobody is going to throw up, nobody is going to die, and everybody will have a great time.
Akito buries his face in his hands and groans with a decibel count equivalent to that of the Youth Orchestra of Canada. “I will seriously throw up all over the table and die.”
“You’re being overdramatic,” An tells him. Because he is: they’re here for his special Fluffy Sparkle Pancakes, and as long as An fulfils that task, she doesn’t see a problem. “Kohane isn’t like the rumours. You should know that already!”
“You’re only saying that because you’re dating,” he says, drinking down a gulp of coffee. He grimaces and slides it to Touya. “Too damn bitter.”
“Come on, don’t be mean,” An huffs. She leans back into the booth seat with her bag on her lap, glancing out the window for signs of Kohane (there are none). “She’s super nice and sweet and can’t tie her pigtails properly. Isn’t that cute? She’s harmless.”
Akito raises an eyebrow. “Doesn’t she get into fights once a week?”
“And she wins every time,” An says confidently.
Momentarily, Akito seems to regain a sense of clarity that reminds him he is talking to Shiraishi An, the self-proclaimed #1 Kohane advocate. “Okay, that’s not the point,” he says, tapping his fingers against the table. “Don’t you know what they say about her?”
“Nothing I haven’t heard before,” An replies.
“She walks out of alleys with blood on her clothes,” he mutters harshly, visibly shivering. “One time, she was seen walking out of a thunderstorm dragging three bodies behind her.”
An squints. “That’s just the plot of ‘Killer Fish Vs. The Worl-’ ”
“People are saying that last month, she beat up half of the basketball team from that private school.”
“Good.” An nods in approval. “They cheat in every game they play.”
“Yeah, they do,” Akito agrees. And then his eyes widen as he remembers that he, in fact, should not be agreeing. “That’s besides the point. I am at risk of being punched here, An. And as much as I hate to say it, I don’t think I can fight back.”
Holding her hands behind her head, An leans back and crosses her legs. “That’s only part of her,” An argues. There’s no point in denying it- not when it’s not something she thinks Kohane should hide anyways. “Touya, you know her. Tell him.”
Touya rubs his nose. “Sometimes she helps me carry groceries.”
Ah. So it was true after all. “See?” she says, pointing a fork at Akito in criticism. “Once you meet her, you’ll understand! Which is- in one minute, I guess.”
Because walking in through the front entrance of the restaurant is Kohane, wearing a baseball cap and cute pink sweater. She looks around the space in confusion, and when she meets An’s eyes, she’s all gummy smiles and crinkled eyes.
“Kohane! Over here,” she calls out. Akito shrinks and shuffles closer to Touya.
Quickly, Kohane makes her way towards the booth. Now that she’s closer, An can see that the bandaid on her cheek is polka dotted and the ribbons in her hair are little bows. “Hi, An-chan,” she says happily. An gets up from her seat to hug her, and Kohane falls into it easily, just like the hundreds of times they’ve already done so before.
In her peripheral vision, she sees Touya folding his napkin in quarters and Akito with his eyes bulging out of his skull. She ignores them in favour of kissing Kohane on the forehead and tucking her hair behind her ears. “How was the way here?” she asks.
“Was okay,” Kohane mumbles, leaning into her touch. “Got a bit lost. A couple of students from another school tried to bother me. I resolved it, though.”
‘A couple of students’ is code for another group of delinquents, ‘tried to bother’ is code for urged her into a fight, and ‘resolved’ is code for ‘shoved their faces into the ground’, but An thinks that for the sake of their nice, friendly outing, she’ll keep that to herself. Something tells her Akito and Touya probably know all of that already anyway. “Good to hear,” she says, patting Kohane on the head. With her other hand, she gestures at the table. “These are my friends. That one’s Akito, that one’s Touya.”
Kohane knows Touya, of course, and An knows that she knows him. She waves at him absentmindedly and then focuses her attention on Akito, narrowing her eyes in a sharp stare. He shrivels up like a dried sponge.
“Nice to meet you,” she says blandly.
Akito whimpers. “Uh- Er… Yeah. Same. To you.”
“I think,” Touya says, “we should order.”
His eyes are wary and his voice is a little uneasy, but he’s right. An pulls Kohane into her side of the booth and sits her in front of Akito, wrapping an arm around her waist and taking the menu from Akito’s hands. He doesn’t try to stop her. “Akito wants to try these ones,” she says, pointing at the special Fluffy Sparkle Pancakes.
“Let’s have that one, then.” She glances up at Akito, frozen and clinging to Touya’s arm, and tilts her head. “Do you, ah…”
“Shinonome,” he whispers weakly.
“Shinonome-kun.” If she has a question, she doesn’t ask it.
Well. An is sure that by the end of today, they’ll warm up to each other. And it might not help that An thinks Kohane is cute even when she’s looking at Akito like he’s a pothole on the road- not even one in the middle so you can drive over it, but the ones near the curb that make you swerve. An is getting angry at the thought alone.
She commends Akito for trying his best, at least. “There are drinks,” he states blandly, purposefully avoiding eye contact. “There’s juice. And milk t-”
“I’m lactose intolerant,” Kohane says.
He curls into his corner and breathes so loudly An can see his life escaping through his mouth. “My bad,” he says quietly.
Breakfast-lunch (An doesn’t like the word brunch) goes… not too badly.
They make a little bit of small talk before the pancakes arrive, although most of it is stiff and wary and Touya mentioning what he thinks about the weather this past week. For An, Kohane is enough to keep her occupied (read: absorbed and in love) until their food.
The pancakes themselves are, as their name suggests, fluffy and sparkly. Akito looks close to tears when his arrives, and he finishes it before An has even fed Kohane half of hers. It might be the sugar that eventually helps him relax, so much that he even asks if Kohane likes her pancakes. She does, and the puff of her cheeks is indicative of it.
As much as An wants Kohane to stay a bit longer with them as a group after they leave, Kohane has her own schedule and errands to run, and An has had enough of shopping for mice for the month. It doesn’t stop her from hugging her tight right outside the door and whining against her neck, though. “Be safe, okay?” she says, as if Kohane isn’t one of the most feared high schoolers in the city.
But she’s also Kohane, who An proudly proclaims as her angel and her everything. “I will,” she replies, voice soft and sweet and cotton-like. Glancing around, she puts her hands on An’s shoulder and lifts herself up on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on her cheek. “You too, An-chan. Let me know if anybody bothers you, okay?”
When she pulls back, she’s flushed red all over. That’s the girl who’s basically offering to knock someone out for her- and for some reason, An has an even bigger urge to squeal. “I’ll text you when I get home,” she says, returning Kohane’s kiss on the corner of her lips. “Have fun at the mouse store!”
Kohane waves at her- and maybe Akito and Touya too, although An doesn’t really care about that- as she waddles away in her oversized clothes. Her hands barely peek out of her sleeves, with just her fingertips exposed, and the hem of her hoodie reaches to the middle of her thigh. She looks like a marshmallow and An is really thinking about running up to her and picking her up and never letting her go ever again.
“Damn,” she says to herself, “cute.”
The thing is that it isn’t entirely to herself, because Akito and Touya are still within hearing distance, as shown when she sees that Akito is once again looking at her like she’s insane. “She’s buying mice,” he mutters in disbelief. “Mice.”
“For her pet snake,” An explains.
Akito puts a hand on his forehead and, looking very distressed, exhales silently through his teeth. “She has a pet snake. Oh my god,” he says.
So even after meeting her and having pancakes that are definitely meant for children with her, Akito is still scared. An shouldn’t have expected any different from the guy who gets scared at the fake cockroaches she’s been sticking on his desk for a month. “Hey, you’ve talked to her,” she still says, nudging his arm with her elbow. “You should be more open.”
Touya, maxing out his limit of three words to support An per day, says, “Shiraishi is right.”
“That doesn’t change anything,” Akito hisses in response. “She’s still a delinquent. Just a Fluffy Sparkle Pancake loving delinquent.”
“It’s not like she wants to fight you,” An says.
“Good,” he replies, “because I wouldn’t win.”
She shrugs and stuffs her hands in her pockets. If it’s going to be like that, maybe Akito really never will come around. As much as she wants him to get along with her girlfriend, she can’t force him into anything, and she can at least admit that she might be a bit more nonchalant about the whole delinquent thing than she should be.
All she can hope is that Kohane doesn’t mind it. In the end, she wants Kohane to be happy. “Alright,” she says, defeated. “Let’s go home.”
By that, she means she’s going to leave first. Akito opens his mouth but closes it robotically, like he was expecting for her to say more. She scratches the back of her head and turns on her heel, walking down the route to Weekend Garage.
I guess she really is a delinquent, she thinks, chewing at her lip. And it’s nothing she isn’t aware of, especially with how many times she’s seen Kohane, uh, take care of her business. But each time she thinks of saying anything , she pictures the way Kohane smiles when she turns around and sees her. She thinks of Kohane’s stories and the way her eyes reflect her mood. She thinks of Kohane, dragging her bat along the ground behind her, with pastel bandaids and faded stickers.
So she doesn’t say anything. She just walks.
Kohane walks into the cafe after school with a thin cut on her arm.
Compared to the injuries she’s sustained before, and the ones An has heard of before they met each other, a cut is nothing to worry about. Kohane still smiles as she walks in and greets An happily, sitting by the closest booth to watch her work. An still takes the first aid kit she has prepared specially for Kohane and sits in front of her, treating her arm gently with cotton swabs and bandages.
That’s why An doesn’t say anything, even though she hates it. She hates seeing Kohane hurt, whether it’s a bruise or a papercut. Each time Kohane stumbles in, unable to keep her own balance, there’s a part of An’s heart that swells from inside and tightens in her chest.
She’s thought of it before. Mentioning it to Kohane, she means- that as much as An is willing to treat her, she wishes that she wouldn’t have to in the first place. But she doesn’t want Kohane to think she’s tired of doing this for her, or worse, that she doesn’t love her for who she is.
As Kohane’s girlfriend, she should be there to support her whenever she needs it. As Shiraishi An, she wants to be the one to protect her, and not the other way around.
Ultimately, Kohane is Kohane. She winces and holds back a breath as An wipes her cut with a cloth, careful not to move her arm. “Sorry,” she says anyway.
“Nah, you’re fine,” An replies. She puts her focus into cleaning it properly and biting back her words. It’s not fine. I don’t want this.
Their booth is silent. Around them, the rest of the club’s patrons chatter idly, making blurry conversation in a buzz of noise. An tunes it out in favour of Kohane’s soft breaths- the ones that tell her where it hurts the most and the least.
She wipes the cut one last time before reaching for the bandages. They’ve since been upgraded from the kid-sized ones to larger patches of all sizes. The cut doesn't reach long, but An chooses a bandage one size too large anyways, for a bit of extra space. A bit of extra protection.
White noise. The sticky end of the bandage. Kohane’s skin.
An doesn’t realise she’s zoned out until Kohane pinches her palm. She blinks rapidly and finds the bandage perfectly placed, pressed smooth to her arm in coverage of the cut. “An-chan?” Kohane asks gently. “Are you okay?”
She looks up to gentle eyes. Kohane, with a faint mark on her cheek and a scar on the bridge of her nose. “Yeah,” An chokes out, glancing down at the table. “Yeah. I’m okay.”
More silence, both of absence and replacement. Kohane draws her arm in and puts her hands in her lap, leaning forward. “You look worried,” she says quietly.
“Do I?” she laughs, keeping her eyes down.
Kohane’s lips pause. “Sometimes,” she manages to say, “your eyebrows furrow. In a way. Are you sure?”
An is painfully aware of it- the fact that Kohane can read her so well while she’s the one panicking over what to say to her. “Just thinking is all,” she murmurs passively. Her fingers fidget. “About you.”
Shit. Maybe she shouldn’t have said that. Kohane looks at her in clear confusion and it’s so jarring that An immediately talks again. “It’s nothing bad!” she blurts out. “I was- it’s nothing bad. I don’t… I don’t know how to feel about treating you. Again.”
“Oh,” Kohane says. “Okay.” She stiffens and goes silent.
It’s wrong. It’s all wrong, and An knows she’s going to make it worse, but she shakes her head and puts her hand on the table. “That’s not what I mean, Kohane,” she says, words blending together. “I seriously want to help you. I swear, if there’s anything I can do for you, I want to do it.” What can she say? What should she? “But I wish- I don’t want you to be hurt in the first place, you know?”
An holds her breath. Slowly, Kohane shifts in her seat. “Oh,” she says again- but it’s different.
“I like you as you are,” An continues, running a hand through her hair. “I like you so much I can’t handle it sometimes. But that’s why I want you- to be safe. I know you can manage yourself. I know I’m selfish. I know it all, but still-”
She’s interrupted by the touch of Kohane’s hand to hers. “It’s okay, An-chan,” Kohane tells her. “I know what you mean.”
“Sorry,” An says anyway. She can’t help it this time. “I want to see you happy.”
“I think that,” Kohane says to her, rubbing her finger over her palm, “it might be a little bit of my fault too. “I let myself be absorbed into things. I become too upset when I see people doing- I don’t know.” Her head falls to one side. “I’m a bit selfish too.”
Kohane isn’t. She isn’t, because she’s never hurt someone for no reason, and because she has a heart of candy and clouds and warmth. An doesn’t say any of this, though, because what’s more important than telling Kohane she isn’t selfish is telling her she doesn’t have to be selfish alone. “You don’t have to be alone,” she says instead. “Whenever you run into trouble. You can call me, and I’ll drop everything to find you.”
“...It’s different,” Kohane mumbles. “You’re busy, An-chan.”
“That doesn’t matter,” An says. She holds Kohane’s hand tight. “I’m part of the Disciplinary Committee. We’re supposed to help people. Why shouldn’t that apply to you?”
The corners of Kohane’s lips curl up. “I thought your job was to make people button their shirts up.”
“That too,” An agrees. “But you know what I mean. I’m not telling you to stop getting into fights, because it isn’t easy, and because I really do think some people need to be beat up sometimes. I just want you to know I’m there, okay? And my friends are too. If there’s even the smallest chance that anything I can do will mean you won’t get hurt, I’ll take it.”
The window hinge creaks in the wind. Under An’s hand, Kohane stirs, slotting her fingers between the spaces of An’s. “Okay,” she says softly. “I’ll try.”
It’s enough- more than enough. A small step along the way. Kohane’s hand is warm, like her smile and her laugh and her candy cloud heart.
“Oh,” An adds, “and it would be nice if you didn’t scare Akito so much too.”
It isn’t like Kohane is doing it on purpose, but An might as well suggest it. Kohane stifles a laugh. “I’ll try,” she repeats.
The (cute, cute, cute) glint in her eyes makes An think that huh . Maybe Kohane is doing it on purpose.
The last time An used Akito’s math notes to study, she was given a 30% on the mock quiz and asked to step outside the classroom for a chat with the professor.
As a result, she’s now very aware that even if Touya’s on library duty, it would be better for all of them in the end if she waited for his notebook instead. “I’ll treat you to lunch,” she says to him, copying all of his pages down in a rush.
Touya opens his mouth like he’s about to say something but sneezes into his elbow instead.
With the last word written down, An closes her book and leans back in her chair, massaging her face with her hands. It’s been a long week, and all she wants to do is to leave the school. Unfortunately for her, she has classroom cleanup today; she wonders if she can trick Akito into doing it for her instead.
The door slides open and hits its frame. An peeks at it from behind her fingers and, like her thoughts summoned him here, sees Akito standing there with his backpack over one shoulder and a plastic bag on his other arm.
“Good timing,” An says, standing up. She stretches her arms out in front of her. “I need a favour.”
Akito grunts and shuffles towards their desks. “Aren’t favours supposed to be returned?” He sits down and sets the plastic bag down. “And don’t you owe me, what, four?”
“Those were trial runs,” she explains. “Like when you’re buying a subscription but they give you three months free. Also, your favours kind of suck, so-”
“Your girlfriend is waiting for you on the first floor,” he says through a yawn.
An blinks. As much as she hates to admit it, Akito is successful in shutting her up. “Kohane? Downstairs?”
“Yeah.” Akito unpacks the bag to reveal a few bottles of iced tea. “She was waiting by the gate, but it’s hot out, so I told her to come in.” He takes two of the bottles and hands them to her expectantly. “Here.”
And while An thinks Akito’s always weird, especially compared to someone as nice and normal as herself, there’s no doubt he’s becoming weirder by the second. “Both of them?” she asks skeptically, although she takes them regardless, because they’re the iced tea that you can only buy from the 7-Eleven across the city.
“No, idiot.” He takes his textbooks out and pointedly doesn’t look at her. “To share.”
Then she gets it- he means with Kohane.
An is grinning before she knows it, with her iced tea held proudly in her arms. “You’re finally getting along with her?” she says, laughing. “Very proud of you. Big moment.”
“I won’t lie.” Akito crosses his arms. “I would really rather not be within a ten meter vicinity of her when she has her bat.”
She raises an eyebrow. “But?”
He coughs awkwardly. “She’s okay sometimes,” he says. “Touya knows her-”
Touya raises his hand absentmindedly.
“-so, you know. Actually, whatever. Just go and find her now. Get out.”
In the end, An always wins. She wipes at the invisible tears dotting the corners of her eyes and sniffles loudly, patting her own chest. “I knew you’d come around,” she says.
“Get out,” he repeats.
An is more than happy to, especially since it means she can blame Akito for missing classroom cleanup. She grabs her backpack in a hurry- it’s unzipped, and she thinks she hears a few pencils fall out of it on her way down the stairs, but none of them are hers in the first place so she doesn’t care. The iced tea is still cold when she makes it to the first floor and runs down the hallway, to where Kohane is waiting by the entrance.
She doesn’t have her bat with her, but she does have a bandaid around her finger and a cute smile that appears when she sees An. She’s using one hand to block the incoming sunlight from her eyes- a little weird, because she’s wearing a baseball cap that’s on backwards, but An happens to like her Kohanes a little weird.
Kohane, who’s a delinquent and a snake owner and the best girlfriend in the world, waves at her with her sleeves so large they reach up to her knuckles. The hair ties around her pigtails are different colours.
An, who’s more than happy to call herself the second best girlfriend in the world, grins and waves back.