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Hana was part of the Normal Boots Club now like she had wanted to be since her first few days at school. Yet, here she was hanging out with Mai the weekend after the tournament, watching Vavatar on Mai’s laptop in their reconstructed blanket fort. At first Mai gently tried to prod Hana in the direction of the clubroom, but Hana gave some excuse about everyone being too busy catching up with schoolwork for more gaming and instead asked about making the blanket fort again. Mai certainly wasn’t going to complain; the blanket fort was becoming a nice tradition for them. Yet why wouldn’t Hana want to soak in her hard earned victory a bit more? Then Mai realized Jirard and Hana weren’t a couple anymore; that had to make things awkward. Maybe now Mai could find out what went wrong and fix things.
“I’m sorry things with you and Jirard didn’t work out,” Mai said as she pressed her cheek into the pillows on her arms.
Hana shrugged, pressing the spacebar on the laptop and pausing the episode. “It was mostly my fault anyway, I think.”
“Aw, c’mon, you can’t say that for sure!” Mai gently nudged Hana’s arm with her elbow.
“No, I… think I can.” Hana stared at the paused computer screen. “I just saw how nice he was to everyone and assumed he wasn’t treating me any differently. So I… sort of kept him at arm’s length until it was too late to change.”
Mai narrowed her eyes. “He rescued you from a pickpocket and carried you back to the convention hotel in his arms like a blushing bride.”
“I know!” Hana groaned into her hands.
“How could you think that was anything other than romantic?!”
“I don’t know!!!” Hana threw her hands in the air. “I kinda panicked, okay?!” She shoved her face against her pillow with a grumble.
“Sounds like a really bad panic to me, yikes.” Mai patted Hana’s shoulder and rubbed her back.
Hana sighed a long, heavy sigh against fabric and padding. The silence sat for a few moments before she turned her head to the side and spoke again. “Now that I really think about it… maybe I did realize that he was acting romantic towards me.”
“Oh?” Mai lay on her stomach and turned her head towards Hana, expression inquisitive.
“I think,” Hana continued, “the idea of his actions towards me being sincere, really caring about me…” She darted her gaze away. “ That was the part that scared me.”
Frowning, Mai started combing a hand over Hana’s short pink locks, attempting to comfort her. “Why would it be scary? It’s great having a guy like you back, right?” She snorted. “I sure wish Jared looked at me the way Jirard had looked at you.”
“I don’t know, it’s…” Hana sighed. “... It could have been a trick.”
Mai froze, fingers poised next to Hana’s bow. “A… trick? But Jirard is so sincere.”
Hana shook her head. “In the past, at my old school… People would fake being nice. They’d trick me into doing or saying things that way… and mock me.” She buried her face deep into her pillow. “I don’t want to be tricked again.”
Mai pulled her hand back and hugged her own pillows tight as she absorbed this information in the silence. No wonder Hana was always so guarded. No wonder that it seemed for so long that Hana would give Mai a disbelieving look at everything Mai said even while going along with it. She was waiting for the other shoe to drop, or for the lie to be revealed. Mai’s heart plummeted heavy in her chest, weighing her voice too much to speak.
“They did eventually talk more obviously behind my back or whisper where I could hear them,” Hana continued, “and they did… worse than that, but…” She shook her head. “It was so easy to miss at first.”
“I… I get that,” Mai whispered meekly, sounding the opposite of her usual brash manner. “Mimi’s really good at that stuff, you know.”
Hana nodded as she lifted her head up, exposing red-rimmed eyes.
Mai shook her head and smiled, brushing Hana’s bangs out of her eyes. “You… didn’t have to tell me any of that stuff, you know. We’re friends. There’s no rush.”
That prompted a smile from Hana. “That’s why I told you. You’ve always been in my corner, no matter what. You proved you aren’t like them. We’re… real friends. Unlike anyone else I’ve had.”
Tears welled up in Mai’s eyes. “Hanaaaaa, you’re so sappy and sweet, you!” She squeezed Hana in a gigantic hug.
“You’re squishing me,” Hana said through a giggled and strained breathing.
“That’s what’cha get for being the nicest friend I’ve ever wanted, so there!”
Both girls laughed at that, immense relief quelling the thickness in the air and making the room lighter. Mai let go of Hana then and asked, “So is that why you’re hanging out with me instead of with the popular boys tonight?”
Hana smirked, and shook her head. “I really am glad to be part of Normal Boots. A bunch of them are pretty great guys.” She scowled. “Minus Shane.”
“Definitely minus Shane.” Mai stuck her tongue out. “Seriously, what is his problem?”
Hana snickered. “I don’t know, but anyways, I still got to join the club I wanted, and I have your support to thank for that.”
“Well, thanks!” Mai flushed. “I’ll remember that when I earn an award for Best Friend of the Year or something.”
Hana giggled. “You’d deserve it.” She then shrugged. “And not only am I part of a cool gamer club, but I think there’s still a chance for me and Jirard to work out.” Her eyes softened. “Maybe not this year, but someday.”
“Oh, really?” Mai brightened at Hana’s optimism.
“Yeah, like… He told me he wasn’t sure we really knew each other well enough to start dating, but we’ll be in the same club. It’ll be the perfect way to get to know each other.”
“That’s the spirit!” Mai bumped her elbow against Hana in an encouraging way. “You think you can put a good word in with me to Jared while you’re at it?” She batted her eyelashes.
With a snort, Hana bumped her elbow into Mai’s shoulder. “Gimme a few more days and I can start.”
When they started up the episode of Vavatar again, Mai asked, “So who do you think is a better match for Hatara? Laang or Ruka?”
“Definitely Laang,” Hana readily replied. “They’ve had all of this time traveling together, and they clearly have feelings for each other.”
Mai giggled. “I think Ruka’s the better pick. Hot Fireweaver guy with a dramatic enemies to lovers arc--what’s not to love?”
Hana hummed at that, then shrugged. “You would like the bad boy, wouldn’t you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Mai exclaimed in mock protest. Hana just laughed over the sound of the episode’s dialogue.
Mai wouldn’t admit it that night, but she was so very grateful that she was as important to Hana as the whole kerfluffle with Normal Boots had become.