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"Look at me," Nekomaru shouts to Akane from across their battlefield as they spar. He tries to remind her to keep her eyes on her opponent at all times. Not on the ground, or herself, or her actions. Her movements today, for some inexplicable reason, are uncertain, unsure, making them sloppier than usual. His reminder, while seemingly a reprimand are also an encouragement. He knows just how strong and capable she is and he can only hope that his words help her to see this as well.
"Look at me," Nekomaru says after defeating her once again. Akane lays on the grass, gazing up at the sky, her breathing heavy. She's exhausted, he knows, but beyond that he senses that she's discouraged. She'll bounce back, she always does, but he still wants to offer comfort and support after yet another loss.
"Look at me," Nekomaru whispers under his breath one day as he tries to get Akane's attention from across the room without drawing too much attention to himself. Her mind is elsewhere, that much he can tell. She's staring at the wall, her expression relaxed but she has a far-off look in her eyes. He can only imagine what she's thinking but knowing her, he's sure it's something random, something funny, something he'd never be able to guess. She's the same as she's always been and so are they.
'Look at me,' Nekomaru thinks. 'Please, look at me.' Everything is different now. Whereas before he wanted Akane to look at him as nothing more than one friend does another, now he craves so much more. He wants her to see him as something more, look at him in a new light because he's certainly done that with her. He desperately wishes he didn't feel the way he does, that he could look at her the same way he always has, and that he could be fine with staying by her side as nothing more than her friend. But that's not the case and he doesn't know if it ever will be again. So all that's left is to shove these emotions so far down that even he forgets they're there. Maybe that way he can protect her from himself.
'Look at me,' Akane thinks while sitting across from Nekomaru at a table in the cafeteria. 'Please, look at me,' she prays as she devours the meal in front of her, comprised mostly of different kinds of meat. She loves him in much the same way he does her but she'll never admit it. She had a difficult enough time admitting it to herself so telling him, especially when he and their friendship are both so important to her seems out of the question. Truth is, she's scared, a feeling she hasn't experienced in a long time, and one she hates more than anything. She doesn't want to get her heart broken or to get rejected. Leading her to simply sit here and hope that one day he'll look at her the same way she does him.
Their fear is too powerful for either of them to make the first move. So all that's left is for them to crave, want, and desire as they repeat the same three words in their heads over and over: 'Look at me.'