Chapter Text
Kanade is a simple girl, with a simple life. All she wanted to do was stay at home and compose. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, one of her compulsory courses was unavailable online, which meant she had to do the thing she dreaded most.
Go to an actual school to study, just so she could graduate.
It’s okay. She could do this. It’s just going to school for an hour or two. It’ll be fine.
Except it wasn’t. By some disgusting stroke of bad luck, in order to take that one specific class, she had to take all her classes in an actual school, because apparently, they did things ‘differently’.
Why was she being forced to go to normal school to take all her classes if all she needed was to take Sex-Ed?!
It made zero sense! She could just take the class and then go home because literally why was she being punished because the school couldn’t teach Sex-Ed over online classes?!
It was so stupid!
Except it wasn’t, because it was now her first day of school, and she was standing right in the middle of the Miyamasuzuka foyer, staring very intently at a map.
She turned the map in her hands, once, twice, a third time, trying to make sense of it. She turned it upside down, flipped it over, flipped it back and turned it sideways, held it up to the light, trying her very best to get her bearings.
For a school this rich and prestigious, you’d expect they’d at least put a ‘You Are Here’ dot on the map. But nope. Nada. Because apparently it was her turn to suffer today.
“Do you need help?”
She turned, the map still held up to the light.
Oh shit. Maybe she shouldn’t diss the universe so much. Because the girl in front of her was pretty. Very pretty. So pretty, in fact, it made her want to start crying.
Her rosy hair tied up into a side ponytail in a hair tie with music notes on it, her pale blue eyes that looked as bright as a morning sky, the pale yellow cardigan that just managed to hang off her thin figure.. She was just so pretty..
“Uh- I- I- uhm..y- you’re really pretty..” Kanade managed to stammer out without much thought, before catching what she had said, immediately slapping a hand over her mouth, shrinking into herself a little in embarrassment. Her cheeks flushed a bright red. “Uhm- I mean..n- no you aren’t- w- well, you are pretty b- but..”
“I- I mean..yeah.” She mumbled, letting out a small cough to clear her throat and reign in those weird thoughts. Her voice was barely over a whisper as she tried her hardest not to look back at the girl. The two girls on either side of the yellow cardigan-clad girl stared at Kanade for a moment, then sneered. One of them pats the yellow cardigan girl, letting out a small giggle.
“We’ll be in class if you need us.” She giggled again, as the yellow cardigan-clad girl smiled back at them sweetly.
God, her smile was so sweet. Kanade almost wanted her to smile at her like that.
“Yeah, sure! I’ll show her around first, yeah?”
The two girls nodded, the former nudging the latter gently as they left, snickering and talking amongst themselves.
As the yellow cardigan girl turned back to Kanade, she swallowed thickly, her grip on the map tightening just slightly. “I..uhm..y- you don’t h- have to if you don’t want to..” She mutters, hoping and praying the girl had heard her and would leave.
She really didn’t want to spend another minute with the girl after that fumble.
“Huh? No, it’s okay, really. You’re the new student, right? Kanade Yoisaki? I’m supposed to give you a tour anyways!”
Oh. Fumble of the century indeed. Thankfully, the girl didn’t seem to have paid the comment any mind.
Kanade nodded, albeit a little horrified at the turn of events. She coughed, clearing her throat. “Uhm..what’s your uh- name?” She asked. After all, she just couldn’t keep on calling her ‘yellow cardigan girl’, right?
The yellow cardigan girl let out a soft giggle, and Kanade’s soul almost left her body at the sound. She flushed, though the other girl didn’t seem to notice.
“Right. I’m Honami Mochizuki. I’m in you class.” She smiles, outstretching her hand for Kanade to take. Kanade shook her hand, slowly nodding along, trying her best to make it seem as if she wasn’t at all interested in Honami.
Which was very clearly failing, based on how Honami seemed to chuckle at Kanade’s deepening blush.
As they pulled away, Honami gently takes the map from Kanade’s hands, looking it over, then inching closer to the latter, pointing at different grey blobs on the map.
She pointed to the large blob in the middle, “This is the cafeteria, It’s what connects all the buildings together.”
She smiles, then takes the map, folding it up and handing it back to Kanade. “As for the rest of the school..I’ll show you around as we go!”
Kanade hesitated, then gave Honami a small, nervous smile. She took the map back, pocketing jt again. “R- right..so uh- we’re going to class now, r- right?”
Honami nodded, and Kanade had no choice but to follow her, lest she wanted to be late on her first day of school, which, if she had to admit, didn’t sound like such a bad idea anymore.
..Or maybe it was a bad idea. Going to class on time meant she could spend time with Honami, anyway.
Not really paying attention to her surroundings as they walked, because Kanade could hopefully just ask Honami for directions again, she kept her eyes on her shoes, before her gaze drifted up to meet Honami’s gaze.
Was the girl staring at her?!
Feeling a sudden bought of awkwardness, Kanade turned, looking outside the window instead, trying her best to calm the rapidly-growing blush. Unfortunately, she had managed to miss whatever important landmarks lay outside the window, considering all she was focused on was Honami’s reflection.
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As Kanade flopped back onto her bed, the only things she could think of were Honami, and the fumble from earlier. Now that she was thinking about it more, she blushed, curling up into a tight ball on her bed.
Did her classmates..dislike her?
She hadn’t even registered it before over how pretty Honami looked, but those girls were clearly laughing at her, right?
And in class, everyone was staring at her, some even whispering to their friends.. Were they gossiping? Had she managed to somehow become the talk of the school because of that fumble?
At least she had Honami with her, right? Honami was a friend. They had exchanged numbers and all and-
Wasn’t Honami friendly to everyone?
She clearly saw it—how Honami had been almost eager to help everyone, even having to leave her alone to help someone else..
She groaned, her face turning red in embarrassment. It was over. She was going to get bullied for what she had done, and Honami wasn’t even her friend. She was just being nice.
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For the next few days, Kanade deliberately avoided Honami, toughing it out when she inevitably got detention from all the latecomings. She couldn’t face Honami. Not yet. Even though she was the prettiest woman she had ever seen. Even though-
No. Don’t think like that.
She leaned her forehead against a nearby wall, squeezing her eyes shut and opening them again so she could gain her bearings.
“Kanade? Are you..okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. I just-” As soon as she turned, she instantly regretted even opening her mouth.
Because she was now face-to-face with Honami. The one person she wanted to avoid. She hesitated, balling her hands into fists, sweat coating her palms as her gaze darted away from the girl in front of her. Honami..was worried for her, wasn’t she? Maybe..maybe she cared for her?
No way.
Who would even like her?
Who would like the girl that caused the hospitalisation of her father?
Who would-
No. Stop thinking about it.
Kanade barely registered Honami calling out her name before turning and running.
She hated it.
She hated thinking about things.
She hated..
Did she hate herself?
She did..
Did she?
She..
She should.
She was selfish.
She..she shouldn’t be this way.
No one would like her.
At least..not the ‘her’ that put her father in the hospital.
“Kanade!”
She didn’t turn when Honami called out for her. She couldn’t face her. Not now. Not ever. She couldn’t let her see the ‘her’ that was weak. Selfish, even.
She dove into the nearest empty classroom, slamming the door shut behind her, back pressed to the metal. Her breath quickened, her chest heaving with every shallow breath. She slid down to the floor, hugging her knees to her chest. She leaned back against the metal door as Honami’s footsteps shuffled to a stop outside.
Hurt. It hurt so bad. She coughed, one hand trailing up to cover her mouth.
“Kanade?” Honami whispered from the other side of the door. Kanade didn’t respond, her breathing loud. Too loud, squeezing her eyes shut, tears already brimming at the side of her eyes.
Honami didn’t say anything after that.
The school bell rang. Another long day passed. As Kanade glanced up at the clock in the classroom, she took note of the time as well as she could.
5:30. School would close in half an hour. The sun was setting, quiet quips of chatter filling the otherwise silent hallways as the last students left, done with club activities.
From the other side of the door, it had gone relatively quiet. But Honami was still there. She knew it. She could hear the way Honami sighed, the quiet shuffling as she..
What was she doing?
“..Kanade,” Honami spoke again, quieter this time. “Did I..do something wrong?’ She whispered.
No.
She didn’t.
She could never.
Kanade had done it again. She had been selfish. Made everything about her.
Trying to keep her voice as steady as she could, she took a deep breath, “N- no..it’s nothing. I’m… I’m okay. I’m sorry.” She stammered, her voice muffled by the hand over her mouth.
It went silent for a while, and Kanade squeezed her knees tighter, her breathing shaky, gently .
“..Honami?” She asked, her nails digging into the skin of her knees. She coughed, again, turning her arm over to press against her mouth. She sniffled, a tear running down her cheek.
Honami didn’t respond. Not for a while, at least.
Kanade sniffled again, choking on her own tears as she let out quiet sobs. “I- I’m sorry..” She whispered, letting go of her knees, gently rubbing tears away from her eyes.
“Kanade.” Honami repeated. She turned slightly, or at least, that’s what Kanade thought she did based on the shuffling, “It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything. I’ll just..I’ll stay here with you.”
Kanade coughed, a small smile forming on her lips as she sniffled, wiping more tears away. “Y- yeah..sounds good.” She muttered, letting out a shaky chuckle.
They sat there for a while, in comfortable silence. Kanade quite appreciated it, in fact. She liked it. The thought of Honami sitting with her.
“Hey..” She whispered, her breathing slowing, the tears no longer flowing as much. “Why are you..here? With me?”
Honami went quiet for a moment, then chuckled. “Why? Because I care for you, of course.”
Kanade smiled, a faint blush colouring her cheeks. Honami..caring..for her? She shook her head. “But..you could be with your friends..not..not with me..” She mutters, wiping the tear tracks off her face. “Those two girls..they-” As if thinking better of it, she stopped, shaking her head.
“Those girls? They..” Honami started, then hesitated, before speaking again. “They are my friends. But..you’re my friend too. Or..well..do you..want to be friends?”
Was Honami..shy?
Kanade nodded, even if Honami couldn’t see the action.
“Of course. I’d love to be your friend.”