Butterflies? Or something telling me to run away? || GiyuShino

Chapter 16 | How could I not love you?

He gave her the promises he made in secret.

Regardless of where their story ended up, he wanted to be with her for every step of the way.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Shinobu-chan! You're awake" the next thing she knew, she was being hugged by a pair of strong arms accompanied by Mitsuri's worried voice. Wincing at the bright lights of the room, she saw Mituri's cute face full of worry.

"What happened?" Kocho attempted to sit up, voicing her confusion as to why she was in the spare bed of her laboratory. Wasn't she supposed to be currently out on a mission?

"You haven't reported back in more than 3 days" Mitsuri started.

"Yeah and then after hearing the news that you hadn't reported back in 3 days, Tomioka here rushed out to find you and bring you back before even the kakushi could - ow!" Shinazugawa's words were cut off by Iguro smacking his head with a book.

Hearing his voice made her realise that most of the Pillars were here, gathered around the bed, she even saw Kanao and some of the girls looking worried. She gave them all a comforting smile. Then she saw Tomioka, standing in the corner, not interacting with others as usual. She honestly couldn't believe that he was even here, after all the hassle of avoiding her, he decided to show himself now?

"Thank you everyone for coming to see me and checking in on me" she turned to Tomioka and smiled distantly "thank you, Tomioka, for bringing me back"

It was at that moment that everyone knew something wasn't quite right. Kocho's reaction was way too calm, she didn't even have a reaction to the fact that Tomioka was the one who brought her back. Tomioka, in particular, was especially surprised, he had been preparing for one of Kocho's infamous sarcastic lines such as 'My my Tomioka-san, you didn't take advantage of a lady like me while I was unconscious right?' or 'My! Tomioka-san doing something useful for once?!'.

The amount of distance she had put between everyone was quite frankly, creeping everyone out.

After a couple more checks, the doctor deemed her fit enough to leave. So everyone said their goodbyes and headed out the door. Only Tomioka stayed behind.

The two walked up the stairs together, not saying a single word.

"Well, then Tomioka, I'll be heading back to my room now" Kocho said without looking at him, and proceeded to push her door open.

Tomioka grabbed her arm in a hurry, stopping her motions and forcing her to turn around to face him.

"Tomioka?"

"You...." Even though he was the one who grabbed her arm to stop her, he didn't really know what to say to her. He had so many questions, like was she ok? Why did she suddenly go on so many missions? Why was her reaction so cold towards him?

He wasn't sure where to start, since he knew that he was the one who put the distance between them first, but he still ended up asking anyway.

"Why are you so cold towards me?"

Kocho frowned slightly at the question, and Tomioka had to resist the urge to reach out and ease her frown "I'm not, this is how I treat everyone?"

"Tomioka, if there is nothing else you want to say then I would like to return to my room" without waiting for his answer, she easily escaped from his grasp.

"Goodnight" she said, before leaving Tomioka standing outside.

The door closed, widening the gap between the two people.